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Overview
Amos Kincaid is the son of a dowser – a person gifted in knowing how to "find" water deep in the ground. As a young person, Amos doesn't reveal his gift to others; he's not sure he wants the burden. But through his experiences growing up and crossing the Oregon Trail, Amos learns about life's harsh realities, especially the pain in losing loved ones. As he cares for those around him, Amos comes to accept his dowsing fate. This epic novel is a fascinating period piece about the westward expansion and one man's destiny as he searches for love and family.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781429924887 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) |
| Publication date: | 05/11/2010 |
| Sold by: | Macmillan |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 320 |
| Lexile: | 730L (what's this?) |
| File size: | 831 KB |
| Age Range: | 10 - 14 Years |
About the Author
Kimberly Willis Holt is the author of the many award-winning novels for young adults and children, including My Louisiana Sky, Keeper of the Night, and When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, winner of a National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She is also the author of the bestselling Piper Reed series of chapter books, and picture books including Waiting for Gregory and Skinny Brown Dog. Holt was born in Pensacola, Florida, and lived all over the U.S. and the world—from Paris to Norfolk to Guam to New Orleans. She long dreamed of being a writer, but first worked as a radio news director, marketed a water park, and was an interior decorator, among other jobs. She lives in West Texas with her family.
Twenty three years ago Kimberly Willis Holt stopped talking about wanting to be a writer and started to pursue her dream. Because of her family's Louisiana roots she considers herself a southerner, but her father's military career took her to places beyond the South, including Paris and Guam.
She's the author of more than fifteen books for a wide range of ages, many of which have won awards and honors. Her third novel, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She writes and gardens in Texas.
Read an Excerpt
The Water Seeker
By Kimberly Willis Holt
Henry Holt and Company
Copyright © 2010 Kimberly Willis HoltAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4299-2488-7
CHAPTER 1
BITTERSWEET CREEK 1833
JAKE KINCAID WAS KNOWN as the dowser. With a forked branch, he'd made his way from the Arkansas Territory to Missouri, stopping at farms to find water for new wells. His plan was to raise enough money so he could do what he wanted and never pick up the branch again. But the dowsing was a gift. And a gift might be abandoned, but it will always be there, waiting to be claimed.
One farmer didn't have money, so he paid Jake by giving him a parcel of land with a cabin. Since winter was settling in, Jake decided to stay there until spring, when he'd take up trapping. His cabin sat a hundred steps from Bittersweet Creek and about a mile, as the eagle flew, from the Hurd place. When their oldest daughter, Delilah, showed up at his door, begging for a place to stay, he'd not been with a woman in a long time. Without thinking, he said, "Well, I reckon I could marry you."
A few months later, Jake went west to trap. He left each fall and returned in the summer after the trappers' rendezvous. The life suited them. Delilah had a safe haven from her pa's temper, and Jake had someone to come home to. And most satisfying to them both were the months of solitude that they craved.
DELILAH STROLLED through the woods, thinking about how that day felt especially hot. Jake would be making his way from Green Valley, and when he arrived he'd expect a clean house and a hot meal. She hurried home to prepare for him.
Anticipating Jake's arrival always brought on dread and excitement. Every year, Jake traded for supplies with an artist who painted the mountain man's way of life. Delilah looked forward to getting new paints, brushes, and paper. But she also loved her time alone in the woods. And the birds. She loved the birds.
Delilah treasured walking among the pines and cypress trees. She'd grown to appreciate the smell of her own sweat and the way it mixed with the musky smells of the earth. Now she'd have to wash all that away. Jake's return meant she'd have to bathe more often, keep house, and cook meals.
From him, she'd learned how appearances deceived. Her pa, Eb, was a small man who looked as gentle as a cat, while Jake was stocky, barrel-chested, and furry like a bear. He could talk until the sun fell out of the sky, but Jake didn't have a temper. To Delilah, listening to Jake drone on and on about his trappings was a good trade-off.
A FEW DAYS later, Jake arrived. He grabbed hold of Delilah and pressed his lips against hers. When it seemed he'd never let go, she wiggled free and grabbed his leather satchel in search of the new paints and brushes. She moved so quickly that the bag dropped with a thump to the floor, causing a glass to crack. Staring down at it, she could clearly see her own reflection. "What's that there?"
Jake sighed and collapsed upon a chair. "A mirr-o. Was one."
She took off his boots and fed him a bowl of vegetable and bacon soup. Jake gulped down the broth in less time than it took to sneeze. Then he fell asleep.
Delilah carefully set the hand mirror on the table next to her tablet and stared into it. The crack ran the entire length of the mirror, but what she saw fascinated her. She touched her red hair that frizzed like the threads on a ball of wool. When Delilah was a young girl, her ma braided it in a long pigtail and smoothed the wild hairs with lard. Delilah's finger stroked the lines of her nose and her wide chin. She smiled, not just because she was amused, but because she wanted to see what would happen to her face. She had a space next to her black tooth. She'd lost the tooth when Eb punched her for not milking the cow a few years back. Delilah was amazed that a piece of glass could reveal the history of her life. A fire burned inside her, and she began to draw.
IN THE MIDDLE of the night, Delilah heard Jake ease out of bed and pull on his boots. She knew what was next. He did it every summer when he returned. And she knew for sure he thought she didn't know. Last fall, she'd lifted the rock under the oak tree, hunting crickets for fish bait. She discovered the muslin sack buried in the ground under the rock. When she saw the money inside, she fell back on the ground and laughed. Jake didn't know her at all. Money didn't mean a thing in the world to Delilah.
For three months, Delilah cooked and cleaned for Jake, all the while gazing outside the window, praying for cool weather to come. Several weeks before the leaves turned crimson and orange, Jake packed up his mule and headed toward the mountains.
A month later, a sour taste formed in Delilah's mouth and she vomited her breakfast of bread and blackberry jam. Immediately she felt better, but the next morning, the sickness returned. Two months later, her belly began to round out like a melon. She cursed Jake's name to the trees, even threatening to kill him.
Then one November night, as if the heavens had heard her cries, light poured through the cabin window, awakening Delilah from her sleep. She hurried to the porch and discovered streaks of light streaming across the sky. All the stars are falling, thought Delilah. But instead of being afraid, she settled on the top step and watched. There were thousands, too many to count. She just waited and watched. The light was so bright she could clearly see a doe and her young buck in the thick of the woods. The heavens had given her a gift. And hours later, when the shower of light ended, she felt sad.
The next day, Delilah awoke craving bread. Before sunset, she'd baked twelve loaves and eaten three. She tore the other loaves in tiny pieces and scattered them on the porch. In the morning, the birds had discovered her offering. She pushed the table next to the window and began to paint.
By the time winter arrived, Delilah's resentment had disappeared and a softness for the life inside her was growing, though at times she believed they were in conflict with each other. When Delilah curled up in bed to sleep, the baby kicked hard, until she got up and walked the floor. At which time the baby became still. Whenever Delilah settled at the table to draw, the baby caused a burning inside her gut that made her drop the pencil and give up for the day.
She began to dream the same vision each night. In her dreams, she heard a baby cry. Then she saw herself standing by a long winding river. A baby floated by, his little arms stretching toward her. But try as she did, she could not reach him. Downriver, a woman picked up the baby and handed him to another woman. That woman handed him to yet another. And so it went, the baby being passed down through a chain of women along the river. This dream occurred so often, Delilah started to think of it as a premonition. No matter what, she believed her child was destined for trials and tribulations. He would struggle. Delilah was certain of it.
Spring arrived, and Delilah spotted new nests every day. She discovered them in tree branches and corners under the porch cover. She even found one in the hole of the barn wall. The birds crafted their nests from bits of twigs, dead grass, corn husks, and Delilah's hair. She loved seeing her red strands woven in with all the other textures. She always believed she was a part of nature. This was proof of it.
In May, the baby birds began their flight lessons, and a feeling came over Delilah that she, too, was about to spread her wings and take off. She couldn't explain it, but the feeling became stronger each day.
One afternoon, as she walked through the woods, an old blackbird called out to her. A-mos, it said. A-mos, a-mos. The wind began to howl, but she could still hear the bird's chant. A-mos, a-mos, a-mos.
When it was time for her baby, she had no choice but to fetch her ma. She set out for their cabin, walking the mile through the dense woods. Even though it was May, the mornings remained cold. And since there was no worn path, Delilah followed the smell of smoke rising from her parents' chimney. The pain in her womb kept her from noticing the cloud of birds flying above the treetops that towered over her head.
As she'd predicted, her brother Silas was hoeing the garden with Eb.
"I heard you coming the whole way," Eb said. "I could hear those dad-gum birds. They's always following you."
Eb feared birds ever since one swept down and pecked him in the nose. The incident happened three years ago after he'd taken a strike at Delilah. That was the day she took off for Jake's cabin.
A huge flock of crows landed in the garden. Silas removed his hat and waved it overhead as he ran about trying to scare them away. His long, thin limbs caused him to resemble a scarecrow that suddenly came to life. The birds flew away from Silas's reach, circled the garden, then returned.
"Shoo! Shoo!" Silas hollered as he flapped his hat, turning to his right, then his left. He started to spin.
If she'd not been in pain, Delilah would have laughed.
Eb narrowed his eyes at Delilah's stomach. "Looks like you got yourself in a heap of mess, gal."
"I had me a man to help."
Wiping his forehead with his sleeve, he said, "I can see that."
"Jake's my husband."
"I reckon you want your ma. Lolly's in the house." He turned away from her and joined Silas in his crusade, stomping his feet at a group of crows.
Delilah felt the air close up around her. Just returning there had brought back all the bad thoughts. Then Daisy, her seven-year-old sister, ran over and hugged her legs. The girl stared up at Delilah's big stomach and said, "You're as fat as an old grizzly bear."
Delilah stroked her sister's golden red hair. "And you're as tiny as a little squirrel."
Her other siblings acted as if she were a stranger, cowering behind the ladder that led up to the loft. That bothered her most, more than seeing her pa. They've been poisoned against me, she thought. Or maybe they resented her for leaving because Eb had gone to hitting one of them. Her eyes searched each of their faces and arms for bruises, lingering longest on Daisy's. Relieved to discover none, Delilah figured she was probably the lone thorn in her pa's side.
Delilah wanted to return to her cabin for the baby to be born, but Lolly insisted on finishing Eb's dinner first. The sharp pangs came quicker, and Delilah paced on the front porch until Lolly finally joined her. They were making their way through the woods, heading back to the cabin, when Delilah's water broke. Before the sun was down, she was crying out for Jake.
The birds' chatter grew so loud that Lolly hollered, "Them birds are driving me crazy!"
The labor was long and hard, which puzzled Lolly since she'd merely grunted and pushed one time to bring each of her babies into the world. And when Lolly saw more blood coming from Delilah than she'd ever seen with all her own births put together, she suspected the outcome wouldn't be good.
Delilah's screams turned to groans, and her groans became whimpers.
Lolly went outside and found a stick, then gave it to Delilah. "Here, bite down on this."
Delilah yanked the stick from her mouth and flung it across the room. "It tastes like mud."
When the baby finally came, he was red as a ripe raspberry. Wails escaped from his wide mouth as he shook his tiny fists in the air.
Chuckling, Lolly held him up. "This boy is mad." She placed him next to Delilah's breast to suckle. "He's a strong one. What you reckon you'll call him?"
Delilah's lips brushed the light fuzz on his head, and she closed her eyes. Her words came out soft. "Amos is a good name."
"Amos?" Lolly mused. "Where in tarnation did you get that from?"
Delilah didn't answer. She just said, "Tell Jake I done my best. Don't let my baby forget me."
With that, she took her last breath. The cabin and the world outside the window grew silent. And every bird at Bittersweet Creek flew away.
CHAPTER 2AUGUST 1834
THE RENDEZVOUS had been held at Ham's Fork that year, and Jake tarried a little longer than usual. He'd met up with Isaac Bolton and some of the other free trappers that he'd missed in Green River the year before, when he'd hurried to get home to Delilah. Isaac was a legend in the trapping world, and Jake liked being seen with him. As if by doing so, he'd raised his own worth.
When Jake finally arrived at Bittersweet Creek, he noticed right off that something wasn't right. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, though. Then he found Daisy on the porch.
"Hi, Jake," she said, looking up at him from a squatting position. She was playing with a corncob doll.
"Hi, Daisy." Jake wondered if Daisy had run off from her ma and pa. The little gal always begged to live with them each time she visited. But Delilah sent her home, knowing Eb would seek revenge.
Inside the cabin, Lolly held an infant. "Reckoned you'd been back before now," she said. "Me and Daisy stayed here waiting for you the last few months. Eb couldn't stand the baby's cries. This baby wails more than any young'un I ever had."
Jake dropped the satchel of paints and pads on the table. "Where's Delilah?"
Lolly pointed to the oak tree behind the cabin, the same oak tree where Jake hid his money. Only now a cross replaced the stone. Jake felt numb.
Lolly stood and walked over to Jake and handed the baby to him. "I'd stay, but I've got my own young'uns to tend to."
Jake stared at her full belly and realized that she'd have another one soon. He peered down at the baby. He wasn't sure what to do with it. A lot had happened while he was away in the mountains.
Daisy ran over to him and touched the baby's toes. "They look like little berries. I want to eat them." She gently nibbled.
"I told you to stop that," Lolly snapped. She held out something to Jake that appeared to be made from some animal's intestine. "Had to butcher your calf to make a bottle."
He didn't bother to ask what had happened to the meat. Last he counted, Delilah had six siblings.
"It's a boy," Lolly said. "Good thing. Girls are so much trouble."
"What's his name?" Jake asked.
"Delilah said she fancied Amos."
From the front window, Jake watched Lolly and Daisy enter the woods heading back to their home. They carried some elk meat that Jake had dried into jerky. He couldn't blame Lolly asking for meat. He'd heard Delilah complain how her pa expected them to live on nothing but the vegetables he grew in his garden. Jake figured if they split Eb open, onions and turnips would tumble out.
As he stared out the window, it came to him what that uneasy feeling had been when he first approached the cabin. The birds. They'd appeared the day Delilah had shown up at his door. Their chirping drove him mad until the sound became a constant hum sinking into his head. Now silence overwhelmed him, and except for a dove resting on the porch rail, not a bird was in sight.
Jake walked to the back of the cabin. Sure enough, the rock was gone. Which, of course, he reasoned, meant the bag was gone, too. Three hundred dollars. All the years he'd added money to the bag. Most of the other trappers lived hand to hoof, and those that managed to save extra put their earnings in the bank. Not Jake. He liked knowing where his money was at all times. No doubt Eb and Lolly had it now. If someone had told him the day before he'd been robbed by his in-laws, he'd been ready to clean his shotgun, but today it was all he could do to try and take in what had happened to Delilah.
The baby began to squirm, then started to cry. Jake held tiny Amos close, then scouted around the cabin until he found the bottle. As Amos sucked, Jake tried to focus on his new situation. Soon a warm, wet feeling came from the baby's bottom. He remembered the diaper squares that Lolly showed him. She'd made them from Delilah's old clothes. A lump formed in Jake's throat as he recognized the muslin pieces that had once been Delilah's skirt.
Jake changed the cloth. It wasn't the taking off, but the putting on that was such a challenge. Amos squirmed while Jake clumsily tied the string around the baby's waist to hold the cloth to his body. The dove was still at the window watching him. How could Delilah up and die on him like this? he thought. Then he quickly felt guilty, knowing that in a strange way he was responsible for her death and now for the life of this baby.
He decided to blame Lolly for walking out so quickly. Heck, she and Eb had so many young'uns, what was one more to them? He immediately regretted that thought, too. Delilah would surely come back and haunt him if he left their baby with her folks. And now they had his money, too. Although what was he planning to do with it anyway? Maybe the money would somehow trickle down to Delilah's siblings and that would be a good deed. Something that Delilah would have wanted. Either way, the money was gone. He had other matters to deal with now.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt. Copyright © 2010 Kimberly Willis Holt. Excerpted by permission of Henry Holt and Company.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Reading Group Guide
Discussion Questions
1. Jake Kincaid was known as a dowser. However, he preferred being a trapper. Why did Jake try to ignore his gift of dowsing in favor of spending long months trapping animals?
2. Delilah's image appears to many characters including Henrietta and Rebecca. Who else witnessed Delilah's vision and how did they respond?
3. When Gil and Rebecca started the mission at Pretty Water, they had hopes that the Otoe would attend the church and the schoolhouse they had built. What were some of the challenges and barriers Gil and Rebecca encountered in life at the mission?
4. Jameson Block became a central fi gure in Amos Kincaid's life. How did Amos meet Jameson? What was the artifact that bound them together? And how did their relationship change over the years?
5. In The Water Seeker, birds offered comfort, created an annoyance, or resulted in food for the trappers and pioneers. What was the signifi cance of the birds to characters such as Delilah and Blue Owl as well as to others?
6. What was a day like in the life of a member of the wagon train on the Oregon Trail? What role did men, women, and children play as the settlers moved west?
7. There were many hazards on the Oregon Trail. What were these hazards and how did they affect the members of the wagon train?
8. When Amos fi rst encountered Gwendolyn, "he wondered if she was born that way. In his entire life, he'd never seen anyone so horrifying" (p. 145). As the story progresses, Amos begins to view Gwendolyn differently. Did Gwendolyn's appearance change or was it the way Amos viewed her? How did their relationship change over the course of the book?
9. Many characters experienced the loss of a loved one—Amos never knew his mother, Daisy lost her husband, Homer, in a tragic accident, and darling Eliza became the victim of a terrible misfortune resulting in profound grief for her family. How did these characters respond and cope to the losses they endured?
10. Readers are introduced to protagonist Amos Kincaid as a baby. How does Amos evolve as a character? What events impacted him as a boy and as a man?