Dr. Bleak

## Dr. Michel Bleak

Dr. Michel Bleak is a character in *Down Among the Sticks and Bones* and *Come Tumbling Down.* He is the scientist of the moors and lives in a windmill with his apprentice, Jack Wolcott.

## Appearance

Dr. Bleak is solid, built like a windmill, with a strong chin, assessing eyes and a scar that runs from the circumference of his neck. He wears denim trousers, a simple shirt and a leather apron.

## History

### Every Heart a Doorway

Jack says that Dr. Bleak had taught her everything about the human body and how to reanimate tissue, at that she'd been his best pupil. She also says that he had opened a doorway for her and Jill when the villagers had revolted, and Jack had promised she would stay a scientist and find her way back to him.

She later tells the other children that Dr. Bleak had sometimes wanted her to gather things for him, but only the best could do: if he told her to get him six bats, she would spend days catching the six best bats, or she'd spend a week fishing just to find a golden carp without a single silver scale, and if he'd needed the perfect dog, she would go out and find the parts she'd needed and stitch it into a perfect dog.

### Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Sometime before the book, a Fire-Haired Boy arrived at the Moors, and Dr. Bleak and the Master argued over who could keep him. While the Master won, he told Dr. Bleak that he could have the next foundling that appeared.

Once Jack and Jill arrive, the Master sends Ivan to inform Dr. Bleak that he remembered their arrangement. Dr. Bleak arrives, and upon seeing Jill eating the same food as the Master, asks him if he'd already made his choice between them. The Master seems affronted by this, informing him that the girls had selected their own meals, and asks Dr. Bleak is he'd be willing to split up a matched set. Jack says that they need to return home, and Dr. Bleak informs her that their door could be gone a very long time. He explains to the girls about the agreement over the Fire-Haired Boy, and adds that said boy found his door home. He sits down and tells the girls that they should come with him, and while they couldn't live in luxury, he would be able to teach them about the world, and he wouldn't intentionally harm them. He asks Mary for some meat and bread and beet, and tells the girls to eat up.

The next morning, Bleak dines with the Master while waiting for the children. Jack comes downstairs and informs Bleak that she has chosen him, which surprises him, as she wears frilly dresses and doesn't like dirt. He reminds her that he will put her under hard work, and asks if she would still like to think it over. She affirms that she wants to follow him, and Bleak reminds the Master that the next child who arrives will also be his. The Master asks what would stop him from killing Jack, and Bleak tells him that should something happen to Jill, Jack could be drawn upon, and also that he did not want a fight between them. He and Jack leave.

The two of them travel to his home- the Windmill- and he tells Jack not to touch anything without knowing what it is first, and that he will answer her questions. She asks what he meant by "drawing on her" if something should happen to Jill, and he replies that he meant blood. He opens the door and lets Jack inside the Windmill, leaving the door open should she run and flee. He is surprised when her only question is a request for a different outfit, and provides her with a chest of clothing. Her next request is for a bath, and he gives her a large tin bucket and tells her she will have to haul the water herself, before leaving her alone in the windmill. When he returns, Jack has figured out how to wash herself and has gotten dressed, braiding her hair back. He asks her if she made dinner, and she replies that she can't cook, but is willing to learn. Once Bleak affirms she means this, he takes her inside the windmill.

As the years pass, Jack remains as Bleak's apprentice, learning quickly while under him. When Jack begins her period, he gathers the village women to donate their rags for Jack to experiment on, to create a chemical to mask the smell of the blood. A year later, he brings the corpse of a village girl- Alexis Chopper- and brings her back to life. Jack falls in love with her.

One day, when Jack is sixteen, he sends her to the village to pick up aconite, arsenic and chocolate biscuits. She hesitantly goes, deciding to walk Alexis home as well, and Bleak thinks about how she has become a good apprentice, but Jill has become a good daughter to the Master, and will one day make a great Monster. He wonders if seeing her sister will change her mind. She later comes back from the Village, sobbing due to her interaction with Jill.

Bleak allows Jack to remain at the windmill and not return to the village. About a year later, Jack grows impatient waiting for Alexis to come, and knows that she would never be tardy. She leaves, and Bleak hopes that she is not dead. This is in vain, as he hears Jack howl and follows the sound, to find his apprentice over Alexis's body. He sends her to follow the blood to find more of her flesh, so as to spare her the sight of the rest of her wounds. He does not believe he will be able to resurrect her, but he promises to try.

As he is preparing the body, Jack arrives with a bloodied Jill, informing him that Jill killed Alexis and a Mob was chasing her. When Jill tries to run, Bleak knocks her out and begins to open up a door for the twins, explaining that if the Mob kills the twins, the Master will burn the Village, and that to return, Jack will need blood on her hands, either hers or Jill's, and to wait at least a year. Jack promises to return to him, and Bleak closes the door behind her and Jill.

## Relationships

### Mary

Mary seems to like Dr. Bleak, as she smiles when he politely requests food. She tells Jack that she wishes that Dr. Bleak had been able to save her from the Master.

## Trivia

* "Michel" is a French name, meaning "Who is like God?"
	+ "Bleak" is a word that means "bare, desolate, windswept", "cold, piercing, raw" or "without hope or encouragement, depressing, dreary."

## References

1. ↑ Down Among the Sticks and Bones, page 80: Instead, the first man simply laughed, shaking his head. "So dramatic! Always so dramatic. Sit down, Michel. Let me feed you. Enjoy the hospitality of my home for an evening, and perhaps you'll see the wisdom of letting these pretty sisters stay together."
2. ↑ Down Among the Sticks and Bones, page 77: The man was solid, built like a windmill, sturdy and strong and aching to burn. His clothing was practical, denim trousers and a homespun shirt, both protected by a leather apron. He had a chin that could have been used to split logs, and bright, assessing eyes below the heavy slope of his brow. Most fascinating of all was the scar that ran all the way along the circumference of his neck, heavy and white and frayed like a piece of twine, like whatever had cut him had made no effort whatsoever to do it cleanly.
3. ↑ Down Among the Sticks and Bones, page 81: He looked to Mary. His eyes were kind. "Meat and bread and beer, if you would be so kind, Mary."

"Yes, sir," said Mary, and actually smiled as she fled the room.