Tuesday Tales: From a Picture

Welcome back to Tuesday Tales, the blog post that keeps you up to date on one of this authors current works in progress. Each week I write the new scene from a specific prompt. Sometimes it’s a word, but once a month, we write from a picture.

This is Picture Prompt Week, and here’s the picture I chose:

Long before  ready-made clothing became available, mothers-to-be and other close family members spent hours and days assembling a baby’s layette. The layette consists of all of the clothing and and accessories necessary for a newborn baby. This included nightgowns, blankets, hats, sweaters, and of course, diapers.  The garments themselves were hand made, sometimes if the family was wealthy, from new clothe, but most of the time, older clothing  was re-purposed for the task. A woolen sweater might be taken apart and the wool rolled into balls once more. Spinning, weaving, sewing, knitting and embroidery would take up the time leftover from cooking and cleaning. We have no idea how easy we have it today!

Here’s today’s scene. Enjoy!

Izzy stopped the motion of the swinging chair, tilted it to the back, and stood, the ropes falling away behind her. She carried the bonnet to the small trunk where she’d stored the rest of the layette. The quilt with the embroidered maple leaves lay in the cradle Henri had made for her.

“And did the good sergeant explain why he hadn’t been with Roger?”

Guy pursed his lips. He’d hoped to avoid this topic for now.

“Unfortunately, no. The men located him beside a utility shed at the edge of the river behind Aux Écus Dorés.”

Izzy’s eyes grew wide. “My God, he’s dead?”

“Yes.” Guy reached for the glass of brandy on the small table he used for a desk. “The sergeant must’ve been there when the barracks  were attacked. I knew and trusted the man—so did Pierre. He was doing his duty, just as he should’ve.” He emptied the brandy in his glass, letting it burn a trail down his angry throat. “Anselme had two arrows in him, one in his shoulder, another in his back. The Lord alone knows how he managed to escape. That’s why you need to stay here where it’s safe, Izzy—”

“Safe?” she cried. “Two men are killed in the settlement and you still claim it’s safe? I assume Sergeant Raymond died from his wounds?”

He nodded. Safe might not be the best words to use as she’d pointed out. “The arrow embedded in his back would’ve been enough to kill him. We saw the blood on the floor in the office and assumed it was all Roger’s.”

“Has it occurred to you that he may not have left the barracks under his own power, that he was moved to trick you into believing he was responsible for this?”

That’s it. See you next week. Don’t forget to check out all the other posts on  Tuesday Tales.