So as he waited for the bus under the Kentucky star sign, and as the first drops of rain fell from the sullen sky, Rob imagined the tiger on top of his suitcase, blinking his golden eyes, sitting proud and strong, unaffected by all the not-thoughts inside straining to come out. What does sullen mean?

They were still out in the country, only halfway into town, when the bus lurched to a stop. What does lurched mean?

"I know it," the girl said. Her voice was gravelly and deep, and the words sounded clipped and strange, like she was stamping each one of them out with a cookie cutter. What does gravelly mean?

"Yeah," said Norton. He cuffed Rob on the ear. "What are you staring at, disease boy? Come on," he said to Billy. What does cuffed mean?

"And I'm not staying here in Lister. My father is coming to get me next week." She looked around the room defiantly. What does defiantly mean?

"Yes, sir," said Rob. He didn't look at Mr. Phelmer. He stared instead at the paneled wall behind the principal's head. It was covered with an astonishing array of framed pieces of paper--certificates and diplomas and thank-you letters. What does certificates mean?

"Here's the situation, Rob. Some of the parents--I won't mention any names--are worried that what you've got there might be contagious, contagious meaning something that the other students could possibly catch.," What does contagious mean?

"I know," said Rob. "I know what the Sistine Chapel is." Immediately, he regretted saying it. It was his policy not to say things, but it was a policy he was having a hard time maintaining around Sistine. "I bet," Sistine sneered at him. "I bet you know." What does sneered mean?

"In the meantime, you can help me out around here," his father said. "Do some of the maintenance-man work at the motel, do some sweeping and cleaning for me. Beauchamp's running me ragged." What does running me ragged mean?

And every time Rob's father extended his hand to somebody else, Rob saw the ripped place in his suit, where it had split open when he slapped Rob to make him stop crying. And it reminded Rob again: do not cry, do not cry. What does extended mean?

She looked at the motel and then over at the blinking Kentucky Star sign, and then she looked back at him, as if it was all a math equation she was trying to make come out right in her head. What does equation mean?

"We got to walk through the woods," Rob said. He looked doubtfully at Sistine's bright dress and shiny black shoes. "You can give me some of your clothes to wear," she told him. "I hate this dress anyway." What does doubtfully mean?

She did not doubt him, as some people would. Instead, she said, "Michelangelo, the man who painted the Sistine Ceiling, he sculpted too. You're a sculptor," she said. "You're an aritist." What does sculpted mean?

"He can't own everything," Sistine argued. "Besides," she said, "I don't care. He can catch us. He can put us in jail for trespassing. I don't care." What does trespassing mean?

"We could let him go," said Sistine. "We could set him free." She put her hands on her hips. It was a gesture that Rob had already come to recognize and be wary of. What does wary mean?

The tiger stopped pacing. He pricked his ears back and forth, looking somewhere past Sistine and Rob. "Shhh," said Rob. What does pricked his ears mean?

Every night, the house lit up like a constellation, and they were all inside it together, the three of them. And they were happy. What does constellation mean?

When she turned her head, Rob recognized Sistine's profile, her sharp chin and pointed nose, but the mouth was different, tighter. What does profile mean?

Sistine growled somewhere deep in her throat and stalked to the car and got in and slammed the door. "You're the liar!" she shouted from the back seat of the car. "You're the one who lies!" What does stalked mean?

Rob took hold of the sheet, and as it billowed out between them, a memory rose up before him: his father standing out in the yard, holding his gun up to the sky, taking aim at a bird. What does billowed mean?

"What are you going to do with him?" Rob asked.

"I'm studying my options. I figure I could set him up out front of the Kentucky Star, have him draw me some more business into the motel," replied Beauchamp.

What does options mean?

"Name?" said Beauchamp. "He ain't got a name...you want to get introduced proper?" said Beauchamp in a mocking voice. What does mocking mean?

Beauchamp grabbed hold of the fence and shook it. The tiger looked up from his meat. His muzzle was red with blood; he stared at Beauchamp with a fierce look in his eyes that was familiar to Rob. What does muzzle mean?

Norton and Billy Threemonger started pelting Rob with date palms before the bus even came to a complete stop. What does pelting mean?

"Tigers are an endangered species, you know," she said. "It's up to us to save him." What does endangered mean?

They found Willie May vacuuming the shag carpet in Room 203. Sistine went up behind her and tapped her on the back. What does shag mean?

She kept her hand balled up, as if she was still searching for something to hit. What does balled mean?

"Sistine!" he shouted as he ran. "Sistine!" he screamed. And miraculously, he saw her--her orange dress with the pink polka dots--glowing on the horizon. What does miraculously mean?

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys and held them in front of her, proudly, as if he had just conjured them out of thin air, as if they had never existed before. "I'm going to do it," he said. "I'm going to do it for you." What does conjured mean?

"Get out of the way," he shouted, and they both jumped back from the door and waited. But the tiger ignored them. He continued to pace back and forth in the cage, oblivious to the open door. "Go on," Rob said to him.

What does oblivious mean?

The whole way back to the Kentucky Star, Rob held on to Sistine's hand. He marveled at what a small hand it was and how much comfort there was in holding on to it. What does marveled mean?