Soldier at the Door (54 page)

Perrin’s mouth dropped open, shocked at the sudden insubord
ination, but he immediately closed it.

Because the game was on.

“Thirty-one years old is hardly a grandpy,
boy
.”

Zenos glared at him. “We’ll see,” he said briskly. “You’re birthday is in five days and I’ve been invited over for cake. You’ll be thirty-two, and that’s
old.
”

He was already improving at stifling his snort.

Chapter 18 ~ “All that cheering wasn’t just for you, Corporal!”

F
orty minutes later two soldiers stood ready, watching out large windows in the forward office of the tower.

But they didn’t stand still.

They bounced and nudged and jostled each other as they surveyed the skyline in the south and west. Their eyes darted from one new tower to another, anticipating the first signals. Captain Karna waited in the compound below them, with Neeks and Gizzada on either side him. The three had faced their horses towards the main gates to follow the racers once they left.

Lieutenant Walickiah, in charge of ensuring a fair start and monitoring the banner changes, shook his head as he evaluated the situation before him. Shin
was
unpredictable, and now the relationship Walickiah saw between the major and the corporal explained a great deal as to why the Quiet Man hadn’t been talking. Walickiah had yet to get him alone, and now he suspected why: either they were losing him to the major, or he was even more duplicitous than even Walickiah. And that was saying something.

The major and the corporal had already shed their caps, jackets, and weapons, and left them sloppily on the large desk behind them. The race was no longer a test of the new system, nor to see how quickly a soldier in full uniform could respond.

It was personal.

Besides, the major had reasoned out loud a few minutes ago, it would be easier for the soldiers in the stations to see them coming in their white undershirts. And Zenos could take his off to signal his surrender when he was ready to quit.

That’s when the poking started.

Walickiah
had
been standing between Shin and Zenos to make sure it was a fair start—Karna’s orders. But when the major made that comment about the corporal surrendering, Zenos leaned behind the lieutenant and poked the major hard in the ribs while muttering something that sounded like “grandpy”.

Walickiah had frozen in shock. Even out of uniform, one does not
poke
one’s commanding officer. He didn’t know where that was written, but he was sure it had to be somewhere. There was no other option but to cancel the race and throw the corporal into confinement. What else could an officer do?

Apparently poke back, for starters.

Maybe if Walickiah hadn’t been so startled he would have reacted more quickly.

Shin squinted severely at his corporal and lunged to poke Zenos, who was bouncing erratically. The major missed and Walickiah caught the furious finger in his ribs instead. Shin tried to utter an apology as Zenos snorted a laugh, and Walickiah was starting to say, “Oh, not a problem, sir,” when he took another jab, this time from Zenos.

Survival instinct finally kicked in as Walickiah raised his hands and moved to the back of the office to watch from a safe distance.

Now the two grown men were punching each other’s shoulders like thirteen-year-olds, still trying to keep their eyes on the village towers.

Walickiah almost considered the situation amusing, if it weren’t so immature. The men acted more as brothers than as a commander and a mere enlisted man.

As he observed the major and his baby tender start slapping each other as they tried to cover the other man’s eyes, he had to agree—this was a most interesting assignment. Very little of what
really
was going on in the fort was known beyond Edge.

Yet he’d never heard of another fort where morale was so high. Every soldier was eagerly awaiting the race, stationed throughout Edge. Several unofficial bets had been placed as to the outcome, and there was even a rumor that cake would be served afterwards.

A flash of orange cloth unfurling in the distance caught Walickiah’s eye, followed immediately by a flash of blue just beyond it.

The two men scrambled over each other to be the first down the stairs. The Unk was first and leaped down the last six steps. He stumbled as he landed awkwardly, and the major rushed past him.

“Hey, no pushing,
sir!
” Zenos yelled.

Shin laughed. “You’re just clumsy,
boy!
” His voice faded away as he ran out to the compound.

Walickiah quickly stepped over to the window. By the time the men reached the gates they were running shoulder to shoulder.

Karna looked up to wave at Walickiah, and then he, Neeks, and Gizzada kicked their horses to follow the runners.

All alone Walickiah finally allowed himself to smile. This was a most unusual fort, and it certainly wasn’t going to be a boring a
ssignment. In many ways, Major Shin almost seemed like a man worth getting to know. 

It was almost too bad Walickiah was there to destroy him.

-
--

Perrin cut across a road littered with crunching red and yellow leaves on his sprint towards the orange banner. Shem had parted ways with him as they entered Edge, and he now raced towards the blue banner. They each knew the pattern of the colors they were to watch for. Which tower would hoist the next color—that was for them to discover.

Perrin saw the soldier standing at the base of the tower, the one closest to his home. He was smiling as he held out the small piece of paper.

“Major Shin,” the soldier yelled as Perrin approached. “Chief of enforcement needs help finding a
lost child
in the neighborhood. You need to go to this location for your next note!”

Perrin slowed to grab the note and jogged as he read the loc
ation. He groaned, shoved the paper in his front pocket, leaped over a low fence and sprinted through two gardens, to the cheers of his neighbors. Then he ran up the road to a house he knew all too well.

Mahrree stood on the front porch waving a piece of paper, Peto in her arms, and Jaytsy jumping up and down and clapping. As Pe
rrin bounded up the stairs to snatch the note, she held it back.

“I understand there’s a story behind this ‘lost child’? Promise to tell me?”

“I will! Now hand it over!”

She grinned and gave it to him. “Go, Perrin!” she called as he ran out of their yard towards the next tower in the northeast section of Edge, which now showed a red banner.

Karna, don’t get too comfortable in that new captain’s jacket of yours
, Perrin thought as he slowed his gait slightly to pace himself over the next several roads. True, he’d told
only Shem
not to mention anything about Peto’s wandering off, but . . . well, Brillen was shaping up to be a clever officer.

No wonder he’d sent Gizzada to follow him instead of acco
mpanying the major himself. Initially, Perrin had thought it an intentional insult when realize his accompaniment would be hefty Gizzada, mounted on a massive plow horse with astonishing stamina. It wasn’t the swiftest animal, but it could certainly handle ten miles at a steady trot.

But now Perrin realized Brillen was likely trying to preserve his career. After that first stop, Perrin would have demoted him to lie
utenant, right on the spot.

By the end of the race, if this first stop was any indication, Brillen would have found himself reduced to Private Karna.

-
--

Shem ran easily towards the middle of the Edge, a route he knew well. He was to report to the village green tower he and Perrin had just left, now flying a blue banner. Several hundred people still stood around and a loud cheer arose as he approached. At the base of the tower stood one of the soldiers assigned to it.

“General’s arrived, Zenos! You’re to greet him and retrieve your next note.” The soldier grinned and pointed as Zenos looked in vain for the paper that was to be in the sergeant’s hands. Shem spun quickly to see where it was, and he tried not to whimper.

The Zenos banner girls beamed at him.

Sareen was wearing a borrowed soldier’s cap and waved a small piece of paper, her shoulders and areas below still exposed to the cool air. Shem rushed over to Sareen, but she thrust the note behind her. She grabbed Shem’s undershirt with her free hand, pulled him close, and planted a big, wet kiss on his mouth.

Probably something she learned from Barker
, was the only thing Shem could clearly think at that moment.

But he’d also learned a few things—unofficially—about being a soldier in the past year and a season. The first was not to be surprised by anything. Even if you
are
surprised, do your best to pretend you’re not. The second was to never forget your main objective. The third was to never close your eyes, if you can help it, no matter what’s thrown at you.

Corporal Zenos remembered it all.

His reach was longer than Sareen’s, and faster than she could finish her kiss he snatched the note out of her hand, pulled out of her grip, and took off towards a yellow banner he saw at a distant tower. He ignored the other girls’ cries of, “Not fair!” and “I didn’t get a turn!” as he ran west.

Grandpy Neeks, following him on horseback, laughed.

“Great race, eh Corporal?” he called. “I think the captain’s trying to throw the race for the major. At least you’ll have had a good time losing.”

Shem didn’t respond, but began to plan revenge on Karna. No wonder he chose not to follow him.

-
--

When Perrin eventually reached the tower station south of the village, he wondered again why he’d thought the distance of a quarter of a mile past Edge seemed like a good idea. He had now run the full length of Edge, from the north to the south, with zig-zagging stops in between. But that last quarter mile was the worst. He was panting harder than he anticipated and gratefully took the jug of water offered to him by one of his dozen soldiers. Another handed him the note which he shoved into his pocket with the others.

“Private, where’s the next banner?” he asked as he bent over, breathing heavily.

“Um, sir, it’s um, well—”

“Well
what
?”

“There are
three,
sir. All yellow.”

Major Shin shook his head. “
Three?
He’s out to kill me, isn’t he? Karna’s planning a takeover, I know it. He’s waiting for me to drop.” He took another quick drink of water then poured some of it over his head.

“Well, sir, fires
do
have a way of spreading . . .”

Gizzada leaned over to him from his horse. “I believe
you
were the one who told him to make it a real challenge, sir. Karna was only following your orders. But don’t worry. I see three more towers displaying red. Zenos is chasing a Guarder invasion!”

“I meant a challenge for
Zenos
,” Shin muttered. The major stood back up, waved once at his men, and started a fast jog back to Edge, pushed along by the cheers of his soldiers.

---

Zenos knew his route would take him to the edge of the forest. A private that had helped measure the course accidentally revealed that nugget of information, for which Shem was most grateful. Guarder invasions begin at the forest, after all. He saw the distant tree he was to tag, as well as the ten soldiers that stood waiting there to encourage him on. He’d have to be careful. He’d get only one chance.

As he sprinted across the buffer field to the soldiers, he began to limp. His face contorted into a grimace as he continued on to the fo
rest.

“Run it out, Zenos! Shake off the cramp! You’ve still got miles to go!” another corporal shouted to him.

Zenos nodded as he reached the soldiers. Then, just as he was to tag the tree, something caught his foot and he went down, hard.

“Zenos!” Neeks cried from atop his mount. “You all right, son?”

Zenos got up, panting. “Only wounded my pride, Grandpy. Give me my note!” he said as he slapped the tree.

The soldiers applauded, gave him his verifying note, and Zenos turned to run back to Edge with the soldiers following and shouting support.

Several minutes later, two men in green and brown mottled clothing crept up to the edge of the forest. They were confident no one else had seen the small rock that Zenos threw into the shrubs as he tripped and fell. And they were also confident the rock was intended for them. They lay on the ground inspecting the foliage and patting the dried leaves that fell off the trees and covered the forest’s floor.

After almost ten minutes of searching, one of the men disco
vered the rock. Then they crept to the seclusion of a large boulder, unwrapped the small paper tied around the rock, and read the small handwriting.

One out. F.S.

“He’s certainly become concise in his messages,” one man observed.

The other man nodded. “But it would’ve been helpful to include a time. We best get to the fresh spring.”