The Spook's Battle Read online

  Now, time's short--I can't spare more than half an hour for your lessons today, so let's get started."I followed the Spook out to the western garden and was soon seated on the bench there, my notebook open and pen at the ready. It was a nice warm morning. The sheep bleated in the distance and the fells ahead were bathed in bright sunshine, dappled by small cloud shadows chasing one another toward the east.The first year of my apprenticeship had largely been devoted to the study of boggarts; the topic for this year was witches."Right, lad," said the Spook, starting to pace up and down as he spoke. "As you know, a witch can't sniff us out because we're both seventh sons of seventh sons. But that only applies to what we call long-sniffing. So write that down. It's your first heading. Long-sniffing is sniffing out the approach of danger in advance, just as Bony Lizzie sniffed out that mob from Chipenden that burned down her house. A witch can't sniff us out that way, so that gives us the element of surprise."But it's short-sniffing that we must beware of, so write that down, too, and underline it for emphasis. Up relatively close, a witch can find out a lot about us and knows in an instant our weaknesses and strengths. And the nearer you are to a witch, the more she finds out. So always keep your distance, lad. Never let a witch get nearer to you than the length of your rowan staff. Allowing her to come close holds other dangers, too--be especially careful not to let a witch breathe into your face. Her breath can sap both your will and your strength. Grown men have been known to faint away on the spot!""I remember Bony Lizzie's foul breath," I told him. "It was more animal than human. More like that of a cat or a dog!""Aye, it was that, lad. Because, as we know, Lizzie used bone magic and sometimes fed from human flesh or drank human blood."Bony Lizzie, Alice's aunt, wasn't dead. She was imprisoned in a pit in the Spook's eastern garden. It was cruel, but it had to be done.

  The Spook didn't hold with burning witches, so he kept the County safe by locking them in a pit."But not all witches have the foul breath of those who dabble in bone and blood magic," my master continued. "A witch who only uses familiar magic might have breath that's as fragrant as May blossoms. So beware, for in that16sweetness lies great danger. Such a witch has the power of fascination--write that word down, too, lad. Just as a stoat can freeze a rabbit in its tracks while it moves closer, so some witches can dupe a man. They can make him complacent and happy, totally unaware of danger until it's far too late."And that's very closely allied to another power of some witches. We call it glamour --so get that word down as well. A witch can make herself appear to be something she's not. She can seem younger and more beautiful than she really is. Using that deceitful power, she can create an aura --projecting a false image --and we should always be on our guard. Because once glamour has attracted a man, it's the beginning of fascination and a gradual eroding of his free will. Using those tools, a witch can bind him to her will so that he believes her every lie and sees only what she wishes him to see."And glamour and fascination are a serious threat to us, too. Being a seventh son of a seventh son won't help one bit. So beware! I suppose you still think I've been harsh where Alice is concerned. But I did it for the best, lad. I've always feared that, one day, she might use those powers to control you --""No," I interrupted. "That's not fair. I like Alice --not because she's bewitched me, but because she's turned out all right and been a good friend to me. To both of us! Before Mam left, she told me she had faith in Alice, and that's good enough for me.

  "The Spook nodded, and there was a sadness in his expression. "Your mam may well be right. Time will tell, but just be on your guard --that's all I ask. Even a strong man can succumb to the wiles of a pretty girl with pointy shoes. As I know from experience. And now write up what I've just told you about witches."The Spook sat down on the bench beside me and was silent while I wrote it all down in my notebook. After I'd finished, I had a question for him."When we go to Pendle, are there any special dangers we face from the witch covens? Anything I've not heard about so far?"The Spook stood up and began to pace backward and forward again, deep in thought. "Pendle district is riddled with witches--there might well be things I've never come up against myself. We'll have to be flexible and ready to learn. But I think the biggest problem we face is their sheer numbers. Witches often bicker and argue, but when they do agree and meet together with a common purpose, their strength is greatly increased. Aye--we must beware that. You see, that's right at the heart of the threat we face--that the witch clans might unite."And here's something else for your notebook--you need to get the terminology correct. A coven is the term for thirteen witches gathering to combine their strength in some ceremony that evokes the powers of the dark. But the larger family of witches is commonly called a clan. And a clan includes their menfolk and children, as well as family members who don't directly practice dark magic."

  The Spook waited patiently until I'd finished writing before continuing the lesson. "Basically, as I've told you before, there are three main witch clans in Pendle--the Malkins, the Deanes, and the Mouldheels--and the first is the worst of all. All of them row and bicker, but the Malkins and the Deanes have gotten closer over the years. They have intermarried. Your friend Alice is the result of just such a union. Her mother was a Malkin and her father a Deane, but the good news there is that neither of them was a practicing witch. On the other hand, both parents died young, and as you know, she was given into the care of Bony Lizzie. The training she received there is something she'll always struggle to overcome, and the danger in taking her back to Pendle is that she might revert to type and rejoin one of the clans."Again I was about to object, but my master stopped me with a gesture. "Let's just hope that doesn't happen," he continued, "but if she isn't bent back toward the dark, her local knowledge is going to be very important. She will be of invaluable help to us and our work."Now, as for the third clan, the Mouldheels, they're much more mysterious. In addition to using blood and bone magic, they pride themselves on being skilled with mirrors. As I've told you before, I don't believe in prophecy, but it's said that the Mouldheels mainly use mirrors for scrying.""Scrying?" I asked. "What's that?""Telling the future, lad. They say the mirrors show them what's going to happen. Now, the Mouldheels have mostly kept their distance from the other two clans, but recently I've heard that someone or something is keen for them to put aside that ancient enmity. And that's what we have to prevent. Because if the three clans unite and, more importantly, if they get three covens together, then who knows what evil they will launch upon the County? As you may remember, they did it once before, many years ago, and cursed me."

  "I remember you telling me," I said. "But I thought you didn't believe in their curse.""No, I like to think it was all nonsense, but it still shook me up. Luckily the covens fell out soon after, before they could inflict more damage on the County. But this time there's something a little more sinister about what's happening in Pendle, and that's what I need my visitor to confirm. We need to prepare ourselves mentally and physically for what could be a terrible battle--and then we need to get to Pendle before it's too late."Well, lad," the Spook finished, shielding his eyes and glancing toward the sun, "this lesson's gone on long enough, so it's back to the house with you. You can spend the rest of the morning studying."I passed the remainder of the morning alone in the Spook's library. He still didn't trust Alice fully, and she wasn't allowed in the library in case she read something she 'wasn't supposed to. Now that there were three of us living in the house, my master had finally opened up another of the downstairs rooms, and it was currently used as a study. Alice was working there now, earning her keep by copying one of the Spook's books. Some of them were rare and he was always afraid that something might happen to them, so he liked to have a copy just in case.I was studying covens --how a group of thirteen witches came together for their rituals. I was reading a passage that described what happened when witches held special feasts, -which were called sabbaths.

  Some covens celebrate sabbaths weekly, others each month, at the time of either the fall moon or the new moon. Additionally, there are four gr
eat dabbaths held when the power of darkness is at its greatest: Candlemas, Walpurgis Night, Lammas andHalloween. At these four dark feasts, covens may combine in worship.I already knew about Walpurgis Night. It took place on April , and years earlier three covens had gathered together at Pendle on that sabbath to curse the Spook. Well, we were now in the second week in July; I -wondered when the next great sabbath was and began to search the page. I didn't get very far because at that moment something happened that I'd never experienced in the whole of my time in Chipenden.Rap ! Rap ! Rap ! Rap !Someone was knocking on the back door! I couldn't believe it. Nobody came to the house. Visitors always went to the withy trees at the crossroads and rang the bell. To enter the gardens was to risk being torn to bits by the boggart that guarded the house and its perimeter. Who had knocked? Was it the friend the Spook was expecting? And if so, how had he managed to reach the back door in one piece?

  Chapter 2

  Curious, I returned my book to its place on the shelf and went downstairs. The Spook had already answered the door and was leading someone into the kitchen. When I saw him, my jaw dropped in surprise. He was a very big man, broad across the shoulders and at least two or three inches taller than the Spook. He had a friendly, honest face and looked to be in his late thirties, but the truly astonishing thing about him was that he was wearing a black cassock.He was a priest!"This is my apprentice, Tom Ward," said the Spook with a smile."I'm very pleased to meet you, Tom," said the priest, holding out his hand. "I'm Father Stocks. My parish is Downham, north of Pendle Hill.""I'm pleased to meet you, too," I said, shaking his hand."John has told me all about you in his letters," Father Stocks said. "It seems you've gotten yourself off to a very promising start --"At that moment Alice came into the kitchen. She looked our visitor up and down with surprise in her eyes when she saw that he was a priest. In turn, Father Stocks glanced down at her pointy shoes and his eyebrows gave a slight twitch upward."And this is young Alice," said the Spook. "Alice, say hello to Father Stocks."

  Alice nodded and gave the priest a little smile."I've heard a lot about you, too, Alice," he said. "I believe you've family in Pendle --""Blood ties, that's all," replied Alice with a fierce frown. "My mam was a Malkin and my dad was a Deane. Ain't my fault where I was born. None of us choose our kin.""That's very true," said the priest in a kindly voice. "I'm sure the world 'would be a very different place if we could. But it's the way we live our lives that counts."Not much more was said after that. The priest was tired after his journey, and it was clear that the Spook wanted us on our way to Jack's farm, so we made our preparations to leave.

  I didn't bother with my bag, but just took my staff and a lump of cheese for us to eat on the journey.The Spook walked us to the door. "Here's what you'll need to hire the cart," he said, handing me a small silver coin."How did Father Stocks manage to get past the boggart and cross the garden safely?" I asked as I put it into the pocket of my breeches.The Spook smiled. "He's crossed this garden many times before, lad, and the boggart knows him well. Father Stocks was once my apprentice. And a very successful one, I may add --he completed his time. But later he thought better of it and decided that the Church was his true vocation. He's a useful man to know--he has two trades at his fingertips: the priesthood and ours. Add that to his background knowledge of Pendle, and we couldn't have a better ally."As we set off for my brother Jack's farm, the sun was shining, the birds were singing; it was a perfect summer afternoon. I had Alice for company, and I was going home. Not only that: I "was looking forward to seeing little Mary, Jack, and his wife Ellie, who was expecting another baby. Mam had predicted that it would be the son that Jack had always wanted, someone to inherit the farm after he was dead. So I should have been happy. But as we drew closer to the farm, I couldn't shake off a feeling of sadness, which was slowly settling over me like a black cloud.

  Dad was dead, and there'd be no Mam to greet me. It was never going to feel like my real home again. That was the stark truth, and I still hadn't fully come to terms with it."Penny for your thoughts," Alice said.I shrugged."Come on, cheer up, Tom. How many times do I have to tell you? We should make the best of it. Off to Pendle I reckon we'll be next week.""Sorry, Alice. I'm just thinking about Mam and Dad. Can't seem to get them out of my mind."Alice moved closer to my side and gave my hand an affectionate squeeze. "It's hard, Tom, I know. But I'm sure you'll see your mam again one day. Anyway, aren't you looking forward to finding out what's in those trunks she's left you?""I'm curious, yes, I won't deny that. . . .""This is a nice spot," said Alice, pointing to the side of the path. "I'm feeling peckish. Let's eat."We sat down on a grassy bank under the shade of a massive oak tree and shared out the cheese we'd brought for the journey.

  We were both hungry, so we ate it all. I wasn't on spook's business, so there was no need to fast. We could live off the land.It was as if Alice had read my thoughts. "I'll catch us a couple of juicy rabbits at dusk," she promised with a smile."That would be nice. You know, Alice," I said, "you've told me a lot about witches in general, but very little about Pendle and the witches -who live there. Why's that? Reckon I'll need to know as much as possible if we're heading there."Alice frowned. "I've lots of painful memories of that place. Don't like to talk about my family. Don't like to talk about Pendle much--the thought of going back there scares me.""It's funny," I said, "but Mr. Gregory's never talked much about Pendle either. You'd think we'd have been discussing and planning what it's like and what we're going to do when we get there.""Always likes to play things close to his chest, he does. He must have some sort of plan. I'm sure he'll share it with us when the time's right. Imagine Old Gregory having a friend!" said Alice, changing the subject. "A friend who's a priest as well!""What I can't understand is why someone would give up being a spook to become a priest."Alice laughed at that. "No stranger than Old Gregory being a priest and giving it up to become a spook!"

  She was right--the Spook had been trained as a priest--and I laughed with her. But my opinion hadn't changed. As far as I could see, priests prayed and that was it. They didn't do anything directly to deal with the dark. They lacked the practical knowledge of our craft. It seemed to me that Father Stocks had taken a step in the wrong direction.A little before dusk we stopped again and settled ourselves down in a hollow between two hills, close to the edge of a wood. The sky -was clear, with the waning moon visible to the southeast. I busied myself making a fire while Alice went hunting for rabbits. Within an hour she was cooking them over the fire, the juice dribbling and hissing into the flames while my mouth watered.I was still curious about Pendle, and despite Alice's reluctance to talk about her life there, I decided to try again."Come on, Alice," I said. "I know it's painful for you to talk about, but I do need to know more about Pendle. . . .""I suppose so," Alice said, peering at me over the flames. "Best that you're prepared for the worst. Ain't a nice place to be. And everybody's scared. Whichever village you visit, you can see it in their faces. Can't blame em, because the witches know almost everything that's going on. After dark, most ordinary folk turn the mirrors in their houses to the wall."

  "Why?" I asked."So they can't be spied on. Nobody trusts a mirror at night. Witches, specially the Mouldheels, use them to spy on folks. They love to use em for scrying and spying. In Pendle you never know who or what might suddenly peer out at you from a mirror. Remember old Mother Malkin? That should give you some idea of the sort of witch we'll be facing."The name Malkin sent a chill through my bones. Mother Malkin had been the most evil witch in the County, and a year earlier, with Alice's help, I'd managed to destroy her. But not before she'd threatened the lives of Jack and his family.

  "Even though she's gone now, in Pendle there's always someone else ready to step into the shoes of a dead witch," Alice said grimly. "And there are plenty of Malkins capable of that. Some of em live in Malkin Tower, which ain't a place to go anywhere near after dark. People who go missing in Pendle --that's where they mostly end up. There are tunnels, pits, and dungeons under the tower, full of the bones of t
hose they've murdered.""Why isn't something done?" I asked. "What about the high sheriff at Caster? Can't he do anything?""Sent justices and constables to Pendle before, he has. Lots of times. Not that it did much good. Mostly they hanged the wrong people. Old Hannah Fairborne was one. She was nearly eighty when they dragged her off to Caster in chains. Said she was a witch, but that wasn't true. Still, she deserved to hang because she poisoned three of her nephews. Lots of that goes on in Pendle. It ain't a good place to be. And it ain't easy to sort things out there. That's why Old Gregory's left it so long."I nodded in agreement."I know more than most what it's like to live there," Alice continued. "There've been lots of unions between Malkins and Deanes, even though they're rivals. Truth is, the Malkins and Deanes hate the Mouldheels a lot more than they do each other. Life in Pendle is complicated. Lived there most of my life but still don't understand em.""Were you happy?" I asked. "I mean, before you were looked after by Bony Lizzie?"

  Alice grew silent and avoided my gaze, and I realized that I shouldn't have asked. She'd never talked much about life with her parents or with Lizzie after they'd died."Don't remember life much before Lizzie," she said at last. "I mostly remember the rows. Me lying there in the darkness crying while my mam and dad fought like cat and dog. But sometimes they talked and laughed as well, so it wasn't all bad. That was the big difference afterward. The silence. Lizzie didn't say much. More likely to give me a clout round the head than a kind word. Brooded a lot, she did. Gazed into the fire and muttered her spells. And if she weren't gawping into the flames, she'd be staring into a mirror. Sometimes I caught sight of things over her shoulder. Things that don't belong on this earth. Scared me, it did. Preferred Mam and Dad's fights to that.''"Did you live in Malkin Tower?"Alice shook her head. "No. Only the Malkin coven and a few chosen helpers live in the tower itself. But I went there sometimes with my mam. Some of it's underground, but I never went down there. They all live together in one big room, and there was lots of arguing and screaming and smoke stinging your eyes.