A few minutes later, Mrs. Talbo's voice came up the stairs. "Girls! You can come out now!"
"Finally!" her daughter huffed, smoothing her skirt as she stood up, "I hope she didn't do anything stupid with the rock!"
"I doubt it," Karyn smiled. "Your mom doesn't strike me as the type to do something silly."
"I guess not," her friend said as she paused in the hall to check her long blonde hair in the mirror, "But if she did, how would we ever know?"
"Hello, dears," Mrs. Talbot said cheerily. "I hope I didn't make you too upset like that."
"A little, yeah. But Mom, you gotta promise not to be fooling around with that rock - it could be really dangerous."
"Jan, darling, I understand that. That's why I plan to hold on to it for a little while. I know your grandfather sent it to you, but I think it needs some adult supervision." Jan grumbled a little at this, but not having any choice, gave in quickly. "Now," her mother asked, "Are you girls going to study or..."
"For a little while," Karyn said, "Then we thought we'd head on over to the mall."
"OK then. I'll make us all some supper."
Peg Talbot watched with a smile as Karyn and her new daughter Jonna went into the den to study. She'd found the note that her father had sent along with the rock, so she was aware of some of the limitations it had. Thus, her wish that Jon become Jan was a temporary one - she could change him back any time she wanted to. But she was curious as to how complete the change was. It certainly seemed to be quite thorough at this point - both Jan and Karyn were acting as though Jan had always been Jan. She didn't know how long she'd keep Jon in this form - probably for at least a week, just to see. Besides, she'd always wanted a daughter.
