Bloodhound

by Tamora Pierce

  cutter: braggart

  Dog: member of the Provost's Guard

  doxie: female prostitute

  dozy: sluggish

  elsewise: otherwise; or else

  fambles: hands

  fen-sucked: sucked out of a fen (swamp or marsh)

  Ferrets: street nickname for Crown spies

  filcher: small-time criminal

  flower sellers: women of that trade who are also prostitutes and thieves

  foist: master pickpocket

  fribbety: silly, frivolous

  gab: speech

  get bit: be cheated

  get in the way of: become; learn

  gillyflowers: older name for carnations

  gixie: girl

  gob: mouth

  gold bit: coin equivalent to one-quarter gold noble or two and a half silver nobles

  gold noble: coin equivalent to ten silver nobles or four gold bits

  Growl: sound made by a roomful of Dogs about to be released upon criminal prey

  Happy Bag: weekly bribes for Provost's office

  hedgecreeper: cheap prostitute

  hedgewitch: small-time mage serving lower-class clients, usually deals in healing humans and animals, fertility charms/potions, small battle/annoyance spells

  honeylove: lesbian

  hunter: hound specially trained to hunt escaped prisoners and slaves

  Hurdik: language of Tunstall's native hill tribes

  jabbernob: chatterbox

  kennel: Provost's watch house; police station

  lift: theft of a purse

  looby: fool

  loose Dog: crooked Dog: one who exceeds the normal allowance of bribery

  mammering: wavering; hesitating

  Master: Mr.; mister

  maul: heavy hammer with one wedge-shaped head

  mayhap: perhaps

  Mistress: Mrs.; ma'am

  moneystream: flow of money as it passes through the hands of buyers, sellers, and bankers

  moonsong: idiocy

  mot: woman

  mumper: beggar

  murrain (MUHRenn): pestilence or plague, mainly affecting domestic animals

  nab: arrest

  nob: head

  Oinomi Wavewalker: goddess of the ocean; she is believed by some to come when named, like the Trickster and the Smith God

  orange girls: walking fruit sellers who are also prostitutes and thieves

  peck and cass: meat and cheese

  piece: lowlife woman; dirty woman

  pigsticker: big knife

  pluck a rat: do something really stupid, such as try to pull feathers off a rat

  Puppy: trainee in the Provost's Guard

  puttock: low-level female prostitute

  raka: native of the Copper Isles

  Rat: captive, civilian, criminal, or prey (to Dogs)

  rook: cheat

  rusher: thug

  sap: lead-filled six-inch leather cylinder with loop for wrist to be held in the hand; a knockout or bone-breaking weapon

  sarden: blasted; damned; detestable

  scale: fence (receiver of stolen goods)

  scummer: animal dung

  scut: idiot

  seek: hunt down a criminal or missing person

  sheeplings: Player slang: those who are born to be shorn of their money

  Sign: the Sign against evil; an X intersected by a vertical line forming a star on the chest

  silver/gold kiss: bribe

  silver noble: coin equivalent to ten copper nobles

  sing on: inform

  slubbering: slobbering, licking, or lapping

  spintry: male prostitute

  swap ______ for ______: move up a grade as a Dog: for example, "swap leather [1-to-5-year insignia] for bronze [5-to-10-year insignia]"

  swilled: drunk

  swive: have sex

  tarse: piece of meat

  tosspot: drunkard

  tread a measure: leave; take off

  trencher: "plate" cut from a stale loaf of bread, used to hold food

  trull: very low-class kind of woman; the dregs

  twilsey: refreshing drink made from raspberry or cider vinegar and water

  ACHOO'S GLOSSARY

  bangkit (bangKEET): up/rise

  bau (bow, like cow): smell

  berdiri (bareDEERee): stand straight

  berhenti (buhrHEHNtee): stop

  biarlah (beeAHRlah): let it go

  cepat (SAYpaht): go fast

  diamlah (deeAHMlah): quiet

  dukduk (DOOKdook, like bookbook): sit

  gampang (gamPANG): steady/easy

  jaga (JAHgah): guard

  kawan (kahWAHN): friend

  kemari (kehMAHRee): come here

  kulit (kooLEET): leash

  lindengi (lihnDEHNgee, with a hard g): protect

  maji (MAHjee): go

  makan (mahKAN): eat

  memberi (mehmBAREee, like bear): give

  menean (mehnKAHRee): seek

  mudah (MOOdah): easy

  pelan (pehlAHN): slow

  pengantar (pehnGANNtahr, gann like can): greet

  tak (TAK, like tack): no

  tinggal (tingGAHL): stay

  tumit (tooMIHT): heel

  tunggu (toonGOO): wait

  turun (tooROON): down

  About The Author

  Tamora Pierce captured the imagination of readers more than twenty-five years ago with Alanna: The First Adventure (Atheneum, 1983). As of September 2008, she has written over twenty-five books, including three completed quartets (The Song of the Lioness, The Immortals, and The Protector of the Small), the Trickster duet, and now the Beka Cooper books, set in the fantasy realm of Tortall. She has also written The Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens quartets, as well as two stand-alone titles, The Will of the Empress and Melting Stones. Her books have been translated into many languages, and some are available on audio from Listening Library and Full Cast Audio. She and her husband, Timothy Liebe, also co-wrote the six-episode comic White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion for Marvel Comics.

  Tamora Pierce's fast-paced, suspenseful writing and strong, believable heroines have won her much praise: Emperor Mage was a 1996 ALA Best Book for Young Adults, The Realms of the Gods was listed as an "outstanding fantasy novel" by Voice of Youth Advocates in 1996, Squire (Protector of the Small #3) was a 2002 ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Lady Knight (Protector of the Small #4) debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Trickster's Choice spent a month on the New York Times bestseller list and was a 2003 ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Trickster's Queen was also a New York Times bestseller.

  An avid reader herself, Ms. Pierce graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked at a variety of jobs and has written everything from novels to radio plays. Along with writer Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries series), she co-founded SheroesCentral, a discussion board about female heroes; remarkable women in fact, fiction, and history; books; current events; and teen issues. SheroesCentral and SheroesFans are now independent of her, but she still drops by and welcomes the Sheroes she meets on tour.

  Tamora Pierce lives in Syracuse, New York, with her husband, Tim, a writer, Web page designer, and Web administrator, and their eight indoor cats, porch cat, basement cat, two birds, and occasional rescued wildlife.

  For more information, visit:

  www.tamorapierce.com.