I put the end of the candle in my mouth, biting into it with my teeth, then gripped the single chain carefully with both hands, trying to keep it as still as possible. Next I placed my feet above the hook and gripped the chain between my knees. I was good at climbing ropes and a chain couldn’t be that different.
I began to move upwards quite fast, the chain cold and biting in my hand. At the bottom of the thick smoke I took a deep breath, held it, and pushed my head up into the darkness. I couldn’t see a thing, and despite not breathing the smoke was getting up my nose and into my open mouth and there was a sharp acrid taste at the back of my throat that reminded me of burned sausages.
Suddenly, my head was out of the smoke and I pulled myself further up the chain until my shoulders and chest were clear of it. I was in a circular chamber almost identical to the one below except that, rather than a chimney above, there was a shaft below and the smoke filled the lower half of the chamber.
A tunnel led from the opposite wall into the darkness and there was another stone bench where Alice was sitting, the smoke almost up to her knees. She was holding out her left hand towards the Bane. That heinous creature was kneeling in the smoke bending over her, the naked arch of its back reminding me of a large green toad. Even as I watched, it drew her hand into its large mouth and I heard Alice cry out in pain as it began to suck the blood from beneath her nails. This was the third time the Bane had fed on Alice’s blood since she released it. When it had finished, Alice would belong to it!
I was cold, as cold as ice, and my mind was blank. I was thinking about nothing at all. I pulled myself up further and stepped from the chain onto the stone floor of the upper chamber. The Bane was too preoccupied with what it was doing to be aware of my presence. No doubt in that respect it was like the Horshaw ripper: when it was feeding, hardly anything else mattered.
I stepped closer and pulled the piece of the Spook’s staff from my belt. I raised it and held it above my head, the blade pointing at the Bane’s scaly green back. All I had to do was bring it down hard and pierce its heart. It was clothed in flesh and that would be the end of it. It would be dead. But just as I was tensing my arm, I suddenly became afraid.
I knew what would happen to me. So much energy would be released that I would die too. I would be a ghost just like poor Billy Bradley, who’d died after having his fingers bitten off by a boggart. He’d been happy once as the Spook’s apprentice but now was buried outside the churchyard at Layton. The thought of it was too much to bear.
I was terrified - terrified of death - and I began to tremble again. It started at my knees and travelled right up my body until the hand holding the blade began to shake.
The Bane must have sensed my fear because it suddenly turned its head, Alice’s fingers still in its mouth, blood trickling down its big curved chin. But then, when it was almost too late, my fear simply evaporated away. All at once I realized why I was there facing the Bane. I remembered what Mam had said in her letter ...
‘Sometimes in this life it is necessary to sacrifice oneself for the good of others.’
She’d warned me that of the three who faced the Bane, only two would leave the catacombs alive. I’d somehow thought it was going to be the Spook or Alice who would die, but now I realized that it would be me! I was never going to complete my apprenticeship, never going to become a spook. But by sacrificing my life now I could save both of them. I was very calm. I simply accepted what had to be done.
I feel sure that at the very last moment the Bane realized what I was going to do, but instead of pressing me dead on the spot it turned its head back towards Alice, who gave it a strange, mysterious smile.
I struck quickly with all my strength, driving the blade towards its heart. I didn’t feel the blade make contact but a shuddering darkness rose before my eyes; my body quivered from head to foot, so that I had no control over my muscles. The candle dropped out of my mouth and I felt myself falling. I’d missed it’s heart!
For a moment I thought that I’d died. Everything was dark but for now the Bane seemed to have vanished. I fumbled around on the floor for my candle and lit it again. Listening carefully, I gestured to Alice to be silent, and heard a sound from the tunnel. The padding of a large dog.
I tucked the piece of staff with the blade back into my belt. Next I eased Mam’s silver chain from my jacket pocket and coiled it round my left hand and wrist, ready for throwing. With my other hand I picked up the candle, and without further delay I set off after the Bane.
‘No, Tom, no! Leave it be!’ Alice called out from behind. ‘It’s over. You can go back to Chipenden!’
She ran towards me but I pushed her back hard. She staggered and almost fell. When she moved towards me again, I lifted my left hand so that she could see the silver chain.
‘Keep back! You belong to the Bane now. Keep your distance or I’ll bind you too!’
The Bane had fed for the final time and now nothing she said could be trusted. It would have to be dead before she’d be free.
I turned my back on her and moved away quickly. Ahead of me I could hear the Bane; behind me the click-click of Alice’s pointy shoes as she followed me into the tunnel. Suddenly the padding ahead stopped.
Had the Bane simply vanished and gone to another part of the catacombs? I stopped and listened before moving forward more cautiously. It was then that I saw something ahead. Something on the floor of the tunnel. I halted close to it and my stomach heaved. I was almost sick on the spot.
Brother Peter lay on his back. He’d been pressed. His head was still intact; the wide-open, staring eyes showed the terror he had obviously felt at the time of his death. But from the neck downwards his body had been flattened against the stones.
The sight horrified me. During my first few months as an apprentice I’d seen many terrible things and been close to death and the dead more times than I cared to remember. But this was the first time I’d seen the death of someone I cared about - and such a horrible death.
I stood, distracted by the sight of Brother Peter, and the Bane chose that moment to come loping out of the darkness towards me. For a moment it halted and stared at me, the green slits of its eyes glowing in the gloom. Its heavy, muscular body was covered in coarse black hair and its jaws were wide revealing the rows of sharp yellow teeth. Something was dripping from that long tongue which lolled forwards, beyond the gaping jaws. Instead of saliva, it was blood!
Suddenly the Bane attacked, bounding towards me. I readied my chain and heard Alice scream behind me. Just in time I realized that it had changed its angle of attack. I wasn’t the target! Alice was!
I was stunned. I was the threat to the Bane, not Alice. So why her rather than me?
Instinctively I adjusted my aim. Nine times out of ten I could hit the post in the Spook’s garden but this was different. The Bane was moving fast, already beginning to leap. So I cracked the chain and cast it towards the creature, watching it open like a net and drop in the shape of a spiral. All my practice paid off and it fell over the Bane cleanly and tightened against its body. It rolled over and over, howling, struggling to escape.
In theory it couldn’t get itself free and neither could it vanish or change shape. But I wasn’t taking any chances. I had to pierce its heart quickly. I had to finish it now. So I ran forward, pulled the blade from my belt and prepared to stab downwards into its chest. Its eyes looked up at me as I readied the blade.
They were filled with hatred. But there was fear there too: the absolute terror of death; terror of the nothingness it faced, and it spoke inside my head begging frantically for its life.
‘Mercy! Mercy!’ it cried. ‘Nothing for us, there is! Just darkness. Is that what you want, boy?
You’ll die too!’
‘No, Tom, no! Don’t do it!’ Alice shouted out behind me, adding her voice to the Bane’s. But I didn’t listen to either of them. No matter what the cost to myself it had to die. It was writhing within the coils of the chain and I stabbed it twice
before I found its heart.
The third time I lunged downwards the Bane simply vanished, but I heard a loud scream. Whether it was the Bane, Alice or me who made that sound, I’ll never know. Maybe it was all three of us.
I felt a tremendous blow to my chest, followed by a strange sinking feeling. Everything went very quiet and I felt myself falling into darkness.
The next thing I knew I was standing by a large expanse of water.
Despite its size, it was more like a lake than a sea for although a pleasant breeze was blowing towards the shore, the water remained calm, like a mirror, reflecting the perfect blue of the sky.
Small boats were being launched from a beach of golden sand, and beyond them I could see an island quite close to the shore. It was green with trees and rolling meadows and seemed to me more wonderful than anything I’d ever seen before in my whole life. Amongst the trees on a hilltop was a building like the castle we’d glimpsed from the low fells as we skirted Caster. But instead of being constructed of cold grey stone it shimmered with light as if built from the beams of a rainbow and its rays warmed my forehead like a glorious sun.
I wasn’t breathing but I was calm and happy and I remember thinking that if I was dead then it was nice to be dead and I just had to get to that castle, so I ran towards the nearest of the boats, desperate to get on board. As I drew closer, the people stopped trying to launch the boat and turned their faces towards me. At that moment I knew who they were. They were small, very small, and had dark hair and brown eyes. It was the Little People! The Segantii!
They smiled in welcome, rushed towards me and began to pull me towards the boat. I’d never felt so happy in my life, so welcomed, so wanted, so accepted. All my loneliness was over. But just as I was about to climb aboard, I felt a cold hand grip my left forearm.
When I turned, there was nobody there but the pressure on my arm increased until it began to hurt. I could feel fingernails cutting into my skin. I tried to pull away and get into the boat and the Little People tried to help me but the pressure on my arm was now a burning pain. I cried out and sucked in a huge, painful breath that sobbed in my throat and made my whole body tingle then grow hotter and hotter as if I were burning inside.
I was lying on my back in the dark. It was raining very hard and I could feel the raindrops drumming on my eyelids and forehead and even falling into my mouth, which was wide open. I was too weary to open my eyes but I heard the Spook’s voice from some distance away.
‘Leave him be!’ he said. ‘Give him peace, girl. That’s all we can do for him now!’
I opened my eyes and looked up to see Alice bending over me. Behind her I could see the dark wall of the cathedral. She was gripping my left forearm, her nails very sharp against my skin. She leaned forwards and whispered into my ear.
‘You don’t get away that easily, Tom. You’re back now. Back where you belong!’
I sucked in a deep breath and the Spook came forward, his eyes filled with amazement. As he knelt at my side, Alice stood up and drew back.
‘How do you feel, lad?’ he asked gently, helping me up into a sitting position. ‘I thought you were dead. When I carried you out of the catacombs, I swear there was no breath left in your body!’
‘The Bane?’ I asked. ‘Is it dead?’
‘Aye, it is that, lad. You finished it off and nearly did for yourself in the process. But can you walk?
We need to get away from here.’
Beyond the Spook I could see the guard with the empty bottles of wine by his side. He was still in a drunken sleep, but he could wake up at any moment.
With the Spook’s help I managed to get to my feet and the three of us left the cathedral grounds and made our way through the deserted streets.
At first I was weak and shaky, but as we climbed away from the rows of terraced houses and back up into the countryside, I started to feel stronger. After a while I turned and looked back towards Priestown, which was spread out below us. The clouds had lifted and the moon was out. The cathedral spire seemed to be gleaming.
‘It looks better already,’ I said, stopping to take in the view.
The Spook halted beside me and followed the direction of my gaze. ‘Most things look better from a distance,’ he said. ‘And as a matter of fact, so do most people.’
He seemed to be joking so I smiled.
‘Well,’ he sighed, ‘it should be a far better place from now on. But, that said, we won’t be coming back in a hurry.’
After an hour or so on the road we found an old abandoned barn to shelter in. It was draughty but at least it was dry and there was a bit of the yellow cheese to nibble on. Alice dropped off to sleep right away but I sat up a long time thinking about what had happened. The Spook didn’t seem tired either but just sat in silence, hugging his knees. Eventually he spoke.
‘How did you know how to kill the Bane?’ he asked.
‘I watched you,’ I answered. ‘I saw you strike for its heart...’
But suddenly I was overcome with shame at my lie and I hung my head low. ‘No, I’m sorry,’ I said.
‘That’s not true. I sneaked forward when you talked to the ghost of Naze. I heard everything you said.’
‘And so you should be sorry, lad. You took a big risk. If the Bane had managed to read your mind—’
‘I’m really sorry.’
‘And you didn’t tell me you had a silver chain,’ he said.
‘Mam gave it to me,’ I answered.
‘Well, it’s a good job that she did. Anyway, it’s in my bag and safe enough for now. Until you need it again...’ he added ominously.
There was another long silence, as if the Spook were deep in thought.
‘When I carried you up from the catacombs you seemed cold and dead,’ he said at last. ‘I’ve seen death so many times that I know I wasn’t mistaken. Then that girl grabbed your arm and you came back.
I don’t know what to make of it.’
‘I was with the Little People,’ I said.
The Spook nodded. ‘Aye,’ he said, ‘they’ll all be at peace now that the Bane’s dead. Naze included.
But what about you, lad? What was it like? Were you afraid?’
I shook my head. ‘I was more afraid just after I’d read Mam’s letter,’ I told him. ‘She knew what was going to happen. I felt that I had no choice. That everything was already decided. But if everything’s already decided, then what’s the point of living?’
The Spook frowned and held out his hand. ‘Give me the letter,’ he demanded.
I took it out of my pocket and passed it to him. He took a long time reading it but at last he handed it back. He didn’t speak for quite a while.
‘Your mother is a shrewd and intelligent woman,’ the Spook said at last. ‘That accounts for much of what’s written there. She’d worked out exactly what I was going to do. She’d more than enough knowledge to do that. It’s not prophecy. Life’s bad enough as it is without believing in that. You chose to go down the steps. But you had another choice. You could have walked away and then everything would have been different.’
‘But once I’d chosen, she was right. Three of us faced the Bane and only two survived. I was dead.
You carried me back to the surface. How can we explain that?’
The Spook didn’t reply and the silence between us grew longer and longer. After a while I lay down and fell into a dreamless sleep. I didn’t mention the curse. I knew it was something he wouldn’t want to talk about.
Chapter 22
A Bargain’s A Bargain
It was almost midnight and a horned moon was rising above the trees. Rather than approaching his house by the most direct route the Spook brought us towards it from the east. I thought of the eastern garden ahead and the pit that lay in wait for Alice. The pit that I’d dug.
Surely he wasn’t going to put her in the pit now? Not after all she’d done to help put things right?
She’d allowed him to blindfold her and seal her ears with wax.
And then she’d sat there for hours in silence and darkness without complaining even once.
But then I saw the stream ahead and was filled with new hope. It was narrow but fast-flowing, the water sparkling silver in the moonlight, and there was a single stepping stone at its centre.
He was going to test Alice.
‘Right, girl,’ he said, his expression stern. ‘You lead the way. Over you go!’
When I looked at Alice’s face my heart sank. She looked terrified and I remembered how I’d had to carry her across the river near the Silver Gate. The Bane was dead now, its power over Alice broken, but was the damage already done beyond all hope of repair? Had Alice moved too close to the dark?
Could she never be free? Never be able to cross running water? Was she a fully-fledged malevolent witch?
Alice hesitated at the water’s edge and began to tremble. Twice she lifted her foot to make the simple step to the flat stone at the centre of the stream. Twice she put it down again. Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead and began to roll down towards her nose and eyes.
‘Go on, Alice, you can do it!’ I called, trying to encourage her. For my trouble I got a withering stare from the Spook.
With a sudden, terrible effort Alice stepped onto the stone and swung her left leg forward almost immediately to carry herself over to the far bank. Once there, she hurriedly sat down and buried her face in her hands.
The Spook made a clicking noise with his tongue, crossed the stream and strode quickly up the hill towards the trees on the edge of the garden. I waited behind while Alice got to her feet, then together we walked up to where the Spook was waiting, his arms folded.
When we reached him, the Spook suddenly stepped forward and seized Alice. Gripping her by the legs, he threw her back over his shoulder. She began to wail and struggle, but without another word he clutched her more firmly, then turned and strode into the garden.