Hoot: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Beatrice obviously followed Roy to the golf course and stole his bike. Now, she tells Roy to get on the handlebars and begins to pedal along the flooded streets. They stop when they reach a dirt road; by now, it’s only misting. Beatrice leads Roy through a hole in a chain link fence, which encloses a junkyard. Soon, they reach an old ice cream truck and Beatrice drags Roy inside. He refuses to hand over his shoebox, though he insists it’s just shoes inside. Beatrice snatches the box and asks why Roy is carrying around extra shoes. Roy says they’re for the running boy—the boy needs shoes so he doesn’t step on a nail or a cottonmouth. Beatrice just sneers at Roy, so Roy asks if she’ll beat him up quickly so he can get home to his parents.

Beatrice asks why Roy cares about the running boy, but Roy can’t answer. She stops Roy from running but doesn’t seem mad. They fall silent for a moment as a security guard walks by outside, and then Beatrice says she’ll make sure the shoes get to the running boy if Roy leaves him alone. She also reveals that he’s her brother.

Officer Delinko works late. By the time he heads for the motor pool at six, it’s pouring. He stands outside, thinking about how it’ll take him longer to achieve his dreams of becoming a detective, until lightning strikes a power pole and the lights at the station go out. Inside now, Delinko thinks about the incidents at the Mother Paula’s site. Kids aren’t usually so daring or persistent. Finally, the rain lets up enough for Officer Delinko to run to his car without getting too wet. As he drives past the Mother Paula’s site, the dispatcher reports a missing boy named Roy. Ten minutes later, Delinko sees a boy matching Roy’s description standing on the corner with a bike. Delinko offers to give Roy a ride—maybe now he can redeem himself.

As Roy sits in the police car, he can’t stop thinking about what Beatrice told him: that Mullet Fingers is her stepbrother and is called Mullet Fingers because he can catch mullets, which are slippery, schooling baitfish, in his bare hands. He had been sent to a “special” school, but he ran away and their parents don’t know he’s in town. Then, Roy remembers how Beatrice picked up his bike and chomped a hole in the back tire so he’d have an excuse for being late. Officer Delinko interrupts Roy’s thoughts to ask if he’s heard anything about the hijinks at the Mother Paula’s construction site. Roy says he read the article in the paper, but nobody’s talking about it.

They’ve now reached the Eberhardts’ house. Officer Delinko hands Roy a business card and asks him to call if he hears anything about the Mother Paula’s situation. Roy takes the card, but he doesn’t feel like telling on his classmates—and shouldn’t the officer just get a thank-you for getting him home safe? As Officer Delinko pulls Roy’s bike out of the trunk, Mr. Eberhardt comes out to chat about law enforcement stuff. When Mr. Eberhardt wheels Roy’s bike into the garage, Officer Delinko quietly asks Roy if Mr. Eberhardt might write a letter to the police chief about tonight’s events. Roy nods noncommittally. Just then, Mrs. Eberhardt rushes out and thanks Officer Delinko for his help—she’d lost faith in the police after the story in the paper. Roy sees Officer Delinko blanch, and the officer speeds away rather than answer if he knows the officer who fell asleep.