Rascal

Summer arrives and school gets out, and Sterling is thrilled to have more free time with his many pets, including a crow named Poe and some skunks. He reflects on how a psychologist might say he’s used animals to substitute for an actual family, as his older siblings have all scattered in the years since his mother’s death. He broods on theological issues, such as how an all-merciful God could take his mother from him when he was just seven years old. He wishes she could have seen the pets he is raising.

Sterling’s pets occasionally cause problems, as with Poe the crow, who roosts in the church tower and heckles the parishioners, and his skunks, who are frightened by a stray dog into stink-bombing a church service. Sterling must then return the skunks to the woods to appease the angered deacons.

Meanwhile, Sterling has been bringing bowls of milk to Rascal, who like all raccoons is staying in a tree nest for the first two months of his life. One day, Sterling and Wowser are surprised to see Rascal scamper out of the tree for the first time and confidently make his way to the bait pond in Sterling’s yard. With preternatural skill, he catches a minnow, washes it, and eats it. He takes a leisurely tour of the property and then returns to his tree hole.

Sterling decides one day that Rascal is clean and well-behaved enough to join him and his father at the table. He sets up a highchair for Rascal and serves him a bowl of warm milk, and Rascal impresses everyone with his table manners, earning him a permanent spot at their meals. One day, Sterling gives him a lump of sugar, which Rascal unwittingly dissolves in his milk and then is comically confused about where it went. He soon learns not to do this, however, and develops a keen sweet tooth—forcing Sterling to hide the sugar bowl from then on.

Rascal’s intelligence is evident in his learning to go in and out of the house through the screen door. One night, he joins Sterling in bed unannounced. Sterling welcomes the surprise and allows Rascal to sleep next to him from then on, making him feel less lonely. News of the war overseas occasionally keeps Sterling up at night, but Rascal’s company helps him forget about it.

One day, Sterling bikes out to the country to go fishing with Rascal on his handlebars. Rascal has come to love speeding on the bike. They pass Sterling’s mother’s gravestone on the way, momentarily darkening his mood, but considering the pleasures of the beautiful day, Sterling believes he’s as happy as anyone can be.

Sterling and Rascal arrive at Sterling’s secret fishing spot near a big dam. Sterling laboriously prepares his equipment, but Rascal dives right in and naturally starts hunting fish. Rascal catches a crayfish, which pinches him because he handles it incorrectly. He immediately learns his lesson and handles the next one perfectly.

With Rascal preoccupied, Sterling focuses on bagging a fish. After some near misses, he eventually lands a big catfish, subduing the fish in an exciting struggle. After a few less exciting catches, he packs up the fish and bikes back with Rascal, stopping for a bottle of strawberry pop, to which Rascal takes a strong liking.

Crows and raccoons are both drawn to shiny objects. One day, Poe, who doesn’t like Rascal, swoops down on him to steal a penny from his mouth that Sterling had given him, resulting in a fierce tussle. Sterling separates them, to the annoyance of both.

Sterling then returns to the 18-foot canoe he has been building in his living room. He’s struggled to find material for the ribs, but he suddenly thinks to use the sturdy wood from cheese crates. He goes out and gets some from grocers whom he’s friends with and is delighted to see that the material works.

Suddenly, Sterling’s sister Theo arrives in a car. Theo took care of Sterling after their mother died, and Sterling is thrilled to see her, but he’s somewhat intimidated by her as well: she has strict standards for domestic propriety. She’s aghast upon seeing the condition of the living room, with Sterling’s giant canoe under construction in the center. She starts commanding him to clean everything up, but Sterling complains that she’s not his mom, making her emotional.

Theo insists on taking the downstairs bedroom, where Sterling has been living with Rascal. Theo has not noticed Rascal yet, as he’s been quietly blending in with a tiger rug. When he suddenly emerges, she’s horrified and demands Sterling get him out. Sterling obliges, knowing that Rascal can get back in whenever he likes. As Sterling predicted, Rascal arrives in Theo’s bed that night, eliciting her bloodcurdling scream. Sterling defensively tells her that it’s Rascal’s bed she’s staying in.

When Theo’s expensive engagement ring disappears one day, Sterling gets a flash of insight: Rascal could have taken it from her room in the night, and Poe could have taken it back to his roost in the church belfry. Sterling gets the pastor’s permission to climb the rickety belfry tower, and at the top, he’s shocked to discover that Poe’s nest is strewn with other shiny things he’s lost over the years. Among them is Theo’s diamond ring, which he returns to her, delighting her so much that she relinquishes her plan to hire a housekeeper to watch over Sterling and keep the place in check. She simply cleans up the house and then, one day, takes off again.