The Committee's Threat

The Committee's Threat is about Sydney (15) and Courtney (14).  Mainly Sydney.  Sydney and Courtney visit a strange town to help fix up a house.  A big council will levy them a fine if they don't get it fixed up, and the committee is demanding the house repaired in a month.  Sydney has grown up working hard, and finds this easy.  She cleans, repaints, and sets up all the rooms, stairs and halls.  Except for a small room that Courtney is supposed to clean.  But Courtney isn't hard working.  She whines and complain when she's given the slightest work.  She cries hysterically when she is forced to scrub the floor.  She dumps out buckets of water on the floor and claims she's scrubbed so much her hands are blistered.  Sydney hates this.  She's tired of Courtney's complaining.  So one day, she shoves Courtney a bit, and forces her to start cleaning properly.  As Sydney walks out of the room to talk to a council member.  When she asks how to get Courtney to work, the council member turns serious.  He looks at her and gruffly says, "Tell her the truth: something foreboding with happen if she doesn't."