The Underneath

Sabine likes the feeling of the rain on her. She licks her paws, enjoying her bath and feeling grateful that Ranger got fed that day.

Suddenly, Gar Face pounces, grabbing Sabine by the neck. She lets out a howl of pain and surprise.

Ranger snaps and snarls in fury at Gar Face, remembering the calico mother cat and Puck being taken away. Ranger lunges at Gar Face, who, in his surprise, drops Sabine. Sabine runs away, and Gar Face tries to hit Ranger with a wooden board; Ranger sinks his teeth into Gar Face’s leg. Gar Face says, “You’ll pay, you blasted dog” (254) and returns inside. Ranger emits a howl of anger, sorrow, and pain (255). Fearfully, Sabine hides nearby.

Puck has recovered slightly from his fall. He catches a pair of voles and watches the creek rise with the rain. He thinks of Sabine; he misses her.

Suddenly, Puck hears Ranger’s howls from the other side of the creek; Puck knows that Ranger is relatively nearby. Puck knows from the quality of the howl that Ranger and Sabine are in danger. His need to get to the other side is urgent.

Sabine worries about Ranger. Lightning crashes overhead.

Gar Face drags Ranger out from under the house on his chain. Laughingly, he tells Ranger, “I could have used the cat as bait. But a dog will work just fine” (261). Gar Face picks up a wooden board and whacks Ranger viciously in the face. Ranger’s mouth and nose fill with blood, and he falls to the ground.

Gar Face unties the chain from the side of the house and pulls Ranger after him. Ranger is struck with the realization that he’s a good dog as he’s pulled toward the bayou.

The old loblolly pine where Puck has been living sees Puck’s determination and distress when he hears Ranger’s cries. It decides to intervene. It lets go of the soggy earth and crashes across the creek.

Grandmother Moccasin’s jar is lifted up and out of the earth; the lid cracks open, and Grandmother is finally free. She slithers out.

Puck thinks of Ranger and Sabine and misses them; the feeling is overwhelming in its intensity. He approaches the felled tree, which now spans the creek.

Grandmother Moccasin slides into the salty creek, moves quickly across the quicksand, and slides into the bayou. The Alligator King, who has grown since she last saw him, greets her. Grandmother asks where Night Song’s daughter is. The Alligator King begins telling her 1,000 years of news, but then he smells the man approaching. Grandmother, impatient and irritated, waits in the limbs of the cypress tree and watches.

Hesitantly, Puck begins moving across the tree. The water beneath is terrifying. He breaks into a run and crosses. As soon as Puck has crossed, the tree breaks in half and falls into the tumbling creek.

Puck walks in the direction he heard Ranger’s howl, although all is now silent. The rain has stopped. He reaches the house and approaches it cautiously. He goes into the Underneath and calls Sabine but receives no answer.

Puck sees blood in Ranger’s bowl and on the ground surrounding it. He realizes that something awful must have happened. He follows the trail of Ranger’s blood toward the bayou.

Gar Face continues to drag Ranger, reflecting angrily on the sore bite in his leg that Ranger gave him. Ranger continues to limp along, in immense pain.

Sabine follows Ranger, keeping out of Gar Face’s sight.

Meanwhile, Grandmother waits in the tree, thinking about how she’ll take Night Song’s daughter.

Gar Face approaches the old cypress tree where his boat is tied up. He orders Ranger to sit and ties him to the tree. He settles down nearby, holding his rifle. He falls asleep.

Ranger realizes that he’s bait for an alligator; he knows that the blood from his mouth will lure one.

Sabine, seeing Ranger’s pain and sadness, goes to lie with him, purring and licking the blood off his face. Ranger knows that Sabine should leave, but he can’t bring himself to tell her to leave. He hears a whirring sound and opens his eyes to see a hummingbird.

Grandmother sees the man. She’s hungry, but the man is too big for her to eat.

The hummingbird flies frantically in front of Puck. Mesmerized, Puck follows it up a tree. He looks down and sees Gar Face—and then he sees Ranger and Sabine. He doesn’t know how to go to them without risking waking Gar Face. He doesn’t know that Grandmother Moccasin is curled up above him in the same tree.

Grandmother moves slowly toward Puck, while the Alligator King smells blood and moves slowly towards the shore of the bayou.

Gar Face wakes up and sees Sabine. He picks up his rifle and aims for her. Puck, watching from above, feels immense anger and yowls loudly. Gar Face jumps in fright and turns his rifle up, shooting upwards. Puck lands on Gar Face’s face with his claws extended, scratching him; Gar Face howls in pain and throws down his rifle. Holding onto Puck with one hand, Gar Face stumbles towards the Bayou and leans into it to wash the blood off his face. Gar Face opens his eyes to see the many rows of the Alligator King’s teeth; they close around his neck and pull him under.

Puck is in the bayou; Gar Face dropped him when the Alligator King grabbed him. The water feels soothing. He remembers his mother’s instruction to swim but then realizes that it’s Sabine’s voice calling him to swim. He makes it to the surface.

Sabine and Puck touch noses and wrap their paws around each other, overjoyed to reunite. They lie down in the sun with Ranger.

The trees, watching over the sleeping trio, stir the Zephyrs of Sleep to keep them safe. Grandmother, too, sleeps.

The kittens wake up in the morning sunlight. They lick Ranger’s face, which is bloody and swollen. Ranger wakes up and enjoys the comforting sensation. He opens an eye and sees the hummingbird.

Ranger sees the rifle half in the water and figures out what happened to Gar Face. He’s relieved that the bad man is gone. Ranger opens his good eye properly (the other one is swollen shut); he’s amazed and overjoyed to see Puck as well as Sabine.

The group knows that they should get away from the edge of the bayou, but Ranger is chained to the tree. Puck inspects the chain. He hears a “sssssssttttttt!!” and looks up. Grandmother Moccasin is above him. Sabine stands beside Puck, and Ranger growls.

Grandmother reflects on another three she knew bound by love. Hatefully, she feels the poison pool in her mouth. She hears the buzz in the air of the other snakes calling to her: “sssiiisster” (306). She considers that there was a price—and that she paid that price. She opens her jaws and strikes.

The Alligator King greets Grandmother at the bottom of the bayou; he’s pleasantly surprised at her choice: Grandmother snapped the rusted chain with her jaws, freeing Ranger.

Grandmother reflects that last time she interfered in love, she caused sorrow and that this was the price paid. She lies in the cypress tree; she feels pain in her black body where Gar Face’s rogue bullet hit her. She sees the hummingbird, whom she recognizes as her granddaughter. The tiny bird tells Grandmother that she has been looking for her. Above, a hawk lets out a cry and disappears into the clouds.

Puck, Sabine, and Ranger continue to live in the forest; they don’t return to the old house, and they leave the dangerous bayous and quicksand. It’s the beginning of their new story.