In a few moments he was going to feel a lot worse.
Alice had asked me to keep her return and work with Grimalkin secret. But I’d been feeling guilty about it: my master was planning to entrust me with his property and his work after his death, whenever that might be. There were important things that I had to confess; things that would anger and dismay him. And I felt that now was the right time.
‘Well, lad, that’s one more thing sorted out,’ he said, giving me a weary smile.
‘There’s something I’ve not told you,’ I blurted before I could change my mind. ‘I already know the details of the ritual for destroying the Fiend.’
My master stared at me for a few moments without speaking, looking far from pleased. ‘In that case you’ve lied to me, lad. You told me that the details would only be revealed to you when Alice returned with the third blade.’
‘I’m sorry. Yes, I did lie, but I did so for good reason. I didn’t want to worry you until Alice got back and we knew we had the third weapon. And I needed time to think; to find a way of avoiding what’s supposed to be done . . . because it’s bad – really bad.’
‘Lying to your master is also bad. I’m disappointed, lad. I’ve left you my property because I want you to follow in my footsteps after I’ve gone. And how do you repay me? Yes, I’m disappointed; and hurt too. After years of working together in mutual trust, speaking the truth to each other should be second only to breathing. And time’s running out. Halloween is approaching. Is there any news about the girl yet, or have you been hiding that from me too?’
‘No.’ I shook my head, telling a new lie.
‘Well, lad, I’m waiting. Get it off your chest. Spit it out. Tell me about the ritual and don’t leave anything out.’
‘I won’t be carrying out the ritual,’ I told him. ‘I can’t. There has to be a sacrifice. To make it work, I have to kill Alice.’
‘Why does it have to be her?’ the Spook demanded.
The next words were very hard to utter. My master had always mistrusted Alice because she had been trained as a witch. He also thought that a spook should devote his entire life to the trade and not marry. To get too close to a girl was, in his eyes, a dangerous distraction.
‘To carry out the ritual I have to sacrifice the person I most love on this earth. That’s what Mam told me. So it has to be Alice.’
The Spook closed his eyes and gave a deep sigh. There was a long silence. At last he spoke, his voice hardly more than a whisper.
‘Does the girl know?’
I nodded. ‘The victim has to be a willing sacrifice. Alice is willing to die in order to destroy the Fiend. But it’s too horrible – I won’t do it. Here!’ I said bitterly, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the piece of paper that gave the details of the ritual. I held it out. I’d been carrying it around waiting for the right time to reveal all this to my master.
He shook his head. ‘My eyes are tired. Each day I’m finding it more and more difficult to read. So do it for me, lad. Read it aloud slowly.’
So I did as he said, but just read out the most important sentences:
‘The destruction of the Fiend may be achieved by the following means. Firstly the three sacred objects must be to hand. They are the hero swords forged by Hephaestus. The greatest of these is the Destiny Blade; the second is the dagger called Bone Cutter . . . The third is the dagger named Dolorous, sometimes also called the Blade of Sorrow . . .
‘The place is also important. It must be one especially conducive to the use of magic. Thus the ritual must be carried out on a high hill east of Caster, which is known as the Wardstone.
‘First the blood sacrifice should be made in this precise manner. A fire must be constructed – one capable of generating great heat. To achieve this it will be necessary to build a forge.
‘Throughout the ritual the willing sacrificial victim must display great courage. If she once cries out to betray her pain, all will be lost and the rite will fail.
‘Using the dagger Bone Cutter, the thumb-bones must be taken from the right hand of the victim and cast into the flames. Only if she does not cry out may the second cut be made to remove the bones of the left hand. These also are added to the fire.
‘Next, using the dagger Dolorous, the heart must be cut out of the victim and, still beating, cast into the flames—’
‘Stop!’ cried the Spook, rising to his feet so suddenly that his chair overturned.
‘But there’s more,’ I protested. ‘I have to—’
‘I don’t want to hear any more!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ve put my own affairs in order because I know that I’m approaching the end of my time in this world. But there’s one further thing that I want to do – use the last of my strength to destroy the Fiend for ever. We need to pay him back for all the suffering and misery he’s inflicted upon the world. But you’re right, lad, in not wanting to use that ritual. We’ve already compromised with the dark in order to get this far. You and the girl – you’ve used a blood jar to keep the Fiend at bay, and we’ve had a long-standing alliance with Grimalkin, the witch assassin. Those were bad enough, but this is something far worse. It’s more than just cold-blooded murder. It’s barbaric. Do that and we’re not fit to call ourselves human. The ritual is out of the question.’
The Spook righted his chair, sat down again and glared at me across the table. ‘Now I want to ask you a few questions. You learned of the ritual from your mam when you visited Malkin Tower?’
‘Yes.’
‘She appeared to you?’
I nodded. Mam had died in Greece fighting her mortal enemy, the Ordeen. But her spirit had survived; it was still strong – and was trying to help us finish off the Fiend.
‘What form did she take?’
‘At first she looked like a fierce angel with claws – just as she appeared in Greece. But then she changed into the Mam I remembered – the woman you talked to at our farm soon after you first took me on as your apprentice.’
The Spook nodded. He seemed to be deep in thought.
‘Where did that piece of paper come from?’ he asked, taking it from me.
‘Mam appeared to Slake and dictated the instructions. She wrote them down.’
Slake was a lamia witch – one of Mam’s ‘sisters’. She was still in control of Malkin Tower, keeping the local witches from repossessing it.
‘Well, lad, we’ve some serious thinking and talking to do. What’s the job for us today? I heard the bell ring early this morning. It must be important if somebody walked through the night to reach us.’
The bell was at the withy trees crossroads, not far from the house. When somebody wanted the Spook’s help, they went there and rang the bell and waited.
I wondered why the Spook was suddenly so interested in our work again. For weeks he had just sat in the garden or in the library, dreaming. The heart seemed to have gone out of him. Mostly, he’d just left me to it, not even asking who’d come for help or what their problem was.
It had been hard work dealing with the dark alone – there had been more spook’s business in the last week than normally came to us in a month. It seemed that it was becoming more active. Perhaps it was something to do with the approach of Halloween and the coming ritual?
‘No, he didn’t journey through the night,’ I replied. ‘He lives locally – south of the village. It’s only half an hour away at most. He’s accused someone of using dark magic against him. He claims she’s a witch.’
‘Who made the complaint?’
‘A man called Briggs. He lives at number three Norcotts Lane.’
‘I’ll come with you, lad,’ said the Spook, nodding his head. ‘It’ll give us a chance to talk things through.’
I smiled at him. It was good to see him taking an interest in the trade once more.
Within the hour we had left the house and garden and were walking across the fields. I was carrying both bags.
It was just like old times!
THE SUN WAS shining
and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was warm for late autumn, but that wouldn’t last. In the County, more often than not, we had rain and winds blustering in from the west. By November the wet weather would really have set in.
At first the Spook seemed to be enjoying the walk, but after about ten minutes his expression became grim. I wondered if his knees were bothering him. He’d started to complain about them more frequently, claiming that too many chilly and wet County winters had destroyed the joints. But today’s warmer, drier weather should have been making him feel better.
‘Are you all right?’ I asked. ‘Do you want to slow down a bit?’
‘Nay, lad, this pace is fine. I’m just thinking things through, that’s all.’
So it was the thoughts in his head that gave him that grim expression. I wondered what was bothering him.
We continued in silence until we came to a row of three small terraced houses set on the edge of a large grassy meadow, fronted by a low hawthorn hedge. They had been built many years earlier for farm labourers and their families, but were now in a bad state of repair. The windows of the middle one were boarded up and the small front gardens of all three were unkempt and overgrown.
Only the nearest house had a number – a crude 3, carved high on the top left-hand corner of the front door.
‘Well, lad, you go and talk to Mr Briggs and I’ll go for a little walk. See you in about five minutes!’
To my astonishment, the Spook headed off along the row and disappeared round the corner of the last house. His manner had seemed almost flippant. This wasn’t like him at all. I felt disappointed. My master of old would have been eager to sort out the problem. After all, this was spook’s business – I thought that was why he’d decided to join me.
I walked up to the front door of the house and rapped on it three times. Within moments I heard footsteps approaching and the door was eased open. A scowling face peered out at me. Then it opened fully to reveal the old man I’d talked to earlier at the crossroads. He had a bald head, a large red bulbous nose and a fierce, angry face.
‘Good afternoon, Mr Briggs,’ I said.
‘Where’s Gregory?’ he demanded. ‘When I spoke to you earlier, I told you quite clearly that I wanted your master to deal with the situation, not a stripling still wet behind the ears.’
‘He’s sent me in his place,’ I told him politely. ‘I’ve been working alone for weeks now and getting each job completed successfully. I know exactly what I’m doing and I’m capable of sorting out your problem. But first you need to tell me a little more about it.’
‘There’s nothing more to tell,’ he cried, his face contorting with rage. ‘The old witch used a spell to stop my chickens laying. When I went to complain, she just laughed in my face, and the day afterwards my dog dropped stone dead right in front of me!’
I couldn’t just accept what he said without looking into it more closely. I had to be sure that he really was a victim of witchcraft. The Spook had taught me that there were four categories of witch: the Benign, the Malevolent, the Falsely Accused and the Unaware. The first were usually healers; the second was the largest category – those who used dark magic to increase their power and hurt people; the fourth were extremely rare – those who used magic without knowing that they were doing so. But it was the third category I had to consider here. Anybody could accuse a person of witchcraft. An innocent person couldn’t be made to suffer because of someone’s mistaken belief. I had to be sure.
‘Did this happen recently?’
‘Yes – this week.’
‘And when did your dog die?’
‘Are your ears made out of cloth? This week, as I told you!’
‘But which day?’
‘Yesterday evening. I came to see you at first light.’
‘Could I see the dog, please?’ I asked.
It was a reasonable request, but Mr Briggs didn’t seem to be a reasonable man.
‘Don’t be daft! I buried it, didn’t I?’ he exclaimed.
‘Even so, we might have to dig it up,’ I warned him. ‘How old was it?’
I’d no intention of digging up a dead dog, but I needed to prod him for information.
‘It was witchcraft! Haven’t you listened to a word I’ve said?’
I was being polite, but he wasn’t, and I was starting to get annoyed.
‘How old was your dog?’ I persisted.
‘Sixteen years, but it was fit and healthy.’
‘That’s old for most types of dog. It could have died of natural causes . . . Where does the woman whom you accuse live?’ I took a slow, deep breath to keep myself calm.
‘There!’ he shouted, jabbing his finger at the only other occupied house. ‘That’s where you’ll find her. She calls herself Beth, but no doubt she goes by another name after dark.’
Then, his face red with anger, he went back inside and slammed the door in my face.
What he’d said was nonsense. Some people believed that the witches in a coven had special secret names for each other, but it was just superstition.
I walked along the front hedge that separated the small front gardens from the track, and went down the path of the first house in order to talk to ‘Beth’. I was about to knock on the door when I heard the sound of voices. One of them sounded like my master’s.
So I strolled round the side of the house. My first surprise was that there was a large, well-maintained back garden; an area of lawn bordered by flowers, and beyond that an extensive vegetable and herb garden. Two people were sitting on a bench sipping tea from small cups. One was indeed the Spook; the other was a dainty white-haired woman. I liked the look of her immediately. She was old, yet there was something extremely youthful about the joyful expression in her laughing green eyes.
It was good to see the Spook looking so relaxed and at ease. It was a rare sight these days.
‘Well, lad, you certainly took your time!’ he exclaimed. ‘Come here and meet Beth.’
‘Hello, boy,’ said the old lady. ‘I’ve been hearing all about you. Your master tells me you’re a good apprentice. But let me judge for myself. Come closer and tell me what you think. Am I a witch or not?’
I approached her as she beamed up at me from the bench. There was no feeling of coldness to warn me that I was dealing with someone or something from the dark. That wasn’t always a factor, but I was almost certain that she wasn’t a witch.
‘Well, lad, speak up!’ commanded my master. ‘Don’t be afraid to talk in front of Beth. Is she or isn’t she?’
‘Beth isn’t a malevolent witch,’ I answered.
‘On what do you base that judgement?’ he asked.
‘I have no feeling of warning coldness, but more than that, I trust my instincts. They tell me that Beth isn’t a servant of the dark. And Mr Briggs didn’t offer any real evidence. Anyone can accuse someone of being a witch for their own reasons. Some witchfinders do that, don’t they? They burn someone as a witch just so they can confiscate their property.’
‘That they do, lad.’
‘What am I supposed to have done?’ Beth asked, still smiling.
‘Mr Briggs’s hens won’t lay and he says his dog dropped down dead after he complained to you.’
‘She was a very old dog and not in good health,’ she told me. ‘And there could be lots of reasons why his hens have stopped laying.’
‘Aye, I totally agree,’ said the Spook, coming to his feet. ‘Thanks for the tea, Beth Briggs. You make the best in the County!’
I glanced at them both in astonishment. She had the same name as her accuser . . . What was going on? Was my master testing me in some way – trying to see if I could quickly get to the root of a situation that he was already familiar with?
With that, the Spook led me out of the garden and back along the front hedge towards the house where Mr Briggs lived. He rapped hard on the front door.
The man opened it and scowled at us aggressively.
‘Beth isn’t a witch,??
? asserted the Spook, ‘as you well know! This isn’t the first time she’s been falsely accused by you. So let that be an end to it. Don’t waste my time or that of my apprentice again. Do you hear?’
‘Scratch any woman, and just beneath the skin you’ll find a witch!’ said Briggs with a sneer.
The Spook shook his head. ‘Well, you should know, you old fool! After all, you were married to Beth for thirty-eight years! So she must have used some pretty powerful magic to tolerate being close to a malicious idiot like you for so long!
‘Come on, lad!’ he said, turning to me. ‘We have more important things on our minds.’
Soon we were striding back across the fields towards Chipenden, my master setting quite a pace. His joints did indeed seem better today.
‘They were married? So what was all that about?’ I asked.
‘Beth finally got sick of him, and when her mother died and left her the other cottage, she left him. No doubt she’d prefer to be twenty miles further away, but it’s better than sharing a house. It’s the third time he’s accused her of witchcraft since they parted, and that was my third visit here. I just thought I’d come along and see how you handled the situation. Not all spook’s business involves dealing with the dark.
‘But you did well, lad,’ he continued. ‘And there was another reason why I came along. I wanted to stretch my legs, get a bit of pure County air into my lungs and do a bit of clear-headed thinking. I’ve spent too much time brooding recently – worrying and doing little. Now sit yourself down and listen to what I’ve got to say,’ he said, pointing to a stile we were approaching.
I set our bags down next to the hedge, took a seat and watched the Spook pacing up and down in front of me, his boots flattening the long grass. It reminded me of our lessons in the pretty western garden behind his house, where there were no bound witches or boggarts. It was a long time since we’d done that, and I missed it. Nowadays he usually taught me in his new library or at the kitchen table.
‘We’ve already agreed that we can’t use the ritual – it’s barbaric. But we need to ask ourselves some serious questions.’ The Spook came to a halt and looked me straight in the eye. ‘I asked you what your mam looked like when she appeared to you in Malkin Tower. You said she was like a fierce angel, but then she changed into the woman I spoke to at your farm – the woman we accompanied to Greece to fight the Ordeen. I remember her well. She had an honest, open face. I sensed a tremendous strength in her and, above all, goodness. That woman would never ask you to sacrifice Alice – never mind kill her in such a cruel, inhuman way. So my conclusion is this, lad. You’ve been deceived. That wasn’t your mam. Someone or something was impersonating her.’