When facing challenges, Mattie acts resourcefully. Once yellow fever approaches their house, Mattie and Grandfather decide to leave town, so they do not catch the disease. Yellow fever makes its way up the street, so they know had to leave. At the entrance of Pembroke, men authorized by the town council halted the wagon and denied them access until a doctor had examined their eyelids and throats. Because the doctor is concerned about Grandfather’s cough, Grandfather is denied entry to Pembroke. Mattie must act resourcefully to help Grandfather rest comfortably under the chestnut tree. She does this by making a pillow for Grandfather so he can rest. She describes, “I untied my apron and filled it with timothy grass until I formed a soft pillow for Grandfather’s head. I wanted to ask him what we should do next, but he was asleep again before I could say a word”…show more content… After being kicked of the wagon for supposedly having the fever. Maddie must find food to keep Grandfather and herself from starving. Mattie currently knows that there is a river near the street where Grandfather is resting. Mattie heads down to the river to hunt for fish. Once Mattie is at the river she has nothing to fish with. So she makes one out of her coat., “Fish! But how to catch one with neither line nor hooks? Where was Nathaniel Benson and his fishing pole when I needed him? My wet petticoat swayed in the breeze. It would have to do” ( ). Mattie makes a fishing net out of her petticoat. This shows that when put under pressure Mattie can make her own decisions and act on them. When Mattie hears the fish jumping in the water it reminds her of when she went fishing with Nathaniel. Mattie once at the stream is faced with a problem. When fishing with nathaniel the have a rod and hook but when in the wild she cannot find one. Mattie feels her petticoat “sway in the breeze.” Which brings her to the idea of using her petticoat as a trap to catch
