Plot Summary Of Where The Red Fern Grows By Wilson Rawls

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls starts off in a Man's house and the perspective is the man telling the story to the reader. The man's name is Billy and he is coming home from work and notices some dogs fighting, he helps the dog that was greatly outnumbered in the fight. After doctoring the dog back to health he released him. Then the man tells us of when he was a little boy and how he wanted two coonhounds so badly.

The book then goes back in time to when billy was 11/12 years old. Billy had asked his mom and dad over and over for the dogs, and they wanted to get him the dogs, but they were too poor to get the exact dogs that Billy wanted. Billy had become very depressed, he had wanted dogs so badly! Then his grandpa, also Billy's favorite person to be around, saw an add in a newspaper, coonhounds for sale, $25 a dog.

So billy got to work, picking blackberries and selling them in the market, selling furs and hooks to fishermen and by the end of two hard years full of working for dog money, $50, Billy had enough. His grandpa could not get him to town so he set off on foot! 24 miles.

When Billy reached town he was fascinated, he had never seen so many people, he was scared, but what he feared most? The sheriff. People were Billy lived said that the sheriff would shoot you with his shotgun and take you to jail! Billy found the mail house were his dogs were supposed to be and went inside.

The workers brought him his dogs. I can't believe it! Billy thought finally! He put the two dogs in his sack, Old Dan and Little Ann, with his food, and cut two holes in it for them to peek through, as he started back a gang of boys started picking on him, the leader of the gang pinched Old Dan's ear, the anger welled up inside of Billy… BAM, right in the gang leaders nose, all the members of the gang were about to tackle and beat up Billy when they heard a voice say, “hey get away from him!”.

It was the sheriff! He had saved Billy, the sheriff helped billy up and brought him to a soda stand, since he had never tasted soda before he was amazed at the bubbly feel of the soda as he drank it all up. Then he thanked the sheriff and set out on his journey home. He reached home and with a bit of explaining, for his parents didn't even know about how he had saved up his money, he ran out and started to trail his dogs right away

Every Saturday Billy would bring his coon hides (catched by his dogs) to his grandpa's house and he would always have the most hides out of all the other men, Billy and his dogs were the perfect combination. Years later and with a lot of experience Billy got word from his grandpa about the coon hunting championships! And his grandpa had already entered him into it! Dad, grandpa, and Billy loaded into the wagon and went to the coon hunting championships.

The first part of the championship was the ‘looks’ competition were you inter one dog and hope that the judges picked for the best looking dog, and you will be rewarded with a silver cup for winning. Billy entered Little Ann into the competition and by the end of the eliminations Little Ann and a regal looking Jack Russell terrier were the only two left. The judges could not decide so the ‘walked them’ meaning first the Jack Russell terrier would be put on one side of the stage and the owner would call the dog, which ever dog went right to the owner won, The Jack Russell started walking to its owner but when a squirrel scampered by it bounded off the stage, now it was up to Little Ann. By that point Billy knew he would win, he called Little Ann and she walked easily over to Billys side, they had won the silver trophy! But now for the gold one, whoever catches the most racoons in one night wins!

Billy and his dogs caught 3 coons in the first round, enough to not be eliminated but now it was the final round. There competition? Two monstrous Blue Tick hounds, that have already won this competition 4 times in a row. Billy and his dogs had caught two coons when a blizzard came out of nowhere. Billy's dogs were nowhere in sight and his dad, grandpa, and the judge were urging billy to go back to camp, his dogs were probably dead. The sun was rising and up a hill came a man, and behind him about 6 other people, a search party for us.

The man said that he had found my dogs, my heart leaped! They are not dead! I realized. We went down the hill and there they were, completely covered in snow and ice trotting around a tree, smart dogs I thought, if they had not been moving around and around the tree they would have frozen to death. My grandpa and dad sawed down the tree and out from it sprang 3 huge coons!

My grandpa tackled one and Old Dan and Little Ann got another, sadly the third go away but we had caught 4 coons! We got back to camp and the Blue Tick hounds had caught 3 racoons, we had did it, we won the golden cup, and I received $200! We got home and I told my family about how I had won and that there were 3 coons in one tree! The next night my dogs and I were out hunting when Old Dan picked up a scent, but this was no coon… This was a mountain lion.

The mountain lion bounded towds us and Old Dan, Little Ann, and I ran straight at him, I had my trusty axe. My dogs put up a good fight and I got a good swing at the mountain lion dead, but then I heard a whimper. It was Old Dan, and he was severely injured. I picked him and Little Ann up and brought them to our house but he was too hurt, and he died, I couldn't believe it, my dog, dead.

The next day I buried him out in the woods, and Little Ann would leave his grave. It was a long day and I went to bed. The next morning I couldn't find Little Ann. I called and called for her and then got an idea. I found her lying next to Old Dan, she was very weak and on the brink of death, without Old Dan se could not live, Little Ann was buried next to Old Dan, I couldn't take this anymore.

I went back to the house to tell my parents and siblings, we all cried together. After we were feeling better my dad and mom told us that we had enough money because of the money from winning the racoon hunting championship that we were moving to the city. We packed up and I went one last time to visit the grave, a red fern had grown up between the graves, and ancient legend says that were a red fern grows the land is sacred. I called my parents and they were fascinated. Then the book goes back to Billy as a grown man. Old Dan and Little Ann were amazing dogs and I loved them with all of my heart. The end.