Holiday greetings to you on behalf of the Bluestocking Belles and welcome to our Follow Your Star Home blog hop, in celebration of our new holiday anthology:
Contents
Follow Your Star Home!
We hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday season full of love!
Holiday Contest!
Read on for my novella about the travels of the magic ring through the Scottish Highlands and comment for an entry in our holiday prize! Next, go to our blog hop page for links to the other Belles’ stories and for more information about the prize and the special price on all three holiday boxed sets for this week and next.
The hop will run for the next fortnight (two weeks!), so keep checking back to see if a new story has been posted.
My gift to you today is a short piece interlinking two of the stories in the Bluestocking Belles’ holiday offering, Follow Your Star Home. My offering follows the travels of the ring between my new novella: A Place Like Home and Amy Quinton’s story: The Umbrella Chronicles: James & Annie’s Story.
Speaking of love, if you haven’t yet read the Bluestocking Belles’ Follow Your Star Home, you’re in for a real treat!
At the end of Amy’s story, Annie sends the ring to her special friend Rebecca—but things go awry… will Rebecca get her ring?
Here’s what happened next!
Port Gordon, February 1815
At the jingle of the bells hung upon the door, the pawnbroker glanced up from the glittering rings on the velvet pad before him and sighed.
Another one. Probably bringing more useless paste jewelry.
The stooped old crone, her cane gripped tightly with one hand, limped into the pawnshop.
“Good morning,” he called out.
She turned and blinked in his direction a few times, then moved slowly toward him. “Aye, good morn, young man.”
“How may I help you?”
She swallowed hard. Slowly, as if it cost her to do so, she opened her hand to reveal a golden ring. Its brilliance exceeded even the shine of the other rings before him, yet it contained no stone.
“What is this?”
She bit her lip and hesitated before speaking. “It were a ring sent to my granddaughter, dead this past week. I’d have left it with ’er, but she’s buried already. It minds me too much of her sweet face. So, there it is.” She finished with finality and leaned heavily on his front bench, her alabaster face frozen into a statue as she waited.
He reached out for the ring, but she gripped it tightly once more and raised it to her lips, then handed it to him with a shaking hand.
The broker straightened and swallowed hard.
“Rebecca’s friend what sent it, Annie, said it were a magical ring, very old, and something about a frig. To bring people together, but it’s brought me nothing but grief. It was too late to help my Rebecca find love, too late to even save her, for all its magic,” she whispered, crossing herself.
The old woman’s clothes were much mended with a careful hand and the aroma of lavender came to him along with the golden band. His own lavender-scented mother was near this woman’s age and he hesitated, his hand hovering over the small coins he usually paid for such a trinket. She wasn’t his regular slimy fence or pickpocket looking to make a quick buck.
The broker took a deep breath and was reaching toward the larger coins when her voice cut in.
“I wish to sell it, not pawn it.” Her voice cracked on a sob and her fingers tightened on the edge of the counter between them, veined hands showing stark white. “I can’t bear to look at it. First her mother and father, and now her… please take it. Just take it away.”
He clamped his jaw shut and resolutely reached for a golden guinea. The ring was a pretty thing, certainly not worth the amount, but… this must be his good deed for the day.
Her mouth dropped open when he handed the coin to her. She never even looked at it, only hefted its weight.
“Is this some mistake? Ye’ll give me a pound?”
“It’s clearly a special ring,” he said, from a mouth suddenly gone dry.
“Oh, that it is, or so Annie said.” She chewed her lip and turned away, her gaze locked somewhere outside the leaded pane of the shop front. “Special it may be, but the sight of it gives me naught but grief. Surely someone else has more need of it than I.” She took a deep breath and straightened as her lips tightened.
He looked closer at the ring as she continued to stare off into the distance. It was a pretty thing, gold, engraved with a multi-pointed, bold star. He blinked and held it up to the light. It was old. Truly old. Forged by a master. He’d ask around about this ring. Maybe someone else would know of it… or its history. Probably just the raving of an old, half-blind, woman.
“Bless you, young man,” she murmured. A lone tear rolled down her cheek as she tapped her heavy way to the door, then with a tinkle of silver bells, was gone.
He stared out the window at the three suspended golden globes hanging beside the portal, the gold leaf coating their surface beginning to flake and peel. What was he doing? This was no way to make a living.
The door bells rang again and he lowered his eyes to the entryway, thinking the old woman had reconsidered and returned for her ring, but it was a young woman, her face blotchy-red with crying.
“How may I—”
“—I’m looking for—” She stopped, then started again. “Please, I need a ring for my beau, Seth. He’s off fighting Boney and I… I want him to have something from me.” Her voice faded off toward the end.
“Now, that’s admirable, young lady.” He searched his brain for the right trinket as he took in the threadbare dress beneath her servant’s pinafore. The ring from the old woman, still in his hand, seemed to pulse, and when he opened his fist, it appeared to be… glowing? He blinked and narrowed his gaze at the band, but it still shone like no earthly ring should have done.
As did the girl’s eyes when they fell upon the circle of gold.
“Ohhhh… that ring is beautiful, but I’m sure it’s too sm—” She stood still, staring, as the ring seemed to grow in size. “Oh, I thought it was a woman’s ring, but it looks like a man’s now.” She shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment, then looked again.
He’d thought it was a woman’s ring, too… but now, how odd. It was a man’s size. Clearly. He shook his own head in wonder. The golden trinket continued to throb in his hand and he found himself holding it out to her. “Do you have sixpence, my dear? I paid far more for this, but it seems… very strange.”
Her eyes would have lit a whole room.
“Sir, are you sure? That’s all the money I had to spend. I was hoping for a pin or something small, but… if I can purchase this ring at that price, I will surely take it. Seth will love it. Thank you so, so much.” She pulled the coin from her purse and traded it to the pawnbroker for the ring. Her face brightened, tears fading as she pulled her pocket from beneath her skirt and slid the ring inside with reverence, tightly laced the top, and slipped the pouch back into place.
With a wave, she spun and bolted out the door.
The pawnbroker chuckled as he scrunched up his face. He’d done two bad deals today already… and he’d only been open for an hour.
Why did he feel so good?
Holiday Blog Hop Giveaway
I hope you enjoyed my story! Be sure to leave a comment here and follow the star to each Belle’s website to comment for more entries for our holiday prize! Here’s the link to the tour webpage!
About Follow Your Star Home
Divided sweethearts seek love and forgiveness in this collection of seasonal novellas.
Forged for lovers, the Viking star ring is said to bring lovers together, no matter how far, no matter how hard.
In eight stories covering more than a thousand years, our heroes and heroines put this legend to the test. Watch the star work its magic as prodigals return home in the season of goodwill, uncertain of their welcome.
About Somewhere Like Home
Hope you love the stories!
Thanks for following the hop!
Leave a comment below, and on all of the Belles’ blog posts to go into the draw for the grand prize!
Bye for now!
xx
Lizzi Tremayne