The Mansions of Idumea (Book 3 Forest at the Edge series) (16 page)

“Looking forward to spending the day at home,
then?” Perrin asked.

“With him?” Jaytsy exhaled loudly. “I guess
I’ve got no choice.”

Mahrree winked at her husband as Jaytsy
stomped loudly toward the washing room door.

It was a couple of hours before they began to
consider going upstairs to evaluate the bedroom. They spent the
morning putting away everything that had been shaken down. Jaytsy
and Peto finished sweeping up the dust and debris, while Mahrree
went to the cellar to evaluate the last of their own stores of
food.

Three weeks at best, was Mahrree’s guess, and
much less if they kept feeding the neighborhood.

But then again, all the villagers were making
sacrifices. Many farmers and ranchers had offered cattle, sheep,
and pigs to be butchered and shared. Old men sat at the river
catching as many fish as they could to donate to someone’s coals.
And early each morning a team of soldiers sat with their bows and
arrows at the edge of the forest waiting for deer. They harvested a
few each day and carried them to the Shins’ yard where now two
spits awaited them. Those needing venison for a meal were welcomed
to take enough for their family.

Still, Mahrree fretted as she patted her last
bag of flour and wondered how she could make it last. Even with the
combined creativity and generosity of Edge, disaster could be
coming.

When she came up the stairs to get their
midday meal prepared—leftover venison stew with dumplings—she
already felt discouraged, even though the main floor of their home
looked as if nothing had happened.

Perrin was waiting for her in the kitchen.
“Midday meal first, then the unveiling of our bedroom?”

“I’ve never been much of a procrastinator,”
she sighed, “but today I am.”

“I’ve just been up there,” he admitted. “You
didn’t hear the scream?”

“
You
screamed?”

“No,
your daughter
who accompanied me
screamed.”

Peto came into the kitchen. “It was great!”
he grinned, the first true smile Mahrree had seen on his face in
days. “When she saw those raccoons sleeping in your wardrobe—”

“Raccoons!” Mahrree exclaimed.

“—she screamed as if they were rats.”

“They looked like rats!” Jaytsy defended
herself as she came in behind her brother and punched him in the
shoulder. “Giant ones.”

“Oddest rats I’ve ever seen, then,” Perrin
said.

“Well, they stole her stockings!” Jaytsy
folded her arms.

“My stockings?” Mahrree whimpered. “Which
ones?”

“The beige ones Grandmother Peto bought you
at the beginning of Raining Season,” Jaytsy whimpered back.

Peto put his hands on his hips. “Did you hear
that, Father? The beige ones!”

As upset as Mahrree was about her unwelcomed
guests stealing her clothing, Peto’s outraged face and scoffs in
feigned fury even made Jaytsy’s mouth contort to hide a smile.

“Ah well,” Mahrree decided, “it’s supposed to
be getting warmer anyway, and those were for Raining Season.”

“What stupid raccoons,” Peto rolled his eyes.
“Wearing knits in Planting Season.”

Jaytsy turned to him. “Since when do you know
so much about fashion?”

“Just how long have I been your brother?”

“You can’t count that high yet?”

Perrin put an arm around each of their
shoulders, which at first appeared to be a loving gesture, until he
covered their mouths with his hands. “Sounds as if our life is
getting back to normal again, doesn’t it? Maybe I’ll head back up
to the fort instead—”

“Don’t you dare!” Mahrree glared.

After midday meal she trudged up the stairs
to see sunlight pouring down, brightly illuminating everything that
a roof normally shields.

All she could do was sigh. Somehow it looked
worse than it did that first morning. But then again, she hadn’t
ventured up there since then, and there had been winds and raccoons
and who knew what else wreaking havoc in what used to be her
favorite sanctuary.

The peak of the roof rested on top of the
massive bed, the eaves and clay shingles broken and scattered all
over their wardrobes, desk, chairs, and bookshelves. Sticks,
rotting leaves, and just plain old dirt littered everything. Had it
rained, the mess could have been redefined as sludge.

“All right . . . where do we start?” Jaytsy
asked.

Peto picked up a small piece of an eave and
tossed it out over the top of the remaining wall. It landed near
the wood pile in the back garden. “There. Done yet?”

Jaytsy picked up a larger piece. “Bet I can
get this on the pile.”

“Bet it will bounce and hit the Hersh’s dog
instead,” Peto sneered. “Or Mrs. Hersh.”

“We don’t bet in this family,” Perrin
reminded them, picking up a few books and handing them to his
wife.

Mahrree wiped off the dust, and looked around
for where to place them. The unexpected voice right behind her made
her jump.

“I’ve seen that tired and glazed look before,
Mahrree. But it’s been a few years. Do you need a hand?”

“Uncle Shem!” the children cried.

Mahrree just felt like crying as she felt his
arm come around her shoulders and he gave her an encouraging
hug.

Perrin eyed his master sergeant. “You were
out all night, Zenos. You’re supposed to be resting now so you can
go on duty later this evening.”

Shem smiled. “I had a nap. And what’s more
restful than spending the afternoon here? Mahrree’s a bit short and
weak to toss some of these pieces out, wouldn’t you agree?”

Perrin patted Shem gratefully on the
shoulder. “You have the oddest ideas about what’s ‘restful.’ And
for that I’m most grateful.”

“Shem, normally I’d be insulted by one of
your short remarks, but not today,” Mahrree chuckled. “How can I
thank you?”

“By getting me something to eat?” he asked
timidly. “I understand Mrs. Peto left you with some of her
interesting creations, and since they’re rationing food at the fort
now, I skipped eating there.”

“Absolutely, Shem. I’ll be right back.” She
plopped the books on the shelf with renewed hope. Perrin’s muscle
combined with Shem’s, their upstairs bedroom just might be fully
cleaned out by dinner time.

Down in the kitchen Mahrree readily pulled
out a plate to pile for Shem. Of course he’d be here. He always
showed up when they needed him, even when they didn’t know they
needed him—

Mahrree heard the knock at the front door.
She hesitated before heading toward the gathering room, dreading it
was someone asking the lieutenant colonel for help. But duty was
duty. When she opened the door, she tried to suppress a gasp.

It was an official Administrators’
messenger.

She’d seen them at her house only twice
before. They came there when they couldn’t find Perrin quickly
enough, but they were regular visitors to the fort. With their
system of horses stationed every twelve miles or so, a messenger
could cover the eighty miles from Idumea to Edge in a little less
than eight hours of hard riding. And somehow, when they arrived,
the messengers always looked as fresh and crisp as a harvest time
apple. Maybe that’s why their red coats and rounded caps always
tempted Mahrree to bite them. Each time they arrived it was with
yet another decree, decision, or demand. Mahrree wouldn’t deny she
was less than delighted to see him.

“I need to speak to Lieutenant Colonel Shin
immediately. I was told at the fort he is at home today,” said the
slight little man in a high-pitched tone.

She grumbled under her breath, but said,
“Yes, he is. One moment please.” Mahrree rushed, but slowly, to the
bottom of the stairs, wanting to get this over with, but not
wanting to pull her husband away from the work upstairs.

“Perrin, there’s an Administrators’
messenger,” she called up not too loudly. Maybe he wouldn’t hear
her.

His voice was strained as he called back
down, “Ugh! We’re a little—ooh, watch that end, Peto!—busy at the
moment. Jaytsy, slide over! Tell him—yes, that way, Shem—to wait a
bit.”

Mahrree turned back to the messenger with a
half-apologetic smile. “We’re remodeling. In fact, the whole
village has been bitten by the renovating bug.”

The messenger was not amused. “It is urgent,
Madam!”

Mahrree bit her lower lip and narrowed her
eyes at him. “It’s always urgent,” she muttered, matching his
heated gaze. She heard a crashing sound upstairs and flinched, but
continued to hold the messenger’s penetrating stare.

“It’s all right, Mother,” Jaytsy called down.
“You wanted to rearrange that bookshelf anyway, remember?”

Mahrree continued to look at the messenger’s
face, perfectly unmoved, and she wondered how he did that.

“One . . . ,” Perrin’s voice drifted down
from the bedroom, “Two . . . ,” then a tremendous crashing sound
came from the back garden.

The teenagers cheered.

The messenger’s face didn’t even twitch.

“Shem, I thought I said on three!” Perrin
sounded slightly irritated.

“You were
about
to say three, correct?
So I pushed it over when you would have said ‘three’.”

“No, no, no. You’re supposed to wait until I
say
‘three,’
then
push it over the moment after
‘three’ has been said.”

Mahrree tried not to smirk.

The messenger didn’t move a muscle.

“No one does it that way, Perrin!”

“Everyone does it that way, Shem!”

“Well, it’s down now,
sir
. Did you
hear it, Mahrree? Your roof is officially kindling.”

The messenger, now sufficiently annoyed,
stepped into the house without permission. Mahrree’s jaw dropped in
shock as he pushed passed her.

“Lieutenant Colonel Perrin Shin! Would you
please come down here immediately!” he bellowed up the stairs.

Mahrree couldn’t contain the stunned smile
that spread across her face, so she covered it with her hand.

The messenger turned to her as if to say,
“That’s how you call a lieutenant colonel!” but seemed slightly
alarmed at her response.

Her eyes brimmed with warning.

One heavy boot thumped on the top stair.

The messenger slowly turned.

Then another boot thudded menacingly down
another stair, and another, and continued until the full broad body
of Lieutenant Colonel Shin faced the messenger. He was even less
amused than the messenger had been with Mahrree.

Shem followed on tiptoe and crouched to sit
halfway down the staircase to watch the show. Peto and Jaytsy sat
behind Shem the Shield and sniggered quietly.

Perrin didn’t even bother to veil his
threats. “You do NOT enter my house without my wife’s permission.
You do NOT raise your voice in my house, and should you EVER
return, you will show the proper respect owed by WAITING until I am
ready to address you. Is that understood, Messenger?” he
snarled.

The messenger swallowed hard, but his voice
was just as challenging. “Yes, sir!”

Perrin took his last few steps down the
stairs slowly, wiping dust and dried leaves off his work clothes.
He folded his arms across his chest and stood head and shoulders
above the man in bright red. Impressively, the small man didn’t
shrink in the presence of the brawny lieutenant colonel.

Mahrree did a little, in sympathy.

“If the Administrators are disappointed that
the last report I sent came as only one copy, they best understand
that there was no time to create more. Every last soldier has been
helping to rebuild Edge,” Perrin rehearsed steadily. “If the
Administrators are unhappy that I didn’t send the bulk of my men to
Idumea as they asked, they best understand that my men’s duty lies
to Edge first. If the Administrators have a new law they need me to
enforce, they best understand that I refuse to impose any new
directives until Edge is secured, perhaps by the end of the
season.”

The little man straightened himself up. He
cleared his throat with a hint of nervousness before he said, “You
may tell them yourself, Lieutenant Colonel Shin. You have been
requested—
ordered
—to come to Idumea immediately.”

“By whom?” Perrin shouted.

“By Mrs. Joriana Shin, wife of High General
Relf Shin, sir,” the messenger said with far too much superiority,
and handed Perrin a folded message. “Your father was gravely
injured in the land tremors and was recovered only very late last
night. After you’ve checked on the condition of your father who,
when I left, was still unconscious and unresponsive, you’ll report
at Administrative Headquarters to pay your respects. Your mother
expects you to leave within two hours of receiving this
message.”

He turned from a paralyzed Perrin to a
stunned Mahrree, “Your renovations will have to wait, Mrs. Shin.
Good day.”

He marched out the door to leave the entire
Shin family and Uncle Shem completely speechless.

No one in the history of the world had ever
done that before.

Chapter 5
~
“Sometimes it feels like the world’s out to get
me.”

A
n hour later after
the Administrators’ messenger left, the Shin household was
bustling.

Upstairs Shem and Peto held up debris while
Mahrree sifted through the drawers still trapped under the remnants
of the roof to find clean clothing and bags. Jaytsy was in the
kitchen packing whatever kinds of food that remained and would
travel well. Perrin was in the study surrounded by officers the
messenger had tracked down and sent to the lieutenant colonel’s
house.

Major Karna, Lieutenant Rigoff, and Sergeant
Major Neeks nodded at the instructions they received, again.

“Sir,” Karna tried to assure him, “trust
us—we can handle this. Finish your preparations and be on your
way.”

Shin sighed. “I know, and I do trust you. But
I feel like I’m abandoning Edge when it needs me the most. It’s
just . . . this is such an inopportune time to be leaving. Three
weeks, my mother’s insisting, but I’ll try to get back sooner—”