The Steep and Thorny Way

BOOK: The Steep and Thorny Way
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Winters, Cat.
Title: The steep and thorny way / by Cat Winters.
Description: New York : Amulet Books, 2016. | Summary: “A sixteen-year-old biracial girl in rural Oregon in the 1920s searches for the truth about her father's death while avoiding trouble from the Ku Klux Klan in this YA historical novel inspired by Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet'”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015022705 | ISBN 9781419719158 (hardback) | eISBN: 9781613129067
Subjects: | CYAC: Prejudices—Fiction. | Murder—Fiction. | Ghosts—Fiction. | Racially mixed people—Fiction. | Oregon—History—20th century—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Historical / United States / 20th Century. | JUVENILE FICTION / Horror & Ghost Stories. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Prejudice & Racism.
Classification: LCC PZ7.W76673 St 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015022705

Text copyright © 2016 Catherine Karp
Jacket and title page photography © 2016 Symon Chow
Book design by Maria T. Middleton

For image credits, see
this page
.

Published in 2016 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Amulet Books and Amulet Paperbacks are registered trademarks of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

Amulet Books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact [email protected] or the address below.

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IN LOVING
MEMORY OF
MY COUSIN
JIMMY
HACKER

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: MURDER MOST FOUL

CHAPTER 2: LESS THAN KIND

CHAPTER 3: DESPERATE WITH IMAGINATION

CHAPTER 4: SOMETHING IS ROTTEN

CHAPTER 5: WHERE WILT THOU LEAD ME?

CHAPTER 6: WILD AND WHIRLING

CHAPTER 7: THOU HAST THY FATHER MUCH OFFENDED

CHAPTER 8: THE PLAY'S THE THING

CHAPTER 9: SEE WHAT I SEE

CHAPTER 10: THE MOUSETRAP

CHAPTER 11: WITH FIERY QUICKNESS

CHAPTER 12: HOW UNWORTHY A THING YOU MAKE OF ME

CHAPTER 13: THE PRIMROSE PATH

CHAPTER 14: CAST THY NIGHTED COLOR OFF

CHAPTER 15: WHO IS'T THAT CAN INFORM ME?

CHAPTER 16: NOBLE DUST

CHAPTER 17: THE WEEPING BROOK

CHAPTER 18: DESPERATE UNDERTAKINGS

CHAPTER 19: NEVER DOUBT I LOVE

CHAPTER 20: BE EVEN AND DIRECT WITH ME

CHAPTER 21: MOST UNNATURAL MURDER

CHAPTER 22: O HEAVY BURDEN

CHAPTER 23: THE DEVIL TAKE THY SOUL

CHAPTER 24: THAT IT SHOULD COME TO THIS

CHAPTER 25: A VERY PALPABLE HIT

CHAPTER 26: HAD I BUT TIME

CHAPTER 27: THE REST IS SILENCE

CHAPTER 28: REST, PERTURBED SPIRIT

CHAPTER 29: TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE

AUTHOR'S NOTE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IMAGE CREDITS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DO NOT, AS SOME

UNGRACIOUS

PASTORS DO,

SHOW ME
THE

STEEP AND

THORNY

WAY
TO

HEAVEN,

WHILES, LIKE

A PUFFED AND

RECKLESS

LIBERTINE,

HIMSELF THE

PRIMROSE PATH

OF DALLIANCE

TREADS . . .

—
HAMLET

DRAMATIS
PERSONAE

H
ANALEE
D
ENNEY
,
daughter to the late Hank Denney, and stepdaughter to Clyde Koning

G
RETA
K
ONING
,
mother to Hanalee, and wife to Clyde Koning

G
HOST
of Hank Denney

C
LYDE
K
ONING
,
physician

F
LEUR
P
AULISSEN
,
friend to Hanalee, and sister to Laurence

L
AURENCE
P
AULISSEN
,
brother to Fleur

P
OLLY
P
AULISSEN
,
widow, and mother to Fleur and Laurence

J
OE
A
DDER
,
accused of the murder of Hank Denney

R
EVEREND AND
M
RS
. A
DDER
,
parents to Joe and six other children

M
ILDRED
M
ARKS
,
a neighbor

B
ERNICE
M
ARKS
,
younger sister to Mildred

M
RS
. M
ARKS
,
widow, and mother to Mildred, Bernice, and seven other children

S
HERIFF
R
INK
,
head law enforcer

D
EPUTY
F
ORTAINE
,
assistant to Sheriff Rink

R
OBBIE AND
G
IL
W
ITTEN
,
twin brothers, and friends to Laurence

M
R. AND
M
RS
. F
RANKLIN
,
restaurateurs

O
PAL
R
ICKERT
,
sweetheart to Laurence

H
ARRY
C
ORNELIUS
, A
L
V
OLTMAN
, O
SCAR AND
C
HESTER
K
LEIN
,
local boys

S
CENE
:
Elston, Oregon

WASHINGTON COUNTY, OREGON, EARLY 1900
s
.

CHAPTER 1

MURDER MOST FOUL

JULY 1, 1923

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