At the crest of the hill I looked back once more. The first flash of lightning lit up the sky and the ground below, and I saw two figures come out of the trees and begin to climb the slope. One of them was female, the other shaped like a man, big and burly.
When the thunder crashed again Tommy began to cry. ‘Don’t like thunder!’ he wailed. ‘Don’t like thunder!’
‘Storms can’t hurt you, Tommy,’ I told him, knowing it wasn’t true. They scared me as well. One of my uncles had been struck by lightning when he’d been out trying to get some cattle in. He’d died later. It wasn’t safe being out in the open in weather like this. But although lightning terrified me, it did have its uses. It was showing me the way, each vivid flash lighting up my route back to the Spook’s house.
Soon the breath was sobbing in my throat too, a mixture of fear and exhaustion, as I forced myself to go faster and faster, just hoping that we’d be safe as soon as we entered the Spook’s garden. Nobody was allowed on the Spook’s property unless invited -I kept telling myself that over and over again, because it was our only chance. If we could just get there first the boggart would protect us.
I was in sight of the trees, the bench beneath them, the garden waiting beyond, when I slipped on the wet grass. The fall wasn’t hard but Tommy began to cry even louder. When I’d managed to pick him up, I heard someone running behind me, feet thumping the earth.
I glanced back, struggling for breath. It was a mistake. My pursuer was about five or six paces ahead of Lizzie and catching me fast. Lightning flashed again and I saw the lower half of his face. It looked as if he had horns growing out of each side of his mouth, and as he ran, he moved his head from side to side. I remembered what I’d read in the Spook’s library about the dead women who’d been found with their ribs crushed. If Tusk caught me, he’d do the same to me.
For a moment I was rooted to the spot, but he started to make a bellowing sound, just like a bull, and that started me moving again. I was almost running now. I would have sprinted if I could but I was carrying Tommy and I was too weary, my legs heavy and sluggish, the breath rasping in my throat. At any moment I expected to be grabbed from behind, but I passed the bench where the Spook often gave me lessons and then, at last, I was beneath the first trees of the garden.
But was I safe? If I wasn’t it was all over for both of us because there was no way I could outrun Tusk to the house. I stopped running and all I could manage was a few steps before I came to a complete halt, trying to regain my breath.
It was at that moment that something brushed past my legs. I looked down but it was too dark to see anything. First I felt the pressure, then I heard something purr, a deep throbbing sound that made the ground beneath my feet vibrate. I sensed it move on beyond me, towards the edge of the trees, positioning itself between us and those who’d been following. I couldn’t hear any running now, but I heard something else.
Imagine the angry howl of a torn cat multiplied a hundred times. It was a mixture between a throbbing growl and a scream, filling the air with its warning challenge, a sound that could have been heard for miles. It was the most terrifying and threatening sound I’d ever heard and I knew then why the villagers never came anywhere near the Spook’s house. That cry was filled with death.
Cross this line, it said,and I’ll rip out your heart. Cross this line and I’ll gnaw your bones to pulp and gore. Cross this line and you’ll wish you’d never been born.
So for now we were safe. By now Bony Lizzie and Tusk would be running back down the hill. Nobody would be foolish enough to tangle with the Spook’s boggart. No wonder they’d needed me to feed Mother Malkin the blood cakes.
There was hot soup and a blazing fire waiting for us in the kitchen. I wrapped little Tommy in a warm blanket and fed him some soup. Later I brought down a couple of pillows and made up a bed for him close to the fire. He slept like a log while I listened to the wind howling outside and the rain pattering against the windows.
It was a long night but I was warm and comfortable and I felt at peace in the Spook’s house, which was one of the safest places in the whole wide world. I knew now that nothing unwelcome could even enter the garden, never mind cross the threshold. It was safer than a castle with high battlements and a wide moat. I began to think of the boggart as my friend, and a very powerful friend at that.
Just before noon I carried Tommy down to the village. The men were already back from the Long Ridge, and when I went to the butcher’s house, the instant he saw the child, his weary frown turned into a broad smile. I briefly explained what had happened, only going into as much detail as was necessary.
Once I’d finished, he frowned again. ‘They need sorting out once and for all,’ he said.
I didn’t stay long. After Tommy had been given to his mother and she’d thanked me for the fifteenth time, it became obvious what was going to happen. By then, about thirty or so of the village men had gathered. Some of them were carrying clubs and stout sticks and they were muttering angrily about ‘stoning and burning’.
I knew that something had to be done but I didn’t want to be a part of it. Despite all that had happened, I couldn’t stand the thought of Alice being hurt, so I went for a walk on the fells for an hour or so to clear my head, before walking slowly back towards the Spook’s house. I’d decided to sit on the bench for a while and enjoy the afternoon sun, but someone was there already.
It was the Spook. He was safe after all! Until that moment I’d avoided thinking about what I was going to do next. I mean, how long would I have stayed in his house before deciding that he wasn’t going to come back? Now it was all sorted out because there he was, staring across the trees to where a plume of brown smoke was rising. They were burning Bony Lizzie’s house.
When I got close to the bench, I noticed a big, purple bruise over his left eye. He saw me glance at it and gave me a tired smile.
‘We make a lot of enemies in this job,’ he said, ‘and sometimes you need eyes in the back of your head. Still, things didn’t work out too badly because now we’ve one less enemy to worry about near Pendle. Take a pew,’ he said, patting the bench at his side. ‘What have you been up to? Tell me what’s been happening here. Start at the beginning and finish at the end, leaving nothing out.’
So I did. I told him everything. When I’d finished he stood up and looked down at me, his green eyes staring into mine very hard.
‘I wish I’d known Lizzie was back. When I put Mother Malkin into the pit, Lizzie left in a bit of a hurry and I didn’t think she’d ever have the nerve to show her face again. You should have told me about meeting the girl. It would have saved everybody a lot of trouble.’
I looked down, unable to meet his eyes.
‘What was the worst thing that happened?’ he asked.
The memory came back, sharp and clear, of the old witch grabbing my boot and trying to drag herself out of the water. I remembered her scream as she gripped the end of the Spook’s staff.
When I told him about it, he sighed long and deep.
‘Are you sure she was dead?’ he asked.
I shrugged. ‘She wasn’t breathing. Then her body was carried to the middle of the river and swept away.’
‘Well, it was a bad business, all right,’ he said, ‘and the memory of it will stay with you for the rest of your life, but you’ll just have to live with it. You were lucky in taking the smallest of my staffs with you. That’s what saved you in the end. It’s made of rowan, the most effective wood of all when dealing with witches. It wouldn’t usually have bothered a witch that old and that strong, but she was in running water. So you were lucky, but you did all right for a new apprentice. You showed courage, real courage, and you saved a child’s life. But you made two more serious mistakes.’