Serafina and the Black Cloak: Chapters 7–12

by Robert Beatty
This first book of the series introduces twelve-year-old Serafina, who secretly lives in the basement of 19th-century Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, but she risks getting caught in order to save other children from a mysterious man in a black cloak.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–12, Chapters 13–19, Chapters 20–31
40 words 9 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. warily
    in a manner marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    Braeden looked warily into the darkness that surrounded them and walked forward a few feet in the direction the carriage was facing.
  2. dismay
    fear resulting from the awareness of danger
    As Serafina shrank back from the danger in frightened dismay, Braeden rushed forward and put himself between her and the horses.
  3. plight
    a situation from which extrication is difficult
    The branches buffeted and creaked, as if anxious in their plight. It appeared that many of the trees were dying.
  4. carp
    raise trivial objections
    “I just hope we can get there,” Mr. Crankshod carped beneath his breath, stomping back.
  5. heedless
    characterized by careless unconcern
    She turned and sprinted toward it, heedless of the sound she made.
  6. caterwaul
    make a shrill and unpleasant screeching sound
    She caterwauled a wild and crazed screech of anger.
  7. voluminous
    large in capacity or bulk
    He tried to pull her off his back and wrap her in his voluminous black cloak like he had the others, but Braeden pulled back a mighty swing and slammed the man’s head with a large branch.
  8. trill
    a note that alternates with another note a semitone above it
    When a screech owl gave an eerie trill in the distance, it startled Braeden, but the sound of the bird calmed Serafina.
  9. lavish
    characterized by extravagance and profusion
    If he was accustomed to ladies like Anastasia Rostonova, with her lavish dresses, or even Miss Whitney, with her rose-scented perfume, she couldn’t imagine that her own scent would be too pleasant for him.
  10. impending
    close in time; about to occur
    “I’m the machine mechanic’s daughter,” she said finally. She just said it. Just like that. Out loud. Even as she said the words, she felt both pride and a sickening feeling of impending doom that she had betrayed her father.
  11. commission
    place an order for
    Even the buttons had been wrought with his very own initials, BV, etched upon every one. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt must have commissioned those buttons, she thought.
  12. eccentric
    conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
    The ladies and gentlemen of elite New York society thought this was extremely eccentric behavior. Why would such a highly educated man born and raised in the civilized luxury of New York City want to live in the wilderness of such a dark and forested place?
  13. ilk
    a kind of person
    She had heard the servants talk about how hundreds of ladies and gentlemen, servants, and folk of every ilk came out for the funeral.
  14. consternation
    sudden shock or dismay that causes confusion
    He fished for trout in the streams, but much to the consternation of the cook, he always released whatever he caught.
  15. extravagant
    characterized by richness and abundance
    His aunt and uncle lived in a world of extravagant parties, but from a distance, Braeden seemed to find more accomplishment in riding a horse or repairing the wing of a wounded hawk than dancing with the girls at the resplendent proms.
  16. resplendent
    having great beauty
    His aunt and uncle lived in a world of extravagant parties, but from a distance, Braeden seemed to find more accomplishment in riding a horse or repairing the wing of a wounded hawk than dancing with the girls at the resplendent proms.
  17. sashay
    walk with a lofty proud gait, often to impress others
    She watched the girls in their lovely gowns sashaying this way and that, dancing with the boys, and drinking sparkling punch from a giant fountain in the center of the room.
  18. hack
    chop or cut away
    As the gang of men went to work with great two-man saws and lumber axes to hack away the tree, Mr. Vanderbilt climbed his way through the branches, crossed over the fallen trunk, and hurried toward Braeden.
  19. yellow-bellied
    easily frightened
    “Those yellow-bellied sorts aren’t the type of men to stick around after an attack. I’m sure they’re long gone by now.”
  20. brazen
    not held back by conventional ideas of behavior
    “But it’s hard to believe that bandits would venture such a brazen attack so close to Biltmore. I’m going to ask the police to increase their patrols of the road.”
  21. portly
    fairly large
    As the men gathered around Braeden, happy and relieved that they’d found him, Serafina noticed Mr. Rostonov, the bearded and portly Russian ambassador, step away from the others and stand alone at the edge of the road.
  22. hackles
    a feeling of anger and animosity
    But there was something about Crankshod, all smiling and greasy, that raised Serafina’s hackles. What was he really doing?
  23. bracken
    large coarse fern often several feet high
    The path led her around a sharp curve and plummeted into a steep, bracken-choked ravine, then it climbed back out again, making its way among large moss-covered rocks and old trees twisted by wind and age.
  24. obscure
    make unclear or less visible
    As she made her way, a mist rose up from the leaf-covered forest floor, and a fog set in that obscured her view of the terrain around her.
  25. eviscerate
    remove the entrails of
    Its body had been eviscerated, its guts ripped out.
  26. raucous
    unpleasantly loud and harsh
    They were the same eerie noises she had heard before, but this time they were much closer: hoarse, raucous calling sounds, but with a strange, almost human quality, like some kind of weird children running and playing in the forest.
  27. plunder
    steal goods; take as spoils
    But as she delved deeper into the oldest parts of the abandoned cemetery, she saw mounds where bodies had definitely been buried, and other graves that were empty holes, as if the coffins had been plundered or the dead had crawled out of the ground on their own.
  28. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    Tree branches lay like emaciated dead fingers on the ground among the gravestones and monuments.
  29. plaque
    a tablet that commemorates a person or achievement
    An old, weathered plaque explained that these sixty-six crosses were the graves of an entire company of Confederate soldiers who were found dead one night, even though they never fought in any battle.
  30. likeness
    similarity in appearance or nature between persons or things
    In the center of the glade stood a stone monument carved into the likeness of a winged angel.
  31. dappled
    having spots or patches of color
    Dappled layers of green and gray moss and lichen covered the angel, and the black streaks of a hundred years of aging stained her long dress and her beautiful face.
  32. amble
    walk leisurely
    It gave her a raspy meow and ambled toward her as if it didn’t have a care in the world.
  33. rivulet
    a small stream
    Rivulets of water flowed across the rocky ground beneath her.
  34. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    Wet and bedraggled, she clung to the trunk of the tree, terrified that she’d slip down the steep slope of the mountainside.
  35. contour
    a feature of anything having a complex structure
    She had been following the contour of the ridge because it had been easiest, but now she had a different idea.
  36. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    She stepped closer to the edge and peered tentatively over the cliff.
  37. tumultuous
    characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination
    The stream led her to a waterfall that crashed into a tumultuous pool thirty feet below.
  38. wax
    increase in phase
    The waxing moon rising above the mountains cast a silvery light across the deep-flowing black water.
  39. plaintive
    expressing sorrow
    A wolf called in the distance, a long, plaintive, lonely howl that put a shiver up her spine.
  40. elusive
    skillful at evading capture
    Red wolves were elusive, almost mythological beasts, seldom seen by anyone, but they were well known for being fierce warriors that fought in packs, tearing their enemies with their gleaming white fangs.
Created on Wed Apr 10 15:52:18 EDT 2024 (updated Sat Apr 13 10:36:51 EDT 2024)

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