Blackwood Farm - Anne Rice [173]
“ ‘Come on, Mona,’ said Dr. Rowan, ‘we’re here to take you home. You gave us a bit of scare slipping out this morning.’
“ ‘I want you to leave me alone!’ Mona said. It was practically a cri de coeur.
“I could scarcely bear the sound of it, and I flew into action without even moving. I held her shoulders. My heart was racing.
“But suddenly Dr. Rowan adopted an ominous face and said, to my complete shock, ‘Michael, take her.’
“Both Ryan Mayfair and Michael Curry moved towards Mona, and Mona screamed, backing up and overturning the chair, and I threw my arms tightly around her. She pivoted in my embrace and buried her face in my chest. She felt like the most fragile and precious little creature that I had ever known or loved, and I intended to fight for her.
“ ‘Come now, gentlemen,’ said Nash in a gentle commanding voice, ‘surely you’re not trying to take this young lady by force! Mrs. McQueen, are you a neutral party in all of this?’
“ ‘Indeed not,’ said Aunt Queen. ‘Jasmine, run get the men.’
“ ‘Wait a minute,’ said Michael Curry, and he made the universal gesture with both his hands for patience. He came on like the sweetest guy in the world. ‘Mona, please stop the theatrics and come home, you know you have to. Mona, I don’t want to be doing this. Nobody does, but you can’t go off like this. Look at it from our point of view.’
“ ‘I’m going to marry her,’ I said. ‘And if you lay a finger on her, I’ll break your face. Oh, I can see you’ve got brawn on your side, plenty of it, but I’m young and I’m meaner than I look, so don’t try me.’
“As for Goblin, he had risen to his feet and I had whispered to him to do nothing. What he could have done I didn’t know, but it frightened me and thrilled me at the same time.
“By now Clem and Allen were running towards the patio. And the security man had come from the front porch to stand by Aunt Queen, his hand on his gun.
“Aunt Queen motioned for Clem and Allen to come on and then stop.
“ ‘Aren’t you all being a bit ridiculous about this?’ Aunt Queen asked. ‘This girl is having supper with us. I’ll have my car bring her home this evening. I’ve never seen such hysterics before. Dr. Mayfair, I’m shocked.’
“ ‘I’m sorry, Mrs. McQueen,’ said Dr. Mayfair. Her voice was still low and husky, and very sincere. Yet a terrible power enforced her words. ‘Mona’s fifteen years old. Her parents are both dead. Sometimes she does things that are impulsive. I’m her legal guardian. I want her to come home, and as you can see, she won’t do it.’
“Michael Curry shook his head as if to say, The sadness of it, and then very gently he touched Mona’s hair. He spoke to her in a soft soothing voice.
“ ‘Now come on, honey, I know how you feel.’
“ ‘No, you don’t,’ she sobbed against me. ‘None of you do.’
“ ‘Mona, I love you,’ he said, and then he went on tenderly. ‘Let us take you back, sweetheart. You can see Quinn tomorrow. Quinn, you could come by the house, couldn’t you? We’d be glad to have you. What about tomorrow afternoon? Come on, darling.’
“I grabbed her head and whispered in her ear, ‘Go home and get your passport and be ready.’
“Dr. Mayfair shook her head as if she too hated this predicament. Or as if she’d heard my whisper. The lawyer, Ryan, the smoothie in the suit, never changed his pained expression. I think he was mortified but resigned. He was a good-looking son of a bitch, I had to give him that, and that probably meant his son, the infamous enemy Pierce, was also good-looking.
“Finally Mona turned around and, still clinging tight to my arm, she looked at them.
“ ‘I hate you that you did this to me,’ she whispered. ‘I hate you all. I don’t trust you.’
“ ‘Dear God, child,’ said Aunt Queen. ‘What do you want us to do?’
“Nash looked totally alarmed. Allen and Clem were ready for battle. The security man was on full alert.
“ ‘She