Blood Test by Kellerman, Jonathan

Matthias had okayed the visit. Maimon had another

talk with Baoul, buzzed, was retrieved by Bragdon

and left, telling the sheriff to call him if he was

needed. Houten put on his hat and absently touched

the butt of his Colt. He and I climbed down the

stairs and out of the building. We got into a white

E1 Camino decaled on the door with the sheriffs

star. He gunned the engine, which sounded supercharged,

and turned right in front of city hall.

The roadforked a half mile out of town. Houten

headed right, driving quickly and smoothly, accelerating

around turns that would have given a

stranger pause. The road narrowed and grew dim

in the shadows of bordering conifers. The El

Camino’s tires churned up dust as it sped past. A

jackrabbit in our path froze, quivered, and bounded

into the shelter of the tall trees.

Houten managed to pull out a Chesterfield and

light it without reducing speed. He drove another

twO mileS, sucking in smoke and surveying the eoun-

tryside with a cot

rise he turned abruptly, drove a 1

braked to a stop in front of a pair of black:

arched iron gates.

The entrance to the Retreat was unlabeled as

such. Prickly mounds of cactus squatted at the

outer edges of both gates. A tide’of electric pink

bougainvillaea flowed over one of the adobe gateposts.

A single climbing rosebush awash with scarlet

blooms and studded with thorns embraced the

other. He turned off the engine and we were greeted

by silence. And all around, the deep, secretive green

of the forest

Houten stubbed out his cigarette, dismounted the

truck, and strode up to the entrance. There was a

large columnar lockbox affixed to one gate, but when. ·

he pushed the iron door, it swung open.

“They like it quieC’ he said. “We’ll walk from

here.”

An unpaved path lined with smooth brown stones

and meticulously barbered beds of succulents had

been excised from the forest. It climbed and. we

moved briskly,-the pace set by Houten. He hiked

rather than walked, muscles swelling through the

tautness of his slacks, arms swinging by his sides,

military fashion. California jays squawked and

fussed. Large fuzzy bees nuzzled up to the labia of

wildflowers. The air smelled meadow-fresh,

The sun bore down relentlessly on the unshaded

path. MY thr6at was dry and I felt the sweat trickle

down my back. Houten seemed as crisp as ever.

Ten minutes of walking brought us-to the top of the

road.

“That’s it,'” said Houten. He stopped to pull out

another cigarette and light it in ‘the shelter ofcupped

gazed down at the

I saw perfection and it ved me.

The Retreat still looked Like a monastery, with

its towering cathedral and high walls. An assortment

of smaller buildings sat behind the walls and

fi..ated

a me of courtyards. A large wooden crux

topped the belfry of the churChtoWer, a rand

burned into the azure flanks of the sky The front

windows were leaded and supported by wooden

balconies. The roofs and the tops of the walls were

layered with red clay tile. The walls were fresh

.vanilla stucco splashed dove white where the sun

hit. A great deal of care had been taken to preserve

the intricate moldings and borders scored into the

stucco.

A running brook circled the compound like a

moat. Above it floated an arched viaduct that bled

into a brick pathway at the point where solid ground

reasserted itself. The path was hooded by a stone

arbor caressed by tendrils o pounds grape vine, ruby clusters

o pounds fruit ponderous amid the green leaves.

To the front of the compound was a small patch

of lawn shaded by ancient gnarled oaks. The big

twisted trees danced like witches around a foun

tain that spat into an enormous stone, urn. Beyond

the huildingswere acres o pounds armland. I-made out

corn, cucumbers, groves o pounds citrus and OLive, a sheep

APasturehandfulando pounds vineyardS,whitegarbedbUt there was plenty more.

figures worlted the land.

Heavy machinery buzzed wasplike in the distance.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” asked Houten resuming, the

hike.

“Beautiful. Like out-of another time.”

He nodded. “When I was a kid I used to c ‘hmb