Ellie shrugged, downplaying her emotions. “I don’t know if something like that is even possible. But the wish is done. Can’t undo what is…Let’s talk about something cheerful.”
“It’s your birthday,” Thane agreed, though he did not look happy to let the subject drop.
Ellie smiled again, liking the way his words sounded. Noticing Caw’s hungry stare, she cut a piece of the cake off and crafted a plate just for Caw. She set the cake on the plate, so all three of them could enjoy the party. For a minute, the three of them ate in silence.
“Tell me about the party you have,” Ellie said around her food. “For the solstice…”
“There’s not much to it,” Thane said. “Everyone gets to my house around nine. They cook food. My dad gives a speech about family pride at the start of it. The house is full of people I don’t know that well, everyone drinks and dances and has a good time. I usually sit in a corner and wish I had perfected magic to make me appear in two places at once, so I could leave without there being a fight.”
“I tried to craft being at two places at once…to get the other half to do my chores,” Ellie said. “It was like holding in a belly ache. I couldn’t focus long enough to get it to stick…”
“You actually tried that?” Thane asked.
“Sure,” Ellie said. “Why not?”
“I was just joking,” Thane said. “You really are talented at magic.”
Ellie blushed at his compliment. “I just practice is all,” Ellie said. “I reckon you didn’t get much chance to practice your craft around that non-crafting bunch of folks. Especially if they make as big a deal as you say about craft.”
“That could be it,” Thane said. “It’s not…but it could be.”
Ellie shrugged and looked around her clearing again, saving the images of the party in her mind for later. She could not stop smiling. It was irrepressible. She wanted to keep the moment forever. She wished that her craft extended to the ability of saving a moment. It was her first birthday since her momma left that felt like a real celebration.
“Ellie! Where the devil are you!?”
Ellie heard the voice and jumped up automatically. It was distorted and ill-formed, but there was no mistaking who was calling. It was Neveah.
“You have to go?” Thane asked, disappointed.
“If I don’t, she’ll come looking for me,” Ellie said.
“I guess we don’t want that,” Thane said.
“No, we don’t,” Ellie said.
“I’ll wait for you,” he said.
“You best not,” Ellie said. “At this hour, she probably wants something real inconvenient and time-consuming. They do that sometimes when they’ve gotten in the hooch and are feeling mean.”
Thane nodded once in agreement. He did not look happy, but he could not argue with Ellie’s understanding of her sisters. He did not want to get her in trouble. “Okay.”
“Ellie!” she heard Neveah call again.
Ellie jumped again and started to hurry out of the clearing. She knew Neveah would be angry at having to wait. She waved a quick goodbye to Thane before disappearing into the woods. Thane watched her go.
Caw was still eating his piece of cake and all but ignored Thane’s soft whisper.
“Happy Birthday, Ellie.”
Tree branches whipped against Ellie’s face as she ran, but she ignored the pain. Her heart pounded at the idea of Neveah’s wrath should she find Ellie in the woods. Ellie left the woods and rushed toward the house. Even though she was focused on getting to her sister, her mind lingered on the party Thane had thrown for her. The warmth of the moment circled her body as much as the summer night.
Neveah was in the living room. Careen was next to her, sprawled out on the sofa. Careen was unconscious and Neveah was far gone with drink. Ellie knew they had spent the evening at Cousin’s house preparing for the solstice. She also knew Cousin had some of the strongest hooch for twenty miles. Ellie knew why Neveah had called her. She had seen it enough times to know. They needed help getting upstairs. Neveah blinked at Ellie blearily, her eyes refocusing as Ellie stopped in the space between the kitchen and living room.
“What took you so long?” Neveah demanded.
“It’s one thirty in the morning,” Ellie said. “I was in bed.”
“You always got an excuse, don’t you, girl?” Neveah said. “Always thinking you’re smarter than us 'cause you read them nonsensical books.”
“I don’t think that,” Ellie said.
“You’re a liar,” Neveah spat. “A filthy liar. You’re just like momma. She’s a liar, too. Promising things, like a family, like that she’ll be around forever…then she up an leaves, leaving me with two girls to raise on my own. You remind me of momma an awful lot.”
Neveah’s face was full of evil spite. It was the sort of spite that could turn painful quick. Neveah was close to giving Ellie a beating, just because she could. Her drunkenness would only make the beating more severe. Neveah’s words stung. Ellie was not in the mood to let them go.
“I ain’t like momma,” Ellie said. “Momma’s brave.”
“Momma is a coward!” Neveah said. “She ran off instead of facing things she should have faced!”
Ellie stared at Neveah. She did not understand what Momma was supposed to have faced. No one spoke of Momma’s leaving, beyond criticizing her for abandoning the family to the feud. The topic was not one Ellie was encouraged to ask about. Ellie took advantage of the fact that Neveah would not remember their conversation in the morning.
“What do you mean?” Ellie asked.
“She got scared of the fighting without Papa around to lead things. She was scared to face the fact that he was killed by the Coopers. And when Grandpa Bumbalow told her she wouldn’t be taken her kids with her when she left, she gave in without a fight. She left us here without so much as ‘I don’t think so!’ She’s as chicken as you.”
Ellie’s eyes filled with tears. Had her momma really given in that easily? She had always thought of her momma as brave. Momma was brave enough to leave when it was so easy to stay and continue the fighting. There was bravery in leaving everything a person had ever known. Was there also cowardice in running away? Was Ellie wrong to think her momma different from the others? Was she wrong to look up to her adventures? She could not stand the idea. It was too painful.
“Don’t talk about Momma like that!” Ellie said.
“I’ll talk about her any damn way I please,” Neveah said.
Ellie glared at her sister. Her happiness from her birthday party with Thane was gone, replaced by anger and resentment. She wanted nothing more than to raise her hand and craft at her sister. She was angry enough to do so. She wanted to teach Neveah a lesson. She wanted to prove to Neveah that she was not always right. Her hands clenched into a ball as she fought the urge to do the unthinkable. The craft fought to win against the restraints of her body. Her mind was visualizing the pain she could inflict on Neveah. It was easy to imagine. It was the pain she had endured under Neveah’s hand. Neveah did not miss the struggle. Even drunk, she knew when someone was on the verge of craft.
“You gonna test me?” Neveah asked. “You think you got craft I ain’t got? You think I haven’t spent the past ten years fighting Coopers? You think you can best me?”
Ellie let her hands relax and took a deep breath to calm her trembling anger. She was not going to fall into Neveah’s trap. Neveah was just looking for a fight as an outlet against her anger. Something had set her off, and she wanted something else to help take away the pain. Ellie knew better than to test those waters. If Ellie did escape from the punishment alive, she knew Neveah would just take her anger to the Coopers.
Neveah smirked when she saw the shift in Ellie’s body language. It was the shift of Ellie giving in. Neveah raised her hand and flicked her wrist. Ellie dropped to the floor as white-hot pain moved through her body. The pain only lasted a second, but it was long enough for Neveah to get her point across. Ellie looked
up at Neveah as the pain left her body. Her anger had returned, but it was repressed by fear.
“There’s a good little girl,” Neveah said. “Help me and your sister up the stairs. Then, I want you to start getting ready for the party. We got lots to do around here before this place is party ready. You know how important the solstice is.”
Ellie stood without replying. She was afraid that speaking would make her lose her temper again.
“We've got a special surprise this year, too,” Neveah said, her smirk changing with the words.
It was an expression of evil anticipation Ellie found chilling. The surprise would not be a cake in the woods. It would be violent. Ellie knew the truth. She dared to speak up again. For the first time in her life, she did not want the truth out of curiosity. She would tell Thane. She would protect his family from Neveah. Neveah’s punishment had made her feel vindictive.
“What?” Ellie asked.
“Oh, you’ll be seeing soon enough,” Neveah said with a hint of a threat in her voice. “Now, help us to bed before I get cross.”
Ellie draped Neveah’s arm around her shoulders and helped her sister up the stairs. They were silent as Ellie helped Neveah to her bed. There was nothing left to say. After she had put Careen to bed, Ellie went outside to calm down before starting her chores.
The night air was wet and humid. It did little to refresh Ellie. Beads of sweat trickled down her spine as she paced in front of the kitchen stairs. The pain from Neveah’s craft still circled her body. Ellie had never hated her sister more. Not only had Neveah pulled her away from her birthday party with Thane, but she had also given her one of the worst presents ever. She had brought pain to Ellie’s birthday.
As Ellie paced, she seriously contemplated running away for the first time in her life. She contemplated a life without the feud and without Neveah’s meanness. She did not fear the outside world as much as she used to. Her trips with Thane had changed her perspective. Thane was the only person that kept her from walking away from the house. She could not leave him. Not yet.
Ellie sighed at the realization and went to do her chores. She would make a decision when she was not so wrapped up in her anger. As she turned back to the house, she realized she had never had a stranger beginning to a birthday in her life.
She did not know how strange it could truly get.
The first of the extended family arrived at Ellie’s house at dawn. They were all business and had come prepared for work. They crafted decorations, food, and saw to it that the solstice would be an even better celebration than the previous year. Her house transformed from a serviceable place into a place of beauty, a place that only craft could make.
Eugenia, her old face narrowed in constant thought, directed the family around like her own personal troops. Ellie’s main task was to fetch things. She accepted her task without complaint. It distracted her from her morning of pain. Cousin was smart enough to stay out of the way. Ellie saw him around the back of the house, chewing his tobacco and drinking from an old mason jar. He would stay hidden there until the party officially started.
By noon, most of the family was at Ellie’s house and Ellie was exhausted. She went to her shack to rest, figuring no one would notice her absence. When she let herself inside, Caw was waiting for her. He was sitting on her table as if he had been waiting on her for hours. He clicked his beak in greeting when he saw her. Next to him, looking as if Caw had dropped it a couple of times, was a small roll of paper. Ellie collapsed on the sofa and picked up the note.
It had one word written on it: ‘Abracadabra.’
The note shifted in Ellie’s hands and formed into a bracelet. It was silver, with delicate etchings along the length of the silver. The etchings looked like ivy, the same kind that protected her front door. Ellie smiled a tired smile, then put the bracelet on her arm. She hid the bracelet with a bandana she crafted out of nothing. She knew if Neveah saw it, she would take it. It was one reason Ellie never crafted nice things for herself. She pulled out the book Thane had given her and started reading. She did not get very far into the story before her exhaustion won out. Ellie fell asleep with a smile on her face. She dreamed of Thane and a world without feuding. It was a much different dream than the one of town, but its purpose was the same. It kept her hoping.
BANG!
Ellie awoke with a start. Her eyes were heavy with sleep and her brain weighted down by the dream she had been having. She could not understand what had woken her up. Everything was out of focus, surreal.
BANG! BANG!
“Open this stupid door right now or I’ll set fire to the whole lot!” Neveah called through the door.
Ellie’s confusion disappeared. Neveah was angry she had left party. She was coming to punish her. She jumped up and did a quick sweep of her shack. Caw was gone. He was out searching the skies for freedom and easy prey. Ellie put Thane’s book into her pocket and made sure there was nothing that would give her craft or her meetings with Thane away. There was nothing beyond her books.
Neveah was standing just outside the door. Ellie took a step back from the unexpected closeness. The sun had not moved very far. Her nap had not been a long one. Neveah did not cross the threshold of the shack. She did not even give disparaging comments on the interior of the shack. She just stared.
Ellie wondered why Neveah looked so serious. Neveah had never visited her shack before. She barely even mentioned it. Was it anger for leaving the party or something more serious that had Neveah staring so hard? Had she found out about Thane? Had Careen mentioned Ellie meeting a boy and Neveah had put the pieces together? Was she about to be beaten? Ellie’s heart beat wildly as she tried to keep the panic off her face.
Careen, Cousin and many members of her extended family stood behind Neveah. They had curious expressions on their faces as they looked at Ellie. More than one had skepticism in their eyes. They doubted whatever reason Neveah had come searching for Ellie.
It was the first time so many people had noticed her at once. Ellie had never felt so awkward in her entire life. She did not know what to do with the unexpected attention. Her hands moved to her pockets, where the book Thane had given her was safely tucked away. It gave her comfort. It reminded her she was not alone.
“What’s the matter?” Ellie asked.
“We got an errand to run,” Neveah said.
“Okay?” Ellie said.
“You’re coming with us,” Neveah said.
“Me?” Ellie asked. “Why?”
“Because it’s about time you started to earn your stay in this family,” Neveah said. “It’s about time you start acting like a Bumbalow…You’re growing up, and, like the others, you need to earn your place.”
“Earn how?” Ellie asked.
Neveah’s smile was wicked. It promised all the things Ellie hated. Violence and pain were at the top of the list. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
Ellie did not have a good feeling. Neveah’s surprises were never kind. Whatever she had planned was big. Neveah would not have interrupted the solstice party for a small task. The solstice was an unspoken day of truce for the Coopers and Bumbalows. Did Neveah mean to break that tradition? Ellie could see no other reason for the happy expression on her sister’s face.
Neveah did not give Ellie the chance to ask more questions. She grabbed Ellie’s arm and pulled her outside. Ellie stumbled after her sister through the tall grass in front of her shack. Her door remained open, her vines parted to allow anyone inside. The excitement of her family was obvious. Their conversation was loud and full of the coming task. Those who had not gone to her shack were on the front yard. Everyone was curious to see what was going on. Neveah had told them what she had planned. A van was behind Cousin’s truck. It was newer than the truck but still rusted. It was a pale blue color with bright red taillights. It belonged to one of her cousins, a cousin Ellie always associated with mischief.
Neveah marched Ellie across the yard, her grip unrelenting. The force of her ha
nd actually made Ellie’s arm ache. Neveah pushed Ellie into the back of the van without bothering to ask her to get in nicely. Careen, Cousin, Neveah and five of her cousins got in the back with her. Two more of her cousins got in the front. The van started. Over the sound of the engine, she heard her family cheering. The bad feeling in Ellie’s stomach grew worse.
Ellie sat on the hard, metal floor of the van while the others sat on the benches along the edge of the van wall. She felt every single bump as the cousins drove toward town. It was almost as if the cousins were trying to drive as poorly as they could, just to torture her.
Neveah was peaceful. There was a contented smile on her face. She was wearing a white dress and almost seemed to glow in the bright summer light. Ellie was not deceived. The only thing that made Neveah that happy was blood. The cousins talked, smoked and were loud in the small space. Careen talked with them, happy to join in with the fun.
Cousin was as silent as Neveah. He puffed on his pipe and kept an eye on the back window. His eyes watched for enemies. The closer they got to town, the more aware he got. He puffed less on his pipe and focused more on the task. Ellie felt tied to the rhythm of his puffing. It counted down the time until they arrived at their destination.
Ellie tried to figure out where they were going and what they were doing, but no one talked about where they were headed. They had already talked about their plan. They did not need to talk about it in front of her. She tried to keep an eye on the same window Cousin was looking out of, but it was difficult from her place on the floor. It was difficult to look out without catching a glare from Neveah. Ellie’s role was not to know where they were going, just to do what needed to be done once they got there. She was to play her part and nothing more.
The trip took over an hour. They did not drive through town. They went around it. They were closer to the beach, but not as close as Ellie and Thane’s visit to the ocean. Finally, the van stopped moving. Ellie had to brace herself against the sudden stop. Neveah moved to the back of the van and peered outside. Her eyes were narrowed and full of eager determination.
Craft Page 21
