To Hell and Back: Chapter Six

Most members of the Burrows family slept little that night, with so much on their mind. When morning came, most were grateful for the change and coffee - which the doctor produced from a funny contraption and much quicker than one might thought possible. Some simple cakes were served and then into the doctor's, horseless carriage. Only Uncle Tobias had ever ridden in one before and at first everyone was nervous but it would be much faster than by regular wagon or on horseback.

A trip that might have taken them all day by their own wagon was completed in about 2 hours. The doctor insisted on going to a non-descript publishers office where left his carriage, spoke to a man in private, and then the pair went inside. No one quite knew what to make of things until the doctor returned with a satchel and a large carpet bag and motioned for them to go for a walk. Uncle Tobias helped with the carpet bag and noted how heavy it was.

They went down an alley where the doctor opened the satchel and knelt beside it. Reaching in his coat he withdrew an envelope which contained a tuft of hair - animal of some sort. "This device," he stated, " is the Bloodhound 3.0 made by my good friend whom you saw me speaking with earlier."

"The printer?" Mama asked curiously, having assumed the man with black sleeves and ink stained hands was nothing but an acquaintance and someone with whom the doctor felt comfortable leaving his fancy carriage with.

"Yes and no - while he maintains a façade as a printer he is in fact a talented inventor and supplier for our operatives here in Boston. He has loaned me, with much coaxing, the use of this device to help us find its source," the doctor replied.

"The source? What good is some mongrel hair going to do now? Find the dog we passed not one minute ago in the street?" Aunt Anna asked, clearly confused and fidgeting with her shawl. She was always a very busy girl, quick with her hands. A cook in a local restaurant she was usually very busy slinging orders fast for hungry customers,

"This is not just any animal hair. It is a sample taken from one of the beasts that attacked the Salem facility a few days ago. The same sort of beast who bit your brother, Miss Anna who in turn bit Amos. This device will search out and find other remnants of hair like it and this device will point us in the direction of the strongest source," the doctor replied in a matter-of-fact sort of way as if it was obvious to us all already.

"And then what?" Aunt Anna laughed. "Ask the beast for a cure? Assuming there is one."

"On the contrary, I know how to cure lycanthropy. You must kill the alpha who is responsible for the strain of the disease," he replied.

"Who? Us?!"

"Yes, us," Mother replied.

"Mrs. Burrows is correct. Because if I were disclose Amos' condition to my colleagues they would save themselves the effort of finding the source the disease. They are too busy to find the root of a cause and thereby busily dealing with withered branches. They'd just want to," and the doctor coughed uncomfortably, "trim things in this situation."

It took everyone else a moment to get the doctor's meaning and it was Amos who chimed in first. "Mama, you won't let 'em trim me, will ya?"

"Never darling," she replied and kissed him on the forehead. "Lead the way doctor."

And the doctor turned a series of switches in the satchel, which began to whir and hiss. He pulled a dial from the bag and held it in one hand and the bag in the other. "Quickly now, the sample degrades as it's used. We've maybe 30 minutes to find the source!" And he was off, out of the alleyway and into the street.