6 Violet by Leigh Greenwood

Author:Leigh Greenwood
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The twins lost color. They looked at each other, at Jeff, and finally at Violet. She couldn't decide if they were asking for her protection or if they wanted her to tell them their uncle was serious. Violet could give them no answer. She didn't know herself. Jeff had a right to be angry, but to spank children not his own?

"Get down. Let the groom take your horses," Jeff said.

"We ought to unsaddle them," Aurelia said. "We rode them."

"You will. He's just going to walk them for a few minutes."

The girls dismounted and handed the reins over to the groom, who took them without a word. Violet looked up, expecting to see Monty and the boys. She was surprised to see they were still some distance away. Monty was in the front and they were walking their horses. He was giving Jeff a chance to have his say in private.

Jeff glared at the girls. Violet couldn't detect any of the kindness or understanding that he had shown toward her and Essie. He looked more like a judge facing two convicted criminals before he sentenced them.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" he asked.

"We only wanted to" Juliette said.

"You have upset the entire school," Jeff said, brusquely cutting off his niece. "You have upset Miss Settle. You have also upset Miss Goodwin. Furthermore, she will undoubtedly receive a reprimand for failing to keep the two of you under control."

Violet hadn't considered that aspect of it, but she was certain Jeff was right. Miss Settle would be anxious to blame someone for the inexcusable lapse.

The twins glanced at Violet, then back at their uncle. "That's not fair," Aurelia said. "No one can keep us under control."

"Worse than that, you forced Essie Brown to tell a lie. All because you wanted to do something you weren't supposed to do in the first place. That's unworthy of a Randolph. If you're going to do something wrong, you should make certain you don't cause anybody else to end up taking the blame for it. But you were too selfish, too determined to get your own way to think of that."

As usual, when faced with the consequences of what they had done, the twins were sorry. Violet didn't doubt the sincerity of their repentance that time. But she knew they'd be ready to do something just as bad a week or ten days from then. Still, she couldn't help admiring their spirit. There was nothing weak or spineless about the girls. She was beginning to think an unconquerable spirit was a Randolph family trait.

"Are you really going to beat us?" Aurelia asked.

"Don't you think I should?" Jeff said.

"Beat us here," Juliette said. "If you beat us at school, we'll just have to run away again."

Violet could hardly believe what the girl had said, but she realized immediately it was true. If the twins received any kind of unusual punishment at school, Betty Sue would make continued enrollment at the Wolfe School impossible.

Before Jeff could say anything more, Monty and the boys rode up.

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