The Falcon in the Barn (Book 4 Forest at the Edge series) (74 page)

“
You don’t have much of a
sense of humor, do you Lannard?”

Lannard considered the comment. “I don’t know
that
anyone
has ever said that to me before, sir.”

Thorne shrugged. “So, you know the routine.
You get to ride, but first you tell me what you learned in school
today.”

Lannard smiled easily as he followed Captain
Thorne into the shed. “Today was pretty dull until in science we
got into a debate—

discussion . . .
bickering
session
about the origin of the universe. You know the explosion theory?
Well Mrs. Shin has her own theories.”

“
Tell me all of them,
Lannard.”

Chapter 28
~
“It’s not that simple, Yung!”

O
n the 15th Day of
Harvest Season, 337, Perrin took the long way home through
Deckett’s farm. He breathed in the cool air and smiled.

This was the way life should be, he thought.
Perfect temperature, beautiful season, with a feeling in the air
that everything was in harmony with the world. If only days like
this could last forever.

And, he quickly reminded himself—because if
he didn’t acknowledge the blessings he knew he didn’t deserve
them—it had felt like a “small forever” that everything had been
ideal. For the past six moons his life had been
perfect
.
Just no other word for it.

Jaytsy was living happily down the road with
a young man Perrin had to admit was as close to perfect as a father
could wish for his daughter.

Peto, while no longer around as much as
Perrin wanted—at least he wasn’t redistributing livestock during
the night—had just received excellent marks on his Final
Administrative Competency Test and could go to any university and
study any subject in another year.

The world was calm—for now—eagerly awaiting
the news from the expedition about vast new lands they could
acquire and develop. Guarder activity was nonexistent, and Moorland
remained uninhabited.

The fort was in excellent shape and Thorne
stayed well out of his way, except to alternate between flattering
him with weak compliments and remind him of proper procedures. But
even he was tolerable.

Perrin’s recruitment quota was easily met,
thanks to the tireless efforts of Shem who kept him on his toes in
the tower during the days, and kept him laughing in his gathering
room during the evenings. In a few weeks they’d be running their
annual Strongest Soldier Race, and already Shem had started the
taunting. Having beaten Perrin in the last three races, he was
feeling overconfident.

Perrin, on the other hand, was just feeling
over. He hadn’t told Shem yet, but the fifteenth race was going to
be his last. It was time to let someone younger take on the
sergeant major. There were plenty of soldiers, especially Offra,
wanting the chance.

Perrin didn’t like to admit it, but it
creeping up on him. At least it was moving slowly, but he knew it
was there: age. After the race he would turn forty-six.

He was on a slide to fifty.

He felt it when he moved, his muscles and
joints responding just a bit slower than he wished. He saw it when
he shaved his chin smooth each morning where gray hairs—no, white:
they had the nerve to be
white
!—were sprouting in his beard.
And also disturbingly on his eyebrows, but he yanked those out.

He could still beat the vast majority of the
soldiers in speed and skill, but Shem had caught up to him. If
Perrin were a more prideful man, that would have bothered him. But
he wasn’t, so it didn’t.

He couldn’t have been prouder of Sergeant
Major Zenos. That Shem exceeded Perrin in many ways as a soldier
was the ultimate compliment. Occasionally Perrin regretted that he
hadn’t pushed Shem to attend Command School. With his charisma,
passion, and insight, Zenos would have been a fantastic general. As
officers together, they could have done great things in Idumea.

Perrin didn’t mind passing along the title of
Strongest Soldier to his best friend. After fourteen races Perrin
still had more wins than losses, and he doubted Shem could ever
surpass his win record before he reached Perrin’s age and felt the
years dragging on him as well. That would mean that Perrin would
still have more overall wins than Shem.

All right, maybe he was a
bit
prideful.

Still, he had the most wonderful wife in the
world that made his perfection complete. And he could easily outrun
her.

As he slowly walked through the crops that
flourished around him, he shook his head in admiration. He’d never
paid much attention to the rhythms of the weather and the progress
of the plants until his daughter’s livelihood began to depend upon
it. Now he felt as proud of this farm as if he were the one running
it. He mentally added ‘farmer’ to the list of alternatives to being
High General. The list he began two and half years ago in Idumea
had never been erased from his mind. Periodically he pulled it out,
reminding himself that his future wasn’t set in stone.

But there was another part of him that still
revisited the memory of the chant of “General Shin” and smiled at
it. He wasn’t
entirely
against the idea. In many scenarios
it could work, quite well.

It was the unknown variables that troubled
him. He often felt his life was a complicated math problem where
he’d been given only a few numbers with the rest to follow at a
later date. He’d stare at the equation, anticipating what the
missing digits may be, wondering when the final solution would
reveal itself.

He’d already decided he’d never be the
Advisor to General Thorne. And should he become the High General,
he’d never have Thorne as his Advisor. Brillen Karna would be a far
better choice since he knew Perrin so well. Graeson Fadh would be
steady and insightful, and Gari Yordin would be most
entertaining.

But Thorne would never stand for any of them
usurping his position, at least not without an open battle. And
Perrin could never allow that, either.

There were too many possible solutions, and
none of them felt quite right.

Perrin shrugged off the problem, shoving it
far back in the corner of his mind as he usually did, but also
knowing exactly where to extract it again should another unknown of
the equation suddenly appear.

Because something more pressing was directly
before him.

He’d been sent a message from Jaytsy that
there was a surprise in her barn, and she wanted him to be the
first to know. He meandered through the corn now taller than him,
breaking off an ear and snacking on it along the way. It was the
fort’s crop anyway, he reasoned. He
should
check it.

He stepped over the large pumpkins and
thought briefly how well a catapult could toss those, if they still
had catapults. He passed the second crop of green beans and
wondered how his daughter could abide eating them straight off the
plants.

Last week she had stood in the field nibbling
them, one after another. “They just taste so
green!
I don’t
know why, but they’re so good this year!”

He could barely tolerate beans boiled for
five minutes and drenched in butter and pepper. But as he watched
her down three plants’ worth, an idea flashed briefly across his
mind. Time would tell soon enough.

He made his way through the rows of perfectly
straight and tall carrots, and frowned at a rabbit nibbling on the
greens.

“
The Cat would take care of
you, if only he’d stay over here!” Perrin shooed it away by tossing
the now-empty cob at it. He walked over to the barn and pushed open
the door.

“
Hello? Jayts?
Deck?”

“
Over here, Perrin,”
Deckett called from an unseen stall.

“
This is a strange place to
keep a surprise,” Perrin answered as he sidestepped a nervous cow
to get to the corner of the barn. He turned into the
stall.

“
Oh. I see. Well,” was all
he could think of saying. “Whose fault is it?”

Jaytsy laughed from her spot in the scattered
hay. “Take a look for yourself. Six kittens, all mostly black!” She
held up a tiny ball of fur. “Now can you see the wisdom of leaving
The Cat at
your
house? He loves you most, anyway.”

Perrin crouched in front of the calico
licking another fluff of fur that was stretching next to her. “I
didn’t even know you had a barn cat, Deck.”

“
Neither did I until this
morning,” Deck chuckled. “I came in here and heard all this mewing.
And I want you to know, Perrin, I hold
you
responsible.”

“
Me? I never saw her
before! I mean—”

His daughter and son-in-law burst out
laughing.

Perrin groaned. “You know what I mean,” he
chuckled.

Jaytsy handed him a sleeping kitten. “Look at
the markings on this one—exactly like The Cat.”

Perrin’s large hand could have closed over
the tiny kitten completely. He held it up for examination, slowly
stroking its little head, its ears and eyes not yet open.

“
So small,” he whispered in
amazement.

A sniffing sound caused him to shift his gaze
to his daughter.

Her chin was trembling and a tear was
threatening to escape her eyes. “Oh Father, you’re so
cute!
With that tiny little baby animal and . . .” She sniffed again,
picked up another kitten, and rubbed it against her face. “Ooh, so
cute.”

Perrin looked over at Deckett.

Deck was watching his wife with a slightly
disturbed demeanor. He glanced at his father-in-law for an
explanation.

He didn’t get any. Yet.

“
Jayts,” Deck said gently.
“Did you need to check on dinner?”

“
What? Oh, yes. I almost
forgot! Here Deck,” she said, standing up and holding out the
kitten. “This one feels a little cold. Can you do something for
it?”

Deck took the kitten from her hand.

She started to leave but paused as her
husband cupped the kitten to warm it. “Oh, you’re even
cuter
holding that baby kitten! You’re so
sweet!
” She squealed,
gave him a quick kiss and wiped away a tear. “I hope you don’t mind
beans for dinner again, Deck. We have such a good crop this year.”
She rushed out of the barn.

Perrin analyzed his son-in-law’s face as Deck
stared at the kitten.

First Deck’s eyes narrowed, then his nose
twitched, and his mouth scrunched. He looked over at the kitten in
Perrin’s hands, then finally up at Perrin’s face.

Perrin gave him a small smile and a wink.

Deck swallowed. “Green beans for every meal
and crying over kittens weren’t on your list, Perrin.”

Perrin chuckled. “But using the word ‘cute’
was
, on the very top. And ‘sweet’! Everyone woman is
different, Deck. You let me know when I can officially congratulate
you. I recommend you give it a little time, though, maybe to the
end of the season, just to make sure. But send Jaytsy to talk to
her mother in the meantime. Mahrree might be able to keep this
quiet.”

Deck nodded slowly. His smile grew into a
broad grin.

Perrin matched it.

“
Middle of Planting Season
next year,” Deck said. “That’s my guess. Wow. I hope you won’t be
too busy, Perrin. I think I might need some extra help. Kind of bad
timing for a farmer.”

“
There’s never a good time
to have a baby, but it always has a way of working out. I’m an
expert at changing cloths, Deck. I’ll teach you everything I know.”
He slapped Deck happily on the back.

Deck stared dreamily at the kitten. “I really
hope she is.”

Perfect life, Perrin sighed to himself.

Eventually he said, “I should be heading
home, Deck. Mahrree worries when I’m late.” He stroked the tiny
kitten again, not making any movements to leave.

“
I’m sure you’ll be back
after dinner once Mahrree hears about these,” Deck chuckled. “Now,
what was the name Shem told me . . . oh, yes.
Grandpy
. Put
that fist away, you can’t hit me! We’re holding
kittens!”

---

In her kitchen Jaytsy downed another handful
of raw green beans. At some point someone was going to notice, she
giggled to herself. But maybe not for a while. The nausea she felt
in the mornings was relatively easy to ignore, and she wasn’t as
tired as she expected she would be. Certainly not the way her
mother had told her she’d been when she was expecting her and
Peto.

Her mother who would be a
grandmother.

Jaytsy bit her lip in anticipation and patted
her still-flat belly. “Just our secret for now, little one. But
tonight your father’s going to get a surprise! Bigger than your
grandfather’s. Did you hear what I said?” she said, tears brimming
in her eyes. “Your ‘father’? ‘Grandfather’? Oh, I wished you could
have seen them holding those kittens!”

She grabbed another handful of beans and blew
her nose into a cloth.

---

Mahrree knew the look on her husband’s face
when he came home that evening, but she could tell he was trying to
hide it. She hadn’t seen that expression for many years, but some
looks you just don’t forget. She sighed in contentment.

Middle of Planting Season. That’s what she
guessed a couple of days ago.

“
You’re home a little
late.” She kissed him. “Everything all right?”

“
Yes, I stopped by Deck and
Jaytsy’s. They had something they wanted to show me.”

“
Oh?”

“
Yes, it appears that for
the brief time The Cat was living there he was
busy
.”