Chapter 16

Lily's Crossing

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

Copywork

By the time they had gotten to the wharf, she was walking on the sides of her feet, hobbling along.

The collar was wet when she gave it back to me. It was wet from where she was crying. It crackled when I felt it.

Albert says the collar was wet before he says why. Why does he tell it in that order?

For the educator Two passages, four sentences, in story order: Lily reaching the wharf over the gravel, then Albert’s memory of the day he left. The first is one sentence with three parts. It opens on a “By the time” clause and a comma, so we wait for the main part: “she was walking on the sides of her feet.” Then a second comma adds an -ing phrase, “hobbling along,” which shows how she walks. It is the funny picture that makes Albert try not to laugh. The second passage is quieter. Albert speaks in three short sentences with plain words. He says “wet” twice: the first sentence gives the fact, and only the second tells why. That order is the point of the talk. A student may say the wait lets the wet sink in before we learn it is tears, so the crying lands harder; another may say it is how Albert remembers, what he felt first and the reason after, the same slow way he said “It is important money” at the wharf. The third sentence turns from sight to touch and sound, and his next words, “There is money,” suggest why it crackled. Look for an answer tied to the order of the two sentences. Notice for yourself that both passages are about what a body feels, sore feet and a wet collar, one played for a smile and one for grief; leave that for the student to find. Claim nothing about how much money there is or what Nagymamma told him to remember. The vocabulary words wharf and hobbling both stand in the first passage.

Discussion

Narration Tell back what happens, from the locked door after church to Albert’s story about his coat.

1. Lily crosses her fingers when she tells Gram the dress is “all right.” Who is that lie really fooling?Moral reasoning

2. Gram says Lily could fall and kill herself, and then the radio says ten thousand have been killed. How does that news change the way you see Gram’s worry?Tone

3. Lily tells Albert about the purse, the deep water, Gram, even her ripped dress. Why won’t she tell him what’s in the towel?Character

4. Albert says “important” twice when he offers his money. What does he mean each time?Inference

5. Albert listens to Lily, then touches the edge of Eddie’s picture. What is he doing with that touch?Character

Make a Connection Think of something you, or someone in a story, kept because of who gave it. If it got used up, would it still mean the same thing?

Vocabulary

Crossword

1	2	3






		4

Across

Across 1. Guessed as closely as possible when no one can count exactly.
Across 4. Walking slowly and unevenly because it hurts to step.

Down

Down 2. An army forcing its way into a land held by the enemy.
Down 3. The path or way that leads up to a place.

The words in the chapter

estimated It is estimated that ten thousand have been killed
invasion It is estimated that ten thousand have been killed in the invasion of France.
approach A truck had scattered gravel all over the approach to the wharf.

wharf She held on to the wharf for a moment, pushing her hair out of her face with one hand, and felt Albert grab her wrist.
hobbling By the time they had gotten to the wharf, she was walking on the sides of her feet, hobbling along.
crouched She put the towel with the picture down on a bench and crouched on the edge of the dock to look down into the water.

Define These Words

wharf: A wooden landing built out over the water where boats tie up.
crouched: Bent low with knees folded, close to the ground.

Critical thinking

1. On the way to the wharf, Lily tells Albert to stop asking questions, but at the end she keeps her own question to herself. Is that the same Lily, or a changed one?

2. Albert’s grandmother sewed that money into his coat and told him to remember something whenever he touched it. Should he spend it on Margaret’s picture?