The Pringles~Part 1

Christopher and Priscilla Pringle were the proud owners of the Snowflake Christmas Shop in Camden Corners . Snowflakes was a favorite of all the folks in town and their many visitors from other villages in the area and even as far away as Chicago and New York City.

Chris was a jolly old guy with his white beard and round belly. Priscilla was a bit round herself. She always wore a bright red apron with red and white striped candy filling the pockets.

Whenever anyone opened the door of the Snowflake Christmas Shop, they would hear the sound of jingle bells and smell the aroma of fresh baked gingerbread and sugar cookies. The Pringles knew how to keep the Christmas spirit going all year long.

They were never blessed with children of their own but they loved all the children in town and the children all loved them. They had a dog who answered to the name of Rudy. Rudy was a big old loveable dog who seemed happiest when he was laying in front of the cozy fireplace in the vestibule of the shop. Children would stop by on their way home from school just to pet Rudy and accept one of his sloppy kisses. Mrs. Pringle made sure each child in town had a special Christmas ornament to display on their Christmas tree each year. She molded and painted each and every ornament and made sure to personalize it with the child's name.

It was one warm summer day when she was relaxing on the shore of Lake Camden that she happened to see a small silk pouch wash ashore. Curiosity overcame her and she finally opened the pouch. There were a number of the most beautiful stones she had ever seen. Some looked like diamonds they were so sparkly and bright. Others were a deep red, some dark green and a few a golden yellow and even some very pale blue. Priscilla looked around and didn't see a soul. She took the sack back to the apartment above the store where she and Chris lived.

Chris suggested she put an ad in the local paper looking for the rightful owner. When no one answered the ad, they stopped in to see Sheriff Mendenhall. The Sheriff thought the stones were very pretty but couldn't imagine they would be of any value and assured them they would not be committing any crime if they just kept them.

Priscilla had not begun her annual ornament making chore and thought the stones would be a fine addition to the children's ornaments this year. She made reindeer with lovely aqua blue eyes, Snowmen with emerald green eyes, Santas with ruby red noses, train engines with topaz yellow smoke billowing from their stacks and angels with sparkling diamonds in their hair. She wrote a child's name on every ornament holding out several for the many babies who were expected to arrive in Camden Corners before Christmas that year. Priscilla would never want to leave even the tiniest of them without an ornament.

Chris was walking Rudy down by the dock near Flanagan's fish market on a quiet Sunday afternoon. He spotted a stranger looking into the water near the shore.

“Hello my good fellow.” Isn't this the finest looking lake you have ever seen. We townsfolk are very proud of our pristine waters here in Camden Corners . Are you looking to do some fishing here?”

The gentlemen barely looked up and mumbled something about just looking for something he may have dropped in the water. Chris offered to help him look for the object but the man declined and walked quickly away.

Ebeneezer Finch climbed on his horse. He was in big trouble. All he did was stop off at that pub called O'Sullivan's to wet his whistle a few weeks ago. He was really thirsty and it was such a hot day it wasn't his fault that he may have had one too many and dropped part of his loot from that jewelry store heist in Greensboro. Why had it taken his boss, Ronald Crump so long to discover part of the haul was missing? He remembered taking those jewels out of his satchel and admiring them as he was walking toward the lake. After all it was a very hot day and who could blame Eb for taking a little dip in the lake. Maybe he did fall asleep on the shore but he was very tired from the long ride. Just thinking about that nice cold draft he had at the pub made him thirsty. He should be looking for the gems but he was awfully thirsty and Eb needed a break from his search. That first cold beer went down so easily he found himself ordering a second, then third and after that he lost track.