The Falcon in the Barn (Book 4 Forest at the Edge series) (31 page)

Perrin cocked his head.

Yordin’s voice came gently, along with a hand
on Shem’s shoulder to pull him back into his chair. “Until you have
a son, Zenos, you wouldn’t know what such a betrayal would feel
like. I appreciate
your
zeal, but you really don’t
understand.”

Shem slowly sat down, finally taking his eyes
off his colonel. He nodded reluctantly to Yordin and folded his
arms.

Yordin now looked at Thorne who seemed to
enjoy the public conflict between Shem and Perrin. He had a small
smile on his face that lasted only until he noticed Yordin glaring
at him.

“
And Thorne, until
you
know what it’s like to lose family to the Guarders, you
may not understand why some of us,” he gestured to Perrin, “refuse
to wait for them to hunt us when we can hunt them first.” He leaned
on the table. “Honestly, Lemuel, I don’t know how your grandparents
can sleep in that mansion,” his voice was very low as he glanced at
Perrin to gauge his steadiness. “Knowing what happened to the
Shins, even under guard, which guard may not have been all the
Shins were led to believe—”

Thorne wet his lips nervously.

“—
if I were you,
dear
Captain
, I’d be in the lead of that first attack wave. You may
be the only one who can preserve your grandparents and
parents.”

Thorne swallowed hard, the weight of Major
Yordin’s words visibly piling on his shoulders. “Then sir, I guess
I will have to race you to Moorland.”

Yordin broke out into a broad smile and
nodded his approval to Colonel Shin.

Perrin sent a fake smile to Thorne as well
and slapped his hand on the table before Yordin could.

Beneff slapped as well. “Because when the
deer are in the meadow, you know the moons will soon be
singing.”

That Beneff nugget froze every man in his
position, as if every drop of thought was needed to evaluate the
saying.

Eventually Fadh cleared his throat and leaned
forward to resume his examination of the old man. “Beneff, what’s a
meh-doh?”

“
Meh?” Beneff blurted, as
if someone had just awaken him up from the briefest nap in the
world.

“
Yes, I was wondering that
too.” Yordin scratched his chin with his table-slapping hand.
“Meh-doh?”

Beneff blinked.

Perrin noticed Shem watching him steadily.
Shem shifted his glance to Perrin and pulled the corners of his
mouth tightly, a signal which meant
I’ll have a word with the
surgeon about him.

Perrin twitched back in agreement.

“
You know,” Beneff
shrugged. “Meadow. Place where grass and flowers grow. Deer eat
them.”

“
So . . . like a garden?”
Fadh the investigator watched him closely. “Next to the
forests?”

Beneff pondered that. “Garden? I suppose so,
but people don’t normally plant it, you see—”

Shem caught Fadh’s eye and shook his head
slightly.

Fadh smiled faintly back. There wasn’t
that
much to figure out about the old man. He was merely
old.

Glad to see that Beneff had confused himself
into silence, Perrin slapped the table on last time. “One week,
gentlemen. We’ll meet here again with our findings about the
disappearances. Then we’ll finalize the arrangements for the first
offensive attack on the Guarders. Agreed?”

Even Thorne chorused his approval.

Chapter 12
~
“Do you think I’m ready?”

S
hem trudged in the
thick mud to the steam vent late at night. His contact was already
waiting at the log which was now pushed slightly away from the hot
steam. By Weeding Season the log would be several feet away from
the heat.

“
I think these boots are
each five pounds heavier,” Shem said. He sat down and tried to
scrape off the mud with a stick.

The large man with the deep voice chuckled.
“Building muscle, Shem. Remember that.”

Shem rolled his eyes. “How much more muscle
can I build?”

His companion held out his arms.

“
All right, Jothan. Until
I’m as big as you, I’ll quit complaining. And of course, no one’s
as big as you.” He gave up on the mud and tossed the stick. “Had an
interesting meeting.”

“
That’s why I’m
here.”

“
Shin wants the four forts
in the area to attack Moorland.”

Jothan let out a low whistle. “Unexpected.
Interesting.”

“
Told you. There’s more. I
need to know—was there a group of four, from Quake recently? With
two young boys?”

“
Yes. Through your
channel,” Jothan said. “Why?”

Shem sighed. “The commander of the Quake fort
knows about their disappearance. A major with a name you should
enjoy— Graeson Fadh.”

“
Ah, wonderful!”

“
And the officers suspect
Guarders.”

Slowly Jothan nodded. “Even more
interesting.”

“
Do we need to be
worried?”

Jothan thought about that. “I’ll relay that
information and get back to you at the usual time. But unless
someone uncovers more, I can’t imagine that explanation would be a
problem.”

“
They’re sending messages
to all the villages requesting details about people who’ve vanished
over the years,” Shem said. “They’re worried that abducted people
might be housed in Moorland.”

“
Hmm,” Jothan pondered
that. “We’ve been very careful over the years. I doubt more than a
dozen or so names will be uncovered. Surely not enough to look
suspicious.”

“
That’s what I thought,”
Shem agreed. “It’s been rare that anyone asked. Usually no one
seems to care about new neighbors suddenly vanishing. The Fadhs
were just unusual.”

“
Well, with a name like
that, of course they would be.”

Shem chuckled. “I have another name for you
to check: Yordin. About thirty years ago?”

“
Yordin? Yordin . . . oh,
yes. Yes, there were two. Gone now, but they came through as
well.”

Shem nodded slowly. “Their grandson is
another major.”

“
Wished I could have been
at that meeting!” Jothan laughed.

Shem smiled. “You would’ve enjoyed it. I
certainly did. There’s also going to be a new play,” he grinned,
but only for a moment. “Jothan, I’m worried about Beneff. He used
the word ‘meadow.’”

Jothan whistled under his breath. “Did anyone
hear him?”

“
Everyone heard him! Fadh
and Yordin even asked what it meant.”

“
Not good. And what did he
say?”

“
Well, he got confused on
those points. Now everyone thinks a meadow is a garden by the
forest where deer come to eat. But no one plants the
garden.”

Jothan sighed. “His mind’s really slipping
then, isn’t it.”

“
I told Shin I’d have the
surgeon take a look at him. He thinks Beneff’s just getting
confused in his old age.”

“
Good. That can cover a
whole multitude of Beneff mistakes.”

“
Agreed. But in the
meantime, tell the others to keep an eye out for him. If he wanders
out here he should be taken care of.”

“
We’ve been trying to get
our hands on him for a very long time. Nudge him out here, if you
can. Incidentally, Shem, we have another group coming through. An
emergency situation all the way from Waves. We predict they will
reach here by midday meal, day after tomorrow.”

“
In the
day?
”

“
Time’s critical. There’s
no other option. Can you keep the east clear?”

“
I’ve already scheduled
massive maneuvers for the western edge of the forest to practice
for the attack,” Shem said. “I’ll need to get the colonel
distracted. He was going to stay in the command tower to work on
the details of the plans. He rarely looks out the eastern window,
but still the spyglass could pick them up . . .” A smile began to
spread across Shem’s face. “I have the very thing. Our new chief of
enforcement is greener than a meadow,” he said with a wink. “He’s
going to encounter a problem day after tomorrow, and may need to
call on Perrin.” Shem nodded. “All will be clear.”

“
You always find a way,
don’t you, Shem?” Jothan nudged him with his elbow.

---

“
I’m telling you, I’m as
fit as any man and my mind’s sharper than a . . . a sharp thing
that can cut—a sword! Yes, than a sword!”

The fort surgeon Dr. Stitch patted Beneff
genially on the shoulder. “Of course you are, of course you are.
You know, I’m retiring in another moon. Lots of things for men our
age to do—”

“
In
the army,
ho-hi!” Beneff exclaimed, trying to put his shirt back
on.

“
Beneff, according to my
records you’ve been serving for over fifty years, and we don’t have
an accurate age for you. All that was recorded when you joined is
‘about 24’. Weren’t sure of your age when you signed
up?”

“
I knew my age!” Beneff
insisted, missing a button and restarting again. “Lied like
everyone else, don’t you know, don’t you know? So I’m not
seventy-whatever, now am I?”

“
More like
ninety-whatever,” Stitch murmured to himself.

“
What, what? Huh! As if the
fish know where to harvest the corn. Big push we have coming, you
know—”

“
I
do
know,” Stitch
sighed. “That’s why we need to make sure you’re able—”

“
My whole career’s been
waiting for this!” Beneff declared, hopping off of the exam table.
“My heart’s beating, my lungs are breathing, my head’s thinking,
and I have a duty to perform!”

Stitch nodded. “Yes, Colonel Shin’s told me
you’ll be helping to set up camp and he wants to make sure that
you’re—.”

Beneff scowled. “That’s not all, hi-hee and
with cabbage to spread it around. That’s only one part! I’ve been
waiting a long time. I have a duty to perform! You’ll not stop me!
Not you nor a herd of elephants!”

Stitch put on a smile appropriate for
seven-year-old boys. “Now, now, no one’s trying to stop you, but I
can’t help but ask: are meh-dohs where the elephants feed?”

“
Ha! HA-HA!” Beneff barked.
“You know nothing! So stick
that
on a horse and watch it
simmer!”

Beneff kicked open the door furiously and
headed down the hall, shouting something about ducks and their
inability to use tools.

An assistant sidled up to Stitch. “Well?”

The surgeon sighed. “In two weeks we’ll force
his retirement. Let him finish out his last ‘great’ duty in setting
up tents for the colonel’s offensive, then let him leave with a
shred of dignity.”

Beneff passed the open door, having initially
gone in the wrong direction, and still not done expressing his
displeasure. “Told you, my heart’s still pumping,” he bellowed as
he headed down the other corridor, “my mind’s still thinking and .
. . my pipes are still leaking! Ho, hum—where’s the blasted
privy?”

“
What were you saying about
his dignity, Stitch?”

“
I said, only a
shred
of it.”

---

Three days after the officers’ meeting Perrin
trotted up the stairs to his office. He was going to beat the
sunrise and watch it come through his window. Anxiousness filled
him with a desire to get back to his attack plans as quickly as
possible. He
had
to finish today or his energy would propel
him straight out the windows.

His schedule the previous afternoon to rework
the plans had been utterly demolished. First, he had to answer the
distress banner at the village green just before midday meal. The
frazzled chief of enforcement Barnie and his officers were
overwhelmed trying to undo Edge’s first real Idumaeic jam.

A very apologetic rector, an older man
visiting from Midplain to see Rector Yung, somehow caused three
wagons, two carts, four horses, three mule teams, a broken crate of
chickens, and an overfriendly hog to block an entire section of the
granary district. Perrin still thought enforcement might have had
all of that under control, except that’s when three of Mahrree’s
students taking a stroll during midday meal when they should have
been at school were attracted by the accident, as all boys are.
They saw the driver of a wagon transporting mead leave his team to
offer assistance. In a flash they stole the wagon, and the fort was
summoned to help.

Since Zenos and Thorne were leading nearly
all of the soldiers in a practice for the offensive along the
western side of the village, Perrin, Lieutenant Offra, and a couple
of enlisted men were all that were available to track down the
boys. They retrieved them soon enough: the teens had stopped at an
intersection to argue over which direction to take their stolen
goods. When Perrin finished incarcerating them at the enforcement
building, he went back to the jam to observe its untangling before
heading to the fort.

That’s when he spotted the old visiting
rector wringing his hands in worry and shouting apologies over and
over. Perrin finally escorted him to Rector Yung’s and the elderly
man couldn’t stop talking during the three-roads walk to the
rectory. As they neared Yung’s, he took Perrin’s hand and shook it
vigorously.

“
Again, Colonel, I am so
sorry. Really not in my nature, you know, to cause problems! I’ve
been spending some time in Idumea and I guess it just rubbed off on
me. But it’s a great honor to meet you, sir. I’ve admired you for
years, and I hope to see you again some time. Truly, such a
privilege to finally meet you!”