The Mansions of Idumea (Book 3 Forest at the Edge series) (70 page)

“Well, no one’s found it,” said Perrin.

“Who would think that in a cellar, behind a
storage shelf, and entombed in dirt, is a treasure?” Mahrree
reminded him.

Perrin just smiled at the thought.

She folded her arms. “Exactly how did you get
the idea for creating this hiding place, anyway?”

He only winked at her and began to pull out
the heavy stacks of metal. Mahrree took them from him and laid them
out on the dark floor, counting. When Perrin had emptied their
savings, Mahrree finished her counting and looked up at him.

“I fear it’s not going to be enough. While we
have the equivalent of 180 full slips of gold—and if Jaytsy and
Peto heard that, they’d definitely declare us to be rich—that’s
probably only one-third of what everyone would expect to be
paid.”

Perrin rubbed his chin. “Coupled with what we
can salvage from the homes of the dead, it may be closer to
one-half. And I was thinking of giving only half of my colonel’s
bonus to Brillen—he’ll be overwhelmed with thirty full gold slips
anyway—and donate the other half to this. If everyone realizes this
is all they’ll get, they’ll be satisfied with it.”

Mahrree sighed. “I hope you’re right. I
should have brought back my silk dress. Surely someone would’ve
bought it and we could have added that silver to the pile.”

She tried to lift up a large clump but
strained, forgetting the weight of it all. “And how, exactly, are
you going to get all of this to the fort?”

“Karna will come down later,” he smiled as
she dropped a stack of gold slips. “Along with being told his pay
will be increasing, he’s been told an anonymous benefactor donated
this to Edge to pay for the repairs, and that it was hiding in the
coach you arrived on. He and some discreet sergeants will come by
later today. They’ll remove it in padded crates that will look like
wheat. We’ll secure it in my office at the fort, then when all of
the repairs are finished and the bills tallied, we’ll begin
distribution.”

Mahrree nodded. “Good. The sooner this is out
of the cellar, the better. I’ve never been sure if I’ve felt more
secure knowing we had a small fortune underneath us, or more
paranoid that someone would find out.” She stood and cocked her
head at Perrin. He wore a strange smile. “What is it?”

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

“For what?”

“For willingly giving all of this up to help
our neighbors.”

She shrugged at that. “Why should we have
more when others suffer? That never struck me as right, and today,
I’m feeling quite a sense of freedom about giving our excess to
those who have nothing.”

Perrin studied her for a moment. “I can’t
think of another woman in the world who would say such a
thing.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’re out there,” she
dismissed his evaluation, a bit overwhelmed by his intensity. “We
just haven’t met them yet.”

After breakfast Perrin went to the fort, but
he came back to the house just as Mahrree and the children were
about to set out for another day of cleaning.

“If you see an Administrative messenger,
alert any nearby soldier to come find me. I may be out all over
Edge. Any news about the reactions of what we’ve done in Idumea, I
want it immediately.”

Mahrree nodded at him with the smile she
practiced for The Dinner. “I’m sure all will be well.”

“Really?” he challenged.

“No,” she admitted shakily.

He wrapped her into his arms. “We did the
right thing taking the wagons. All of us,” he kissed her hair. “No
matter what happens, we can face the Creator knowing we did His
will. We shouldn’t fear anyone in the world. We should respect only
Him. He’ll reward us in the end.”

Mahrree leaned back. “That’s really
insightful. You know, I think you’re right.”

“I am, because it’s what Shem said to me last
night when I told him my concerns,” Perrin confessed. “And he’s
right, too. I wouldn’t change anything. Nor would I change the look
on my parents’ faces as we left. It was if they remembered things
they had forgotten. Idumea does that to a person. So easy to become
complacent.” He held her close again and sighed. “I’m ready. I just
want to know. Officer or rancher or builder? Lots of planning
ahead, either way,” he chuckled sadly.

“I was thinking you’d make a good guard at
Edge of Idumea Estates.”

He pulled back. “Oh, interesting. I’ll have
to add that to my list.” He kissed her and left.

All day Mahrree watched the roads to the fort
when she was near them, even when she knew it was far too early for
any messenger. By late afternoon she was quite jittery, assuming
some kind of decision had been made in Idumea, and the notice was
on its way.

When she went home to prepare
dinner—fortunately, it had been decided that the community dinner
at the Shins would occur only on Holy Days—Mahrree was nearly dizzy
with worry.

When she heard hoof beats at the back
alleyway, she rushed to the door to see Shem on his horse looking
around hastily as if trying to find something. Mahrree stepped out
of the door to ask him what he needed.

He regarded her with an expression of intense
concern, pressed his lips together, then kicked his horse into a
full run out of the neighborhood.

Mahrree went back into the house,
perplexed.

“Who was that?” Peto asked.

“Shem, but he didn’t stay.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. He seemed very odd.”

Jaytsy came to the kitchen. “Did I just see
Uncle Shem stop and then leave again?”

“Yes, but I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe
he’s looking for someone. Well, let’s eat. I don’t know when your
father might be home tonight.”

“Things
are
back to normal,” Jaytsy
mumbled.

It was in the middle of dinner when Karna,
accompanied by two sergeants, came to the door. His eye was bruised
and swelling shut, and clutched in his hand was an official looking
piece of crumpled parchment.

Mahrree had a dreadful feeling that he wasn’t
there to collect the gold and silver waiting for him in the
cellar.

“Mrs. Shin,” he said quietly, “Mahrree, may I
come in?”

---

What happened at the fort was retold for
days, with small embellishments here and there, but with enough
witnesses that the truth always came through. And the true story
was so affecting it really needed no additions.

Colonel Shin had arrived in the late
afternoon from inspecting the village and went up to the forward
command office with its full view of Edge. He was pointing out to
Lieutenant Rigoff where to work the next day when the messenger
arrived. The little man in red marched up the stairs and thrust his
parchment under Colonel Shin’s nose.

The colonel froze in place for a moment, took
the message, and without a word walked into his private office. The
messenger followed without invitation.

Major Karna and Sergeant Major Neeks ran up
the stairs, having seen the messenger arrive, and looked at Rigoff
for explanation. Rigoff just shrugged. They all assumed it would be
news from Idumea about the caravan, and they were just as anxious
as their commander to hear how the Administrators would interpret
the deed.

That’s when they heard the noise.

It could best be described as a roar, as if a
bear had been suddenly surprised in the colonel’s office, and it
was enraged. The roar was followed by a bellow, in the form of a
word: “
NOOO!
”

Everyone in the fort heard it.

They could even tell each other where they
were when the shout made the hairs on the necks stand up.

Then the little man came out of the office,
through the wall.

He landed on the large desk, unconscious, in
a spray of wood and splinters.

Colonel Shin stared with animal-like ferocity
at the new hole he’d created, threw down the parchment, and bolted
through the door.

Karna made a valiant attempt to stop him, and
received a punch in the eye that would later suggest a broken
cheekbone underneath.

The colonel ran down the stairs and out
through the reception area, knocking down several more soldiers and
even breaking the arm of a sergeant who accidentally got in his
way.

Neeks jumped through the hole in the wall and
retrieved the message. As he read it his jaw quivered, and he
crumpled the parchment in his hand.

“What? What happened?” Rigoff asked as he
tried to help Karna stand back up.

No one paid any attention to the still body
in the red uniform on the desk. They would forget about him for
over an hour and remember him only when he finally came to and
hobbled out of the compound, without a word to anyone.

“Where’s Zenos?” Grandpy Neeks shouted.

“Getting ready to take the next shift of
guards for the night,” Rigoff said.

“No, he’s not!” Neeks threw the message and
rushed down the stairs.

Rigoff stepped over the splintered wood to
pick up the message. He read it, then looked up at Karna in
agony.

“Well?!” Karna demanded, holding his eye with
one hand and bracing himself against the wall with the other.

“It’s the General and Mrs. Shin. Guarders
invaded the mansion last night.” Rigoff tried to keep his composure
but failed. “Sir, they’re dead
.
”

---

In the stables, the sergeant in charge of
horses found the reins of the stallion he just finished saddling
grabbed roughly out of his hands.

Colonel Shin ran the horse out through the
barn doors, leaped on to it, and spurred it into a full run past
Master Sergeant Zenos and the twenty men mounted with him. He was
out the fort gates and down the main road before the soldier with
the broken arm in the reception area could struggle back to his
feet.

Zenos, astonished, turned to the stables and
saw Neeks come running out of the reception area of the command
tower.

“ZENOS! HERE!” Grandpy was running to the
supply building, and Shem prodded his horse over to meet him. He
arrived just as Neeks came running out again with two rations
packs.

“Neeks, what’s happened?” Zenos asked.
“Where’s Shin going?”

“I’m suspecting to Idumea,” said Neeks
hurriedly, checking the packs. “And you have to go with him.”

“What? Why? What’s happened?”

“You said you’re like his brother, right
Zenos? Devoted solely to him?”

“Yes, of course!”

“Well if ever a man needed a brother, it’s
right now.”

Neeks threw the packs up to Shem and pulled
his own long knife out of his boot. He slid it, carefully but
quickly, into Zenos’s boot. “He’s not himself. I know you hate
carrying these, but you may need it, along with that sword.”

Zenos shook his head in confusion. “Neeks,
WHY?”

“His parents, Zenos. Killed by Guarders.
That’s not the colonel that just left. That’s a crazed man. Stop
him, Shem!”

Zenos’s head snapped up to stare out the
empty gates where the colonel had just left. Soldiers were still
standing there, dazed and questioning.

“Dear Creator!” Zenos whispered. He spun his
horse and kicked it into a run out of the gates.

He rode first to the Shins’ home and stopped
at the alleyway. There was no sign of Perrin. Mahrree came out of
the door, and, judging by the composed look on her face, it was
obvious she had no idea what had happened.

Shem couldn’t spare any time. Someone would
undoubtedly come by the house, so he kicked his heels into the
horse.

He was going to Idumea.

---

“Major Karna—what happened to you? You look
terrible! Come, sit down,” said Mahrree as she escorted him into
the house. She led him to the sofa and told Jaytsy to get a wet
cloth for his eye.

But he wouldn’t sit down. “No, Mrs. Shin.
Jaytsy, I’m fine. All of you, please.” He gestured to the sofa and
took a bracing breath as the three of them sat with dread growing
on their faces.

Mahrree looked at the crumpled parchment in
his hands. “It’s from Idumea, isn’t it.”

Karna nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He tried to
explain the message, but the words wouldn’t come.

“Just tell us,” Mahrree began to tremble.
“I’ve been waiting for days to know.”

He shook his head, realizing he could never
say the words, and instead handed the message to Mrs. Shin. With
her hand quaking, she took the open message and let her children
read over her shoulders.

It was only seconds later that Jaytsy
screamed and Peto leaped from the sofa and ran to his room,
slamming the door. Mahrree dropped the parchment, held her head
with her hands and began to shake. Jaytsy wept uncontrollably next
to her.

“Where’s Perrin?” Mahrree gasped between
sobs.

“Gone, Mahrree,” Brillen whispered. “We think
he’s headed to Idumea.”

Her headed came up. “Dear Creator—he’s going
to kill someone!”

Karna shook his head quickly. “No, we’ve sent
Zenos after him. He should be able to catch him by the first
messenger station.”

“He’ll kill Uncle Shem!” Jaytsy cried.

“No, no he won’t!” Her mother wrapped an arm
around her. “Shem will calm him,” she said firmly, as if her words
would make it so.

Karna crouched and put a hand on her
shoulder. “I’m so, so sorry, ma’am. I’ve posted two soldiers here
for security, and four more coming down soon. We’ll keep the house
surrounded for as long as necessary, and Grandpy Neeks will see to
increased patrols along the forest. We’ll keep you safe. What more
can I do?”

Mahrree rocked her sobbing daughter while
trying to wipe tears from her eyes. She looked toward Peto’s
door.

Karna nodded. “Men grieve differently,
ma’am.” He patted her shoulder and made his way to Peto’s room, a
bit wobbly from the throbbing in his face. He opened the door
slowly and saw the boy curled on his bed with his back to the
door.