Terror at Bottle Creek

Cort can sense the hurricane coming. The animals have all left, leaving the area unnaturally quiet and still. He goes to the Stovall house for breakfast and to discuss preparations for the storm. While Mrs. Stovall cooks him bacon and eggs, Cort thinks of how his father never cooks anymore since his mother left. It begins to rain. 

Liza helps Cort and his father move their possessions from the houseboat to the Stovalls’ garage. Despite the rain, Cort does not bother with a raincoat, reasoning that he will get wet through whatever he wears. Cort’s father still cannot decide what to do about the houseboat, but eventually he starts working on it because “[i]t’s gettin’ mean out there” (57). 

After helping Liza prepare propane lanterns, Cort goes to help his father with the houseboat. They tie it off with heavy rope to two sturdy water oaks and adjust the stabilizing poles at the corners of the boat’s platform. Cort’s father tells him to get Catfish out of the boat while he goes to get final supplies from the shops.