Free Craft by Lynnie Purcell Page A

insatiably curious about him. His reasoning
was not far from hers. He was also the only Cooper she would ever
meet who seemed friendly, if only temporarily. He was talking to
her, at least, and not trying to kill her or ignore her. Ellie
thought of a compromise that would sate her fear of the dark, the
fact that she was lost and her strange curiosity for the boy she
had saved.
    Ellie eyed him carefully. She took in
the way he was eyeing the dark and the way his body was full of
tension. He did not seem to like the dark any more than she did.
Only, he managed to hide his fear better. The thick woods would
have scared anyone with common sense.
    “How about this?” Ellie asked. “We
treat this forest like neutral ground. In here, the feud doesn’t
exist. Since you gotta go this way to get to your folks, and I
gotta go this way to get to town, let’s just act like the feud
isn't there 'till we get where we’re going. It’s only two days
after all.”
    Thane stopped eyeing the dark to look
at her. For the first time since meeting him, he did not try to
blame her for having ulterior motives. He was willing to agree to a
tentative peace between them. The dark made it easy.
    “Okay,” Thane agreed.
    “Okay,” Ellie agreed.
    Ellie turned her attention back to the
raven. He was staring between the pair of them with curious eyes.
She decided, because of the questioning sounds he made, to name him
Caw. It seemed to fit his curious nature. She rubbed Caw’s head
with gentle strokes and felt a renewal of her excitement. She had a
real guide to take her to town. Determined to start her journey,
for a second time, Ellie decided she was done with chitchat and
acquaintance-making. She was ready to go.
    Ellie held her hand out to Caw. The
bird jumped up on to her hand and allowed her to place him on her
shoulder. Ellie stood up and, with a flick of her wrist, crafted a
warm amber light out of the darkness to keep the monsters at bay as
she walked. She did not care if anyone saw her light. She just
wanted to feel safe. Thane, seeing she was determined to walk the
night now that she had a guide, stood as well and directed their
feet in the proper direction. He did not need Ellie to tell him she
had no idea where she was going, or that she had been incredibly
lost. He had known it when he had stopped to talk to her. He had
seen her wandering in circles. He was still questioning his reasons
for stopping to talk to her. He couldn’t explain it, even to
himself. The fear of the dark was not his only motivation. Ellie
was not the only one to feel the inexplicable connection between
them.
    They kept a large gap between them as
they walked in the forest. Thane created his own light in front of
him. They did not speak. Their lifelong distrust of their
respective families did not make it easy to be close to one
another, even though they had promised to set the feud aside. They
both distrusted an agreement made by someone who was not in their
family. Ellie doubted a Cooper could remember a promise a minute
after it was made. The excitement of where she was headed was the
only thing that kept her from fearing the worst of her
guide.
    Caw occasionally cawed out as they
walked. His voice was the loudest in the night. Ellie was comforted
by the gentle sound of his caws. It made the night and her journey
more bearable. She had never tried to forge a friend before, mainly
because her sister had a way of destroying everything Ellie loved.
Caw could not be touched by Neveah in the forest, however. They
were too far away from her. Her friend would stay safe as long as
they were walking. Caw’s presence also made Ellie feel that Thane
would not attack her. Though Caw was only a raven, and could not do
much against craft, she looked at the bird as a good luck charm. He
had brought her a guide when all hope had seemed lost. He had
brought her hope in the middle of hopelessness.
    Ellie walked with Thane until she
could not fight her exhaustion any longer.