Craft (36 page)

Ellie had never felt so free. She
realized her adventure had never really ended. What she had started
with saving Thane’s life could continue for as long as she wanted.
It was her choice, her adventure to have. No one would dictate her
course any longer. She would finally be free of the feud. Walking
away felt like the bravest thing she had ever done.

Thane and Ellie walked for the rest of
the day. At dusk, train tracks appeared out of the forest. Caw flew
in front of them as they walked. He marked their path as he swooped
from tree to tree.

The second Ellie and Thane stepped out
of the trees a gunshot rang through the forest. The bullet landed
directly in front of Ellie’s feet. Ellie and Thane both jumped at
the unexpected attack.

The two men they had first encountered
on their way to town stepped out of the trees. The older one held
his rifle pointed at Ellie, while the younger one was trained on
Thane. Thane started to take Ellie’s hand, to run, but Ellie shook
him off. If they were going to face the world, they were going to
face it without running. She had run long enough.

“You know what your problem is?” Ellie
asked the pair.

Father and son looked at each other.
They were confused at the question. “No…” the younger man
said.

“You’re scared of all the wrong
things,” Ellie said.

Ellie waved her hand and both of the
rifles bent backwards. Father and son shared a look of fear. No one
had ever taken away their weapons before. They had always surprised
the crafters that came on to their property. They suddenly had no
way to fight off Ellie and Thane. Ellie waved another hand, and the
men lifted up into the air by their ankles. They yelled and
struggled against the pull of her craft. They could not escape
despite their struggles.

“You should stop killing people,”
Ellie said. “Someone might decide they don’t take kindly to
that.”

The men were terrified. They looked
like trapped animals, only their cage was magic. They did not
respond to Ellie’s words. They kept struggling to free themselves,
not understanding what was going on. No one had dared craft at them
directly.

Thane was laughing. “Well, that’s one
way to deal with things.”

“Yep,” Ellie agreed.

A light appeared on the horizon. It
was dim at first, but steadily grew brighter. The tracks were not
as empty as last time. A train was headed along the weed-choked
rails for an unknown destination. Ellie was immediately drawn to
the sight. It was the first train she had ever seen but she thought
it looked perfect. Her imagination was not disappointed by the
sight of it.

The nose of the train was covered in
bright pink polka dots. Loud music circled the train, creating a
siren of sound through the forest. There was an air of festive joy
around the slow-moving train. It was a feeling Ellie wanted to be
closer to after the darkness of the forest. Ellie knew she had
found their ride.

Ellie pointed the train out to Thane.
He did not need an explanation to know she wanted to hitch a ride.
A part of him had known that she was heading for the tracks all
along. It was why he had not tried to cut her off at town. The
expression on her face when they had first seen the tracks was not
easily forgotten. It was the same look that was on her face now.
Thane knew there were better ways to escape town, but he could not
deny the look on her face.

With the curses of the men Ellie had
strung up in the sky as background noise to their task, Thane
pulled Ellie away from the track. Ellie followed him, though she
did not understand why he was pulling her away from the tracks. The
whole point was to jump on the train. Thane saw her
confusion.

“We need to let it pass a little, so
the guy driving the train doesn’t see us,” Thane said. “We’ll hop
on the back.”

“Okay,” Ellie said.

They impatiently waited at the tree
line for the train to pass. Caw circled overhead as they waited.
Around Ellie’s excitement, it seemed to take forever. The train did
not move very fast.

Finally, the front of train moved
beyond them and car after car slowly trudged past. There were
unusual designs and drawings on the outside of the train, but Ellie
did not focus on them. She focused on Thane. She waited for a sign
that it was time to move. There would be time to look at the train
later.

Thane slung the bag over his shoulder
and ran toward one of the cars as the back end of the train came
into view. Ellie eagerly followed him. He opened the heavy door
with a flick of his wrist and threw his bag inside. He jumped on,
pulling himself up easily. He turned and held his hand out to
Ellie. Ellie took his hand and allowed him to pull her up. Her feet
dangled in the air for a moment, then they fell back on to the
floor with the force of his tug.

At the fall, Ellie started laughing.
The laughter was infectious. Thane laughed with her. Their laughter
carried them through the landscape of trees.

Above the train, Caw circled twice
more. He let out a low sound at the joy and freedom of flying, then
circled higher. He saw many strange things as he trailed above the
train. He saw animals in cages, men and women wearing strange
costumes, and rows of bright tent fabric, equipment and gear.
Without knowing what the words meant, Caw saw, ‘Harper’s Traveling
Circus,’ printed across the top of the train.

Below him, Ellie and Thane hung their
legs out over the edge of their car, to watch the trees glide
slowly past. Their laughter still circled the forest.

They, like Caw, were glad to be free.
There would be no looking back, only forward. Their next adventure
was waiting.

Caw let out another caw of joy and
raced the train toward the horizon.