Good luck charm

Lying face down in the field of clover, Pepper swept her hand over the top of the trifolium carpet. Acres of three-leafed ground cover spread out around her. Near the point of panic, she once again lamented that the “luck” gene had skipped a generation in her family – her generation.

Local folklore surrounding the prowess of her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother at finding four-leaf clovers had grown to almost mythological proportions. Pepper had never found one of the charmed shamrocks, and she needed a little luck. This frantic search was her last chance.

Pepper rolled over on her back, her arms shading her eyes from the harsh sun. A single tear slid down her cheek. A loud hiccup escaped from her belly, as sobs shook her body.

The last year brought every possible setback – job loss, home loss, love lost, sickness and depression. It was almost too much to take. Flinging out both arms, Pepper gripped handfuls of greenery, and yanked it out of the ground by the roots, screaming in frustration as dirt and clover fell around her.

Spitting out the debris that dropped into her open mouth, Pepper sat up coughing. Just as she began brushing off her shirt, she stopped short. Gingerly lifting a quadrifolium cultivar off her chest, she scarcely believed her eyes.

Looking around in excitement, the glint of something shiny caught Pepper’s eye. In the divot created by her brutal weeding, she unearthed what appeared to be a cache of gold coins. Like finding a leprechaun’s pot at the end of the rainbow, Pepper dug at the spot, uncovering more coins.

Perhaps her luck had finally changed for the good, and she didn’t simply find the felonious hiding place of a recent, and lucrative, museum theft.