The Forest at the Edge of the World by Trish Mercer

outside to help me the answer is . . . no one,” Sonoforen muttered in embarrassment. “Not even an animal. My cat ran away last week.”
    “So you were just charging in here and hoping to . . . wing it?”
    “You’re point is well made, sir! ”
    Mal clasped his hands together and rested them on the desk. A desperate, homeless mutt. Perfect.
    “Sonoforen, how would you like to get your revenge? Not through a rash, ill-thought out plan, but in a rational, organized, and effective manner which will yield results that will not only appease your desires but will also lend me a great deal of research?”
    Sonoforen blinked. “What in the world are you talking about?”
    “First, we change your name to something less obvious. How does Heth strike you?”  The corner of Mal’s mouth went up slightly. “Then tell me what you know about Guarders.”
     
    - --
     
    Mahrree sighed for the twelfth time. Usually it was the six-year-olds in her morning class that couldn’t concentrate for more than five minutes, not the eight teenage girls in the afternoons.
    “If you really want to know that much about the captain, you should have come to the debate!” she chided as Hitty asked yet a nother question about how many medals he had on his uniform. Mahrree hadn’t noticed. “Now, we need to get back to our discussion—”
    Hitty raised her hand again.
    Mahrree groaned.
    “Really, Miss Mahrree, this has to do with the discussion.”
    “Do you remember what the discussion was about?”
    Hitty nodded. “The history of the Guarders.”
    “Good. Now remember, many of your parents contacted me this morning to make sure we went over it, considering that the fort will soon be ready. They’ll be quizzing you tonight, so understanding the nature of the Guarders is not only vital to your welfare, but also to your passing this class. Be grateful, because we were to be discussing developments in sugar production in the south. So Hitty, I will happily answer any questions regarding Guarders.”
    Hitty put her hand down and tossed her straw-colored hair b ehind her, as she did every five minutes. “If the Guarders return, and they invade the village, with what hand will the captain fight them? My mother said he wore a very large sword.”
    The girls erupted into fits of sniggers as Mahrree practiced her best glare.
    Hitty kept her face impressively still, but finally broke into a smile of embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Miss Mahrree,” she whispered.
    “His right.” Mahrree sighed for the thirteenth time. “He wore his sword on his left side, so that he can draw it with his right hand.”
    “If his sword is large, then that means he’s very strong, right?” Sareen asked in a giggle. The poor girl couldn’t speak without an accompanying giggle, which made her brown curls wiggle.
    “Could you tell how strong he was, Miss Mahrree?” asked a nother dreamy-eyed girl. “You were closest to him. My mother said he was very tall and had a chest like an ox!”
    “Ooh, I hope she meant a bull ,” said another girl, to a variety of tittering.
    Mahrree wondered why so many mothers— married women —had paid such close attention to him. “Believe it or not, I wasn’t concerned with how strong he might be,” she said sternly. “I was more concerned about his views on education and progress, which we’ll be discussing next week. After we finish learning about the Guarders! ”
    Teeria nodded. “Because without the Guarders, there would be no new fort, and no Captain Shin.” The rest of the class nodded e agerly back.
    Mahrree could always count on Teeria. The girl was as straight and serious as her dark brown hair and somber expression. “You’re right. Because of the Guarders, Captain Shin and a few more soldiers—”
    Several of the girls sighed in anticipatory delight.
    Mahrree plowed on, ignoring that. “—will be living in Edge. Edge, as you recall, was one of the four villages where Guarders were seen retreating into