Double Trouble: Two: A Story of the Crane Daughters
 by Cariad
 
 

Double Trouble
~Two~
Snow was falling softly outside the window, covering the grounds of the Weymouth-Hampsted Private Academy for Young Women. Holly and Julia Crane were frantically studying for their exams, which would, thanks to the help of their grandfather, let them, graduate in December. That is to say, Holly was studying and Julia was frantic.

“Jules!” Holly snapped for what seemed the thousandth time that morning, “pay attention!”

Julia tore her gaze away from the window. She could have been down there, building snowmen and joining in the snowball fight. Some boys from the area high school had snuck in and Julia was sure she could catch one with a snowball and get him into a wind-sheltered nook. A smile had formed on her face, but it fell. She was up here, stuck in her room, preparing for exams—the worst thing possible in her experience—she would probably fail…

“Jules!” Holly shouted, and the window blind was abruptly blocking her view of the outside. Her sister was standing there, her hand on the bottom of the blind.

Julia snorted in frustration. “I can’t do this, Hollis,” she mumbled. “I’m not the smart one. I don’t know half the stuff, and no one else is paying attention to studying. They’re all outside having fun with the local boys.”

Holly’s face hardened. “No one else has as much at stake as we do. We have to pass these exams, or we won’t be able to leave after December.”

Julia stretched out on her bed, grabbing a magazine. “Then you graduate, I’ll stay here,” she huffed. She felt the weight of her sister’s frame settle on the bed next to her. And she felt Holly’s hands rubbing her back.

“I could no sooner leave you than I could cut off my arm,” Holly said. “We’re a team, remember? Always a team.” Julia smiled. Even when they had been dumped on a slew of tutors and private schools, they always had each other to cling to. “Anyway,” Holly continued, “think of Mama’s last letter. Pilar is quite worried because her darling Theresa is pregnant, and the good Father won’t marry her and Dim-wit-Ethan, and Father still hasn’t gotten that annulment. The ex-Mrs. Hotchkiss has moved into the mansion… Need I go on for all the reasons we need to get back and do damage control?”

“You’re talking like Grandfather Crane now,” Julia mumbled.

“Do you want to have either gold-digger as your stepmother?”

“God, no!” Julia jumped up from her bed and cracked a tome of American Government. Before she could read a sentence aloud, the phone rang. Holly pushed the speakerphone button.

“Cranes,” she said.

“Greetings, Granddaughters,” said a familiar voice at the other end of the line.
Both girls immediately lost their animation. “Hello, Grandfather Crane,” they said in unison.

“And how is your schoolwork going?” Alistair Crane asked, his voice rich and languid, as if it were a cat toying with a crippled mouse.

“Fine, Grandfather Crane,” Holly answered.

“We were both just studying now,” Julia said, moving closer to the phone, taking Holly’s outstretched hand for mutual moral support.

“Good,” came the voice. “I dislike leaving my plans in the hands of children, so you better listen closely, else your allowance will be cut.” The sound of scissors snapping shut transmitted across the phone line. Both girls swallowed hard. “I would never have approved of your idea for this early graduation had you both not proven yourself useful, and properly obedient to the Crane Family… Unlike your mother.” Julia had to put her hand over Holly’s mouth to keep her from saying something uncalled for to their powerful grandfather.

“When you get into Harmony,” Alistair continued, “you will facilitate and expedite your father’s marriage to Rebecca Hotchkiss. You will also continue foster the amicable divorce between your father and your mother…” There was a long pause where they thought Alistair had hung up, yet he continued. “Holly Katherine.”

“Yes, Grandfather Crane?” Holly answered.

“Named after my dearest departed wife,” he mused, his voice heavy with irony, “you will accept the invitation of young Jonathan Hotchkiss to the New Year’s Eve Ball…”

“What invitation?” Holly whispered. Julia shrugged. There came a knock on the door. Julia answered it only to find a dour-looking man holding a silver tray with a letter addressed to Holly Katherine Crane. As she picked up the letter, the man bowed and turned down the hall. Julia shut the door and gave the envelope to Holly. They could both hear Alistair’s fingers beat a tattoo on the other end of the line.

“That invitation,” Alistair said as Holly scanned the letter and let it fall through numb fingers.

“Yes, Grandfather,” she said through clenched teeth. Julia was about to open her mouth and volunteer to be the escort of the Hotchkiss scion, but Alistair interrupted her thoughts.

“And Julia Rose,” the old man said.

“Yes?” She asked.

“Yes, what,” Alistair replied flatly.

“Yes, Grandfather,” she mumbled.

“I have other plans for you, so don’t go emulating your whorish mother,” he ordered.

Julia could see Holly’s tension increase as she fought not to defend their beloved mother. Julia almost said what was on her mind, but common sense took over. Grandfather Alistair controlled the purse strings of their education and their monthly allowance. If he so chose, he could pull them out of private school, refuse to fund their college education, and though they each had a savings account and checking account in their own names, it wasn’t nearly enough to afford the schools they wanted to go to. Furthermore, Grandfather Alistair would make life difficult in getting a job if they crossed him. Hadn’t he cut Julian out as heir on a whim? That was before the world found out Ethan was not a Crane—but that was the only thing which had Julian reinstated. Not with their other brother dropped off the face of the earth, as he often had a desire to do.

“Yes, Grandfather,” Julia said finally. “I understand.”

“Good,” came the immediate reply. “Now get back to your school work. You will be in Harmony in two weeks, and I will expect you stay there.” A dial tone followed.

Holly’s knees crumpled. “I hate him,” she whispered. “I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.”

It was Julia’s turn to comfort her sister. “We’ll get out from under him,” she soothed. “We always have. We’re a team, right? Well, you leave the thinking of this one to me. Right now Grandfather Crane thinks its best for Daddy to marry Rebecca. We’ll just have to convince him its better for him to not marry either one!”

Holly forced a smile. “We will, won’t we.”

“Do you want me to be you for the Ball?” Julia asked.

“You’d put on one of my dresses, and behave the whole night?” Holly asked. When Julia nodded, the elder smiled for real. “You do love me, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, you’re my sister!” Julia laughed. “But I’ll only do it if you be me for the American Government exam! You’ve already taken that class, and I’ll never remember all I need to know to pass that exam.”

“You should have been paying attention in class.”

Julia smiled, “Yeah, but Mr. Gordon is so hot, and he’s just out of school too! How am I supposed to concentrate on this law or that when he’s up there just oozing masculinity! Do we have a deal?” Julia asked holding out her hand.

“Deal,” Holly replied, and they shook on it.
 

“Now can we go out and play in the snow?”

Holly grinned. “I’ll have my eye on you Miss Crane!” she said with mock severity.

“Not if I hit you with a snowball first!” Julia countered as she was grabbing her winter gear.

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