Craft by Lynnie Purcell Page B

while huge barges waited
impatiently to be unloaded further out at sea. People were milling
around in a pattern of chaotic organization, unloading large
shipping containers and moving the merchandise inland to waiting
trucks and trains. The men were loud and called out often, filling
the warm sounds of the ocean with the sounds of humanity. Ellie
ignored them all, oblivious to their meaning, and focused on the
perfection of the glittering water.
    Seagulls and ducks flew around the
harbor in an endless search for food. The light against the water
was even more impressive than the light against the buildings. It
reflected back in a thousand glittering waves. Ellie felt tied to
the rhythm of the water as it surged in and out. She smiled and
tentatively lowered a foot down to the trash-littered water,
thinking she had never seen anything quite so beautiful.
    “Hey! What are you doing?! This isn’t
a playground!” a voice yelled out to Ellie.
    Ellie turned and saw a burly man
wearing a hardhat and carrying a clipboard striding over to her.
His beard bristled with his agitation. She jumped when she saw him,
remembering her encounter with the men with rifles. She had learned
people near town were not always friendly to outsiders. She was a
stranger here and not protected by the wards and familiarity of her
kin’s craft.
    Figuring he was about to kill her for
trespassing, she ran off the dock and away from the ocean. She
hurried past the industrial warehouses as quickly as she could go.
Her feet flew across the ground in her haste. The man watched her
run, a perplexed expression on his bearded face. He had never seen
such a strange sight in his whole life: a young, barefoot girl with
a crow on her shoulder running as if he were going to murder her.
He shrugged away the weirdness at her departure and focused his
attention on the dock again, shouting out orders to his crew in a
boisterous voice.
    Ellie was not aware of his return to
work. She ran until she could not run anymore. When she finally
bent over to catch her breath, she realized no one was chasing her.
Not seeing anyone behind her did not help the feeling of fear in
her chest. She considered her moment with the bearded man a close
call. The ocean had distracted her from the danger of his presence.
If he had not called out to her, she would have been caught and
killed. Ellie equated the man with a life-and-death situation.
Neveah’s words of suspicion, fear, and doubt for Ellie’s abilities
were in her head.
    While Ellie knew the general direction
she was supposed to be going, thanks to Thane, she had never felt
more lost. What was she doing here? Why was she searching for town
when it was so dangerous? She kept running into dangers, instead of
the new, fun things she thought she would see.
    The beauty of ocean was something she
never thought she would get to see. She had not realized she lived
so close to the ocean. It came at a deadly price, however. She was
not sure she was ready to face that price. And the danger only grew
with the passing moments.
    Ellie had made it to town, however.
She had traveled two days, with a Cooper no less, and had faced
down the deadliest of situations with him. She was afraid to turn
back. Turning back meant giving up on her dreams. It meant Neveah
was right. Ellie could not do that when she had fought so hard to
make it so far. The thought gave her courage. It also made her
realize that she simply needed to be more cautious. Thane’s warning
rang through her head.
    The only way to stay out of the danger
was to blend in with it. She looked down at her feet and sighed.
She figured her bare feet were her biggest problem. Everyone she
had seen so far wore shoes. She hated shoes; she hated them more
than chores. She sighed again and waved her hand. Heavy black boots
that matched her black dress appeared on her feet. She wiggled her
toes, uncomfortable with the way they were suddenly squished. One
problem down, she looked at Caw in a question.