Why does Beatrice assist Roy in "Hoot"?
The answer to this question could vary depending on exactly which time you are asking about in reference to Beatrice helping Roy. I would say that the first time that Beatrice offers to help Roy occurs in chapter 7. Roy is attempting to bring Mullet Fingers a shoe box that contains . . . shoes. Beatrice stops him and doesn't actually believe that the box contains shoes. She is surprised to find out that the box actually does, but she is still very much suspicious of Roy.
"Why are you carryin' around an extra pair of sneakers?"
Roy doesn't actually have a reason that he can verbalize, but I think that Beatrice can sense that he has good intentions; however, she isn't about to let Roy deliver the shoes. Beatrice offers to help Roy out. She offers to take the shoes to the barefoot running kid (Mullet Fingers) if Roy...
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promises to stop investigating the kid.
"I'll make you a little deal."
"Go on," said Roy.
"I'll see that the barefoot kid gets these shoes, but only if you promise to leave him alone. No more spying."
"So you do know him!"
Basically, Beatrice offers to help Roy out the first time as a bribe to keep him away from her brother.
Beatrice helps Roy because at first she feels sorry for him as he is new in town. Roy is being terrorized on the bus by a bully named Dana Matherson. Beatrice doesn't help Roy so much out of caring for Roy as out of dislike for Dana. She also knows who the "barefoot boy" is.
Later as their relationship develops, she helps him because he is helping her step-brother. They have a crusade against the construction company that is going to destroy the burrowing owl nest sites.
Beatrice helps Roy because she feels he is helpless in the new town. He doesn't know what he is getting into when dealing with her step-brother, and she is afraid that if Roy says or does too much, her step-brother will be "sent off" again. Beatrice feels compelled to police Roy so that her step-brother will be protected from the consequences of Roy's "meddling".
Why does Beatrice initially dislike Roy in Hoot?
For starters, Beatrice and Roy's relationship gets off to a rocky start because he pushes her out of his way as she is getting onto the bus. The reason he pushes her is his desperation to get off the bus and find out more about the barefooted running boy who he has now seen twice through the bus window. The other reason that Beatrice hates Roy is that the barefooted boy is her stepbrother, and she is trying to protect him from being seen or caught.
Roy becomes aware of Beatrice's hatred for him when she confronts him in the cafeteria, and his initial impression of her is that she's yet another bully that he has to contend with. She accuses him of nearly knocking her down that morning, but she denies having seen the running boy whom Roy refers to. She suspects, however, that Roy has seen her stepbrother, who is nicknamed Mullet Fingers. Mullet Fingers has escaped from boarding school and doesn't want to go home to his difficult mother. Beatrice hates Roy initially because she realizes that he has seen Mullet Fingers, and she doesn't want him to find out the truth. Everything he knows about Mullet Fingers is a threat to the safety of her stepsibling's secret. She tells him in no uncertain terms to mind his own business, which of course, he does not.