The Teacake Gazette - Fiction

Charles was a master of his craft, known far and wide for his lush rose bushes and sprawling ivy. But there was one flower that had always eluded him—the delicate and elusive lady slipper orchid.

Millicent sighed. At sixty-two, she had weathered enough society storms to know that scandal was as inevitable in their circles as rain in an English spring. “And you’re certain it was him? The fog has been terribly thick these past evenings.”

Lyra’s head snapped up, her eyes, usually so veiled, flashing with a desperate hope. She moved to the bars, her fingers clutching them, knuckles white. “They… they bought me,”

Harold listened intently, his expression serious. “Those townies are all bluster. But you gotta be careful. Don’t give them the satisfaction of seeing you scared.” He then grinned, his eyes twinkling. “Though I gotta admit, using Maharani as backup was a stroke of genius!”

This week, I invite you to step inside the misty world of Greystone Hall and spend a few moments with Annabelle Greystone.

A gentle breeze was blowing outside, and the open window caused the wind to rustle her curtains.

Three weeks had passed since consumption had claimed Catherine, her only sibling and closest companion. Their parents had departed years earlier, leaving the sisters to rely solely upon each other. Now, at twenty-six, Adelaide was utterly alone in their modest townhouse in Bloomsbury.

Cottonwood Springs Nebraska Territory 1863 The stagecoach rattled to a stop, sending plumes of dust into the parched air of Cottonwood Springs. Lillian McAllister clutched her valise in one hand and steadied her bonnet with the other as she stepped down onto the wooden platform. The town stretched before her, a single dusty street lined with weathered buildings that had seen better days, much like the weary faces that turned to appraise her.   "Schoolteacher?" the stagecoach

But Eilis saw the flash of fear in her mother’s eyes when the baby turned its golden gaze toward her. That evening, when this unusual creature refused to nurse and remained silent even as her mother sobbed over it, Eilis watched her father place protective herbs above the doorframes.

Her mind wandered to the meaning of the larkspur, a flower embodying joy and an open heart...

With curiosity, she lifted the bouquet. The scent of lavender transported her instantly back fifteen years to summers at her grandmother’s cottage in Provo Canyon, to herb gardens and flower presses, and to Matt.

A rifle shot cracked through the quiet, the bullet slicing past Jed’s ear with a hiss like an angry rattler. He kicked Comet into a hard gallop...

With the last reserves of his strength, Bramble zipped beneath the shelter of the Queen Anne’s lace just as the rain turned from a drizzle to a downpour.

Still, the drought was testing even Amaryllis’s enduring confidence. She fluttered from bed to bed, watering with dewdrops gathered in acorn caps, whispering to the dry soil, encouraging earthworms to dig and aerate.

As they ascended the stairs, she whispered, “Maybe the lamplighter will make you an offer.” Eugenie stopped, turning wide-eyed.

One of those? You never raised a red tent.

Six months after Rupert’s death, Josephine still felt unsettled. She needed to know if perhaps he was waiting on the other side with a message for her or their children.

March 1853 Kent, England "My lady, if I may interfere," her maid stepped forward from behind the desk where Lady Mary Fontaine sat writing in her dressing gown, her tea growing ever colder. "Yes, Agnes, what is it?" Lady Fontaine felt impatient with this whole morning process. Recently married, she was not accustomed to answering all of these notes and cards from well-wishing neighbors. Becoming Lady Fontaine had forced Mary into a world she had little known. She was the

He was 15 when the circus rolled into town one crisp, autumn day. For a week the townsfolk patronized The Greatest Show on Earth...

Annabelle’s fingers fumbled for the matches. She lit a fresh candle with trembling hands and turned to face the figure forming in the mist.