Her second impression, after the influx of technology and buildings, was of the people. They were so different, so foreign from Ellie’s family. Most of the people stayed together in family groups as they walked around. They shopped and they went to restaurants to eat. Some of the people were content to just walk and enjoy the sights. There were also kids her age moving in groups around the streets, seemingly without purpose. They were the loudest sounds after the traffic. Their joking and their conversation made sure that everyone noticed them. Like Thane, the people around her had strange accents. She was impressed with the education and refinement of the people; their accents added to the aura of eloquence in the town.
What affected her most about town was how much effort people spent doing the tiniest of things. Thane had not been lying about people not having craft. Where her family would have waved a hand and accomplished something in a second, people in town seemed to have to work twice as hard and twice as long. They spent minutes, even hours, doing what should have taken them seconds.
Ellie related to their plight. She knew how taxing it could be to do things the hard way. She knew the effort involved. She had spent years doing the same sorts of things. She found the people even more endearing for their hard work, but wondered why the people did not at least try to use craft. She thought if they tried hard enough, it would come to them. Ellie could not imagine it being difficult to find. For her, it was as simple as concentration.
She could not stop smiling as she eyed every inch of town she passed. Everything was a marvel, everything a brand new adventure worth taking. Living at the house she could never have imagined that such things could be real. Her imagination had created whole worlds before, but this was different. This was something she could feel, smell and touch. Town was a world she did not have to pretend to see. It was a world she could not even begin to understand. She had so many questions and no way to get answers beyond what her eyes could tell her.
Ellie was only aware of the passing time from the setting sun, and even that was only on the edge of her awareness. Each second was a second spent trying to search out the answers for the new sights in front of her. Darkness crept back into the world. It slowly permeated the streets. Ellie did not think anything of the dark. Her house was no different at night. There was no danger. She did not know that a town could change with the darkness. Thane had not told her there were some areas in town she should avoid.
As the darkness settled over town, her curiosity took her away from the fancy shops and beautiful houses to a rundown portion of the downtown area. The houses did not sparkle and shine. They were broken and had large weeds covering the yards and porches. Ellie thought the houses quite beautiful in their own right. She liked the sense of history to the brokenness. She could tell that families had lived in them for years. She could also tell that, at one point, the houses had been well-loved and maintained. Many of them were similar to her house in design. The only difference was that she was not around to clean them. The owners had given up on the appearance of their houses a long time ago.
The houses were the least dangerous part of the night. They were a distraction from true darkness.
A group of five detached themselves from the shadow of a large weeping willow tree as Ellie passed by and started to follow her. Low comments and hisses followed her as she walked. She heard their words, which were as dark as the night, and knew she was in trouble. She did not have to be versed in the world to know evil when it was whispered her way. They would hurt her. They were worse than the men who had chased her with rifles. The only difference is that they wanted to play with her first, torment her before they hurt her.
Ellie’s first instinct was to use her craft on them. They would make lovely toads, she decided. They would pay for their darkness. Then she thought of Thane’s words. He had warned her not to craft or bring attention to herself. He had told her it could get her in trouble, not only with the authorities but also with the Coopers in town. The fight might go beyond the moment if someone saw her craft. That was enough to stay her hand.
Her second instinct was to run.
Ellie took off, running in the direction of the shops she had passed only moments ago. The men’s calls followed her as they started running too. Adrenaline and panic surged through her chest. She took turn after turn, wondering when they would stop chasing her. What would it take? Would she have no choice but to craft? She prepared herself for that outcome, figuring she would do what it took to get away from them, no matter if it ended her adventure early.
Another turn took her back to the main road through the downtown. Families were still coming and going from the restaurants and many of the stores were open for the tourists who wandered around in seemingly aimless directions.
Ellie ducked inside the first store she came to and hid behind a row of clothes. She watched as the group of men stopped in front of the store and looked around the streets for signs of her. She trembled in fear as one of the men pressed his face against the glass window to look for her. She held her hand ready, just in case he saw her.
A woman, who was behind a counter in the middle of the store, noticed the man. She came forward, shooing the man away with her hand.
“Don’t press your good-for-nothing, greasy face against my glass! I gotta clean that!” she yelled.
The man scowled at her but he held his hands up in a gesture of peace. He left without an argument. He did not dare cross her further. The woman looked at Ellie, who was still peeking through the clothes in fear. The woman smiled kindly.
“They’re gone now,” she said. “Won’t be bothering you again, so long as you don’t go wandering where you shouldn’t.”
Ellie took courage from the woman’s welcoming tone. She stood up straight to face the woman. She smiled back. “Thanks,” Ellie said.
The woman waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t mention it. You okay?” she asked.
Ellie nodded in response. She was better than she thought she would be two minutes ago. She looked beyond the woman to the shop, curious about her hiding place. She had not noticed any of the details while she had been hiding. She had been focused on the men chasing her and the adrenaline coursing through her body.
Ellie’s hiding place was a dress shop. While she could create any type of dress she wanted, she had never imagined her dresses could look so fine or be made out of such pretty fabric. She put her hands behind her back to keep from touching them all, or creating her own versions of what she saw, and smiled happily.
“Those are pretty,” Ellie said, pointing with her chin to the dresses around in front of her. “Do you make them?”
The woman’s eyes lit up with the compliment. It was obvious her passion for dresses exceeded Ellie’s passion. “I sure do. We got a couple of businesses we keep, but this is mine. I love making dresses…”
“I can imagine,” Ellie said. “What other shops do you have?”
“A bit of everything,” the woman said. “We lost one of our shops a couple of days ago, though. Nasty business that.”
“What happened to it?” Ellie asked.
“A fire,” the woman said. Her sadness was palpable. “My sister was caught in it. It’s still hard to believe she’s gone.”
Ellie lost her smile at the admission. “I’m sorry,” Ellie said.
Ellie made the connection between what Thane had said and what this girl was saying. Ellie realized Neveah’s retribution had involved a fire, and she knew that someone had died as a result. There was no reason this girl would lie to her. For all she knew, Ellie was just another customer. Ellie had walked into the shop of the sister of the person Neveah had killed.
“I figure those responsible will get what’s coming to them,” the woman said, her smile a lot less welcoming.
Ellie backed away from the woman at her words. She knew hanging around too long was a bad idea. The woman was a Cooper with a fresh vendetta against Bumbalows burning in her brain. From what Ellie could tell, it was a justified feeling of hatred.
It was a feeling she did not want to be on the receiving end of. Ellie figured that with her luck so far the girl had to be only moments away from figuring out her identity. It was obvious that Ellie did not belong in a town run by Coopers; she stuck out. She was too much a Bumbalow. Even the tourists and families wandering around looked different. Ellie did not know how to fit in.
The woman watched her back away with narrowed eyes. Ellie thought she was looking at her because she had figured out who she was. Ellie’s awareness of the situation made her paranoid. She put her hand on the door, her mind on escape. The woman was seconds away from throwing powerful craft at her. No one would notice inside the shop. Ellie had walked into another trap. The woman stopped Ellie’s retreat with gentle words.
“Why don’t you let my cousin walk you to your car...or to your home? I don’t want you to get in any trouble with those boys. They don’t have half a brain, and the half they do have is used for hurting people.”
“Oh,” Ellie said.
Warm relief settled in Ellie’s stomach. The woman was not about to kill her after all. Ellie hesitated at the door, touched by the girl’s generosity but aware she could not accept the offer. Home was a longer walk than her cousin would be willing to go on. She did not want another Cooper to keep her company on such a dangerous trek. There was no guarantee she would survive such a walk the second time.
“I’ll be fine,” Ellie said.
“Don’t be silly,” the woman said. “It’s best to be safe this time of day. Hold on, and I’ll get him. I think he’s hiding in the break room.” The girl leaned forward in a conspirator’s whisper. “He made his daddy mad and is lying low for a little while. You know how that goes…”
“Yeah…” Ellie said.
The woman moved to the back of the shop and stepped behind a curtain that separated the store from the back room. As soon as she was out of sight, Ellie left the shop. She hated to leave without saying goodbye, but it was obvious the woman was not going to let Ellie go without forcing her cousin to walk with her.
Ellie started down the street, her eyes on the shadows of the buildings as she watched for the men who had chased after her. The streets were full of shadows and people enjoying the warm, summer night. The peace of the night was tangible. As far as Ellie could tell, there were no men looking to do her harm. They had fled back to their area to search for a new victim dumb enough to wander into their territory.
Ellie had not gotten very far down the street when the shop door opened again and a tall figure stepped out into the dark. Ellie heard the door open and noticed the figure with a brief backward glance. She started walking faster. What would it take to get away from the woman’s cousin before her secret was found out?
Ellie heard her name called in a tense whisper. It floated down the street toward her, preventing her escape. She turned at the sound, and the tall shape she had thought was a threat materialized into the form of Thane. He was looking at her, his eyes narrowed. His expression reflected his worry and fear. She was not sure if it was fear for her safety or his. Were they back to being enemies who feared each other? Would there be a fight? Ellie could not tell. His face was too difficult to read.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Thane demanded.
“Seeing town,” Ellie said with a shrug.
“No, I know that…” Thane said. “I meant what are you doing by coming into my cousin’s shop? She’s after blood for what your family did to her sister. You literally walked into the last place you should have walked into.”
“I couldn’t help it. I was running away from some fellas who weren’t too friendly and your cousin’s shop was the first place I saw to hide,” Ellie said. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“You have a knack for doing things you shouldn’t,” Thane said with a disbelieving shake of his head.
“I never did before,” Ellie said.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed from the impressions town had left in her mind, she sat on a bench near the road. She had seen town and her expectations had more than been fulfilled, but she also felt let down. Everything was an adventure, but it was not all fun. Some of the adventure was deadly. Everything was more complicated than she had thought when she had set out on her plan to see town. The world was not as simple and straightforward as she had thought it.
Not only were things more complicated, but the one thing she had harbored in her mind to do, to see town, was done. Ellie wanted to see where her father was murdered, to put a place to where he had died, but the majority of her task was over. She had done what she had set out to do, and now she did not know what to do with her dreams. She had focused on the idea of town for so long that seeing it made her feel drained. What could she look forward to now? Could she go back to her life and live with the chores and the bullying? The thought left her feeling depressed.
Ellie knew she had to go home, but she couldn’t think of returning to the house without having a dream to sustain her. Her dreams had kept the reality of her chores and her sisters’ bullying from overwhelming her. Her imagination had provided her with an escape. Now that she knew firsthand what town was like, what could sustain her hope? She sighed as she sat. Her confliction showed on her face.
Thane hesitated for a moment. His natural instinct to avoid her was overwhelming. He repressed his instinct and joined her on the bench. Though he was reluctant to sit close, he seemed to understand a bit of her emotions. Her sigh resonated with him. He thought he understood its source.
“Town not what you expected?” Thane asked quietly.
“It’s beautiful,” Ellie said, perking up at the question.
Ellie did not want him to think she thought town ugly or not worth the trip. She also genuinely felt there was a magic to town. It was a place of wonder and mystery. Thane made a low sound of disagreement, but she ignored him.
“There’s so many pretty things to see and wonderful buildings I’d never dreamed of before,” she continued.
“But?” Thane asked.
She shrugged thoughtfully at the question. “But…what now? I thought coming here would make me feel more grown, more like I could help my family do what needed to be done…you know…with the feuding,” she admitted.
“And do you feel that way?” he asked.
“I just feel tired,” she said with a yawn.
“Maybe you’ll feel different in the morning,” Thane suggested.
Ellie yawned again and nodded slowly. She knew the morning had a way of making people look differently at things. She knew things would look up when the darkness was not pressing so heavily against her. She could hope.
“Maybe,” she replied.
They were silent for a long moment, both thinking over the events of the day. Thane’s expression was even more bothered than Ellie’s. He did not have shifting dreams and hopes on his mind, but he was no less bothered by what he had found in town.
Ellie felt sleep trying to pull her under. It was an intoxicating call. She knew sleep was bad under the circumstances, but she could not stop the feeling. She fought her sleepiness as she tried to come to terms with the completion of her journey.
Thane was less sleepy and more awkward with the silence. He felt strange to be so near her and not feel afraid. He was supposed to feel more intense emotions, not peace. Town was always the place the feud was the most prominent. It was where he could not ignore his family history, or the plans his father had laid down for him. Yet, here he was, sitting calmly, peacefully, next to the enemy.
“Where’s Caw?” he asked with a low cough, pulling her back from the brink of sleep.
Ellie pulled her necklace out and showed it to Thane. The jewel of the bird’s eyes glittered brightly in a streetlamp, reflecting Caw’s enigmatic personality.
“I didn’t want him to get hurt, so I made him into a necklace,” she said.
“Oh,” he said, eyeing the necklace.
The craft was almost as impressive to him as forming a bird out of nothing.
“I made some shoes, too,” Ellie informed him. Ellie showed him her black boots. She wiggled her feet for him as proof she was not barefoot. “I hate them,” she added with another yawn.
Thane smiled at her, finding her admission funny. Ellie missed the moment. She had fallen asleep against the wall. As Thane looked at her, her head rolled and dropped down onto his shoulder. She did not wake with the movement. He laughed once as he pushed her off him, then he was serious again. He was not sure what to do with her. He was not certain what was right.
Falling asleep on the streets of the city was different than falling asleep at her house in the country. There, Ellie could sleep in the middle of the field if she wanted, which she had done several times. While town was not the most dangerous place Thane had ever lived in, it certainly was not the safest. The men Ellie had encountered were proof of the seedy underbelly that existed in even the smallest of towns. An innocent, naïve girl like Ellie would not last the night.
Thane thought briefly about leaving her on the park bench, but he knew he couldn’t. She was a Bumbalow, but she was also a girl who needed help. She was a girl who had saved his life. Twice.
Going against his better judgment, and a lifetime of learned hatred, Thane picked her up and carried her back to the dress shop.
Chapter 5: A Stone Bear
When Ellie woke up the next morning, the first thing she noticed was the lumpy sofa. It poked and prodded her back, urging her to get up as quickly as possible. The sofa was not nearly as comfortable as the one in her shack. The dark shades of candlelight were also gone, replaced by soft pastels in a large room lit by florescent lights. In the far corner was a television, complete with knobs and bunny ears to help reception. In the opposite corner from the television, there was a doorway with cloth blocking the way and a small table. The table held fabric and thread. Ellie could not focus on the fabric, despite it being for a dress. The television was the more interesting sight.
Ellie surveyed the large, square room again to make sure she was alone. When it was obvious the room was not hiding anyone in its corners, she ran over to the television. She started playing with the knobs, giggling as she did. Cousin had brought a television to Ellie’s house once, but it had not had all the knobs still on it. They had been pulled off. Cousin had said the television was used to entertain people and, seeing one with all the knobs intact, she knew why. It was definitely entertaining to twist all the knobs.
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