Billy wants to begin training his dogs to hunt. His grandfather teaches him how to trap coons so he can get a coon hide. He creates traps and for days he doesn't catch any coons. Billy's dad says that he'll catch one, he just has to wait for his scent to wear off. When a coon is finally caught, Billy and his father kill it together. He uses this hide to train his dogs and when raccoon season starts they're trained and ready. The first coon they trap up a tree is in a giant tree he calls the "big tree". Because of the size he decided he wouldn't cut it down, but his dogs get sad and Billy becomes determined to cut it down. He spends all night chopping at it and his dad finds him in the morning. Then his grandpa teaches him how to make a scarecrow so that he can go inside and sleep. When he comes back out the next day he sees that Dan and Ann had been switching off positions to guard it all night. Billy gets blisters later in the day while chopping and he thinks he will have to stop. He's overwhelmed with sadness and he says a prayer. The wind then knocks the tree down and Dan and Ann kill the raccoon.
Billy and his grandpa's relationship has strengthened over time because of the trust they put in each other. If they didn't trust each other as much as they do, Billy wouldn't even have his dogs, let alone have them trained as well as they are. Billy and his relationship with his dogs has strengthened over time since he got them as it naturally would anyways. However because of all the training their bonds are stronger than that of a normal dog owner. Old Dan and Little Ann have a special relationship full of trust and communication. This was most likely there from the start of their lives but as they began to train grew stronger. This is shown in such instances as the fact that they took turns overnight guarding the coon in the tree.
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My reading partners are Matthew Mau and Sam Gressitt. Below are links to their blogs.
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AuthorLeah Maxwell Archives
June 2018
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