2 Maid in the Shade
Page 30
There were more cars than I had expected. My father parked and I looked at him and glanced meaningfully over the many cars that were parked there. They were all automobiles I knew.
“Not my idea,” he said. “Lucy, I expect.”
I squeezed his arm. “Sometimes Lucy knows what I need even when I don’t. Don’t tell her that though,” I smiled. “When she is wrong she is colossally wrong.”
My friend Mona was there and Lucy’s husband Rod, but their twins were out of sight. As we came through the door I saw Jackson there with Jared. I took a deep breath. Jared and I had been sticking to our resolve not to be alone for awhile, so whenever we had some outing we were interested in pursuing we had persuaded Mona, Jackson, Lucy or whoever we could draft into coming along. “This might be one of those colossally wrong ones,” I said grimly as everyone surged towards us. Food was everywhere, the television in the great open room was on a 24 hours news station and I saw Rod scramble toward the remote to switch it off.
I caught his eye and waved my hand carelessly to stop him. “If it stays on I won’t be able to stand it, and if it’s off that will be intolerable too,” I whispered to my dad.
“I don’t think you’ll hear anything that way,” my father nodded at the screen. “We will be called, or Elizabeth will.”
“Don’t let me forget before we leave town, I said, “there is something wrong at Ben’s office.”
My father nodded as everyone began to approach us.
Lucy came and reached up to hug us and then the rest of them followed suit. Jared gave me a hard hug and shook hands with my dad.
“I understand you all have been taking care of my girl here.” My father cleared his throat. “I had no idea all those stories were completely true, until I reached the States. It seems I’ve been mislead by someone into believing it was all inflated melodrama”. He gave me a mildly reproachful glance. Then Dad reached over and caught Mona’s arm and pulled her into another hug. “I understand you’re quite a good shot, I’m awfully glad you are,” he smiled and Mona gave him a dazzled look patting her hair into place. “There’s plenty more where that came from” she stammered. There were slight smiles all around; Mona’s conversational gambits could be quite baffling. My father was the only one who kept his features somberly and thoughtfully composed as he covered her hand with his own. “I owe you a great debt,” he said seriously, and she drew closer to him, her eyes fastened to his lips as though she might be compelled to kiss him.
“Well,” Lucy piped up, “we have an awful lot of food here, shall we get to it?”
My father flashed her a smile. “Can I lead the prayer?”
“Of course,” Rod answered, because Lucy’s eyes had suddenly brimmed over and she turned quickly away to hide it.
Everyone stood quietly as my dad began. “Bless us oh Lord for these thy gifts…”and he finished with a request that God watch over us all and guide us, to keep us strong and deliver Ben home to us safely. We genuflected and the others stood quite still for a moment before Betty bustled in the kitchen, grumbling that all that fine cooking was going to get cold, and Rod turned to hand my father a tumbler of bourbon which he gratefully accepted.
People began to line up at the various stations and someone handed me a plate full of food. I saw my father reach into his pocket and head outside. I put my plate down and followed him.
I stepped out of the grand entrance and watched him talking on the phone. The moment he saw me he stepped further away. I leaned against the stone wall and waited until he ended the call.
He walked back toward me and put his arms around me and sighed heavily. “I think we should go to London in the morning,” my dad said.
“What do you know now?” I asked. He shook his head again. .”Let’s make our apologies and get back to your place,” Dad said. “Can someone take Mosey?”
“Any one of them,” I replied.
I didn’t ask about the call. My father looked grim but not despairing. Whatever it was I didn’t want to hear about until we were alone.
When we walked back in I asked Jared to take Mosey for awhile and tonight if possible. He kissed me carefully on the forehead, “Whatever you need.”
I turned and looked for Lucy but our side of the room had emptied. Jackson, Mona and Rod were all watching the television screen. Jared quickly pulled me back to him and held my face pressed against his chest. I struggled free and walked toward the television unsteadily as though I were moving through strong currents. There was an anchor woman on the screen and the band of news running like a ticker tape across the bottom. Then the screen changed and there were three men bookended by two with guns. The men were on their knees; their heads were covered with loose black cloth, their arms bound behind them. As I drew closer I could hear the announcer saying disparate words I couldn’t quite absorb or connect; words like “faction, no demands, one identified.”
Jared caught me as one of the gunmen raised his weapon and shot the man on the far left in the back of the head.