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. So Dewey picked up the gun fired one shot then ran to the boat. Once they were both on the boat they started back on their trip.

Then the next morning they saw the Dargans chimney standing high on the hill. After pulling themselves to shore Dewey ran up to the house but when he got there, there was nothing but a pile of ashes. The house had been burned to the ground all that was left was the stone fireplace. So Dewey ran back to the raft and told his grandmother that the Indians had already gotten to them and burned down the house. So they decided to ride the rest of the river out to Hunter City.

The next morning Dewey awoke and heard a strange noise his grandmother heard it to. They both knew there was a bunch of rapids upahead. Then once they hit the turn they saw big rapids. They floated in the rapids and were thrown around. Dewey grabbed his dog and held on to him for safety. Dewey started to scream he tasted blood in his mouth because he got a bloody lip. Finally when the rapids were done the water calmed down and they yelled up to the bank for help. Two men came running to the bank to help them. Then they through them a rope and pulled them to shore Once they got to shore they asked if they had seen the Martins. They said, “yes there right up ahead, why?” They said cause were there grandma and son. So Dewey and his grandmother went ahead and met up with the parents who were coming back from Hunter City and rode the rest of the way home in the wagon. On the way home they explained they crazy ride down Trouble River.