The Madman of Piney Woods: Chapters 7–16

by Christopher Paul Curtis
Thirteen-year-olds Benjamin (the son of runaway slave) and Alvin (the grandson of Irish immigrants) live in different Canadian towns in 1901, but they meet in the woods and end up working together to hunt down the Madman in this companion novel to Elijah of Buxton.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–16, Chapters 17–21, Chapters 22–32, Chapters 33–50
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. daft
    foolish or mentally irregular
    Of course I didn’t believe the nonsense the twins were spouting, but I’ve noticed if a person sounds really sincere when they’re telling you something and they even will disobey an adult’s orders because they’re so scared, you’d have to be daft not to wonder what they’d seen.
  2. cur
    a cowardly and despicable person
    She cried, “Go ahead, ye little red-haired cur; ye think I don’t know what ye’ve planned for me since your eyes first blinked into mine thirteen years past? Here! Here, blackheart, I’ll make it easy for ye! D’not use a spoon; use what it is the divils are telling ye to!”
  3. divan
    a long backless sofa, usually with pillows
    He sat down and patted the spot next to his on the divan.
  4. asylum
    a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced people
    Father paused and I knew it was a time in which I was supposed to reflect on Grandmother O’Toole being forced into an asylum.
  5. brogue
    a strong regional accent, especially an Irish or Scottish accent
    Those words and the return of his Irish brogue always signaled Father’s best efforts to reason with me.
  6. mortified
    made to feel uncomfortable because of shame or wounded pride
    He’d bring back dead animals every day as gifts for your mother. She was mortified!
  7. scourge
    something causing misery or death
    That cat was the scourge of every bird and mouse and even rabbit in the neighbourhood.
  8. begrudge
    allow unwillingly or reluctantly
    Grandmother O’Toole would never accept any kind of gift from me.
    She would only begrudgingly accept one from Father.
  9. scalawag
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
    I pretended I tipped a hat at them, took a big bow, and said, “It’s a pleasure doing business with my two new partners. Give me a hug, you little scalawags! There’s something very special about being in business with your own family, isn’t there?”
  10. gaggle
    a large, disorganized group of people
    Father shook the cane, and the light tinkling sound assured us that a whole gaggle of Irishmen had gotten away with something.
  11. opine
    express one's view openly and without fear or hesitation
    Bucky said, “I don’t think so. This bass weighs a bit more; it’s the biggest,” and passed the fish to Curly.
    Curly opined, “Naw, the perch is heaviest.”
  12. rile
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    We gave Curly quizzical looks that he’d risk riling Petey. He’d apologized for his previous rude remarks and the newly kind Petey had accepted, but perhaps this was too much.
  13. embellish
    add details to
    Father had said, “Alvin, it’s human nature to embellish. Don’t blame the Baylis boys. That’s what naturally happens to any story over time, especially an eyewitness story. I had a professor in law school who lectured us on eyewitnesses and told us that ninety-nine percent of the time, they are worse than worthless.”
  14. loath
    unwilling to do something contrary to your custom
    Since I am a scientist, I am loath to believe in anything superstitious or otherworldly.
  15. searing
    intense or sharp
    I rolled my head in the direction of the disturbance and suffered a searing moment of white-hot terror.
  16. materialize
    come into being; become reality
    Below, not fifty yards away, an odd, human-seeming figure materialized from between the trees of the forest.
  17. apparition
    a ghostly appearing figure
    This apparition before me, which seemed to slip in like a fog, could be only one person: I had the dire misfortune of awakening and having my eyes fall on the South Woods Lion Man!
  18. dire
    causing fear or dread or terror
    This apparition before me, which seemed to slip in like a fog, could be only one person: I had the dire misfortune of awakening and having my eyes fall on the South Woods Lion Man!
  19. plight
    a situation from which extrication is difficult
    The drumbeat of my heart filled my ears as the realization of what a horrible plight I was in dawned on me.
  20. tendril
    something long, light, slender, and often curling
    I was close enough to see it was hair, a massive clump of snarled hair fanning out in thick, snakelike tendrils that were tangled and woven in the manner of the most impenetrable bramble one could imagine.
  21. bramble
    any of various rough thorny shrubs or vines
    I was close enough to see it was hair, a massive clump of snarled hair fanning out in thick, snakelike tendrils that were tangled and woven in the manner of the most impenetrable bramble one could imagine.
  22. malady
    impairment of normal physiological function
    Even though his dark brown face was smooth and unwrinkled, the way his lower jaw and chin seemed collapsed showed he had suffered the same malady many of the older people in Chatham had—he’d lost most of his teeth.
  23. rabid
    infected by an acute viral disease of the nervous system
    His next actions would probably be to scamper up the tree in the manner of a giant rabid squirrel and dispose of me in a most horrible and painful way.
  24. befall
    happen or be the case in the course of events or by chance
    In those final seconds before I was to be eaten, I hoped this beast wouldn’t leave my body tangled in the high branches of this oak. If he did, my loving father would never know what a cruel end befell his only child.
  25. strenuous
    characterized by or performed with much energy or force
    With a sound that reminded me of the puffing snort a horse gives after a strenuous race, he closed his eyes, threw back his head, and released a long sigh, no doubt gathering his strength to better scamper up the tree and kill me.
  26. roost
    settle down or stay
    My terror, which had seconds before begun to leave me, came home to roost with a glowing, red-hot intensity.
  27. allotted
    given as a task or a portion
    One reaches a point of accepting that one’s allotted time on earth is at an end.
  28. epiphany
    a usually sudden insight, perception, or understanding of something
    There comes an epiphany that fighting is useless, and once that point is reached, there is relaxation, there is calmness, there is almost light-headed happiness.
  29. quandary
    a situation from which extrication is difficult
    But if something happens and the runaway team of horses is somehow diverted, or the illness disappears, or the South Woods Lion Man chooses at the last second only to pee on your oak tree and then acts embarrassed about it, one is left in a bit of a quandary.
  30. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    Best of all, Mother had embroidered BENJAMIN in bright gold letters across the top middle pocket.
  31. naught
    a quantity of no importance
    Here ye are blessed with a perfect, clear recollection of everything whilst poor, unschooled, dirty little street urchin that I am remembers naught.
  32. prompt
    urge, encourage, or motivate someone to act
    Even without Father’s prompting, I’d always wanted to know more about her time coming to Canada, but other than an odd hate-filled mention or two, she’d never spoken with me about it.
  33. changeling
    a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy
    She’d never spoken with me on any subject other than what a grand and glorious fool I was and how the only way she could explain my being in her family was that I was a changeling, that a spite-filled troll had switched me with her real grandson at birth.
  34. nary
    colloquial for 'not a' or 'not one' or 'never a'
    Oh, laddie, ’twas nary a thing wrong with the ship.
  35. strapping
    muscular and heavily built
    Even me oldest brother, who’d been a big strapping lad weighing nearly thirteen stone afore he starved to death, was light enough at the end that ’twas I who dragged him to the door, then to the curb where he’d be collected for burial in the pits.
  36. prone
    having a tendency
    While she was normally very expressive in everything she had to say and prone to exaggerations and bluster and a great waving of her arms and fluttering of her hands, she now became very still and began speaking in the most eerie and cutting monotone.
  37. bluster
    vain and empty boasting
    While she was normally very expressive in everything she had to say and prone to exaggerations and bluster and a great waving of her arms and fluttering of her hands, she now became very still and began speaking in the most eerie and cutting monotone.
  38. cudgel
    a club that is used as a weapon
    Those of us who still had strength to do so stood huddled at the door, waiting for the gunshot or a quick scuffle and scream or the sounds of cudgels battering Father’s head and spilling his blood into the dead soil.
  39. shroud
    wrap in a burial garment
    Bitter did we weep only three days later as we kissed and shrouded the poor souls farewell and set them out, but we should’ve saved our tears.
  40. transfixed
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    I’d been so transfixed that Father’s voice startled me.
Created on Thu Sep 29 10:37:38 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Jun 30 13:44:36 EDT 2023)

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