Safety Assured Leaving East of Medicetti

  ~For you, Mrs. Shin. Until we meet again. So that we will remember together. ~G. Yung

  “She frightened me so much that night,” Mahrree smiled sadly. “I realize she did it on purpose. I wasn’t ready and she knew that. She saw right through me.”

  Asrar put a hand gently on Mahrree’s shoulder. “But she knew you would run here someday.”

  “What was her first name?”

  “Galena,” Asrar said. “Galena Yung.”

  “Wish I’d known her as well as I know her husband.”

  “Someday in Paradise you will,” Asrar said as surely as she knew the sun would rise. “That parchment’s never left this resting station. Shem, a couple others, and I have memorized it in order to tell it to you. Now, it’s yours to keep. Galena always intended for you to take it with you.”

  “I’ll take it to Salem, where we all belong.” Mahrree said as she put it in her pocket next to the family lines no one knew she had.

  After breakfast Asrar showed them to the chamber with the net slings like Jaytsy had ridden in, suspended on overhangs of the boulders. The area was darkened and cooled by the surrounding rock, spacious enough for up to fifty people to sleep.

  “You’ll find these provide the best napping options on the rock,” she told them.

  As Perrin helped Mahrree into a higher net he said to Shem, “I’ll take the first watch, then will you take the second?”

  Shem shook his head. “You haven’t slept more than a handful of hours in the past two nights. Neither have I,” he reminded him. “We both sleep. We’re perfectly safe here.”

  Perrin looked at him dubiously. “Are you absolutely . . .” his voice trailed off as Shem gave him a meaningful look. “I will trust you. This place is safe.”

  Shem smiled, climbed expertly into his litter and stretched out.

  ---

  But Peto struggled to get into his. First he tried a higher one, then decided to climb into a lower one. Moving his stiffening leg upward didn’t seem to be something he could do yet, even with the herb rub for his saddle soreness.

  Shem slipped out of his litter. “Like this,” he said as he stretched open the litter to let him crawl in.

  “Thanks,” Peto whispered, rolling away from him.

  “Hey,” Shem tipped the sling to force Peto back to him. “I realize you’re still trying to figure out how to think of me, and that’s all right. Since yesterday morning your whole world has been spinning, and it still hasn’t stopped, has it? I’m sorry I was rough on you earlier, but I promise Salem will be worth it.”

  Peto nodded wearily and warily.

  “You were looking for a sign or message last night, weren’t you?” Shem said, as if reading Peto’s soul. “It never works the way you expect it to,” Shem told him. “But the Creator sends us signs every day, wanting us to see things as He sees them, not as we want to see them. It’s up to us to recognize His messages to us for what they are.”

  Peto knew he was seeing one right now.

  Shem put his hand on Peto’s chest, on top of the envelope. “You brought them, didn’t you? Your grandparents? I felt Relf come by to check on you. He and the others were never far from us.”

  Before Peto could ask what Shem meant by ‘the others’ and how ‘far’ they were, Shem said, “Now rest, boy. Your new life is just around the corner. And over the mountain. And through some fields, and . . . well, your backside really doesn’t want to know right now.” Shem patted him and went back to his net.

  Peto put a hand on his chest and tried to slow his thumping heart.

  ---

  Perrin climbed into his net under Mahrree with a weary grunt. “I’ll just rest my eyes,” he murmured. “Because I don’t see how I can sleep until we’re out of view of Edge.”

  Mahrree smiled down at him and nodded. She lay back in the sling and stretched out to feel it support her completely. Before she could sigh in relaxation, she heard a familiar snore under her.

  “Ah, just great!” Peto mumbled from his net. “With Father snoring no one will . . .” and suddenly he was silent.

  Shem chuckled quietly. “Good boy, Peto. He was always easy to get night-night.”

  “Asrar didn’t put anything in those biscuits to put them to sleep, did she?” Mahrree asked.

  Asrar, retrieving supplies from the nearby cavern to prepare midday meal, uttered a quiet but affronted, “Oh! Of course not!”

  “Just kidding, Asrar,” Mahrree said, waving her hand. “Take it as a compliment that my family hasn’t been this exhausted or this contented in a very long time.”

  “If she did have something to put people to sleep,” Jothan rumbled quietly from his net sling, his eyes already closed, “I would have insisted she put it in our four sons’ dinners each night.”

  “It’s the sleep of peace,” Barb said drowsily, on the other side of Mahrree. “Of knowing the world will never find you again.”

  Mahrree grinned and glanced at Jaytsy lying in her litter above Deck. She looked like she could never sleep again, but preferred to just watch her already dozing husband as she held his limp hand in hers.

  “I’ll keep watch,” Jaytsy assured her mother. “I’m quite rested. Although I don’t know what I’m watching for!”

  ---

  The students of Upper School #3, sitting outside on the benches, watched yet another group of soldiers run by. Two paused in front of a cluster of teenage boys, and Chommy said, “No, we haven’t seen the Shins or the Briters. That’s what we told the last seven groups of soldiers who asked.”

  The soldiers darted off in another direction as Chommy casually saluted them away. His friends sitting with him chuckled.

  “Why did we even come to school today?” one of them asked.

  “Because old Hegek would come by each of our houses again begging us to come if we didn’t,” said Chommy. “He has to fill the seats, you know. Really, this is pathetic, them racing after nothing.”

  “Not nothing,” Lannard said defensively. “There was noise during the night, and shouting and running and—”

  Chommy waved that off. “Hours ago. I heard they weren’t even real Guarders. My father said that when they attacked years ago they actually killed people. But these Guarders? They just let loose a few chickens and shouted ‘Can’t catch me!’ like it was a game. But the soldiers are panicked as if half of them were massacred last night.”

  “Well,” Lannard began, his shoulders twitching in loyalty to the army he hoped join, “they didn’t know that. Maybe there are dead soldiers somewhere.”

  Chommy rolled his eyes. “The sooner all of this nonsense is over with, the better. Hegek’s lectures are so dull I’m bored to tears. It’ll be interesting to hear Mrs. Shin’s take on all of this.”

  Lannard was stunned. “What, you want Mrs. Shin back?”

  “Of course!” said another boy next to him. “She’s the only teacher who doesn’t read the scripts. Chommy,” he said knowingly to his friend, “I don’t think Lannard’s ever caught on.”

  “Caught on?” Lannard asked, looking at the six boys around him. “Caught on to what?”

  Chommy patted him on the shoulder. “How well did you do on the End of Year exam?”

  Lannard smiled proudly. “Good enough to get out of Mrs. Shin’s class next—” He stopped when he saw Chommy shaking his head.

  “You’re doomed. Now you’ll have to take the regular classes, full of Administrative drudgery and Departmental dullness. You passed yourself out of a real education.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Lannard,” another boy patted him on the head like a dog, “we’ve all thrown the tests. You know, failed them on purpose? So that we could be in Mrs. Shin’s class.”

  “I worked out the math a few years ago,” another boy told him.

  Lannard was shocked. “You know math?!”

  “Of course. You see, if we fail fifty-four percent of the test, which, according to the matrices established b
y the Department of Instruction, which matrices I steal from Hegek’s office each year so that I can run the numbers—”

  “You know math!”

  “How else can I tell the others how many questions to get wrong to statistically keep us in her class—”

  “You know math on purpose? And do badly on purpose?”

  “You, Lannard,” said Chommy slowly as if talking to a stupid goat, “are one of the few who really belongs there. At least half of us are there on purpose, because she’s the only teacher who actually teaches. She’s also the only one who listens. Next year we’ll all take our final exams and pass them astonishingly well with the highest marks possible. It’s not that hard, really. Students have been failing on purpose for years to get into Mrs. Shin’s class, then passing with nearly perfect grades at the very end to go on to a university. You’re one of the rare dumb ones to get in naturally. You didn’t even have to steal anything like I did and allow yourself to get caught in order to be considered a ‘special case’. Congratulations!”

  Lannard’s shoulders sagged as the boys around him laughed. “You really liked her as a teacher?”

  “You didn’t?”

  “Well, I . . . I don’t know. It’s not like she was mean or anything, just kind of . . .”

  “Oh, Lannard, Lannard, Lannard. When you have to sit in the ‘regular’ classes next year, you’ll realize what you gave up.”

  “But she . . . she . . . didn’t teach to the test,” Lannard said, suddenly feeling confused and stupid.

  “Yeah, we know,” Chommy said. “Thank the Creator, right?”

  Lannard’s head snapped up. “You believe in the Creator, too? He was made up! The Administrators said that—”

  Chommy sighed loudly. “Lannard, you really believe everything the Administrators claim? Someday you’ll make a great addition to the Army of Idumea. Maybe even an Administrator’s aide.”

  Just as Lannard was about to round on them for their unsupportive attitudes, he noticed Mr. Hegek coming through the gate of the school grounds. Clusters of students stopped their gossiping and stared at Edge’s director of schools, who was shaking and pale. His gaze drifted from one group to another until they finally rested on Lannard, Chommy, and the rest of Mrs. Shin’s “Special Cases.”

  “Everyone,” he said in a trembling voice. “Please step inside—”

  “We’re supposed to stay outside,” one girl informed him. “In case Guarders are still hiding in there.”

  “The Guarders are gone. It seems that they had one goal, and they accomplished it early this morning.” His trembling increased. “Please, get inside and I’ll tell you about it.”

  Chommy was already on his feet. “Is it about the Shins? Mr. Hegek, what about Mrs. Shin?”

  “Just please get inside, Chommy. I’ll tell you everything if you just get inside!”

  Chommy glanced back to his peers whose bleak expressions reflected his own.

  The news was bad. In another minute, Lannard would come to that conclusion as well, but maybe after Hegek told them what it was.

  “Come on, boys,” said Chommy somberly. “I have a feeling we won’t be hearing Mrs. Shin’s side of this. Ever.”

  ---

  When Asrar woke everyone up about four hours later, Jaytsy was smiling at her mother from her sling.

  “Now I know what I needed to watch for.” She pointed to her father. Asrar hadn’t woken him yet, but at Jaytsy’s request had waited for everyone else to be up to see his reaction.

  “I don’t believe it!” Mahrree whispered.

  Peto grinned. “Now that’s a miracle!”

  “I have to agree, Peto.” Shem smiled.

  “He’ll never get rid of it, will he?” Deck chuckled.

  “Perrin?” Mahrree said softly, reaching down to touch his arm. “Perrin, it’s time to put out The Cat.”

  “Hmm?” With eyes still closed, he automatically petted The Cat.

  The Cat purred.

  Perrin’s his eyes flew open and he looked at his chest. “The Cat!”

  The Cat meowed wearily at him.

  “How did . . . What are . . . What?!”

  His family laughed.

  “He wandered in about an hour ago,” Jaytsy told them. “His feet are pretty roughed up.”

  Perrin struggled to sit up in his sling and lifted the limp animal to inspect him.

  “Oh, you’ve had a hard night, haven’t you, boy?” Perrin said when he saw his bloody paws. “How in the world did you find us?”

  “It’s not the first pet to follow us to Salem,” Jothan said. “He can come all the way. Jaytsy, he could ride with you.”

  “Of course!” Jaytsy squealed.

  Half an hour later, as they prepared to start on the trail again, well rested and well fed—including The Cat who took care of the leftover ham—a jovial young man in mottled green clothing emerged from one of the gaps in the rock.

  “It’s about time!” his aunt Barb sighed in relief.

  “Kiren,” Shem called. “How’s everything in the world?”

  Kiren beamed. “I’m pleased to report that the fort’s falling apart and soldiers are weeping in terror at the edge of the forest! Or, uh,” he looked over at Perrin. “I’m sorry, sir, it’s just that—”

  Perrin nodded to the scout. “Understood. Actually, I’m rather glad to hear that news myself.”

  Kiren relaxed. “I can’t believe it—the Shin family is here! So good to meet all of you!” He eagerly pumped Perrin’s hand. “Oh, Asrar, I almost forgot. Half of the scouts should be here soon, and they’ll be starving.” To Perrin he said, “That was the message they sent me up here to deliver. Wow. I just said that to Perrin Shin! And that’s Mahrree Shin!” he pointed at her.

  She snorted in response, and her children chuckled.

  “So it was messy?” Asrar asked, trying to keep Kiren focused.

  “Still haven’t accounted for all of our men yet,” Kiren said, snatching a biscuit remaining from breakfast. “But we’re pretty sure everyone got out of Edge, and we’re making sure all of the soldiers are out of the forest. They lost at least six men in there, and a few horses. And that’s Peto, isn’t it!”

  But Perrin ignored his son’s sniggering and massaged his forehead. “Kiren, do you know if Offra got out?”

  “Yes sir, he did. And may I make the first of many apologies? We didn’t expect any of the soldiers to actually enter the forest. Hi, Briters! Wow, they’re all here! Sorry, sorry—I know. Report. Dormin sent most of our ‘Guarders’ into the village to startle chickens, hoping to attract the soldiers, but then Thorne ordered those groups into the trees. Well, that was unexpectedly brave and stupid.”

  “That about sums up Thorne,” Perrin sighed.

  “Good one!” Kiren pointed at him. “Hey, he’s funny! Who would’ve thought—” When he caught Shem’s glare, he cleared his throat and said, “We’ve been playing catch up ever since, trying to make the chaos work for us. Something we learned from you, Mr. Shin, during Moorland.”

  Perrin frowned. “Chaos?”

  “The explosions in Moorland, sir? No one anticipated that. But together we made the best of the chaos, taking out every last Guarder. Dormin alone flushed out about a dozen that were hiding further west and took care of,” he raised his eyebrows meaningfully, “most of them until we got him assistance. He may be even more fearsome than you, sir!”

  Perrin smiled wanly. “So Dormin’s in charge of all of this?”

  “Part of it,” Shem said. “We each had our responsibilities. Jothan’s was to get you out and escort you up here, Barb and Kiren’s was to deliver Jaytsy, and I was supposed to keep the soldiers out of the way. Come to think of it,” he scratched his head, “Dormin was the only one doing his original task—directing the ‘Guarders’.”

  Perrin chuckled. “Since I’m a man who frequently was the only one doing what he was supposed to—”

  He ignored Shem’s loud scoff.

  “??
?I look forward to chatting with Dormin about what should have happened last night.”

  “May have to wait,” Kiren said. “He hasn’t reported in yet, but he’s probably making a last sweep of the area. He’s very thorough.”

  “Cousin Dormin knows the forest better than anyone,” Asrar said.

  “Cousin Dormin?” Peto said, raising an eyebrow.

  “We share the same ancestor,” Asrar smiled. “The second King Querul. And besides, we are all family.”

  “About half of Salem has claimed Dormin as a cousin,” Jothan explained. “He never married or had children.”

  “How sad,” Jaytsy said.

  “No,” Jothan corrected her, “how deliberate. He was worried that if he had children, one of them might discover his ancestry and want to come to the world and become king. Dormin wanted to make sure the reign of kings died with him.”

  “I’ve heard him call himself the gatekeeper,” Barb said.

  “The gatekeeper between what his ancestors created, and the people who freed him from it. He rarely comes to Salem,” Asrar explained. “While he knows none of us hold him accountable for what his ancestors have done, still he feels a sense of guilt. Salem loves him—many of us have tried to give him our last names—but he’d rather stay in the forests to keep us secure.”

  “Now I really do want to talk with the man,” Perrin said. “He’s done more good than all of the kings put together.”

  Jothan nodded. “That’s what Rector Yung has told him, many times. When Dormin comes to Salem, he either stays with us or with Yung. I know they had plans for dinner tomorrow night.”

  “Uh,” Peto began hesitantly, “did Woodson get out all right?”

  Kiren beamed. “Yes, and quite unhappily too.”

  “Something go wrong?”

  “No,” Kiren chuckled. “That’s the problem. We didn’t need to use him. He ran around and got some soldiers to chase him, but we never needed him to play Peto Shin.”

  “Well, I’m glad he’s all right,” Peto said.

  “Kiren,” Perrin said, “you and the other Salemites have risked so much to get us out. If we were any other family—”

  “We’d still do it!” Kiren exclaimed. “That was the most exciting move we’ve ever had. We’ll be talking about it for years. And it’s great to finally meet you, sir!” He pumped Perrin’s hand again.

  “Well then,” Perrin said, smiling at the man’s infectious grin, “I’m glad we could provide you some entertainment.”

  Turning to Jothan, Kiren said, “I can finish taking the Shins up to Salem so you can stay here with your wife.”

  But Jothan shook his head. “You haven’t slept since yesterday, have you? I just had a good nap. I know you’re eager to spend some time with the former colonel, but falling asleep on the horse carrying his daughter won’t impress him much.”

  Kiren blushed and Shem laughed.

  Jothan put a large hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Remember, he’s coming to Salem to stay. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to overwhelm him with your questions.”

  “I’m intrigued to hear about your system,” Perrin assured Kiren. “I’ll have questions for you as well.”

  Kiren nodded eagerly. “Great! I hope by the time I get there everyone else hasn’t already talked your ear off.”

  Perrin squinted. “Everyone else?”

  Shem cleared his throat at Kiren. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting something to eat and then a nap?”

  “Of course, of course.” Kiren grabbed Perrin’s hand one more time. “Again, so great to meet you! All of you!”

  Barb came over and took her nephew by the arm.

  “Really, you’re going to love Salem!” Kiren called as his aunt dragged him away. He waved vigorously at the Shins and Briters, who couldn’t help but grin back at him.

  Asrar pushed him firmly onto a rock, set a plate of food on his lap, and Barb shoved a sandwich into his mouth.

  “You’ll have to forgive Kiren,” Shem said. “He gets a bit excited. That’s why he isn’t part of the scouting corps. His enthusiasm is perfect for dealing with the wounded or encouraging a mother, though.”

  Perrin folded his arms. “What was he talking about, ‘everyone else’ waiting to meet me?”

  Shem smiled easily. “Perrin, a few stories have gotten around. Remember, we’ve moved thousands people to Salem over the years. A few people knew of you and your father and grandfather. Now,” he said, eager to shift the topic, “we need to get you there!”

  Perrin looked dubiously at his wife. “A few people?”

  Mahrree patted his arm. “After the first days,” she whispered to him, “the excitement will wear off and I’m sure no one else will remember us. We’ll be able to live that quiet, anonymous life you’ve never experienced.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he grumbled back. “Shem and his stories,” he murmured as he went to retrieve Peto’s horse and Clark.

  Mahrree and Peto stared at the approaching animals, then exchanged miserable glances.

  “Mother, how far do you think it is to Salem?”

  “As far as my behind is concerned, it’s already too far.”

  Perrin returned and smirked. “It’s time, my darling wife. I am very sorry.” But the quiver around his lips suggested otherwise. “You could try side saddle for a while.”

  “Or she could use this,” said Barb, bringing her an overly thick sheepskin.

  “Bless you, Barb!” Mahrree cried.

  “Can I bless you, too?” Peto asked.

  “I suppose I can spare another for the future stud of Salem.”

  Deck secured Jaytsy in her sling between the pack horses, The Cat lounging around her belly, while Jothan and Barb checked all the connections.

  “So Shem,” Deck tried to say coolly, “just how far is it?”

  “I don’t think I should tell you yet,” Shem said, adjusting a stirrup on his horse. “It would spoil the surprise.”

  Mahrree glared at him from atop Clark, still uncomfortable even with her new padding.

  “Come on, Shem, you can tell us now,” Perrin said.

  Shem put on a thoughtful expression as he mounted his horse. “It’s not too far. How’s that?”

  “Not good enough,” Perrin growled.

  “It’ll have to be,” Shem said, and he nudged his mount out of the chamber. He led them through twisting rock passageways for several minutes until the tunnel emerged at the top of the wide boulder field. Between the boulder field and the slope of the mountain was a narrow channel, wide enough for a couple of horses to ride side by side. The height of the rock was just above the heads of the horses, allowing riders to see over the edge if they stood in the stirrups.

  They continued east until they reached a canyon which Mahrree never gave more than a passing thought. Shem paused at the mouth of it, turned around his horse, and gestured to the distance.

  “Your last clear view of Edge. No one can see us up here, even if the spyglass in the office is trained precisely. The angle of this channel between the rocks and mountain slope obscures the horses.”

  Jaytsy, lounging in the sling, shook her head. “It’s not home anymore, Shem.”

  Deck nodded.

  Peto looked toward the south. “Is that the fort at Mountseen?”

  “Good eyes, Peto,” Shem said. “After a storm blows through the views are quite clear. The smudge beyond that is Rivers. And when the angle of the sun is just right, you can see distant flashes of light. It’s sunlight bouncing off of a large bank of windows in Vines.”

  Perrin twisted in surprise. “Vines?!”

  “When the conditions are perfect,” Shem said, “you can just make out the tallest buildings in Idumea. Eighty miles really isn’t that far, Perrin. In the next few weeks you’ll realize just how short a distance it is.”

  Mahrree winced. A few weeks? She’d be part of the horse in a few weeks!

  “No one in the world understands how
small the world, as you called it, really is,” Shem told them.

  Perrin looked down at Edge, his eyes hopping from one tower to another. “No banners flying,” he murmured to Mahrree. “Edge looks quiet. They must have given up trying to find us.”

  From that distance it didn’t even look like Edge, but some sleepy little village they’d never met and didn’t care to know.

  “I’ve seen enough, Shem,” Mahrree said.

  She felt Perrin nod behind her.

  But seeing that Peto was still staring at the plain below him, Shem said, “Peto? Everything all right?”

  “Just strange to think that from here you can see Rivers. There’s the fort, to the side. And somewhere in there are soldiers and horses and even Colonel Karna.”

  Perrin sighed. “Brillen won’t know yet. About us, I mean. But he will soon.”

  “He will.” His son exhaled. “He’ll hear from others that . . .”

  “That we’re gone,” Perrin said dully. “I’m sorry, Brillen. And Gari and Graeson. It’ll come as a shock, but—”

  “But so would hearing that Genev is arresting you and trying you for sedition,” Shem reminded them. “Are we . . . are we good to go now?” He said that to Peto, who gave him a reluctant nod.

  Shem grinned. “Then let’s go exploring!” He nudged his horse to head into the mouth of the canyon which was narrower than Mahrree expected, barely wide enough for the rushing river on one side, and a narrow, faint trail on the other.

  “Here’s the Edge River,” Shem announced. “Ever wonder where it came from?”

  Perrin shrugged. “Not really, although I should have. I just never questioned it.”

  “Me neither,” Mahrree admitted. “Never occurred to me that it actually started somewhere.”

  “But the river comes out of the forest west of Edge, and we’re east,” Perrin pointed out.

  “That’s because the river,” Shem called loudly to be heard over the slopping of the water, “goes under the boulder field. Look downstream and you’ll see where it vanishes into a cavern. Our scientists speculate that the river probably pours into a underground lake—that’s a very large pond, by the way—below the boulders, then overflows to make the river again on the western side.”

  Mahrree didn’t know how to process any of that. “I never even considered . . . an underground lake?”

  “I didn’t understand all of that,” Perrin confessed in her ear. “Suddenly I feel very stupid, and just a few days ago I told you I knew everything.”

  The faint trail went up to the left, switching back and forth and climbing rapidly. Mahrree now understood why the horses needed time to rest, even more than their riders. As they rode up the mountainside at a surprisingly rapid rate, Mahrree took in the scenery. It was all that she had imagined—

  No, she never imagined this. Her mind was simply too . . . simple.

  So instead she decided that the world beyond Edge was everything that she had hoped—

  No, that wasn’t true either. How could she have hoped that trees—pines taller and straighter than anything in Idumea—grew all the way to meet the rocky cliffs at the top? What did they call the top of a mountain, anyway? And those trees, what were those, with white bark and twists and turns in the trunks? And there were grasses, thick and bright green, forcing their way through the melting snows. And jagged rocks, jutting out here and there, and the only way Mahrree could figure why they didn’t roll down the slope was because they were part of the mountain itself, some skeleton of rocks connected with extended fingers, then covered with dirt and growing things.

  “It feels like it’s alive!” she breathed.

  She didn’t know she said that so loudly until Shem, two horses ahead, turned in his saddle. He gave her a quizzical smile, and said, “The mountain? Oh, most definitely. Everything’s alive, Mahrree.”

  She didn’t know whether to be comforted by that or disturbed. But because there was a smile on her face, she chose the former.

  “It’s beautiful,” she decided as they came around a bend. “I’ve always thought so, down in Edge. But seeing the mountains at these angles it’s . . .” She didn’t have the words to describe the tightness of excitement in her chest that made her hands grip the saddle horn to keep them from shaking. She needed names and descriptions, but all she could come up with was the hopelessly vague, “Beautiful!”

  Some fanciful part of her hoped the mountain heard her, accepted the compliment, and allowed them to pass in peace. While beautiful, it was all a bit strange and threatening, especially when they had to duck under an overhanging rock.

  It didn’t help that Perrin reached up, snapped off a bit of the edge, and showed it to Mahrree as they passed underneath.

  “Could crumble away at any moment,” he whispered. “Or maybe not. What do I know? I’m still not entirely sure what a ‘lake’ is.”

  Mahrree examined the splinter of rock, worried that the mountain had felt her husband snap off one of its cuticles. “I don’t think you should do that. You might wake it up.”

  “I might what?”

  She chuckled at herself. “Never mind. Stop breaking the scenery. We’re new here.”

  “I always thought of the mountains as a hostile place,” Deck admitted behind them as he evaluated the emerging grasses. “Maybe because I could never figure out how you could plant potatoes up here. But you could let cattle wander and graze.”

  “That’s my husband—it’s beautiful as long as it is practical.” Jaytsy laughed.

  Peto spun around in his saddle, his eyes ready.

  “Peto, don’t say it,” Jaytsy warned.

  “I was just going to say that . . . it’s so wonderful that the two of you managed to get together. Now what was wrong with that?

  Shem laughed. “Very tactful, Peto. And Deck? At the end of Planting, we do bring up the cattle to graze here until Harvest.”

  “Amazing!” Deck said. “Oh, sorry. That’s Perrin’s word. How about, how practical!”

  The Shins chuckled, until a strange cry far above them caused Mahrree to look up into the clear sky.

  Behind her, Perrin’s head also snapped up. “I see it,” he breathed.

  “What is it?” Jaytsy asked, shielding her eyes to spot what had captured her parents’ attention.

  “Ah,” Jothan said, pointing nearly straight up for Jaytsy’s benefit. “It’s enjoying the thermals rising from the canyon. Many birds of prey will coast along in tight circles, riding the columns of warm air that rise as the canyon heats up. My father, a biologist who specializes in ornithology, speculates that they’re simply having fun.”

  Mahrree leaned to see Jothan behind her, who had become unexpectedly talkative. “Your father’s a what who specializes in what?”

  Barb chuckled. “A scientist, Mahrree. We’ll teach you all of our extra words when we get to Salem. There’s a book.”

  “Yes, sorry about that,” Jothan said, suddenly animated. “Forgot that you don’t know our terminology.”

  Before Mahrree could work out the meaning of that word, Jothan continued. “My father’s always been fascinated by birds and flight. He spent many Weeding Seasons in this canyon gauging temperatures and recording behavior. I helped carry his equipment when I was a boy, and became a bit of a birder myself.”

  “So what is it?” Jaytsy asked again, as she spotted the bird drifting higher without any effort except to tip its wings.

  It cried again, its long screech echoing in the canyon.

  No, cheered is more like it, Mahrree decided.

  Behind her, Perrin sighed happily. “It’s a falcon, Jayts. Soaring free and far away!” His voice grew gruff. “No barns in sight to keep him trapped.”

  Mahrree leaned back and rested her head against his chest. “Absolutely! That’s a falcon which is—”

  “Actually,” Jothan’s voice carried up to them, “that’s a larger bird, likely a hawk. It’s a common mistake,” he launched into a lecture worthy of
his father. “But you can tell by the wing span and the configuration of the tips. Falcons are smaller birds, although people tend to think otherwise, but the fact is—”

  “Hey, Jothan?” Shem interrupted him from the front of the line. He’d noticed that Perrin was still watching the whatever-bird with a combination of longing and joy. “For today, let’s just call it a falcon.”

  “Uh, all right. It’s a falcon,” Jothan said with much less zeal.

  But Perrin didn’t notice. He didn’t notice anything but the bird soaring higher, effortlessly, and cheering every once in a while for no particular reason except that it could.

  Chapter 9--“Amazing!”