Hello and welcome to this week’s Tuesday tales. I saw a robin this morning, a bright spot to an otherwise gloomy day. This week’s word is ROAD. I continue with The Price of Courage, Canadiana Series, Book Two.
Enjoy.
Guy turned to Izzy and Sophie, both with red, swollen eyes. How many friends would they bury here? Although they’d only known Roger a short time, he’d been a frequent guest at the inn. Most thought he and Sophie were courting, but Guy wondered about that. The two played cards and dominoes, but he’d seen Sophie watching Lucien last fall before he’d left on his mission. She never looked at Roger the way she’d glanced at the coureur de bois, and Guy was certain the young soldier had noticed it, too.
“Ladies, are you ready to return to the inn? We will have a few people come and commiserate I’m sure. More will be there to find out what I intend to do about his latest unprovoked attack. The Sulpicians have petitioned the governor general for additional trained soldiers, but until they arrive, the men of Ville-Marie will have to stand guard.”
“Including you?” Izzy asked, and he saw what it was costing her to hide her fear.
“Yes, and Henri. As a seigneur, I have to lead by example. The nearer seigneurs will be stopping at the inn before leaving the city.” He turned to Sophie. “No one expects you to wait on them. Maman and the servants can attend to that, but I will be sending Luc to the seigneurie to bring back a few of the men to help out here. If you’re ready, we should get going. The road is clear, and I would like to be among the first rather than the last to arrive.”
Sophie nodded. “Contrary to what many think, Roger was a good friend and nothing more. We wouldn’t have suited, and I think he realized that as well as I did. I’ll be ready to attend to my duties as hostess. The men from the seigneurie can sleep above the barn when they aren’t on duty.”
“That’s kind of you, Sophie, but I intend to keep men in the barracks until I discover what’s happening here. If the six men who support the colony each send five men, we can have three shifts of ten, with Ville-Marie’s militia providing additional support as needed. If the settlement itself isn’t secure, we will never get people to remain here in the colony. I will not let the traitors use this as a means of turning us one against the other.”
That’s it. Don’t forget to check out all the other posts on Tuesday Tales.
Living the Dream 
Lovely excerpt!
I love Guy’s determination to find who did this. I hope that he does and quick. Great job!
The deeper we get into your tale, the happier I am that I’m not living in those days. It would have been a rough time. You portray it very well.
I’m with TrishaFaye. That’s a rough time to be living in and you do an excellent job helping us “see” it. Well done. Jillian
I hope they find the bad guys. And just why wouldn’t they have suited? What was it about Roger that wouldn’t have suited her?
She wasn’t in love with him.
You do such a great job of showing the vulnerability of living in those precarious times. It’s amazing how sturdy (and lucky) people had to be to win out over all the dangers and pitfalls.
It helps that winters haven’t changed much.