Where the Red Fern Grows Chapter 12

Billy's dogs become known as the best hunting hounds in the Ozarks.
Grandpa brags to everyone about Billy and his dogs. One day, Mama asks
Billy to go to the mill to get some corn ground. Upon Billy's arrival at
Grandpa's store, he runs into Rubin and Rainie Pritchard. They are boys
with a bad reputation and no one likes them. They bet Billy two dollars that
his hounds cannot catch a coon that has been running around in their part
of the country for years. They call him the ghost coon. They also think that
their dog is better than Billy's and that the reputation of Billy's dogs is just a
bunch of lies. Grandpa encourages Billy to agree to the bet and he does.
He gives Billy the money to hold on to. The boys agree to meet tomorrow
night up by the Pritchards' part of the country. Grandpa tells Billy how badly
he wants him to catch that coon and Billy knows he will. Billy thinks his
Grandpa is the best grandfather a boy could have.
Billy goes home and decides not to tell Mama about the bet because she
would be mad at Billy for having anything to do with the Pritchard boys. The
next night, Billy arrives at the meeting place. He has a talk with his dogs
about how much he loves them and how much the bet means to him and
Grandpa. The Pritchard boys arrive and Old Dan and Little Ann start the
hunt. They are immediately on the trail of the ghost coon. The Pritchard
boys tell Billy to just give up, as no dog has ever treed the coon, but Billy
refuses: "I told them I wasn't giving up until my dogs did."

They follow the sounds of the dogs to a place where a tree had fallen into
the river. It is hanging on a slant from the bank ten feet up. Billy looks and
sees Little Ann making her way down the log. Billy knows she is on the trail
and trying to pick up the scent. Within seconds, the biggest coon Billy has
ever seen jumps out and over Little Ann's head. She chases after it in the
big tangle of roots, limbs, and logs. Soon, Old Dan jumps in and runs right
after her. They are all running up and down the river bottoms with Billy and
the Pritchard boys following behind. At one point Billy looks over and sees
Rainie. He is excited and having a good time, not like the miserable boy he
usually is. This makes Billy feel good. The sounds of Old Dan's bark signals
that he has treed the coon, but Rubin warns that once the coon goes into
this particular tree, he disappears, hence the name - ghost coon. Rainie
tells Billy to take his money out, for the bet is just as good as over, but Billy
knows it is not over yet.