Mycroft decided that after Enola and I's little "adventure", there was no way I wasn't going to the finishing school. Thankfully we didn't need to make any stops at my father's house, or should I say kidnapper's house. It was now dark, and Mycroft was sitting next to me in the carriage. I was lightly crying, not just from the school but from the emotions of the past few days.
"You may not like me. You may not think what I'm doing is right. But even your blessed mother made a match. Even your blessed mother was a bride. I just want you to be happy." I turned to him confused but mostly angry. He was lying through his teeth. All he wanted was me and Enola out of his hair so he could spend more time with Miss Harrison or getting money.
"No. You want you to be happy. You want me controlled. Because otherwise you think I will affect your standing, as your ward."
"You already have done immense damage. As has that errant brother of ours."
"Ours?"
"Sherlock and Enola seem very fond of you, as family tends to be, so I am willing to look past the fact that we aren't blood and say we are family."
I was incredibly confused and shocked. Did Mycroft just say something sentimental? And nice? "However, I won't treat you differently than I would Enola in this situation or any situation. So, give me the money."
"I don't have it. Enola does." I stated, probably more sassy than I should have. Mycroft was getting very annoyed, or maybe angry. It was hard to tell with him sometimes. "I know you have some of it so give it here."
"I don't."
"You are my ward!" He yelled, finally fed up with it. He has a very short tolerance for me, apparently. "You will do as you are told!" I began silently crying as I handed over some of Enola's money, the money that she gave to me to hold, over to Mycroft. "See, now was that so hard?" We spent the rest of the ride in silence as I stared out the window, wishing I was in London.
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"You've missed supper, but no matter." I was currently in Miss Harrison's office, waiting for her to show me to my room or something. "You could do with losing a pound or two." Rude. I instinctively moved what I was holding over my stomach as she continued talking. "The name Holmes is coming to mean something in this country. You, by extension, are now a Holmes, and at this school, you'll be given a chance to live up to it."
"But I-"
"And you can begin by closing your mouth." I shut my mouth, but all I was going to say was that I'm not a Holmes. "The next time you meet your brothers, they will have reason to be proud of you." I guess I really was a part of the family now, if I wanted to be or not. "Welcome."
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The next few days were pretty boring, with lessons on posture, how to eat, how to dress, things of that sort.
"Girls, you are here for one reason and one reason only." Miss Harrison would say this every day. "You are here to be made into young ladies. You all have the potential, but you are untapped, untested, and most of all untrained. Walk as we show you to. Speak as we tell you to. Act, think, be as we tell you, and you'll become acceptable wives and responsible mothers. Follow the path of so many girls who once stood where you do now. And just as we moulded them, so shall we you."
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I was sitting on my bed, Miss Harrison next to me, giving me a small lecture because I had gotten into trouble. If you're wondering why, well it might be because I punched a girl who was talking about Enola. I guess word had spread that she had escaped the authorities and ran from home. Okay, in all honesty, I may have gotten more than one punch in.
"Do you know why I became an educator?" Miss Harrison asked. "It's because I want to make people happy." She didn't even let me answer, plus I doubt she wants people to be happy. "I want you to live a full and vibrant life. Not with anger and endless questions, but with answers. I prepare my girls for the world, the real world. I would never abandon you, and leave you to fend for yourself." I turned to her a bit mad. "Yes. Mycroft told me."
"She had her reasons." I said angrily.
"I'm sure she did. I knew your mother, Eudoria. We were friends for a while. At school." So she's the same age as her and trying to get with her son? Seems a bit creepy. "She was a peculiar little thing. Was always unpredictable, always challenging. She never truly cared for anything except for her own, unusual ideas."
"She cared for Enola, and she cared for me."
"Then why did she leave you?" I was a bit taken back by this. How could she be so rude and blunt? "Prefects will accompany you to and from lessons. This door will always be kept locked. You'll thank me...one day, when you're happily married with a pair of strapping boys. Sleep well, Alexandra." With that, she left the room and I immediately flopped down on what I guess was my bed, even though in reality it was a super thin mattress on a bench attached to the wall. I pulled out my spellbook and my note from I guess my real father (some of the few things I was able to sneak in here), and began trying to find something to help me figure out who my father was.
After going through practically every spell I could find, there was nothing. I guess the only way for me to find more about him was to do it old school, with some detective work. I fell asleep thinking about everything, but not before hiding everything under my pillow.
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Because Miss Harrison said I needed to lose a few pounds, I had been tying my corsets extremely tight where at times it was a bit difficult to breathe. Today, I realised that I didn't need to tie it quite as tight as I did the first day, which made me very happy. I had just finished getting ready and was sitting on my bed waiting for the prefects to take me to class when I heard a knock on my door, and Miss Harrison walked in.
"Your brother's here. Smart collar." We walked to her office, and like I was taught, I kept my head down. I really didn't want to see Mycroft right now. "Mr. Holmes." I felt Miss Harrison tilt my head up so that I was facing who at first I believed would be Mycroft, only to see Sherlock.
"Thank you, Miss Harrison." She seemed confused about the simple remark Sherlock said, but left, mumbling something under her breath.
As soon as the door shut, I immediately stood less straight and walked over to Sherlock. "I have never seen such a range of romances in my life. It's enough to turn you to newspapers." I grabbed the newspaper from under his arm and began looking through it, mostly at the personals, trying to see if there was any message left, though I know by now Enola would have gotten to it.
"Maybe she has all of those romances so she can imagine it's her and Mycroft." He chuckled at my remark which made me smile.
"What in heavens are you looking for? Why might you be interested in the personals? You've gone quite mad."
"I have a right to be mad in a place like this."
Sherlock walked over to Miss Harrison's desk and sat down. "I was forced into calligraphy as a child. Hated it, but there's rarely a case where someone's handwriting doesn't tell me something I need to know."
"And what might I learn from deportment?"
"The way a person stands may disguise who they are. Nothing is wasted." After a small moment of silence I decided to change the subject to something that has been in the back of my mind ever since we started this whole thing. "Have you found her?"
"No, not yet." I sighed in defeat. "I went to the tearooms, where Edith threatened me with a teapot." I chuckled at the idea. "And to Limehouse. I believe you two went there too. You've become quite the detectives, you and Enola."
"It was all Enola, I just followed her and tried to keep her safe. Did you find the gun? And the bomb?"
"I did."
"Why would she..."
"I shudder to think. Perhaps she wants to change the world."
"Perhaps it's a world that needs changing. Will you stop her?"
"I don't get involved with politics."
"Or people, either, unless they're clues." At this point, I was definitely mad. "Did you help Mycroft catch me?"
"No."
"But you found out about the money. You told him."
"You and Enola disappeared. We had to know how far you would run."
"We're just a case to you, aren't we? A curiosity. Is that why you're here, to pick my brains?" I was almost seeing red at this point, as I inched closer to the desk, Sherlock stood up and walked around to the other side. "Or possibly, you're feeling guilty."
"I'm here because I care for you." I stood back, shocked.
"You care for me? I'm just the neighbour girl."
"You, whether you like it or not, are Enola's sister, so you are my sister, and Mycrofts. You are family. If you would just admit that, you would see how much we all care for you. Even mother." We stood silent for a second. "It's an intrigue, isn't it?" Sherlock asked, out of nowhere.
"What's an intrigue? Family? Emotion?"
"The Tewkesbury case." I felt my face slightly heat up at the mention. "A bit more complicated than a simple disappearance. He jumped from the train...with another boy, and a young lady. Were they being chased, do you think?"
"How did you know that?" I asked, once again getting closer.
"I traced your departure to the same station that he left from. Edith mentioned a 'useless boy' that you seemed to fancy. And, to top it all off, I was telegrammed about a young female assistant and a sister of mine who visited the Tewkesbury residence. Have you solved it?"
"Not yet."
"The only advice I can give to you, one detective to another, is that sometimes you must dangle your feet in the water in order to attract the sharks."
"So that's why you came here? Shark lessons."
"No, no I came here to give you these." He handed me what seemed to be a small mouse with a note attached. "For Enola, I have a feeling you'll see her before I do." He handed me something else, a small necklace that had what seemed to be a crescent moon charm, with runes carved into it. Together they created a spell, one that allowed whoever wore the necklace protection from evil, good fortune, and love. "That's from mother. Those runes she had specifically carved for you." I turned to him with a shocked look, something that seems to be ever persistent on my face today. "Yes, she knows, and so do I. She always found you and Enola to be quite extraordinary, as do I. The choice is always yours. Whatever society may claim, it can't control you. As mother has proven. Keep the paper." I just realised that I still had the paper in my hand, and with that, I was escorted back to my room.