Transcript of this chapter:

crystal: Have you seen Barlow? He's turning purple!
sheriff: Yes, well, he's bound to do that. After all, turning purple is the second phase of the curse.
crystal: But this means we've got to act quickly. I've got to act quickly.
sheriff: And why was it that you want to break the curse? Do you feel responsible for the situation, or do you want to save him just to spite him?
crystal: I don't see how this really matters. The point is we've got to find a way to break the curse!
sheriff: I don't know. Death... personal identity... all that stuff is an illusion. The first step to enlightenment is to realize that nothing you do really changes anything.
crystal: You're right. To heck with Barlow.
sheriff: Well, that's certainly not the response I expected from you. Perhaps you're much wiser than I previously thought.
crystal: Maybe I'm just ready to give up.
sheriff: What? You? Giving up? I don't think that's even in your repertoire.
sheriff: Maybe I can cheer you up...
crystal: Don't give me that rubbish! We can't give up on Barlow now!
sheriff: Yep. That's just the response I would expect from you. Always trying so hard at everything, maybe trying to make up for your demon nature.
crystal: I DO have to try hard! It's not fair for you to criticize me for it!
sheriff: Calm down, little demon. I didn't mean to offend you.
sheriff: As luck would have it, I've found something that might be useful...
crystal: I don't think you really believe that. Barlow's too important to this town to just give up on him.
sheriff: I meant what I said. Nothing we do can be any more useful than not doing it.
crystal: I just can't agree with you about that. I don't believe that... and I don't think you do, either.
sheriff: Well... just because I don't think anything can help doesn't mean I haven't found a possible solution. Let me tell you about something I found earlier...
sheriff: I was reading through the old records in the Sheriff's Office, looking for some mention of the chickaree invasion.
sheriff: A lot of people died in those days from the curse, and there were a lot of references of people who died horrible deaths from it.
sheriff: But then I found an entry in the sheriff's log that sounds promising...
sheriff: Apparently, in 1923, an eleven-year-old Vedalia Bean was found to have symptoms of the curse. The log entry states that she took an antidote given to her by a local doctor, and she made a complete recovery.
crystal: So there IS a cure!
sheriff: It appears so.
crystal: If only we knew who the doctor was...
sheriff: Oh, but we do. Spider Cliff has never had more than one doctor at a time. The local doctor back then was Dr. K. Sawbones. I never met him, but I heard he was a great doctor.
crystal: If you knew about this, why did you act so indifferent?
sheriff: Oh, I suppose it would've been found out eventually. I'm sure Alex would know that the local doctor at the time might have some information about the curse.
crystal: Who was the doctor?
sheriff: Dr. K Sawbones. I understand that he was a great doctor. I think he died about fifty years ago, shortly after I was born. He brought me into this world, but I never knew him personally.
crystal: This is the best lead we've had! We have to act on this immediately!
sheriff: I agree. What do you think we should do?
crystal: Why wasn't a cure mentioned anywhere else?
sheriff: Well, the local records aren't exactly written by professionals. They leave out a lot of stuff.
sheriff: What's important is that we've got a solid lead to a cure.
crystal: You're right. We need to act on this immediately...
crystal: I assume the doctor had an office here in town?
sheriff: Yes, and I think it's been vacant for about fifty years. His stuff is still in there.
crystal: I kind of expected that. We'll need to organize a party to search the building for the cure. You and I will go in. Who else?
sheriff: Alex will want to go. I think we can get Eliza to go, too. She knows a lot of medical stuff.
crystal: What about Turnip?
sheriff: No way! I'm not associating with that... thing.
crystal: Oh, yeah. I forgot.
sheriff: Hmmm... should we bring Barlow with us, too?
crystal: Would Barlow want to go into that place?
sheriff: Well, he does feel uncomfortable in unsafe situations. Dr. Sawbones' office IS one of the most condemned buildings in Spider Cliff.
crystal: Let's just make Barlow go in alone.
sheriff: Are you sure? I know the place would terrify him, but you wouldn't be credited with saving him.
crystal: Well, when you put it that way...
sheriff: Then it's settled. I'll gather everyone together, and we'll go in as soon as possible.
crystal: Let's leave Barlow out of this. He's already mad at me enough as it is.
sheriff: And he'll be doubly mad when he learns that you found the cure without him.
crystal: I'm banking on that.