The Mansions of Idumea (Book 3 Forest at the Edge series) by Trish Mercer Page A

alone down
there.”
    Hycymum looked at Mahrree, baffled. Then a
distant light flickered on. “Oh, you mean the land tremor! Yes,
that was extraordinary too, wasn’t it?”
    Mahrree stared at her mother who was still
flushed. Hycymum seemed to try to pick out Shem among the
villagers, but he was already lost in the crowd. People had made
way for the tall and muscular soldier to get to the front of the
line.
    “Mother,” Mahrree began slowly, “what were
you talking about?”
    Hycymum went pink. “Do you know how long it’s
been since a handsome young man had his arm around me? Ah, Mahrree,
I now see the appeal of army men! So strong, so powerful. Sergeant
Zenos is still unmarried, right?”
    “Mother!” Mahrree sputtered. “He just turned
thirty-four a few weeks ago, and you’re sixty-three! You could be
his mother!”
    Hycymum looked at her daughter, and Mahrree
noticed her eyes appeared a bit vacant. “Hmm. I supposed that could
be a problem. Does my hair at least look nice?” She patted her
tousled curls.
    Mahrree pursed her lips as she evaluated her
mother’s stability. She wasn’t looking too secure. Something was
definitely collapsing somewhere. “Mother, did you at all hit your
head today? Because that’s the only excuse I can think of for you
right now. When was the last time you ate something?”
    “Well, yes, I did hit my head sometime this
morning. And no one would let me back into my house! I’m not sure
why.” She looked around. “It’s terribly bright in here, isn’t it?
Why is there a skinny pig roasting in your garden? Did you invite
all these people, or did they just show up? That seems awfully
rude. I didn’t get an invitation. You should put some basil on that
hog. Improve the flavor. Could take a few treefulls, though. Let me
go find some.”
    She stood unsteadily and noticed the
condition of the house.
    “Wait—Mahrree, are you remodeling your house?
Without my advice?”
    Mahrree gently pushed her mother back down
before she crumpled on her own. “Jaytsy!” she called. “Come sit
with your grandmother while I get her something to eat. I think
she’s been without food for a little too long.”
    Half an hour later Mahrree sighed in relief
when she recognized her husband’s horse of the week coming down the
road, just as the sun was setting in the west and casting golden
hues on everything around them. She’d been standing on the side of
the house waving goodbye to some satisfied neighbors, secure in the
knowledge that she’d filled a plate to overflowing and hid it in
the kitchen for Perrin before the last of the morsels were
devoured. Even now there were only a few crumbs left here and
there, and a bony carcass in the back garden. But the northern
neighborhoods of Edge had full bellies. There was only one more to
fill, and she smiled as her husband saluted her casually and rode
up to the house.
    But her smile froze in place when the last
beams of sunlight illuminated who was sharing his ride behind
him.
    Qualipoe Hili.
    “Oh Perrin, what were you thinking?” she
murmured under her breath.
    The twenty-two-year-old was so scrawny that
two of him could’ve hidden behind Perrin’s broad shoulders. He
hadn’t worn silk shirts for a few years, and now seemed to be
wearing something so tattered under his soiled jacket that he may
have taken it from a ruined house. Pinching a shirt would have been
nothing compared to how much he’d stolen for Guarders over the
years.
    Mahrree clenched her fist as Poe peered
cautiously around her husband. Today of all days he chose to make
his return. Mahrree grumbled to herself that Edge probably quaked
at the thought of housing him again. Of all nights to bring home a
thief, Perrin had to choose this one when not one single house
could be secured.
    Her husband tried to catch her eye, but
Mahrree was staring only at Poe when the horse came to a stop.
    Then again, on such a night, how could she
even think about turning away someone in need,