The professor muses, then asks Reggie
Reggie, do you remember someone your aunt spoke of like a friend? I think we can be sure that this person is not involved in cult matters then.
You remember that your aunt often spoke of a Gerald Harris, who worked at the sawmill, which is now closed. He must be living somewhere at the southern end of Dunwich, close to the river.
Reggie stands still for a moment. He is not smiling.
"My Aunt has..,had a good friend here. A Mr. Harris, Gerald Harris I think. He was a foreman at the sawmill before it closed. He might not be a part of all this.
Last I heard he was living on the south side of the village. They would take walks along the river and birdwatch.
We might be safe there, at least for a night. We would be bringing death with us though. Whoever killed my Aunt can't afford to let us get away. Or let anyone we might talk to survive."
The professor listens attentively and pats Reggie on the shoulder and addresses the whole group
What a good memory you have, boy. If this Mr. Harris was a friend of your aunt, he will most likely have heard of Reggie, maybe even seen him on a photo. We should talk to him, tell him that there is a great danger brewing up. We need his help and he needs ours, it's pretty simple. We have to save all villagers that do not belong to the Believers, I guess. Murphy should try to find out whom we can trust, as a police man, he surely has a knack for such things, right?
Victor is silent a moment before saying I agree we cannot leave like this, it will only get worse. Leaving Mr. Harris alone here is something I cannot stomach either. These believers need to be stopped and I am not going to be able to live without finding out EXACTLY what those creatures are that we just ran from as I have no knowledge of them in science. I for one will be going to Mr. Harris and the believers will regret taking action against a former member of his majesty's royal army.
Daniel turns to Reggie and Mr Cummins.
"The closed sawmill, does it still stand, or any other unused, derelict building? If so, we could perhaps seek shelter there and then try to contact Mr Harris without the believers noticing."
"It's true. If we're caught trying to collaborate with this Mr. Harris, it could very well mean his death. Should try to deliver him a message, and have him meet us somewhere we won't be interrupted?"
"A sneaky approach is required here, perhaps we need to move back toward the town and observe it. Keep your pistols loaded gents"
Cummings, who is the only one of you who has visited Dunwich already on a regular basis, nods
The old sawmill buildings are dwon the river, about twenty minutes on foot from Dunwich - south of it - which is good, when Reggie is right that Harris lives in the southern part of the village. We should go there and hide, ok?
The professor is convinced of the plan and so you move back to Dunwich...the woody hills, which under normal conditions would have appeared just beautiful to you, now have lost all their magic and like ghosts you rush eastwards, closely huddled together.
The river comes closer and closer and as you climb another hilltop, the sawmill buildings now lie just between you and the murky brown serpent.
A large hall and a couple of outbuildings, all in a state of utter disrepair lie around a central yard. The place looks derelict and deserted for at least two decades. A weathered, once red, lettering on the hall reads Dunwich - New England's Capital of the Lumber Industry.
Murphy looks around the place, trying to find a good spot to observe from.
Stealth
Daniel tries to find a place, where he can see the Building and the way to Dunwich. He tries to observe if anybody already uses the building.
If and when he is reasonably sure the building is vacant and nobody is on the road to the town that might spot him, he tries to get down and into the nearest outbuilding as fast and as inconspicuous as possible.
Charlie follows Daniel down to the outbuildings, keeping his eye out as well.
Perception
Stealth
Reggie, the shock only now setting in, stays with the others. He says little, simply placing the burned head of the walking stick in his pocket.
Victor follows Daniel and Charlie, his pistol drawn but hidden underneath his coat.
Daniel, Victor and Charlie are pretty sure that the whole building complex is unoccupied and so the three hasten down the slope and enter the closest outbuilding, a former storage hall, from the backside.
The road leading to Dunwich is also empty and besides the song of some birds, nothing can be heard.
The building, which is about 15X20m large, consists of only one large room which is entirely empty. However, the concrete walls and floor are covered with a thick layer of dried mold. The hot summer seems to have killed the aggressive fungus. There is another door opposite you, which leads to the main yard.
While the three disappear, Murphy leads the rest of the investigators to a nearby oak. The tree is easily climbabble and so Murphy finds a thick branch to sit on and observe.
"Well I can see from up here, so lets see what I can see eh?"
Murphy waits, pistol in hand.
Murphy has a great view of the dilapidated industrial complex and the nearby area. Everything seems calm and besides two roe deers and some birds the place seems safe and you are the only visitors. But wait, there is some strange smell in the air, it reminds you of burned vulacnised rubber. It's wafting over to you from behind one of the more distant outbuildings of the sawmill.
Using the opportunity provided by the stop, James opens his briefcase and begins methodically sorting through the bird's nest of papers and notes that now fill it. Smoothing the sheets as best he can and putting them back into a rough sort of order. He also takes the opportunity to reload his pistol before clipping the briefcase shut and leaning against the trunk of the tree to await the return of the others.
Daniel opens the door again, leans out and handsignals 'all clear' toward the others, then waves to call them down.
@ James: The smell is not unknown to you, burning or moletn rubber smells like that.
James wrinkles his nose at familiar smell wafting from behind the buildings but ignores it for the moment. Climbing to his feet, he scrambles down the hill to where Daniel holds the door open, trying his best to keep a low profile just in case any locals are nearby.
Murphy gathers with the others, looking around whilst holding his pistol...
"So, how do we approach this Mr. Harris?" Charlie ponders aloud. He crosses the massive room to the other door, and takes a peek into the main yard.
Perception
The main yard is about 30X30m large and empty besides some old rusty iron barrels, two large lumber piles that are mostly rotten, and the remains of a horse wagon that must have once been used for timber transport. You can also spot a small now mostly overgrown path opposite you that most probably leads to the river banks.
Perhaps we can follow the river to his house so as to avoid being seen. Reggie have you actually met Mr. Harris before? Would he know you upon seeing you?
You may decide yourself if you met this man before on a vacation or something.
"I met him a long time ago. The family used to come up from Boston sometimes in the summer. That must have been ten years ago now. I doubt he'll know me on sight. I should be able to jog his memory though. And yes unless he's moved the river path should head straight to his door. Or at least it did back then."
"We should not go all, that simply 'could' not go unnoticed, but at least one of us or, sorry to say so, one of you" Daniel glances over those of us that have and have used a firearm during the 'goatmen incident' "should accompany him. Any idea how we can make reasonably sure you get there unnoticed?"
"I can be pretty quiet if I need to be, and would be willing to make the trip if only to meet another normal person from this town--but I don't have a gun."
Victor stands up and says I'll go with him. I seem to have the most combat experience and the rest of you can see if you can come up with some ideas as to what those things were. It is too bad we could not take a specimen to study.
Victor and Reggie get ready to leave for Dunwich, but the Professor remarks
You should wait for nightfall, I suggest. Then move along the river until you reach Dunwich. Now that we have left the village so hastily I wouldn't be surprised if the Believers were on the lookout for us. And we surely need something to eat soon.
"You are probably right, professor, but how do we get the food? I have ahm...organized eggs, chicken, vegetables and the occasional pie before, but if some of the townsfolk is out to kill me, that increases the risk of doing so many times.
We cannot just buy it - for the same reason, and using rifles to hunt would certainly alert sombody to our presence - probably somebody hostile, and we would have less ammunition to hold that somebody at bay."
Danile stops and looks around, embarrassed that again, all he does is asking others for their ideas.
"There are probably rats aplenty here, and enough lose planks to build a few rat traps, but I do not have anything at me we could use as bait..."
Cummings waits for the punchline, but as you don't speak on, he looks at you incredulously
Eat rats?
Victor agrees about not leaving till night. Leaving under the cover of darkness is a good idea. As far as food, when we make contact with Mr. Harris, perhaps we can persuade him to give us some or have him buy some for us.
Daniel loks at Mr Cummings and shrugs.
"I have been through rough times...still when you are hungy, if you close your eyes they taste a bit like chicken..."
"I propose Mr Tauber as the expidition cook!" You look to see Reggie smiling at the poor joke. His grin is a little manic 'round the edges but real none the less.
"We can hold out for a little while. After all hungry is better than shot. Besides I don't think I could eat here. What is that smell?"
Charlie settles down against a wall, "Well if we're waitin' for nightfall, I'm surely not waitin' on my feet."
Cummings looks to Dr. Chilcott
I think the doctor had an idea. I was thinking about agreeing on a signal when our night patrol returns so we recognize them early enough.
"Smells like molten rubber or something very similar, one of my previous labs was situated right next to a tyre manufacturer and the smell pervaded everything.
As for food, worst comes to the worst I think between us we can maybe fashion some snares, catch some rabbits and if not them their longer tailed cousins."
"And I thought the streets of New York stank..."
Murphy remains on guard, so the party doesn't get themselves surprised.
Cummings furrows his brows
Bah...I bet those f!&%ers have burned my car...or at least its tyres. Guess they knew the Innsmouth Bell Company would search for me after a while. Hey, but wait - if they burned the tyres here, doesn't that mean, they frequent this place?
The professor nods and gets a bit paler as he realizes what that probably means...
Daniel looks at Cummins, a little shocked about his repeated use of a word even a chicago whore would blush at and even a drifter would hesitate to use, then strokes his chin, thinking about what he said.
"Maybe, or, if we are lucky" he slightly scoffs at the thought of them lot being 'lucky' after the last hours "they brought the car here because they think no one frequents this place anymore, at all. We should be very careful, though, but we have to get a look at the site of the fire"
Cummings nods grimly and whispers
Who else is going to take a look?
"I'll go as well, it'll beat just sittin'."
"I'll stay here and provide a look out. Don't want to walk into a trap with no way back out eh?"
I'll go also, I want to get a better look at our surroundings for when we leave tonight to meet Mr. Harris
"So, lets take a look then."
"I'll stay then and take a look around inside, see if I can find anything useful in all the detritus that got left behind when they closed whatever this used to be."
"I'm with you Daniel"
Reggie looks about for something to use as a weapon.
@ Reggie and James:
There is an old square timber in the corner of the room. However, you both doubt that it will be useful for more than some blows...besides this makeshift weapon, there is nothing else of note in this storage room.
@ Those who left the building:
You follow the acrid stench that wafts over from the back of the other storage hall. Slowly and cautiously you advance and it is Charlie who sneaks ahead and gets the first glimpse of what is behind the building
The whole slope, from the back of the building down to the river banks is full of burned and half-burned cars, wagons, bags, suitcases, clothes, glasses, etc. A field full of the charred remains of the possessions of traveelers, sales-agents and visitors. It dawns on you that the Believers must have used this place to get rid of the belongings of travellers and visitors that have vanished here in the hills for many years - most probably since the sawmill closed.
Charlie rushes back to his companions, gasping for breath from the dark realization. "It's a boneyard," he says, pointing toward the burning debris, "Look at the luggage, all those travelers..." he trails off.