The Falcon in the Barn (Book 4 Forest at the Edge series) (99 page)

And they obviously knew
nothing
about
him.

Mahrree was wondering how to feel about him
when she heard the woman speaking again.

“
My husband doesn’t know
everything,” she said worriedly. “He doesn’t know where Shem’s been
the past three weeks.”

The man shrugged. “But he’s back, I’m sure of
it.”

“
He is,” Perrin said,
sounding surprised to be volunteering that information. He stood up
next to the large man.

Perrin could
probably
take him,
Mahrree decided. Perrin was likely evaluating that scenario too.
Maybe if he surprised him. And the man was wounded. And
blindfolded. And tied to a large rock.

“
Look,” Perrin said, “you
tell me I can trust you, but I have no reason to. Until I speak to
Shem, I’m going to find it very difficult to trust
anyone
.
Especially
Shem. But I can read his eyes. I think,” he added
quietly.

The man put a sympathetic hand on Perrin’s
shoulder. “I wished we had that kind of time. But Mr. Shin, we
don’t. Your family is in danger, right now. We need to get you out
and to safety.”

“
Out? Where?” Mahrree
asked.

“
We’ll take you to Salem.
Tomorrow night.”

Mahrree was glad she was sitting down because
her ability to hold herself up was gone.

Perrin was already shaking his head.
“Tomorrow?! No! Absolutely not. I told your wife I would
consider
this. We need time to think, to weigh the
decision—”

Now the man was shaking his head. “You have
no time for—”

“
How do you know?!” Perrin
bellowed. “What do you know?”

The man smiled patiently. “You’re a man of
faith, I know you are. And as a man of faith you know there are
times you must trust in what you are told, and believe that the
verification will come later. I can’t tell you how we know. To be
honest, I don’t know myself why you need to leave so quickly. But
it has been made very clear to our leaders in Salem that you
must
leave tomorrow night. All of you.”

“
That’s just not possible!”
Mahrree exclaimed. “I mean, we do have enough silver and
gold—”

“
You won’t need any of
that,” the man told them. “We have no use for it in
Salem.”

Perrin scowled. “How can that be?”

“
It can ‘be’ quite well,”
the woman assured them. “Oh, how I wished we had more time to
explain things to you, but we simply don’t. We realize that we’re
asking you to put a great deal of faith in us, but I promise—you’ll
be glad you did.”

Mahrree sighed. “But right now we can’t go on
a journey to . . . exactly where is Salem?”

The man’s smile turned apologetic. “I’m
afraid I can’t tell you that either.”

Perrin exhaled in aggravation.

“
No matter how far it is,”
Mahrree insisted, “Jaytsy can’t make the journey. She’s expecting,
and soon!”

“
Mrs. Shin,” the woman said
kindly, “moving expecting women is what we do best.”

“
What do you mean?” Perrin
asked sharply.

The woman remained calm despite the glare
aimed at her. “Mr. Shin, how many people go missing each year? We
know you were trying to figure that out two years ago, before
Moorland.”

Perrin took a surprised step backward. “We
never got definitive numbers. The villages don’t like to record
those kinds of failures, but at most, maybe one hundred a
year.”

The man shook his head. “It’s closer to three
hundred each year, according to Shem’s records. Usually more. There
are
some who are lost to accidents, but far more are lost to
Salem.”

“
Why?” Mahrree asked, but
she already had a feeling she knew.

“
Many reasons,” the man
told her. “Some are fleeing from some kind of oppression.” He
nodded to his wife. “Tell them. I think it’ll help.”

The woman nodded back. “Mrs. Shin, Mr.
Shin—I’m sure you know, because Mrs. Shin mentioned them on the
platform to Mr. Kori. Mrs. Braxhicks was there and heard,” she
added in explanation. “King Querul the First had servants,
right?”

Perrin slowly sat down. “How do you know
about—”

“
Those servants were held
in the compound of his mansion during the Great War,” the woman
said, “and after the war they were told that the world outside was
a dangerous, lawless place.”

Mahrree stared at the woman, fascinated.

“
For three generations the
Queruls held those servants, trapped as slaves,” her voice grew
husky, and she cleared her throat. “Until one day a general named
Pere Shin decided to undo that terrible wrong. High General Shin
freed those thirty-three servants, sent them to Winds, and made
sure they had a new life of freedom.”

“
Yes he did,” Perrin
whispered.

The woman smiled as a tear trickled down her
face. “I am one of their great-granddaughters.”

Perrin covered his mouth with his hand. “I
tried looking once for your ancestors . . .” his muffled voice
trailed off.

Mahrree felt a tear slide down her face,
too.

“
Thank you!” the woman
beamed. “But my ancestors left only two years after they settled in
Winds. Salemites came for them and took them away for a
real
life of freedom. But they never forgot the man who freed them. As
they had children they told them the story, and each one of us, as
we grew old enough, vowed we would do what we could to finally free
Pere Shin’s descendants. Perrin Shin, I’ve been waiting many years
to fulfill my family’s vow to
free you
.”

He was speechless.

So was Mahrree.

The woman looked at her husband and smiled.
“Fortunately, I don’t look anything like my great-great-great
grandfather Querul the Second. At least, according to a couple of
people who knew.”

It took another minute for Perrin to finally
stammer out, “My grandfather . . . my grandfather thought the
Queruls fathered some of their servants . . .”

The dark woman shrugged but smiled.

“
It’s true, isn’t it?”
Perrin whispered. “Everything. How could you know unless you
learned it from those who . . . who . . .”

The woman’s husband put a comforting hand
back on his shoulder. “We don’t make it a habit to drop so much
information at once. We usually teach you over several weeks. I’m
sorry for the onslaught, but as I said before, time is of the
essence. We move people all the time. Some have been oppressed,
like my wife’s ancestors. Others are being threatened by the
Administrators, but many others are just looking for a better life,
or are in danger of being sent to Idumea.”

“
Sent to Idumea?” Mahrree
wondered. Then she remembered what the woman said about moving
expecting women. “Because they’re expecting a third
baby?”

Perrin’s gaze shifted to the floor and his
fingers pinched the bridge of his nose. That was a new movement for
him, and Mahrree didn’t know what to make of it.

“
Yes,” the woman said.
“Mrs. Shin, it’s not by accident that many of the midwives in the
world are now from Salem. When a woman confides to her midwife that
she desires more children, they’re supposed to convince the woman
to take The Drink.
Unless,
” she said with a sly smile, “that
midwife is from Salem. Then we present them with another
solution.”

“
We’ve been doing it for
decades,” her husband told them. “Shortly after a woman delivers
her second child, but before she’s to take The Drink, the family is
moved to another village, with our assistance. Sometimes the
grandparents move with them. No one in the new village knows them,
or knows if the wife took The Drink. They live there for a season,
keeping to themselves and not meeting anyone. Neighbors don’t take
an interest in each other here, so it’s not a problem. Then we take
the family to Salem. Since no one knew them, no one’s too alarmed
at their disappearance, and they’re soon forgotten. One of the main
routes to Salem is controlled by Shem. He’s made our job much
easier over the years.”

Perrin shook his head, still focused on the
floor.

Mahrree cringed. She could only imagine what
he was thinking. Just yesterday he told her he knew everything.

“
Quite often the mother is
already expecting,” the woman added. “We’ve had several close to
birthing, having been kept hidden by their husbands until they
finally confide in a Salemite midwife about their disloyalty to the
Administrators. Then we have to work very quickly. There have even
been a few babies born along the way! We have a lot of movement to
Salem once the weather warms. That’s when the mothers can no longer
hide their bellies in Snowing Season clothing. I’m sorry, I
forgot—you call it the Raining Season.”

“
That’s marvelous!” Mahrree
sighed. “So many women have more than two children!” She beamed at
her husband and her smile faded.

His head was still down, his fingers rubbing
his forehead.

“
Perrin?” she asked
gently.

She could barely hear his response. “That’s
what he was trying to tell me. After Peto was born. About The
Drink, and Guarder women. That’s what Shem—” He slumped in the
chair, still not looking up. “I didn’t . . . I didn’t know . . . I
couldn’t
imagine.
How could I have
possibly
thought
that
we
. . .” He cleared his throat to reduce the emotion
in it.

Mahrree’s heart ached for him. He must have
been reliving their conversation on their second wedding
anniversary, too. The night he told her adamantly there was no
possible way they could have four, or even three, children.

Duty to the Administrators. Way it must
be.

Mahrree had been bitterly disappointed, but
had gotten over it years ago, grateful for the two children they
did have. The news that many in the world defied the Administrators
by not taking The Drink had filled Mahrree with immense hope.

But the news had the opposite effect on
Perrin.

There was no way they could have done it back
then, Mahrree realized. Just vanish from the world? High General
Relf Shin would never have rested until he found them. Everything
happened as it should, she was sure of it.

But Perrin’s posture suggested a man
devastated by regret.

“
Your daughter can have a
different future, Mr. Shin,” the woman said kindly.

The man patted Perrin’s shoulder.

Perrin’s head slowly came up and he looked at
Mahrree with bloodshot eyes. “Both of our children could have a
different future,” he whispered.

Mahrree nodded at him.

Perrin cleared his throat gruffly and wiped
his wet face. “Uh, perhaps you may know. About two years ago, as we
were planning the offensive, the commander from Quake mentioned a
family with two little boys—”

“
Yes,” the man said. “Shem
told me about them. Fadh’s neighbors. They came to Salem, and four
moons later they were joined by a sister. The family is expecting
their fourth child now.”

Perrin’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Another
couple, much earlier. Last name of Yordin?”

The man smiled. “Shem mentioned them, too. I
had a feeling you’d be asking, so I looked them up in our records.
Mr. Yordin was under pressure of King Querul the Fourth.”

“
To make swords?” Perrin
asked. “He was experimenting with metals.”

“
No, to make something
else. Querul the Fourth wasn’t the brightest man. He was sure that
the correct mixture of metals could create gold. Mr. Yordin had no
success in convincing him gold wasn’t an alloy. The king became
desperate and, influenced by his very controlling mother,
threatened to take Mr. Yordin’s grandson as hostage until the
grandfather found a way to create gold. Mr. Yordin confided in his
rector, asking for ideas. The rector happened to be from Salem, one
of the first we sent. The Yordins came to Salem to save their
grandson’s life. With them gone, there was no more threat to Gari.
They lived in Salem for twenty-four years. Died just a few years
ago.”

Perrin pinched his nose again. “Gari Roarin’
Yordin—they left for
you
. How ironic. King Oren was still in
power when Yordin started Command School. The very government that
forced his grandparents to leave was the one he pledged to serve.
All to avenge his grandparents. They were alive most of that time.”
He put his head in his hands. “Is there any way I can tell Gari?
Let him know they were all right?”

“
I’m sorry, no,” the man
said quietly. “We have to maintain complete silence about
disappearances. As much as we want people to know where we are, we
can’t risk Idumea finding out about Salem. The world would never
let us live in peace. Once you leave the world, that’s it. There
can be no contact and no returning. You have to give up all that
you know, but I promise you’ll wish you could have done it sooner.
The elder Yordins missed their family, but they had a full and rich
life, and knew that their grandson was safe. But you won’t have to
abandon your family. We want to bring all of you.”

The four of them sat in silence, the visitors
in dark mottled clothing letting Mahrree and Perrin mull over all
they’d been told.

For the second time in less than a moon, all
that Mahrree
knew
she knew was abruptly overturned. While
the news three weeks ago was too infuriating to believe, the ideas
of tonight were to fantastic to embrace. In her mind was a flood of
information which she tried to contain with a washcloth.