Under a Painted Sky: Chapters 33–43

by Stacey Lee
When 15-year-old Samantha, a Chinese-American girl living in Missouri in the mid-19th-century, finds herself on the wrong side of the law, she and her best friend embark on a journey westward, following the Oregon Trail.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–13, Chapters 14–21, Chapters 22–32, Chapters 33–43
40 words 158 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. traverse
    journey across or pass over
    We spent the day traversing the foothills of a vast mountain range that stretches to the north.
  2. aggravated
    made more severe or intense especially in law
    Cay turns the paper back toward himself and reads: “‘Wanted for murder of two innocents: Amelia Dearborn, a baby, and Cedric Dearborn, 37 y.o.; AND, seven counts of aggravated assault and robbery. Last seen at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Armed and dangerous.’”
  3. harbor
    secretly shelter, as a fugitive or criminal
    “He’d be harboring a fugitive. So would the boys.”
  4. recant
    formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief
    Father always blamed President Van Buren’s Tiger nature for the Panic of 1837 when he wouldn’t recant a decision not to interfere in the economy.
  5. foliage
    the collective amount of leaves of one or more plants
    In the late afternoon, we reach a running stream full of fish. We follow it to a dumpling-shaped clearing hidden by dense foliage.
  6. sheepishly
    in a manner showing embarrassment or shame
    “There’s a first time for everything,” says Cay, a little sheepishly. “Tomorrow we’ll just turn around.”
  7. grudgingly
    in a reluctant manner
    I peruse our slice of the world and grudgingly agree.
  8. cheeky
    offensively bold
    I open my mouth to deflect the question or give a cheeky answer, but close it again, suddenly weary.
  9. obstinate
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    My shameful tears water the dirt as I bow my obstinate head.
  10. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    I recall his fitful sleep after the stallion bite, when he cried out, “She didn’t do it!”
  11. plume
    anything that resembles a feather in shape or lightness
    The fire releases plumes of gray smoke when I throw on a chunk of pine with too much sap, and I use a rag to clear the air.
  12. salve
    a preparation applied externally as a soothing remedy
    The man carefully cuts away the trousers, exposing a large wound below the boy’s hip bone. Quickly, I fetch clean rags and boiled water, plus the bandages and salve that Cay bought in Fort Laramie.
  13. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    His eyes study my face so intently I begin to sweat, sure that he’s figured me out.
  14. indignation
    a feeling of righteous anger
    “I am not,” I say with mock indignation, playing along.
  15. eulogy
    a formal expression of praise for someone who has died
    “Sammy, you write my eulogy yet? I hoping you could say, 'Pedro Hernando Gonzalez, he rode his horse to the end.’”
  16. proffer
    present for acceptance or rejection
    She bats away my proffered hand and gets up on her own.
  17. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    In the somber light of predawn, the pine trees take on the eerie silhouette of hulking phantoms with gnarled limbs and shriveled goblins, waiting to jump out at us.
  18. proceeds
    the income or profit arising from a transaction
    “Ty Yorkshire started the fire,” I say aloud. The only one to hear is Paloma, who ignores my sudden outburst. He blamed it on Father so he could get the insurance proceeds.
  19. abate
    become less in amount or intensity
    After an hour or two, my anger has abated a notch, but whether that is from mental discipline or sleepiness, I cannot be certain.
  20. stipple
    produce a mottled effect
    Softwoods stipple the landscape as far as the eye can see: bristled lodgepole pine, stately hemlocks with tops bent like sleeping caps and the white pines with their straight trunks that run unbranched on their bottom halves.
  21. tarry
    stay longer than you should
    I don’t tarry long.
  22. tumultuous
    characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination
    The river has grown so tumultuous that I cannot fathom crossing without a bridge, and the faint odor of rotting eggs stings my nose.
  23. cadence
    a recurrent rhythmical series
    Soon a new sound catches my ear, lower in cadence and more pounding, like the beat of a kettledrum.
  24. crest
    reach a high point
    We crest a hill and a waterfall rises before us, a torrent of white as great as God’s beard.
  25. torrent
    a violently fast stream of water or other liquid
    We crest a hill and a waterfall rises before us, a torrent of white as great as God’s beard.
  26. dissipate
    cause to separate and go in different directions
    From behind us, a herd of elk scales the mountain with more haste and power than we just did. They storm past us in a blur of gray fur and antlers, then dissipate like a cloud of smoke.
  27. canter
    a smooth three-beat gait
    “Princesa,” I cry, spurring Paloma to a canter.
  28. baleful
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    When we reach her, Princesa turns a baleful eye to me, but it doesn’t faze me. I hug her neck.
  29. stagnate
    cease to flow
    Below, a river stretches a hundred feet across, a rolling strip like a dragon’s tongue. It stagnates toward the middle, but ruffles at the south end before the drop-off.
  30. haggard
    showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
    He looks even more haggard than when last I saw him, with heavy bags under his eyes and a gash across his cheek.
  31. crude
    not carefully or expertly made
    “I’m sorry,” I whisper. Was it because of my crude operation? Did I make things worse?
  32. furtively
    in a secretive manner
    She grabs the edges of her hat, then looks furtively around her.
  33. burgeon
    grow and flourish
    The Dragoon slips in my sweaty hand, and I quickly put it down to wipe my palms, inhaling deeply to tamp my burgeoning panic.
  34. quarry
    a person who is the aim of an attack by a hostile influence
    Ian slowly approaches his quarry until he stands in Isaac’s shadow.
  35. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Angus sidles up to his brother.
  36. garish
    tastelessly showy
    It is a trick of the cruelest type that she came all this way, from a garish hotel to a mythical waterfall, only to have the reason for her journey vanish into thin air.
  37. scrabble
    grope, scratch, or feel searchingly
    I scrabble back toward the supply pile.
  38. buoyant
    tending to float on a liquid or rise in air or gas
    My body hangs, suspended in some buoyant medium.
  39. brooch
    a decorative pin
    The water sparkles like a sapphire brooch pinned to the earth.
  40. swath
    a path or strip (also figurative)
    The pines stand guard and a swath of blue sky covers us.
Created on Wed Jun 03 15:36:23 EDT 2020 (updated Mon Jun 08 16:35:21 EDT 2020)

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