The Spook's Apprentice (18 page)

I suddenly realized something that brought me out in a cold sweat. I wasn’t just moving towards Snout because I wanted to. It was because Mother Malkin had summoned me. She was drawing me towards him at the pace she wanted, drawing me towards his waiting knife. I wasn’t going to the rescue. I was just going to die. I was under some sort of spell. A spell of compulsion.

I’d felt something similar down by the river, but just in time my left hand and arm had acted by themselves to knock Mother Malkin into the water. Now my limbs were as powerless as my mind.

I was moving closer to Snout. Closer and closer to his waiting knife. His eyes were the eyes of Mother Malkin, and his face was bulging horribly. It was as if the witch inside were distorting its shape, swelling the cheeks close to bursting, bulging the eyes close to popping, beetling the brow into craggy overhanging cliffs; below them the bulbous, protruding eyes centred with fire, casting a red, baleful glow before them.

I took another step and felt my heart thud. Another step and it thudded again. I was much nearer to Snout by now. Thud, thud went my heart, a beat for each step.

When I was no more than five paces from the waiting knife, I heard Alice running towards us, screaming my name. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, moving out of the darkness into the glow from the fire. She was heading straight towards Snout, her black hair streaming back from her head as if she were running directly into a gale.

Without even breaking her stride, she kicked towards Snout with all her might. She aimed just above his leather apron, and I watched the toe of her pointy shoe disappear so deeply into his fat belly that only the heel was visible.

Snout gasped, doubled over and dropped Ellie’s baby, but, lithe like a year-old cat, Alice dropped to her knees and caught her just before she hit the ground. Then she spun away, running back towards Ellie.

At the very moment that Alice’s pointy shoe touched Snouf’s belly, the spell was broken. I was free again. Free to move my own limbs. Free to move. Or free to attack.

Snout was almost bent in two but he straightened back up, and although he’d dropped the baby, he was still holding the knife. I watched as he moved it towards me. He staggered a bit too - perhaps he was dizzy, or maybe it was just a reaction to Alice’s pointy shoe.

Free of the spell, a whole range of feelings surged up inside me. There was sorrow for what had been done to Jack, horror at the danger Ellie’s baby had been in and anger that this could happen to my family. And in that moment I knew that I was born to be a spook. The very best spook who’d ever lived. I could and would make Mam proud of me.

You see, rather than being filled with fear, I was all ice and fire. Deep inside I was raging, full of hot anger that was threatening to explode. While on the outside I was as cold as ice, my mind sharp and clear, my breathing slow.

I thrust my hands into my breeches pockets. Then I brought them out fast, each fist full of what it had found there, and hurled each handful straight at Snout’s head, something white from my right hand and something dark from my left. They came together, a white and a black cloud, just as they struck his face and shoulders.

Salt and iron - the same mixture so effective against a boggart. Iron to bleed away its strength; salt to burn it. Iron filings from the edge of the old bucket and salt from Mam’s kitchen store. I was just hoping that it would have the same effect on a witch.

I suppose having a mixture like that thrown into your face wouldn’t do anybody much good - at the very least it would make you cough and splutter - but the effect on Snout was much worse than that. First he opened his hand and let the knife fall. Then his eyes rolled up into his head and he pitched slowly forward, down onto his knees. Then he hit his forehead very hard on the ground and his face twisted to one side.

Something thick and slimy began to ooze out of his left nostril. I just stood there watching, unable to move as Mother Malkin slowly bubbled and twisted from his nose into the shape that I remembered. It was her all right, but some of her was the same while other bits were different.

For one thing, she was less than a third of the size she’d been the last time I saw her. Now her shoulders were hardly past my knees, but she was still wearing the long cloak, which was trailing on the ground, and the grey and white hair still fell onto her hunched shoulders like mildewy curtains. It was her skin that was really different. All glistening, strange and sort of twisted and stretched. However, the red eyes hadn’t changed, and they glared at me once before she turned and began to move away towards the corner of the barn. She seemed to be shrinking even more and I wondered if that was the salt and iron still having an effect. I didn’t know what more I could do, so I just stood there watching her go, too exhausted to move.

Alice wasn’t having that. By now she’d handed the baby to Ellie and she came running across and made straight for the fire. She picked up a piece of wood that was burning at one end, then ran at Mother Malkin, holding it out in front of her.

I knew what she was going to do. One touch and the witch would go up in flames. Something inside me couldn’t let that happen because it was too horrible, so I caught Alice by the arm as she ran past and spun her round so that she dropped the burning log.

She turned on me, her face full of fury, and I thought I was about to feel a pointy shoe. Instead, she gripped my forearm so tightly that her fingernails actually bit deep into the flesh.

‘Get harder or you won’t survive!’ she hissed into my face. ‘Just doing what Old Gregory says won’t be enough. You’ll die like the others!’

She released my arm and I looked down at it and saw beads of blood where her nails had cut into me.

‘You have to burn a witch,’ Alice said, the anger in her voice lessening, ‘to make sure they don’t come back. Putting them in the ground ain’t no good. It just delays things. Old Gregory knows that but he’s too soft to use burning. Now it’s too late .. .’

Mother Malkin was disappearing round the side of the barn into the shadows, still shrinking with each step, her black cloak trailing on the ground behind her.

It was then that I realized the witch had made a big mistake. She’d taken the wrong route, right across the largest pigpen. By now she was small enough to fit under the lowest plank of wood.

The pigs had had a very bad day. Five of their number had been slaughtered and it had been a very noisy, messy business that had probably scared them pretty badly. So they weren’t best pleased, to say the least, and it probably wasn’t a good time to go into their pen. And big hairy pigs will eat anything, anything at all. Soon it was Mother Malkin’s turn to scream and it went on for a long time.

‘Could be as good as burning, that,’ said Alice, when the sound finally faded away. I could see the relief in her face. I felt the same. We were both glad it was all over. I was tired, so I just shrugged, not sure what to think, but I was already looking back towards Ellie and I didn’t like what I saw.

Ellie was frightened, and she was horrified. She was looking at us as if she couldn’t believe what had happened and what we’d done. It was as if she’d seen me properly for the first time. As if she’d suddenly realized what I was.

I understood something too. For the first time I really felt what it was like to be the Spook’s apprentice. I’d seen people move to the other side of the road to avoid passing close to us. I’d watched them shiver or cross themselves just because we’d passed through their village, but I hadn’t taken it personally. In my mind it was their reaction to the Spook, not to me.

But I couldn’t ignore this, or push it to the side of my mind. It was happening to me directly and it was happening in my own home.

I suddenly felt more alone than I ever had before.

But not everything turned out badly. Jack wasn’t dead after all. I didn’t like to ask too many questions because it just got everybody upset, but it seemed that one minute Snout had been about to start scraping the belly of the fifth pig with Jack, and the next he’d suddenly gone berserk and attacked him.

It was just pig’s blood on Jack’s face. He’d been knocked unconscious with a piece of timber. Snout had then gone into the house and snatched the baby. He’d wanted to use it as bait to get close so that he could use his knife on me.

Of course, the way I’m telling it now isn’t quite right. It wasn’t really Snout doing these terrible things. He’d been possessed, and Mother Malkin was just using his body. After a couple of hours Snout recovered and went home puzzled and nursing a very sore belly. He didn’t seem to remember anything about what had happened, and none of us wanted to enlighten him.

Nobody slept much that night. After building the fire up high, Ellie stayed down in the kitchen all night and wouldn’t let the baby out of her sight. Jack went to bed nursing a sore head but he kept waking up and having to dash outside to be sick in the yard.

An hour or so before dawn, Mam came home. She didn’t seem very happy either. It was as if something had gone wrong.

I lifted her bag to carry it into the house. ‘Are you all right, Mam?’ I asked. ‘You look tired.’

‘Never mind me, son. What’s happened here? I can tell something’s wrong just by looking at your face.’

‘It’s a long story,’ I said. ‘We’d better get inside first.’

When we walked into the kitchen Ellie was so relieved to see Mam that she started to cry and that set the baby off crying too. Jack came down then and everybody tried to tell Mam things at once, but I gave up after a few seconds because Jack started off on one of his rants.

Mam shut him up pretty quickly. ‘Lower your voice, Jack,’ she told him. ‘This is still my house and I can’t abide shouting.’

He wasn’t happy at being told off in front of Ellie like that but he knew better than to argue.

She made each one of us tell her exactly what had happened, starting with Jack. I was the last, and when it was my turn, she sent Ellie and Jack up to bed so that we could talk alone. Not that she said much. She just listened quietly, then held my hand.

Finally she went up to Alice’s room and spent a long time talking to her alone.

The sun had been up less than an hour when the Spook arrived. Somehow I’d been expecting him. He waited at the gate and I went out and told the tale again, while he leaned on his staff. When I’d finished he shook his head.

‘I sensed that something was wrong, lad, but I came too late. Still, you did all right. You used your initiative and managed to remember some of the things I’d taught you. If all else fails, you can always fall back on salt and iron.’

‘Should I have let Alice burn Mother Malkin?’ I asked.

He sighed and scratched at his beard. ‘As I told you, it’s a cruel thing to burn a witch and I don’t hold with it myself.’

‘I suppose now I’ll have to face Mother Malkin again,’ I said.

The Spook smiled. ‘No, lad, you can rest easy because she won’t be coming back to this world. Not after what happened at the end. Remember what I told you about eating the heart of a witch? Well, those pigs of yours did it for us.’

‘Not just the heart. They ate up every bit,’ I told him. ‘So I’m safe? Really safe? She can’t come back?’

‘Aye, you’re safe from Mother Malkin. There are other threats out there just as bad, but you’re safe for now.’

I felt a big sense of relief, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I’d been living in a nightmare, and now, with the threat of Mother Malkin removed, the world seemed a much brighter, happier place. It was over at last and I could start to look forward to things again.

‘Well, you’re safe until you make another silly mistake,’ the Spook added. ‘And don’t say you won’t. He who never makes a mistake never makes anything. It’s part of learning the job. Well, what’s to be done now?’ he asked, squinting into the rising sun.

‘About what?’ I asked, wondering what he meant.

‘About the girl, lad,’ he said. ‘It looks like it’s the pit for her. I don’t see any way round it.’

‘But she saved Ellie’s baby at the end,’ I protested. ‘She saved my life as well.’

‘She used the mirror, lad. It’s a bad sign. Lizzie taught her a lot. Too much. Now she’s shown us that she’s prepared to use it. What will she do next?’

‘But she meant well. She used it to try and find Mother Malkin.’

‘Maybe, but she knows too much and she’s clever too. She’s just a girl now, but one day she’ll be a woman and a clever woman’s dangerous.’

‘My mam’s clever,’ I told him, annoyed at what he’d said. ‘But she’s good too. Everything she does she does for the best. She uses her brains to help people. One year, when I was really small, the ghasts on Hangman’s Hill frightened me so much that I couldn’t sleep. Mam went up there after dark and she shut them up. They were quiet for months and months.’

I could have added that, on our first morning together, the Spook had told me that there wasn’t much to be done about ghasts. And that Mam had proved him wrong. But I didn’t. I’d blurted out too much already and it didn’t need to be said.

The Spook didn’t say anything. He was staring towards the house.

‘Ask my mam what she thinks about Alice,’ I suggested. ‘She seems to get on well with her.’

‘I was going to do that anyway,’ said the Spook. ‘It’s about time we had a little talk. You wait here until we’re finished.’

I watched the Spook cross the yard. Even before he reached it, the kitchen door opened and Mam welcomed him over the threshold.

Later, it was possible to work out some of the things that they’d said to each other, but they talked together for almost half an hour and I never did find out whether ghasts came into the conversation. When the Spook finally came out into the sunshine, Mam stayed in the doorway. He did something unusual then -something I’d never seen him do before. At first I thought he’d just nodded at Mam as he said goodbye, but there was a bit more to it than that. There was a movement of his shoulders too. It was slight but very definite so there was no doubt about it. As he took his leave of Mam, the Spook gave her a little bow.

When he crossed the yard towards me, he seemed to be smiling to himself. ‘I’ll be off on my way back to Chipenden now,’ he said, ‘but I think your mother would like you to stay one more night. Anyway, I’m going to leave it up to you,’ said the Spook. ‘Either bring the girl back and we’ll bind her in the pit, or take her to her aunt in Staumin. The choice is yours. Use your instinct for what’s right. You’ll know what to do.’ Then he was gone, leaving me with my head whirling. I knew what I wanted to do about Alice, but it had to be the right thing.

So I got to eat another of Mam’s suppers.

Dad was back by then, but although Mam was happy to see him, there was something not quite right, a sort of atmosphere like an invisible cloud hanging over the table. So it wasn’t exactly a celebration party and nobody had much to say.

The food was good though, one of Mam’s special hotpots, so I didn’t mind the lack of conversation - I was too busy filling my belly and getting second helpings before Jack could scrape the dish clean.

Jack had his appetite back but he was a bit subdued like everyone else. He’d been through a lot, with a big bump on his forehead to prove it. As for Alice, I hadn’t told her what the Spook had said but I felt she knew anyway. She didn’t speak once during dinner. But the quietest one of all was Ellie. Despite the joy of having her baby back, what she’d seen had upset her badly and I could tell it would take some getting over.

When the others went up to bed, Mam asked me to stay behind. I sat by the fire in the kitchen, just as I had on the night before I went away to begin my apprenticeship. But something in her face told me this conversation was going to be different. Before, she’d been firm with me but hopeful. Confident that things would work out all right. Now she looked sad and uncertain.

‘I’ve been delivering County babies for nearly twenty-five years,’ she said, sitting down in her rocking chair, ‘and I’ve lost a few. Although it’s very sad for the mother and father, it’s just something that happens. It happens with farm animals, Tom. You’ve seen it yourself.’

I nodded. Every year a few lambs were born dead. It was something you expected.

‘This time it was worse,’ Mam said. ‘This time both the mother and the baby died, something that’s never happened to me before. I know the right herbs and how to blend them. I know how to cope with severe bleeding. I know just what to do. And this mother was young and strong. She shouldn’t have died but I couldn’t save her. I did everything I could, but I couldn’t save her. And It’s given me a pain here. A pain in my heart.’

Mam gave a sort of sob and clutched at her chest. For one awful moment I thought she was going to cry, but then she took a deep breath and the strength came back into her face.

‘But sheep die, Mam, and sometimes cows when giving birth,’ I told her. ‘A mother was bound to die eventually. It’s a miracle that you’ve gone so long without it happening before.’

I did my best but it was hard to console her. Mam was taking it very badly. It made her look on the gloomy side of things.

‘It’s getting darker, son,’ she said to me. ‘And it’s coming sooner than I expected. I’d hoped you’d be a grown man first, with years of experience under your belt. So you’re going to have to listen carefully to everything your master says. Every little thing will count. You’re going to have to get yourself ready as quickly as you can and work hard at your Latin lessons.’

She paused then and held out her hand. ‘Let me see the book.’

When I handed it to her she flicked through the pages, pausing every so often to read a few lines. ‘Did it help?’ she asked.

‘Not much,’ I admitted.

‘Your master wrote this himself. Did he tell you that?’

I shook my head. ‘Alice said it was written by a priest.’

Mam smiled. ‘Your master was a priest once. That’s how he started out. No doubt he’ll tell you about it one day. But don’t ask. Let him tell you in his own good time.’

‘Was that what you and Mr Gregory talked about?’ I asked.

‘That and other things, but mainly about Alice. He asked me what I thought should happen to her. I told him he should leave it to you. So have you made up your mind yet?’

I shrugged. ‘I’m still not sure what to do but Mr Gregory said that I should use my instincts.’

‘That’s good advice, son,’ Mam said.

‘But what do you think, Mam?’ I asked. ‘What did you tell Mr Gregory about Alice? Is Alice a witch? Tell me that at least.’

‘No,’ Mam said slowly, weighing her words carefully. ‘She’s not a witch, but she will be one day. She was born with the heart of a witch and she’s little choice but to follow that path.’

‘Then she should go into the pit at Chipenden,’ I said sadly, hanging my head.

‘Remember your lessons,’ Mam said sternly. ‘Remember what your master taught you. There’s more than one kind of witch.’

‘The "benign",’ I said. ‘You mean Alice might turn out to be a good witch who helps others?’

‘She might. And she might not. Do you know what I really think? You might not want to hear this.’

‘I do,’ I said.

‘Alice might end up neither good nor bad. She might end up somewhere in between. That would make her very dangerous to know. That girl could be the bane of your life, a blight, a poison on everything you do. Or she might turn out to be the best and strongest friend you’ll ever have. Someone who’ll make all the difference in the world. I just don’t know which way it will go. I can’t see it, no matter how hard I try.’

‘How could you see it anyway, Mam?’ I asked. ‘Mr Gregory said he doesn’t believe in prophecy. He said the future’s not fixed.’

Mam put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a little squeeze of reassurance. ‘There’s some choice open to us all,’ she said. ‘But maybe one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make will be about Alice. Go to bed now, and get a good night’s sleep if you can. Make up your mind tomorrow when the sun’s shining.’