The Mansions of Idumea (Book 3 Forest at the Edge series) (60 page)

And Mahrree, who always eavesdropped hoping
for juicy details about thefts, instead heard titillating details
about things she never wanted to know. But maybe all of those
repugnant discussions were helpful at times like this. After all,
she’d already concluded that when one was in Idumea, one should
shock like Idumeans.

Mahrree ignored the young cook’s stunned
expression at her new label and continued, “Surely you must know
the Shins don’t approve of any of that.”

Kindiri recovered from her shock and firmed
her stance. “Well, it’s none of their business!” she proclaimed, as
if someone had once told her that excuse and she just now
remembered it.

“Oh, yes it is. This is
their
house.
They give you a generous wage and put you up in a bedroom that’s
even larger than what I have in Edge. They deserve some respect
back, Kindiri. And they deserve to know what’s going on upstairs
when they think a certain lieutenant is elsewhere.”

“He’s never up there until he’s secured the
house, Mrs. Shin,” Kindiri insisted.

Mahrree’s eyes widened. “He’s up there when
he’s on duty?”

Kindiri looked around. “Shh! Please! He’d get
so angry if he knew I told anyone.”

But Mahrree didn’t care. “Oh, if he thinks he
can get paid for
being upstairs
—”

Kindiri grabbed her arm and dragged an
enraged Mahrree to the privacy of a closet around the corner.
“Please, Mrs. Shin! I didn’t mean to say anything—”

“If you have
any
respect for the High
General and his wife, you WILL put an end to this!” Mahrree
insisted.

Kindiri nodded, panicked. “He never came
upstairs when the general was missing or ailing—I promise. We were
both worried about him and Mrs. Shin. The best we could hope for
was five minutes alone in the second pantry.”

Mahrree rubbed the sides of her head. If ever
she became the mistress of this mansion, all the servants would be
old and ugly. “Kindiri, if you have any respect for yourself, lock
your bedroom door!” Then, realizing who she was talking to, she
added, “With him on the
outside
of it.”

“All right! All right, just . . . don’t tell
the Shins. Please? He’ll never be upstairs again.”

Mahrree knew the look on her face. It was the
same trapped look her students had when they were backed up against
a wall and there was only one way out, only one solution to the
situation: lie.

Kindiri was lying right now, but hoped that
Mahrree would believe she’d really give poor old Tace and his
fondness for sweet rolls and cucumbers a swift goodbye.

But she wasn’t mistress of this mansion,
fortunately. Someone else far more threatening was. She’d have a
little chat later with her mother-in-law . . . and then maybe her
father-in-law.

She had to keep her lips from twitching into
a wicked grin at the thought of the High General gesturing with
just one intimidating index finger that a certain young lieutenant
and a certain old general were going out to the stables for a
talk
.

Instead, Mahrree pointed at Kindiri. “I’m
putting a lot of trust you in, Kindiri. Don’t disappoint me. And
don’t disappoint yourself.”

Kindiri’s shoulders sagged in relief,
although she didn’t seem to really understand what Mahrree was
saying. She nodded quickly and hurried away to the back stairs.
Mahrree chose to believe she was putting away the tablecloths in
the linen closet up there.

She walked back to the Great Hall to
supervise the unrolling of the carpets again, and stopped
abruptly.

It had finally ceased snowing, and the sun
broke out, dazzling everything in eye-squinting light.

That meant it must have stopped snowing in
Edge, too, a few hours ago.

---

Perrin returned for midday meal about fifteen
minutes later, blinking hard as he came in the back door that
opened to the eating room.

“A total of six inches of heavy wetness. I’m
guessing twice as much in Edge. But the food reserves are plentiful
at the garrison.” He sat wearily on a chair at the table where the
family had gathered.

His father, already eating last night’s
leftovers for midday meal, didn’t even look up. “Don’t worry, son.
I’m sure Edge’ll be all right.”

Perrin shook his head and looked at Mahrree.
“I think we need to be going home soon. I can’t get Edge out of my
mind.”

Mahrree sighed and nodded back. That was all
she could think as soon as the snow stopped: we can go home
now.

“No!” Joriana cried. “You promised to stay
another week. Please, there’s still so much more to see and
do.”

“Duty first, Mother, remember?” Perrin said
sharply. “My duty is to Edge first, my family second. I’m sorry.
Father’s well, and we’ve had our fun, as it were.”

“Perrin,” Relf said gently, “wait for the
news, then make your decision.”

“I’ve already decided. Father, I want twelve
large wagons of the reserves. I already have tentative approval
from Giyak, and I spoke to the major over the stables. He agreed
that they could supply me with enough horses, and the wagons would
be available during the next few weeks. I did a full survey of the
reserves and worked out just how much we need.” He handed his
father a piece of paper with columns of numbers. “We’ll take the
grain, there’s a huge amount of that. We can live on bread for a
few weeks. Some of the dried venison would be helpful, too. Doesn’t
seem to be many here who appreciate that, but people in Edge
would.”

“And something like dried apples and carrots,
Perrin, for variety,” Mahrree suggested. “Those weigh less than the
grain, so it might be easier to transport.”

Perrin nodded. “Already included. That will
get us by.”

“It’s not that easy, son,” Relf said heavily.
“I spoke with the Administrator of Taxation yesterday at The
Dinner. He stayed only long enough to tell me taking any of the
reserves is unthinkable.”

“Why?” Perrin demanded. “Edge pays part of
its taxes in goods. Some of that is theirs. I just want it
returned. I’m asking for only a fraction of the reserves. No one
will miss it. There’s no need here, only in Edge.”

The general rubbed his forehead. “I
understand that, and I agree. But the law is set. That reserve is
for no one else but the Administrators, the army, and their
families. And the laws take time to change.”

“So I’m in the army, and I take it for my
family. And,” he started to smile, “We’re all family. The Writings
say so.” He held out his hands in triumph.

Relf wasn’t buying that. “Do you want to
guess how many of the Administrators read The Writings? Or how many
in the army? Besides you, me, and Zenos, I think no one else.
Perrin, we may have a battle on our hands.”

“Surely not!” Mahrree said. “Dr. Brisack’s a
reasonable man. Let’s start with him. I’ll hold our parenting
information hostage until he agrees to help. And the Administrator
of Security has agreed? Once we have those two, the other three
might come along more easily.”

“We have to try,” Perrin agreed. “After I eat
I’ll go see Dr. Brisack.”

Chapter 18
~
“But the people of Edge are beginning to panic,
sir.”

T
he rest of the
afternoon, while Mahrree, Peto, and Jaytsy sorted out the
candlesticks, they watched the stables from the back windows of the
large gathering room and waiting for Perrin to return from visiting
Administrators.

“Mother,” Jaytsy began slowly as she rubbed
wax off of a candlestick, “what do you think your bedroom looks
like now?”

“Thank you, Jaytsy. I hadn’t thought of that
at all, but now I am,” Mahrree said miserably as she pushed a full
crate toward Peto for him to set it by the terrace doors.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean . . . I just thought
you had considered it. Maybe you could get new blankets and pillows
and everything.” Jaytsy brightened. “This could be really
good!”

“Jayts,” Mahrree groaned, “you’ve been in
Idumea too long. You’re looking for reasons to go shopping.”

The sound of horse’s hoofs made them look out
the window. Perrin rode into the stable and came out a moment
later. He burst through the terrace door announcing, “We have
Brisack, but with
provisions
,” he cringed. “And Windrow,
Administrator of Agriculture.”

Mahrree smiled hesitantly. “What about the
others?”

Perrin shook his head and shut the door.
“Gone on holiday. I’d forgotten many leave after The Dinner for a
short recess. They won’t be back for three more days.”

“So we can’t leave before then,” Peto said
hopefully. “So we could still see the first kickball tournament?
The director’s box?” His voice grew tiny when he saw the severe
demeanor of his father.

“Peto,” Perrin said gravely, “our village is
facing a catastrophe, and you’re worried about a game? You and your
grandfather’s plots will just have to wait for when starvation
isn’t a threat!”

Any additional guilt-laden lectures Perrin
had planned were going to have to wait, because they heard many
more horses outside, muffled by the slushy snow. The Shins looked
out the windows to see several soldiers arrive in a hurry. Their
shouts even brought a slow-moving General Shin to the gathering
room.

“What’s going on out there?” he demanded as
he reached the large windows. Joriana joined him as more soldiers
on horseback arrived, now a dozen, and a few were pulling another
soldier roughly off a horse.

Perrin opened the terrace door. “What’s this
all about?”

Mahrree leaped to her feet and ran to the
door to stand with Perrin, because there was something familiar
about the man they threw to the white ground. A soldier placed a
boot on his back to keep him down.

“Colonel, he stole a horse from the fort at
Pools. And the horse he left in its place came from an
Administrators’ messenger service! How many more he took, we’re
about to find out. We caught up to him about a mile away from here,
but he insists that you’d want to see him,” a captain said
doubtfully. “So I thought you’d enjoy the privilege of
incarcerating him yourself. We also have reason to believe he stole
that jacket as well. There’s no way
he
can be a master
sergeant!”

The prisoner looked up pitifully, bits of
slushy snow stuck to his face.

“Qualipoe Hili?” Perrin rushed over to him.
“Mahrree!”

But she was already running behind Perrin to
reach Poe who looked as if he had recently been beaten up. An eye
was swelling shut and he had a fresh cut on his cheek.

“But Colonel!” the captain said, reluctantly
removing his boot from his back, “He’s—”

“I’ll take care of this myself, Captain!”
Perrin snapped as he lifted a weary Poe from the ground, Mahrree
supporting him on the other side. “You and your men are excused.
NOW!”

The soldiers looked at each other in surprise
as the colonel put an arm around their prisoner and helped him into
the mansion. Joriana was already holding open the door for
them.

“What’s happened, Private?” Perrin said as he
and Mahrree brought him into the gathering room. “Why are you here?
Sit down, sit down.”

But instead Private Hili did his best to
stand at attention after Perrin released him. Clearly exhausted,
and with his bruised eye getting narrower by the moment, Poe looked
nervously at the High General of Idumea. Relf nodded to him
encouragingly.

“Sirs, I have an important message to deliver
first.” He took a deep breath and recited what he’d carefully
memorized. “Lieutenant Colonel Shin—”

He paused when he noticed the brass buttons
on Perrin’s uniform, but went on with his speech.

“Master Sergeant Zenos—and Major Karna,” he
added as an odd aside, “sent me to inform you that the reserves
from the fort and the village were all moved to School Building
Number Two to keep them secure from arriving thieves that . . . I
knew from a previous endeavor,” he said in a nervous rush. “We had
reports that food stores have been stolen all over the northern
villages. We realized that Building Number Two is a central
location for better distribution to the citizens. But early this
morning, a few hours before dawn, excessive snow on the roof caused
it to collapse, destroying most of the reserves.”

Mahrree gasped, and Joriana whispered,
“
Oh
no
!” Jaytsy and Peto just stared at Poe. Relf
remained unmoved, and Perrin turned whiter than the snow.

“When I left Edge before sunrise,” Private
Hili continued formally, “there was already six inches of snow on
the ground, with more still falling. We assume that the weight of
the heavy snow weakened the roof. Two soldiers on guard were still
trapped by the debris when I was dispatched to come to Idumea. Sir,
we retrieved some reserves, but have food left for only about five
more days. Neeks and Zenos predict freezing temperatures tonight.
We don’t know what to do next. Many of the livestock has been
butchered—” his voice began to quaver, “—and many more will be
slaughtered over the next few days. But the people of Edge are
beginning to panic, sir. We need your advice.”

Mahrree couldn’t help herself. She rushed
over to Poe, wrapped her arms around his scrawny body, and hugged
him.

Poe broke his formal stance and hugged her
back. He closed his eyes and sighed. “I could use something to eat
now, Miss Mahrree—I mean, Mrs. Shin.”

She kissed him quickly on the cheek. “Of
course! You look terrible, Poe. Sit down.”

“It’s been a long night. And day.” He sat in
a chair at the writing desk and sagged as Mahrree hurried off to
the kitchen.

Perrin pulled up a chair to sit down across
from Poe, and the general motioned to Peto to get him a chair,
too.