<P> Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann go hunting almost every night and become well - known in the Ozarks . Billy and his grandfather make a bet with Rubin and Rainie Pritchard that Old Dan and Little Ann can tree the "ghost coon". It leads them on a long, complicated hunt, and Rubin and Rainie want to give up . When they finally have it treed, Billy refuses to kill it . Rubin then orders his dog, Old Blue, to attack Old Dan, who is smaller; and Rubin starts to beat Billy . Little Ann helps Old Dan, and together they injure Old Blue; Rubin runs to attack them with an axe, but he trips, falls on it and kills himself . </P> <P> Billy's grandfather enters him into a championship coon hunt, putting him against experienced hunters and the finest dogs in the country . Before it starts, he enters Little Ann into a conformation contest, where she wins the silver cup . On the fourth night of the hunt, Old Dan and Little Ann tree three raccoons, making it to the final round . The sixth night, they tree one before a blizzard hits . Billy, his father, grandfather, and the judge lose sight of the dogs . When they finally find them, Billy's grandfather sprains his ankle . They build a fire, and when Billy's father chops down a tree, three raccoons jump out . Old Dan and Little Ann take two of them down, and chase the third to another tree . In the morning, the hunters find them covered with ice circling the tree . That raccoon wins them the championship, gold cup, and $300 of jackpot money . </P> <P> One night Old Dan and Little Ann tree a mountain lion, and it attacks . Billy enters the fight with his axe, hoping to save his dogs, but they end up having to save him . Eventually, they kill the mountain lion, but Old Dan is badly wounded, and Billy finds his intestines in a bush . He dies late that night . Billy is heartbroken, and Little Ann loses the will to live, stops eating, and dies of grief a few days later on Old Dan's grave . Billy's father tries to tell him that it is all for the best, because with the money they received from winning the championship hunt, they can move to town . He goes to visit Old Dan and Little Ann's graves and finds a giant red fern between them . According to Native American legend, only an angel can plant one . He feels ready to move on knowing that his dogs are always going to be remembered . </P> <P> The novel was made into a 1974 film starring Stewart Petersen, James Whitmore, Beverly Garland, and Jack Ging . It was followed by a sequel in 1992, which starred Wilford Brimley, Chad McQueen, Lisa Whelchel, and Karen Carlson . The film was remade in 2003 and starred Joseph Ashton, Dabney Coleman, Ned Beatty and Dave Matthews . </P>

Who dies in where the red fern grows