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

even if that was a
someone adept at filling every need he might possibly have with his
proven snatch-and-run? She plastered on a welcoming smile, hoping
the shadows of the coming evening hid her concern.
    “Mr. Hili!” she delivered her old greeting as
warmly as she could. “What’s the news, Poe?”
    Poe slid off the horse and gave her a timid
smile. While he stood at average height, he was skinnier than any
man she’d ever seen. His black hair was a bit long and unkempt, his
light-brown skin even darker for having been outside so much, but
his brown eyes were somehow different than she remembered: a little
brighter, less concealing, and almost honest.
    He nervously nodded to her. “The lieutenant
colonel said I could probably find something to eat here. I hope
that’s all right with you?”
    He scanned the house quickly, and Mahrree
tried to push down the suspicion that he was casing it.
    Poe sighed. “It really hasn’t changed a bit.
That’s good to see. Except it seems a little shorter than I
remember.”
    “We’re adding a new roofline. Made the
decision this morning, in fact,” Mahrree explained. Then, with all
the enthusiasm she could find after the long, dreary day, she said,
“Welcome back to Edge! Jaytsy,” she turned to her daughter who had
been running up to greet her father but stopped in surprise when
she recognized Poe. “Fetch the dinner I hid for your father, and
put some on a second plate. I know there’s more than enough.”
    Jaytsy looked apprehensively at Poe, but he
smiled at her. She darted into the darkening back porch.
    Poe shook his head and let out a low whistle.
“She’s certainly grown up in the past two years, hasn’t she? Used
to try to feed me weeds when she was a toddler, if I remember
correctly.”
    Mahrree cleared her throat and glared at her
husband, hoping he’d notice how Poe’s gaze lingered at where Jaytsy
had been. One of these days—and it had better be soon—Perrin would
realize his daughter was turning heads left and right. He still
seemed to want to believe she was still the toddler who loved to
scream at him.
    Perrin looked at the thin young man, then in
the direction he was still staring—
    For once Perrin saw it, and his eyes enlarged
in worry. “You look tired, Poe,” he abruptly changed the subject.
“Go sit down on the bench by . . . is that a spit? In my back
garden? Well, it looks like there are remnants of something for you
to pick at for now.”
    “Yes, sir!” Poe said amiably and left for the
back garden, weaving deftly between stumps and rocks as if he were
used to picking his way quickly through dark and unpredictable
terrain, because he was.
    Perrin turned to his wife who had just
sprouted a new steam vent of her own. He pretended not to see her
fuming. “Looks pretty good, doesn’t he? His eyes are brighter than
I’ve seen them in a long time. He’s been spending some time in
Moorland and Mountseen, but came home just two days ago. The Hilis
weren’t too thrilled to see him, though. I think he slept in the
village green last night.”
    Mahrree tried her one-eyebrow-raised look. In
the growing dark she was sure it was almost menacing.
    “Getting pretty good at that,” Perrin
gestured at her face. “Need to work on the nervous twitch, though.
Kind of ruins the effect. Hmm, now where’s my daughter with my
food?” He rubbed his hands together as if absolutely nothing else
in the world was wrong, except for his tardy dinner. “I’m
starving.”
    “Perrin Shin!” Mahrree hissed when she was
sure none of the departing villagers could hear them, “Why is
Qualipoe Hili in my back garden? And where do you suggest he spend
the night?”
    “Right here,” Perrin said soberly. “With us.
He’s agreed to be our guard tonight.”
    “Are you insane?” she breathed in fury.
“Because I really don’t need two crazy people tonight. I don’t.
First my mother comes here with fantasies of becoming Mrs. Shem
Zenos, and now you’ve