A Lesson in Forgiveness by Jennifer Connors Page B

you would have that on your conscience, if you possess such a thing,” Ginny muttered the last part under her breath. “Learn from this. Learn that there are consequences to your actions. You may also want to consider how you treat other people. Your family may have money but that does not give any of the you the right to treat people, especially adults, without all due respect.”
    Each of the children stared at her, each with a different expression: Gerard's was of awe, closet girl looked incensed and the one Ginny now presumed was the oldest looked resigned.
    “Let me tell you about something called karma. Have any of you heard that word before?” Ginny voice had softened in the hopes that they would at least hear her out before completely ignoring everything she said. Each kid shook their head.
    “Karma is a term meaning... What goes around, comes around.” Still, totally blank expressions. “When you do something bad, something bad will happen to you. Do you understand now?”
    The girl from the closet, probably wanting to look superior to her siblings asked, “Who is going to do the bad thing?”
    “Who knows,” Ginny realized that she'd chosen a tough topic to explain to children. “But today, one or all of you locked Miss Jones in a closet, presumably so you could go off and play and avoid learning something. That was a bad thing. You should be respectful of Miss Jones. She is here to teach you what you will need to know to succeed in life. The bad thing that happened to you was your brother nearly drowned. Do you see how what you did led to what happened to him?”
    Two sets of eyes started darting around in shame. Closet girl simply lifted her chin and stared back condescendingly. “Our mother says we deserve everything we have. Everyone else is just jealous of us.”
    “I'm sure she tells you that all the time and I'm not about to get into a discussion of what's wrong with your mother. All I'm saying is this: Do bad things and bad things happen to you. But, there is another side. Do good things and good things happen to you.”
    “I don't believe you.”
    Wow, this girl is messed up . “You don't have to believe me. Eventually you'll see that I'm right.”
    Just then, Whitmore and another man entered the room. Judging by the bag, Ginny assumed it was the doctor. He was smiling at her as he bowed to her. He was tall, over six feet, with deep, blue eyes and a patrician nose. He had long side burns, but no other facial hair. His hair was a sandy color, cut short as befitting the fashion. His smile was warm and friendly. She would guess he was in his mid to late thirties.
    Whitmore took his cue and said, “Dr. Cummings, please allow me to introduce you to Miss Hamilton.”
    Looking her in the eye, smiling warmly, he pronounced, “It is a great pleasure to meet you, Miss Hamilton.” The doctor then turned his attention to the bed, where Gerard was lying down. “Well, young man, it appears that you have a lot to be thankful for.”
    Whitmore looked at Gerard's sisters and announced, “Girls, please follow me. Miss Hamilton, could you please explain to the doctor exactly what you did today. He is greatly interested.”
    “Of course.” Ginny watched as Whitmore led the two girls out of the room. She hoped he was going to take a switch to their backsides. Pivoting to face the doctor, she asked, “What do you want to know?”
    “I would like to speak to you after I examine the boy, if that would be fine with you.”
    “Of course. I'll answer whatever questions you have.”
    Ginny watched the doctor do what little was in his knowledge to do. When completed, he asked the boy a series of questions to gauge his mental capacity and then declared him very lucky. “You will need to rest a few days, son. I have little doubt you will be fit as a fiddle soon.” Tousling Gerard's hair, he again turned to face Ginny.
    “Miss Hamilton, shall we?” he said while gesturing to the door. Smiling, she preceded him