The Tiger Rising

When the school bus pulls up in front of the Kentucky Star, Rob ignores Billy and Norton’s taunts. This time they jeer at Rob, saying he has leprosy and that Sistine is his “girlfriend” (39). Sistine brings Rob his homework. He notices that her green dress is ripped, and her knuckles are bloody. Rob doesn’t want to talk to Sistine, but she asks why the motel is called the Kentucky Star. He explains that it is named after the owner’s horse. It begins to rain again, and as they stare at each other, Rob feels a change inside him. He tells Sistine that he knows about a tiger in the woods. Sistine does not express any doubt, she just asks “Where?” (42). From her reaction, Rob knows that Sistine was the “right person to tell” (42).

Sistine wants to see the tiger immediately, but Rob worries that her clothes are too nice to hike through the woods. Sistine says she’ll borrow some of Rob’s. They go to Rob’s motel room and Sistine examines it closely. She finds the carvings that Rob has whittled—including the one he is working on of her—and she is impressed by his skill.