Two Roads: Chapters 1–4

by Joseph Bruchac
While his father is on a campaign to pressure Congress and President Hoover to deliver bonus payments owed to veterans of the Great War, twelve-year-old Calvin Blackbird must fight his own battles at a federal agricultural Native American boarding school in Oklahoma.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–11, Chapters 12–17, Chapters 18–22, Chapters 23–30
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. snare
    a trap for birds or small mammals; often has a slip noose
    “Rabbit run.”
    “All right, Cal,” he replies. “Good eyes, son. After we make camp, we’ll set up some snares.”
  2. stoke
    (of a fire) stir up or tend
    There’s not all that much wood to split and stack. No more than a cord. But Red’s wife, Rose, as big-boned as her husband, makes like we got enough done to heat their cabin and stoke the cookstove for a year.
  3. render
    cause to become
    But rinsing and wringing out our shirts at the pump renders us presentable enough for polite company.
  4. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    The first sign, older by the way it’s weathered, is a square missing its top line. It’s the sort of sign a hobo loves to see. It means this is a safe place to stop for the night.
    But the second two signs, more recent, are ominous.
  5. perturbed
    thrown into a state of agitated confusion
    I am feeling perturbed about whoever the tramp was who did the homeowner wrong.
  6. apt
    naturally disposed toward
    More likely it was a tramp, someone too lazy to work and apt to steal your boots while you was sleeping.
  7. breech
    opening in the barrel of a gun where bullets can be loaded
    “You bring it on in with you. It is not loaded, anyway.”
    “I know, ma’am,” I say, opening it to show the lack of any shells in its breech.
  8. falter
    speak haltingly
    He is paying careful attention to her words, as if his life depended on them. Whenever she seems about to falter or lifts a nervous hand to push back that thick brown lock of her hair, he speaks a word or two of encouragement.
  9. emulate
    strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
    He has a way of paying attention that makes people feel good about themselves. I am not sure where he learned that, but it is something I intend to emulate whenever I have the opportunity.
  10. heed
    careful attention
    It was him who carried me over one shoulder back to the trench, running, leaping over the shell holes and the bodies of fallen men, right through the barbed wire, paying no heed to bullets and shells.
  11. sluice
    pour as if from a conduit that carries a rapid flow of water
    “Your turn,” he says, taking the pump handle.
    I bend and wash my face and hands as he did, sluicing away not only the dirt, but also as much as I can of a memory of pain and loss—a memory I’ve somehow shared.
  12. resonant
    characterized by a loud deep sound
    “Creator,” Pop says, his voice deep and resonant, “we three who have gathered here give thanks for this food, this gift. We thank the bird that gave its life, the plants that also allowed themselves to be sacrificed to feed us.”
  13. disclose
    expose to view as by removing a cover
    Then he struck a match.
    And chuckled at what the light disclosed.
  14. idle
    silly or trivial
    The tone of Pop’s voice has changed now from idle questioning to focused intent.
  15. shanty
    a small crude shelter used as a dwelling
    Painted white, with little flowers drawn on the outside walls, it’s bigger than most shelters Pop and I have rigged up whenever we’re stayed a day or two in a jungle. Truth be told, it is better made than any of the shanties in the Hoovervilles, growing up like weeds all over the land these days.
  16. cogitate
    consider carefully and deeply
    “Look here,” Pop says, bringing me back out of my cogitating.
  17. swath
    a path or strip (also figurative)
    A six-foot-wide swath of smoothed earth stretches across the red soil of the field.
  18. reckon
    judge to be probable
    I reckon it is not far from the train tracks, which I remember being on the other side of the next hill.
  19. ramshackle
    in poor or broken-down condition
    It’s a ramshackle affair. A tent constructed of a piece of canvas stretched over the low limb of an oak tree. It’s tacked to the branch on top with bent nails and held in place at the bottom by rocks at the base.
  20. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Rise up is indeed what our cut-boot chicken thief does—propelling himself from horizontal to vertical so that he brings that makeshift tent right up with him, making him look like some sort of a ghost in a canvas shroud.
  21. girth
    the distance around something, especially a person's body
    He’s big—both in height and girth.
  22. bulbous
    rounded and bulging
    His nose is bulbous, his eyes set close together under a mop of straw-colored, dirty hair.
  23. wager
    stake on the outcome of an issue
    I would wager a dollar that no comb has touched that unruly mess for months.
  24. endowment
    the act of providing with a permanent source of income
    “The twenty-one-year endowment life insurance policy every man jack of us was issued in ought-twenty-four.”
  25. compensation
    something given or received as payment or reparation
    “Now we got back this knife and the pot you stole,” he says. “So no compensation needed there. But those hens you took?”
    Pop picks up the two silver dollars. “This will pay for them.”
  26. purloin
    make off with belongings of others
    Miz Euler is right pleased. Not only has she gotten her knife and kettle back, but the two shiny silver coins Pop is placing in her palm are fair payment for her purloined pullets.
  27. resent
    feel bitter or indignant about
    Few things make folks resent us ’boes more than when a careless left fire pit sets the surrounding woods and fields ablaze.
  28. lope
    run easily
    The grade here keeps the rate of the train at just the right speed for a man to lope along next to it, then grab a handrail.
  29. unencumbered
    not burdened with cares or responsibilities
    Pop’s decision for us to ride the rails together was easier to make then, both of us being so unencumbered. Me of school, Pop of what earthly goods he’d owned, and both of us no longer having Mom, the one loss that truly broke our hearts.
  30. reminisce
    recall the past
    Unless he starts reminiscing of his own accord, asking Pop anything about the Great War is not a good idea.
  31. betide
    become of; happen to
    That black mood can last a minute, an hour, or even a day. And woe betide any man who should cross Pop’s path then and do or say anything that might be taken amiss.
  32. amiss
    in an improper or mistaken manner
    That black mood can last a minute, an hour, or even a day. And woe betide any man who should cross Pop’s path then and do or say anything that might be taken amiss.
  33. visage
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
    “Railroad Will,” the professor says. “Couldn’t make out your visage, turned away as you were when you came catapulting in. But I should have discerned it from the dramatic manner of your entrance.”
  34. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    “Railroad Will,” the professor says. “Couldn’t make out your visage, turned away as you were when you came catapulting in. But I should have discerned it from the dramatic manner of your entrance.”
  35. errant
    straying from the right course or from accepted standards
    “Correct me if am errant in my judgment, Will.”
  36. repast
    the food served and eaten at one time
    “Care to share some of this repast?” he asks as we walk over to where he’s cooking.
  37. strait
    a bad or difficult situation or state of affairs
    Add to a meal, you get to share it. When you don’t, you don’t. Unless you’re truly in dire straits.
  38. canteen
    a flask for carrying water; used by soldiers or travelers
    The professor and I wash our food down with water from Pop’s army canteen.
  39. dappled
    having spots or patches of color
    Dappled morning sunlight is streaming in through the open door.
  40. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    As I watch, he reads and then rereads the page he’s holding up in front of him. He’s looking at it so intently that it seems as if his eyes might burn a hole into it.
Created on Sat May 04 11:54:36 EDT 2024 (updated Mon May 06 11:02:41 EDT 2024)

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