Chapter 16 The Boy on the Lane

Peth found the sheep at the second corner of the lane, and he found it at eight, and he found it under the hedge, and he found it eating grass, and he walked the sheep back to the hall, and he walked the sheep in through the yard gate, and the sheep stood at the foot of the stove and looked at the donkey, and the donkey looked at the sheep, and the donkey said something, and the sheep said nothing, and Peth stood at the foot of the wheel with the card in his hand. "You have found the sheep," said Kessin. "I have found the sheep," said Peth. "The hall has the sheep," said Kessin. "And the hall has the woman." "The hall has the sheep," said Peth. "And the hall has the woman." "And the hall has the coin," said Kessin. "The hall has the coin," said Peth. He put the card on the board and he took the coin from Kessin's hand and he took the bread from the shelf and he sat at the table, and he drank the coffee and he ate the bread, and he did not speak, and Kessin did not speak, and the woman drank the coffee and ate the bread, and she did not speak, and the donkey slept at the foot of the stove, and the sheep stood at the wheel, and the yard was the yard. "The hall has the sheep," said the woman. "The hall has the sheep," said Kessin. "The hall has paid for the sheep," said the woman. "The hall has paid for the sheep," said Kessin. "The hall will pay me one crown," said the woman. "The hall will pay you one crown," said Kessin. She took the coin from Kessin's hand and she put it in her pocket, and she took her hat and she put it on, and she looked at the sheep, and the sheep looked at her, and she said, "Thank you." "You are welcome," said Kessin. Rowa Sarn stood at the gate with her coat and her hat and the sheep at her feet, and she did not go, and she looked at Peth, and Peth looked at her, and she said, "You are my boy." "I am your boy," said Peth, in the flat voice of a boy who has not been paid and has not been asked and does not know how to answer a woman who has walked from the mill house with a lost sheep. "You are my boy," said Rowa Sarn. "My father's boy." "My father walked the lane for twenty years," said Peth. "Your father walked the lane," said Rowa Sarn. "I remember your father. He walked the lane and he did not mark the corners, because the old woman did not pay for the corners." "Brin walked the lane," said Peth. "Brin walked the lane," said Rowa Sarn. "I remember Brin. He did not say anything." "Brin did not say anything," said Peth. "The boy is here now," 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. "Then I will keep the lane," said Peth, and he did not look up from the bread in his hand, and he chewed the bread, and he did not say anything more, and Rowa Sarn stood at the gate, and she looked at the donkey, and the donkey looked at her, and she said, "Clack." "Clack," said Kessin. "Clack is the same," said Rowa Sarn. "Clack is the same as he was when I was a girl." "Clack is the same," said Kessin. Rowa Sarn took her hat off and she set it on the wheel, and she sat down on the bench beside Peth, and she took the bread from the table and she ate it, and she did not ask for more, and the donkey looked at her, and the sheep stood at the foot of the stove, and the coffee was hot, and the yard was the yard. "My mother's bread," said Rowa Sarn. "I have eaten my mother's bread for forty years." "I know," said Kessin. "My mother's bread," said Rowa Sarn. "And Turrel's bread, and my mother's bread was Turrel's bread." "Turrel's bread," said Kessin. "And my mother's bread was Turrel's bread." "My mother did not know Turrel," said Rowa Sarn. "Turrel did not know my mother. But the bread is the bread." "The bread is the bread," said Kessin. "I will come back tomorrow," said Rowa Sarn. "You will come back tomorrow," said Kessin. "I will come back tomorrow," said Rowa Sarn. "And the hall will have the sheep, and the hall will have the boy, and the hall will have the donkey, and the hall will have the bread, and the hall will have the coffee, and the hall will have the seventh card." "The hall will have the seventh card," said Kessin. "And the seventh card is blank," said Rowa Sarn. "The seventh card is blank," said Kessin. "Then the seventh card will be blank," said Rowa Sarn. "And the hall will give out the seventh name, and the seventh name will come, and the seventh name will be filled, and the hall will have the seventh card, and the hall will be the hall." "The hall will be the hall," said Kessin. Rowa Sarn took her hat and she put it on and she took her sheep and she went out through the gate, and the gate opened and closed behind her, and the sound of it went out into the road and the road went on, and Kessin sat at the table with the pen and the ledger, and she wrote the fare on the page, and the page was almost full, and she took a new page and she wrote the fare on the new page, and she wrote the debt on the new page, and the debt was eleven pounds and ten shillings and nine pence, and the fare was one crown, and she put the pen down. "The hall has five fares and one blank card," said Turrel. "The hall has six fares and one blank card," said Kessin. "Six fares and one blank card," said Turrel. "And the hall will have seven fares and one blank card." "Seven fares and one blank card," said Kessin. "And the hall will have the seventh name," said Turrel. "The hall will have the seventh name," said Kessin. "Then the hall will be the hall," said Turrel. "Then the hall will be the hall," said Kessin. Kessin went out through the gate and she walked the lane, and she walked the lane in the frost, and she walked the lane in the cold, and she walked the lane to the second corner, and she walked the lane to the third corner, and she walked the lane to the bridge, and she walked the lane back to the yard, and she walked the lane in the morning, and she walked the lane in the afternoon, and she walked the lane in the evening, and she walked the lane until the sun was down, and she walked the lane until the road was dark, and she walked the lane until the yard was the yard. She put the pen down and she looked at the board, and the board had seven cards on it, and the seventh card had her name on it, and the seventh card was blank, and she did not write on the seventh card, because the seventh name was blank, and the seventh name would be filled, when the hall gave out the seventh name. She took the lamp from the shelf and she went to the room at the back, and she lay on the bench with the ledger under her head, and she slept, and she dreamed of the hall and the road and the yard and the donkey and the boy and the man and the woman, and she dreamed of the seventh name, and the seventh name was blank. ---