Sensing her father’s distress because her mother had disappeared, Night Song’s daughter went on a search for Grandmother because her mother had told her that if she ever needed help, Grandmother could help her. Having been lured away from her husband and young daughter, Night Song mourned and refused to eat until she died. Believing she had been betrayed, Grandmother tricked Night Song into changing back into a serpent, without telling her she could never return to her human form. Night Song gave up her serpent form to be married to Hawk Man, also an enchanted being. At one time, this lonely serpent had a daughter named Night Song. The trapped serpent is a lamia, an enchanted being able to change once in its life to his human form, then back to its animal form. The tree is the same one where Puck now takes shelter. It tells how a serpent came to be trapped in a jar entangled in the roots of the loblolly pine.

Meanwhile, another story is told about events that took place a thousand years before. He takes up residence in an old, dying loblolly pine tree. Puck finds himself alone on the creek bed. Puck survives the drowning attempt, but his mother does not. He stuffs the two into a burlap bag and throws them into a creek. The calico cat runs out to try to save her baby, but Gar Face grabs her as well. The naughty kitten is spotted by Gar Face who grabs him.

Ranger was shot in the leg, and he has been chained to the house ever since as his punishment for betraying the man.Īlthough the kittens have been warned to stay in the underneath, under the porch, Puck is drawn out by the sun one morning. Ranger had helped Gar Face in his hunts until one night when Ranger stepped between Gar Face’s gun and a bobcat with a kitten. The problem for Ranger and the cats is that he is chained to the porch of a cruel man named Gar Face. When her kittens are born, Ranger takes over the role as father figure for the two kittens, Puck and Sabine.

The story is filled with the Native American view of interconnectedness between people, animals, and plants.Ī pregnant calico cat, abandoned by her family, is drawn to a lonely hound dog named Ranger when she hears the sound of his mournful baying. Two kittens and an old hound dog give a centuries old serpent the chance to champion love, a choice she forfeited years prior with her own daughter. Promises, regret, love, and loneliness are all facets of the book “The Underneath” by Kathi Appelt.

The underneath appelt