Chapter 26 The Package for the Trellicks

Wist came to the yard gate at dusk on the eighty-ninth day, and he came with his satchel and his hat, and he came with a package under his arm that was wrapped in brown paper and tied with cord and marked with chalk on three sides, and he stood in the gate and he said, "I have a package." "I have a hall," said Kessin. "I have a package," said Wist. "For whom," said Kessin. "For the Trellicks," said Wist. "At the old farm." "The old farm is not on the list," said Kessin. "The old farm is on the lane," said Wist. "And the lane is the lane." "The lane is the lane," said Kessin. "I have the package," said Wist. "And I have the cord, and I have the chalk, and I have the brown paper, and the paper has the market's mark, and the chalk is Mistress Ryley's chalk." "Then it is from the market," said Kessin. "Then it is from the market," said Wist. "Did the market send you the package," said Kessin. "The market did not send me the package," said Wist. "The market sent me a card, and the card said: take the package to the Trellicks at the old farm, and take the chalk with it, and take the cord with it, and take the brown paper with it, and do not open it, and do not put it down on the mud, and do not give it to a donkey." "Do not give it to a donkey," said Kessin. "Do not give it to a donkey," said Wist. She looked at the donkey, and the donkey was at the yard wall with his head turned away, and she said, "He is not a thief." "He is not a thief," said Wist. "He is a donkey." "A donkey is not a thief," said Kessin. "A donkey is not a thief," said Wist. "He is an opinion." Turrel came out from the kitchen with the lamp, and she took the package from Wist, and she felt the cord, and she felt the chalk, and she said, "It is wrapped well." "It is wrapped well," said Wist. "It is wrapped well," said Turrel. "And it is small." "It is small," said Wist. "And it is heavy." "It is heavy," said Turrel. "For what it is." "For what it is," said Wist. She set the package on the bench by the stove, and she looked at it, and she did not open it, and Wist sat down on the bench across from her, and Kessin sat at the table, and she wrote the card, and she wrote: Band. A package from the market at Gillanwick, to be taken to the Trellicks at the old farm, cord intact, chalk intact, paper intact. Fare: half a crown. Name: Wist Fennimore. She put the seal on it and she set it on the board, and Wist took the card and he took the package, and he said, "I will go now." "You will go now," said Kessin. "Five o'clock in the dark," said Wist. "You will go in the dark," said Kessin. "The old farm is on the lane," said Wist. "And the lane is the lane, and the chalk is on the stones, and the stones are the stones." "The stones are the stones," said Kessin. Peth came in at the hall door with his case and his boots, and he saw the card on the board, and he saw Wist at the wheel with the package, and he said, "I will go with you." "You will not go with me," said Kessin. "You will stay here." "I will stay here," said Peth. "Then you will keep the case," said Kessin. "I will keep the case," said Peth. "And you will watch the fire," said Kessin. "I will watch the fire," said Peth. "And Turrel will make the bread, and the donkey will sleep, and the hall will have the fire." "The hall will have the fire," said Kessin. Wist took his hat and he put it on, and he took the package and he put it under his arm, and he went out through the gate, and the gate opened and closed behind him, and the sound of it went out into the lane, and the vapour was coming up off the grass, and the lane was gone under it, and the chalk was white on the stones, and the old farm was at the end of the lane, and the Trellicks were at the old farm, and the package was under Wist's arm, and the cord was intact, and the chalk was intact, and the paper was intact. Turrel lit the lamp and put the coffee on, and the lamp went up the whitewashed wall and found the hole in the stone and went out the hole and onto the grass, and the vapour came in through the hole in the yard wall, and the donkey slept at the gate, and the boy watched the fire, and Kessin sat at the table with the ledger, and she wrote the debt, and the debt was eleven pounds and seven shillings, and she put the pen down. "The hall has ten fares," she said. "The hall has ten fares," said Turrel. "The hall has eleven pounds and seven shillings," said Kessin. "The hall has eleven pounds and seven shillings," said Turrel. "And the hall has not paid the debt." "Then the hall will not pay the debt," said Kessin. "Then the hall will not pay the debt," said Turrel. Wist came back at four in the morning, and the gate opened, and he stood in the yard with his hat in one hand and the chalk in the other, and he said, "I have given the package." "You have given the package," said Kessin. "I have given the package," said Wist. "And the Trellicks have taken the package, and they have thanked me, and they have given me a loaf of bread, and they have not opened the package." "They have not opened the package," said Kessin. "They have not opened the package," said Wist. "They have put it in their chest of drawers, and they have said: it is the hall's card, and the hall's card is the hall." "The hall's card is the hall," said Kessin. "Then the hall is the hall," said Wist. He put the chalk on the bench and he took the bread from under his arm and he gave it to Turrel, and Turrel took the bread and she set it on the shelf, and she said, "It is good bread." "It is good bread," said Kessin. "It is good bread," said Turrel. "And it is from the old farm." "It is from the old farm," said Kessin. "And the old farm is on the lane," said Turrel. "The old farm is on the lane," said Kessin. "And the lane is the hall," said Turrel. "The lane is the hall," said Kessin. ---