Sarah was knitting by the fire when Eleanor let herself in. “No wool?” Eleanor’s explanation ended up as a full recitation of the afternoon’s events and Sarah chuckled. “She’s a wily one, is Maggie, and I’ll do you a trade. Make up that pillowcase of yours into an apron for me, and I’ll give you …
Sarah removed the bandages and paste after lunch. Eleanor’s hands were noticeably better, less swollen, less pink. Sarah said. “My burn paste is best applied overnight, but this will see you through to bedtime. Put some of that soothing salve on your palms and I’ll re-wrap them but we’ll leave your fingers free so you …
She followed him out and found both Sarah and Matthew preparing for the day. Sarah smiled and said. “Can you get the bread?” Cadan made for the fire nook, grabbing a cloth on the way. “Not with your hands in that state, Nora.” “They’re fine.” She stalked over to the pantry, only to find the …
Sarah looked up from grinding something in a small stone mortar. “Matthew sent word they’re caught at a treefall on the castle road. Normally he and Cadan make up the beds but they won’t be home before we’re asleep, if at all, tonight. Best to make yours now, so you can tumble straight in after …
Maggie raised a brow at Eleanor who was trying to work out how to carry both clean clothes and dirty without transferring the problems of one to the other, then held out her basket. “Pop your muddy ones in here, and we’ll get to scrubbing.” They followed a swaggering Martha into the bath house, where …
Eleanor had thought bread baking was hard work, it was nothing on the laundry. Items were dunked into a tub and thoroughly wetted, which made them ten times heavier than they’d been mere minutes before. The water was nearly hot enough to scald, and the soap used felt like it was removing the skin from …
Maggie’s eyes seemed to see more than Eleanor was saying, but the older woman’s reply was all business. “Nora’s a good name, simple and sensible without being boring. If you’ve a mind to learn a little more about spinning and weaving before making that informed decision of yours, have Sarah point you in the direction …
They set off into the early morning light, and Eleanor got her first look at the place she was now expected to call home. Sarah and Matthew’s cottage, much like her father’s place in town, sat on the edge of an open space, with other cottages nearby. It was much smaller than the market square, …
She sighed and stretched. Her shoulders grumbled, but didn’t scream, so she stretched them again as she sat, then clambered out of their snug little nest of blankets. Cadan’s grin made her blush, worse when she realised he was barely even half dressed. She scurried to where she’d left her clothes the previous evening, in …
Matthew closed the door as he, Sarah and Tilly stared, shocked, at Cadan. He shifted uncomfortably. “He needed to know, that’s all.” Tilly’s giggle burst free. “That was better than the midsummer puppet show at the castle. I need to go warn Ma.” Matthew opened the door again with a rueful smile and watched Tilly …
The DNA of Stories 