"On the other hand, we thought that if only there was a convincing explanation-in other words, if Patron was able once more to have a vision and reveal what he'd seen-we could have taken the lead in the new move- ment. So the ones doing the interrogating asked Guide: what Patron's latest vision was. But Guide didn't answer. We thought he was hiding something, but now that I look back on it I realize there was nothing he could say. Why did Guide remain silent? I believe it's because of this: He couldn't bring him- self to tell these former radical followers that Patron had been abandoned by God. Guide had an admirable reticence in him, when you come right down to it."
2
Kizu felt led to take their talk a step further.
"I've been talking about it in vague terms, and you might have guessed already-and people might think me crazy at my age-but my desire to spend my remaining days with a certain young man is why I'm here. Honestly speak- ing, I don't think I'm qualified to hear anything very substantial.
"My remaining days-a pretty accurate way of putting it, as you know, Dr. Koga, since I could be struck down by the cancer at any time. Cancer's calling the shots, in other words. You don't seem to think all that highly of Patron's using his spiritual power to effect a cure, but I'm not entirely dis- missing it. Not that I'm clinging to it, either, as my last hope.
"Living together with Ikuo, seeing my neither-here-nor-there life as a painter to its conclusion with him, I'm doing what you suggested and start- ing to paint again. Painting as the Fireflies would have it, Yonah-Ikuo, this real young man, as the biblical Jonah, as the final creative work of my life. I don't have any particular dissatisfactions about life in the Hollow and my painting, but what about Ikuo? I do know he's got some plan he wants to carry out through Patron's new church, but what it is I haven't the foggiest. He's not the type of person to live a quiet life of faith, though, that's for sure. Be that as it may, I'm prepared to help him with whatever plans he has, but I don't have the courage to grill him about them. Or, more accurately, I don't feel like doing it. So, awaiting new developments from his end, I spend my days painting my final work.
"Seeing how much energy Ikuo is putting into his work every day, I realize that he's waiting, too, for Patron's activities to take shape. That's quite clear. On the surface, he's creating an economic base for the first wave of fol- lowers who moved here and for later waves to follow. Ikuo consults closely with Dancer and Ogi as he plans out his work, he's got the Technicians using their technical skills in starting up production again at the farm, and he's guiding Gii's Fireflies in a way that maintains the boys' independence. All well and good. Ikuo's an unexpectedly able person, and so far he's had good results. But is that enough for him? I don't think so. Since he was a young boy, he hasn't been able to live a normal life. He's become exactly what the Fireflies, with their children's intuition, call him: Yonah. And he's leaving the basic issues up to Patron, hoping through him to arrive at a clear-cut solution.
"In that respect I think he's a lot like you, Dr. Koga, and the Techni- cians. Why was Ikuo like that as a child, and what sort of hope does he en- trust now to his relationship with Patron? I haven't questioned him past a certain point, but especially seeing him after we moved here I can understand that. I feel like I was listening to what you said in Ikuo's stead."
Dr. Koga paid rapt attention to Kizu's words. It had been a long time since Kizu had been able to talk so forthrightly with an intelligent person his own age, Japanese or foreign.
Kizu wasn't the only one who felt this way, for even after he stopped speaking Dr. Koga didn't respond; instead, he gazed at the far-off scenery.
Kizu looked in the same direction.
The high sky was still white, tinged with gray, but the quick-moving low clouds had disappeared. In the unimpeded view that stretched out before them, beyond the mountain range that surrounded this land, lustrous light- purple trees continued off to the horizon.
Kizu considered the people long ago who'd followed one forest glen after another to arrive, and then live in, this dead-end valley. And their de- scendants. And those who trooped off in the opposite direction to find work in the Kansai area, in Tokyo, or in Yokohama, and how they might still be in the grip of vague ideas about their connection with the founding fathers of this forest village. The Fireflies made a pact that even if they went off to the cities they would still view this valley as their base and would someday re- turn to it-a childish pledge, perhaps, but weren't they supplementing, albeit many years later, the notions that brought settlers pushing their way into this land in the first place?
"When I see the faces of the Technicians, I think the same thing you think about Ikuo, Professor," Dr. Koga said finally. "When they were given the chance in Izu to do their own research they basically followed a proper path, but once they started to get soaked in Patron's aura, they all began to view their research in a different perspective. Eventually things turned com- pletely around, and they threw themselves into situating the church as a force to be reckoned with, one that could actually change society.
"Just at this point they were abandoned by Patron and Guide. Ten years pass and here they are, once again gathered around Patron. Which makes me wonder: Does Patron really have a new plan that will fit all they've accumulated over this painful decade? I don't have any desire to ask him whether he has any plans for action, plans that will surface in the near future to fit what the Tech- nicians are doing. Some people might call me-to use an old union term-a corrupt trade boss for thinking this, but I think we should just let him be himself.
"The Quiet Women seem fully content just to be living in the same place as Patron and to spend their days near him in prayer. One time Morio had swollen tonsils and came to the clinic, and Ms. Tachibana told me about the way the Quiet Women pray in their rooms. It's extremely intense, apparently.
The Technicians also have a quiet time of reflection after each day's work that's so intense it's guaranteed to make you feel uncomfortable."
"Both groups have moved here and settled in, and we need them both to support the activities of the church. Dancer thinks this, too-of course, all under the leadership of Patron."
"This contradicts what I said before," Kizu said, "but the Technicians and the Quiet Women are clearly different types of groups, and it'll surely be a test of Patron's leadership skills to get them to cooperate."
"I can imagine a scenario," Dr. Koga said, "where things turn hostile, with both groups surrounding Patron insisting that they be allowed to show what they're capable of."
"I don't think it's just the Quiet Women and the Technicians who'd do that," Kizu said. "You'd have to include Ikuo and those under Patron's direct supervision-Ogi and Dancer-as well. And let's not forget the Kansai headquarters, which is lying low at the moment. I wonder if Patron isn't waiting for the energy of all these people to get compressed and then he's going to leap into action all at once. If Guide were here I'm sure that's what he'd do."