around the hi/ts, try to geta peek. at the monks–they
WOre heavy brown obes nO matter how’ hotit
got. Never talked to anyone ‘or had mything to do
With folks in town. The gates were always locked.”
“Must have been nice growing up here.,
“Why’s that?”
I shrugged.
“The open air, the freedom.”
“Freedom, huh?”His smile was abrupt and bitter.
“Farming is just another word for bondage.”
His jaw set and he kicked at a rock with sdden
changedsavagery, the I’d subject, hit some kind of nerve and quickly
‘/When did the monks leave?”
He sucked on his cigarette before answering.
“Seven years ago. The land went fallow. Scrub
and brambles. Couple corporations thought of buy?
it–executive resort and all that–but all of m
backed out. The buildings weren’t suited to
rooms like cells, no heat, looked like a church any
way you cut it. The cost of renovation would have
been t ‘
“But perfect for the Touch.”
He shrugged.
“Something for everyone in this world.”
The front door was rounded at the top, a slab of
stout boards braced by wide iron bands. Inside was
a three-story white-walled entrance floored with
Mexican pavers and skylit from above. A stoear of
color reflected from the stainedg/aSs windovs
rainbowed the tiles. The spicy aroma of,incense
suggested itself. The air was cool, almost to the
point of refrigeration.
A woman in her sixties sat at a wooden table in
front of a pair of oversized doors that were rounded
“I can’t help you. They were private peoP/e. As
are we. We barely knew them.. There were brief
encounters-passing each other on the road, per-
functory smiles. Once or twice we purchased seeds
from them. In the summer of our first season the
girl worked for us as-a scullery ‘maid.”
“Temporary job ?”
“Correct. In the beginning we were not yet self
sufficient hnd we hired severa/of the lOCa/young-
sters to help. Her duties were in the kitchen, as I
fecal/; Scrubbing, scouring, readying the ovens for
use.”
“How was she as a worker?”
A smile vented the
“We
cotton-candy beard.
are rather ascetic by contemporary standards.
Most young ‘people would not be attracted to that.”
Houten broke in. “Noua was–is a live one. Not a
bad kid, just a little on the wild side.”
The message was e/ear: she’d been a problem, I
remembered Carmichael’s storyabout the stag party.
That kind of spontaneity could wreak havoc in a
p/ace that prized discipline. She’d probably come
on-to theafien. But if that had anything to do with
the issue at hand I couldn’t see it.
Anything else you could te//me that might help ?”
He s-tared at me, His gaze was intense, a/most
tangible. It was hard
“I’m
not to look away.
afraid riot.”
Houten shifted restlessly in his chair, Nicotine
fidgets. His hand went up. to his cigarette pocket
then stopped.
‘T.m go/ma take some air/’ he said and wa/ked
out. Matthias didn’t seem to notice his exit,
‘BD TEST 211
“You didn’t know the family well,” I went on.
“Yet two of your people visited, them at the hospital.
I’m not doubting your word but it’s a question
you’re bound to be asked again.”
He sighed.
“We had business in Los Angeles. Baron and
Delilah were assigned to handle it. We felt it would
be gracious for them to visit the Swopes. They
brought the family fresh fruit from our orchards.”
“Not,” I smiled, “for medicinal purposes.”
“No,” he said, amused. “For nourishment. And
le
”
p asure.
“So this was a social call.”
“In a sense.”
“What do you mean ?’
ere not sociable. We don’t malte small talk.
Visiting them as an act of good wilt, not part of
some nefarious scheme. No attempt was made to
interfere with the child’s medical care. I’ve notified
Baron and Delilah to join .us momentarily so
you’ll have a chance to obtain additional details.”
“I appreciate that.”
A vein throbbed in the center of the crater in his
brow. He held out his hands as if to ask, What next?
The remote look on his face reminded me of someone
else. The association triggered my next question.
-here s a doctor who treated Woody by e