At the bottom of the chest, were a necklace, some folded papers and a lavender scarf. Not much, not what she thought would be there and these were so lonely looking. Her hand hesitated before touching the ebony amulet which caught her first attentions, but she just had to feel the stone’s smooth surface. And, it did look very smooth and shiney, not cheap, like her own costume jewelry.  She reached in slowly and pulled the jewelry from the dust. Nola gasped as her fingers made contact; then she smiled.

“It’s so beautiful.” She sat back on her rump and examined the amulet. “I wonder about you. Are you important?” She licked her lips and scrunched her nose.

Nola spoke to the amulet as if it were a child and tried to coax the answers from the inanimate object. Of course, this stuff did not rightfully belong to her anyway. Did it truly matter the story behind the jewel? Nola was a curious woman, she wanted to know the truth of everything. But right now, she only wanted to know its worth.  Nola wasn’t used to nice things but she knew this necklace was more than anything she had ever owned.

The amulet glimmered in the attic light, she saw what looked like diamonds around the ebony stone. Nola nodded and stood.

“Yes, I will keep you. You are the answer to my prayers.”

Without hesitation, Nola grabbed the letters wrapped around the lavender scarf and quietly closed the lid. Her feet moving down the attic steps were quiet. She held her breath. As she closed the door and sprinted down the hallway, she spoke loudly.

“Mrs. Patridge, I am here.” Nola’s voice was loud and cheerful as she announced her return to the blind woman’s room. She entered the room and took her seat beside the  woman’s bed. “I found your scarf, Mrs. Patridge and your letters too.”

She smiled toward the sound of Nola’s voice. “Oh..thank you dear, that scarf was given to me by one of my best friends. It means so much that you retrieved it for me.” The lady’s shaking hand reached out and grasped. Bony fingers greedily searched for their prize. “Did….did, you find the Amulet?”

Nola grew cold. she looked down in her lap at the black stone and bit her lip. She just couldn’t do it. That thing looked really expensive, she was sure it would pay her mortgage. She was three months behind and this job wasn’t going to cut it.  ”I…ah…no mame.”