The Falcon in the Barn (Book 4 Forest at the Edge series) (101 page)

“
Of course it did.
Interesting cover, too, getting sick like that.”

“
I promise, that wasn’t
faked!”

The men chuckled quietly. Shem sighed in
relief to hear the old Perrin softening. If only he’d sheath that
long knife . . .

“
And Perrin—the one called
Heth? His real name was actually Sonoforen.”

Perrin sucked in his breath. “Are you . . .
are you
sure?
Oren’s oldest son?”

“
Oh, I’m sure. He was there
to kill your father and take back the mansion he grew up
in.”

“
How did you know?” Perrin
whispered. “How much contact did you have with the
Guarders?”

“
I was never in contact
with them. That’s the truth. It would’ve been too dangerous. But
how I knew about the lieutenants? I was guided by the Creator,”
Shem explained. “Whenever I saw someone that shouldn’t be where he
was, I saw plainly in my mind what I had to do to move them away.
That night in the hallway, when I saw the two lieutenants plotting
to burst into the guest quarters, the image of my killing them came
clearly to my mind. They couldn’t be allowed to destroy Relf and
Joriana—not before their time. They still had to rescue Edge years
later. It was my duty to destroy two evil men to keep them from
disrupting the Creator’s work. Perrin, I still don’t believe I did
it. I felt a force pushing me and directing my hand. It took only
seconds, and I really wasn’t that skilled. And in the end I had
only one drop of blood on me, a drop that your father wiped off my
chin.”

“
And here I’ve been saying
all these years that you could never kill anything,” Perrin
chuckled darkly.

“
It wasn’t really me,
Perrin. I was just the instrument. And it was awful!”

“
Were there any
others?”

Shem nodded guiltily. “That year, at the end
of Raining Season. I was on patrols along the forest with three
other soldiers when I received a signal that help was needed in the
forest.”

“
A signal . . .
how?”

“
Something similar to our
coded messages to each other, tweaked a bit. Salemite scouts always
hide in the trees above the fresh spring in case I need to drop a
message to them. A quick glance was all we needed.

“
That night the message was
that they required help in the forest. I faked an illness, told the
soldiers on patrol I wouldn’t be able to make it back to the fort
before I’d need to change my trousers, and asked them to do a few
circuits without me while I stayed at the fresh spring.”

“
They agreed to leave you?”
Perrin exclaimed. “At the fresh spring
alone?
”

“
And at night. They really
didn’t think anything of it. I’m not sure if you remember, but the
entire fort was out that night looking for some strange noise
gallivanting in the forest?”

“
And I always thought I had
everyone trained so well . . . never leave a man alone, always look
up into the trees—”

“
You did, Perrin. I
promise!” Shem chuckled.

“
A noise in the forest?”
Shem heard Perrin scratch his stubbly chin with his knife hand. “We
didn’t find out what it was, did we?”

Shem shook his head. “No, you didn’t. And for
that, I owe you an apology. Perrin, it was my fault.”

“
This night’s just going to
get longer, isn’t it?”

“
My fault because I . . .
trained Barker.”

“
Wait, my dog Barker? The
dog that never barked?”

“
Yep. I’d come by late at
night and train him to follow me, to leave my side running, then
return when I made a noise like a crow cawing or a squirrel
chirping. In those early years we used him to throw Guarders off
our trails. They’d go running after him, leaving alone the
expecting mothers and the families we were trying to move. Barker
blended into the forest, made a lot of noise, but never barked.
That’s because his parents and grandparents didn’t bark either. Do
you remember how you got that dog?”

“
He was found near a canal,
abandoned—”

“
Or so I told
you.”

“
Now that I think about it,
Shem,
you
were the one who brought me that
puppy!”

“
All the way from Salem.
Not all of those dogs are silent. Barker was the only one of that
litter that appeared to not bark, and I knew you wanted a dog, we
needed an animal to use as a diversion . . . it just all worked
out.”

“
Amazing,” Perrin breathed.
“My dog was a Salemite! The Cat’s not from Salem, is
he?”

“
No, he’s not,” Shem
chuckled.

“
So tell me about that
third life you ended,” Perrin reminded him.

Shem sighed. “Once the soldiers left me at
the fresh spring, I headed up into the forest and received word
that four Guarders had ventured far past our defenses. We always
had about a dozen men in those days, sitting in the forest,
watching and
encouraging
the Guarders to go in other
directions away from our route. But that night we were bringing out
a large group. Three expecting women, their husbands, six children,
and one grandparent. Thirteen, not including the escorts helping
them. Everything was going well until they made it into the forest.
That’s when one of the expecting women felt her waters break and
gush.”

“
She didn’t, right?” Perrin
must have been cringing. “Didn’t birth in the forest?”

“
She did! We have ways to
deal with that, but usually we try to get them to a secure
location, first. Well, this baby wasn’t about to wait. They had no
choice but to stop and help her birth. It was the noise that
attracted the Guarders’ attention.”

Perrin shuddered behind Shem. “I was always
pacing the fields when Mahrree birthed. But I can imagine the
noises.”

“
It wasn’t the mother, but
her children! They were so frightened of the forest, of what was
happening with their mother—it was all too much for them. They
started wailing despite everyone’s assurances that soon they’d be a
big brother and big sister.”

“
Did the Guarders find
them?”

“
Almost. That’s what I was
dispatched for. We were short on scouts because several ran to help
the families calm down the children. Three different groups of four
Guarders each were headed in their direction. Our men were able to
take care of two groups, but my contact at the fresh spring told me
to lure the last group to a trap of nets and ropes we had
established, just in case of a situation like this. So . . . I
found them, killed one of them, which made the other three follow
me, and I led them straight to the trap.”

Shem took it as a good sign that Perrin’s arm
holding his knife had been dropping. Still, Shem wasn’t about to
move.

“
How did you kill him,
Shem?”

“
Long knife.
Heart.”

Perrin let out another low whistle. “I
remember you saying you lost it, and never wanted to own another
one again. You said it was too deadly a weapon.”

Shem sighed. “It was. I never carried another
one until Thorne.”

“
Amazing,” Perrin
whispered. “So the families got away?”

Shem smiled. “Yep! They went into the forest
with thirteen, came out with fourteen. That baby’s a strapping
teenager now who wants to be a scout when he’s old enough. His
parents named him Woodson: son born in the woods.”

“
I feel like I hardly know
you, Shem,” Perrin said, his tone full of astonishment. “So much
you’ve been doing,
had
been doing . . . my whole image of
you has changed.”

“
I’m sorry,” Shem
whispered.

“
Not entirely for the
worse, I promise,” Perrin assured him. “In fact, you have me just a
little wary of you. And all this time I thought Moorland was your
first deaths.”

“
There were a few others in
the forests, over the years,” Shem winced. “Sorry again. Four more.
And Perrin? That night the baby was born in the forest was also the
night Mahrree ran into Mrs. Yung who scared her back
again.”

Perrin sighed. “She told me about that. And
that she also ran into Barker . . . Oh, I see. You sent Barker to
her, didn’t you? I just . . . I just . . .”

He exhaled loudly.

“
You know, Shem, you’ve had
seventeen years to tell me everything. Anything.
Something!
And yet you didn’t. Why’d I have to hear it all from strangers? So
many times you could have told me who you really were and why you
were really here. When we sat in those stupid trees spying on
Guarders years ago. When we went to Idumea and slept in that barn.
When we spent all those long nights at my table when I didn’t know
what was real and what was nightmare. The truth could have made a
difference. But not once. Why?”

Anguished, Shem said, “Perrin, so often I
wanted to tell you what I knew, what I thought you should know. But
usually the time never seemed right. There were moments where I
could see an opportunity to give you a few hints, but I was afraid.
Then again, had I told you what I knew, you may have become even
more unstable.”

“
Unstable?!”

“
Think about it, Perrin,”
Shem said patiently, “a couple of years ago you were so paranoid
you even thought Deckett’s parents were spies. And more than once I
saw you looking under the desk before you sat behind it. You really
think I should have told you
then
that I was a plant for a
people you didn’t even know existed?”

Perrin was silent for a full minute before he
said, “You may have a point.”

“
That kind of news would
have also made you vulnerable to the
real
Guarders.
Honestly, Perrin, how would you have responded to learning there
were
two
groups in the forest?”

Perrin exhaled heavily in response.

“
Each time I wanted to open
my mouth, the Creator shut it. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you,
Perrin. It was that you wouldn’t have been able to continue what
you were doing knowing all that we know. I
am
sorry. I’d
been planning for years to be the one to visit you tonight. But I
couldn’t get out of the fort until now. We were running out of
time, and when my contacts didn’t hear from me, they decided to
reach you first. I practiced my speech to you and Mahrree for
years, now. Guess I’ll have to save it for another day.”

Perrin’s shoulders sagged and he let the
knife drop to his side, still clenched. In resignation he released
his grip on Shem, and Shem turned to face Perrin in the
darkness.

“
I don’t know what to
believe or trust anymore,” Perrin admitted. “My wife’s ready to
follow anyone into the forest, and in the morning we’re to tell
Jaytsy, Deckett and Peto. Tell them what? Shem, do I really know
who you are now?”

“
Yes, you do!” Shem said
earnestly. “I haven’t changed. I’ve always been your brother. Now
with a few more details,” he admitted.

Perrin slowly put the knife back into his
waistband, to Shem’s great relief. “Yes, you’ve been my brother. A
deceitful, sneaky, lying brother, but I suppose that’s the way most
brothers are.”

Shem chuckled, and could just make out
Perrin’s smile in the dimness. “Something else you should know. My
contact said he told you I was the only Salemite you ever knew,
along with Rector Yung, but that wasn’t correct.”

Perrin sighed and motioned with this hand.
“Let me have it.”

“
Besides me, Rector Yung,
and Mrs. Braxhicks the midwife, there was Beneff.”

“
Sergeant Major
Beneff?
” Perrin nearly forgot to keep his voice
down.

Shem nodded. “He went to Idumea when he was
in his early twenties, just like me. He was to join with the
garrison and learn about the army.”

Perrin nodded. “He was always around,
transferring from fort to fort. My grandfather even knew him. You
must have been happy to see him come to Edge, then.”

“
No, no I wasn’t!” Shem
exclaimed. “Beneff didn’t do so well out on his own. He soon got
caught up with the wrong people. After the first year he was no
longer sending messages back to Salem. A couple years later one of
our scouts found him. Perrin, Beneff joined the Guarders. He was
one of the first insiders.”

“
What?” Perrin blurted.
“Oh, come on!
Beneff?
Doddering, theater-going,
never-shut-up Beneff?”

Shem smiled at his friend’s consternation.
“He was never very effective, ho-ho. Fortunately he didn’t really
help their side or ours. He just kind of
was
.”

“
Wait a minute. No, he
wasn’t from Salem,” Perrin remembered. “He said he had family. What
was it? A brother and sister-in-law that dragged him to the
theater?”

Shem shrugged. “I tell people I have a
brother and sister-in-law in Edge.”

Perrin sighed. “I’m assuming you know what
happened to him? At the offensive?”

“
Some of our men found him
on his way to Moorland, but he got lost in the woods. In his pocket
was a note telling them to expect an attack at dawn.”

“
Stupid old man!” Perrin
hissed.

“
He never made it to
Moorland. He paid for his treachery with his life, Perrin. I was
lost in those woods looking for him when you called for the early
beginning of the offensive. You could have told me, you know! I
nearly missed it.”