That was the last thing I wanted to do. The baby was so small and delicate that I was scared of squeezing it too hard or dropping it and I didn’t like the way its head was so floppy. It was hard to say no though, because Ellie would have been hurt. As it was, I didn’t have to hold the baby for long because the moment it was in my arms its little face went red and it began to cry.
‘I don’t think it likes me,’ I told Ellie.
‘She’s a she not an it,’ Ellie scolded, making her face all stern and outraged. ‘Don’t worry, it’s not you, Tom,’ she said, her mouth softening into a smile. ‘I think she’s still hungry, that’s all.’
The baby stopped crying the moment Ellie took her back and I didn’t stay long after that. Then, on my way downstairs, I heard a sound from the kitchen I hadn’t expected.
It was laughter, the loud, hearty laughter of two people getting on very well together. The moment I opened the door and walked in, Alice ’s face became very serious, but Mam carried on laughing aloud for a few moments, and even when she stopped, her face was still lit up with a wide smile. They’d been sharing a joke, a very funny joke, but I didn’t like to ask what it was and they didn’t tell me. The look in both their eyes made me feel that it was something private.
My dad once told me that women know things that men don’t. That sometimes they have a certain look in their eyes, but when you see it, you should never ask them what they’re thinking. If you do they might tell you something you don’t want to hear. Well, whatever they’d been laughing at had certainly brought them closer; from that moment on it seemed as if they’d known each other for years. The Spook had been right. If anyone could sort Alice out, it had to be Mam.
I did notice one thing though. Mam gave Alice the room opposite hers and Dad’s. They were the two rooms at the top of the first flight of stairs. Mam had very sharp ears and it meant that if Alice so much as turned over in her sleep, she would hear it.
So for all that laughter, Mam was still watching Alice.
When he came back from the fields, Jack gave me a really dark scowl and muttered to himself. He seemed angry at something. But Dad was pleased to see me, and to my surprise he shook hands with me. He always shook hands when greeting my other brothers who’d left home but this was the first time for me. It made me feel sad and proud at the same time. He was treating me as if I were a man, making my own way in the world.
Jack hadn’t been in the house five minutes when he came looking for me. ‘Outside,’ he said, keeping his voice low so that nobody else could hear. ‘I want to talk to you.’
We walked out into the yard and he led the way round the side of the barn, close to the pigpens, where we couldn’t be seen from the house.
‘Who’s the girl you’ve brought back with you?’
‘Her name’s Alice. It’s just someone who needs help,’ I said. ‘The Spook told me to bring her home so that Mam could talk to her.’
‘What do you mean, she needs help?’
‘She’s been keeping bad company, that’s all.’
‘What sort of bad company?’
I knew he wouldn’t like it but I had no choice. I had to tell him. Otherwise he’d only ask Mam.
‘Her aunt’s a witch, but don’t worry – the Spook’s sorted it all out and we’ll only be staying for a few days.’
Jack exploded. I’d never seen him so angry.
‘Don’t you have the sense you were born with?’ he shouted. ‘Didn’t you think? Didn’t you think about the baby? There’s an innocent child living in this house and you bring home someone from a family like that! It’s beyond belief!’
He raised his fist and I thought he was going to thump me. Instead, he smashed it sideways into the wall of the barn, the sudden thud sending the pigs into a frenzy.
‘Mam thinks it’s all right,’ I protested.
‘Aye, Mam would,’ said Jack, his voice suddenly lower, but still harsh with anger. ‘How could she refuse her favourite son anything? And she’s just too good hearted, as well you know. That’s why you shouldn’t take advantage. Look, it’s me you’ll answer to if anything happens. I don’t like the look of that girl. She looks shifty. I’ll be watching her carefully and if she takes one step out of line, you’ll both be on your way before you can blink. And you’ll earn your keep while you’re here. She can help around the house to make things easier for Mam and you can pull your weight with the farm work.’
Jack turned and started to walk away, but he still had more to say. ‘Being so occupied with more important things,’ he added sarcastically, ‘you might not have noticed how tired Dad looks. He’s finding the job harder and harder.’
‘Of course I’ll help,’ I called after him, ‘and so will Alice.’
At supper, apart from Mam, everyone was really quiet. I suppose it was having a stranger sitting at the table with us. Although Jack’s manners wouldn’t let him complain outright, he scowled at Alice almost as much as he did at me. So it was a good job Mam was cheerful and bright enough to light up the whole table.
Ellie had to leave her supper twice to attend to the baby, which kept crying fit to bring the roof down. The second time she fetched it downstairs.
‘Never known a baby to cry so much,’ said Mam with a smile. ‘At least it’s got strong, healthy lungs.’
Its tiny face was all red and screwed up again. I would never have said it to Ellie, but it wasn’t the best looking of babies. Its face reminded me of an angry little old woman. One moment it was crying fit to burst; then, very suddenly, it became still and quiet. Its eyes were wide open and it was staring towards the centre of the table, where Alice was seated close to the big brass candlestick. At first I didn’t think anything of it. I thought Ellie’s baby was just fascinated by the candle flame. But later Alice helped Mam to clear the table, and each time Alice passed by, the baby followed her with its blue eyes and suddenly, although the kitchen was warm, I shivered.
Later I went up to my old bedroom, and when I sat down in the wicker chair by the window and gazed out, it was as if I’d never left home.
As I looked northwards, towards Hangman’s Hill, I thought about the way the baby had seemed so interested in Alice. When I remembered what Ellie had said earlier, I shivered again. Her baby had been born after midnight on the night of the full moon. It was too close to be just a coincidence. Mother Malkin would have been swept away by the river about the time that Ellie’s baby had been born. The Spook had warned me that she’d come back. What if she’d come back even earlier than he’d predicted? He expected her to be wick. But what if he was wrong? What if she’d broken free of her bones and her spirit had possessed Ellie’s baby at the very moment of its birth?
I didn’t sleep a wink that night. There was only one person I could talk to about my fears and that was Mam. The difficulty was in getting her alone without drawing attention to the fact that I was doing it. Mam cooked and did other chores that kept her busy most of the day, and usually it would have been no problem to talk to her in the kitchen because I was working close by. Jack had given me the job of repairing the front of the barn and I must have hammered in hundreds of shiny new nails before sunset.
Alice was the difficulty, though: Mam kept her with her all day, really making the girl work hard. You could see the sweat on her brow and the frowns that kept furrowing her forehead, but despite that, Alice never complained even once.
It was only after supper, when they’d finished the clatter of washing and drying the dishes, that I finally got my chance. That morning Dad had gone off to the big spring market in Topley. As well as conducting his business, it gave him a rare chance to meet up with a few of his old friends, so he’d be away for two or three days. Jack was right. He did look tired and it would give him a break from the farm.