Craft

by Lynnie Purcell

  “I promised…” Neveah started to say.

  “Promises are for those not fighting the Coopers,” Cousin said.

  “Suppose…” Neveah admitted grudgingly.

  Their words haunted Ellie. It did not bode well for her future. Would they really make her fight? She was no longer certain she could fight.

  The Coopers were no longer the invisible enemy. They had faces. They had names. She thought going to town would make her ready to fight. All it had done was make her realize that they were not so different. If Neveah forced her to fight, she was not certain what the outcome would be. For the first time in her life, she was more afraid of fighting a Cooper than not fighting one.

  The difference shook her to her core.

  Chapter 7: Momma

  Caw had eaten all of his food when Ellie returned to her shack. He was preening his feathers when her candles flickered to life. He looked up briefly when she walked in but he was too focused on his task to greet her properly. Ellie did not mind his distraction. Her thoughts raced with the idea that Cousin had left in her mind. The feud was growing closer.

  In an attempt to soothe her racing mind, Ellie picked up the book she had been reading before she had gone to town. Words on the page had always been a source of comfort; they were a way to escape the moment. They were not good enough this time. She could not focus on the words long enough to read even a single page. The words blurred together. She read the same sentence three times before she gave up. There had been more excitement in the past three days than in her entire life; it was difficult to repress such things. Ellie threw the book to the floor and stretched out on the sofa.

  As she did, the sights she had seen in town rose up in front of her eyes. She saw all the things she had never imagined possible and wondered if the whole world was full of such wonderful things. She wondered if the ocean, dolphins, people without craft, shops and houses were repeated the world over. She wondered, too, if the whole world was as scary as being chased by men with rifles and dark shadows of men down a lonely street. How many places held the sad remains of a lost stone bear? There was a fine balance between the dangerous things and the wonderful things. Good and bad were mixed in a way she could not have conceived of three days ago.

  Somewhere around the images of her trip, she realized that one of her long-held opinions had shifted. Seeing town had changed more for her than just gaining new knowledge. Tried-and-true fact had changed to something a little less true. Not all Coopers were evil. Not all of them could be trusted but they were not all the things Neveah had said they were. There was no taking back the past. One of the Coopers had killed her father and broken apart their family.

  There was also no denying that not all of them were guilty of the murder. The Coopers had complex emotional relationships, dysfunction and love. They were not so different from her family.

  While Thane and Ellie were not friends by any stretch of the imagination, Ellie knew she could not have gone on her adventure without him. He was the reason she had accomplished something she had long dreamed of doing. He had taken her to town, had showed her a world beyond her expectations. She would always remember him, not as a Cooper, but as an ally in her adventure.

  Feeling more changed than she had ever thought she could, Ellie realized that the feud was not as natural as she thought. There was no real reason to the continued bloodshed. What differences bound the feud together beyond the perceived ones? The fighting was violent and unnecessary. It perpetuated itself because no one knew how to stop. It was not because there were legitimate differences between the two families. If she could get along with Thane, there was no reason that her family could not get along with the Coopers.

  Her mind fixated on that fact. She could not let it go. Her realization was useless. She would not get them to stop fighting, but she could not let the idea rest. It was profound. It meant her life had been lived in a lie.

  Ellie wanted to rest, to sleep before her chores, but she could not get her mind calm enough to do so. It hummed with the visuals of town and the feelings in her chest.

  After a short time, where her whole world switched around to reveal new truths, she went back to the house to do her work. She was eager for the distraction of physical labor. It meant not dwelling on the truths she had discovered while in town. She also knew that the sooner she was done with the chores, the better. Putting them off was not a good idea. Neveah would just add more chores to the list the longer they were left undone. Ellie’s adventure had ended, and reality had come knocking again. Her reality always included chores. Reality was better than consequences. She was determined not to be reckless again, not to put others in peril because of her dreams. Chores were safe. No one was abducted because she did chores.

  Her grandparents were in the living room. The sound of their voices carried around the house. It filled up the space with their negativity. She quietly bypassed them and went upstairs to start her cleaning there. The grandparents did not even notice her. They were too busy talking about the escape of Thane’s aunt. They chastised Neveah for letting her prisoner go. They asked how she could have been so easily tricked into falling for the distraction. Neveah took their verbal lashing without argument. She knew better than to speak up when they were chastising her. Ellie was not the only one to feel one of the grandparents’ beatings. Ellie could sense her boiling anger around the silence. Someone would pay for the escape and the attack on the house. Neveah would get her revenge and take out her anger. The Coopers would pay for making a fool out of her.

  Ellie cleaned her sisters’ rooms slowly. She took her time, knowing Neveah would be looking for a reason to criticize her. The details would matter. Ellie had started on the bathroom upstairs when she felt a familiar sense of craft in the air. It whispered through the house in a soft, steady breeze. It was the sort of skilled, subtle craft she associated with only one person.

  Ellie stopped scrubbing the toilet and looked up hopefully. She craned her neck, hoping to let her mundane senses confirm what her craft already knew. She heard the sound of a soft voice carry up the steps from the first floor. It was a voice from her dreams. Forgetting that Neveah would be angry if she did not finish her chores, Ellie dropped her cleaning things and hurried down the steps. She jumped them two and three at a time.

  Ellie’s momma was in the middle of the living room. Her red hair was warmed by the summer sun streaming through the open windows. To Ellie, it looked as if her momma had a halo. She was the brightest part of the room. Momma was crafting gifts for Neveah and Careen with a flick of her wrist. Neveah looked annoyed at the craft, while Careen was smiling happily at the candies and flowers piled on her lap. Careen was as glad as Ellie was to see their momma. The surprise was a welcome one. Neveah had her arms crossed as she sat between the grandparents on the sofa. The grandparents mirrored Neveah’s body language. Their frowns had deepened. Disapproval for Momma dominated their expressions. Ellie had never seen Neveah look more like Grandma Bumbalow than in that moment.

  Ellie ignored the judgmental aura they were radiating with and focused on the person in the room that mattered most to her.

  “Momma!” Ellie yelled happily.

  Momma turned at the cry. She smiled warmly when she saw Ellie on the steps. She held her arms out in maternal warmness. “Hey, baby girl!” Momma said.

  “I thought you weren’t gonna be back again until fall,” Ellie said as Momma hugged her.

  “I got a feeling I was needed and came back soon as I could,” Momma said. “When I heard about your little adventure, well, I just knew I was right. Shame I didn’t get here a bit sooner to stop your abduction before it happened.”

  “She’s fine,” Neveah said. “They didn’t even hurt her a little.”

  Neveah sounded disappointed at the admission. The expression on her face was one Ellie was used to seeing whenever Momma came around. It was angry and hateful. It blamed Momma for the past ten years of Neveah’s life.

  “I don’t see how anyo
ne could hurt you, baby girl,” Momma said, touching Ellie’s face. “You’re too sweet.”

  “See? No one hurt her. You can go back to wandering or whatever it is you do while betraying your family,” Neveah said hatefully.

  Grandma and Grandpa Bumbalow nodded approvingly at Neveah’s words. Their faces were full of disapproval for Momma. They had never liked her. They had never thought she was good enough for their son. She was certainly not good enough to lead the battle against the Coopers. Her leaving was just confirmation of what they had always thought; she was no good. They did not dare say this to her face, however. They feared her in a way they did not fear Ellie, for good reason.

  Momma turned away from Ellie and arched an eyebrow at Neveah. Her smile disappeared in an instant. The expression on her face was what had made her so famous in the family. It was a look of unspeakable anger. While many saw her and her family as an outsider to the feud – her family had moved into the area only fifty years ago – no one could deny her crafting ability, or her fierceness in a fight. Stories of her craft were legend in the Bumbalow family. People still talked about the fights she had won. Even the Coopers had learned to fear Momma’s name. No one dared get in a fight with her by choice. Neveah was lucky that Momma had learned control.

  Momma waved a quick hand and a gag appeared around Neveah’s mouth. Neveah’s hands moved to the gag, to pull it away, but the fabric did not move. Momma kept her craft on the gag, to teach Neveah a lesson. Neveah’s craft was not strong enough to move the fabric.

  “I know you think you’re something else, with taking over the feuding and leading the family in this ridiculousness you call living, but I am still your momma, and you will not speak like that to me,” Momma said. “You keep it up, and I’ll show you that you are not too old for certain lessons…Do you understand?”

  Neveah nodded once. Her anger had lost out to fear.

  Momma waved her wrist again. Neveah finally managed to pull down the gag, but she did not backtalk. She knew Momma was not the sort of woman you messed with unless you wanted a heck of a fight.

  Momma refocused on Ellie. She rolled her shoulders once to rid her body of her radiating anger and smiled again. Ellie smiled back. She was glad her momma had not lost her temper. She’d had enough of fighting for one day.

  “I brought you something. I found it in an old bookstore in Maine and thought you might like it,” Momma said.

  Momma flicked her wrist for a third time. A book appeared in her hand from nowhere. She held it up for Ellie to see. The title read: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ellie took it with a smile. It would be another book for the collection.

  “Thanks,” Ellie said.

  “Any time, baby girl,” Momma said. “Now tell me about this whole kidnapping thing. I’m dying to know how my baby girl got away from the mean, old Coopers.”

  Ellie hesitated. Her hands tightened on the book her momma had given her. She did not know what to say. Telling her momma a lie felt different from telling Neveah one to keep from getting a beating. She always shared her dreams and her hopes with her momma. Momma was the only one who ever encouraged such daring ideas of travel and adventure. She encouraged Ellie to think beyond the world she had known.

  Telling Momma in front of the others was not an option. They would hold the truth against her. When Momma was gone again, there would be hell to pay for her honesty. They would punish her for the lie. Too, her momma, despite her long absences from the family, was still a Bumbalow by marriage. Some habits died hard, no matter the distance and time a person put between them. Momma would not be pleased to learn Ellie had spent two days with a Cooper without trying to hurt him. Such things were not done.

  Decided that a lie was the only way to go, Ellie told a story of her kidnapping, adding small, true details to make it seem believable she had been kidnapped against her will. When she was done with her story, she left the house so that the others could badmouth the Coopers. Her momma was indignant over the Coppers’ brazen act of kidnapping and, for once, Momma and Neveah did not argue. A kidnap was not something the Bumbalows could easily ignore. They would have to make sure the Coopers learned their place.

  Ellie went to her shack as they focused on insulting the Coopers. Ellie was not interested in joining in on that particular conversation, not when she was facing such confusing emotions about Thane and his whole family. She would not be able to hide her sincere emotions from Momma.

  Ellie’s departure did not go as unnoticed as it would have on most days.

  Ellie was not long in her shack when she heard Momma call her name from outside. The call was out of respect for Ellie’s personal space. Momma could have parted the vines if she wanted to. She was one of the few. Ellie stood and crafted the vines out of the way obligingly. Momma walked inside. She was the only other person beside Thane to see the interior. She looked around Ellie’s sanctuary with pride at her daughter’s craft. The furniture reflected Ellie’s skill at forming things out of nothing. The books reflected her affection for her momma.

  A smile on her face, Momma crafted a large chair to sit on. When she sat, Caw called out in confusion to Ellie. The bird was sitting on a pile of books above Ellie’s head. Momma’s confidence and similarity to Ellie perplexed him. He did not understand where she had come from. Ellie touched him on the beak, to calm him, and whispered words of comfort. She urged him to be still. She was not sure how Momma would take Caw. Momma was not mad at the craft, however. She was not Neveah.

  “Did you craft him?” Momma asked.

  “Yeah,” Ellie agreed.

  “He’s beautiful,” Momma said.

  “Thanks,” Ellie said.

  Momma looked around the heaps of books again and at the candles stacked around wherever there was room. Finally, she focused on her daughter, who looked nervous and relieved at the same time. Ellie was worried the truth would come out, and she was not sure if she wanted to face it. She was happy to see her momma, but she was still wound up. Her adventure was too fresh for her to be completely normal and relaxed.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” Momma asked.

  Ellie started fidgeting. Her Momma’s eyes took in every awkward shift.

  “What do you mean?” Ellie asked.

  “I know when you’re bothered, baby girl. It’s in my blood to know,” Momma said.

  “I’m afraid you won’t like it,” Ellie admitted.

  “The Coopers didn’t really kidnap you, did they?” Momma asked.

  Ellie was surprised at her momma’s guess. No one else had assumed she was capable enough to run away on her own. No one thought she was capable enough to make it to town without the aid of the others. She did not say anything, afraid her admission would mean punishment. Momma was not thinking along the lines of punishment. She knew a person had to see the world some.

  “I would be disappointed if you didn’t sneak out now and then. It’s your right…I snuck off to town more than my share. I just don’t want you to get mixed up in things that could get you killed. The feud has a way of killing off the dreamers,” Momma said.

  “Like Daddy, you mean?” Ellie asked.

  “Yes, like Daddy,” Momma agreed sadly.

  “I…”

  Ellie fidgeted some more. She could not hold in the truth. It had to come out. “I saw where he died,” Ellie admitted. “The bear is gone. It’s gonna be an office or something.”

  Momma sighed. “Everything changes eventually.”

  “Not the feud,” Ellie said.

  “No, not that,” Momma said.

  “Momma…why was Daddy in town that day? Why was he there? No one ever said,” Ellie said.

  Seeing where he had died made her realize how deep inside of Cooper territory he had gone. He was too far in for it to be an accident. He had to have had a reason. Was he there looking for a Cooper to kill? Ellie had only recently discovered that her family was not as innocent as she would have cared to believe. They searched out the violence as much as the Coope
rs did. Would the truth of her father’s death be different with the perspective she had gained? Could she face the idea that her father was as violent as Neveah?

  Momma did not answer right away. She was lost in the past. The question was not easy for her to answer. She was not sure if Ellie was ready for the truth. She knew, however, that Ellie would not have asked unless she needed to know. Momma trusted her daughter that much.

  “He was supposed to meet someone there,” Momma said. “He didn’t tell me who. He just said that he had a way of making our daughters’ future better than ours could ever be. I think he thought he could singlehandedly end the feud.”

  “So, he wasn’t there looking to pay someone back for bloodshed?” Ellie asked.

  Momma shook her head. “Things were different when your father was alive. We protected our end of things, but we didn’t go looking for a fight. Your sister…your sister is different.”

  Ellie breathed a sigh of relief at her momma’s words. She had worried her father was not the man she had thought him to be. She had worried he was more like Neveah. Her momma always told her that he was a good man but Neveah and Careen acted as if he had not existed. It was difficult to reconcile the two ways of treating his memory.

  Another thought came to mind. With town, she had started something she could not stop. There was a feeling in her heart, to go wherever the road took her. She wanted to escape the feud. If she went with her momma, she would feel safe. She would be protected. Neveah would not come looking for her. No one would get hurt because of her adventure. She could leave without there being repercussions. The words sprung to Ellie’s lips before she had time to think about them.

  “Momma, why can’t I come with you when you leave? I promise I won’t be a hassle. I’ll do my end of crafting and keep things tidy wherever we go,” Ellie said. “I’m quiet and keep to myself and won’t slow you down. I swear.”