by Trish Mercer
Even though the next morning was Holy Day again, marking three weeks since the land tremor, Mahrree knew there’d be no congregational meeting. There was still too much work to do.
But that didn’t stop her from studying. She sat at the table and sighed with pleasure at her library. There were far fewer books than in the mansion’s study, and they weren’t bound as beautifully, but she the loved the ragged edges of the pages that were too cheap to be cut to perfection. Somehow they felt more real.
Yesterday she had the impression as if their family had been, in the words of Jaytsy, away for a lifetime. Yet this morning the last couple of weeks were almost a dream. She opened The Writings to study before waking her family to eat the last of the leftovers from Idumea. Then they’d be on bread and chewy apple bits, supplemented with strips of jerky twice a week like everyone else, unless more deer could be found in the forest and roasted in her backyard. Perrin was already planning to spend an hour with Peto fishing in the river for dinner, and not just for fun, he told his wife. But Mahrree suspected fun would be had anyway. At least, she hoped so.
As she thumbed through the pages, she knew exactly what she wanted to read: the warnings of the first and great guide, Hierum.
Before the Last Day will be a land tremor more powerful than any ever experienced. It will awaken the largest mountain and change all that we know in the world. Those changes will bring famine, death, and desperation to the world. And that desperation will cause the world’s army to seek to destroy the faithful of the Creator.
Mahrree stared at the passage, amazed how once again words she’d read dozens of times suddenly jumped out and throttled her. Why’d she never notice that list before? There it was, plain as day, but she had always skimmed over it.
First was a land tremor. For some reason her mind always jumped to “awaken the largest mountain,” and ignored the earlier words. Their recent tremor was big, but Shem had said his father between Flax and Waves felt only a mild jiggling. This tremor clearly wasn’t a prologue to the Last Day. But maybe it was a warning.
Second on the list was the awakening of Mt. Deceit. No one knew quite how to interpret that, and even the smoke that rose from it three weeks ago had quieted in the past days, so she decided that they were safe for a while.
Next was famine, death, and desperation. Mahrree could see all too easily how that could come to pass. Villages low on reserves, thieves looting for food, and just one late snowfall could doom an entire civilization, driving it to desperation. She made a mental note to discuss with Perrin ways that they could avoid being caught unprepared in the future.
Then came the sentence that always pricked her, and did so again.
And that desperation will cause the world’s army to seek to destroy the faithful of the Creator.
There were only two armies: one organized and one Guarder. The question of who was considered “the faithful” also always worried her. Surely everyone felt faithful to someone or something, but how could you be sure you were faithful to the correct one or thing?
She looked again at the phrase that gnawed at her.
On that day do not be one of those surprised to find yourself on the wrong side.
What could be the ‘wrong side’? For years she’d tried to understand that, but figured out only this: the way to be surprised was if she was sure she was on the right side, only to find out that instead she was confused, or stubborn, or simply missed—or worse, ignored—the promptings to get to another side.
But where could that other side be?
Perrin’s lumbering down the stairs in his frumpled nightshirt startled her out of her thoughts. They’d reached a dead-end anyway.
He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus. “What are you doing? How late is it?”
“I’m reading, and it’s still early,” she assured him. “I just wanted to feel some normalcy again.”
He nodded wearily and plodded into the kitchen. A moment later she heard him call, “Mahrree, it’s Holy Day again, right?”
“Yes. Why?”
“That would explain the installation of a third spit in our back garden. By the shape of him I’d say it looks like Arky and his neighbors. They’re setting up two half-starved deer and . . . if I had to guess, that other animal that looks like a large dog might instead be a sheep or maybe a small boar.”
Mahrree chuckled. “And that, Joriana,” she said to herself, “is how we host dinners in Edge: bring your own boar.”
Perrin’s voice came louder, addressing the men in the back garden through the window. “No, no, no, that’s quite all right. That part of the garden seemed to be lacking for something interesting anyway. Yes, yes—it’s good to be back.”
He stumbled back to the eating room and plopped down at the table. “It seems we can’t avoid these. We’re hosting the after-congregation-without-meeting-for-congregation meal again, aren’t we?”
Mahrree grinned. “I certainly hope so. Ah, I missed Edge!”
“As long as there’s no dancing.” Perrin yawned.
---
Perrin sent a message to Idumea that morning as soon as he reached the fort.
Arrived safely except for trouble near Pools.
Snyd is investigating.
People of Edge are eternally grateful to the Administrators
for their generosity, and pledge undying loyalty.
There was nothing else he could do; it was all out of his hands now.
The rest of that day was spent as the others had been. Perrin went to survey the village and set a few soldiers to fishing the river, while Mahrree, Jaytsy and Peto got on their worst clothes and headed to the first pile they could find. They cleaned up rubble, lugged debris to the river to shore up the banks for those rare years the river flooded, and dragged small timbers taken from the safest edges of the forest to the sawmill.
“It’s almost as if nothing’s changed,” Jaytsy said as the family trudged home to prepare dinner with several women who were already making biscuits and chatting in the back garden. “Finish with one house, there are another five more to do. And we even had a break for a couple of weeks!”
“Remember Major Karna’s estimates? He thinks in one more moon everything will be finished,” Mahrree told her. “We have to stop focusing on what still needs to be done and feel satisfaction in what’s already been completed. It is getting better, Jayts. Sometimes it’s just hard to see it.”
“I suppose so.” Then she laughed softly. “Did you see those women with Grandmother’s dresses? I was afraid some of them would start changing right there in front of everyone! Mrs. Dede went from torn rags to linens in under a minute. She’ll be the most stylish weaver’s wife ever. I think Grandmother would be pleased.” Then, more quietly, she added, “What we did would be known by now, wouldn’t it?”
Peto looked nervously at Mahrree.
“Yes,” Mahrree said slowly. “But the Administrators don’t return to meetings until tomorrow. We shouldn’t expect any news from Idumea until tomorrow evening at the earliest. No news would be best, remember?”
---
Two men sat in the dark office of an unlit building.
“Well,” Brisack huffed, “that was the most unproductive meeting we’ve ever had! And that’s saying something, considering how many unproductive sessions we’ve had to endure.”
Mal snickered. His partner’s frustration had been the one bright spot of the entire situation. “It’s probably because we called everyone back early from their holidays. Couldn’t even come to any consensus about who was responsible. And I thought it quite convenient that Relf was feeling too weakened to come to our inquiry.”
“Weakened indeed!” the good doctor sneered.
“Gadiman’s up to something,” Mal said, clasping his hands in front of him. “He refused to meet with me this morning, he wouldn’t make eye contact at the meeting, and as soon as we dispersed for the afternoon, he vanished. Any idea where to?”
Bris
ack shook his head. “I was going to have him followed, then I got caught up in something else and the weasel had already disappeared.”
Mal nodded once. “We need to track him down. He’s likely avoiding us because he’s embarrassed about the failure to stop the caravan. Once again, his lack of preparation has led to a disappointing conclusion.”
“I’m beginning to get tired of these,” stewed the good doctor.
“I have been for years. So now what?”
“Working on it,” Brisack muttered.
---
They’ll think it was a failure, Gadiman chuckled mirthlessly to himself. He was headed into the dark fog, unsure of where he was going, but confident he’d find his way—and his contact, who had just returned to Idumea—eventually.
Well, he had to admit to himself that in a way, it was a failure. Not exactly what he expected. He thought at least a few wagons would be destroyed—
But never mind. It was only Part One to his plan.
The next part would surely succeed. He’d had years to plan this, to mull over what went wrong the first time, to make sure this one was foolproof.
And then—then—after all these years, there’d be sweet vindication.
---
Early the next morning Perrin and Mahrree went down into their narrow cellar, dug out of the soil next to the boulder that served as their house’s foundation. Mahrree went to the shelves set up against the earthen wall and began to remove empty jugs, saved to be filled with juices in Harvest.
But Perrin hesitated. “You’re sure you’re all right with this?”
“Of course,” she said, not pausing in her work. “It’s the most logical thing. It should be done. It’s useless hiding down here.”
Perrin helped her take down the last of the jugs, and Mahrree stepped back as he removed the middle shelf and pried off the planks that served as backing boards. Behind them, dug into the earthen wall, was a crate on its side framing piles of silver and gold slips.
“Well, no one’s found it,” said Perrin.
“Who would think that in a cellar, behind a storage shelf, and entombed in dirt, is a treasure?” Mahrree reminded him.
Perrin just smiled at the thought.
She folded her arms. “Exactly how did you get the idea for creating this hiding place, anyway?”
He only winked at her and began to pull out the heavy stacks of metal. Mahrree took them from him and laid them out on the dark floor, counting. When Perrin had emptied their savings, Mahrree finished her counting and looked up at him.
“I fear it’s not going to be enough. While we have the equivalent of 180 full slips of gold—and if Jaytsy and Peto heard that, they’d definitely declare us to be rich—that’s probably only one-third of what everyone would expect to be paid.”
Perrin rubbed his chin. “Coupled with what we can salvage from the homes of the dead, it may be closer to one-half. And I was thinking of giving only half of my colonel’s bonus to Brillen—he’ll be overwhelmed with thirty full gold slips anyway—and donate the other half to this. If everyone realizes this is all they’ll get, they’ll be satisfied with it.”
Mahrree sighed. “I hope you’re right. I should have brought back my silk dress. Surely someone would’ve bought it and we could have added that silver to the pile.”
She tried to lift up a large clump but strained, forgetting the weight of it all. “And how, exactly, are you going to get all of this to the fort?”
“Karna will come down later,” he smiled as she dropped a stack of gold slips. “Along with being told his pay will be increasing, he’s been told an anonymous benefactor donated this to Edge to pay for the repairs, and that it was hiding in the coach you arrived on. He and some discreet sergeants will come by later today. They’ll remove it in padded crates that will look like wheat. We’ll secure it in my office at the fort, then when all of the repairs are finished and the bills tallied, we’ll begin distribution.”
Mahrree nodded. “Good. The sooner this is out of the cellar, the better. I’ve never been sure if I’ve felt more secure knowing we had a small fortune underneath us, or more paranoid that someone would find out.” She stood and cocked her head at Perrin. He wore a strange smile. “What is it?”
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
“For what?”
“For willingly giving all of this up to help our neighbors.”
She shrugged at that. “Why should we have more when others suffer? That never struck me as right, and today, I’m feeling quite a sense of freedom about giving our excess to those who have nothing.”
Perrin studied her for a moment. “I can’t think of another woman in the world who would say such a thing.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’re out there,” she dismissed his evaluation, a bit overwhelmed by his intensity. “We just haven’t met them yet.”
After breakfast Perrin went to the fort, but he came back to the house just as Mahrree and the children were about to set out for another day of cleaning.
“If you see an Administrative messenger, alert any nearby soldier to come find me. I may be out all over Edge. Any news about the reactions of what we’ve done in Idumea, I want it immediately.”
Mahrree nodded at him with the smile she practiced for The Dinner. “I’m sure all will be well.”
“Really?” he challenged.
“No,” she admitted shakily.
He wrapped her into his arms. “We did the right thing taking the wagons. All of us,” he kissed her hair. “No matter what happens, we can face the Creator knowing we did His will. We shouldn’t fear anyone in the world. We should respect only Him. He’ll reward us in the end.”
Mahrree leaned back. “That’s really insightful. You know, I think you’re right.”
“I am, because it’s what Shem said to me last night when I told him my concerns,” Perrin confessed. “And he’s right, too. I wouldn’t change anything. Nor would I change the look on my parents’ faces as we left. It was if they remembered things they had forgotten. Idumea does that to a person. So easy to become complacent.” He held her close again and sighed. “I’m ready. I just want to know. Officer or rancher or builder? Lots of planning ahead, either way,” he chuckled sadly.
“I was thinking you’d make a good guard at Edge of Idumea Estates.”
He pulled back. “Oh, interesting. I’ll have to add that to my list.” He kissed her and left.
All day Mahrree watched the roads to the fort when she was near them, even when she knew it was far too early for any messenger. By late afternoon she was quite jittery, assuming some kind of decision had been made in Idumea, and the notice was on its way.
When she went home to prepare dinner—fortunately, it had been decided that the community dinner at the Shins would occur only on Holy Days—Mahrree was nearly dizzy with worry.
When she heard hoof beats at the back alleyway, she rushed to the door to see Shem on his horse looking around hastily as if trying to find something. Mahrree stepped out of the door to ask him what he needed.
He regarded her with an expression of intense concern, pressed his lips together, then kicked his horse into a full run out of the neighborhood.
Mahrree went back into the house, perplexed.
“Who was that?” Peto asked.
“Shem, but he didn’t stay.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. He seemed very odd.”
Jaytsy came to the kitchen. “Did I just see Uncle Shem stop and then leave again?”
“Yes, but I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe he’s looking for someone. Well, let’s eat. I don’t know when your father might be home tonight.”
“Things are back to normal,” Jaytsy mumbled.
It was in the middle of dinner when Karna, accompanied by two sergeants, came to the door. His eye was bruised and swelling shut, and clutched in his hand was an official looking piece of crumpled parchment.
Mahrree had a dreadful feeling that
he wasn’t there to collect the gold and silver waiting for him in the cellar.
“Mrs. Shin,” he said quietly, “Mahrree, may I come in?”
---
What happened at the fort was retold for days, with small embellishments here and there, but with enough witnesses that the truth always came through. And the true story was so affecting it really needed no additions.
Colonel Shin had arrived in the late afternoon from inspecting the village and went up to the forward command office with its full view of Edge. He was pointing out to Lieutenant Rigoff where to work the next day when the messenger arrived. The little man in red marched up the stairs and thrust his parchment under Colonel Shin’s nose.
The colonel froze in place for a moment, took the message, and without a word walked into his private office. The messenger followed without invitation.
Major Karna and Sergeant Major Neeks ran up the stairs, having seen the messenger arrive, and looked at Rigoff for explanation. Rigoff just shrugged. They all assumed it would be news from Idumea about the caravan, and they were just as anxious as their commander to hear how the Administrators would interpret the deed.
That’s when they heard the noise.
It could best be described as a roar, as if a bear had been suddenly surprised in the colonel’s office, and it was enraged. The roar was followed by a bellow, in the form of a word: “NOOO!”
Everyone in the fort heard it.
They could even tell each other where they were when the shout made the hairs on the necks stand up.
Then the little man came out of the office, through the wall.
He landed on the large desk, unconscious, in a spray of wood and splinters.
Colonel Shin stared with animal-like ferocity at the new hole he’d created, threw down the parchment, and bolted through the door.
Karna made a valiant attempt to stop him, and received a punch in the eye that would later suggest a broken cheekbone underneath.
The colonel ran down the stairs and out through the reception area, knocking down several more soldiers and even breaking the arm of a sergeant who accidentally got in his way.
Neeks jumped through the hole in the wall and retrieved the message. As he read it his jaw quivered, and he crumpled the parchment in his hand.
“What? What happened?” Rigoff asked as he tried to help Karna stand back up.
No one paid any attention to the still body in the red uniform on the desk. They would forget about him for over an hour and remember him only when he finally came to and hobbled out of the compound, without a word to anyone.
“Where’s Zenos?” Grandpy Neeks shouted.
“Getting ready to take the next shift of guards for the night,” Rigoff said.
“No, he’s not!” Neeks threw the message and rushed down the stairs.
Rigoff stepped over the splintered wood to pick up the message. He read it, then looked up at Karna in agony.
“Well?!” Karna demanded, holding his eye with one hand and bracing himself against the wall with the other.
“It’s the General and Mrs. Shin. Guarders invaded the mansion last night.” Rigoff tried to keep his composure but failed. “Sir, they’re dead.”
---
In the stables, the sergeant in charge of horses found the reins of the stallion he just finished saddling grabbed roughly out of his hands.
Colonel Shin ran the horse out through the barn doors, leaped on to it, and spurred it into a full run past Master Sergeant Zenos and the twenty men mounted with him. He was out the fort gates and down the main road before the soldier with the broken arm in the reception area could struggle back to his feet.
Zenos, astonished, turned to the stables and saw Neeks come running out of the reception area of the command tower.
“ZENOS! HERE!” Grandpy was running to the supply building, and Shem prodded his horse over to meet him. He arrived just as Neeks came running out again with two rations packs.
“Neeks, what’s happened?” Zenos asked. “Where’s Shin going?”
“I’m suspecting to Idumea,” said Neeks hurriedly, checking the packs. “And you have to go with him.”
“What? Why? What’s happened?”
“You said you’re like his brother, right Zenos? Devoted solely to him?”
“Yes, of course!”
“Well if ever a man needed a brother, it’s right now.”
Neeks threw the packs up to Shem and pulled his own long knife out of his boot. He slid it, carefully but quickly, into Zenos’s boot. “He’s not himself. I know you hate carrying these, but you may need it, along with that sword.”
Zenos shook his head in confusion. “Neeks, WHY?”
“His parents, Zenos. Killed by Guarders. That’s not the colonel that just left. That’s a crazed man. Stop him, Shem!”
Zenos’s head snapped up to stare out the empty gates where the colonel had just left. Soldiers were still standing there, dazed and questioning.
“Dear Creator!” Zenos whispered. He spun his horse and kicked it into a run out of the gates.
He rode first to the Shins’ home and stopped at the alleyway. There was no sign of Perrin. Mahrree came out of the door, and, judging by the composed look on her face, it was obvious she had no idea what had happened.
Shem couldn’t spare any time. Someone would undoubtedly come by the house, so he kicked his heels into the horse.
He was going to Idumea.
---
“Major Karna—what happened to you? You look terrible! Come, sit down,” said Mahrree as she escorted him into the house. She led him to the sofa and told Jaytsy to get a wet cloth for his eye.
But he wouldn’t sit down. “No, Mrs. Shin. Jaytsy, I’m fine. All of you, please.” He gestured to the sofa and took a bracing breath as the three of them sat with dread growing on their faces.
Mahrree looked at the crumpled parchment in his hands. “It’s from Idumea, isn’t it.”
Karna nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He tried to explain the message, but the words wouldn’t come.
“Just tell us,” Mahrree began to tremble. “I’ve been waiting for days to know.”
He shook his head, realizing he could never say the words, and instead handed the message to Mrs. Shin. With her hand quaking, she took the open message and let her children read over her shoulders.
It was only seconds later that Jaytsy screamed and Peto leaped from the sofa and ran to his room, slamming the door. Mahrree dropped the parchment, held her head with her hands and began to shake. Jaytsy wept uncontrollably next to her.
“Where’s Perrin?” Mahrree gasped between sobs.
“Gone, Mahrree,” Brillen whispered. “We think he’s headed to Idumea.”
Her headed came up. “Dear Creator—he’s going to kill someone!”
Karna shook his head quickly. “No, we’ve sent Zenos after him. He should be able to catch him by the first messenger station.”
“He’ll kill Uncle Shem!” Jaytsy cried.
“No, no he won’t!” Her mother wrapped an arm around her. “Shem will calm him,” she said firmly, as if her words would make it so.
Karna crouched and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m so, so sorry, ma’am. I’ve posted two soldiers here for security, and four more coming down soon. We’ll keep the house surrounded for as long as necessary, and Grandpy Neeks will see to increased patrols along the forest. We’ll keep you safe. What more can I do?”
Mahrree rocked her sobbing daughter while trying to wipe tears from her eyes. She looked toward Peto’s door.
Karna nodded. “Men grieve differently, ma’am.” He patted her shoulder and made his way to Peto’s room, a bit wobbly from the throbbing in his face. He opened the door slowly and saw the boy curled on his bed with his back to the door.
Karna crept in, sat on the edge of Peto’s bed, and noticed a new ball in front of Peto’s chest.
“Your grandfather gave that to you, didn’t he. That’s good,” he
said quietly. “You’ll always have something tangible to remember him by. Maybe you could put it on the shelf, honor his memory by preserving it. See it every day. Remember the kind of man he was. How he felt about you.”
Karna tried to keep his voice steady as he watched the boy’s body wracked with silent sobs. He placed a hand on his shoulder and felt him pull away slightly, but he kept his hand there. Peto needed to feel some kind of touch.
Karna didn’t feel he knew him well enough to hold him. He wondered if Zenos should have stayed and if he should have chased down Colonel Shin instead. But Brillen could feel his eye swelling shut and an enormous pain building around his cheek. He probably wouldn’t see anything clearly in less than an hour and would be waylaid by the headache soon after.
“You’re lucky to have such a heritage, Peto. Few men can say they had a grandfather who was High General. You’ll always carry that with you. You will always carry him with you.”
He nodded to the ball, even though he knew Peto couldn’t see his movement.
“You keep that safe, and someday you can show your grandchildren what your grandfather meant to you. What he gave to you.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you,” Peto whispered.
Karna took that as his signal to leave. He reluctantly stood up. “You let me know if you need anything, your mother, your sister. I’ll be available anytime.” He paused. “I’ve sent someone to get your Grandmother Peto. I’ll come by later and stay the night on the sofa,” he decided. “Just so someone’s here, along with the guards.”
Peto nodded.
Karna shut the door quietly behind him.
The ball rolled off of Peto’s bed, but that wasn’t what he had been holding. An envelope of sturdy parchment was clutched to his chest, as if pushing it there tightly would heal the gaping hole, but it seemed to fall in. The weight of the envelope was tremendous.
Now, he alone in the entire world knew that the envelope existed, and what the words were on the parchment inside. He hadn’t realized how much of it his grandfather had carried until now.
Now that he was alone.
Relf’s dream about the greatest general in the world really had been for Peto Shin.
Why?
Chapter 22 ~ “This really isn’t in my nature, and I’m very sorry about this, but--”
