At first, she was irate. This was the school orchard! Every year for decades the fruit was harvested by the students and sold in the market. The silver slips earned went to improving the school building, purchasing wood for the fire in the Raining Season, and paying the teacher. Every student’s family helped, and it was a neighborhood tradition all over Edge—gather to harvest, sell, and take care of our schools.
But now?!
Mahrree had tried to put her irritation in her apron pocket and decided to chalk up the neglect of the school orchard—and the five other school orchards in Edge, Perrin told her glumly last night—to the Guarder raid, the changes to the village, and the recent bloodshed at the fort. People just had other, more worrying, things on their minds.
So why was it that, when all the events of the past several moons had most directly affected her family, her family was the only one still concerned about the school orchards?
She repeatedly shoved aside the nagging suspicion that no one cared for the apples because they knew the Administrators were now paying for the teachers and new, larger buildings. Just like the lessons that no parents worried about, the orchard was ignored because someone else was taking care of it.
And she definitely refused to visit the notion screaming in her head that her After School Care boys were also at times being neglected by their parents because someone else was now taking care of them all day at school, and even afterwards.
Why do the work when someone else—and it doesn’t matter who—will do it for you?
Those were aggravating attitudes Mahrree tried not to dwell on, but instead quietly fought against. They’d harvest those apples this afternoon and give them to Director Hegek. They were “his” property now, after all, even though he likely didn’t realize it. The neighborhood school now belonged to the Administrators, and no one outside of the Shin household seemed to think that was yet another tragic turn of events.
Mahrree thought again of what Joriana had said about her own blank books, and decided that maybe she need to follow Hogal’s advice as well. The rich, thick pages would be darkened with her own frustrations, musings, worrying, and venting. It seemed a poor way to treat such a treasure, but nothing else came to her mind.
Since it seems that The Writings are actually the records of families and what they experienced, perhaps I too can create my own “Writings” on these pages given to me by my mother-in-law, Joriana Shin.
She smiled at the words. “Not a bad beginning,” she murmured, and continued on.
So much has happened this past year that I almost worry what more can occur, because we’re only nearing the end of Harvest Season, and a long Raining Season is still to come. The year started quietly enough, until Weeding Season came bringing with it strange changes to the education of our children and a raid by the Guarders which resulted in tragic consequences, especially for Perrin’s great aunt and uncle, Tabbit and Hogal Densal.
It would have been worse though, I’m sure, had Corporal Shem Zenos not
Mahrree stopped.
Exactly how much should she say about Shem and their suspicions? It was barely over a week ago the two lieutenants were found dead in the hallway of the guest quarters. Shem even volunteered himself to be interrogated by her father-in-law, and only an hour later an exasperated High General sent him out of the command tower. Perrin told Mahrree he had never seen his father so frustrated, nor had he seen Shem so relieved to be exonerated, again.
Two days after the attack, files came by the Administrators’ messenger service from Dr. Brisack. It seemed there had been a girl both lieutenants had pursued when they first arrived at Command School, one that played both of them before chasing after a graduating officer. There was bad blood between the two lieutenants which they chose not to reveal, both eager to serve the Chairman and High General. The files were accompanied by a note from Dr. Brisack personally apologizing for not recognizing the potential problems with the young officers and allowing such ill-disciplined men to serve so closely to the High General.
Later Perrin told Mahrree over dinner that his father confided to him that Dr. Brisack was the only decent one among the Administrators, but he’d never own up to saying that.
“And I read the note from Brisack, Mahrree, and thinking on the off chance that maybe . . .” He shrugged when he said that, and looked at her hard to see if she could finish the sentence.
It took her a minute. “If maybe . . . he was the one who sent you the warning a year and a half ago?! About the twelve Guarders? An Administrator? How would he have known?!”
Perrin shook his head quickly. “I know, I know. And the writing didn’t match, not one bit. It was ridiculous to even think it, but . . . Well, at least the mystery seems to be solved. The lieutenants did kill each other at the same time. Brisack confirmed he had seen a case of that before. Shem was so relieved he was no longer a suspect that he practically danced out of the office.”