Chapter 2 shifts focus to the life of the herder community during the day of the Midsummer Rite, especially through the perspective of Ani, Neen’s mother. The day is dominated by trading, particularly livestock exchanges. Ani walks the trading grounds with fellow elders Keff and Scagga, monitoring disputes and maintaining order. The elders wield authority through reputation rather than force and their rulings are generally accepted to preserve harmony. Ani reflects on her role as an elder, her past as a widow after her husband Olin’s death, and her hope that Neen and Seft might one day give her grandchildren. 

During trading, Ani resolves a dispute between a potter and an arrow maker over a leaking pot, ruling in favor of fairness and honesty. Soon afterward, Joia urgently summons the elders to address a violent incident involving Seft’s father, Cog. Witnesses confirm that Cog brutally beat Seft with the help of his sons. Cog insists it was a private family matter but Ani declares that violence violates the spirit of the Monument, so Cog must “never come back” (37). She ensures that other traders refuse to do business with Cog. Eventually, Cog and his sons pack and leave, disgraced.

The chapter then follows Joia through the evening feast and the revel that accompanies Midsummer night. Poets tell creation stories, including the myth of the Moon Goddess and the Sun God, which deeply fascinates Joia. When the revel begins, many adults temporarily separate from their partners to form new sexual pairings, encouraging diversity of bloodlines. Joia joins her cousin Vee and her friend Roni but, unlike them, she feels little excitement or desire. She kisses a boy, Cass, without pleasure, feeling detached and confused. Later, Joia impulsively kisses her aunt Kae, finding the experience unexpectedly meaningful before being gently discouraged since “lovers need to be equal” (43). 

Feeling unsettled, Joia returns home, where she speaks openly with Ani and Neen. Neen admits she is torn between Seft, who has left, and a local boy named Enwood. Joia confesses her confusion and sense of failure during the revel. Ani reassures her that difference is not a flaw and suggests Joia will lead “an interesting life” (45).

In the aftermath of his public beating, Seft wakes alone at the flint pit. He is bruised and aching, but more distressed by “shame” (46) than by physical pain. He worries that Neen will now see him as weak and degraded. Seft looks into the pit and notes how his family lives like they are “wallowing in filth” (47). Although ordered to clean it, he notices a more urgent problem: The house near the pit is close to collapse because the leather straps holding the doorway lintel have rotted and failed. 

Lacking replacement straps, Seft examines the structure closely and realizes the wooden lintel itself is rotten. He cuts down a young tree, fashions a new lintel, and devises an innovative solution to secure it. Instead of straps, he carefully shapes the tops of the doorposts into pegs and cuts matching holes in the lintel so it locks firmly into place. He spends the entire day working alone, distracted by memories of Neen and troubled by the thought that she may still be considering Enwood. Despite his emotional turmoil, the repair succeeds and the house is stabilized.



When Cog and Seft’s brothers return, they dismiss his work entirely. Cog accuses Seft of “shirking hard work” (49) for not cleaning the pit and refuses even to inspect the repair. He withholds supper until the pit is cleaned. Exhausted and humiliated, Seft obeys, hauling rubbish until nightfall while the others eat beef nearby. 

During this time, a miner named Wun visits and learns about Seft’s carpentry solution. Impressed, Wun praises Seft’s ingenuity and offers to employ him, but Cog angrily refuses. The offer, however, plants a crucial idea in Seft’s mind. After finishing the cleanup, Seft returns to the house to find only a bare bone left from the beef. Enraged, he briefly considers killing his family with his flint axe but restrains himself. Instead, he decides to escape. 

In the night, he quietly leaves the house, tricking his half-asleep father into letting him go. Seft runs north into the hills, hides in a valley he knows well, and spends the next day watching from a distance as his family unsuccessfully searches for him at Wun’s pit. Confident they will give up, Seft resolves to go to Wun the following morning and begin a new life on his own terms.

The farmer women and children travel home after the Midsummer Rite, a two-day journey across the Great Plain. Pia walks happily with her friend Mo, while her cousin Stam refuses to walk and must be carried by his mother, Katch. 

Along the way, Pia observes herder villages and learns from her mother, Yana, how herders live communally, sharing livestock and food, unlike farmers, whose land and produce belong to individual men and their families. Pia reflects on the differences between the two societies, particularly the farmer belief that “every woman [belongs] to a man” (56), and notices that Yana does not fully accept these rules. 

As the group approaches farming territory, Pia and Yana discover that the Break, a grassy passage between East Wood and West Wood used by herders’ cows to reach the river, has been plowed and prepared for crops. Yana realizes that the farmer men deliberately carried out this work while the women were away at the Rite, preventing opposition. She explains to Pia that the Break was essential grazing land for herders; she predicts serious conflict. 

Troon, the aggressive Big Man of the farmers, arrives with his follower Shen and openly defends the seizure of the land, claiming the farmers need more fields as they have “more mouths to feed” (59). Yana challenges him publicly, warning that the herders greatly outnumber the farmers and may retaliate. Troon dismisses the danger, calling the herders cowards ruled by women.

Meanwhile, in Riverbend, Ani learns through a quick runner that the farmers have taken over grazing land. She joins Keff and Scagga in traveling to inspect the damage. They see that the Break has been fully converted to farmland using scratch plows and shovels. Ani fears the situation could escalate into war, recalling an earlier conflict between herders and woodlanders. 

At Farmplace, the elders confront Troon, who is guarded by armed young men. Troon refuses to compromise and threatens to slaughter any cattle that trample his crops. The elders withdraw without resolution. Back in Riverbend, the herder community debates its response. Scagga urges immediate war, arguing the herders’ numerical superiority, while Ani and Keff argue that war would cause devastating losses so should be a “last resort” (66). Ani proposes negotiation instead. After heated discussion, the community agrees to avoid war for now. 

When news reaches Farmplace that the herders have chosen not to fight, Troon gloats openly. Pia questions how many enemies he has created, but Troon takes pride in “being hated” (67), confident that fear will protect the farmers.

In the aftermath of the Midsummer Rite, Joia and her friends, Vee and Roni, are bored by the return to normal life. Their attention is caught when “a group of carpenters and handymen” (68) known as cleverhands, led by the elderly Dallo, transport ropes across the river to move a massive stone from a farmer’s field. The farmer has promised a young bull in exchange for removing the obstruction. Joia closely observes the operation as the cleverhands ingeniously weave a rope bag beneath the stone and, with the help of many volunteers, drag it across uneven ground to the riverbank. The feat fascinates Joia and briefly satisfies her hunger for novelty.

Restless again, Joia proposes “an adventure” (72): Spying on the priestesses during their secret sunrise ritual at the Monument. Despite fear of punishment, Vee and Roni agree. Before dawn, they walk toward the Monument. Hidden on the grassy bank, they witness the priestesses dancing naked within the circle, singing and moving with deliberate precision around the wooden posts and bluestones. Joia realizes the ritual is connected to counting days and seasons. Her curiosity deepens. 

The plan goes awry when Joia’s younger brother, Han, reveals that he has followed them. Han’s presence makes Joia “furious” (82), but they continue to watch. Though the priestesses appear not to notice the initial disturbance, they are soon discovered. Joia and Han are seized by the priestesses, while Vee and Roni are ordered to accompany them. Inside the priestesses’ house, Joia meets High Priestess Soo, who quickly identifies her intelligence and curiosity.

Instead of punishing Joia, Soo explains the Monument’s secrets. She demonstrates a system of counting using pottery discs that allows numbers to extend indefinitely, enabling the priestesses to track days, weeks, solstices, equinoxes, and even eclipses. Joia is overwhelmed and exhilarated by the “secrets of the priestesses” (87). Soo invites her to consider becoming a novice priestess, assuring her that the life is voluntary and reversible. 



When Joia returns home, Ani reacts with anger and disbelief. Joia passionately explains what she has learned and declares her desire to become a priestess. Though skeptical and protective, Ani begins to soften as she realizes that her daughter may, like many of the priestesses, be one of the “women who love women” (91). She agrees to speak directly with High Priestess Soo, leaving Joia cautiously hopeful that her future may lie with the priestesses.

Seft thrives at Wun’s flint pit, appreciating the efficient work methods, companionship, and sense of dignity absent from his family home. His father Cog eventually arrives with Olf and Cam. Backed by Wun and the other miners, Seft refuses to go back with them. Cog retreats after threatening future violence, but later that night Olf sneaks into the camp and attacks Seft while he sleeps. In a desperate struggle, Seft slashes Olf’s face with a flint knife, blinding one eye. Wun intervenes, forcing Cog and his sons to leave. Seft feels both terror and triumph, knowing he has finally broken free from his father’s control.

At the same time, Joia settles into life as a novice priestess and finds deep satisfaction in learning. Under Inka’s instruction, she studies the Monument’s numerical system, discovering how the priestesses calculate weeks, seasons, solstices, and leap days. Joia’s enthusiasm contrasts with the anxiety of her fellow novice, Sary. Joia’s world is shaken when her sister Neen confides that she is pregnant by Seft and uncertain whether to wait for him or accept Enwood. Ani later reveals another worry: Scagga, the hot-tempered elder, has “vanished” (103).

That night, the newly plowed fields at the Break are set ablaze. Pia witnesses the fire and its aftermath, when Yana discovers birch tar shards, proving the fire was deliberate herder retaliation. Troon vows revenge, signaling that violence will continue to escalate. 

Wun’s pit is soon exhausted and, after a closing ceremony honoring the Earth God, Seft returns to Riverbend with his friend, Tem. He reunites joyfully with Neen, learns of her pregnancy, and plans a future within the herder community. He wants a family “where everyone loves each other” (109). 

Meanwhile, Joia is awakened by suspicious noises at night and discovers that farmers are destroying the wooden Monument. She raises the alarm with a drum, but the attackers escape, leaving the Monument in ruins. Soo declares that they “must rebuild in stone” (112). Seft leads Soo, Dallo, the elders, and others to Stony Valley in the North Hills, where immense stones lie scattered. Although the stones impress everyone, attempts to lift one reveal the enormous difficulty. After careful demonstration, Dallo concludes that rebuilding the Monument in stone is “impossible” (117). Joia, however, remains silently determined, unwilling to abandon the vision despite Dallo’s verdict.