She's Gone: A Novel by Joye Emmens Page B

her mint tea, and they sat at the kitchen table and ate goat milk yogurt with honey and blackberries. Grace filled her in with the ranch gossip.
    Later, Jolie sat on the porch outside the main house soaking up the weak October sun. She read Jasmine’s book, The Wisdom of Buddha . The moonstone, in its small leather pouch, hung around her neck on a thin leather lace beneath her blouse.
    That evening some of the group sat around the fire pit after dinner. It was getting colder as the days passed. Will and Jolie shared a log bench as Will strummed his guitar.
    “My vision is to create a higher culture, a true Shangri-La,” Mark said.
    Jolie could see Mark’s s face in the firelight. A Shangri-la? What would that look like?
    “But that won’t change society or our capitalist government,” Will said, impatience rising in his voice.
    “This is our society and politics are not part of it,” Mark replied. “We don’t want to be part of the outside world.”
    Jolie shifted. She couldn’t wait to leave the ranch and join the outside world.
    Jade sat down next to Jolie. “Our Moonchild is back. Everyone was worried about you.”
    Jolie smiled and touched the moonstone in the leather pouch. “Thanks, I’m better now.”
    “Does anyone know when Allen and Haley are coming back?” Will asked.
    “They’d be crazy to come back now,” River said. “Winter is in two moons.”
    Two moons? Two months? The conversation livened. The group that had survived the previous winter, their first, began to share stories. River, Sky, Crazy Bob, Mark, and others told stories of being cold, extremely cold. They’d run out of basic supplies, delivered a baby, and watched record snowfall pile up four feet deep. They shared the tale of Mark and Crazy Bob’s heroic trek out by foot to get supplies.
    “A four-wheel drive is useless here in the snow. The road is too steep.” Mark said.
    The group started to plan for the coming winter. Jolie tried to imagine four feet of snow where they sat. How would someone get to the hospital in the winter? Staying in the miners’ shack was out of the question. There was no insulation, and the roof had holes. Did the main house have room for everybody? She tried to imagine Will stuck at the ranch all winter. It would be claustrophobic with so many egos.
    “We need to make a food run to San Francisco now that we know what to expect,” Jasmine said. “Maybe two runs.”
    The discussion turned serious. No one wanted to endure the bitter cold and meager food conditions of the previous winter. Now there was a baby, two toddlers, and two pregnant women that would give birth that winter. Mark and a few others started planning the trip to San Francisco to load up on supplies.
    Jolie glanced at Jasmine sitting between the two pregnant women. Why wasn’t she going on the trip? Wasn’t she screaming to get out of there for a trip to civilization to buy books and eat some decent food? And it dawned on her. The pregnant women needed her. Jolie looked around at the faces in the firelight, the ranch family. They really did care for each other. But aside from her friendship with Jasmine, she had never felt comfortable there. She inched closer to Will. Their visit had turned into a lengthy stay, and now winter was almost upon them. She felt trapped. A shiver went up her back.

    The next day after Will put in his three hours cutting firewood, he found Jolie alone in the kitchen of the big house. She was filling glass jars with dried plants and roots.
    “We’re leaving the ranch,” he said.
    She smiled.
    He held up his leather-bound notebook. “I’ve spent my time here writing a revolutionary socialist manifesto and I’m ready to publish and implement it.”
    Her smile broadened. They would make the world a better place.
    “I don’t want to be stuck here until spring,” he said. “There’s work to do.”
    “Where will we go?”
    “I’ve been talking to some of the men. There’s a commune in Eugene,