Chapter 8 of The Power of Steam Compels You

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CHAPTER 8

At the mention of them giving the amulet back to Hart, Wallace felt the spirit flitter into the room and appear at the far side. Nessy must have recognized Wallace's stare, because she flicked on the power switch of her contraption that let them see the spirit. The Fergusons didn't realize the spirit was with them for a moment, but they each gasped when they followed the intent looks of the Wranglers.

"Nessy, we need the communication device on, too," Wallace said.

He didn't look at her, but still heard the eye-roll in her voice. "Gee whiz, give me a half-second, will you? These things haven't been primed yet."

While they waited to talk to Ronald Hart's ghost -- it was already chattering away, but none of them could hear so much as a whispered breath -- Bart reached into his inside jacket pocket. It did look like a pocket watch, but supposedly there were no watch mechanisms inside. While the casing was a shiny brass and there were a few sparkling gems decorating it, that wasn't what held Wallace's attention.

The thing shimmered, which had nothing to do with its physical appearance. As the Fergusons had so cryptically mentioned, the artifact was magic. Wallace didn't need any of his supernatural talents to realize that. He wished more than anything at that moment that he could grab it from Bart Ferguson and posses it forever. True, he had no clue what sort of magic the thing carried, but if it were his, he'd have plenty of time to figure it out.

Snap out of it, Wally. He shook his head and noticed everyone else in the room, including Hart's spirit, transfixed on the artifact. It then started to draw him back in, but at that moment, Nessy's communication device screamed to life.

"Well that was weird," Nessy said, her voice breathless. Everyone else in the room gasped for air of their own.

"It's never been that powerful," Bart said.

"Because it knows it's mine," Hart said. "Be a good man, Bart, and lay it down, and then take a step back. Once I have it, I'll banish the demon."

Wallace didn't miss the look that passed between Bart and Rachel, but at that moment, he guessed she was simply giving him the encouragement he needed to set the amulet down. He did, and Hart glided forward. Before the spirit got close enough to touch it, Rachel dived towards the ghost hunting equipment, and grabbed the capturing gun. With the dexterity of one who was used to holding firearms, she leveled the gun at Hart and pulled the trigger.

All three Wranglers shouted at her to stop, but before any of them could reach her, Bart dove forward, knocking Joshua sideways, blocking him into Wallace and Nessy. In the same motion, Bart grabbed the banishing device and slid it to Rachel. At least now Wallace knew how Rachel had talked Bart into relinquishing control of the amulet, and why she'd taken such a shine in Nessy's contraptions last night.

Before Wallace could fully wrap his head around the situation and shout a warning (he knew what was coming), the demon exploded into the room. Though it flew far too fast for anyone to see, they all knew it was there. The Wranglers left Rachel alone and scrambled to grab their demon-fighting tools. Bart leapt out of their way, while Abel and Molly, who had been so quiet and still that Wallace almost forgot they were there, let out strained gasps. Hart cackled through the communication device, though he was frozen in place due to being shot with the capture gun.

Nessy grabbed a device that they hoped would distract the demon, while Wallace got his hands on the bag of sulfurous salt, and Joshua went for the holy water, already loaded into a water-blasting hand cannon. As they did that, two things happened simultaneously, both of which Wallace wished he could have stopped. First, Rachel swapped the capture gun for the banishing device and obliterated Hart's spirit. Second, the demon ceased its devilish spin around the room and shot through Molly's chest, knocking her off her feet and hard onto her back. Bart rushed forward too late to save his daughter, but he did manage to pull his son out of the way as the demon doubled back.

Rachel aimed the banishing device at the demon, but Wallace couldn't let her hit it.

"No! You'll kill your daughter!"

Joshua was both close enough and nimble enough to leap at Rachel and disrupt her aim as she pushed the trigger button. The banishing beam went well wide of the demon, but it did connect with one of the family's steam-powered lamps, exploding it in a flash of sparks and smoke, but, thankfully, not igniting anything in the room.

When the air cleared, the demon had vacated the vicinity for now, and Wallace could sense they were safe for the moment. Everyone rushed over to Molly's prone body, Abel reaching her first.

"She's breathing," he said, "but it's very shallow."

Wallace shared a look with Joshua, who also at once understood their predicament. Banishing the demon would prove difficult, but exponentially harder would be banishing it in a way where they could also save not only Molly Ferguson's life, but her soul, as well.

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Chapter 7 of The Power of Steam Compels You

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CHAPTER 7

The books Joshua brought along proved to have the answers they needed, and the Spirit Wranglers made it back to the Fergusons' house not long after supper the next evening. Servants let them in and led them to the great room, where the Ferguson family met them with grim smiles. They made small talk as the Wranglers unpacked the equipment.

Once Nessy had everything laid out to her liking, they explained to the Fergusons what they'd learned about the demon.

"We can banish the evil thing," Wallace said. "Don't believe even for an instant that it will be easy, but we have all the necessary ingredients here to do it."

"Correct," Joshua said. "We should all count the lucky winds that this is a lesser demon. It's still much more powerful than any human spirit could ever be, but we can banish it."

"Do you chant ancient words of power and shoot it with your contraptions?" Rachel asked.

"If only it were that easy," Joshua said. "No, we have sulfurous salt that we will pour out into an almost complete circle. We then need to gain a portion of control over it to force it inside that circle. When we do that, we lock it inside by completing the circle with more salt. It should then hold the demon as if it were in a cage stronger than any physical material available here in our realm of existence."

Nessy held up the spirit-capturing gun. "Once it has nowhere to go, we soak it in holy water, and then zap! After that, a simple banishing with our device should be no problem."

"Exactly," Joshua said.

Burt held up both of his hands. "Wait a moment. How in all of Zephyria do you possibly gain control of a demon?"

"With Nessy's contraptions and a healthy shovelful of luck," Wallace said.

Joshua nodded. "I don't like to rely on luck, but there's no way around it when dealing with a demon."

"Of course, there is an easier way," Wallace said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the children glanced at their parents, who both hardened their faces into frowns.

"Not a chance," Bart said.

"It's been established you can banish it," Rachel said.

Wallace hadn't expected a different answer, but he pressed on anyway. "More can go wrong than can go right. If there are any missteps, there is a chance the demon will not only consume your souls, but break free of its constraints and be loose upon all of Zephyria."

"The thing doesn't even need any missteps," Joshua added. "It may simply prove strong enough in a head-to-head encounter to break free anyway. Our best bet for not only your safety, but for everyone's, is to give the spirit what it wants."

"Listen to them, Father," Abel said, while Molly pleaded with her mother.

Bart would hear none of it, but Wallace felt a bit of hope when he saw it might be possible that Molly was getting through to Rachel. The Wranglers stepped back amongst their equipment and let the family work through it themselves.

After a minute or two, Rachel touched Bart's arm. "A word in the other room."

He looked as if he might decline, but instead grunted and gave a curt nod. They walked from the great room out of eavesdropping distance. Wallace figured Nessy might have a device that could listen in on them, but decided not to ask, especially with Abel and Molly so close.

Wallace was about to press the two younger Fergusons for more information on the artifact that had such a hold on their parents, but before he could even open his mouth, Rachel and Bart returned. They hadn't been gone long enough for Nessy to get out a listening device, anyway.

Before he could ask them for their final verdict, Bart said, "For the good of our family, our town, and Zephyria, we agree to let the spirit of Ronald Hart have the amulet."

A cheer went up from the kids, while the Wranglers shared relieved smiles, though Wallace's feelings of triumph were short-lived. He didn't like the strange gleam in Rachel Ferguson's eyes.

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Chapter 6 of The Power of Steam Compels You

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CHAPTER 6

"So what is the thing in your jacket?" Wallace asked Bart when everyone had quieted and caught their breath.

Bart's hand went to his pocket, but he didn't answer. It was Abel who filled them in.

"It's an amulet of some sort. It looks like a pocket watch without the watch."

"What's its purpose?" Nessy asked. "Simple decoration?"

"We don't know," Molly said. "It has power of some sort, that's easy enough to tell when you hold it, but we haven't figured out its actual use."

"That's enough, both of you," Rachel snapped.

Joshua put his hand out to silence Rachel, while he made eye contact with Bart to keep him quiet, too. "We need to hear this. Your souls are at stake. You not only saw the thing, but felt it, too. The spirit isn't bluffing."

The two elder Fergusons clenched their jaws, but both nodded. It was obvious, however, they would leave the tale-telling to their children. Wallace also couldn't help but notice Bart kept the artifact hidden.

"The guy came in one afternoon needing a good deal of supplies -- food, tools, tarps, and other miscellanies. We figured he was trying his luck prospecting off the Prosperity claim, but we never did learn for certain. He couldn't pay, but promised he would get the money soon if we'd only let him have everything on credit. I'd been the one helping him at that point, but at that age I couldn't make the decision about credit on my own, so I passed him over to Father."

All eyes turned to Bart, who sighed and grudgingly took up the narrative. "Ronald Hart. That was his name. I don't often, if ever, remember names of those we offer credit to after they are all paid up, but he's the exception."

 Wallace heard "because of the artifact" in his tone of voice, and saw him twitch towards it in his pocket, but he left it hidden.

"He offered a family heirloom as collateral. I balked at first, but when he handed it over, I accepted at once. I didn't even draw up a contract like I normally would. Something about the amulet made me realize it wouldn't be necessary."

He paused for a second as a wistful look passed over his eyes, and then, just as quickly, continued.

"Hart came back a month later, to the day, with the full amount, plus a bit extra in interest, though we never discussed that. I sent him away without accepting any of it, telling him he'd already paid in full. He insisted, but I insisted right back. Who do you think won that argument?" Bart smiled an unpleasant grin. The true look of a man-eating business shark.

"Did he ever come back?" Joshua asked.

"Never when Bart was in the store," Rachel said. "He badgered me and Molly rotten one day until I finally sent her to fetch Sheriff Donovan. After that, whenever I saw him, I'd simply mention the good sheriff, and he'd scurry away."

"How did he die?" Joshua asked.

"Don't know," Bart said. "At one point we noticed he hadn't shown his face in a few months, and after that we never gave him any more thought."

"So what does it do?" Nessy said, no doubt hoping her sudden question would this time catch one of them off-guard enough to spill the beans.

"As I said before," Bart said, "we don't know. It gives off a feel of power, but we've yet to discover what that power is." He again declined to pull it out. Wallace decided not to push for it yet, though at some point it would prove necessary.

"At least now we know why the spirit is so agitated," Wallace said.

"We paid for it fair and square," Rachel said.

"The spirit doesn't see it that way," Wallace said.

Rachel firmed up her jaw and looked ready for a fight. "Fair and square."

Wallace put his hands out in front of him in surrender. "We're here to help, not argue. I'm simply telling you that the spirit, this Ronald Hart, doesn't see it as a fair business deal, and he's willing to eradicate all four of your souls to get that artifact back."

"I have a pretty good idea where to look to figure out how to banish this demon," Joshua said. "But think about this. Is that thing that you don't even know what it does worth not just dying for, but not even existing any longer?"

Wallace nodded at Joshua's words, and he saw Nessy do the same. The Ferguson parents puffed up in a stubborn pride, unwilling to listen to the advice, but their two offspring shared a look that proved the words hit home for them. Not for the first time, Wallace realized Abel and Molly were their allies here, the best bet to get everyone through this unscathed. He did feel it necessary to add something, though. "At least promise you'll discuss it when we've left for the night."

"We will," Abel said, while Molly nodded. Both parents frowned even deeper, but didn't say anything.

With that, the Spirit Wranglers moved to begin packing up their equipment. It would stay in the Fergusons' great room overnight and through most of tomorrow, but Nessy needed it packed in boxes to keep wandering hands off while she wasn't there. Most of the time she wasn't even fond of Wallace of Joshua touching her contraptions.

As he and Joshua discussed the best ways to research the demon, Wallace noticed Rachel Ferguson taking an interest in Nessy's inventions. Though he couldn't hear, it looked as if she were asking pointed questions mostly about the capture and banishing devices. Since she wasn't trying to touch anything, she had Nessy happily gabbing all about them and more. Wallace smiled at his sister's enthusiasm, and then put all his concentration back on Joshua and their conversation.

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