Hogal’s stomach knotted in his throat. Whatever it was, he needed to hear it before Mahrree. He fumbled with the iron bars at the front door, unlatched all three of them, and slipped quietly outside. He trotted down the front stairs, forgetting that he was still wrapped in the thick blanket, and made his way over to the soldiers.
They looked at him in surprise.
“Well?” Hogal breathed in the frigid air. “What news from the forest?”
“No news, sir. Forest is quiet, as always,” a young sergeant said convincingly.
“Nonsense!” Hogal snapped. “Perrin Shin is my nephew! I know there was trouble, and no one’s going to tell his wife about it but me. Understood?”
Later he felt a guilty streak of pride that Relf would have been amazed as each young man jumped automatically to attention.
“You’re Rector Densal, sir? I was sent to retrieve you. I’m pleased to report Captain Shin was most successful, sir,” the sergeant said in formal tone tinged appropriately with awe. “Fourteen Guarders were killed this night.”
Hogal twitched. “Fourteen?”
“Yes, sir. But the captain was also injured.”
Hogal’s shoulders sagged. “Ah, no. He’s not coming home soon then, is he?”
The sergeant shook his head.
Hogal looked back at the house, decided it seemed quiet, then said to the soldiers, “Can one of you bring me to him?”
---
Rector Densal walked quietly into the surgery recovery room and winced when he saw his nephew, his torso bare except for white cloth wrappings around his midsection, lying belly down on a cot.
“Ah, my boy. By the number of bandages, I’m guessing it was pretty severe.”
Perrin squinted open his eyes and tried to smile. “Merely an overly enthusiastic surgeon, Hogal.”
“That and twenty stitches,” the surgeon said, folding his arms. “It was severe, Rector. And he’s in great pain. He just controls it well. We’re getting another batch of snow to pack on his wound again.”
Perrin’s smile faded. “Mahrree! Does she know?”
Hogal sat down on a nearby cot. “No, no she doesn’t. I stayed the night at your house, worried about . . . well, everything. I secured all those windows and doors again. She was still sleeping when I left.”
“But you haven’t slept at all, have you Hogal? I’ve never seen such bags under your eyes.”
“Well, you don’t look so grand yourself, Perrin. But I’ve been up all night before. Part of the calling as a rector. But I’ve never been up all night with one of these,” he said, anxiously pulling out the long knife from under the blanket he still wore as a cloak. “Can’t seem to put it down.”
Perrin cringed. “Oh, Hogal. You should never have touched that.”
Hogal nodded feebly.
“Sir, may I help you with that?” said a quiet voice. Lieutenant Karna crouched in front of Hogal and gently pried the long knife from his fist.
“Thank you!” Hogal and Perrin breathed at the same time.
Karna chuckled. “I’ll see that this gets back to your home, Captain,” and he slipped it into his waistband.
“How exactly do you do that?!” Hogal said, more lighthearted now the knife was a safe distance away. “Don’t you ever cut yourself? Or sneeze?”
“We simply don’t talk about it if we do, sir,” said Karna soberly.
Hogal chuckled, then put a hand on Perrin’s bare shoulder. “What happened, my boy?”
“Guarder,” Perrin whispered. “I slipped on the snow, he came over the top of me, right through the coat and tunic. But I got him. Hogal, there were fourteen.”
“I heard that, from the soldier that accompanied me here. I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I know what might have happened.”
“What, Rector?” Karna sat down on another bunk, and the surgeon stepped closer to hear.
“Your informant was found out, Perrin,” Hogal said gravely. “It was discovered that he sent the warning, and those above him sent two more to finish the job in case you ensured the other twelve failed. Just when you’d be confident that you had them all, the last two would arrive.”
Perrin closed his eyes. “That’s exactly what happened. Can’t count on hearing from our friend ever again, can I?”
“If he was discovered, he’s most likely dead,” Karna suggested.
“That would be the Guarder way,” the surgeon said with disgust.
“But she slept through it all, didn’t she?” Perrin said, his eyes still closed.
Hogal smiled. “That she did, my boy. Without a pain, I imagine.”
“Which poses a new problem,” Perrin said, “and I hope you can help me with it.”
“What to tell her about that?” Hogal gestured to his torso.
All the soldiers nodded.
Hogal clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Remarkable the kind of damage a mere tree branch can do, isn’t it? When a horse goes down in the snow, and throws one at just the precise angle? Really, that branch should have broken sooner, but if it had held longer, Perrin would have been impaled on it, instead of severely slashed. Good thing Relf sent the message that the night training experiment is over. Just in time for his son to have a nice three or four days off to sleep at home and annoy his wife by being around too much.”
The surgeon nodded at him. “That’s why the forests are so dangerous, Rector, and why we never allow any soldiers into them. Perhaps now they should even stay away from the edges!”
He sent a severe look to the captain. Shortly after they’d packed Shin’s back in snow, the surgeon opened and read the captain’s letter he’d signed a few days before. Then he threw it angrily into the fire and went to work on the noncompliant officer.
“I’ll write instructions for Mrs. Shin on how to care for her husband. I’m sure he’ll be more comfortable at home. We can move him after midday meal, when he’s a little stronger.”
Karna nodded at the rector. “I’ll be sure the soldiers know the dangers of branches. Most should still be getting breakfast,” and he left the surgery.
Hogal patted Perrin gently on the shoulder when they were alone. “Excellent work, my boy. I couldn’t be prouder. I suspect you were sent some help?”
Perrin’s eyes became damp. “Hogal, you have no idea, and I think only you would understand.”
“I look forward to hearing the story. But first, I’ll go get Mahrree.”
---
It was a little over an hour later, as dawn was breaking and ending that very long night, that Perrin heard the whimper.
“I don’t believe it! Look at you! Oh, Perrin!”
He attempted a smile. “Hello, my darling wife. How did you sleep?”
“Wonderfully, I’m ashamed to say.” She kneeled down by his cot and gingerly touched his back. “You must be in so much pain.”
“I’m fine—they froze the area with snow again,” he whispered. “Where’s Jaytsy?”
“Tabbit came over so she and Hogal are both there for when she wakes up.”
“And our little kicker?”
Mahrree held her belly. “Still kicking, but no pains right now.”
He closed his eyes. “Thank the Creator.”
She wiped away a tear and attempted to stroke his bare back, unsure of where to touch him. “This is so awful! A tree branch? Thank goodness your father stopped these ridiculous night drills. When I get home I’m going to write to tell him exactly what his little experiment did to his son!”
“No, no, no,” Perrin whispered earnestly. “You’ll do no such thing. Let me handle it. How about I dictate a message and you write it down?”
“And make my own additions as I see fit?”
He would have chuckled if he could. “We’ll see.”
She kissed his bare shoulder and stroked his dark hair. “I’m so sorry, Perrin. I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
“It’s all right, Mahrree. I’m just sorry I got injured when you’ve been h
aving pains.”
She kissed him on the lips. “How about we both laze around for a few days together?”
“Sounds perfect,” he whispered back.
From several paces away the surgeon, Karna, and Neeks watched the two of them talking quietly. The men looked away when they kissed again.
“Guess there are one or two reasons to get married,” Grandpy said, gruffly clearing his throat and holding his own bandaged arm.
Mahrree turned and noticed the audience behind her. She blushed and pushed herself to stand up. All three men rushed over, but she was on her feet before they got there.
“You all right, Mrs. Shin?” the surgeon asked with unusual gentleness.
“Yes, I’m doing well this morning, thank you. When did you say we can bring him home?”
“After midday meal. He needs to rest and get a little stronger so he can help us help him. I’ve given him some tea so he’ll sleep for a few hours.”
Mahrree nodded. “I’ll go home and get things ready. Probably shouldn’t be going upstairs to bed, should he?”
The surgeon shook his head. “Give him a night or two on your main level, then we’ll see how he’s feeling.”
Staff Sergeant Gizzada came in to the surgery and gave a meaningful look to the three other men. All of the white-now-stained-red clothing was being burned, destroying the evidence. He put his finger to his lips when he saw the exhausted captain drifting off to sleep. “Just checking on him,” he whispered.
“He’ll be fine in a few days,” the surgeon said. “I’ll get the notes, Mrs. Shin. I’ll also be by this evening to evaluate him.”
“Thank you,” Mahrree smiled as the surgeon started for his desk. “Well, I suppose I should take his uniform jacket and overcoat with me. Doesn’t look like he’ll be wearing them home today.”
“I’ll walk you home when you’re ready, Mrs. Shin,” Karna told her.
“And I’ll get the uniform, ma’am,” Gizzada nodded.
He walked to where the folded blue overcoat and jacket sat on a chair, and carried them over to Mahrree and Karna. The lieutenant took the bundle from him as Neeks tipped his cap good-bye and started for the door of the surgery.
“I should see if the damage is repairable or not,” Mahrree murmured, lifting the overcoat from off the top. “After it’s soaked for a few hours.”
All four men stopped suddenly.
Karna turned abruptly to Mahrree. “Repairable?”
Neeks stopped at the door and slowly pivoted.
The surgeon at his desk looked up sharply.
Gizzada’s eyes doubled in size.
“Yes, his overcoat and jacket,” she said, letting the overcoat unfold from her hands. “Not that I’m much of a seamstress, but my mother . . .”
The four men looked desperately at one another, but it was already too late.
Mahrree had turned the overcoat to look at the red-soaked gash she anticipated seeing there. She held it up in front of her face while the surgeon, Neeks, Karna, and Gizzada held their breaths, waiting for her response to the overcoat in pristine condition.
Slowly she lowered the coat and looked at the four men, her face completely ashen. “He wasn’t wearing his uniform, was he?”
The men looked at each other, unsure of what to say.
Captain Shin snored softly.
“There was no tree branch either, was there?”
Karna shifted his feet, Neeks swallowed hard, the surgeon cleared his throat, and Gizzada licked his lips.
“And he doesn’t want me to know why, either. Does he?”
That, the men could answer. They all shook their heads ever so slightly.
Mahrree closed her eyes and clutched the overcoat to her chest. “Thank you for taking care of him. And me.”
“Happy to do it, ma’am,” Karna whispered.
---
“But Perrin, are you absolutely sure you only stabbed him in the cheek?”
Hogal whispered, not worried that Mahrree would hear him—she was in the kitchen with Hycymum and Tabbit cooking a big dinner—but because Jaytsy was snuggled up against her father, napping soundly. She and Perrin lay on the large down and straw mattress, placed in front of the hearth in the gathering room by the soldiers that helped bring Perrin home. The sofa and stuffed chairs were pushed to the sides to make room for the bed. Hogal sat on a pillow next to Perrin who spent the day—and would spend many more nights—shirtless and on his belly with his back exposed.
Hogal removed the last of the cotton and winced at the stitched bloody gash. In a few minutes they would be packing snow over his wound again.
“Hogal, I’ve run it over and over in my mind.” Perrin rested his chin on his hand and gazed into the fire. “That earlier incident, with the Guarder I hit only in the hip with my arrow, I could imagine a few scenarios for why he suffered a wound in the chest. Fell on his own dagger, or his companion stabbed him, or he fell on a broken stump . . . But that thirteenth Guarder, there’s simply no explanation. I was losing consciousness as he was choking me. It took all my remaining strength to thrust the knife behind me, and I didn’t have a lot force going over my shoulder. There’s no way I slipped and stabbed him in the neck. The wound was too deep, at the wrong angle, and delivered by someone with great strength. Even after he released me, I wouldn’t have been in any condition to take him out until I could breathe easily again. Hogal, someone else was in that forest!”
Hogal nodded slowly. “I can’t think of any other explanation, either.”
“My question is,” Perrin whispered, “who? How? Why?”
“That’s actually three questions, my boy, but who’s counting. Perhaps a sympathetic Guarder? Maybe even your informant?”
“Maybe,” Perrin whispered, patting Jaytsy’s back with his free hand as she slept next to him. “Maybe he heard that more were being sent, and he came to help.” He shook that off. “No, that’s not right. I don’t know why, but I just feel it’s not right.”
“Agreed,” Hogal said. “What happened out there to you—for you—is remarkable. I prayed all night for you to receive help, and you most definitely did.”
“I was on my knees after that twelfth Guarder, Hogal. I was thanking the Creator when I heard the thirteenth come up behind me.”
“He sent you help you didn’t even know you needed.”
“Hogal,” Perrin’s whisper was barely audible, and his great uncle leaned down to hear him better, “only you could understand this but, somehow I felt as if He was in the forest.”
Hogal squinted. “The Creator?”
Perrin shrugged then winced as he regretted the movement that shifted his back. “That’s not quite right either. I’m not saying the Creator was killing that last Guarder, but somehow it felt as if His presence was there. For a place so cold and dark, it was actually comforting. I can’t explain it.”
“I don’t think you have to, Perrin,” Hogal said. “There’s so much in the world that’s beyond our explanation. Sometimes we think we know everything, but when we finally see all that this world really involves, we’ll discover we knew nothing at all. All our ideas were just as pitifully inaccurate as four year-olds arguing over what kind of baby snake a worm is. No, for now our understanding is so limited, our minds so small, the world so large—the Creator’s power is simply beyond our comprehension. Don’t try to explain anything, but be grateful for the experience and, after Mahrree has birthed this next baby and she’s steady again, tell her about it too. She needs to know.”
“Agreed,” Perrin whispered. “I feel awful not telling her the truth.”
“Not only because of that,” Hogal said as he removed the last bit of cotton, “but because . . .” He hesitated.
“What is it, Hogal?”
The old rector was quiet for another moment before he continued. “I wished I didn’t have to say this, but it’s very clear to me now: Perrin, the Refuser isn’t only after you. He’s after you’re entire family.”
“No!�
�� Perrin whimpered, putting his large hand back on his daughter’s small body. “Because of me—”
“No, my boy!” Hogal gripped his nephew’s arm. “Not because of you, but because of who they are. Who they will become.”
Perrin craned his neck to see his great uncle better. “What are you talking about?”
“I wished I could understand more, but I don’t have the sight of a guide. I’m merely a lowly rector who receives impressions.” Hogal sighed. “Perrin, it’s no coincidence you married Mahrree. She poses just as great a threat to the Refuser’s plans as you do. She may prove to be a most dangerous woman some day. In fact,” he hesitated again, “I’m sure of it.”
“Mahrree? My small Mahrree?” Perrin squinted. “Dangerous?”
“That’s why she was targeted,” Hogal nodded. “Remember the saying, ‘The smallest annoyances—”
“—grow into the biggest pains.’” Perrin sighed and finished the familiar phrase. “‘It’s not the boulders in your way that slow you down, but the pebble in your boot.’”
“Exactly. And your children? I believe the Creator doesn’t randomly send souls to families. He has a plan. For you, your wife, your daughter, and your son.”
Perrin’s eyebrows shot upwards.
“They’ll all someday do things to anger the Refuser. The four of you are in the same family for a reason—you must all fight this war together.”
Perrin closed his eyes, not only because of the increased twingeing in his back, but now also because of the twingeing in his mind.
“War,” he whispered.
“I’m afraid so,” Hogal whispered back. “I wished I was a guide—they could bestow blessings of protection. I can only pray. But remember, you’ve won two battles in the war so far. I also don’t think the Refuser’s going to give up easily. Whoever he’s influencing isn’t about to quit. The third battle—who knows?”
“And how many more after that?” Perrin murmured, his eyes still shut.
“I wouldn’t even dare guess,” Hogal said softly. “This isn’t a war that will end anytime soon. Maybe not even until the Last Day.”
The Forest at the Edge of the World Page 43