Wayward Creatures: Chapters 14–22

by Dayna Lorentz
Seventh grader Gabriel Meyer wanted to impress his friends, while a coyote named Rill wanted to be free from the responsibilities of her pack, but both end up dealing with the consequences of a destructive fire in a Vermont park.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–13, Chapters 14–22, Chapters 23–34
40 words 5 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. calico
    having patches colored differently and usually brightly
    “Gross!” she says, surveying the calico blobs on her clothes.
  2. gaggle
    a large, disorganized group of people
    Her gaggle of friends comes bustling over and shuffles in behind her.
  3. backstop
    a structure to prevent a ball from traveling out of a field
    I march to the field, along the edge of the grass, all the way to the far corner, away from the school, behind the backstop.
  4. trowel
    a small hand tool with a handle and metal blade
    He pulls out a trowel, jams it into the gray dirt, and digs down.
  5. fringe
    the outside boundary or surface of something
    He looks past me at the fringe of trees left on this end of the park.
  6. wistfully
    in a pensively sad manner
    “Yeah, not until they finish cleaning up the damage,” he says, then adds, kind of wistfully, patting his dog’s head, “We used to walk in there every day.”
  7. bandwagon
    a popular trend that attracts growing support
    I tried to push it again this summer when Mom revealed she was going back to work, but Liz was like, I'm too busy for a dog, and my parents were even more on the dogs-are-expensive bandwagon.
  8. scrounge
    obtain or seek to obtain by begging, pleading, or flattering
    I get it now—it's probably not a good idea to take on new expenses when one parent is scrounging for hours at a hardware store—but back then, I was so angry.
  9. funky
    having an offensive or unpleasant smell
    I’m finishing rinsing an especially funky bottle when I hear someone rattling down the sidewalk.
  10. prod
    urge on; cause to act
    Mom gives Dad another look, this time eyebrows up, like she’s prodding him into action.
  11. dispense
    administer or bestow, as in small portions
    “You done dispensing advice? I have homework.”
  12. slaver
    let saliva dribble from the mouth
    I pull myself in tight under the rock ledge, but can’t stop my jowls from slavering at the thought of food.
  13. prominent
    having a quality that thrusts itself into attention
    “Teeth?” It was a prominent feature of his, but I’m not sure that’s the nicest thing to name someone for.
  14. preen
    dress or groom with elaborate care
    Teeth shrugs and begins preening his whiskers.
  15. cavort
    play boisterously
    “You will? Oh, this is delicious!” He squeaks and cavorts in a circle.
  16. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    As he clambers out of the crevice, I allow myself to believe that he’ll find my family.
  17. indulge
    yield to; give satisfaction to
    I indulge in the hope that this is going to work, and that this isn’t the craziest thing any coyote has ever agreed to.
  18. upshot
    a phenomenon that is caused by some previous phenomenon
    My parents kind of let our backyard go this summer—I get it, both my parents were out looking for work. But the upshot is there are all these baby tree sprouts in our garden plots.
  19. rogue
    disposed to or engaged in defiance of authority or rules
    The local news station did a story on “Victims of the Fire”—it’s been a slow news week, I guess—and the park ranger guy assured some worried callers that the hunt for the rogue coyote had not been called off, but that they only had so many rangers and were spread a little thin.
  20. appeal
    a legal proceeding to review a lower court decision
    Right now, I’m researching if there’s some community justice center for wildlife, a place where maybe she could be rehabilitated or something and then released. Or if there’s some appeal process within the Fish and Wildlife Department, where I could plead her case.
  21. heft
    lift or elevate
    I don’t want to just drag it across the lawn and kill all the grass, so I heft the whole thing onto my back and haul it over.
  22. marsupial
    a mammal the female of which has a pouch carrying the young
    “A marsupial,” he squeaks. “We pouch-babies are kind of on our own in the forest, and that leads to us having to reach across species lines more than others.”
  23. burdensome
    not easily borne or endured; causing hardship
    His life is exactly what I wanted for myself. The freedom, the choices—no parent barking at you to put more effort into an attack, no burdensome pups sniffing around every meal you catch.
  24. maw
    the mouth, jaws, or throat
    He takes up another morsel, shoves it in his maw.
  25. profess
    state freely
    How much of his professed love of lonely living is an act to cover those growls?
  26. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    “You’re basing this off one howl?” Teeth asks, incredulous.
  27. fledgling
    young bird that has just become capable of flying
    I fought plenty with my siblings, and I’ve seen every other species go at it in my wanderings: raptors kicking fledglings out of the nest, skunks nipping at each other.
  28. degenerate
    a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable
    My dad’s always treated me like I was just another thing sucking his hard-earned money out of his pocket; now, I’m also the degenerate who cost him an interview.
  29. chafe
    become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
    I pedal hard, harder, so hard my legs start to burn, so fast the wind chafes my face, and then the tears are just part of the sweat on my skin, caused by the wind hitting my eyeballs.
  30. eddy
    a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind
    Wind rustles the changing leaves, and some loose ones—brown, yellow, reddish-green—flutter down, swirling in little eddies of air.
  31. incline
    an elevated geological formation
    It’s a ton of work—clearing the rocks, digging trenches for the thick slabs of wood to make the edges of the trails or to create steps on the steep inclines up a hill.
  32. congeal
    solidify, thicken, or come together
    Apple slices and a little bowl of honey sit beside the congealed meatloaf.
  33. pallet
    a portable platform for storing or moving goods
    “Yeah, those things forklifts move big piles of stuff with. The little wooden platforms? They’re called pallets.”
  34. regimen
    a systematic plan for therapy
    The conversation moves on to other things—something at Mom’s job, Liz’s new test prep regimen, Dad’s home oil change for the car—and I just eat and listen, and it’s almost like it used to be, before junior high, before everything started sliding into the pits.
  35. deter
    turn away from as by fear or persuasion
    “Terrifying,” I say. This move would not deter a single coyote, but I don’t have the heart to knock him down when he is so obviously impressed with himself.
  36. haunch
    the upper part of the leg of an animal, often used for food
    “You bet your butt it’s terrifying!” Teeth squeals, hunching back on his haunches and grooming his paws.
  37. vain
    having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
    He slides his long paws over his whiskers in what I’ve noticed is his sign that he’s impressed with himself. He’s a little vain about his whiskers, to be honest.
  38. frustrating
    discouraging by hindering
    I want to keep close to my nose that a pack can be frustrating, they can make you want to leave them forever, but they also are the warm body beside you in the den on a cold night, they are the other set of jaws defending your territory, they are a part of your world, and you are a part of theirs.
  39. shingle
    building material used as siding or roofing
    We’ve made three trips to the transfer station and one trip around the mall to the box stores and collected a ton of free stuff: nails, wood, wire, shingles, and more!
  40. invasive
    tending to spread in an uncontrollable and often harmful way
    Zach has me pulling buckthorn shoots—they’re invasive in Vermont—so it’s easy for me to sneak over to my girl.
Created on Mon Dec 04 14:40:12 EST 2023 (updated Wed Dec 06 11:22:06 EST 2023)

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