She's Gone: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

him.
    “We’ve torn down the walls of society and have created a utopia, a radical wilderness utopia,” a man with startling blue eyes said.
    Jolie’s brow furrowed. She thought she knew what utopia meant but this was not it by any means.
    “I came here to get away from the United States of America,” said Crazy Bob, a burly man with an eagle tattooed on his bicep.
    Jolie studied him. Well, he’d attained his wish. This was the most isolated end of the road place in the wilderness you could get. There was no electricity, running water, or proper bathrooms and they were forty long miles from anywhere. But they were free and no one was telling them what to do out here. She doubted anyone could even find the ranch.
    The group continued to talk after lunch. “Can we stay until Allen and Haley get back?” Will asked, looking at Mark.
    The table went silent. Jolie stiffened. What if they said no? Where would they go? Will didn’t have another plan that she knew of and Pattie was long gone. Mark, Crazy Bob, and River got up from the table and walked a short distance away. They stood under a madrone tree, talking. The conversation resumed at the table. Will stroked her hand to relax her grip. The three men returned and sat down.
    “You can stay in one of the old miners’ shacks,” Mark said. “A couple left last month. Make yourselves at home with whatever’s there.”
    Jolie exhaled, her shoulders relaxed a bit. The conversation turned to the projects that needed to be done: chopping wood, barn repair, garden irrigation. No one could agree on what to work on as a group that day. Slowly they disbanded and wandered off to do whatever they each wanted. Some went to repair their houses. Some headed to the swimming hole and others to the main house. A few women stayed in the summer kitchen to clean up and start working on dinner.
    Jasmine offered to show Jolie and Will around. They walked along a well-worn path past five geodesic domes nestled in a circle around a meadow. The domes were patched together with tin, plywood, tar paper and whatever building material was available. Plexiglas skylights adorned the roofs. The whole place was surreal.
    “Most live in their own shelters and some live in the main house, especially in the winter,” Jasmine explained. “We are trying to perfect the domes. They’re one of the most efficient dwellings to live in. Mark and I built this one.”
    Jasmine walked onto a wooden deck and opened the door. Will and Jolie followed and peered in the door. The large open room was framed by a series of triangles from floor to ceiling. It looked like a giant honeycomb. Sun poured in through the skylight onto a bed laden with a patchwork quilt. A wood stove and small kitchen area were off to one side. Everything was clean and neat. Jolie felt the calmness of the place, a retreat from the chaos of the noisy summer kitchen.
    They walked back across the creek to a string of collapsing wood-framed miners’ shacks.
    “You can stay here,” Jasmine said. She opened the door to one cabin and led them in. It was blazing hot inside. A gray-and-white striped canvas mattress rested on a metal bed frame. A chipped ceramic wash basin and a few cups had been left on a wooden table. In the corner was a tin wood stove. The stovepipe exited skyward out of the roof and daylight streamed in from cracks.
    “It’s perfect,” Will said.
    Jolie stood rigid in the center of the small room looking at mouse droppings on the rough plank floor. It was far from perfect. A couple had actually lived there? It needed a cleaning, that was for sure.
    Will and Jolie walked back to the main house with Jasmine. “This is our only link to civilization right now.” Jasmine nodded toward an old Dodge Power Wagon parked by the main house. “And of course people like you who stop by now and then.”
    The oversized truck with the rusty bed did not inspire confidence. Four other vehicles rested inoperable amid rusting car parts and