The Falcon in the Barn (Book 4 Forest at the Edge series) (55 page)

“
Please tell me we were
never that awkward,” he murmured.

“
They’re not awkward. And
we were far worse. Don’t you remember, Mr.
Icouldloveawomanlikeyou?”

His shoulders shook in a silent laugh as he
remembered his first profession of love for her. “But I’ve never
kissed a man before!” he whispered, mimicking her panic when he
first tried to kiss her.

She clutched his arm and stifled a snort in
his shirt sleeve.

“
How often would you need
me to come by?” they heard Jaytsy ask Deckett.

“
Oh, every day after
school. Take Holy Day off. We could have your brother come, too.
He’s really funny.”

Jaytsy must have been rolling her eyes.

“
He could record the
results,” Deckett added.

Jaytsy sighed.

“
Oh, I
like
this
boy!” Perrin whispered to his wife. “Good young man, building in a
chaperone.”

“
What will we do when the
experiments are done?” Jaytsy asked.

“
There are always more,”
Deckett assured her. “We could try to test why cattle run from your
father.”

Jaytsy laughed. “I think it’s because his
favorite food is steak. They must see it in his eyes or
something.”

“
See? We could keep busy
until Planting Season comes again next year.”

“
So you
are
staying?”

“
Where else would I
go?”

“
Last week you mentioned
going back to the university.”

“
Oh. Yes. Actually, I seem
to have forgotten about that. I could always go the next year I
suppose . . .”

“
Or you could always just
stay here.” Jaytsy leaned further out of the open door.

Deckett took a hesitant step closer. “I
could.”

“
Because Deck, I don’t know
what I’d do if you left,” she whispered, and several paces behind
her parents leaned ludicrously to eavesdrop.

“
Well Jayts, I don’t know
where I’d rather be.”

Mahrree realized she was holding her breath
with anticipation for what might come next.

Until she was overwhelmed with guilt.

She stepped back quickly and pulled her
husband along.

“
Hey!” he snarled in a
whisper as she dragged him into the eating room. “What are you
doing? I think he was just about to ki—”

“
We shouldn’t be
spying.”

“
I’m her father, I’m
supposed
to be! And it’s not spying!”

Mahrree gave him a stinging look.

Perrin gave it back.

“
Think back,” she told him.
“Remember how everyone watched us? Remember that last debate?
Someone said they’d never had so much fun watching a
courtship?”

Perrin’s eyes began to soften, reluctantly.
“Yes,” he finally sighed. “But Jaytsy and Deckett didn’t know we
were there.”

She squeezed his arm. “I really like him,
Perrin. He’s so good for her—I feel it. Jaytsy’s been so happy
these past weeks, and she glows when she talks about him. There’s
definitely affection between them.”

“
But is the affection born
out of the shared grief of missing the Briters?” Perrin said. “So
when the grief subsides, so does the attachment?”

“
I’ve wondered that
myself,” Mahrree admitted. “But I don’t think so. They work side by
side every day. They’re now managing the entire farm and dairy all
by themselves. Obviously they work very well together, which
suggests to me an even better chance of them
staying
together.” Something inside of Mahrree grew hot and anxious
realizing that maybe—just maybe—this was
it
.

“
So he’s grown fond of her
because of the way she picks peas.” Perrin raised one eyebrow
dubiously.

“
Better than the reason for
which I grew fond of you—arguing with me.”

He bobbed his head. “But she’s still so
young, Mahrree.”

“
I know, but only in body,”
she assured him. “In mind she’s matured at least a decade since the
land tremor.”

“
True,” he
murmured.

“
Perrin, I didn’t think
something like would happen for another few years yet, but he’s
such a good man. And I don’t want us, or anyone, to mess anything
up for them. Even if it means that you back off a bit.”

He nodded grudgingly. “I will . . . stop
spying. As much.”

When they heard Jaytsy come through the
kitchen to the gathering room, they turned expectantly to her.

“
What?” she asked, her eyes
darting between the two of them as if worried they may have
witnessed something that she didn’t want them to see. There was a
slight blush to her cheeks that Mahrree was sure was also on her
face after Captain Perrin Shin smashed that first clumsy kiss on
her mouth.

“
Nothing! Nothing,” Mahrree
assured her, unable to keep the corners of her mouth from lifting
into a smirk. “So he’s headed home, then?” Her voice was
unnaturally high.

Jaytsy smiled back and blushed deeper.

Yep
, Mahrree thought. First kiss. She
glanced at Perrin who, judging by the slight furrowing of his
eyebrows, was looking for evidence of one as well, but wasn’t
seeing it yet. Mahrree would fill him in later. Maybe.

“
Yes, he’s on his way
home,” Jaytsy said, admirably in control of her voice, but not her
flushed cheeks. “Thank you for letting him come over. He gets
lonely there.”

“
He’s welcome here any
time, Jayts,” Perrin said. “I like him.”

Whatever resolve Jaytsy had acquired before
she faced her parents dissolved at her father’s words. She broke
out into a huge grin, glanced at her mother with a look of
something like triumph, and rushed to her father and kissed him on
the cheek. “Thank you!”

When she ran to her bedroom, Perrin turned to
Mahrree. “What was
that
all about?”

Mahrree eyes were wet. She knew exactly what
Jaytsy was thinking: whomever her father liked, she was free to
love.

“
When this is all over,
I’ll tell you, Perrin. I don’t want you to mess anything
up.”

---

“
So, I was wondering,
sirrr,” Radan said to Thorne, “do you think your mother might
mention me to your father or grandfather?”

They were walking across the compound before
midday meal when Radan blurted the question that made Thorne
scowl.

“
Because I did do quite a
bit for her while she was here. Took her to the market many times,
walked her past the Shins’ home—she didn’t believe me that they
lived in something so dumpy—and acted as her personal servant for
two weeks. Perhaps she may remember me fondly to the
generals?”

Thorne sneered. “Why in the world would they
care?”

“
Because sirrr, you’ve said
I should make my name known to those who have influence. There’s no
family with more influence than the Cushes and Thornes. Not even
the Shins, now. I was . . . I was trying to follow your advice,
sirrr,” he finished pathetically.

Thorne sniggered to himself that Radan wasn’t
clever enough to not tell the officers he was trying to manipulate
what he was doing. That’s when he spied her, walking briskly to the
command tower with a pair of boots in her hand. The colonel must
have been planning another race and forgot his running boots at
home.

He cleared his throat loudly, and Jaytsy Shin
stumbled in her gait. She glanced at Lemuel who tipped his cap
roguishly to her. She briefly nodded back, never acknowledging
Radan, and broke into a jog to the open doors of the command
tower.

Thorne chuckled.

“
Sirrr,” Radan cleared his
throat, “I don’t know why bother. She’s clearly not interested. You
could have anyone else.”

“
Of course I could,” Thorne
said. “But obviously you don’t get it: she’s
his
daughter,
Radan.”

“
But she doesn’t really
seem your type—”

“
All girls are the same
‘type.’ She’ll come around soon enough and be mine by . . . The
Dinner, next year.”

“
Really,” Radan said,
sounding unconvinced. “So why her?”

“
There’s no other girl with
her bloodlines. Imagine: the Shin line mixed with the Thorne and
Cush lines? Our son will be the greatest general the world ever
saw, under my tutelage.”

“
So . . .” Radan said
hesitantly, “it’s only her
blood
you want. Her ability to
give you a boy.”

“
What else is there to want
in a girl?”

“
I’ve often wondered that
myself,” Radan murmured.

“
What was that?”

“
Nothing, sirrr. Nothing.”
But Radan wore an enigmatic smile.

Thorne shrugged at it. “She’ll present me
with the most remarkable son,” he said confidently. “Maybe even
two. Could always use a spare.”

---

“
Oh, no you don’t!” Perrin
shouted, trying to catch his breath. For once, Jon Offra was
faster.

The lieutenant didn’t expel any unnecessary
energy as he raced past the fort, but he couldn’t suppress his
grin. He’d finally understood what the colonel had been trying to
teach him about lengthening his stride and matching his breathing
to his pace. While he was only three paces ahead of his commander,
it felt like miles.

“
You can’t keep it up,
Jon!” Shin panted, seemingly right behind his ear.

That sent a chill down the lieutenant’s back,
but the good kind that kicked up one’s speed that extra notch.

Four paces ahead. Now five. They sprinted
past the barns and beyond the fort, out toward the canals in the
east. The race would be decided by whomever leaped across the canal
first, stopping before they hit the slope down to the thick marshes
that extended for miles to the sea.

Neither man noticed the audience of several
dozen soldiers at the fort, shouting encouragement and cheering to
see the thin lieutenant, who’d bulked up over the past season,
finally outpacing their commander. The men flew by so quickly no
sounds reached them.

Captain Thorne’s glare didn’t reach them
either. His shoulders tensed, his eye twitched, and he folded his
arms in defiance as he watched the race that occurred several times
a week now.

But neither of the men, with sweat streaming
down their faces, thought for one moment about Captain Thorne. All
they saw was the blur in the distance that would soon be the canal.
Clearing it accurately would be even more important right now since
it was full and running swift.

Offra saw the distant goal and felt his chest
swell with pride. Then his chest began to tighten, as if ready to
split his flesh. The colonel was right; he couldn’t keep up the
pace. Every muscle suddenly protested his speed—

The colonel’s panting was right next to him.
Not bothering to waste any energy gloating, Shin raced alongside,
his eyes focused solely on the end in front of them.

Offra flagged, a cramp developing, and he
fell back—

“
Oh, no you don’t!” the
colonel shouted for the second time. “Stay with me, Jon! Look
beyond the goal. Run to the marshes. Stay with me, son!”

Offra didn’t expect his eyes to fill suddenly
with salty water. He thought maybe it was sweat dripping into his
eyes, but a stinging around his tear ducts told him otherwise.

The colonel had called him “son.”

No one had ever called him “son.” Not even
his father before he died when Jon was twelve.

“
Stay with me!” the colonel
gasped, somehow finding the strength to turn his gait into a sprint
for the last one hundred paces.

Jon wasn’t about to let him finish the race
alone. Ignoring the pain and cramps, he pushed until he found
himself matching the colonel’s pace.

“
Yes!” he gasped in
surprised joy.

It didn’t last.

“
Noooo!” Both men cried as
they reached the edge of the canal—

It took the officers about fifteen seconds to
realize that they were flailing chest deep in cold water.

“
Did it suddenly get
wider?” Shin gasped, wiping his face and grabbing an exposed root
along the bank side to keep upright in the current. “I’m sure it
got wider!”

Offra shook his head and shivered. When he
looked downstream for a way to climb out, he groaned. “There, sir.
That’s
where we usually jump the canal! The narrower
section.”

To his surprise, the colonel laughed. “It is!
How’d we miss it?”

Offra dared to smile back. “I guess I was so
focused on beating you, I just . . .” he shrugged.

“
So which of us
won?”

Offra shrugged again.

“
Judging by the splash—” An
unexpected voice carried over to them, belonging to Sergeant Major
Zenos who was accompanied by ten new recruits all on horseback, and
all of them sniggering.

“—
I would say it was a fair
tie. So, am I to expect swimming on the next Strongest Soldier
Race?” He was uncoiling a length of rope from his saddle, readying
to toss it to the two wet officers.

Colonel Shin glared good-naturedly as he
caught the rope and automatically handed it over to Offra. “Just
get us out, Zenos!”

---

Ten minutes later the two drenched men,
grinning sheepishly, slogged back into the compound of the fort to
a variety of stares and snickers from soldiers trying not to show
disrespect.