The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise: Chapters 33–48

by Dan Gemeinhart
Coyote and her dad have been living on the road since the deaths of her mother and sisters. When Coyote finds out that a park in her hometown is being demolished, she determines to trick her dad into returning so she can retrieve a memory box that she and her family once buried there.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–10, Chapters 11–18, Chapters 19–32, Chapters 33–48
35 words 328 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sulk
    be in a huff and display one's displeasure
    Rodeo was driving, and he was doing a nasty combination of fuming and sulking, so I was doing my best to leave him alone while also keeping an eye on him.
  2. troupe
    an organization of performers and associated personnel
    Gladys, like Val and Salvador and Lester and Esperanza and Concepción, was a great addition to our troupe.
  3. cordial
    politely warm and friendly
    He gave her a fair amount of owl-eyed staring when she first scrambled on board and his introductory sniffs were cautious at best, but within a few minutes they’d done some cordial mutual nose-sniffing, and within twenty miles he seemed to have forgotten that Gladys hadn’t always been a part of our pack.
  4. turmoil
    violent agitation
    Ivan seemed to be picking up on my human emotional turmoil, and he stuck close by me, following me around in the bus, watching me out the windows when I was outside pottying Gladys, jumping right up on me when I lay down.
  5. baffled
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    “Where’s Rodeo?” I asked him.
    “Rodeo?” the guy answered with a baffled look.
  6. ransack
    search thoroughly
    The clerk was standing up now, clearly pretty alarmed by the girl walking around his store and ransacking the men’s room.
  7. amplify
    increase the volume of
    “This is the Chelan County sheriff,” an amplified voice commanded.
  8. apprehend
    take into police custody
    “Dispatch, this is Griffith. I have that Minnesota girl from the APB here in custody, and have apprehended the suspect as well. We’re on Highway 4 westbound at mile marker one-zero-eight. Please send backup, over.”
  9. subdue
    put down by force or intimidation
    “Well, I didn’t realize you made a promise to your daughter, sir,” the cop said, and Rodeo’s small smile grew. “And I couldn’t care less,” the cop continued. “Turn around and put your hands behind your back and do it now or I will forcibly subdue you. And quit staring at me like that.”
  10. domestic
    of or involving the home or family
    “Sheriff’s office is a little understaffed at the moment, and the only other officer on duty is a couple hours away on a domestic call. I can’t fit you all in my squad car, and I’m not about to sit around on the side of the highway for a couple hours. So.”
  11. bail
    money forfeited if the accused fails to appear in court
    "...I’m gonna take you to the sheriff’s office, where you will call your parents, and you will be held until such time as charges are pressed and bail is posted.”
  12. probe
    question or examine thoroughly and closely
    “You know you gotta do this. You gotta. And you know together is better than alone. So let’s do it. Together.” He looked at me, those eyes of his all intense and probing and sparkly.
  13. aneurysm
    an abnormal bulge caused by weakening of an artery wall
    “Eureka is a city in California. That’s where Rodeo taught me how to drive this old thing. He said he didn’t know if or when I’d ever have to get behind the wheel—you know, if he had a stroke or an aneurysm or something—but he figured I better know what I was doing...."
  14. rollicking
    given to merry frolicking
    I turned the radio back on and let the rollicking music drown out any more conversation.
  15. fugitive
    someone who is sought by law officers
    Salvador and I were officially fugitives from the law.
  16. nimble
    moving quickly and lightly
    Yager was a beast and Yager was reliable, but Yager was not particularly nimble.
  17. behemoth
    someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful
    If that cop got in front and blocked us, I wouldn’t be able to maneuver this eight-ton behemoth quick enough to dart around him.
  18. metropolis
    a large and densely populated urban area
    Poplin Springs had never been a big town, and even though Grandma had said it was growing, it still wasn’t, like, a bustling metropolis or anything.
  19. adrenaline
    hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
    The outdriving-a-cop-in-a-speeding-school-bus adrenaline drained slowly out of my body and a lump grew in my throat.
  20. pudgy
    short and plump
    I had some good memories about that swing set—memories of a mom’s hand on my back, pushing me high; of Rose learning to kick her pudgy toddler legs; of jumping-off contests with Ava when I felt like I was flying, but lost to her long legs every time—but it was too late for the swing set now, and I wasn’t here for it anyway.
  21. size up
    look at closely in order to form an opinion about
    I looked urgently around as I ran up to the scene of the crime, trying to size up where things were, where things had been, where things were supposed to be.
  22. gouge
    make a groove in
    I tried to find them there amid the root-ripped trees, the gouged ground, the torn trench. I listened for where their echoes might still ring.
  23. wield
    handle effectively
    But I was standing in a ditch that came up to my waist. We hadn’t buried the box that deep. Not even close. The hole hadn’t even been knee-deep, scratched out clumsily by kid muscles wielding a little spade.
  24. seethe
    be in an agitated emotional state
    The cop seethed, but he zipped his lip and just stood there, rocking on his heels and looking nasty.
  25. cascade
    rush down in big quantities
    I scraped the shovel nose back, but the dirt above came cascading down so quick that I couldn’t see anything and I stabbed with the shovel one, two, three more times and each time I carved a little more dirt away and each time it made that little sound and each time that sound was a little louder.
  26. encrust
    cover or coat with some material
    With a slow, careful hand I wiped the dust off the top of the box. It was dinged up and dirt encrusted and rusty. It was perfect.
  27. indignation
    a feeling of righteous anger
    “I’m gonna go over to that tree over there. And I’m gonna go through this box. Just for a few minutes. And then I’ll go with you. You don’t need your gun. You don’t need your handcuffs.” I looked at Gladys, who still stood trembling with ready indignation. “You probably do need to avoid eye contact and sudden movements, though.”
  28. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    Mom came first, walking by herself. Dad and Ava and Rose were farther back, taking their time, talking and meandering.
  29. alight
    shining brightly as if on fire or aflame
    She stopped, off by herself, facing into the sunset. Her eyes were alight with the sun’s fire.
  30. scrawl
    write carelessly
    I put the rock back in the box, laying it down gentle as a bird’s nest, and picked up the top piece of paper. It was a drawing, scrawled in crayon with a four-year-old’s care, sloppy and beautiful.
  31. cinch
    pull, fasten, or tie something tightly
    Then, a little silk pouch stuck in a corner, cinched closed with a drawstring. I pulled it open and turned it over into my hand and a single twirl of gold fell out onto my palm.
  32. officious
    intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
    I appreciated that he only cleared his throat, that he hadn’t growled or snarled or said something hard or officious or impatient.
  33. dire
    causing fear or dread or terror
    There were quite a few conversations with various authorities. There were an awful lot of stern looks and wagging fingers and dire warnings.
  34. duress
    compulsory force or threat
    Rodeo was actually surprisingly innocent in the whole affair, apart from kinda sorta encouraging me to do it, but even that was under duress and in code.
  35. flit
    move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
    So one night, when Grandma was in cleaning the dinner dishes and Rodeo and I were sitting out on the back porch watching bats flit and dart through the dim evening air, I asked him, “When we leaving?” and he waited just a few seconds before answering, “I was thinking the day after tomorrow,” and I nodded to myself and looked away, off toward the shadowy shapes of those hills that had welcomed me home.
Created on Mon Jan 13 19:12:57 EST 2020 (updated Tue Jan 28 16:14:06 EST 2020)

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