Chapter 7 of The Power of Steam Compels You

Click here to start at the beginning

Click here to read Chapter 6

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.

Click here to read Chapter 8