Gift of Fire

What have you got there?”
    “I think I can make that ankle feel a lot better,” he announced briskly, kneeling in front of her. “Let me see it.
    Verity hesitated and then told herself that there was no harm in letting him look at her throbbing ankle. “Are you going to make a poultice for it?”
    Crump nodded, carefully removing her shoe and sock. His fingers were amazingly gentle.
    “If you two will excuse me,” Slade announced, “I’m going to go hit Maggie up for another cup of coffee.” He left the room.
    Crump glanced over his shoulder. “That man is not well,” he observed softly. “But I don’t think he would accept help of any kind.”
    Verity nodded. “I get the same feeling.”
    Oliver took a large lemon-colored shard of crystal out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Here. Hold this.”
    “Are you really into crystal therapy?” Verity asked, examining the shard with interest.
    “Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it doesn’t. Depends.”
    “I see.” She didn’t, but she felt obliged to say something. “I understand that a lot of people these days use crystals for various purposes. I don’t know much about them myself.”
    “No one does,” Oliver Crump said brusquely. “There are plenty like Elyssa who think they do, but the fact is, very few people have ever figured out how to use crystals and gemstones. Folks have been working with them for thousands of years though, because it’s easy to sense that there’s some power in them. The trick is figuring out how to use that power.”
    “Do different kinds of crystals have different powers?”
    “Theoretically. But like I said, no one really knows too much about them. They have to be properly tuned, or programmed, as they say in the computer business. Sometimes I think I can almost sense how to align the forces inside a crystal, but other times…” He shrugged and dismissed the subject.
    Oliver poured hot water over the green plants and crushed them in the folds of one towel. “This is a little makeshift, but it should do the trick.” He began wrapping the compress around Verity’s ankle. Then he glanced up at the crystal she was holding. “Why are you stroking it like that?” he asked abruptly.
    Verity glanced down at the crystal in surprise and realized she was rubbing it with her index finger. “I don’t know. Just fiddling around, I guess.”
     
    Oliver touched the crystal and frowned. He started to move his finger on it.
    Verity frowned. Something wasn’t right. “No, not like that.” She concentrated for a moment, then slowly moved her hand to guide Oliver’s finger. Immediately things felt sharper and clearer—more tuned. “That’s it,” she whispered. “Doesn’t that feel better?”
    “Yes. Much better.” Oliver stroked the crystal for a long time under the guidance of her fingers. Then his eyes met hers.
    “You are, you know,” he announced calmly.
    Verity flinched. “I am what?” she asked carefully.
    “Pregnant.” He stopped touching the crystal and deftly pinned the compress in place.
    Verity’s fingers closed violently around the crystal. “How do you know?” she demanded, her voice taut.
    Crump shrugged and took the crystal from her hand. “Some things are obvious. You showed me the truth just now, when you touched the crystal. I could sense it.” He put the translucent crystal into his pocket again. “How’s the ankle feel?”
    She looked down at her foot, realizing suddenly that her ankle was already feeling less painful. “Better. A lot better. Thank you, Oliver.”
    “Are you going to tell Quarrel soon?”
    Disconcerted, Verity raised her eyes to meet Crump’s serious, dark gaze. “I’ll tell him soon. If it’s true.”
    “It’s true. And the sooner you tell Quarrel, the better. He needs to know.”
    “Why?”
    “Because he needs to be reassured that he’s got a secure place in your life. He’s never had much in the way of security.”
    “Maybe he won’t want to be a father,” she said in a low, urgent tone. “Some men aren’t cut out to be fathers.”
    “Quarrel isn’t ‘some men.’ He’s Quarrel. And he’s permanently linked to you somehow. I don’t understand it completely, but I can sense it. Tell him about the baby soon.” Crump rose to his feet, gathered up his supplies, and walked out of the room without another word.
    Verity stared after him for a long while.
    As lunchtime approached, Verity decided that her ankle was feeling considerably better.