Trouble River Author: Betsy Byars It was a cool summer evening, and Dewey's
grandmother sat in her rocking chair on the porch. She was thinking to herself
its getting dark I better call that boy in. So she got up form her chair and
called Deweeee Deweeee. There was no answer so she decided to go get him
herself. She walked down to the woods edge and called for him once again. Dewey
answered, then Dewey and his dog came running back up the hill. Then together
then they walked back to the house. When in the house Dewey's grandmother asked
him what he was doing down there in the woods. He reluctantly told her he was
building a raft cause he knew she would disagree with him doing that. That night
Dewey was planning on sneaking out to work on his raft. So later that night he
walked over to the door pulled up the bar, and went out to the river. From the
river he had a clear view of the house.
While down at the river he kept making
sure he was keeping an eye on the door, since it wasn't barred shut. Then after
a little time passed Dewey noticed there was a man slowly creeping up to the
house. Dewey could see it was an Indian. So Dewey and his dog ran up the hill,
and tried to creep up to the house. When the Indian was about to open the door,
Dewey knew he couldn't let the Indian get inside. So Dewey and his dog went
running up to the house.
Dewey's dog bit the Indian and hung on to his skin the Indian shook him
wildly till he fell off. The Indian whacked the dog on the back of his leg with
his hatchet then the Indian ran away. Dewey ran inside and got his grandmother
telling her that he had seen an Indian. She said there is never just one Indian
there is always a group. She said they were gonna die if they didn't get out of
there. So Dewey said I have an idea instead of staying here and getting scalped
lets go down to the river and ride my raft down river. We can get out at the
Dargans house then we can wait there and meet up with his ma and pa before they
come back from the city. She was very hesitant but she finally agreed they got
all their important possessions and set out for the river. When she got to the
bank she was surprised how small the boat was. So they got aboard and Dewey
started paddeling away from the bank. They both knew it would be a long time
till they got to the Dargans place so they sat down and started on their way.
The next day in the late afternoon they decided to stop and get off the raft to
take a rest. So Dewey pushed the raft to the side till they struck bottom. Then
they got out and put a blanket down where they sat and ate a meal of cornmeal
and water. After a long nap, they got up and were ready to board the boat when
they heard a wolf coming form the brush. It wasn't just one it was a pack.
