The Forest at the Edge of the World (14 page)

“Speculation,” answered the second middle-aged man. “He’s been ordered there. He upset the High General and now Father’s banished him to the dreariest place in the world.”

The first man shook his white head. “No, it seems he actually requested that posting. Now why would he do that?”

The second man shrugged. “Not enough evidence to form a proper speculation. But this development makes him far more intr
iguing. There’s no obvious logic to it. Women in Edge wear far more clothing than they do in hot humid Waves,” he said with a sly smile. “Maybe he doesn’t know that.”

The first man chuckled. “He does. He’s one of the few that has been all over the world. But I agree with your analysis—we don’t have enough evidence.”

“There’s something more,” his partner said. “According to the last report, he may also be interested in a woman.”

“Oh, how lovely.” The first older man smirked. “This wouldn’t be the first time for him, you know.”

“She’s rather outspoken, too,” the middle-aged man warned. “The report was that she’s been quite vocal about the Administrators. Uh, in the
negative
.”

But the older man shrugged that off. “Women have never posed a real problem.”

“Tell that to the victims of Oren’s grandmother,” his companion reminded.

“She was an anomaly.”

“So might be this teacher in Edge.”

“No,” the older man said confidently, “the only entanglement I foresee is the one she’ll cause to Shin. She may make him softer than I was hoping, but that also may provide another level of observation. Will he behave more aggressively if he senses a threat to his latest interest?”

The second man pondered that. “But if he
secures
her as a mate, won’t his responses to a threat be more pronounced?”

“
Secures
?” his companion cringed. “Are you talking about marriage? Do you how old he is? I realize you know very little about him but trust me—he’s not the marrying kind. He’s the womanizing kind. Stories about him have been floating around for years. Maybe that’s why he went north—he upset too many women in his last posting in Vines and had to get away from them!”

The second man shrugged. “We have a similar situation deve
loping in Grasses. A lieutenant there has a young woman he’s been seeing for a few seasons. Here’s a suggestion: we first test him by utilizing her, then we can see what Shin may be up to. Perhaps we should send another to watch him more closely, stay on top of developments?”

The first nodded. “A few messages have been received about that captain at Grasses. Complaints from his parents, actually. A
dministrator of Loyalty has been disturbed. Not that it takes much to disturb Gadiman.” The older man sighed. “But some messages will be sent in response. Now as for Edge, they’ll be receiving soldiers soon, and he’ll be busy with getting them situated. We can focus on Grasses for now and check on Shin later when the fort is settled. Until then, we have enough eyes in the area. However, I see nothing wrong with sending that young woman a subtle warning.”

The second man nodded. “Whatever you decide—it’s your world.”

“Yes it is.”

-
--

The next day Captain Shin forced himself to stare into the forest to record every potential hazard. That’s what a disciplined soldier does—ignores all distractions and focuses only on the threat at hand. As he remembered that, he began to progress again along the borders of the trees. But he never saw another living creature, except for the ground that bubbled and groaned and occasionally rumbled underfoot. Land tremors were common here, he reminded himself as the ground shifted under his feet three times that afternoon. 

He had to find the Guarders—that was his purpose in life. Not
hing else.

Besides, she hated him now.

And why wouldn’t she? He was starting to hate himself for the way he was treating her.

Chapter 7 ~ “You’re just afraid of my blob and what it may represent.”

T
here seemed to be nothing else in Edge to talk about except the very public argument the night before. And Mahrree heard about it everywhere—in school, at the market, even from her mother who had attended. She had told Mahrree she’d been there to see if the captain had the same look in his eyes that her daughter had the night of the first debate. She was sure that he did, when his dark eyes weren’t shooting arrows at Mahrree, that is. Everyone had an opinion, and everyone was eager to share it.

Their debate two nights later could have been much more vol
atile, but Mahrree vowed that she would be the very model of poise and calm. She was sure to say nothing derogatory about the Administrators, which proved to be quite difficult, given the topic. She wondered if Rector Densal was
trying
to get her in trouble.

The topic was the mandates issued by Idumea over a year ago about herd and crop production. The administrators over agriculture and commerce sent out decrees detailing to each village what they were to produce and in what quantities. Many ranchers in Edge were upset that instead of raising cattle, they had to take on hogs and chickens as well. Some wheat farmers had to now plant more corn to feed those hogs, and some barley famers were forced to now grow wheat to compensate.

It was all confusing, pointless, and out of Mahrree’s realm of interest.

But she’d heard about the complaints in the market when the change occurred, and she spent
the past two days interviewing families to find how to debate it without inflaming her suspicions about the Administrators.

Each family was quickly loyal to point out that it was only the administrators over agriculture and commerce they were frustrated with, but it didn’t work. The more Mahrree realized how controlling the Administrators had become, the fewer ways she could find around it. The only option she had was to be excessively sweet and fully in control of her emotions—not exactly her strengths as of late.

“You see, Captain Shin,” Mahrree said politely during the debate, “the concern was that Edge’s ranchers and farmers lost their ability to choose what they should grow. They feel their experience has been—unintentionally, of course—ignored.”

Interestingly, Captain Shin was also reserved in his observ
ations, using such excessive diplomacy that he must have been borrowing some of the village’s supply.

“Understandable,” he said civilly, “and I’m sure they have a wealth of experience to share, which undoubtedly has made the ma
rkets here so thoroughly stocked, for which I commend Edge.”

“We thank you, sir,” she smiled kindly, “but we never had a problem with keeping the markets stocked. Perhaps other villages have struggled, and therefore welcomed the Administrators’
intrus—
suggested mandates
. But I’m afraid the question remains: why must Edge continue to conform when initially we were doing quite well?”

He nodded once. “Oh, I’m sure the Administrators haven’t meant to cause anyone in Edge to feel disrespect—”

“And I thank you for that assurance,” she nodded back.

“You’re welcome. You see, the Administrators have only the best interests—”

“Oh,
COME ON!
” interrupted a loud voice from the audience. “I’m actually sitting and LISTENING to this?! Thank you! You’re welcome! It’s more entertaining to treat my cows for teat infection!” And the young milkman began to act out the task with great exaggeration.

Yes, Mahrree thought as the audience howled with laughter, the captain had used up the village’s supply of tact.

Captain Shin’s ears turned red.

“Come ON, now!” the milkman called. “Less acting and MORE ACTION!”

The chant was immediately picked up by the rest of the audience. “Less ACTING! More ACTION!”

Mahrree guffawed at the rowdiness of the villagers. She glanced
over at the captain whose eyebrows were furrowed in surprise. Obviously Idumea had never dealt with heckling, but in Edge it was a proudly honed skill. And tonight, every last Edger was getting in some practice.

It was too much to continue the debate, and when Rector Densal held up his hands to call an end to the shouting, Mahrree was secre
tly relieved. The fake smile she kept on her face was causing her cheeks to cramp, and she didn’t know how much longer she could stand looking at the captain.  When she saw none of his ugliness, he was quite . . . tolerable.

By the time their fourth debate came around a few evenings la
ter, Mahrree was ready. Her success at the last outing gave her the confidence she needed to take on the captain. Plus, she would have fun defending her position, and she was going to turn the table on him.

She also considered that maybe she’d pushed him too far at the second debate. He was there to defend and represent the Administr
ators, and she accused them—and him, by association—as being as abhorrent as the kings. She could never get away with such naked incriminations in Idumea. It was only because the villagers knew her so well that the chief of enforcement hadn’t sent any of his men to arrest her for subversion, or sent a report to the Administrator of Loyalty.

At least, she assumed no reports had been sent, because no one in a red jacket had arrived in Edge.

She was just Mahrree Peto, spouting off yet again. Edge was used to her. Captain Shin, on the other hand, still had no idea who he was up against at the second debate, resulting in his violent outbursts. But his restrained demeanor at the third debate demonstrated that he was learning.

The setting sun on the evening of their fourth debate caused the sky to appear a pale green with bright yellow clouds near the hor
izon, and darker blue-gray clouds behind. But Mahrree’s focus allowed her to notice it only briefly when she strode to the amphitheater. She headed to the platform, first dropping off a large covered basket by Teeria and Sareen who flinched when they saw they would be guarding it. Hitty abandoned her friends and moved several rows back to sit with her parents.

Mahrree didn’t even realize that nearly two thousand people—nearly half of Edge—had come to watch the argument, because
nothing could ruffle her that night. Not the captain, nor even the fact that she would likely lose, unless the captain proved to be a complete idiot. And if he
did
prove to be such an idiot, well, that would just make the evening that much more enjoyable.

The argument was to be the origin of their people. Even though Mahrree had told Rector Densal she wanted to defend the version taught in The Writings, he thought her skills would be better used posing all the fantastical ideas instead. She had to agree—she loved those stories that stretched children’s imaginations by offering alte
rnatives to explaining the world.

After the usual introductions, Mahrree took to the platform and launched into every alternative she’d read about, beginning with the theory that their lives were shot into existence by an arrow sent from another plane of reality.

Then she related the idea that the world came from a fortunate accident that occurred through a random sequence of unrelated events.

She continued with the belief that everyone existed in some lonely woman’s head, and when she finally went to sleep they would all vanish.

She concluded with Terryp’s theory that the world just appeared one day, and it was dragged behind enormous animals such as elephants, bears, turtles, and squirrels—depending upon the season—in search of peace and tranquility. Or a large stash of nuts. For some reason all of the animals, it was believed, craved nuts.

A few times Mahrree was amazed at the rapt attention of the captivated audience. It was as if most Edgers had forgotten about the tales, and perhaps, she thought sadly, they had.

Captain Shin just observed her with patient amusement.

When she paused to catch her breath after fifteen minutes, he asked, “But Miss Peto, what proof do you have that any of these th
eories are possibly true? Why would there be a giant squirrel anyway?”

“Why can’t there be a giant version of something small? I see it in dogs all the time. Just because we can’t see the giant squirrel doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist beneath us,” she smiled mischievously. “But travel to the bottom of the world to prove to me there is no squirrel. Or anything else. Go.” She shooed him.

His studious expression didn’t change, even though the villagers snickered.

“Just because you and a few others imagine it doesn’t mean it exists, either. You’re suggesting you’ll believe whatever someone can imagine.”

“Only by taking our imaginations seriously, even for just a moment, can we expand our minds to bigger ideas,” she insisted. “I’ll attempt to believe whatever I can imagine, until I can dismiss the idea as false or illogical.”

“You simply can’t entertain
every
single imagined idea. That would be hundreds of thousands of ideas,” Captain Shin pointed out.

“That’s exactly what I try to do!” she declared.

To the amusement of the villagers, Teeria shouted, “She does—really!”

“She never quits. We wished she did!” Sareen added loudly.

The captain shook his head slowly in sympathy as the audience laughed.

Mahrree nodded appreciatively at her students. “We
must
be imaginative, Captain Shin! The Creator is the most inventive Being ever, and since He created us, He expects us to think as ingeniously. Wasn’t it you who said on our first debate that the Creator wants each of us to also become creators?”

Captain Shin glowered and nodded.

Mahrree beamed. “I believe the world holds all kinds of possibilities we’ve never expected. Ancient mysteries can be unraveled if we just take the time to ponder them. Our accomplishments in the upcoming years have to be
imagined now before we can make them happen later. The sky’s the limit. And the color of the sky right now, by the way,” she added impishly, “is a deep gray-blue darkening to
black
with white spotty stars and two larger spheres of the full moons.”

As the captain rolled his eyes, Mahrree continued enthusiast
ically. “But maybe not even the sky is the limit! Maybe someday we’ll even find a way to fly like the birds or even visit the Greater Moon. We just haven’t worked out those possibilities yet, but we could if we started imagining it.”

The entire audience burst out in dubious laughter, but Mahrree wasn’t bothered. She didn’t believe they would ever visit the Greater Moon either, or even the Smaller Sister, but she felt passionately about everything else she said.

And she thoroughly enjoyed the steady gaze of the captain as he tried to discern just how serious she was.

“In fact,” she continued, “over the past two weeks I’ve given a great deal of thought to your argument about progress, Captain Shin. You said you’d never met someone so opposed to progress, but you didn’t know me very well. I believe in a
great many possibilities
in our progression. Already in 319 years we’ve accomplished so much. Our ancestors couldn’t make melodies as intricate as we do now, or drawings or stories. I’ve even heard of people now carving objects out of rock.”

Several in the audience gasped. Supposedly Terryp the historian had seen carvings in the rocks of the distant western ruins 120 years ago. That was one of the things that seemed so unbelievable: how could anyone carve rock?

But Captain Shin nodded. “We call them sculptors. There are a few in Idumea, and have been for quite some time. You can see their work on the Administrative Headquarters. Even one of Terryp’s associates began experimenting with carving large stone and was fantastically successful.”

The rare few in the audience who had actually travelled the di
stant eighty miles to Idumea murmured in agreement.

Mahrree smiled. “Thank you for making my point for me, Ca
ptain Shin. Until Terryp brought back those accounts no one here considered cutting stone. But now we have those who chisel stone for house foundations, and even sculptors in Idumea. Too often we make an assumption about an idea without contemplating if that assumption is correct. Cloth out of cotton plants? That seemed ridiculous generations ago. Now cotton is on everyone’s body in the hot Weeding Season.”

“Miss Peto,” the captain interrupted, “as fascinating as the hi
story of cotton may be to you,” he said in a bored voice, “you’ve gotten off topic. You’re supposed to be making a case for where we came from.”

Mahrree rubbed her hands together. “Oh, but I am, Captain! I’m first establishing that we shouldn’t be quick to judge something. I
believe we addressed this issue during our first debate?” She tapped her lips with her finger.

Captain Shin turned a slight shade of pink and gestured for her to go on.

She was having far too much fun. “My point is, perhaps our lives came from a possibility we haven’t even yet imagined. The world surprises us each year with new creatures and plants we never knew existed, so who knows what else there may be?” She beckoned to her students sitting near the front row.