I nodded uneasily.
'He's not as cold as he'd have everyone believe,' she said, gesturing to my master. 'Look after him for me.' So I smiled and nodded.
When the Spook joined us, she gave him a warm, friendly smile that made me think that deep down she still cared something for him. And then she took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze. He opened his mouth as if to say something but no words came out. Tears were glistening in his eyes and he looked choked with emotion.
Embarrassed, I turned my back on them and walked away a few paces. They whispered to each other for a few moments and then walked to the coach together. While the driver held open the door and gave her a little bow, the Spook helped Meg up. Then he walked back over to me.
'Right, lad, we'll be on our way. You get yourself back to the house,' said the Spook.
'Would it help if I came with you?' I asked.
'Nay, lad, thanks all the same. There are some things that I need to do on my own. One day, when you're older, I think you'll understand. But I hope you'll never have to go through anything like this ...'
But I understood already: I remembered seeing him with Meg in the kitchen, tears on his cheeks. I knew how he felt. Also, I could imagine myself being in the Spook's position and having to say goodbye to Alice for the last time. Was this how Alice and I would end up?
A few moments later the Spook got in, and no sooner had he seated himself down next to Meg than the driver flicked his whip above the backs of the four horses. The coach trundled away and began to gather speed. They were on their way north, their destination Sunderland Point, while I made my way slowly back up the clough towards the house.
Once inside, I heated some pea soup for my supper and settled down beside the fire. There was no wind outside and I could hear every squeak and groan in the old house. The floorboards settled, a stair creaked, a mouse pattered behind the wall. And I even fancied that below in the cellar, far beyond the metal gate, I could hear the whisperings of the dead and the nearly dead down in their pits.
It was then that I realized just how far I'd come. There I was, alone in a big house with a cellar full of trapped boggarts and witches, and I wasn't scared one little bit. I was the Spook's apprentice and in the spring I'd have completed my first year of training. Four more years and I'd be a spook myself!
Back to Chipenden
Late one morning at the very end of April, as I went to get water from the stream, the Spook followed me outside. The sun had just risen over the edge of the clough and he smiled up towards its faint warmth. On the cliff behind the house the ice stalactites were melting fast, water dripping onto the flags.
'This is the first day of spring, lad,' he said, 'so we'll go to Chipenden!'
I'd been waiting to hear those words for weeks. Since returning without Meg, the Spook had been very quiet, retreating into himself, and the house had seemed more gloomy and depressing than ever. I was desperate to get away.
So for the next hour I rushed around doing all the necessary jobs: cleaning out the grates and washing all the pots, plates and cups to make life easier on our return next winter. At last the Spook locked the back door behind us and was striding away down the clough with me following happily at his heels, carrying two bags as usual as well as my rowan staff.
I had remembered my promise to Alice - to ask if she could come with us to Chipenden - but was just waiting for the right moment, when I realized that, rather than taking the most direct route to the north, we were heading straight towards Adlington. Even though he'd visited him the previous day, I supposed that the Spook wanted to say another farewell to his brother. I was still dithering about mentioning Alice when we came in sight of the shop.
To my surprise, both Andrew and Alice came out to meet us on the cobbled street. Alice was carrying a small bundle of belongings and looked ready for a journey. She was smiling and looked excited.
'Have a good, prosperous summer, Andrew,' the Spook called out cheerfully. 'See you in November!'
'Same to you, brother!' Andrew replied with a wave.
Next, to my utter astonishment, the Spook turned and led the way and, when I turned to follow, Alice fell into step beside me grinning from ear to ear.
'Oh, I forgot to tell you, lad,' called the Spook over his shoulder, 'Alice will be coming to stay with us in Chipenden on the same terms as previously. I arranged it all yesterday with Andrew. She needs to be where I can keep a watchful eye on her!'
'Big surprise, is it, Tom? Glad to see me, are you?' Alice asked.
'Of course I'm glad to see you and I'm really pleased that you're coming back to Chipenden with us. It's the last thing I expected. Mr Gregory didn't say a word about it.'
'Oh! Didn't he?' laughed Alice. 'Well, now you know what it feels like when people keep secrets and don't tell you things you ought to know! Serves you right!'
I laughed as well. I didn't mind Alice's gibe. I deserved it. I should have told her all about my intention to steal the grimoire. If I had, she might have drummed some sense into my head. But it was all over now and we walked along happily together on our way back to Chipenden at last.
The following day there was another surprise. The route back to Chipenden led us to within about four miles of our farm. I was going to ask if I could call in but the Spook beat me to it.
'I reckon you should pay a visit home, lad. You might find that mother of yours is back; if so, she'll be expecting to see you. I'll press straight ahead, because I need to visit a surgeon on the way.'
'A surgeon? Are you ill?' I asked, starting to worry for him.
'Nay, lad. The man in question does a bit of dentistry as a side-line. He's got a big supply of dead men's teeth and there's bound to be something that'll fit,' he said, giving me a wide smile so that I had a good view of the gap left where the boggart had knocked out his front tooth.
'Where does he get them from?' I asked, appalled.
'From grave robbers?'
'Most of them come from old battlefields,' the Spook said, with a shake of his head. 'He'll make me up a denture and I'll soon be as good as new. He does a nice line in bone buttons too. Meg made all her own dresses and was one of his best customers,' the Spook said sadly.
I was glad to hear that. At least her buttons hadn't come from her past victims, as I'd first suspected.
'Anyway off you go now,' said the Spook, 'and take the girl with you for a bit of company on the way back.'
I was happy to obey. No doubt the Spook didn't want Alice following at his heels. But I would have the usual problem. Jack wouldn't want her to take one step across the farm boundary and, as Brewer's Farm belonged to him now, it wasn't worth arguing.
An hour or so later Alice and I were in sight of thefarm when I noticed something very unusual. To the north, just beyond the farm boundary, was Hangman's Hill, where a plume of dark smoke was now rising from the trees at its summit. Someone had lit a fire there. Who would do that? Nobody ever went there because it was haunted by the ghasts of men who'd been hanged during the civil war that had swept through the County generations earlier. Even the farm dogs kept well clear.
Instinctively I knew it was Mam. Why she should be up there I couldn't guess, but who else would dare? So we skirted the farm to the east and, once beyond its northern boundary, headed up the hill through the trees. Of the ghasts there was no sign and Hangman's Hill was silent and still, the bare branches gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight. The leaf buds were swollen but it would still be a week or so until they unfolded. Spring had come very late this year.