The Orchard Keeper

Arthur sets out from his house on a walk through the rain, carefully navigating the soft and slippery terrain. He slips, landing hard in the mud. At the same time, a panther wakes from slumber. She has been sleeping in Arthur’s outhouse but the rain drove her out. She finds the Rattner house and sleeps in the barn. When John’s mother, Mildred, opens the door to the barn, the panther makes a “wild lunge” at her and then disappears into the night. In Tipton’s field, a murder of crows harries the fleeing panther. She runs, coming across a dead mink in a trap. Abandoning the mink, the panther sets off again through the pouring rain.

When the rain stops, John visits the creek. The area around the creek seems to have changed into something unrecognizable. With some effort, he fishes out the mink’s corpse, still caught in the trap. He inspects the strange wounds (caused by the panther).

Marion waits for the rain to end before he leaves the house. He drives past the flooded streets and visits the store to fill his car with gas. Referring to a box of ugly kittens, he mentions to the storekeeper that “a Christian’d of drownded em” (95).