Terror at Bottle Creek

Cort is discharged from the hospital later that day, and his father drives him home. Cort admits, “I hated you for leaving me like that” (191), and his father promises that he will never do that again; Cort begins to cry. Back at the landing, they survey the damage, and Cort’s father informs him that they can stay with the Stovalls until they are sorted. He asks what Cort thinks of them building a house together on the Stovalls land, and Cort is delighted but wants to check that it is not an effort to get his mother back. It’s not; Cort’s father has finally made peace with the fact that she is not coming back.

Although he is limping and cannot use one hand properly, Cort helps his father with the clean-up. When they are done, Cort’s father sits down exhausted, and Cort offers to get some cans of soup out of the garage for dinner. When he gets to the garage, Catfish casually walks past him like nothing has happened. He is a little scratched and battered and covered in mud but is otherwise unharmed. Cort tells him he can sleep with him that night because “[n]obody’s leaving anybody again” (197).

The next morning, Mrs. Stovall returns with Francie while Liza continues to recover in the hospital. They talk about Cort’s mother, and Cort finds himself coming to terms with things more and even saying that he will go and see if she needs any help soon. Mrs. Stovall reminds him that not everyone wants to live on the river. Cort points out that his father says it’s in their blood, but Mrs. Stovall gently observes that “your dad can be a little extreme” (199); Cort agrees.

Liza comes home a couple of days later, her leg braced and bandaged. Later in the day, she and Cort talk on the porch; he asks her if she still wants to move, worried that the events will put her off life on the river for good. However, she says that she does not want to move as long as he is still with her. Cort asks her to the fall party and she accepts, even teasingly asking him why he did not ask her to the last party. Cort is delighted and relieved.

Cort and his father talk about the bear’s actions and whether he really was trying to save them. Cort acknowledges that he now understands the warning about the harsh reality of the swamp. He admits that, while he loves life on the river, he also feels isolated and wishes he could get to basketball practice. He even suggests an elaborate plan about traveling to practice by boat. However, his father simply says that he will take him. Now that Cort’s mother has left, he does not need to earn as much money and can take the time off work. He also tells Cort that there is no pressure for him to take up his job as a river guide and that he can do what he wants with his life. Cort knows that he is proud of his life and his lifestyle again and no longer feels any need to get away from it. He knows that this is his home, as long as the people he loves are there.