Worth: Chapters 11–22

by A. LaFaye
Set in Nebraska during the late 19th century, this novel follows the lives of Nathaniel, a boy recovering from a farm injury, and John, an orphan adopted by Nathaniel's father to help work on the farm, as they form a friendship and help each other navigate through the challenges of small-town life.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–22
35 words 22 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bellow
    make a loud noise, as of an animal
    Fence cutters struck under the cover of night, snipping through barbed wire and spurring the cattle to stampede into the fields. The bellowing shook me from my sleep. Rising, I could see the dusty cloud of horns and backs trampling through our corn.
  2. ashen
    pale from illness or emotion
    “What’s happening?” John asked, his face ashen as he met me in the kitchen.
    Grabbing his coat, I yelled, “Someone’s let the cattle through. We’ve got to herd them back!”
  3. bluff
    a high steep bank
    Mr. Clemson lived on the bluff over the river nearly a mile away.
  4. straggler
    someone who strays or falls behind
    As Ma and Pa drove the cattle onto the slope toward the river, I stood in the door yard, waving madly with my coat and John’s to shoo stragglers toward the road.
  5. tinge
    a slight but appreciable amount
    The boy couldn’t even walk straight, so I dumped him into a chair. His legs trembled more than mine usually did. A quick tinge of revenge sunk under the weight of my pity. What had scared this kid enough to make his bones quake? A kid who’d seen a boy hang.
  6. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    John didn’t speak, he just panted down his fear while the makeshift tea brewed, then took the cup with a nod as I said, “It’ll quiet you.”
  7. lurk
    wait in hiding to attack
    Thieves and killers lurked in the shadows of the street.
  8. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    An idea rose up in my throat. I nearly choked on it, but I let it out in a whisper, “I could show you a few things.”
    “Yeah?” John scoffed. “I hope you’re better at farmwork than you are reading. Or your pa might as well ship me back to New York now.”
  9. bystander
    a spectator who does not participate in some event
    Pa paced as he spoke. “That’s what this is about. The Gantrys want every farmer at war with the ranchers. Then again, it could be the Danvers for all we know. Both families want blood. And they’ll shed the blood of bystanders to get it. We’re heading for war, Mary Eve. War.”
  10. yellow-bellied
    easily frightened
    And I hid from it like a yellow-bellied coward, keeping my mind on figures when it wasn’t wandering back to the musical note Anemone Cordimas put at the end of my name.
  11. leer
    look suggestively or obliquely
    Alexander leered at me, but he didn’t say nothing. He didn’t trust me, but his sister sure did.
  12. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Horace Danver and his crew had taken to gathering behind the soddie, talking in low growling whispers that seemed to work them up into a stampeding frenzy. They’d charge out of the soddie like they were ready to tear it apart. I had to keep clear of them, so I sidled inside.
  13. citified
    having the customs or manners of someone urban
    Going outside didn’t mean I had to cross paths with John and his citified ways. I could clean the stalls or feed the animals, maybe even slide onto old Belle and have me a look around the place.
  14. bridle
    headgear for a horse
    Couldn’t get the bridle on Belle fast enough. Using the stall door, I climbed up on her back, then rode out.
  15. passel
    a large number or amount
    Even with a good harvest on the remaining corn and the hay, we’d never bring in enough to pay off the bank. No matter what Pa might be saying to Mr. Carter that morning, he had to be echoing a passel of other farmers.
  16. mangy
    affected with a skin disease causing itching and hair loss
    The whole of it made me jumpy inside and out as I tried to move fast enough to get between Ma and the back door. But she beat me there, throwing the door open, then tossing John into the room like he was some mangy raccoon that’d broken into our house.
  17. rant
    talk at length in a noisy, excited, or angry manner
    Slamming the door, Ma kept moving, bustling around the room, moving this and that, ranting to herself.
  18. stammer
    speak haltingly
    Ma leaned over me, shaking me by the shoulders. “How could you?”
    I stammered, but no words came out.
  19. hooligan
    a rowdy, violent, and typically youthful troublemaker
    “Raising your hand to another human being makes you no better than a hooligan.” Ma started to work herself into a sermon, then stopped real sudden. The look she gave the back door told me the wrong she’d done John had just set in.
  20. wince
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    Ma saw me turn and said, “You should be the one to help him, Nate.” She handed me the water bowl. “Take a good look at your handiwork.”
    He winced and even yowled once, but John let me clean him up because he had his mind on better things.
  21. gawk
    look with amazement
    Pa stepped down. “Clean the stalls when you’re done gawking. We got work to do come dawn.”
  22. tolerable
    capable of being borne or endured
    “I’m glad to be helping,” I said, bursting my egg yolk with my biscuit.
    Ma smiled. “I can tell. You’ve got a hearty appetite just thinking about it.”
    And the thought of it made school tolerable. Even when the upper grades had to make recitations of the Preamble to the Constitution.
  23. recitation
    a public instance of repeating something prepared in advance
    “I’m glad to be helping,” I said, bursting my egg yolk with my biscuit.
    Ma smiled. “I can tell. You’ve got a hearty appetite just thinking about it.”
    And the thought of it made school tolerable. Even when the upper grades had to make recitations of the Preamble to the Constitution.
  24. preamble
    a preliminary introduction, as to a statute or constitution
    “I’m glad to be helping,” I said, bursting my egg yolk with my biscuit.
    Ma smiled. “I can tell. You’ve got a hearty appetite just thinking about it.”
    And the thought of it made school tolerable. Even when the upper grades had to make recitations of the Preamble to the Constitution.
  25. ornery
    having a difficult and contrary disposition
    “That’s right. And her daughter seems mighty nice.” Now Ma was testing me.
    “A lot better than her ornery brother.” I liked Anemone, even liked the idea that her and my ma might be friends, but that didn’t mean I had to let on.
  26. kin
    group of people related by blood or marriage
    The way he closed his eyes tight told me he wasn’t talking about anything on the prairie. I figured his mind was back in New York with his kin.
  27. skulk
    move stealthily
    What's he up to? I thought, watching the fellow skulk through the grass like he might be stalking a pheasant or something. Wouldn’t catch nothing but air with his bare hands.
  28. skitter
    move about or proceed hurriedly
    I felt like a hawk watching a prairie dog skittering through the grass.
  29. fray
    a noisy fight
    Belle whinnied in surprise, then took off with the touch of my heels—she felt left out of the fray and wanted to catch up.
  30. banshee
    a female spirit who wails to warn of impending death
    Just beyond my own shouts, I could barely hear John praying up a storm as she pointed the gun at him. He had me wondering if he might pray to join his family or to stay alive awhile longer. Getting out, she kept her gun on John, then sidestepped to me, the screaming banshee in her grass.
  31. cur
    a cowardly and despicable person
    "...These boys ran straight to town to warn us. Didn’t stop there, though. Scared off a fence cutter on the Kerensky place.”
    “Then flopped around in her grass like a fish out of water,” I said.
    “No different than the marshal who goes after his man even after the dirty cur shoots him. He still gets the job done before he gives in to pain.”
  32. wrath
    intense anger
    By dawn, every one of them was facing the wrath of their fathers, some of them sent off to military school, some sent to work on the farms they’d nearly destroyed.
  33. dread
    be afraid or scared of
    “He needs to stay off this leg for at least a week.”
    “A week?” I dreaded the idea of being stuck in bed.
  34. tactics
    a plan for attaining a particular goal
    Even Mr. Danver came by, hat literally in hand. “I may have my differences with the Gantrys, Mr. Peale, but I don’t take to low-down tactics. If you’re amenable, Horace will be here to help you with the harvest. For free.”
  35. amenable
    disposed or willing to comply
    Even Mr. Danver came by, hat literally in hand. “I may have my differences with the Gantrys, Mr. Peale, but I don’t take to low-down tactics. If you’re amenable, Horace will be here to help you with the harvest. For free.”
Created on Thu May 19 20:43:34 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Jul 08 13:42:05 EDT 2022)

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