With dwindling
time, Leone uses the last of her strength to share important family history
with her only living relative: her grandson David. Despite her final request to
not sell the family heirlooms, David and Anne look into it because of their
desperate need for money. But the pieces have secrets and the young couple
finds themselves in unexpected danger.
The old woman
pulled the warm shawl around her shoulders with frail, liver-spotted hands.
Reaching for her cup of tea, she took a sip. The cup rattled in the saucer as
she set it down on the side table and looked up at the young man who was
setting up the small electronic device.
“Thank you for
doing this for me, David. You are the last of my family and I wanted you to
know about your history and ancestry.”
He smiled and
tucked the colorful afghan over the elder’s lap and feet. “Are you comfortable,
Grandmother?”
At her nod, he
sat near the video camera and raised his hand to float above it. “Let me know
when you’re ready.”
Her faded eyes
twinkled. “Start it. I have stories to share, and there isn’t much time on my
end.”
With a wink, his
finger brushed the start button and he sat back to listen.
“Our family has
several heritages. Thirty years before the terror of the French Revolution, a
talented gypsy silver smith named Silas Rose married a daughter of a Jewish
jeweler named Boehmer. In the next twenty-five years, the two worked together
and gained fame for the remarkably skilled pieces they crafted. Their work came
to the attention of Louis XVI and later of Marie Antoinette. It was an
unfortunate situation. A very expensive necklace had been commissioned…”
***
The bell above
the door tinkled as the young man entered the ornate jewelry shop. An old
gentleman stepped out from the back, his face breaking into a grin at the sight
of his visitor. “Valentine! It is good to see you! Come in and tell me of your
journey. Are Silas and Rebecca with you?”
The dark-haired
youth shook his head, his expression solemn. “Is it time to close the shop for
the day, Grandfather? I have much to share with you.”
For a long
moment, the grey-haired man studied his grandson’s face. “Lock the door and
pull the curtains. I’ll get the wine out of the cellar.”
Turning from his
task of securing and barring the door, Valentine called over his shoulder, “I
brought whiskey. Just get the glasses.”
Taking his
bottle to the workroom, he helped his grandfather, Antoine Boehmer, to put away
several partially completed projects into the safe. They finally settled in
some chairs by the fireplace. Valentine poured two glasses and passed one to
the older gentleman.
“No one wants to
buy that necklace. They think it’s cursed. First there is the taint of King
Louis XV commissioning the piece for Madame du Barry but dying before he could
pay for it. Add to that Marie Antoinette refusing it…twice.” The young man
shook his head. “The fiasco and scandal with the cardinal and Jeanne de la
Motte has sealed the issue. No one will touch it. Father was able to sell
several of the stones to jewelers in Amsterdam and that netted 1,000,000
livres. It doesn’t pay for your craftsmanship but it compensates us for the
stones.” He handed over the packet of remaining gems and money.
“You traveled
the roads of France and the streets of Paris carrying this? Mon Dieu! You could
have had your throat slit! This is a king’s ransom for ninety percent of the
people!”
“I was with
Mother and Father on the ship. I left them in Le Havre as neither were feeling
well. They urged me to see you right away. I was also eager to return to Jaelle
before she gives birth.” He gestured to his travel-stained appearance. “I
purposely didn’t clean up and wore my oldest clothing.” Valentine stood and
looking down at his soiled presentation, made a grimace of disgust. “I need to
stop and bathe, then it is off for home.”
“I’ll have
Margaux prepare a bath for you. While you are waiting I must show you some
special pieces of furniture that were made for me. Jean Henri, a German fellow
named Roentgen and I collaborated on their design. Jean wanted to gild everything
like his pieces in Versailles, but I talked him down to using beautiful
marquetry instead…”
A Beltane Gift ✯ The Tin of Honey ✯ The Dragil: Broken Magic ✯ The Battered Ball ✯ Binding Contracts |
When Chayse’s friend is murdered before he can get protective custody, she and her department in Homeland Security are thrust into a race to stop a destructive cyber worm from wiping out all bank and stock market records during the Christmas break.
The good news is there is an inoculating code which will stop the worm. The bad news is it is hidden in a special crystal concealed in the sculpted walls of a beautiful ice hotel in the lapland region of Sweden and the terrorists are searching for it too.
As the snow flurries of November becomes frozen December each side rush to find the crystal…with entirely different goals. Will the Christmas holiday bring destruction for western financial systems?
A Crystal Snowflake is a contemporary thriller. It has been previously published in Tendrils, The Edge of Madness boxed set and Wrapped with a Bow boxed set. It was also entered in a story competition seeking cinematic quality stories for movie potential, and made the quarter finals.
Holly's world is
shaped by her love of family, the beauty of the natural world and an
irrepressible creative drive. She has always been curious and sees life through
questions. These four characteristics color her writing voice and her stories
frequently evolve from her asking "What if....?" Her tales tend to
have non-urban settings with nature contributing to the plot, building
discordant themes inside a seemingly peaceful refrain. Her motto: Weaving
Alternative Worlds with Threads From Today.
Thank you so much for sharing this with your readers. I really appreciate the support.
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