I tiptoed at first, just one step up at a time, and kept glancing back over my shoulder: at the cell, to see if Meg was coming out; then at the corner of the steps to see if feral Marcia was after me. I was hoping that she was still too full after her morning meal. Or that she wouldn't come up from the cellar while Meg was there. Perhaps she was afraid of her sister. She'd certainly gone back down the steps at Meg's command.
At last I reached the gate and gripped the cold iron. Was it locked? To my relief, it yielded and I pulled it open, trying to keep the movement as smooth as possible. But the Spook had known what he was doing when he'd had it built on the steps. There was a clang and the whole house above seemed to reverberate like a bell.
Immediately Meg rushed out of the Spook's cell and ran up the steps towards me, her arms raised, fingers splayed and arched like talons. For a moment I froze. I couldn't believe how fast she was moving. Another couple of seconds and it would have been too late, but
I ran too. Ran and ran without looking back. Right to the top of the steps, then through the house to the kitchen, aware that Meg was close at my heels, hearing her footsteps behind and expecting to feel her nails cut into my skin at any moment. There was no time to go into the study for my bag. I wouldn't have a hope of unfastening it and getting my silver chain out in time. At the back door I snatched up my cloak, jacket and staff, unlocked the door and raced out into the freezing cold.
I'd been right. It was dusk, but there was still plenty of light to see by. I kept glancing backwards but there was no sign of pursuit. I struggled down the clough as fast as I could manage, but it was hard work. The snow was starting to freeze hard underfoot and there was a lot of it.
When I reached the bottom of the slope, I halted and looked back again. Meg hadn't followed me. It was bitterly cold and the wind was gusting from the north, so I put my sheepskin jacket on, pulling my cloak over the top. Then I paused for thought, my breath steaming into the cold air.
I felt like a coward for leaving the Spook behind at the mercy of Meg, and I had to make up for what I'd done. Somehow I had to rescue the Spook and get him out of her clutches. But I needed help to do that. And help was close by: living and working in Adlington was the Spook's brother, Andrew, who'd helped me before in Priestown. He was the locksmith who'd made the Spook a key to the Silver Gate that imprisoned the Bane. Making a key for the iron gate to the Spook's cellar should be far easier. And that was exactly what I needed.
I was going to have to sneak back into the winter house, get through the gate and let the Spook out of his cell, something that was easier said than done. There was a feral lamia on the loose - not to mention Meg.
Trying not to think too much about the difficulties ahead, I trudged on through the snow towards Adlington. It was downhill all the way. But soon I'd have to return.
Chapter 14
The cobbled streets of Adlington Village were buried under six inches or more of snow. In the fading light, delighted children were out in force, laughing, screeching and shouting, making slides or hurling snowballs at one another. Other people were less happy. A couple of shawled women passed me, stepping nervously on the snowladen pavement with bowed heads, eyes watching their feet. They were clutching empty baskets and heading down towards Babylon Lane for some last-minute shopping. I followed in the same direction until I reached Andrew's shop.
As I lifted the latch and pushed open the door, a bell
tinkled. The shop was empty but I heard someone approaching from the back. There was the click, click, click of pointy shoes and, to my astonishment, Alice walked in and came up to the counter, a big smile on her face.
'Good to see you, Tom! I wondered how long it would take you to find me ...'
'What are you doing here?' I asked in astonishment.
'Working for Andrew, of course! Gave me a job and a home,' she answered with a smile. T mind the shop so he can have more time in his workshop. Do most of the cooking and cleaning too. He's a good man, Andrew.'
I fell silent for a moment and Alice must have read the expression on my face because her smile quickly faded and she looked concerned. 'Your dad...' she said.
'When I got there, Dad had already passed away. I was too late, Alice.'
I couldn't say any more because my voice failed and a lump came up into my throat. But in an instant, Alice reached across and put her hand on my shoulder. 'Oh,
Tom! I'm so sorry,' she told me. 'Come through to the back and warm yourself by the fire.'
The living room was comfortable› with a settee, two comfy armchairs and a generous coal fire blazing in the grate. T like a good fire,' Alice said happily. 'Andrew's more careful with the coal than I am but he's away on a job and won't be back until well after dark. While the cat's away ...'
I leaned my staff in the corner before sinking into the settee, which faced the fire directly. Instead of sitting down beside me, Alice knelt by the fire, her knees on the hearthrug, so that her left side was towards me.
'Why did you leave the Hursts?' I asked.
'Had to get away' Alice said with a scowl. 'Morgan kept pestering me to help him in some way, but wouldn't say exactly how. Got a grudge, he has. Had some sort of a plan to get back at Old Gregory.'
I thought I probably knew what she was talking about but I decided not to say anything to her. I'd promised Morgan I'd tell no one about his plans. He was a necromancer who used spirits to find things out.
I couldn't take the chance. I couldn't tell Alice in case he found out and made Dad suffer again.
'He wouldn't leave me alone' continued Alice. 'That's why I left. Couldn't stand the sight of him one minute longer. So I thought of Andrew. But that's enough about me, Tom. I'm sorry about your dad. Do you want to talk about it?'
'It was hard, Alice. I even missed Dad's funeral. And Mam's gone off somewhere and nobody knows where she is. She could have gone back to her own land and I might never see her again. I feel so lonely ...'
'Been lonely most of my life, I have, Tom. So I know what that feels like. We've got each other though, ain't we?' she asked, reaching across to hold my hand. 'We'll always be together. Even Old Gregory won't be able to stop that!'
'The Spook's in no position to do anything at the moment' I said. 'When I got back, Meg had turned the tables. He's the one locked up now. I need Andrew to make me a key so that I can get the Spook out of there. I need your help. You and Andrew are the only people I can turn to.'
'Seems to me he finally got what was coming to him' Alice said, pulling her hand away from mine, a faint smile turning up the corners of her mouth. 'Got a good dose of his own medicine!'
'I can't just leave him there' I told Alice. 'And what about the other lamia? The feral one? Meg's sister? She's out of her pit and free to roam the steps behind the gate. What if she were to get out of the house? She could come down here, to the village. Nobody would be safe and there are a lot of children living here.'
'But what about Meg?' Alice asked. 'Ain't that simple, is it? Don't deserve to go in a pit. Don't deserve to spend the rest of her life sipping herb tea either! One way or another that's got to stop.'
'So you're not going to help?'
'Didn't say that, Tom. It just needs thinking about, that's all.'
Soon after dark, Andrew returned. I was waiting for him in the shop when he came in.
'What's this then, Tom?' he asked, stamping the snow from his boots and rubbing his hands together to get the blood circulating properly again. 'What does that brother of mine want now?'
Andrew always looked like a well-dressed scarecrow, his limbs gangly and awkward, but he was kind and easy-going and really good at his job.
'He's in trouble again,' I told Andrew. T need you to make a key so we can get him out of it. And it's really urgent.'
'A key? A key for what?'
'The gate on the cellar steps in his house. Meg's got him imprisoned down there.'
Andrew shook his head and clicked his tongue. 'Can't say I'm surprised. It
was bound to happen one day. Just astonished that it's taken so long! I always thought Meg would get the better of him in the end. He cares about her too much and always has. He must have let his guard down.'
'But you will help?'
'Of course I will. He's my brother, isn't he? But I've been out in the cold most of the day and I can't do much till I've warmed my bones and got some hot food in my belly. You can tell me all about it when we've eaten.'
I'd not sampled much of Alice's cooking, apart from rabbits cooked in the embers of a fire outdoors, but judging by the appetizing smell of stew wafting in from the kitchen, I was in for a real treat.
I wasn't disappointed. 'It's really good, Alice,' I said, tucking in right away.
Alice smiled. 'Aye, better than that muck you fed me in Anglezarke.'
We laughed, then ate in silence until there wasn't a scrap of food left. It was Andrew who spoke first.
'I haven't got a key to that gate,' he told me. 'The lock and key were crafted by a locksmith from Blackrod a good forty years ago or more. He's dead now but he'd a reputation second to none, so we're facing a very complex mechanism. I'll need to go to the house and take a look myself. The easiest way would be for me to try and pick the lock and let you through the gate.'
'Could we go tonight?' I asked.
'The sooner the better' he said. 'But I'd like to know exactly what we're up against. Where's Meg likely to be?'
'She usually sleeps in a rocking chair by the fire in the kitchen. But even if we get past Meg safely and through the gate, there's another problem ...'
So I told him about the feral lamia loose in the cellar. He kept shaking his head as if he couldn't believe just how bad things were.
'How will you deal with her? Use that silver chain of yours?'
'I haven't got it' I told him. 'It's in my bag. And the bag's probably still in its usual place in the Spook's study. But I've got my staff. It's made of rowan wood and if I'm lucky it'll keep a lamia at bay'
Andrew shook his head and didn't look too happy. 'That's hardly a plan, Tom. It's far too dangerous. I can't pick a lock while you fight off two witches. But there is another way' he said. 'We could get a dozen or so of the men from the village to go with us and sort out Meg once and for all.'
'No' Alice said firmly. 'That ain't the way. It's too cruel.'
I knew she was remembering when the mob from Chipenden had attacked the house where she'd been living with her aunt, Bony Lizzie. Alice and her aunt had sniffed them out and just had time to escape, but everything had gone up in flames and they'd lost all their possessions.
'Mr Gregory wouldn't want that, I'm sure of it' I said.
'That's true enough' Andrew said. 'It's the safest way, but John would probably never forgive me. All right, looks like we're back to the first plan.'
'Here's something you ain't thought of' Alice said. 'A witch like that can't sniff you out at a distance, Tom. Don't work on a seventh son of a seventh son, do it? Most likely I'd be all right too - that's if I do decide to go with you. But Andrew's different. Once he approaches the house she'll sniff him out and be ready'
'If she's asleep, we might just get away with it' I said, but I didn't feel that confident.
'Even asleep it's too much of a risk' Alice said. 'Just you and me should go, Tom. We might be able to find the key and wouldn't have to pick the lock at all. Where does the Spook keep it?'
'On top of the bookcase usually, but Meg might be keeping it on her now.'
'Well, if it's not there we'll get your bag from the study and bind her with a silver chain so we can get it off her. Either way we wouldn't need you, Andrew. Me and Tom can do that.'
Andrew smiled. 'That would suit me' he said. T like to keep my distance from that house and its cellar. But I can't let you do it all by yourselves without some support. Best thing is if I give you a head start and follow on later. If you don't come to the door within half an hour, I will go back to Adlington and get a dozen big lads from the village. John will just have to live with the consequences of that.'
'All right' I said. 'But the more I think about it, the more I'm afraid that going in through the back door's too risky' I told Alice. 'As I said, at night Meg sleeps in the kitchen, in a chair by the fire. She'd be bound to hear us and we'd have to walk past her to get to the study. The front door would be slightly better but there's still a big risk of waking her. No - there's a much better way. We could go in through one of the back bedroom windows. The best one's on the floor directly under the attic, where the cliff's very close to the window ledge. The window catches in the bedrooms are mostly rusty or broken. I think I could reach across and force the window open and climb in.'
'It's madness' Andrew said. 'I've been in that bedroom and I've seen the gap between the cliff and the ledge. It's too wide. Besides, if you're worried about turning a key in the lock of the back door, just imagine how much noise you'd make forcing open a window!'
Alice grinned, as if I'd said something really daft, but I soon wiped the smile off her face.
'Meg wouldn't hear us if someone were to knock hard on the back door at the very moment that I forced the window ...' I said.
I watched Andrew's mouth open as what I was suggesting slowly dawned on him.
'Nay' he said, 'you don't mean . ..'
'Why not, Andrew?' I asked him. 'After all, you are Mr Gregory's brother. You've reason enough to visit the house.'
'Aye, and I could end up down in the cellar, a prisoner with John!'
'I don't think so. My guess is that Meg won't even answer the door. She doesn't want anyone from the village to know that she's free or she could attract a mob. You could knock at the door four or five times before you go away, giving me all the time I need to get in through the window.'
'Could just work, that' said Alice.
Andrew pushed his plate away and didn't speak for a long time. 'One thing still bothers me' he said at last. 'That gap between the cliff and the window ledge. I can't see you managing it. It'll be slippery too.'
'It's worth a try' I said, 'but if I can't do it, we could return later and risk the back door.'
'We might be able to make things easier by using a plank' Andrew said. 'I've got one out back that should do the job. Alice would need to anchor it to the ledge with her foot while you crawled across. It wouldn't be easy, but I've also got a small crowbar that's made for the job' he added.
'So if s worth a try' I said, trying to appear braver than I felt.
It was agreed, and Alice seemed to have made up her mind to help. Andrew fetched the plank from the yard. But when we opened the front door to set off, a blizzard was raging outside. Andrew shook his head.
'If d be madness for you to go now' he said. 'That blizzard's worthy of Golgoth himself. Drifts will form and it'll be dangerous up on the moor. You could get lost and freeze to death. No, best wait till tomorrow morning. Don't worry' he said, clapping me on the shoulder. 'That brother of mine's a survivor, as we well know. Otherwise he wouldn't have lasted as long as he has.'
There were only two bedrooms above the shop; one for Andrew and one for Alice, so I slept on the settee in the living room, wrapped in a blanket. The fire died in the grate and the room first became chilly, then bitterly cold. I lost count of the number of times I woke up in the night. On the last occasion, dawn light was glimmering behind the curtains, so I decided to get up.
I yawned and stretched and walked up and down a bit to get the stiffness out of my joints. It was then that I heard a noise from the front. It sounded as if someone had rapped three times on the shop window.
When I walked into the shop, it was bright with light reflecting off the snow. There'd been drifts in the night all right and the snow was heaped right up to the base of the window. And there, leaning against the glass, was a black envelope. It had been positioned in such a way that I could see what was written upon it. It was addressed to me! It had to be from Morgan.
One part of me wanted to just leave it there. B
ut then I realized that the streets would start to get busy soon and anyone could walk by and see it. They might pick it up and read it, and I didn't want a stranger knowing my business.
There was so much snow piled against the front door that I couldn't open it and had to go out through the back door, open the yard gate and walk round. It was only as I prepared to plunge into the drift that I realized something very odd. There were no footprints. Facing me was a large mound of snow without a mark upon its surface. How had the letter got there?
I retrieved the letter and, in doing so, gOuged out a deep channel in the snow. I went round to the back again and into the kitchen, tore open the letter and read it.
I'll be in St Georges Churchyard, just west of the village. If you want what's best both for you and your old master, don't keep me waiting. Don't make me come to you. Yuo you won't like it
Morgan G
I hadn't noticed the signature on his last letter but now it caught my eye. Had he changed his name? The initial of his second name should have been H for Hurst.
Puzzled, I folded up the letter and pushed it into my pocket. I wondered about waking Alice and showing her the letter. Perhaps I should take her with me. But the last person she'd want to see now was Morgan. She'd already said how she'd left Moor View Farm because she couldn't stand him another minute. And I knew I couldn't really tell Alice even if I wanted to: I was afraid of Morgan and what he might do to Dad. To be honest, I was also scared about what he might do to me. With so much power, he was really dangerous: not someone to disobey. So I pulled on my cloak, picked up my staff and went out, heading directly for the churchyard.