Soldier at the Door(54)

Nothing here was humorous as they took in the peculiar scene before them.

A small tidy shed with the word “Office” painted neatly above the door sat near the entrance of a wide road which led to several homes under construction.

While the house shapes varied slightly one from the other, the overall effect was to suggest that a giant artist had been making very proper and precise—yet wholly unimaginative—blocks of gray. And because Mrs. Giant didn’t like them, he decided to drop his enormously dull sculptures on the world at exactly the same distance apart.

None of the gardens around the houses were completed, revealing the sandy-gray colored soil, but several borders were edged in more gray symmetrical blocks. The new neighborhood gave one the impression that all colors had run out when the Creator came to this part of Edge.

A painting on a large sign showed what the future of the community could be: lush flower beds, different kinds of roofs, and even some houses painted in different colors. But no amount of embellishment could cover the sameness of the designs.

“Just like Idumea,” Perrin muttered in disappointment. “I promise you, I do NOT want that.”

“I agree,” Mahrree whispered. “Let’s drive on.”

But before they could, the door of the small shed flew open and a woman in a black and white bustled out.

Mahrree and Perrin tried their hardest not to, but still they burst out laughing, not at her shimmering dress which, in a blur, would also be gray, but at the enormous hat with a huge feather standing on the top of it which must have been plucked from the largest, ugliest bird in the world.

Desperately trying to regain control of herself as the woman huffed angrily up to their wagon, Mahrree covered her mouth and pinched Perrin hard, causing him to slip a bit off his seat. Almost immediately Perrin plastered a completely somber look on his face. It was one of those times Mahrree was envious of his training.

The woman marched up to them and demanded, “What’s the meaning of all this noise!” Her feather bobbled alarmingly as she practiced her best I’m-as-angry-as-an-ugly-bird impersonation. “I’ll have you know we are expecting someone very important, and you must move this, this excuse of a wagon immediately!”

Perrin was the very model of composure. “Absolutely ma’am. I’m very sorry to have disturbed you. We were only wishing to drive past your lovely homes here.”

Mahrree kept her hand over her mouth. The woman’s feather waved unpredictably even though she had stopped moving, and Mahrree felt spasms of laughter fighting in her chest.

Perrin nodded to her head. “Incidentally, ma’am, a bird of some rather large and aggressive species seems to have impaled your hat. You may want to look into it.”

Mahrree would never admit to snorting in her entire life. But today not only did her husband and the black and white woman hear her, so did half a dozen workers dutifully stacking gray blocks on top of more gray blocks at a nearby house. Several actually stopped working and turned to stare at the noise that originated loudly from Mahrree’s nose.

Perrin took his convulsing wife’s head and pushed it firmly down to her knees. She gratefully took the suffocation in her skirt.

“You’ll please excuse my wife. She hasn’t been well lately. That’s why I’ve taken her out to get some fresh air. Obviously she still needs some more.”

Mahrree was aware that her skirt was developing a new damp patch from the tears of her suppressed laughter. She took a few deep breaths and promptly sat up. If Perrin could do it, so could she.

“I am very sorry. Will you please forgive me?” she asked with her best straight face.

The woman softened a smidge. “Yes, of course,” she said hurriedly. “Now please move your wagon. We’ve heard that the captain of Edge and his wife may be coming by, and we’re trying to make a good impression!”

That was more than Mahrree could handle. She voluntarily put her head back down on her lap and began convulsing again.

Perrin’s voice was full of sympathy and regret. “I am, so very, very sorry for this. Of course we will move immediately.”

Suddenly the door of the shed burst open again, and another woman, massive and jiggling, came flying out.

Mrs. Hili.

Perrin growled quietly and readied to slap the horses into a gallop.

“Captain Shin! Miss Mahrree!” Mrs. Hili panted as she approached them. “I believe there’s been some misunderstanding.”

The black and white woman turned gray as she looked at them “Captain?” she whimpered.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said coldly back.

“But you’re not in uniform!”