Craft by Lynnie Purcell

words if he
could. She sat down in the chair she had crafted and stared at the
boy. As she did, she remembered the way he had talked when he had
threatened her. He had not had an accent typical of her
kin.
    She knew the Coopers were different
from her family; it was fact that they were different. Even with
that knowledge, she had never been able to imagine such a strange
way of talking. His language was precise, the way she imagined the
characters in her books speaking. It was a way of talking her
family would have mocked her for if she had been foolish enough to
speak that way in front of them.
    It was obvious, despite his evil
status as a Cooper, that he knew things she did not. He had not
spent his whole life living two miles from home. She imagined he
had traveled the world, seen wondrous things, met crafters with
ability beyond any she had ever met. The wonders held in his mind
went beyond Ellie’s ability to imagine them. Someone who spoke like
him had to be used to seeing whatever he wanted to see. Ellie knew
he had even seen town. It was common knowledge the Coopers lived
there. She was suddenly jealous of him.
    Ellie had dreamed of going to town
since she was little enough to be aware that a town was nearby. She
wanted to see the place her father had died. She wanted to
understand the differences between her world and the Coopers’
world. Most of her family had been to town at least once, usually
to attack the Coopers. Her sisters had told her it was dangerous
and scary, but that only increased its allure. She wanted to know
what it looked like, how the place carried on with its day-to-day
business, and what craft the people had used to build the town up.
She wanted to place a visual to the splendors her imagination had
formed. Above all, she wanted to experience the types of adventures
the people in her books experienced.
    Going to town would be a small
adventure, but an adventure all the same. It would not be as
dangerous as the adventures in her books. She would not be saving
the world or rescuing anybody. She would just be seeing something
she had never seen before. She would not have to mention she was a
Bumbalow. There had to be enough visitors and strangers about town
to make that seem likely. The idea of her adventure seemed simple
enough to Ellie. It was something she had never dreamed was
possible before seeing the boy.
    It was not just the fact
that Neveah would kill her if Ellie went to town without permission
that had kept her from trying. It was the fact that Ellie did not
have a clue what to expect. She did not know which way to go in
order to get to town, nor what kinds of dangers were out there once
she got to town. She was scared. Scared to
try and scared not to try in the same moment.
    Ellie knew one thing. It was foolish
to think any of her family would take her. They all saw her in the
same way Neveah saw her: as a nonentity. She did not exist. Most of
the family was not aware of her, unless she was in their way. They
were all scared of Neveah’s craft and were afraid to live without
her guiding them. Her skilled craft kept the Coopers at bay.
Ellie’s family respected Neveah as much as they feared her. If
Ellie confided in anyone her dream of seeing town, Neveah would
know about in minutes. If Ellie told her family she was going to
sneak out, it would be a beating for sure. There was no way to find
the truth through her family.
    The boy was different. It was possible
she had just found the only person in the world who would tell her
how to get there. He would never talk to Neveah, would never even
get the chance if the two did meet. There would be a fight, not a
conversation. They would do what Coopers and Bumbalows did best.
Ellie’s secret would stay with him. He was her only chance. The boy
was her way, and she could go without Neveah ever knowing the
truth.
    Ellie’s jealousy of the boy turned to
excitement at the opportunity he presented. It might take a little
effort to make him tell