Craft

by Lynnie Purcell

  “You scared the wits out of me!” Ellie said, putting a hand to her heart. “What are you playing at?”

  Careen smirked at the question. “I’m catching you is what! You are meeting with a boy! I knew it. Neveah thought it was a joke, but I could tell from the look on your face. There’s no hiding the truth from me.”

  Careen was proud of herself. She had noticed something no one else had dared to consider. Careen stifled her pride for the sake of the conversation she had spent the night preparing. Her face grew stern. It was a poor imitation of Neveah’s expression. It only made her chubby face look childishly petulant. True intimidation escaped her.

  “You ain’t bringing an outsider in to our business, are you?” Careen added. “You know you can’t be seeing anyone not approved by Neveah. It’s forbidden.”

  Careen knew that particular truth all too well. It had taken Neveah half a year to allow Careen to date her current boyfriend. Ellie outwardly scoffed at her sister’s suggestion, while her mind worked overtime to figure out how much she had seen. She was not sure how long Careen had been in the forest, or if she had tracked her from Thane’s car. It was possible she knew everything and was trying to string Ellie along just for the fun of it. Ellie decided to play dumb. It was the best way until she had more information.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ellie said.

  “Why were you in the woods all night, then?” Careen asked.

  “I can’t sleep on account of the fact I was kidnapped and all,” Ellie said. “I’ve been walking to clear my head, get the bugs outta my system. It’s still pretty scary what happened. Sitting still makes it worse.”

  “I ain’t buying it,” Careen said. “You’re meeting a boy. I know it.”

  “You’re making up stories out of boredom,” Ellie said, finally eager to walk around Careen. “You know how Neveah feels about having such a wild imagination.”

  Ellie did not care if Careen told Neveah some lie to get her beaten for her disrespect. She just cared about getting away before Careen learned the whole truth: that Ellie was not just friendly with a boy, but a boy who happened to be a Cooper.

  Careen grabbed Ellie’s arm and forced her to stay in place. Ellie scowled at her sister and tugged her arm out of her grip. Careen smiled sweetly at the scowl. She was not deceived by Ellie’s explanation. She knew Ellie was meeting someone. Careen had been party to enough dates behind Neveah’s back to know one when she saw it. Ellie was hiding a boyfriend. Careen was not as interested in the boyfriend as she was what she could get out of the situation.

  “I’ll keep your secret safe…if you do some things for me,” Careen said.

  Ellie’s eyes narrowed. Accepting her terms was dangerous. It gave Careen leverage. It was likely Careen would mess up and tell Neveah about the blackmail; the punishment would then be twice as worse. Not accepting Careen’s terms could be just as dangerous. The unknown made Ellie cautious. But there was also relief. Ellie knew Careen would never let her meeting with Thane slide if she knew Thane was a Cooper. It would be immediate trouble and an immediate beating. That did not mean Careen could not still bring a world of trouble. If Careen slipped up and told Neveah that Ellie was meeting someone, it would not take Neveah long to figure out who Thane was. Neveah would set up a trap. She would kill him.

  “Like what?” Ellie asked.

  Careen hesitated. She had not thought that far ahead. Her simple mind worked overtime to come with something she knew Ellie would hate. The only thing that came to her was chores. The fact that Ellie spent her life doing chores and hated it was the only thing she really knew about her sister, beyond the fact that she was meeting a boy.

  Careen put her hands on her hips. “Like any chores I want.”

  Ellie’s scowl was back. She wished, for once, that she could craft without repercussions. She wished she could scare Careen into not spilling her secrets. The impulse was difficult to resist.

  “Fine,” Ellie said her voice full of anger.

  “Fine,” Careen said a smirk on her face.

  Careen turned and walked away from Ellie’s shack. Her face was content, her bullying complete. Ellie sensed her dreaming up new chores as she walked. Ellie watched her walk away in agitated silence. Worry that Careen would spill the beans consumed her. Careen was notoriously bad at keeping secrets. She was what Eugenia called simple. Ellie would have to stop Careen before things got out of hand. But how? How could she stop someone so determined to get something out of the situation? How could she stop someone who would not see her point of view?

  Caw stopped circling the sky when Careen was gone and landed on Ellie’s shoulder. He started preening himself, oblivious to Ellie’s distraction. His presence made Ellie realize again the truth she had long kept buried in her heart, the truth that kept her from telling her family about Caw, even though he was just a bird.

  Ellie knew that her family was just as capable of senseless murder as the Coopers. They killed for the pleasure of it. They killed the things that endangered the family, or things that Neveah thought endangered the family. Ellie also knew Neveah had an instinct for bloodletting that went beyond the feud. Neveah would kill Thane and Caw without hesitation. She would enjoy it. She would not care about the loss of life or Ellie’s pain. Neveah liked the violence; she searched it out.

  Ellie touched Caw at the thought. Hiding a bird was different from hiding a whole person. It would be impossible to keep Thane a secret forever. Neveah would find out eventually. There was no denying that now, not with Careen’s awareness of the situation hovering over her head. There was only one thing to do. Ellie had to make sure that no one got hurt because of her. She had to make sure that her family did not get the chance to take their bloodlust out on Thane. She would have to break off ties with Thane. Their friendship had to end.

  She would tell him when she saw him next week that they could not be friends anymore. The meetings in the woods had to stop. He would understand. He had to. She was certain after the events at the fair that he did not want his family to know about her for the same reason.

  The likely punishment was not worth continuing their friendship. The stakes were too high. Ellie was sad at the idea of losing the only friend she had ever had, but it was necessary. The dream of a world outside the feud had to end. Her adventure had gone on long enough. She had finally found the end of the story. And she would do what she had to do.

  Thane’s life depended on it.

  Chapter 9: Feud Again

  Careen kept Ellie busy the week separating Ellie from her next meeting with Thane. Ellie’s chores doubled. Careen lacked Neveah’s true viciousness, so she settled for making Ellie work twice as hard at meaningless tasks. She made Ellie shine her jewelry until she could see her reflection. Twice, Ellie had to rearrange Careen’s closet and clean dresses Careen could have cleaned with craft. Ellie did the chores without complaint. She would do them until she could get a message to Thane and warn him not to come around anymore. She would take the punishment for him.

  On top of her regular chores, and Careen’s added chores, Neveah had several parties. At first, Ellie was not sure what they were celebrating, until Ellie got wind that there had been another large confrontation between the Bumbalows and the Coopers; payback for the attack on Ellie’s house and Ellie’s abduction.

  No one had died, but the Coopers had lost the fight. Winning mattered more to most of Ellie’s kin than killing the Coopers. They loved to see the Coopers lose in a fight. ‘Most’ excluded Neveah. While Ellie was cleaning up trash in the front yard, she overheard her sister talking about upping the stakes of the fight, being more aggressive with the Coopers. She claimed it was the only way to put the Coopers in their place for good. Ellie knew it was a lie; it was a way for Neveah to indulge her craving for violence.

  Neveah’s conversation made Ellie more determined to cut off ties to Thane before things got messy and complicated. She had been silly to think there could ever be peace between her and a C
ooper. There was too much bloodshed in their past, present and future for absolute peace between them. There was no changing the fact that their friendship had been doomed from the beginning. It was time she stopped lying to herself and to Thane.

  After an exhausting week that flew by quicker than Ellie had time to focus on, it was time to see Thane again. Ellie was late to the meeting. Careen had forced her to rearrange her room again and clean out every nook and cranny, until the room sparkled. She had hovered over Ellie, making sure everything was perfect. Escape from her knowing eye had been impossible. Careen’s sleepiness had been the only thing to save Ellie from the chores.

  Ellie was convinced Thane would leave at her tardiness. She hoped he would be angry for the delay and never come back. It would be easier than the conversation she had spent a week rehearsing.

  She was not so lucky.

  Thane was patiently waiting for her when she pushed her way through the bushes. Caw had flown ahead and was resting on his shoulder. Thane petted the bird absently while he waited. He looked as if he was in deep thought. It might have been the same fight she had overheard the others celebrating that was on his mind, or something at home. She was not eager to give him time to start in on it. She did not want to get lost in conversation. It would make her task twice as hard.

  Ellie paused for a short second when she saw Thane. He looked happy to see her. The happy expression on his face was difficult for Ellie to face. She allowed herself a moment of pain, then cold determination steeled her backbone. She could break off ties for him. She had the strength to put her own feelings aside. She took a deep breath as she paused and did not come any closer despite Thane’s welcoming wave.

  “I can’t be meeting you no more,” Ellie said without any preamble. “You can’t come around.”

  The happy expression on Thane’s face fell with her words. He was worried more than angry; he knew her words were out of character. She would never banish him without reason. It was not Ellie’s style.

  “What are you talking about?” Thane asked. “Why?”

  “Careen knows I’ve been meeting someone and she’s threating to tell Neveah,” Ellie said in a carefully emotionless voice.

  If she let him see her hurt, she was certain he would know how much she wished the meetings could go on. He would demand they keep meeting, and she was not sure she could resist that sort of demand.

  “Will she tell?” Thane asked.

  Ellie nodded. “It’s only a matter of time,” she said.

  Thane’s eyes lost their worry. Hurt replaced it. Ellie started fidgeting at the look of disappointment on Thane’s face. The hurt expression worked on her senses, but she was determined not to change her mind over a look. She had promised herself to keep those impulses at bay. It was his life on the line. Ellie took a single step closer. Her mind was on the facts they had been ignoring. If she kept her focus there, she would not change her mind.

  “It’s not like either of us thought we could really be friends, is it? Our kin hate each other. That makes things between us impossible,” she said. “We will forever have the hatred hanging over us, no matter what future we forge out of this forest.”

  Thane stood. He towered over her despite the distance between them. His whole body radiated with his emotions. “That’s not true!” he argued.

  Ellie crossed her arms as his height worked hard to make her feel small. She did her best to look just as intimidating as she felt him to be. “It is, too!” Ellie said. “No matter what, we’ll always be worrying about getting caught and the other person getting hurt 'cause of the feuding…at least, I know I will. It’s fun to do things I shouldn’t. It’s fun to cross Neveah behind her back, but if I cross her to her face, people’ll die. You’ll die. We gotta be grown up about this. We gotta be realistic. There’s no room for friendship between us. Our story will only end in sadness.”

  Thane frowned at her words and took a step closer. He did not like her logic. “That’s not fair. You’re putting your fear out there as realistic, instead of fighting for our friendship. You’re too afraid to run the risk of getting caught.”

  Thane’s words made Ellie angry. She put her hands on her hips. What did Thane know about things not being fair? What did he know about risk?

  “No, you know what’s not fair?” Ellie demanded. “Having to stay around this stupid house cleaning and being bullied while you get to run off to whatever school your daddy happens to want to pay for at the time. Getting to do whatever you want, whenever you want, seeing the world, while all I get is my backyard. You got it so easy, but you act as if your whole life is horrible. Everything makes you so unhappy, even the things that make you happy! And, let’s be honest, you’ll get tired of my friendship eventually. Nobody likes hanging out with a maid, no matter if she did save your life. The newness will wear off soon. You’ll get tired of rebelling against your father and wise up to the reality in front of us. And then, where will I be? Here. Alone. While you fondly remember a time when you dared to befriend a Bumbalow.”

  “You don’t know me as well as you think you do!” Thane said in a hurt voice. “You think you’re so smart and got everything figured out, but you don’t.”

  “I know you well enough!” she said back. “I know you’re a Cooper! That says plenty!”

  Ellie had not meant to bring up his lineage as a reason for any ugliness she might find in his personality, but it had slipped out. It was an unspoken line they had both decided not to cross with their budding friendship. She did not mean it, but it was too late to take the words back. They were out there. Her words could not be undone. Thane looked shocked. He had never thought she would say such a thing to him. He had thought her better than that. The shocked silence hung between them for a long moment.

  “Fine,” Thane finally said in a cold voice.

  His face was angrier than she had ever seen it. He looked more like Connor in that moment than Ellie had ever seen him look. Ellie resisted taking a step back from him. She kept her place and fought her emotions. What she was doing was too important. Thane pushed Caw off his shoulder and the bird flew off with an angry squawk.

  “I was just being nice, anyway,” Thane said. “I felt sorry for you. Couldn’t imagine being cooped up in this place you call a house for all my life. But, it looks like you’re a Bumbalow through-and-through. Ready to forget the past as quickly as it’s gone. Happy to be oblivious. Happy to be trash, with no future, beyond serving your family hand-and-foot, like a character out of one of your books. You know what? I think you like being stepped on…it means someone is noticing you.”

  Ellie’s face filled with red color at his words. Her anger matched his. She had never been called trash before, but it was not the insult that bothered her. It was the way he had said her last name: with disgust and hatred. Her hands twitched with the desire to use her craft on him. It took all her power to stop herself from doing something she would regret forever.

  “It’s just like a Cooper to be so cruel,” she said in a cold voice.

  “It’s just like a Bumbalow to blame everyone else for your problems,” he said.

  Ellie raised her hand in a warning. The impulse to craft was stronger. “Leave,” she said.

  Thane looked at her hand, his eyes wide with the idea that she would actually use her craft on him. His expression hardened. He backed away from her, the look in his eyes similar to the first time they had met. They were enemies again. They were no longer compatriots on an adventure. They were no longer friends. The secret they were keeping was not enough to keep them together. Thane backed away until he was nothing more than shade and shadow, another whisper of wind through the forest.

  When she was certain he was gone, Ellie started crying. She had not meant to get in a fight with him, but she realized it had accomplished what she wanted. He was not going to come back. He was safe. Careen’s threat no longer held any meaning for her. No one would hurt him on her account. She had lost a friend, but she had saved a life. The cost o
f that truth was steep.

  Ellie sat down on the forest floor and cried out her sadness. Her body shook with her sobs. Caw landed next to her, trying to offer her what comfort he could. Ellie was touched by his affection and his concern. She picked him up and set him on her lap. She stroked his soft feathers, wishing on his tiny body that she had been born in to a different set of circumstances, circumstances that were not so difficult to live with. She wished she had never met Thane or had gone on her journey to town. She wished to be ignorant again. She did not want to know what she was missing.

  For a brief time she had a friend, a real friend that liked her despite overwhelming reasons not to. He let her talk. He had listened to her. He had also understood where she came from and the abuse and the intolerance she faced in her family. The connection was more than she had from any living person on the planet. She could not even relate to her momma the way she could relate to Thane.

  Ellie buried her face in Caw’s feathers and felt different tears slide down her face. They were the tears of a subtler regret. Having the bird close made her feel better. She still had one friend in the world.

  Or was it two?

  Ellie’s tears dried up at the sound of a branch snapping in the forest. She wondered if Thane had been angry enough to send her family after her. Or was he coming back to make her pay for her words? She did not want to face either truth.

  The leaves rustled and a figure stepped into their clearing. The person flicked their hand and a soft blue light lit the area. Thane had come back. Ellie could not tell for what reason. She could not tell if it was for vengeance or for something else. The light reflected on his face and she saw that his expression shifted from hard to understanding.

  Thane looked at her on the forest floor, the tears staining her face, with acknowledgement of what she had done. In that moment, he knew she had pushed him away on purpose. She had not sincerely meant the things she had said in the middle of their argument.