Soldier at the Door(10)
The captain shook his head. “I have no problem with you feeding him, Zenos. It’s a sandwich well spent. If he sees you as a provider, he’ll become more comfortable with you and perhaps reveal what’s going on.”
Zenos’s face relaxed in relief. “I was hoping you’d feel that way, sir! I kind of already told him I could give him more tomorrow at the same time.”
Shin smiled. “Well, bring more than a sandwich. It’s a proven fact that the people will follow whoever will feed them. I’m hoping he’ll eventually follow you all the way to this office.”
Zenos shrugged. “I’m not sure I’m that skilled yet, sir.”
“If you joined up officially, I could train you,” the captain hinted. “I need men like you.”
“Thank you, sir. I know,” Zenos shrugged again, looking down at his hands in bashfulness. “It’s just that . . .”
Captain Shin sat back to analyze his volunteer of three weeks. Zenos often demurred like that, as if intimidated by himself. But he was far more naturally skilled than any soldier Perrin had met. And so far there had been no responses to the inquiries about a missing younger-than-legal boy. Nor had there been any reports about a girl looking for her run-off boyfriend.
The boy was as innocent as his face, which didn’t even have the decency to sprout any pimples. Perrin saw Zenos in the market place a few days ago grinning at the sellers, and receiving many shy and hopeful smiles from Mahrree’s former students, but he was so naive he didn’t even notice them.
The boy was simply so pure.
Perrin would snag him, eventually. He just needed the right lure. But in the meantime—
He picked up his quill and poised it over the paper. “So Zenos—your report?”
Zenos quickly looked up from his hands and he sat back at attention.
He even did that better than most soldiers.
“Sorry—yes, sir. At first he told me we were planting our corn all wrong.”
Perrin’s quill hesitated over the paper. “He what?”
Zenos nodded. “He’d been watching the farmer the other day, and said we should be planting the corn in small hills instead, with a cut up fish to nourish the plants. Much greater yields than planting the corn in rows.”
Shin put down the quill, perplexed. “Why would he be concerned about our plantings?”
“I thought it was an interesting idea,” Zenos offered. “Maybe the Guarders know something about improving crops?”
“Why would they? Or, maybe he’s planning to steal those crops in Harvest Season, and thinks it’s easier to hide in the small hills rather than rows?”
Zenos pondered that. “Probably right, sir. Still, would be interesting to try, don’t you think? At a farm away from the forests, to see if he’s right?”
Perrin growled quietly. “I’m not accustomed to taking agricultural tips from our enemies. What else did he say?”
Zenos cleared his throat. “Well, this won’t be too helpful either, then. But maybe . . . uh, he said that improving yields are crucial to feeding the population. We have lots of fallow land, and even small gardens could be used for vegetables and fruit trees.”
“Our population is fed just fine,” Perrin squinted. “We’re at a stable and maintainable rate, we never have a lack, especially since the crop controls were established. He’s interested in our population rates?”
“Maybe because they need our food?” Zenos suggested. “He said that their women have so many children now—”
Perrin pointed at him. “They are looking to raid our crops. Very good, Zenos. Now we know to keep our farms more carefully guarded, especially once Harvest comes around.” He quickly scrawled down some notes.
Zenos smiled to have been some use.
“I’m curious,” Perrin paused, tapping his quill on the ink jar, “Just how many children? Did he say?”
Zenos nodded. “Well, in the middle of his rambling he said there was a woman who recently had her fifteenth child—”
Perrin’s mouth dropped open.
“—then he said something about most of them have smaller families, averaging about six or seven children. Then he started on about something with teaching chickens to fly—”
But Shin was shaking his head slowly. “A ‘small’ family is six or seven children? Unbelievable. Likely have so many to replace their population. I can only imagine how many of their people die each year. Fourteen here just last year.”
Zenos nodded soberly. “Yes, I’ve heard all about that, sir, from some of the men. Makes my back itch to think about it.”