Chapter 178: A Promise

We buried Clara Renn in the churchyard on the hill at the north end of town.

She was a hundred and ten years old and she had told the whole of it and the whole of it was answered for. And the whole of the line stood at the grave and the whole of the pack stood behind them and the whole of the Council stood behind them.

And when the whole of it was done and the whole of the churchyard was quiet I stood at my mother's grave with Elias beside me and looked at the stone.

Mary Hale. 1930 to 1975.

“She is not here,” I said.

“She is here,” Elias said. “The whole of her is here. The whole of her is in the whole of the line and the whole of the line is in the whole of the territory and the whole of the territory is the ground.” He put his hand on the stone. “And the whole of the her is in the whole of the mill and the whole of the room and the whole of the child.”

I put my hand on the stone.

“I have been angry at her for a year,” I said. “And the whole of the it is not the anger any more.”

“What is the whole of the it?” Elias said.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the grief,” I said. “And the whole of the grief is the whole of the love.”

He put his arm around me.

We stood at the grave until the sun went down and the whole of the churchyard was gray and the whole of the town was quiet.

And then he said, “Wren.”

“What?” I said.

“There is a thing I have been carrying since the whole of the it began,” he said. “And the whole of the it is not a stone and it is not a blade and it is not a paper.”

“What is the whole of it?” I said.

He put his hand in his coat and took out a ring.

It was silver and it had a stone in it and the stone was a piece of the boundary stone and the whole of it was warm.

“The whole of the it is my mother's ring,” he said. “The whole of the it was in the whole of the box in Walla Walla and the whole of the it was in the whole of the box in the whole of the east and the whole of the it has been in my coat since the whole of the it was given to me.” He put it in my hand. “The whole of the it is not a mark and the whole of the it is not a bond. The whole of the it is a promise.”

I looked at the ring.

“What is the promise?” I said.

“The whole of the promise is that we are not going to be separated,” Elias said. “Not by the Council and not by the east and not by the whole of the it. The whole of the it has been trying to separate us since the combine yard and the whole of the it has not done it.” He put his hand on my face. “And the whole of the it is not going to do it.”

I put the ring on.

It fit.

“Then the whole of the it is a promise,” I said.

“The whole of the it is a promise,” he said.

And then the whole of the churchyard went white.

It was the ground. It came up out of the whole of the churchyard and out of the whole of the hill and the whole of the churchyard was white.

And then the ground spoke.

It said: The whole of the it is the promise. The whole of the promise is the line. The whole of the line is the ground. The whole of the it is going to be answered for.

And then it went out.

The churchyard was dark.

And then the light came back and there was a wolf standing at the gate.

It was the keeper of the east and he had his arm in a sling and his white beard and his burned face and he was holding a lantern.

“Alpha,” he said. “The whole of the east has come.”

I turned around.

“What?” I said.

“The whole of the east has come,” the keeper of the east said. “The whole of the east has left the whole of the it and the whole of the it is at the gap and the whole of the it is asking for the Luna.”

I stood in the churchyard.

“The whole of the east,” I said.

“The whole of the east,” the keeper of the east said. “Four thousand wolves and the whole of them are at the gap and the whole of them are not silver and the whole of them are not blades. The whole of them are the line.”

I stood in the churchyard.

“Then the whole of it is going to be answered for,” I said.

“The whole of it is going to be answered for,” the keeper of the east said.

And then he said a thing that made the whole of the churchyard go dark.

“And Alpha,” he said. “There is a wolf with them. He is old and he has a gray beard and a hat and a stick and he is the founder's heir and he is asking for the whole of the line.”

I stood in the churchyard.

“My father,” I said.

“Your father,” the keeper of the east said. “And the whole of the it is not the founder's heir. The whole of the it is the whole of the line. And the whole of the line is not the whole of the line.”

I stood in the churchyard.

“What is the whole of the it?” I said.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the lake,” the keeper of the east said. “And the whole of the lake is the whole of the door and the whole of the door is the whole of the east and the whole of the east is the whole of the line.” He put his hand on the gate. “And the whole of the it is going to be opened by the whole of the line and the whole of the line is going to be opened by the whole of the founder's heir.”

I stood in the churchyard.

“Then the whole of it is going to be opened,” I said.

“The whole of it is going to be opened,” the keeper of the east said.

And then the whole of the churchyard went white.

It was the ground. It came up out of the whole of the churchyard and out of the whole of the hill and the whole of the churchyard was white.

And then the ground spoke.

It said: The whole of the it is the line. The whole of the line is the ground. The whole of the ground is the territories. The whole of the it is going to be decided by the whole of the line.

And then it went out.

The churchyard was dark.

And then the light came back and there was a wolf standing at the grave.

It was Ilse the grandmother and she had a cane and a shawl and she was standing at my mother's grave with her hands at her sides.

“The whole of the it is not the founder's heir,” she said. “The whole of the it is the line. And the whole of the line is going to be opened by the keeper.”

I looked at the ring on my hand.

“The whole of the it is Ilse,” I said.

“The whole of the it is Ilse,” Ilse said. “And the whole of the it is going to be decided by the whole of the line and the whole of the line is going to be decided by the whole of the it.”

I stood in the churchyard.

And then the whole of the churchyard roared.