Short Story: Recruiting – Daughters of Clio – #DofC – #weblit

Daughters of Clio is the prompt-a-week group of Trix, Clare, Tara, and I.

Last week the prompt was Clare’s choice to pick a person, and she picked “The First and Fifth.”

This is sort of Shustsumon’s fault, because she mentioned it sounded like a Dr. Who fanfic title.

Recruiting
The first and fifth Miss Draper of Albany, NY studied the probationary sixth of their line.

“She fits the qualifications,” Miss Draper Five said, more than a little defensively. “She’s overqualified in over half the categories.”

“And choosing your successor is, of course, your purview.” Miss Draper the First carried prim and proper as if she was the one who was stylish, and everyone else just horribly out of fashion; the Fifth had never been able to rid herself of the urge to tug her skirt further over her knees and put a hat on. Now she was also fighting the urge to go put a hat on the girl who, with any luck, would be the Sixth. “But she’s so very…” The First’s gesture seemed to include all sorts of words without ever being so rude as to say them.

“Modern,” the Fifth countered. “Which isn’t always a bad thing, you know.”

“Of course not. Modernity has its place… but is that place in the house of Miss Draper?”

“I bring your attention to the Third. Think of what she did.”

“Well, yes, she was very instrumental in some changes that we really wanted to see… but she also did so while remaining within the strictures of the culture she lived in.”

“It’s two thousand eleven Anno Domini. I wouldn’t say anything she is doing qualifies as outside the strictures of her culture. She could have seventeen piercings and still be not that far outside of the strictures.”

“But would she fit into, say, her mother’s world?”

“That can be taught. And I have a year to teach her.”

“Why are you so set on this one, Eloise?”

“I like her,” the Fifth answered, ignoring the breach in protocol. “And you should have seen her at the cocktail party last weekend; the way she handled two drunken congressmen and a state senator was brilliant. She has a way with people, and that’s the thing we can’t teach.”

“Ah. There is that. And she has the look, doesn’t she? If you discount the… clothing. But is she already too well known? You mentioned congressmen?”

“She’s a waitress with a catering company.”

“Aah, so invisible. Very good, Eloise. Miss Draper.”

“Thank you, Miss Draper.” In theory, the current Miss Draper outranked those who had come before her; she had the final say on all business decisions, and no-one would contradict her on more personal choices, either. But the first of the line had never truly let go of the reins, stepping back from the role only when the passage of time demanded it. Eloise might outrank Second through Fourth, but, theory aside, the First was still in charge.

“So, this girl. If you truly believe she’s the one, I suppose you ought to bring her in. I do hope you can teach her some manners, however, before you introduce her to the public. We don’t want another mess like Third, do we?

Fifth hadn’t been born yet when Third had begun making a mess. “No, ma’am. I don’t think she’ll be a mess at all.” And even Third had maintained the Draper name and fortune, albeit in a bit bawdier fashion than First might like. “Would you like to meet her now, then?”

“I think that can wait.” First’s smile as she tapped Fifth’s hand was a sharp thing, with all the genuineness of margarine on plastic toast. “I look forward to seeing what you do with her, dear.”

37 thoughts on “Short Story: Recruiting – Daughters of Clio – #DofC – #weblit

  1. Ooh… I wanna know more! I always want to know more XD Are they all alive at the same time? What makes them pass the name down to the next one? (What does this have to do with Doctor Who?) And is the possibly sixth Autumn? Because she’s totally a waitress with a catering company and she would handle congressmen easily…

  2. I am intrigued! And did not get the Dr. Who reference, but I don’t watch it. You explained that bit well. Taking in Spring would be… quite possibly far more than either the Fifth or the First could plan for. Is it the same setting, or is this one something new? That’s what you’ll want to figure out. Possible typo: Miss Draper the First carried prim and proper as if she was the one who was stylish, and everyone else just horribly out of fashion Miss Draper the First carried HERSELF?

    • Aah, yes, typo. Thanks. The Dr. Who was really sideways and possibly only made sense in my head. And yeah, I dunno. It fits with some stuff I know of the world Autumn lives in…

      • If it fits, then it fits. So long as it isn’t shoehorned in, cool. Though I think Spring sort of already has a job and an identity, so I am not sure if it would work well for her. She also seems rather close to her own family to take on an identity that does not involve them.

          • Then it can be! I am sure there is more than one interesting young woman working for a catering company… Same ‘verse, maybe just different people.

                  • I am intrigued. Mostly I want to know what Miss Draper of Albany, NY does. And why there needs to be more than one of her. Others appear to be interested too. Also, gnome squee.

                    • Yay on “moar please.” I also love the gnome. Her nose is not quite right – too big really. But the attitude is spot on, and I am definitely using her as my “squee!” icon.

                    • (Shahin has a longer nose but this so suits the rest of her that I’m willing to go with it. ) I have icon envy over so many of your icons.

                    • Having a paid account apparently means like 50 icons these days! This one is still my favorite. I really need to frame the original. It is hard to find a frame that small… And yes, I wasn’t sure about the nose on Shahin, but the pose and her attitude were just right!

                    • Yeah, I sent her some photos refs too. She will make those icons- she is true to her word. Sadly, she’s in a crappy situation right now with no real way to paint. But things will get better. They have to. I bought good portion of the e-books she has up on Smashwords and donated for the Three Micah’s series. I’m hoping every little bit helps.

                    • Oh, I know! I understand she’s in a bad space (I sent her a Border’s card & will send more later).

                    • *nods* I know you knew about the situation – wasn’t sure if you’d seen the posts about how she has no access to art supplies. And I know she will paint those icons eventually. She’s that kind of person. And they will be really fabulous – her work is good! Which alien species did you pick, or are you letting her choose?

                    • Ha! *grins* It’s the right choice. She’s got a couple of cat-based species. I wonder which one she will use…

                    • We had a long conversation about fur personas, and mine in specific. So I’m not sure. But we shall see! I trust it will be cool no matter what!

                    • It will! I’m not sure where I fall on the furry scale. I do like my antlers a lot though. And wow, new color scheme. I almost thought I was in the wrong place!

                    • Yeah, I’m still playing with it. I’ll see how it looks on a real monitor tomorrow. I… am also not sure where /I/ fall on a furry scale. But there is cat!Lyn, and always has been.

                    • The current scheme looks better than the one yesterday, although the comment boxes are green-on-lightr-green and a bit hard to read. But not impossible. *grins* I am reasonably sure I would not be comfortable at a furry con, for instance. But darn near everyone has ears or horns at PortCon, so I wear them there. (And I need to figure out a good costume for my second set of horns) Also, I totally love the giant fox ears. They look so good! I wonder if I could get my hair to do something like that around a set of them. There has never really been a furry!Eseme, but someday there might be…

                    • Oddly, it’s all blues on the laptop and green on the work computer. I need to change the colour of the comment box text, yes I am… always a little bit furry. I’ve discussed it in a couple posts before. Always a bit kitty. But I don’t think I’d be comfortable at a furry con, either!! The giant fox ears look perfect on you in that pic 😀

                    • *good luck on the colors* Yeah, we have discussed it, I believe. It comes up every now and then. I do love those fox ears. I must experiment, or talk to the nice lady with the booth at PortCon.

                    • I sort of want good kitty ears. The ones at costume shops, on headbands, hurt my head. I have a big head. 🙂 Nope, no option to change these colours :-/ Yeah. Furdom is kind of big and scary so I sort of dance around the edges thereof

                    • Some of the ones for sale at Portcon were simply cheap craft foam in the right shape on elastic cord. The better ones appeared to be either Fimo (or similar) or resin, with fur inside, on elastic cord. Sadly, the nice lady who was at PortCon last year does not appear to be on the vendor list for this year. Argh! She didn’t seem to be having great sales – too many teens without money to buy stuff (one kid was actually asking this craftswoman if she could simply give away her wares!). And I can’t seem to find her business card, more is the pity. She did great work. I’m hoping the vendor list is just not complete right now.

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