The Dragon Man - Brian Stableford [61]
“I can explain...,” she began—but her parents were too anxious to get their own thoughts on record to allow her to complete the statement. Even though she was used to it, the interruption annoyed her. If her parents weren’t even going to listen to her explanation, she thought, what was the point of the hastily-convened meeting? Were they just taking the opportunity to let off steam themselves?
“Actually, Steve,” Mother Maryelle said, “we’re perfectly entitled, in law, to capture any stray creature that wanders into our house, and I really don’t think that Sara’s action can be classified as immoral....”
Sara watched the expressions on her other parents’ faces change as they realized that Mother Maryelle was playing the lawyer yet again—but she was careful to keep her own face straight.
“This isn’t about the legality of catching the shadowbat, Maryelle,” Mother Quilla interrupted, recklessly. “It’s about trust. It’s about Sara keeping us informed of what she’s doing....”
“It isn’t about that either,” Mother Jolene put in. “The real issue, to my mind, is the matter of recklessly posting notices on the public boards....”
“To my mind...,” Father Aubrey began—but he didn’t have time to finish before Father Gustave used the power of his baritone voice to shout for quiet.
“This is not the way to go about things,” Father Gustave said, when he finally had everyone’s grudging attention. “Sara, would you like to tell us what’s going on?”
It’s about time, Sara thought, all apologetic impulses having evaporated like the scent from her rose. “You all seem to know far more about what’s going on than I do,” she said, not quite succeeding in ridding her tone of sarcasm. “I didn’t know that I had to call a house-meeting before leaving the hometree, and I thought you might be pleased that I was using my initiative instead of asking one of you to sort out a problem with a rose that I chose and paid for. It’s no big thing. Shadowbats aren’t supposed to be attracted by my rose, and they certainly aren’t supposed to be getting high on its nectar, so I thought I’d better grab one while I could so that the Drag—I mean, Mr. Warburton—could check it out and report back to the manufacturer. It’s not exactly kidnapping, is it?”
She counted five deep frowns, but no one took her to task for her combative attitude.
“No,” said Father Gustave, who still had the floor, “it’s not kidnapping. I assume that we can take Maryelle’s word that it’s not a crime at all, in spite of Steve’s anxieties. The whole thing is just a slight failure of diplomacy. Do you know whose shadowbats they are?”
“No,” Sara retorted. “Do you?”
“Not yet,” Father Gustave admitted. “I dare say that we can find out easily enough. Has the Drag—I mean, Mr. Warburton—replied to your message yet?”
Sara checked her wristpad, then said; “No. There’s no response to the message on the board, either. But it’s early—and it’s Sunday.”
“Then you’d better give the jar to me,” Father Gustave said. “I’ll take it from here.”
“It’s Sunday,” Sara repeated.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Father Gustave demanded. He was obviously making heroic efforts to hold his irritation in check; having seized control of the argument, he was under an obligation to handle it responsibly.
“There’s no school today,” Sara said. “I can take it to the Dragon Man myself. He’ll know what to do with it.”
Father Gustave opened his mouth to reply, but was overtaken by a sudden fit of doubt. His eyes flickered from side to side—not so much in search of support, Sara guessed, as to make sure that he still had a license to speak for everyone. The moment he surrendered the conversational initiative, though, he was swamped. “No, you can’t,” said Mother Quilla and Father Aubrey, in unison, while Father Stephen was saying “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mother Jolene “Shouldn’t one of us go with you?” and Father Lemuel “Well I’m glad that’s settled.”
Sara saw Mother Maryelle waiting patiently