Free Craft by Lynnie Purcell Page B

Her excitement in the
face of an epic adventure was nothing compared to a whole night
spent cleaning and a whole day without rest, worrying if Thane’s
presence was going to get her in trouble or get him killed. It was
dawn when Ellie gave up on fighting her exhaustion. She could not
pretend any longer. Her head was weighted down by the exhaustion.
Her feet dragged along the pine needles of the forest. Her whole
body trembled with her sleepiness. She could not go any farther.
She stopped walking.
    “I'm tired,” Ellie confessed to Caw
and Thane sleepily. “All I want is a big, fluffy bed.”
    Ellie waved a tired hand, and a big,
fluffy bed appeared on the forest floor. It was the most
comfortable-looking bed ever made. It was a sleigh bed, complete
with pillows and a lightweight blanket. It was as long as Ellie’s
entire shack. It was a vast improvement from the sofa she normally
slept on.
    “Wake me up when I’m not tired,” she
told Thane sleepily.
    Ellie crawled under the white blanket
of the bed without waiting for Thane to answer and promptly started
snoring. Caw hopped up to the large headboard of the bed, to keep
an eye out as she slept, his beady eyes careful and alert. Caw
watched as Thane looked at Ellie in shock. He was surprised at her
sudden disregard the feud between them. She actually meant to set
the feud aside while in the woods. He could not believe a Bumbalow
had meant what they said. He could not believe how easy it was for
her to forget that their families had been killing each other for
generations. The innocence of her trust threw him off
guard.
    Thane shook his head at her foolish
trust and picked a spot a good distance from Ellie to craft his own
bed. His bed was not nearly as neatly forged or fluffy but it was
good enough to sleep in. It kept him off the hard ground at least.
He rolled onto the bed, on top of the covers, and settled on his
side, so that he could watch her. He wanted to make sure she did
not try to attack him when his guard was down. He wanted to be sure
she was not trying to play him. It was not long, however, before
sleep called him under as well. His eyes slid shut
reluctantly.
    Caw was a steady sentinel as he looked
out over the forest for signs of approaching danger. He would know
if Ellie and Thane were in danger; he would alert them.
    Around him, the snores of Ellie and
Thane filled the air.

Chapter 4:
Town
     
     
     
     
    Ellie only slept for a few hours. Even
in sleep, she was eager to see town. Her dreams were full of
dazzling buildings and amazing sights. Her excitement did not allow
her to rest long. She awoke with a yawn and stretched out as far as
her body would allow on the fluffy bed. She smiled up at the blue
sky and sat up, energized and ready for the day of adventure ahead.
She rubbed at her eyes to make them fresh and looked around at the
trees surrounding her.
    Bright daylight filtered down through
the trees, casting thin rays of light on the pine needles.
Squirrels scampered around, searching for food in the underbrush,
and birds sang carols to the day. Caw was on the floor of the
forest searching for bugs, pecking his beak into the dirt in
sporadic spurts of movement.
    Ellie enjoyed the sight of nature so
close, feeling as if it was a great way to start the day. Then she
remembered why she was in the middle of the forest instead of in
her shack. She remembered what had set her on her journey:
Thane.
    She searched him out against the more
idyllic scenery and saw that he was fast asleep in his bed. Drool
was falling out the side of his open mouth and he was snoring
heavily. She breathed a sigh of relief, not only because he had not
killed her in the night. She was glad to have her guide. He had not
left her to the elements. He had not left her to wander the forest
aimlessly in search of town.
    More at ease with the sight of him
than she ever thought she would feel about a Cooper, Ellie decided
she was hungry. In the spirit of the neutral ground the forest