Emerald has quite a story to tell. He's a cocky little thing, thoroughly convinced he is that largest of his kind, the most admired, and, yes, even the most despised. He has quite a memory of all those who have owned him. It started with the Sultan and the gypsy girl named Jaella. Jaella hated the Sultan, but tolerated him. It might have been that she had feelings for the Crusader, but if she did, they didn't last long. She was convinced that she had good reason to hate Sir Percival. It was always said that she was responsible for the curse, but if so, why did Emerald's misfortunes start even before Dizwar had owned him. With his first glimpse of sunshine he was the reason for murder Emerald really didn't know the Irish lass Brianna, but her son was among those who owned him. Keith plied the same trade as the Frenchman, Maurice Dupree. Many young men with the name Maurice could claim Jaella an ancestor. At a young age Keith's father taught him the fine art of deftly slipping items from pockets. Was it fate that led to the night Maurice climbed through a window and fell in love with Keith's daughter? When one of their grandsons met the little piano player he, like so many others, could not resist the thoughts of Emerald's beauty. He had urges to wrap the green beauty around her neck. Emerald kept haunting his thoughts until he did so. Emerald tell the stories of all of them. He remembers the first time he saw daylight, the Knight Templar, the many Frenchmen who owned him, the crossings of the great Atlantic Ocean, the gambler who won him with one turn of the cards, and on into the twentieth century with the concert pianist and her daughter. Of the seven deadly sins, there is only one he worries about. Perhaps it is true. Perhaps pride does go before a fall. It just might be the reason he is awaiting him fate. He may be right to worry. It might be his is fate. It could be that he is the greatest emerald of them all. It just might be true that the angry gypsy girl doomed him to be where he is.
About the Author: Barbra Heavner was born in Texas, spent her childhood in Kansas City and her teen age years in California. She was the oldest of four children. She started her writing career by creating bedtime stories for her younger brother. She was nine years old and used her mother's typewriter to put them on paper. At an early age she had three goals. She wanted to be a writer, a dress designer, and the mother of two boys and two girls. She almost achieved all three. The two boys and two girls turned out to be four boys. That was all right. She enjoyed them. After high school she joined all the women of WW2 by getting a job running a drill press, drilling holes in airplane parts. She also took night classes at a school of costume design. She met her husband at the Hollywood Palladium a few days after VJ night. They were married in less than two months. Their marriage lasted three days short of fifty-nine years. Barbra estimates that she has moved some twenty-three times. She has enjoyed her life and her sons. While in Michigan she had a newspaper column. Later she decided that she could better contribute to the family financing by doing custom dressmaking at home. She enjoyed being a stay at home Mom. She kept on with her dressmaking until her husband retired. After that they spent twenty years at Arts and Crafts shows selling Raggedy Ann dolls and knit goods they made on their home knitting machines. Their Downs son sold his drawings and sun catchers. It wasn't until the death of her husband that Barbra resumed her writing. She has published three novels and a memoir. She now lives close to one of her sons. She has five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren with another one on the way as of this writing. She volunteers for many things at the local senior center which is one of the best in all the nation. Barbra enjoys life and has treasured every one of her eighty-eight birthdays. She often wonders how many people have achieved all of their childhood dreams. She still designs and makes all her own clothes.