“So you have to hide it all the time?” Ellie asked.
“Well, maybe not all the time,” Thane said. “I mess with my teachers, and there’s this guy I hate at school. I use craft on him sometimes. But no one can know about it.”
“So, you’re like me then,” Ellie decided. “I can’t ever do my crafting either, or I get in trouble with Neveah.”
“Why?” Thane asked.
Ellie shrugged. “I dunno. She just doesn’t like it.”
“Do you think she’s jealous?” Thane asked.
“I think Neveah is a lot of things,” Ellie said. “But I don’t think she’s jealous of me. She’s got everything she could possibly want…boys, craft, violence, the family…I’m just the girl who washes the floors.”
“Hmmm,” Thane said noncommittally.
Thane did not agree with her assessment of herself, but he let it lie. There was no sense trying to convince Ellie of something she would not believe. He also realized what she was trying to do.
“You brought up my friends in hopes that I would want to stay at school, didn’t you?” Thane asked.
“I was just curious…” Ellie lied.
“You don’t want me to stay,” he said.
“I just want you to think about what you want before you go and make any decisions,” Ellie said.
“I will,” Thane promised.
They drove in thoughtful silence. The dark finally gave way to a city. It was twice the size of town. It glittered in the dark. Streetlamps filled the night with color. People wandered under the streetlamps, the night not deterring them from their exploration of the city. Ellie felt her mouth drop open in wonder. The city surpassed town in its wonder. Thane barely registered the sights. They drove through the city and the lights disappeared again.
Finally, Thane pulled the car off on to the side of a small street. Caw gave a low sound of excitement as the car finally stopped moving. Ellie opened the door and threw him in the air. He circled above them, taking in the sights.
Thane led Ellie across a long bridge. A sand dune blocked the water from view, but as they reached the end of the bridge, they were able to see the full expanse of the water. Ellie gasped. Even in the dark, the water was magnificent. Thane smiled at her.
“Come on, Bumbalow. It’s better up close.”
Thane’s words released her from her shock. Ellie ran across the sand, struggling in the shifting dunes. Thane ran after her, trying to keep up. She stopped running at the edge of the water. She could hear the continuous roar of the water as it moved in and out from the beach. She could feel the spray of the water on her legs and face. The moon rippled against the surface of the water. There was no one else on the beach. The night ensured it was deserted. A smile spread across Ellie’s face.
“It’s huge!” Ellie said.
“Yep,” Thane agreed.
“This has been so close all my life, and I never knew,” Ellie said in wonder.
“Life is funny like that,” Thane said.
“Suppose so,” Ellie agreed.
Ellie allowed herself the couple of steps that would bring the water to her feet. The salty, cold spray crashed over her bare feet and then tugged on her on its way back out to sea. Ellie giggled at the feeling.
“You should go for a swim…” Thane said.
“I can’t swim,” Ellie admitted. “Never been around enough water to make it necessary.”
“Oh.”
Ellie took another step forward. Her eyes took in the water and the night sky. Her body took in the feel of the water and the happiness at seeing it. She did not worry about being found where she was not supposed to be. She did not worry about getting home late. Punishment was the last thing on her mind.
“Thank you,” Ellie said.
“For what?” Thane asked.
Ellie gestured at the water. “This. It’s something I could have never imagined. Not ever.”
“You’re welcome,” Thane said.
Thane plopped down in the sand, out of reach of the tide and picked up a seashell from the ground. His happy mood changed into a more pensive one. He stared at the seashell for a long moment. “You’re going to be at your house all day tomorrow, right?” Thane asked.
“Course,” Ellie said. “You know I’m not allowed out.”
“Yet…here we are,” Thane said, gesturing at the water.
“I'm not going anywhere,” Ellie promised.
“Good,” Thane said.
“Why?” Ellie asked.
Thane sighed. He threw the seashell at the sand. He picked up another one and ran his fingers over the sharp edges.
“Connor and my dad have been pressuring me. I have to help them do something tomorrow…and I just want to be sure that you’re not going to be…you know.”
Ellie understood. Thane had to attack one of her family members to placate his father. She wanted to know which one. She wanted to be able to stop it. She knew that was impossible. Thane would never tell her where they were going. He had to protect his family, just like she wanted to protect hers.
Ellie sighed and sat down next to him in the sand. The weight of the attack was heavy on her mind. It worked to erase the happy mood between them. Their bodies were full of tension. All of the happiness at seeing the ocean was replaced by fear. It was not just fear for her family. It was fear for Thane. The confliction confused her. Ellie sighed again, feeling tired suddenly. She put her head on Thane’s shoulder without thinking.
“Don’t kill anyone,” she said in a small voice.
Thane took a deep breath. “I won’t,” he promised.
Ellie knew he would keep his word.
Chapter 10: The Worst Present
Ellie was almost late getting back to her house from the beach. The dawn had already crested over the trees when Thane dropped her off. They had set aside the feud with their conversation, though their happiness was subdued by the weight of the coming day’s task. Neither of them wanted Thane to attack her family.
It was suppertime when Ellie found out what Thane and his family had planned. There was an attack on a group of her cousins, some of Neveah’s best crafters. They were ambushed on the road while on their way to Ellie’s house. They would survive the ambush, though with many scars as proof of the encounter. Their car was another story. They would have to craft a new one.
Ellie was pleased that Thane had kept his word. The lack of serious injuries drew contempt from Neveah. Neveah scorned the Coopers’ inability to craft a meaningful injury, even as she cursed them up one side and down the other for the attack. Although the attack had been minor, Ellie knew Neveah would go looking for blood. The Coopers would be punished.
Thane almost did not show up for their talk that week. He expected Ellie to be angry with him despite her calm acceptance of the inevitable. She was angry, of course, but she could not direct the anger his way. He had kept his promise. He had walked a fine line between satisfying his father and not killing her kin. Thane had not started the feud. He was just doing his best to live within the boundaries his family had set for him.
Ellie was mostly angry with Neveah for continually trying to escalate the feud any way she could. Neveah had gone searching for the people who attacked her cousins, to no success. It would not be the end of the fight. It was almost as if Neveah thought escalating the feud would make it go away quicker. Ellie knew it would just make the casualties greater. Her frustration toward Neveah’s actions dominated Ellie’s week. It made her mood sour. Cleaning around her sisters became more of a chore than normal.
“Are you angry?” Thane asked as soon as Ellie stepped into the clearing.
“Yeah,” Ellie said. “But not at you.”
“I did help attack them,” Thane admitted. “It was my magic that blew up the car.”
“Want me to be mad at you?” Ellie asked.
“No…of course not,” Thane said. “I just wanted you to know the truth.”
“You didn’t kill them,” Ellie said. “
You kept your promise.”
Thane did not say anything in response. He was not so sure he had done everything he could have. The attack weighed heavily on him. He had used dark craft to hurt someone who shared Ellie’s blood. It could have been Ellie. He would not have been able to stop the attack if it had been. He would have been forced to choose between attacking her and attacking his family. There would have been no other choice.
Ellie was wrapped up in the conversation she had overheard hours before her meeting with Thane. Neveah had talked to Cousin and Careen about how they could maximize the damage of their next attack. The conversation had only soured Ellie’s mood further.
“I just don’t get why Neveah can’t let something lie,” Ellie fretted after a moment. “She’s always one-uping somebody, as if she got something to prove. It’s always blood for blood. She can’t just let it lie. She’s searching for something, I just don’t know what. Maybe she just likes the violence. She likes it more than she should.”
“My brother’s like that,” Thane admitted. “He’s always trying to prove to my dad that he’s loyal to the family and is good enough to run things when my dad retires. But he can’t let his victories speak for themselves…he’s always trying to search out a new fight.”
“Sounds like him and Neveah could start a meeting on how to be unhappy all the time,” Ellie said.
“The only problem is getting them into the same building without them killing each other,” Thane said.
“There’s that,” Ellie agreed.
“Do you think…” Thane hesitated. The question was not an easy one.
“I can think, in spite of being a Bumbalow and all,” Ellie said, thinking he was teasing her about her intelligence again.
“No! Uh, I was going to ask if you thought Neveah loved you,” Thane said. His face was thoughtful. He wanted to explain the question. “There are some days where I don’t think my dad, or any of my family, really love me beyond being a Cooper. Being loved as a Cooper isn’t the same as being loved as Thane,” Thane explained. “None of them know me. My mom was the only one who really knew me and she’s…well, you know.”
Ellie thought over Thane’s words. It took her a moment to come to a decision. She was not sure it was the right one. She hoped Neveah loved her, but hope was not the same thing as knowing. “I reckon Neveah loves me in her own right,” Ellie said. “Family has to love each other, right?”
“There are some days where I don’t love my family,” Thane admitted. “I feel loyal to them. I feel like I owe them for my life…but sometimes…I just hate the lot of them.”
“That’s only natural,” Ellie said. “There’s not a day I don’t contemplate putting some powerful craft over Neveah’s and Careen’s heads, but then I realize they are the only family I got in the world. My momma doesn’t even want to take me with her when she travels as much as she claims to love me. Without them, I got nobody.”
“You got yourself,” he said.
“Sometimes that can get real lonely,” she said.
Thane shrugged once at her words and didn’t argue with her. He did not see loneliness the same way she did. It was possible to be lonely in a crowded room.
Lost in her thoughts, Ellie waved her hand at the light she had formed over their heads, and it started dancing and shifting into odd shapes. She watched it dance for a moment, the light reflecting in her eyes. Something else that had made her pensive and added to her sour mood bubbled to the surface of her mind. The last time she had mentioned the subject, Neveah had made sure it was the worse day of her life, but, for some reason, she wanted to tell Thane. She wanted to share it with someone. She hoped he would be different.
“Next week’s my birthday,” Ellie admitted as she stared at the light.
“How old are you going to be?” Thane asked.
“Sixteen,” Ellie said. “Sixteen on the summer solstice…” Ellie mused. “Momma once said she thought the solstice was the reason why craft came so easy to me. She thought it might have been 'cause of the longest day of the year had blessed me.”
“We always have a party on the solstice,” Thane said.
“So, you've been celebrating my birthday this whole time,” Ellie said with a smile.
“I guess so,” Thane admitted.
“We have a party, too,” Ellie said. “But not for me. It’s just a normal party for the solstice. No one ever remembers my birthday. Last time I made mention of my birthday to Neveah, she told Grandpa Bumbalow that I had told her I wanted to be a Cooper. He locked me in his cellar for three days. That was before I knew how to go about crafting water. I about died.”
Thane was shocked. His expression reflected his shock. Even his family would never lock him in a cellar for three days. His problems were small in comparison.
“And you still love Neveah after she did something like that?” he demanded.
Ellie shrugged. The light she was playing with turned a strange red color. “I told you already…it’s complicated.”
“Sounds like it,” Thane agreed.
Ellie nodded without looking at him. Her eyes showed her conflicted emotions. She did not know how to reconcile the growing feelings in her chest for Thane or the way he was making her rethink everything she had ever known. Her world was changing. She was not certain that was a good thing.
“I reckon I’ve had enough talking for a night,” Ellie said, suddenly wanting to be alone.
“Okay,” Thane agreed, seeing her thoughts on her face.
“I’ll see you next week,” Ellie said.
Caw circled her head as she walked away, not daring to land on her shoulder. Ellie had pulled a blanket of seclusion around herself against the memories and doubts dancing in her head. Thane watched her go, staying on the fallen tree well past her departure. His thoughts were just as conflicted. He did not know how it felt to be locked away in house, but he did know how it felt to have a family he was not certain he loved. It was never easy. He also knew that everyone deserved a birthday.
Ellie’s week was quiet, though Neveah seemed determined to pile as many chores as possible on her. Neveah was still upset that her retribution over the Cooper’s latest attack had not found an outlet. Her foul moods usually meant more work for everyone. Ellie accepted the chores without comment. She did her best to go unnoticed. With the mood Ellie was in that week, she was not sure how a confrontation between them would go.
Ellie spent a lot of her downtime hiding from Neveah, reading and daydreaming about more adventures with Thane. Her daydreams were haunted by her confliction. She wanted Thane to stay. If he stayed home for school, they could have as many adventures as they wanted. Ellie did not like her selfishness clouding the issue. She knew that if she had a chance not to be surrounded by the feud all the time, she would take it.
The night before her birthday, Ellie went out to meet Thane like usual. She had crafted a new dress to wear for their meeting. Her excitement for the meeting could not be stopped by the feeling that it was wrong to wish for him to stay. Her week had only been manageable through the idea that she would see him again. It had kept her going as she put up with Neveah’s bullying.
Thane was waiting for her when she arrived. Though it was normal for him to get to their clearing first, everything else was different. Banners were between the trees. On them were the words, “Happy Birthday!” They marked her path to Thane and surrounded their clearing. Thane stood in the middle, a smile on his face. Next to Thane were a table, two chairs, and a birthday cake. The cake was simple, with a ring of blue candles around the edge. Ellie looked at the cake then at Thane, shocked at what she was seeing.
“There’s no need to look so confused,” Thane said when he saw her.
“What’s all this?” Ellie asked.
“It’s a birthday party,” Thane said.
Ellie dared to step a little closer. A slow smile spread across her face. She looked at her cake and her candles, not knowing what to say to Thane. She thought the decorations
were the kindest thing anyone had ever done for her. It was difficult to conceive of someone doing something so nice for no reason at all.
“It’s not nearly as great as the kind of magic you can do…” Thane said.
Thane thought she was not moving because she was not impressed by his craft. He thought her less than overwhelmed by what she saw. Ellie came out of her daze. Her smile grew larger as she looked at him.
“This is most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” she told him.
Ellie moved over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed at her kiss, but she did not notice. She was too busy looking at the cake. She moved over to the lopsided treat and eyed the candles. The light bobbed happily in time to the feeling of the air.
“Can I blow them out?” Ellie asked.
“Sure,” Thane agreed. “You gotta make a wish, though. It’s a birthday rule.”
“Oh…”
Ellie frowned as she thought over her wish. She finally decided what she wanted most and bent forward to blow the candles out. The candles all went out at once. Ellie had unintentionally used her craft as she focused on her wish. Thane moved around her and sat on his side of the table. Ellie sat as well, grinning from ear to ear. Caw hopped onto the table and looked down at the cake with a hungry eye.
“What’d you wish for?” Thane asked as he crafted a knife to cut the cake with.
It was Ellie’s turn to blush. Thane noticed and misunderstood.
“You afraid it won’t come true if you tell me?” he asked.
“No…” Ellie said.
“What then?” he asked.
Ellie blushed harder and started eating the cake he had offered her. It was chocolate and tasted much better than it looked. She took a moment to enjoy the cake then admitted the truth to him. “I wished that the feud would end, so we could be real friends instead of having to sneak all the time,” Ellie said.
Thane smiled, though his words were less than hopeful.
“Well, you’re wishing for pixie dust, then.”
“Reckon,” Ellie agreed easily.
“Still, pixie dust is something good to hope for, sometimes,” Thane said. “It certainly can’t make the feud worse.”
Craft Page 20
