Read Online Gone to the Forest: A Novel by Katie Kitamura - Free Book Online

humor. Another one of his flaws. However, the humor
     was intermittent, a nervous habit that soon gave way to anxiety. Two days passed and
     still the girl did not appear. He asked Celeste about it. She said the girl was
     indisposed and then shook her head. Tom asked if they should call for a doctor and she
     shook her head again. Ah no, she said. No doctors. No doctors, he repeated. No
     doctors.
    Tom looked for his father. He found him on the veranda with the three men.
     The sight of the old man surrounded unnerved Tom. He thought: the presence of the men
     and the absence of the girl. He did not go out onto the veranda but he stood and saw.
     His father’s face red with anger as he read the newspaper again and again. One of
     the men leaned forward, his hand on the old man’s shoulder. Tom strained to hear
     his words.
    “You see it right there.”
    The old man did not respond.
    “You see the steps that are being taken.”
    “I see nothing.”
    The man leaned back and crossed his arms.
    “The Government will concede.”
    The old man looked up angrily.
    “On what authority? To whose demands?”
    The man remained calm. He smiled and pried thenewspaper from the old man’s hands. The old man’s face darkened at the
     audacity. The man ignored him. He folded the paper in two and tucked it into his pocket
     for safekeeping. Then he looked down at the old man.
    “Try to imagine it. If we do not make concessions, they will tear
     this country to pieces.”
    Tom shook his head and stepped away. It was no time to be worrying about
     the news. Going over the matter of the unrest yet again. Four days after the mountain
     began to erupt and two days after the girl took ill, the volcano stopped. Across the
     valley there was relief. But on the farm the situation remained unchanged. The men
     showed no signs of departing. And the old man strangely powerless against them.
    It was like the farm had seized up with cramp. It needed to be moved back
     into life. Grasped by the middle and jolted. It was not something Tom could do, it
     needed the old man’s force. There never having been anything like this before. As
     it was, Tom was already unnerved. He did not like having strangers in the house. He was
     constantly moving from room to room in order to avoid them. While the old man remained
     fixed to the veranda, examining the week-old newspaper.
    Tom went to Jose and told him they would ride to the High Point. From
     there they would be able to see the mountain and assess how the land had been damaged.
     The old man prided himself on his knowledge of the land. His best self was a man
     patrolling his land astride a horse. He was therefore bound to join them. In this way
     Tom would recover his father. He would detach him from the rubber grip of the three
     men.
    However, Tom’s plan failed. He went to the old
     man’s study early the next morning and found the old man already surrounded by his
     comforters. Tom had never seen a stranger in his father’s rooms. Now there were
     three. Three, standing in the room. Sitting on the desk. Looking out the window. Tom
     stopped at the door and could go no further. His father looked up.
    “What is it?”
    “We are going to the High Point.”
    His father nodded. He didn’t move.
    “When?”
    “Now. Or when you like.”
    A pause. His father looked down at the sheets of paper on the desk. He
     shuffled them vaguely. Tom kicked at the doorjamb for his attention.
    “Will you join us?”
    His father shook his head. He did not look up—he waved Tom away with
     his eyes still on the papers. Tom backed out of the room. He turned and heard the air
     whistling through his ears. He almost stumbled in the hall but righted himself. He went
     to meet Jose at the stables. They led their rides out in silence. It was only when they
     had mounted the horses that Jose turned to him.
    “Where is he?”
    “He’s not coming.”
    Jose nodded. He did not look surprised and did not say anything