Last night I went back to Storage to look for some more story stuff. Instead, I found photographs, among them the photograph of Bethany Dalton that is featured in Budget Cuts. I thought I had lost it.
In the story, I describe Bethany as young, perhaps seventeen, which would place the photograph right before her abduction. She wore a white ruffled gown and a corset that cinched her waist so tightly my own waist ached in sympathy. Her hair looked to be light brown, and it was piled on top of her head in an artfully messy chignon. She held a book in one hand--a fitting testament to the Dalton's eventual founding of the library.
Well, I wasn't far off:
She's not holding a book in one hand; it's on the table, but other than that... not bad.
Now, of course, her name isn't really Bethany Dalton. Or, rather, I have no way to discover her name at all. There's no marking on the back of the card or anything. She's just one of my Instant Ancestors* I rescued from a box Dad bought at an auction.
But at least I can give her a small measure of immortality by giving her a spot in a story of mine. :) It's the least I can do.
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*Instant Ancestors: Those old photographs and tintypes of folks long dead that show up at auctions and antique shows in droves. I tend to go for the period costumes and interesting pictures, as well as children with dolls, turn-of-the-century (20th, that is) kids, and women in dresses, posing. My dad has some really cool ones.
In the story, I describe Bethany as young, perhaps seventeen, which would place the photograph right before her abduction. She wore a white ruffled gown and a corset that cinched her waist so tightly my own waist ached in sympathy. Her hair looked to be light brown, and it was piled on top of her head in an artfully messy chignon. She held a book in one hand--a fitting testament to the Dalton's eventual founding of the library.
Well, I wasn't far off:
She's not holding a book in one hand; it's on the table, but other than that... not bad.
Now, of course, her name isn't really Bethany Dalton. Or, rather, I have no way to discover her name at all. There's no marking on the back of the card or anything. She's just one of my Instant Ancestors* I rescued from a box Dad bought at an auction.
But at least I can give her a small measure of immortality by giving her a spot in a story of mine. :) It's the least I can do.
--------
*Instant Ancestors: Those old photographs and tintypes of folks long dead that show up at auctions and antique shows in droves. I tend to go for the period costumes and interesting pictures, as well as children with dolls, turn-of-the-century (20th, that is) kids, and women in dresses, posing. My dad has some really cool ones.
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