Dust to Dust: The Slaughter Sisters

By Greg Alldredge

Set in the Helena Brandywine universe, this story is the second Slaughter Sisters adventure.

What’s a girl to do?

Chastity’s sisters left her home alone for a week, what would any red-blooded American tinker do? Why invent of course.

Too bad the nosy matchmaker Mrs. Katz brought along a prospective husband and mystery for Chastity to sink her teeth into.

Who could be tormenting a local Synagogue? How is the death of the previous Rabbi involved, what is with the half-man half-pig creature lurking about?

In Dust to Dust It is up to Chastity Slaughter to find out while her sisters are away.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Oct 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781949392067

Book preview

A Slaughter Sisters Adventure #2

Dust to Dust

A Helena Brandywine Mini Adventure

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

ISBN: 978-1-949392-06-7

Contact the author at

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© 2018 Greg Alldredge

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover Art by Ryn Katryn Digital Art.

Melinda Campbell, Copyeditor

www.MCEdits.com

To my wife, who continues to inspire me and put up with my crazy ideas.

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Chapter 8:

Chapter 9:

Chapter 10:

Chapter 11:

Chapter 1:

Chastity Slaughter took a step back and admired her creation. All brass, the machine resembled a huge cannon ready to take on the monsters of hell. In a sense, her invention was meant to fight hell on earth, or at least what she expected hell to be like.

She flicked her curly bangs out of her face. She’d tired of her hair getting in the way, so despite her sisters’ chagrin, she chopped it all off. She continued to play with it as she pondered the reasons behind her invention.

A recent riverboat fire on the Hudson had left untold people dead and missing. Once the fire started aboard the ferry, there was little the captain could do but run the flat-bottom riverboat aground and let the crew fight the fire alone. Once the flames reached the boilers, one or more of them exploded, sending the ship and many of the passengers to a watery grave.

In this day and age, men and women should not have to rely on outdated inventions to save lives. From high-rise fires, to fires on the water, there were too many places the firefighters could not reach. To think a fire could not be better combated while burning in the water was insane.

By trade, Chastity was in the family business of monster hunting, just like the rest of her sisters and her family of past generations. She created inventions to help her family but what she dreamed of most was having her inventions in Scientific American Magazine. All the important inventions would make that magazine one day.

Her younger brother had run off to join the circus. Or became a reporter, if people preferred to call him that. To Chastity, it might as well have been a circus from what she read of the news. She considered what was printed on most days not fit to wrap fish in.

Now, she invented what might be used to save lives rather than help her sisters take them. This was something she might be able to sell and help her family out of the financial straits they always seemed to be in. Maybe she could become rich and not have to marry any of the eligible bachelors that Abigail Katz brought sniffing around the Slaughter house. The way things were going, she found life safer when hiding in her barn that had been converted into a workshop. There she could be alone with her gears and bobbins and thingamajigs. The smell of oil and condensation of steam made her happy.

Miss Chastity? the voice of the hell-sent harpy called from in front of the house.

It was a pity, Chastity was ready to fire the new invention up and see if the thing worked as well as she hoped it might. She couldn’t risk the noise with that matchmaker Miss Abigail Katz snooping around. She surely wanted to drag her off to some lunch or another meeting with a prospective husband.

When Faith was home, she played along for the family’s sake. But now that Faith had left with Grace for a few days, life was easier while she was alone and quiet.

The voice called out again, Miss Chastity? To her ears, the voice sounded closer. To help conceal her location, she closed the door to the barn and turned down the gaslights in the loft. When she was still a child, she had rigged a valve to cut the gas off near the front doors of the barn rather than climb the ladder to change the brightness.

Even if Chastity wanted to meet a man, she was not dressed for the occasion. No wig and leather trousers was no way to take callers, any time of day. She might dress like this at night while on a monster hunt, but this was no way for a lady to dress receiving guests. At least that’s what her sister beat into her head. If she had her way about it, polite society could all get stuffed. She knew all of the manners were a ruse, anyway. Once women got the vote, all that would change.

Through the slats of the barn wall, she could see Abigail walking with another person, but Abigail’s blasted summer hat was so large it covered his face and the view of half the yard. She had no idea who came calling with the matchmaker, but Chastity was certain it couldn’t be good for her. Visitors never were good for her.

Except for the last time that gentleman caller came for Faith. That ended badly for the city and for Faith. That was why she was attending a health clinic to purify her blood with some new medical technology. Chastity thought the process all poppycock. If they needed to filter Faith’s or anyone’s blood, she could build a much better piece of machinery than some stuffy old doctor out in the Poconos. What would they think of next, having people eat all greens rather than good American beef?

Blast, she thought to herself, she had been thinking and lost track of the intruders. If she was going to escape the altar, she needed to keep her wits about her, or some man was liable to sneak up behind her.

Hello. The man’s soft voice nearly made her leave her skin when she jumped off the ground with a start.

Who in great blazes are you? The youngest Slaughter Sister spun around, a twenty-four-inch wrench held high, ready to brain anyone that came