Chapter 200: The First Day of Forever

The whole of the mill yard was quiet and the whole of the it was the whole of the line and the whole of the it was the whole of the ground.

It was the first of May and the wheat was up and the whole of the east field was green and the whole of the west line was green and the whole of the north field was green.

And the whole of the mill was the whole of the keeper's house with the door that closed and the window that opened and the chair by the window and the rug on the floor and the crib in the corner.

And in the crib there was a child.

She was three months old and she had red hair and amber eyes and she was awake and she was making a sound that was not a word and the whole of her was the whole of the line.

I picked her up.

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

She made the sound again.

And then Elias came in from the yard with his shirt sleeves rolled up and his hair in his eyes and his hands dirty from the fence line.

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

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

He came across the room and put his hand on Ilse’s head and the whole of him was the whole of the keeper.

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

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

And then the whole of the line came up the mill road.

It was not the whole of the territories and it was not the whole of the east. It was the whole of the line. It was Ruth of the Riverside pack and Ada of Boise and Ada Kessler in her chair and Hannah and Arthur Renn and Clara Renn and Ilse the grandmother and Ilse the granddaughter and Mary the keeper of the room. It was June with her twins in her arms and Maeve with her shawl and the whole of the twelve from the room and the whole of the eleven the keeper had hidden and the whole of the nine from the lake.

And it was Thomas the old wolf with the hoe and Mrs. Pike and Harold and the Corrigan boys and the whole of the co-op men and the whole of the farmers and the whole of the ones who had been cast out and the whole of the ones who had stood with the Council.

The whole of the them came up the mill road and the whole of the them came into the mill yard and the whole of the them were the whole of the line.

And the whole of the them brought food.

It was the first day of May and the whole of the line had decided that the first day of May was going to be the whole of the it. It was going to be the day the whole of the line came to the mill and the whole of the pack came to the mill and the whole of the it was going to be the whole of the it.

So they brought food. They brought bread and pie and a whole of a keg of cider that Mrs. Pike brought up from her cellar and did not share until the tables were set. They brought a roast and a whole of a pot of stew and a cake that June had made with the twins on her hip and a whole of a basket of apples from the west line.

And they set the tables in the mill yard.

I stood in the door of the mill with Ilse in my arms and looked at the whole of it.

The whole of the mill yard was full of tables and the whole of the tables were full of food and the whole of the food was the whole of the line.

And the whole of the line was laughing.

Thomas the old wolf with the hoe was telling a story to the Corrigan boys and the whole of the story was about a fence post. Mrs. Pike was arguing with Harold about the price of wheat and the whole of the argument was the whole of the it. Ruth of the Riverside pack was sitting with Ada Kessler in her chair and the whole of the them were talking about 1891 and the whole of the it was the whole of the line.

And June was chasing one of her twins across the yard and the whole of the twin was laughing and the whole of the it was the whole of the ground.

Elias came and stood beside me.

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

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

He put his arm around me.

“There is a thing I have been meaning to tell you,” he said.

“What thing?” I said.

“The whole of the it is not the curse,” he said. “The whole of the it is not the ground and the whole of the it is not the line and the whole of the it is not the mark.” He put his hand on my face. “The whole of the it is this.”

I looked at the whole of the mill yard.

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

And then I sat down at the long table in the middle of the mill yard with Ilse in my arms and Elias beside me and the whole of the line around me.

And the whole of the it was quiet.

And then the whole of the line raised a glass.

It was Thomas the old wolf with the hoe and he stood up at the end of the table and raised his glass and the whole of the line raised their glasses.

“Alpha,” he said. “The whole of the it is the whole of the line.”

I stood up.

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

“And the whole of the line is the whole of the ground,” Thomas said. “And the whole of the ground is the whole of the it.” He put his hand on his chest. “And the whole of the it is the whole of the whole of the it.”

I stood at the table with Ilse in my arms.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the it,” I said. “And the whole of the it is the whole of the line and the whole of the line is the whole of the pack and the whole of the pack is the whole of the ground.”

The whole of the line drank.

And then the whole of the it was quiet.

And then the whole of the line began to talk again and the whole of the mill yard was full of the sound of the whole of the it.

I sat down.

I sat down at the long table in the middle of the mill yard with Ilse in my arms and Elias beside me and the whole of the line around me and the whole of the it was the whole of the ground.

And the whole of the it was quiet.

And then I looked at the whole of the it.

The whole of the mill was the whole of the keeper's house. The whole of the wheat was up and the whole of the co-op was rebuilt and the whole of the circle was in the trees and the whole of the trees were green.

And the whole of the line was at the table.

And the whole of the it was the whole of the ground.

And the whole of the it was the whole of the line.

And the whole of the it was the whole of the whole of the it.

I put my hand on Ilse's head.

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

And then Elias said, “Wren. The whole of the it is the whole of the it.”

I turned around.

“What?” I said.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the it,” Elias said. “And the whole of the it is the whole of the whole of the it.” He put his hand on my face. “The whole of the it is the whole of the it.”

I looked at the whole of the mill yard.

And then I said the thing I had been waiting to say since the calf in the combine yard.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the it,” I said. “And the whole of the it is the whole of the line and the whole of the line is the whole of the ground and the whole of the ground is the whole of the it.”

And the whole of the mill yard roared.

And then the whole of the it was the whole of the ground.

And then the whole of the it was the whole of the line.

And then the whole of the it was the whole of the whole of the it.

And then the whole of the mill yard was quiet.

And then the whole of the it was the whole of the it.

And the whole of the it was the first day of forever.