He caught a glimpse of Ms. Takada, the one with the scar on her face, her body angled off to one side, seated in the second row.
This was the first time Kizu had seen all the former radical faction, the Technicians, who were among the first to move here. Clustered in their own little group like the Quiet Women, these men in the prime of life gave the impression of being an intelligent elite group. Kizu was frankly pained by the thought that these welleducated researchers had left their fields of spe- cialization and were now doing manual labor as members of a religious organization.
What a terrible loss to Japanese academia and industry! Kizu thought, the idea itself the product of his long years in America and an American uni- versity. He wondered if the church office had prepared a program to make good use of these men who-both as people and as highly skilled specialists- were so far above average.
Patron opened the meeting with remarks that were unexpectedly care- free.
"Well, everybody, I'm hoping, with the land and the buildings that are still being readied and through the facilities at the farm, that you've been getting an upbeat feeling about our future here. How do you feel about it?
I don't think the character of our life here will be changing all that much, so if any one of you feels uncomfortable with our communal life, I'm not recommending that you just grin and bear it. There's a great number of people who've already announced their intention to move here. Please feel free to discuss this in informal groups or come individually to the office if you'd like to talk about it, but feel free to move in and out as you please.
Normally you'd be hearing this sort of thing from representatives of our office, but since I don't have anything else to say today, I decided to announce this in their place."
Morio seemed so taken by Patron's casual way of speaking that he could barely restrain himself from applauding. Instead, he merely nodded, and Pa- tron gave him a serious nod in return. Kizu was favorably impressed by their completely natural rapport. Those who lived with Patron in his detached house on the mountain side of the eastern edge of the monastery didn't take their meals in the dining hall, so it was the first time in quite a while that Kizu had seen Morio.
Soon after they'd moved to the Hollow, Patron had invited Kizu and Ikuo for dinner at his residence, but Kizu was busy with his large-scale paint- ing-he'd finished the sketches he'd begun in Tokyo and though the main theme wasn't settled, the hint Dr. Koga had dropped was swirling around in his mind-and couldn't spare the time. The explanation the office staff had given convinced Kizu that Ikuo was busy, but day after day he'd return late at night, well after dinner was over, and Kizu, finding it too troublesome to walk alone over the weir to the dining hall, would more often than not make do with groceries he picked up at the market.
In this casual intimacy between Patron and Morio, Kizu could sense a positive mood surrounding Patron's daily life in this new location, where he now seemed to be getting back on track.
Mrs. Shigeno spoke next.
"The Quiet Women would like to get everyone's opinion about the cafe- teria. Have the meals we've prepared up till now been all right? Starting this week we'll be using ham, bacon, and fresh chicken from the Flaming Green Tree Farm. We're also negotiating with a company we've done business with for a long time to buy some very fresh pork as well. As for fish, a church truck will be going to the sea to lay in a stock. The only remaining question is find- ing a reliable provider of beef.
"We're not doing this for all of you in the church so much as in the hope that it will help improve people's diets here in this region. Soon after we arrived, I was quite shocked at how poor the selection of goods is in the mar- kets here, and when I went to the Old Town I found it much the same. The Era of Rapid Growth and the Bubble Economy have passed this place by with barely a ripple.
"Still, it's interesting to look at the schoolchildren here, because they're as big and strong as any kids you'd find in the city. I hope we can get the Farm completely up and running soon so we can provide these children with deli- cious, healthful food. According to Ikuo, the Farm has a variety of equipment so as long as we can reestablish connections to some reliable suppliers, we can leave the rest up to the Technicians."
Seated beside Ms. Tachibana and behind Patron, Asa-san hesitantly replied to Mrs. Shigeno. "In its heyday, the Flaming Green Tree Farm had a good connection with a major meat wholesaler for ham and bacon, as well as with retailers to sell the finished products. Satchan had her reasons for scal- ing back the Farm's operations, but maybe you could revive this connection with the supplier again. Anyhow, besides the negotiations to turn over the management of the Farm to the church, she has been putting out feelers in a few other directions."
"Thank you very much for your explanation," Mrs. Shigeno said po- litely. "That being the case, there's not much cause for concern. The only thing I'm trying to do is find out whether you've liked the food so far. I don't imag- ine you want to come right out and say you don't like it. Should we talk about whether to go along with a supplier who wants us to put in a vending ma- chine with beer and alcoholic drinks? The Technicians, though, since they're in a field that involves calculations with equations, don't seem to drink alco- hol much."
Dr. Koga spoke up briskly. "Some of them do drink, so when they want something they buy it from the vending machine in front of the general store down by the river. Can't they just continue to do that? That's the least we can do to help out the local economy! Speaking as a doctor, it's healthiest if the vending machines selling alcoholic drinks are as far away as possible. Good exercise, after all. Also, and the Technicians are all in agreement on this, we have no complaints about how the Quiet Women are running the dining hall.
Compared to the research institute's dining hall ten years ago, Japanese food has become quite gourmet."
The calm former radical members followed Dr. Koga's pronouncement with a serious, almost solemn attitude.
Dancer spoke next.
"We've already come up with a proposal for Patron to give sermons in the chapel. We've posted the first announcement on the bulletin board in the dining hall, but this doesn't mean we'll follow the same schedule every week.
Some people have gotten in touch with us at the office requesting that a regu- lar program of sermons be set up as soon as possible. The main question is Patron's health. Patron has been mentally preparing so that the church can have a clean start. We've come this far. I ask that you be patient until he's physically and mentally ready to begin. At the beginning Patron told you some things that Ogi or I should have reported, and now I guess I've said some things that are more properly in Patron's purview."
Kizu was sure that calls-if not protests-for Patron to address them directly would arise from the assembled group, but instead a warm reaction welled up from the circle of participants. The feeling that we've come this far was clearly not confined to Dancer.
At this point Ikuo spoke up. To Kizu at least, his forceful words seemed aimed from the beginning at intentionally introducing something completely at odds with the congenial, homey atmosphere they'd built up.
"I think we've heard enough about the transfer of the Farm to our church," he said. "There's something else I'd like to talk about. I'm hoping Patron's new church will begin here, in this building-on this piece of land, I suppose I should say-at the earliest possible date. I can't imagine what direction the church will take, but like everyone else I trust in Patron and am looking forward to a new beginning.