- A few more days pass and grandpa asks Billy to come on down to the store. Billy is worried that his grandpa is going to want to talk about Rubin's death.
- Sure enough, it's the first thing his grandpa asks him about. But it's not the only thing.
- He wants Billy to enter a Championship Coon Hunt.
- And by "wants Billy to enter" he means "already paid the entry fee and registered the hounds." All Billy has to do is show up with his hounds.
- Billy takes some convincing, but he sees how excited his grandpa is and figures, why not?
- By the time they're done discussing the details, Billy can almost feel the cup in his hands.
- On his way home, Billy skips the whole way. Birds are singing, rabbits are hopping, it's practically a Disney cartoon. Life is good.
- He reflects on the last two years. And realizes life is good.
- When he gets home, he asks his dad if he wants to come with him to the coon hunt.
- His dad is worried about leaving the farm and Billy's mom. Billy looks at his mom and notices that her belly is "all swelled up" (14.94).
- Duh! She's pregnant and Billy hadn't even noticed. Talk about distracted.
- Billy's mom tells his dad she'll be fine for a few more months. There really isn't any work to do on the farm, so he should go.
- He agrees, and Billy's littlest sister asks if she can have the gold cup when Billy wins it. He swears she can, and everybody is super duper happy about life.
- We don't know why, but we get the feeling this isn't going to last.
- The next couple of days are spent preparing the house to make it as easy as possible for Billy's mom.
- Billy also gets his dogs ready for the competition. Remember how Billy likes to sit down and have a chat with his dogs? Well, he still does that. The night before they're supposed to leave, he sits his dogs down and tells them how important the hunt will be.
- The next morning Billy and his dad head down to his grandpa's store.
- His grandpa is loading up the buggy with a tent and groceries. And some other stuff, like Billy's old ax.
- All the blood's been cleaned off, but Billy still feels a fleeting twinge about Rubin.
- Well, but not too bad. He's more interested in the hunt, to be honest.
- All three dudes—at this point, Billy basically feels like a real dude, not a little kid—pile into his grandpa's buggy and head off on their road trip, or rather, buggy trip.