Tree house 46,47

in the dead of night

in the middle of the night 

flail

to wave your arms or legs in an uncontrolled way
　He flailed wildly as she tried to hold him down.

clog /kl'ɒg/ (clogs clogging clogged)
When something clogs a hole or place, it blocks it so that nothing can pass through.
Dirt clogs the pores, causing spots...
The traffic clogged the Thames bridges.
= block

whim·per (hwĭmpər, wĭm-)
v. whim·pered, whim·per·ing, whim·pers
v. intr.
To cry or sob with soft intermittent sounds; whine. See Synonyms at cry.
To complain.
v. tr.
To utter in a whimper.
n.
A low, broken, sobbing sound; a whine.

snuf|fle /sn'ʌf^əl/

If a person or an animal snuffles, they breathe in noisily through their nose, for example because they have a cold.
She snuffled and wiped her nose on the back of her hand.
= sniffle

stretcher /str'etʃə^r/

A stretcher is a long piece of canvas with a pole along each side, which is used to carry an injured or sick person.
The two ambulance attendants quickly put Plover on a stretcher and got him into the ambulance.

Jack said hoarsely.

He still didn’t have his full voice.

Dimly lit parlor

Stare in a daze at the crackling fire

If someone is in a daze, they are feeling confused and unable to think clearly, often because they have had a shock or surprise.
For 35 minutes I was walking around in a daze.

crackle  /ˈkrækəl/ v [I]
to make repeated short sounds like something burning in a fire
　logs crackling on the fire
　An announcement crackled over the tannoy.

crackling  /ˈkræklɪŋ/ n
the sound made by something when it crackles
　There was silence except for the crackling of the fire.

【MOVE】
past tense and past participle weaved [I always + adverb/preposition]
weave

to move somewhere by turning and changing direction a lot
　cyclists weaving in and out of the traffic
weave your way through/to etc sth
　Lori spotted them as they weaved their way through the tables.

plod

to walk along slowly, especially when this is difficult

a) [T always + adverb/preposition]
to fasten something to something else, using a rope, chain etc
hitch sth to sth
　He hitched our pickup to his trailer.
　a goat hitched to a rickety fence
b) [T] also hitch up
to fasten an animal to something with wheels so that the animal can pull it forwards
　I hitched up the horse and drove out into the fields.

Scrubby land is rough and dry and covered with scrub.

scrubby land is covered by low bushes

A loft is the space inside the sloping roof of a house or other building, where things are sometimes stored.
A loft conversion can add considerably to the value of a house.
= attic

Brambles are wild prickly bushes that produce blackberries.

molasses  

mo·las·ses /məˈlæsɪz/ n [U] AmE
a thick dark sweet liquid that is obtained from raw sugar plants when they are being made into sugar

If you tear somewhere, you move there very quickly, often in an uncontrolled or dangerous way.
The door flew open and Miranda tore into the room...
= rush

dawn on [dawn on sb] phr v
if a fact dawns on you, you realize it for the first time

If a fact or idea dawns on you, you realize it.
It gradually dawned on me that I still had talent and ought to run again...

dapple  

dap·ple /ˈdæpəl/ v [T] literary
to mark something with spots of colour, light, or shade

If something such as a bird or a bat flits about, it flies quickly from one place to another.