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During her captivity, the girl watched for the crow's arrival

each day at the tiny window, set high in the rock wall of the basement. Even if she could reach it, no more than her arm would fit between the black iron bars, but the crow would slip right through and land on her shoulder.

They had stolen her dignity, her innocence, her freedom, but one thing her captors hadn't taken from her was her bracelet, beads of silver and light blue glass beads. It looked like shiny junk to the godless men who'd taken her, but she knew its secret. A drop of water from Lourdes, a French village in the foothills of the Pyrenees, was hidden in the medallion. A simple 14-year-old peasant girl put the town on the map after her visions of Our Lady starting in 1858. After the church authenticated her claims, Lourdes became a pilgrimage site with more inns than any other city in France besides Paris. Where there are tourists, there are thieves. Where there are thieves, there are kidnappers.

The crow was no more interested in the story of Lourdes than the men who'd kidnapped the girl in the basement, but the crow did seem captivated by her bracelet. At first she believed God had sent the creature to be her companion in this time of trouble, but the days she marked on the wall kept accumulating.

"Oh God, my God, why are you ignoring my pleas?" she cried out. "Holy Mary, your promises are just as empty. I give up." She took off the bracelet and threw it at the window. At once, the crow descended, took up the shiny bauble in his beak, and flew away.

Another day, and another, marked off on the stone wall. The jewel thief did not return. She despaired of seeing him again. Scheming little thief or not, he was her only companion in this cold stone purgatory. She cursed the crow who'd befriended her, only to abandon her.

Shots rang out in the darkness of the third night,

rousing her from her usual light and uneasy slumber. Thunks, bumps, shouts, and crashing sounds followed.

Her cell door opened, and two women with guns holstered at their side peered in at her. One held a torch, the other a key. Her chains unlocked at last, the girl was free.

The next time she awoke, it was from a deep, long lumber. The tall open window let in fresh air and sunlight. The pillow beneath her head was amazingly soft, the sheets spotless and white. Someone had bathed her. For the first time in forever, she no longer felt unclean.

A flutter of dark wings, a familiar shape: the crow. He came in through the window and landed on the wooden railing at the foot of her bed. His head turned, and he appeared to be gazing at a portrait of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The little jewel thief had taken her bracelet to the right place.

"There is a God," she whispered in awe.

Or a clever crow, at least. Either way, she rejoiced.

The End

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Day 530: 5 Minute Freewrite: Wednesday - Prompt: jewel thieves

With beads of silver and light blue glass beads the bracelet features" an intricate pewter Lourdes medal that holds a "drop" of Lourdes water on its back side, where it will rest against the skin of the wearer - keeping her always close to the healing power of Lourdes"

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Canuck the 'criminal' crow who stole a knife from a crime scene BITES a mailman causing town's postal services to be suspended

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