SWNOVELS Chapter A Keeper At Last
One Week Later
Christianna once again sat in the main dining room of Château Duflot. She was incredibly excited. After all, she had spent the day shopping with Haruhi-nee and Miss Harrison.
It has all started with a phone call from Miss Harrison the week prior. She had called Christiana and informed her directly that Sakura-nee’s blood test had indicated cheating and that patMother Patricia had been formally censured by the other Wives.
Becoming a Keeper along with Haruhi-nee had overjoyed Christiana, but she felt bad about Sakura-nee being punished along with her Mother. After all, Sakura-neechan had suffered three cracked ribs as a result of their bout. To Christiana that was punishment enough. However, that was in the hands of the Mothers and as a child she could do little about their decisions.
Miss Harrison had gone on to explain that since the Sisters would need a new wardrobe as Keepers she was going to take both girls out shopping. Thus, the trio had spent the day going from store to store looking at the sample clothing and ordering them in Black and various other colors. While the stores in the major cities kept such clothing on hand, stores in the smaller towns only kept a few select specimens and they ordered the final selection of their patrons’ exact size. To be blunt, there simply wasn’t sufficient demand for Black clothes anywhere outside of Cooper’s Landing and Planetfall since there weren’t enough Keepers to make it worthwhile.
In the end, the duo had ordered several thousand cred’s of high quality clothes and Miss Harrison had paid for it all. In fact, she had insisted that the girls buy the best fabrics and craftswomanship. Even when the children had protested that they would soon outgrow their clothing, the older girl had simply reiterated her stance.
After shopping, they had dropped Haruhi-nee and their many bags of accessories off at the Washington’s home and then proceeded to the hotel for dinner. They would have invited Haruhi-nee as well, but she had already planned an evening dinner with her own benefactor.
When they had arrived at Château Duflot, Miss Harrison had invited Christiana up into her suite and had gifted her with a dress to wear to dinner. She was currently wearing the black, knee-length dress there in the restaurant. Christiana loved the fact that embroidered royal blue flowers covered much of the fabric, making the dress look elegant while still incorporating her favorite color. Needless to say the thoughtful gift thrilled the youngster.
Sitting at the table with her were Miss Harrison and her associate, Miss Coop. Miss Harrison was wearing yet another floral print dress which was mostly blue in color as well as a matching sun hat. Miss Coop, on the other hand, was wearing a formal charcoal gray suit complete with a dark green tie that matched her eyes. Christiana could not help but think that Miss Coop looked somewhat familiar, although she could not remember where she had seen the young, dark-haired woman in the past.
“So Miss Coop,” Christiana was asking with interest, “How are you related to Miss Harrison?”
“We are not technically related,” the dark-haired woman replied. “However, we go way back.”
“So far back that I feel like she is family,” Miss Harrison revealed, before taking a sip of her apple juice. “I have known her for what feels like centuries,” she completed with an enigmatic smile. Upon hearing this, Miss Coop also smiled, although it was a warm grin towards Miss Harrison.
“Oh, I was wondering since you have different last names,” Christiana revealed. “I thought that you two might be some form of Sisters at first and I wanted to check.”
“That’s okay,” Miss Coop replied. “We get that a lot when people see us together.”
To Christiana Miss Coop looked to be roughly the same age as Miss Harrison, although Miss Coop looked slightly older. Still, both of her companions looked quite youthful for adults.
“So Christiana,” Miss Coop said politely, “please tell me how you like your new position.”
“I haven’t actually started working as a Keeper yet, although I have been training almost daily along with my Sister Haruhi-nee. We won’t officially take the position until the new school term begins after the Spring Quartanoctis,” Christiana explained.
“But you are wearing the Black,” Miss Coop pointed out.
“As soon as they declare a person a Keeper, it is required for them to wear the Black,” Miss Harrison explained.
“Oh, I see,” Miss Coop responded, apparently confused by the intricacies of the laws surrounding Keepers. “I can’t keep up with all the changes in the laws.”
“But the laws concerning Keepers haven’t changed for over a decade,” Christiana pointed out in confusion. Since that was the case, then the laws currently in place should have been the same when Miss Coop was in school.
“I guess I am just getting forgetful in my old age,” came Miss Coop’s witty response.Both Christiana and Miss Harrison both laughed at the apparent joke, although they did so for totally different reasons.
Upon hearing this, Miss Harrison frowned and asked, “Do you know why it took two weeks for that fact to be publicly announced?”
Christiana shrugged. “I don’t know exactly why. I guess patMother Patricia opposed the idea. That is my best guess.”
“I wonder why she would be against having two Keepers?” Miss Coop asked.
“I think it had less to do with having two Keepers and more to do with who got the position,” Miss Harrison promptly interjected. “After all, Haruhi did not compete in the tournament and Sakura came in second in the competition.”
“In other words, this Patricia wanted her Daughter to become the second Keeper,” Miss Coop said in a questioning manner.
“Exactly. That woman loves to cause problems, it seems,” Miss Harrison responded.
“You can say that again,” Christiana interjected.This comment brought a knowing smile to Miss Harrison’s face.
“So how did Haruhi react when she learned the truth?” Miss Coop asked.
“At first she was surprised, but then she got really happy and excited that she could spend her days with both Johnathan-nii and myself. Johnathan was also happy to learn about this, so it was a very joyful day in the Washington household,” Christiana reported with a smile.
Her two companions grinned back upon hearing this news.
“Haruhi was definitely in high spirits today when we went shopping for Black clothing,” Miss Harrison commented with a sparkle in her eye. “I just thought it was because she was getting free clothes, but that’s not the case I take it?”
Christiana giggled before responding. “She has been that happy for the past week, although she definitely appreciated the clothes. Mother only buys us what we need and little more.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I will be coming to town more often in the near future since I have business to take care of in this region. So I will be around to spoil both of you more often over the next few Years,” came Miss Harrison’s unexpected response. “Really?!” Christiana all but squealed in happiness. Then she sprang to her feet, went over, and hugged Miss Harrison excitedly. “Now I will get to spend even more time with my geneSister.”
Miss Harrison hugged the child back and said, “Something like that.”