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To reach the woods, the boys have to cross a railroad trestle bridge. The bridge has no room for pedestrians, so if a train comes, the boys will either be hit or fall into the rocky waterbed below. Chris dares Gordie to go across, which means Chris has to lead the group, and Gordie holds up the rear. Gordie soon feels a train coming and starts to run, hurrying Vern ahead of him. They make it safely across right as the train zooms past. As they walk along, Chris asks Gordie to tell the group a story he’s been working on. Gordie tells the group “The Revenge of Lard Ass Hogan,” a story about an overweight kid who sabotages a pie-eating contest. The main action of the novella is interrupted by a published version of the rest of the story, written fifteen years later. Elements of the story have changed since Gordie told it to his friends. Back in the main timeline, Vern and Teddy don’t like the ending of the story, which dampens Gordie’s confidence.
While Vern and Teddy walk ahead, Chris tells Gordie that Vern and Teddy aren’t smart enough to understand his work. He predicts that soon their gang will split because Gordie will go on to pursue more advanced classes so he can leave Castle Rock, go to college, and become a writer. Gordie insists he doesn’t want the group to break up. He asks Chris why Chris can’t join him in advanced classes even though he’s smart enough. Chris explains that because of his reputation as a thief from a bad family, there’s no way the teachers will give him a chance. He confides that during a childhood incident where he was accused of stealing the class milk money, he did in fact steal the money but returned it to the teacher. The teacher used the money to buy herself a new skirt. Chris begs Gordie to pursue writing and leave them behind because if Gordie stays with them, he’ll become a juvenile delinquent.
That night, the boys camp out, cooking hamburgers over a fire. While sleeping, they awake to hear a frightening scream that they worry is Ray Brower’s ghost, but Chris suggests it might be a wildcat. The boys take turns keeping watch throughout the night. While he’s asleep, Gordie dreams that a teacher is forcing Chris to recite a poem while treading water, only for the undead corpses of Vern and Teddy to drag him deeper into the water. Gordie wakes up with a start to find Teddy shaking him awake for his watch. During his watch, Gordie sees a deer on the train tracks and is in awe of its beauty. He knows he won’t ever have the right words to tell his friends about it.
