Chapter 15 The Lost Sheep

The woman with the lost sheep came to the yard gate on the thirty-third day, and she came in the dark, and she came at ten, and she came with the sheep under her arm, and she came because the road was long and the lamp was out and she could not find her way and she had walked from the mill house and she had walked past the croft and she had walked to the hall. "I have lost a sheep," she said. "I have a hall," said Kessin, from the yard, from the door, from the bench by the stove. "And the hall has a yard, and the hall has a donkey, and the hall has a lamp, and the hall has a board, and the hall has six cards on the board, and the hall has five fares and one blank card, and the hall will take in the lost sheep, and the hall will give out the lost sheep." "I have lost a sheep," said the woman. "Not the hall." "No," said Kessin. "You have lost a sheep." "I have lost a sheep," said the woman. "And the sheep is here, and I have brought the sheep to the hall, and the hall will find the sheep." "The sheep is here," said Kessin. "Then the sheep is not lost." "The sheep is here," said the woman. "And the sheep is not lost. And I have lost the other sheep." "The other sheep," said Kessin. "The other sheep," said the woman. "I had two sheep and I have one sheep and I have lost the other sheep." "I will find the other sheep," said Kessin. "I will find the other sheep," said the woman. "And the hall will find the other sheep." "I will find the other sheep," said Kessin. She put the lamp on the table and she gave the woman bread and she gave the woman coffee, and the woman ate the bread and drank the coffee, and the donkey looked at the sheep, and the sheep looked at the donkey, and neither of them said anything, and Turrel came in from the kitchen and looked at the sheep, and she said, "The sheep is here." "The sheep is here," said the woman. "And the other sheep is not here." "The other sheep is not here," said Turrel. "The other sheep is not here," said Kessin. "Where is the other sheep," said the woman. "The other sheep is on the lane," said Kessin. "The other sheep is on the lane," said the woman. "Then the other sheep will be on the lane in the morning," said Kessin. "And the hall will find the other sheep, and the hall will bring the other sheep home." "The hall will bring the other sheep home," said the woman. "And the hall will pay you for the other sheep," said Kessin. "One crown." "One crown," said the woman. "And the hall will have the other sheep." "The hall will have the other sheep," said Kessin. Peth came in at seven with his case and his boots, and he saw the sheep at the foot of the stove and he saw the woman at the table and he saw the lamp and the coffee and the bread, and he said, "I will find the sheep." "You will find the sheep," said Kessin. "I will find the sheep," said Peth. "Go now," said Kessin. "The lane is clear and the road is clear and the mill is at the second corner." "I will go now," said Peth. He went out through the gate with his case and his boots and his card, and he did not look back, and Kessin sat at the table with the woman and the sheep and the coffee, and the donkey slept at the foot of the stove, and the woman drank the coffee and the sheep ate the bread, and the yard was the yard. The woman's name was Rowa Sarn, and she had been the shepherdess at the mill for thirty years, and she had lost the sheep on the third corner of the lane, and the sheep had gone under the hedge and the hedge had eaten the sheep, and the sheep had gone on and Rowa Sarn had gone on, and she had walked the road and the road had gone on, and she had walked to the hall because the hall had a lamp, and the hall had a board, and the hall had a donkey, and the donkey had been in this yard since before she was born. "My father walked the lane for twenty years," said Rowa Sarn. "I know," said Kessin. "My father walked the lane for twenty years," said Rowa Sarn. "And he walked the lane at dawn, and he walked the lane at dusk, and he walked the lane at noon, and he did not mark the corners, because the old woman did not pay for the corners." "Brin walked the lane for twenty years," said Kessin. "Brin walked the lane," said Rowa Sarn. "I remember Brin. He was a man who did not say anything." "Brin was a man who did not say anything," said Kessin. "I remember the boy," said Rowa Sarn. "The boy is here now." "The boy is here now," said Kessin. "The boy is my nephew," said Rowa Sarn. "Not my blood. My father's boy. He came to the hall with a case, and he came with his boots, and he came with his hands, and he came with his face." "I know," said Kessin. "I know the boy," said Rowa Sarn. "The boy is a good boy." "The boy is a good boy," said Kessin. "The boy will keep the lane," said Rowa Sarn. "The boy will keep the lane," said Kessin. Rowa Sarn put the cup on the table and she looked at the sheep, and the sheep looked at her, and she said, "This is my other sheep. This is the one I have. The other sheep is the one I have lost." "The other sheep is the one you have lost," said Kessin. "I will find the other sheep," said Kessin. "I will find the other sheep," said Rowa Sarn. "And the hall will find the other sheep, and the hall will bring the other sheep home, and the hall will pay for the other sheep, and the hall will give me my other sheep, and the hall will be the hall." "The hall will be the hall," said Kessin. She put the lamp on the table and she put the coffee on the stove and she put the bread on the shelf, and the sheep stood at the foot of the stove, and the donkey slept, and the yard was the yard, and the road went on behind them, and the boy was on the lane, and the lane was the lane. ---