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“You know Carol is the one who is going to have to do this,” said Pumpkin as they walked up the steps to the porch.
“Of course, this is hers.” Dorrie smoothed down her curly hair which still looked like it was in flight. Through the window she saw Carol sitting alone in the store and Ray and Jessica in the kitchen finishing the dishes. Pumpkin pushed open the door and Dorrie followed. Carol was sitting at the counter staring at the diamond. “It keeps lighting up,” she said, “like it’s possessed.”
“It sort of is,” said Dorrie. “It’s telling us it is time.”
“Time for what?” asked Carol.
“Time to confront him.” Carol stiffened at Dorrie’s words and looked around nervously.
Pumpkin was back on his window sill, staring at Dorrie, “You are going to have to help her. She set the stage and now she is a nervous actor. Stir the pot,” he said from his perch.
“What pot?” Dorrie said starting to get panicky, thinking they could lose the moment. “How can you be so calm. Everything is ready right now.”
“Not everything. Stir the pot,” he repeated. “Like your crystals, stir the energy of the room.
Dorrie scanned the shop knowing the answer had to be there. As she looked at the displays of crystals, she also saw her stool. It was just a three-foot-high wooden bar stool from the hardware store but it always helped her think about things.
“Of course,” Pumpkin nodded. “Now hurry up and sit on it. You need to be higher to help the energy flow.”
Even as Dorrie was getting settled on the stool, she saw Carol sit up straighter. “I’ve seen him do a lot of things for his clients that I thought were wrong,” Carol began. She searched for ways to understand this man, but from her perch Dorrie could see she still struggled. “He could always get out of any blame.” Dorrie watched Carol slump back down in her chair. “He could even convince me that his little lies were ok. He had a way of making everything sound like it made sense.” Carol’s shoulders sagged and for a moment Dorrie was afraid she might give up.
“Be strong,” Dorrie whispered and moved her own body to sit higher.
Carol added honey to her tea and stirred it slowly as a question now formed in her mind. “If the ring was incriminating evidence, why not just let me go, taking the evidence with me. I was, in a sense, getting rid of it for him.”
Now it was time for Dorrie to speak up, “I think you know the power of the ring and why he can’t just let it go.”
Carol stared at Dorrie and hesitated. Then she nodded her head, “Yes, I know. The stone speaks the truth and it knows what he did.” She looked down at the ring. It was gently glowing now.
Dorrie smiled and nodded. She was right about Carol. She did understand the magic of the diamond.
“So how does it help anything?” Carol’s voice was rising in frustration, “He will still get away with it.” Her shoulders sagged. “I should just give it to him and be done with it.”
“You can’t,” said Dorrie firmly. “You haven’t used your power.”
“What power?” said Carol, almost to herself. “The only power I have ever known is the power to run away and hide and that didn’t work.”
“The power to reveal the truth. The truth of what he did and what he is capable of doing.” Dorrie picked up the ring and put it into Carol’s hand. “You asked me to save it for you because you knew there was more you had to do with it.”
“It will be impossible,” said Carol, in one last attempt. “He will just lie and people will believe him.”
“You didn’t,” Dorrie reminded her. “You didn’t believe his story about the ring and I don’t think the police did either.”
Carol knew Dorrie was right. She was going to have to do this. She knew it was what she really wanted to do but it seemed so impossible. “We will need to get proof of his lies” This time she did not say it in argument.
“Well,” said Jessica, who had been quietly watching all this unfold from the kitchen, “that will be no problem.” She smiled and reached into her Hello Kitty pack back pulling out the small tape recorder Dorrie had given her, “You will have three witnesses and a small, easily concealable recording device catching everything he says.”