Transcript of this chapter:

rebecca: Alex dear, I find it hard to believe Barlow's curse is anything serious. I think you're over-reacting again.
alex: No, I'm not! I have the proof right here!
alex: Barlow is in grave danger!
crystal: You lie!
alex: What's it to you, demon? You don't have anything to do with this.
crystal: You're right. Barlow deserves whatever he gets.
alex: Mother, I warned you about letting demons stay in Spider Cliff. This is how they behave.
rebecca: Oh, I'm sure Crystal is more concerned that she lets on. After all, this wouldn't be happening if she didn't pick up that chickaree statue.
crystal: Well... no comment.
crystal: Nothing? I found the statue in the first place!
rebecca: Are you saying that you feel responsible?
crystal: No no, not really... I'm just saying that it could've been me who got the curse. I could've dropped the statue instead of Barlow.
alex: But none of this would've happened if you hadn't picked up the statue in the first place.
crystal: Yeah, well... it's not ENTIRELY my fault... I don't think. After all, barlow was the one who broke it, so he's halfway to blame... More like forty - sixty... yeah...
crystal: This is entirely my fault.
crystal: If I hadn't picked up that little statue, Barlow would be fine.
alex: A demon... showing remorse?
crystal: Yes, Alex, we ARE capable of remorse... although if it was you who was cursed I wouldn't give a hoot.
rebecca: What's really important now is that you tell us what you've discovered. Then we'll decide how dangerous this curse really is.
alex: Okay. The artifact that Barlow broke dates back to the Great Chickaree Invasion of the 1920's. The chickarees brought a curse that killed scores of people in Spider Cliff.
crystal: Get to the point. What's this have to do with my squirrel statue?
alex: It's not a squirrel... it's a chickaree, a purple chickaree. The curse was carried into town by those little beasts, just like a plague. It's the curse that Barlow now has.
crystal: How are you sure that Barlow has that particular curse?
alex: The first symptom to show up is purple hair.
rebecca: Okay, so we've caught it at the first symptom. How do we stop it?
alex: If there's a way to cure it, the books don't mention it. The only thing they talk about is how to prevent someone from getting it.
alex: According to everything I've found about it... it's irreversible... and fatal.
rebecca: Oh my!
crystal: So, the town was invaded by chickaree statues?
alex: No, by REAL purple chickarees. The statuettes were a defense mechanism against them.
alex: Every building in town had a small statue of a chickaree, specially made to soak up the curse brought by the real chickarees.
rebecca: Ingenious!
alex: Sure, but only if you don't break the statues. That would release the curse.
crystal: What is that book?
alex: I got this from the town archives. It's a document of official events in Spider Cliff. this is the 1923 volume, which discusses the chickaree curse in detail.
crystal: You seem to have found this all out awfully quick...
alex: I read these things in my spare time. When Barlow turned up with purple hair, I immediately knew what had happened.
crystal: What happened to the statues when the invasion was over?
alex: They were disposed of, being as dangerous as they were. The book doesn't mention how.
alex: I guess they missed the one in your house.
crystal: Does that book say anything else about the chickaree invasion?
alex: The chickarees came out of the Smoggy Woods suddenly one day. No one knows why.
alex: They came in several waves though the next few years, always to return to the woods as mysteriously as they came. It's rumored that they still live there today, deep in the woods... but no one who ever enters those woods returns alive.
crystal: We need to find Barlow immediately!
rebecca: You think we can stop it?
crystal: We have to try!
rebecca: crystal, I didn't realize you felt so warmly for Barlow.
crystal: What? No... I just feel responsible for what happened to him.
crystal: I don't know how, but I WILL find a cure!
crystal: I want Barlow's room when he dies.
rebecca: Crystal, this is serious.
alex: maybe I can get Barlow to do one more act of demon-slaying before he dies.
rebecca: Both of you, shush! This is a serious matter, and we have work together in order to help Barlow.