child, she took it down from its place in the niche and laid it beside the reading-woman panel.
After studying it for a moment, Dolores asked, “So the ‘Home Song’ tapestry has been displayed in this house as long as you can remember, but you had never set eyes on the large tapestry before a couple of weeks ago?” She didn’t really expect an answer, so she continued. “It seems very odd that your grandmother kept it in the attic. Of course, there’s really no place here to hang something this large in a home, but why not donate it to a museum so it could be appreciated?”
“That’s one reason that makes me wonder about it,” said Annie. “She may have been asked to store it, so she might not have felt like it was hers to do with as she pleased.”
“Do you have any ideas about the ‘L.C.’ on each end?” asked Cyril.
“No,” Annie admitted. “I really don’t, and I’m not even sure where to start looking.”
“If you like, I can make some inquiries,” said Cyril. “Would you mind if I took a few photographs?”
“Not at all,” said Annie. “I’d appreciate any help I can get to discover the history behind this tapestry, and the smaller one as well.”
Cyril took his cellphone out of his pocket and began taking several pictures, having to take several consecutive shots to get it all in, and then he took close-ups of each scene as well.
“Now that we’ve got this all settled,” said the professor, “what else have you got to show us, Mrs. Dawson?”
9
When they had finished looking over all of the other props, Annie invited them all to stay for a cup of tea and a slice of pound cake, which Alice had baked and brought over that morning. They thanked her, but had to refuse since the Fortescues had an engagement that evening and had to get home. Annie was glad to have met Dolores and Cyril. She liked them, even if she had rankled Cyril a bit by saying that she wouldn’t consider selling the tapestry. Now she was really getting excited for rehearsals to begin so that she could see them in action on the stage.
The discussions about the play were only peripheral while they looked at the props, and no one had mentioned Jacob’s name. She had liked Jacob too. She couldn’t imagine what could have caused a falling out between the Fortescues and their son-in-law. For their sakes, and for Jacob’s daughter’s sake, she hoped it could be worked out.
Alice had to leave with the others so that she could return Felix and Stacy to Main Street where Felix had parked his car. Alice promised to return as soon as she could get away to help Annie put her house back together.
Only about half of the things the professor had seen for the set had gotten his approval, but he had liked the carpet and the trunk, so Annie was going to arrange for Wally to come by with his pickup truck on Monday to transport them to the Cultural Center. The smaller things, Alice and Annie decided to deliver themselves the following week. The tapestry would stay where it was in Annie’s house for the time being, at least until they figured out how to display it properly. Then, when that was settled, Professor Howell suggested they bring the tapestry over the Cultural Center to store it in one of the empty offices on the fourth floor where he said it surely would be safe.
Annie decided to go ahead and return the tapestry to the upstairs bedroom so that she could release Boots from her confinement in the mudroom. The conversation with the Fortescues about the tapestry set her mind to working on the problem of learning who had made it and who it might belong to if it didn’t belong to her grandmother. The clues were slim—two years, 1946 and 1966, and “L.C.,” which were either someone’s initials, or some sort of abbreviation, or maybe both. She wondered how on earth she could ever figure it out.
As she leaned across the bed to arrange the muslin covering over the tapestry on the bed, she lifted one leg behind her to
After studying it for a moment, Dolores asked, “So the ‘Home Song’ tapestry has been displayed in this house as long as you can remember, but you had never set eyes on the large tapestry before a couple of weeks ago?” She didn’t really expect an answer, so she continued. “It seems very odd that your grandmother kept it in the attic. Of course, there’s really no place here to hang something this large in a home, but why not donate it to a museum so it could be appreciated?”
“That’s one reason that makes me wonder about it,” said Annie. “She may have been asked to store it, so she might not have felt like it was hers to do with as she pleased.”
“Do you have any ideas about the ‘L.C.’ on each end?” asked Cyril.
“No,” Annie admitted. “I really don’t, and I’m not even sure where to start looking.”
“If you like, I can make some inquiries,” said Cyril. “Would you mind if I took a few photographs?”
“Not at all,” said Annie. “I’d appreciate any help I can get to discover the history behind this tapestry, and the smaller one as well.”
Cyril took his cellphone out of his pocket and began taking several pictures, having to take several consecutive shots to get it all in, and then he took close-ups of each scene as well.
“Now that we’ve got this all settled,” said the professor, “what else have you got to show us, Mrs. Dawson?”
9
When they had finished looking over all of the other props, Annie invited them all to stay for a cup of tea and a slice of pound cake, which Alice had baked and brought over that morning. They thanked her, but had to refuse since the Fortescues had an engagement that evening and had to get home. Annie was glad to have met Dolores and Cyril. She liked them, even if she had rankled Cyril a bit by saying that she wouldn’t consider selling the tapestry. Now she was really getting excited for rehearsals to begin so that she could see them in action on the stage.
The discussions about the play were only peripheral while they looked at the props, and no one had mentioned Jacob’s name. She had liked Jacob too. She couldn’t imagine what could have caused a falling out between the Fortescues and their son-in-law. For their sakes, and for Jacob’s daughter’s sake, she hoped it could be worked out.
Alice had to leave with the others so that she could return Felix and Stacy to Main Street where Felix had parked his car. Alice promised to return as soon as she could get away to help Annie put her house back together.
Only about half of the things the professor had seen for the set had gotten his approval, but he had liked the carpet and the trunk, so Annie was going to arrange for Wally to come by with his pickup truck on Monday to transport them to the Cultural Center. The smaller things, Alice and Annie decided to deliver themselves the following week. The tapestry would stay where it was in Annie’s house for the time being, at least until they figured out how to display it properly. Then, when that was settled, Professor Howell suggested they bring the tapestry over the Cultural Center to store it in one of the empty offices on the fourth floor where he said it surely would be safe.
Annie decided to go ahead and return the tapestry to the upstairs bedroom so that she could release Boots from her confinement in the mudroom. The conversation with the Fortescues about the tapestry set her mind to working on the problem of learning who had made it and who it might belong to if it didn’t belong to her grandmother. The clues were slim—two years, 1946 and 1966, and “L.C.,” which were either someone’s initials, or some sort of abbreviation, or maybe both. She wondered how on earth she could ever figure it out.
As she leaned across the bed to arrange the muslin covering over the tapestry on the bed, she lifted one leg behind her to
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