Craft (35 page)

Ellie saw a flash of color against the
backdrop of browns and greens. She tried to calm her racing
heartbeat. The person stopped running near her tree. She was able
to put a face to the shape and the sound. It was Thane.

His face was a curious mixture of
sadness and determination. He put his hand on her tree as he caught
his breath and looked behind him once to see if anyone was
following him. His brown eyes were convinced he had lost whoever
had been following him. Over his shoulder was a large bag. Ellie
could not tell what was in the bag, but it was irregular in shape
and looked heavy.

Ellie did not immediately step out
from behind the tree. She wanted to face him before he ran off
again, but she was afraid. She was afraid her only friend would
hate her. She could not face words of hate from him after her fight
with Neveah. A part of her thought leaving would be easier than
facing his wrath. She did not want to fight him as well. She could
not see how that would end well for anyone. Another part of her
wanted to face him no matter the cost. She wanted to know where she
stood. She had to know if he believed her.

Before she could make up her mind to
step out from behind the tree, Thane started moving again. His rest
had not been a long one. He was determined to make it to his
destination. Nothing would stand in his way.

Caw made the decision for Ellie. The
bird let out a loud caw, which startled both Ellie and Thane. Ellie
jumped and put a hand on Caw’s wing. Thane turned back to the tree.
His eyes were suspicious.

“Caw?” Thane asked.

Caw clicked his beak, but he didn’t
make another sound. Ellie’s surprise urged him to keep his caws to
himself. The bird could tell they were in a moment Ellie had to
face alone. Thane peered at the space to the right of Ellie. His
eyes were still suspicious. He was uncertain if the call was a
trick. Ellie was fighting with the two conflicting impulses in her
body. She desperately searched for the words to begin their
conversation.

Thane took a step forward. Though
suspicious, he thought he had figured out the truth. His expression
was full of cautious hope.

“You don’t have to be Caw if you don’t
want to be,” he added. “But I’d like you to be…”

Ellie finally spoke, though she did
not craft away the invisibility. It was easier to face him without
having to show him her fear that she had lost a friend. “You're not
mad?”

Thane sucked in a deep breath. His
expression turned into one of relief. He had feared the worst when
she had not spoken right away.

“Far from it.”

Thane dug in his pocket and pulled
back with the book he had given her. He held it up for her to see.
The front cover was torn in a couple of places, and it showed the
abuse of being thrown out of a moving van. The sight of it brought
Ellie hope. He had gotten her message. She was not certain he had
chosen to believe the message but at least she had the chance to
tell him the truth.

“That was pretty fast
thinking.”

“Do you believe me?” Ellie
said.

“Yes,” Thane said. “You would never
hurt my mom. I know that.”

“I tried to bring her back to your
family, but Cousin’s truck crashed. We got caught in the middle of
the fight between Neveah and your papa. I think your papa managed
to get her back. I’m not sure what happened afterwards. I had to
run.”

“I heard about that,” Thane
said.

“You did?” Ellie asked.

Thane nodded. “Yeah, I ran into
Rachel. She told me about how the others followed me and how Dad
got Mom back from your sister. She said she saw you in the woods
headed for town. I’ve been trying to find you since I left your
house.”

“You were at my house?” Ellie
asked.

“I tried to sneak through the woods to
get to you. I thought I could save you both,” Thane said. “I guess
I was wrong…Your house got burned down, by the way.”

“I know,” Ellie said. “I was the one
who burned it down.”

Thane was surprised. His eyebrows
lifted to his hairline with his disbelief. “Why?”

“A distraction to get your momma out,”
Ellie said.

Thane focused on the spot Ellie’s
voice was coming from. He tried to see beyond her illusion, but her
craft was too strong. She had forgotten to release the craft. Their
conversation distracted her.

“Did you not want me to see you?”
Thane asked. “Or are you starting a new thing between
us?”

Ellie took a deep breath at his
question. Part of her still thought he was going to back out of
their friendship over what had happened with his mother. Ellie
released the craft and stepped out from behind the tree. Caw let
out a squawk of welcome and flapped his wings once.

Thane smiled at them. His smile turned
to guilt. He had another confession. “Connor killed your
sister.”

“I know,” Ellie said. “I was
there.”

“So, what do we do now?” Thane asked.
“Neveah killed my cousin, Connor killed Neveah…it’s just a
mess.”

“And your papa killed my papa…on and
on it goes,” Ellie said. “It never ends. Not unless we make
it.”

Thane’s eyes were huge. He had never
suspected his father guilty of killing Ellie’s father. She could
see the truth in his expression. He had not known. He would have
told her if he had. Ellie could sense him wondering if she wanted
revenge. He wanted to know if something had changed. Ellie was not
eager to continue the feud. The fighting had moved to the forest,
but that did not mean she had to bring the feud to their
friendship. They could maintain their truce for as long as both
were willing.

“Neither of us done any of those
things,” Ellie pointed out. “We didn’t kill anybody.”

“But-”

“I'm not looking to hold a grudge,”
Ellie said. “You’re the only friend I got. You came for me, even
when you could have believed I was the one who told Neveah about
your momma. You trust me. That’s all I gotta know.”

Ellie put her arms around him and
hugged him tightly. Thane hugged her back, his hands tentative as
he wrapped them around her waist. Ellie put her chin on his
shoulder and sighed. They could set aside guilt, but that did not
take away the pain of yesterday.

“I’m sorry about your momma,” Ellie
whispered.

Thane sighed. “I’m sorry about your
sister,” Thane said.

Ellie released Thane and looked at
him. He was covered in soot and had scratch marks over his face
from where the foliage had slapped him during his run to catch up
to her. He was sweaty and looked as if he had spent the whole night
running. Thane looked right back, trying to see her story in the
marks on her body. Her story was infinitely more violent than his
was. He had not faced down his own sibling in a fight to the
death.

His eyes lingered on her bloody nose
and the gash on her forehead. “Do you want me to heal
you?”

“Heal me?” Ellie asked.

Ellie had forgotten about the cut on
her forehead and that her ankle hurt with every step. Seeing him
had erased the memory of the pain. Thane gestured at her forehead,
his eyes concerned. Ellie’s hand moved to the cut.

“Your forehead looks as if someone
took a knife to it, and your nose looks broken,” Thane
said.

“I forgot,” Ellie said.

“Sit down,” Thane
commanded.

Thane threw his bag to the ground and
waited for her to sit. Ellie sat, being careful with her ankle. It
was back to throbbing in a painful reminder that all was not well.
Thane raised his hand and started to work the healing craft. His
craft was strong but Ellie could tell he had never tried to heal
someone before. She let him do the work alone, appreciating the
fact that he was so willing to help her. As he healed her, he
demanded to hear her story. She told him everything, starting with
Neveah banging on her door. Thane had moved on to her ankle when
she finally finished her story. He was pensive. He did not seem to
know how to phrase his thoughts. His first thought was of his
mother.

“My mom actually crafted?” Thane
asked.

“Yeah,” Ellie agreed. “She wasn’t
exactly herself, but she definitely protected me.”

“I didn’t think she could craft
anymore,” Thane said.

“I think it was because of you,” Ellie
admitted. “Something woke her up when she saw the bracelet you
crafted me.”

Thane was silent for a long time. He
did not try to respond to Ellie’s comment. He was better not trying
to figure it out. He finished healing her ankle then rocked back on
his heels to look at her. He had a question in his eyes. “And what
are you going to do now?”

“There’s nothing left but for me to
go. My family won’t have me, not that I would want to go back now.
It’ll be good to be away from here.”

“Where are you going?” Thane
asked.

“I’ll know when I know,” Ellie
said.

“I want to come with you,” Thane
said.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,”
Ellie said.

“Why not?” Thane asked.

“'Cause, you have a chance at family.
You never had my circumstances, exactly. Your family sees you as
family. You can stay here and do your part and have their support.
You don’t have to be a nomad.”

“I don’t think my family cares as much
as you think,” Thane said.

“Rachel cares about you,” Ellie
said.

“She’s the only one,” Thane
said.

“I don’t think you mean that,” Ellie
said.

“You don’t know what I mean,” Thane
said roughly. “Besides, the feud is stupid. It’s messy and
pointless. Maybe my father shouldn’t have sent me away, because all
it did was give me perspective. Maybe if we hadn’t met, I wouldn’t
know that Bumbalows aren’t as bad as everyone said. I don’t want a
part of it anymore.”

“I don’t want to be your reason for
running away,” Ellie said. “You gotta have a better reason than
that.”

“You’re a perfectly good reason to run
away,” Thane argued. “Why are you so reluctant to let me come
along? Do you not want my company?”

Ellie looked at the ground. She played
with the hem of her blood-soaked dress thoughtfully. Caw was next
to her, searching for bugs in the undergrowth. Looking at Caw,
Ellie understood her feelings. She had always been alone. It was
easier that way. She did not know how to begin again without the
threat of Neveah taking everything from her. She did not know how
to allow someone like Thane to come with her on her journey when
she was not certain where she was going. She was not certain she
could depend on the fact that he would want to stay. He had tried
to run away several times. He had always gone back because of his
mother. She did not want to take from him all the things she never
had.

“I'm not opposed to you coming along.
I just want you to understand. I'm not coming back. Never. If you
want to come back, I don’t want to have to face that later on, you
understand?” Ellie said.

“You’re worried I’m not going to stick
around?” Thane asked. “That I’ll get homesick or
something?”

“Yeah,” Ellie said.

“If I wasn’t certain, then why would I
come to your house and search through the woods for you with the
express purpose of running away with you?” Thane asked.

“You did?” Ellie asked.

Thane opened his bag as proof. He
pulled out a pair of boots. They were the ones Ellie had crafted on
their trip to town. He had several of her books stacked inside, as
well as books and things that looked as if they belonged to him. It
was a bag meant for traveling. It was proof he had planned to run
away before he had even left town. He had gone to her shack and had
gotten the things he thought she would miss most in the hope that
she would run away with him. There was no denying that proof. He
could not have known Ellie’s plan to run away then.

“I’ve been running all night just to
catch up to you,” Thane said. “I thought you were already gone.
Good thing you didn’t craft a car, or I would have never found
you.”

Ellie smiled at him. He had really
thought about his decision. He knew what he wanted. That was all
that mattered to her. She did not want to be his reason, but she
was glad he wanted the same thing she wanted. She was glad to have
her friend back.

“Alright then,” Ellie said. “What are
we waiting for?”

“For you to stop wasting time doubting
me,” Thane said.

“Well, there’s that,” Ellie
said.

She grinned at Thane. It was a mocking
smile full of friendly teasing. Ellie moved to his bag and looked
inside. She realized that if they were going to leave, she would
have to look the part. That meant shoes. Ellie put on the boots
Thane had brought with more excitement than when she had crafted
them. They were part of her coming journey.

Her feet hidden by the boots, she
waved her hand. The dirt and sweat that had covered her body
disappeared. With another wave of her hand, she changed dresses. It
was a new dress for a new adventure. She jumped to her feet and
held her hand out for Thane. She helped him stand. Thane smiled at
her, pleased she had stopped arguing with him. She was not fighting
his choice to leave. Content, they moved toward town.