Chapter 9 Summary

Just about everything that happens to Opal that summer happens because of Winn-Dixie. For instance, she never would have met her new friend, Gloria Dump, if it weren't for him. One day, after working at Gertrude's Pets, Opal was riding her bike and Winn-Dixie was running beside her when Winn-Dixie decided to take a detour into an overgrown front yard.

Dunlap and Stevie Dewberry--both shaved bald in the summer after Dunlap had contracted fleas from their cat--saw this happen and tried to warn Opal that her dog had gone into the witch's house. They teased her, saying that the witch likes to eat dogs. She ignored them.

Opal swung the gate open while Dunlap and Stevie rode away. She walked into the thickness of a deep jungle with every kind of flying bug and plant growing everywhere. She worried about losing Winn-Dixie and...