Craft (3 page)

Occasionally, she would craft the
trash away, but only when she was certain no one was watching. She
took advantage of the fact that so many people were at her house
and that no one ever noticed her. It was the only time she could
craft openly. Though she was exhausted from a day of cleaning,
Ellie did not try to retreat to her shack or leave the party. If
Neveah found out, there would be hell to pay. Ellie had a
responsibility as a Bumbalow to be at every party, no matter the
reason for it.

The summer sun gave way to a night
almost as hot and muggy as the day. People crafted drafts of cool
air around them as they partied, but even that was not enough to
keep the heat at bay. It was overwhelming. The heat only added to
the energy. It made the wildness of the Bumbalows feel as natural
as the night. It kept the mood of celebration alive.

It was close to midnight when Ellie
felt the first signs of trouble. She had fallen asleep at the
table, the party not entertaining enough to compete with a day full
of taxing chores. She thought at first the others’ conversations
had woken her up from her dreams of seeing town, but she knew in an
instant that she was wrong. The feeling in the air was familiar.
Someone was crafting. The strong pull of it had woken her up from a
dead sleep.

Her eyes unfocused, her mind weighted
down with sleep, she searched her front yard for the culprit. She
felt the craft ripple through the night again. It was stronger this
time. It was stronger than when her sisters worked their craft. It
made her think that it was not just one person crafting. It was a
whole group working toward a common goal. There was less peace to
the feeling and more purpose. The craft had a mission.

Ellie searched for a reason behind the
craft and saw that most of her family outside had fallen asleep on
the grass, on the tables, and on her front porch – anywhere that
provided a semi-comfortable place to spend the night. Cousin was on
the front steps, holding his banjo like a stuffed toy as he leaned
against the railing in sleep. His weathered face was peaceful as he
slept. The people who were still partying had moved inside. A lot
of noise and merriment was coming from the living and dining rooms.
No one beyond Ellie seemed to notice the feeling of purposeful
craft in the air.

Uncertain if the craft was originating
from her family members inside, Ellie maneuvered around the snoring
guests strewn carelessly around her yard. She was determined to
understand the feeling. Her curiosity would not rest. She let the
feeling pull her toward the person or people responsible. She
figured some of her family was about to play a prank on those
inside. It was not out of character. Ellie had spent hours cleaning
up their pranks. She just hoped she was not on the receiving end of
the prank. Again.

The feeling of the craft tugged
against her senses in a unique caress. The closer she got to the
road the more the craft crept around her body, reeling her in with
the power. She felt the usual hypnotic dance of force against
chaos. It was the pulling in of energy to make chaos do one’s
bidding. It was a whole world stuffed inside the world she lived
in. It was a world she could not imagine having to live without,
even for a day.

Ellie finally stepped out to the small
two-lane road in front of her house. It was only then she realized
the craft was not coming from her house or from any of her kin
trying to play a prank. It was coming from an entirely different
source.

A blue light, which anyone without
craft would have found supernatural, appeared in a field on the
opposite side of the road from Ellie’s house. It was two-hundred
yards away from Ellie. The light was dim at first, small enough to
be mistaken for a lantern, but as she watched, it grew in size. It
stretched to the size of a basketball, highlighting the dark shapes
of several people creeping through the field.

With her sleepiness surrounding her,
it took Ellie a moment to realize the light was crafted and not
from a lost hunter or hiker searching for a friendly house to stay
the night, which had happened a couple of times. Neveah had always
turned them away. No outsider had ever stayed at their house. Ellie
knew no one in her family crafted light the milky blue color she
was seeing. Her family always made warm oranges and burnt reds -
colors that reflected the earth they tilled.

Since the Coopers and their extended
kin were the only family that lived within distance of her house,
Ellie knew they had come. They had come for retribution for
whatever mischief Cousin and her sisters had stirred up in town. It
was that simple to Ellie. No one else could be responsible for the
craft she was feeling.

For the first time in her life, Ellie
was about to witness an actual attack by the Coopers. At first, her
fear locked her body in silence. The Coopers had killed her father.
They were insane; they were wild. They were as heartless as any
person she had ever met. Then she realized if she did not do
something, more of her family would die under their craft. She was
the only thing between the Coopers murdering her entire family.
Ellie found her courage.

“The Coopers are here!” Ellie yelled,
startling the night with her voice. “They’re gonna
attack!”

The crickets, which had filled the
night air with relentless sound, went silent with her call.
Everything else in the night seemed to pause as well. The earth
held its breath for one eternal moment. The light from across the
field stopped moving at her call. It flickered with its crafter’s
uncertainty. Ellie felt the feeling of craft grow until it was
unbearable.

In the next second, everything around
Ellie turned to chaos. Her call had stirred her family to action.
Many who had fallen asleep awoke with her yell. Her warning
repeated across the yard as those she had woken up noticed the
light in the field. Those who were not too gone with hooch ran to
the road to fight the Coopers. More blue lights brightened the
field across the way, joining the first light. The lights appeared
suddenly, as if the night had shifted with Ellie’s call to reveal
all its secrets.

Ellie watched the lights form without
realizing the danger she was in. She had never seen dark craft up
close. She had never fought a battle against the Coopers, nor had
the fight ever come close to her house. She was not prepared to
face the repercussions of her warning.

All at once, dark waves of ghosting
craft lashed out across the field. Ellie was mesmerized at the
sight, awed and terrified of the power in front of her. The feel of
it was unlike anything she had ever known. It was similar to
standing in front of a powerful tornado without the ability to move
or act.

Before Ellie could find the good sense
to duck, she was pushed to the ground by Neveah. The darkness
crackled over Ellie’s head with electric deadliness, sizzling the
very air with its power. Neveah caught the dark craft with her own
electricity, the air burning with the meeting of currents. Without
hesitation, Neveah sent the electricity back to the Coopers. The
craft she sent was powerful but more familiar to Ellie. She could
have picked Neveah’s craft out of a hundred crafters. The rest of
her family joined the fight. The earth quaked with the meeting of
Bumbalow and Cooper.

The energy surrounded Ellie as much as
the crackling of the air as she remained belly down on the dirt. As
both sides attacked and defended, the feeling of craft overwhelmed
her. She had never felt such strong, deadly magic all at once.
Shaking from the feeling, she put her hands over her ears, thinking
it would help. All it did was muffle the shouts of confusion, pain
and anger. It did not stop the feeling in her chest at all. She
cowered on the ground, shaking and trying not to let fear rule her.
She wanted to stand and fight, but her fear would not let her. She
had long imagined the fighting. She had never imagined it feeling
so raw and full of chaos. She had never imagined feeling so
helpless and afraid.

Her place on the ground was not safe
for long. Dirt flew up inches from her head. Dark fire crackled
with alarming closeness. All of Ellie’s hair stood on end. Ellie
jumped at the feeling as the dirt landed on her head. She could not
tell which side had sent the craft. The fight was getting out of
control. No one knew what the others were doing. Anyone was fair
game in the madness.

Acting on instinct, Ellie crawled away
from the spot the craft had landed. She crawled on her belly toward
the edge of the road and the closest form of cover. A large trench
had formed where her yard met the pavement. It was a new addition
to her yard, but it was a welcome one. She reached the trench and
rolled down to the very bottom. Fire exploded behind her as she
rolled.

She landed hard at the bottom of the
trench and immediately put her hands back over her ears. She tried
to keep a handle on the feeling of pressure in her chest. It was as
if someone had gotten hold of her chest and was squeezing with all
their might. She could not breathe. She could not think. It only
added to the panic in her chest. She had never felt so
scared.

Around her fear, she was excited. For
once, she would have her own story of the feud. She would not have
to rely on the stories of the others to inform her of what the
fighting was like. She knew what it was like. She could grow from
the experience.

If she survived.

Chapter 2: A
Choice

The chaos of the fight seemed to go on
forever. The craft did not die down as much as it slowly faded
away. Ellie finally heard her sisters yell out above the sounds of
her family crying out in a curious mixture of pain and glee. Their
voices were not hard to hear around the other sounds. Ellie had
spent a lifetime listening out for them.

“They’re retreating!” Neveah called
out from somewhere in the dark.

“And don’t you come back neither!”
Careen added.

They cackled happily over the sounds
of people fleeing back through the field and dark craft flying
through the air as the Coopers retreated. Ellie had never heard her
sisters sound so pleased with themselves outside of making life
difficult for her. Sounds of Ellie’s family calling out to their
loved ones also filled the air around the Coopers’ retreat. People
were hurt. They needed healing craft. The fight had not come
without consequences. Ellie was not certain how deadly the
consequences had been.

She moved at the thought. Their pain
gave her courage. She had to help. She had to do something. She
climbed to the top of the trench and looked past the road to the
field beyond. Amber and red filled the moonless night. The bright
blue of the Coopers was gone. The Bumbalows had won the
fight.

The dark
silhouettes
of
her kin moving around was the most she could see in the dim light.
Some of the people were on the ground, while others crouched down
near them. Ellie was not sure if anyone had died, but she knew she
could help the injured. She did not care if Neveah punished her for
using craft. She had to help. Healing the injured would take away
some of her guilt at cowering in the dirt during the
fight.

She started to move forward
purposefully, but Neveah and Careen stepped in front of her. Ellie
had not noticed them near her in the dark.

“Where do you think you’re going?”
Neveah asked.

“To help the others,” Ellie
said.

“You shouldn’t have been here to begin
with,” Neveah said.

“I live here,” Ellie said.

“Don’t get smart with me, girl,”
Neveah warned.

“I told you they were here, didn't I?”
Ellie demanded. “No one else noticed them, did they?”

Neveah’s eyes flashed with dark anger
at Ellie’s tone. She repressed the emotion and her expression
turned sly. “True enough, you did,” Neveah said. “But you shouldn’t
have yelled in such a way. Now the Coopers know what you look like.
They’ll be after you for sure.”

Ellie’s heart started racing at the
idea. She had not thought of that fact when she had yelled out. She
had only been trying to save her family. Would the Coopers come
back looking for vengeance? Would they blame her for their failed
attack? Ellie knew vengeance was always paid. It was the whole
basis for the feud. For the first time in her life, the Coopers had
reason to curse her name.

“You think so?” Ellie
asked.

“Of course,” Neveah said.

Neveah leaned forward, her expression
sincere. Ellie took a step back in the trench.

“The Coopers’ crafting ain’t nothing
like ours,” Neveah continued. “They got the darkest craft known to
man. They like the boogeyman with the way they appear all
sudden-like. Can creep up and kill you before you take your next
breath. You’re lucky they didn't kill you where you stood. You’re
lucky I was there.”

Ellie was inclined to believe Neveah after seeing the lights
come out of nowhere. It was as if one second they had not been
there and the next they had appeared out of nothing. Ellie had
never seen or heard of any kind of craft where someone could just
appear out of nowhere. All of her kin had to walk or drive if they
wanted to get to a place. The unknown element of the Coopers’
strange craft and her fear made her assume the talent more powerful
than it was in actuality.