Alice (19 page)

‘Has it grown?’ Agnes asked.

‘A bit,’ I admitted. It definitely seemed thicker now.

‘Each time you use magic,’ Agnes told me, ‘it will grow larger. The use of dark magic has a cumulative effect on the user. Eventually that crescent will become a full dark moon, and then you will belong to the dark entirely. Your soul will be hard. All human compassion will have left you. Do you understand what I am saying?’

‘But what can I do, Aunt?’ I cried. ‘What am I supposed to do?’

‘Survive, Alice. That’s all you can do. That’s all any of us
can do. But you can’t use that power – certainly not in the way you’ve just done. You must limit its use – better not to use it at all.’

‘But Lizzie will want revenge for what I did to her!’

‘What
did
you do?’ Agnes asked.

So I told her how I’d saved those children; how I’d killed some of the water witches and driven the rest off; how I’d drowned Betsy Gammon.

‘What about Lizzie? She wouldn’t just let you walk away after that. What did you do to her?’ demanded Agnes.

‘Paid her back for what she often does to me,’ I replied. ‘I summoned a dozen sprogs and set ’em to work on her. Didn’t like that one little bit, did she? She’ll come after me, for sure. Those water witches too – they’ll want revenge. Without the use of my magic I’ll be helpless. Could be dead and buried before the week is out, Agnes.’

Agnes buried her face in her hands. She didn’t speak for a long time, but then she looked up at me. ‘Yes, you are in great danger. There’s nothing for it – despite my misgivings, you’ll have to use just a bit of your power one last time. Only a bit, mind. Just wish confusion on Lizzie and those slimy sisters. Wish them to forget your part in everything. Make them forget that egg ever existed.

‘It’s a risk, using your magic even once more, but I can see no other way. I’m not strong enough to keep you safe from her, so go back to Lizzie and continue your training for now. It may not be for ever. Sometimes things change when you least expect it; one day you might be free of her.’

So I did as Agnes advised. I used a bit of my power one more time. Then, the following day, I trudged unhappily back to Lizzie’s cottage.

She seemed bewildered, and for days walked around as if in a dream. Then she went back to normal and started making my life difficult again. But it had worked. She never mentioned that leather egg or the water witches. It was as if it had never happened.

My training as a witch continued, but I always hid from Lizzie what I was really capable of. I knew that Agnes was right. It was the Fiend who had spoken to me that night, awakening my latent power. If I kept using it, eventually I would belong to him. My heart would harden and I would become an evil entity without human feelings. I wouldn’t let that happen.

Agnes was proved right in another way too. My time with Lizzie came to an end just when I least expected it. She led us back to Chipenden, intending to rescue Mother Malkin from the pit in the Spook’s garden and then slay him.

But things didn’t work out as she hoped.

It was then that I first met Thomas Ward, Old Gregory’s apprentice, and my life changed for ever. My time as the friend of the Spook’s apprentice has been the happiest of my life.

ALL THAT HAPPENED
years earlier, but now, down here in the dark, as I looked at Betsy Gammon, it seemed like only yesterday.

She smirked at me from her chair, set against the dank cellar wall. The deep, dirty pond was to her right. Water witches were probably waiting beneath the surface.

‘Didn’t expect to come face to face with me again, did you, girl?’

I turned back towards Thorne, my betrayer, ready with angry words, but she had already disappeared. I could hear the sound of her pointy shoes receding up the steps.

‘It’s sad when people let you down, isn’t it?’ Betsy
said, coming to her feet and taking a step towards me. ‘But everyone has their price, and Thorne is no exception.’

I stared at her, feeling hurt. I’d thought that Thorne was my friend. How could the girl who’d fought alongside Grimalkin have changed so much? The witch assassin had nothing but praise for her.

‘Do you know what her price was?’ Betsy asked.

I didn’t answer. I was considering my options. My best chance was to escape up the steps. But no doubt someone or something would be there now, ready to stop me.

‘It’s possible for a witch to be born again. Did you know that, girl?’

‘Some believe it, but I’ve never met a witch who claimed to be leading a second life,’ I replied.

‘Oh, it’s very rare,’ Betsy continued. ‘Takes a lot of power, it does. At least two of the Old Gods have to combine their will to achieve it. And it requires special skill to detect the position of a living person who enters the dark. The best at that is Morwena, the most powerful of the water witches. The moment she knew you’d entered the dark she got to work. So Thorne was promised another chance to live on earth in return for leading you here. She badly wants an opportunity to prove herself the greatest witch assassin of all – even greater than her teacher, Grimalkin. The chance to become that is to be her reward. Morwena put her in your path and told her to wait. You followed her without a second thought. She led you to us like a lamb!’

Again I made no comment. I had meant to ask Thorne
how she’d known where to find me, but I’d never got round to it. Now I knew. Agnes was right: I was a fool.

‘It’s all over for you now, girl; there’s nothing you can do to save yourself. You’ve got powerful magic, but it won’t help this time. You see, dark magic doesn’t work in the basilica and the area around it. It’s a forbidden zone. And there’s lots of us and only one of you!’

Betsy put two fingers in her mouth and gave a long piercing whistle. Immediately, in response, a dozen witches surged out of the water. Some dragged themselves up onto the muddy floor; others soared out like salmon and landed upon their webbed and taloned feet, water cascading off them. They glared at me with hungry eyes.

Water witches normally begin by drowning their prey. They drag it into the water, and while it’s drowning begin to suck its blood – so quickly that the heart stops before drowning can take place.

Alternatively, they might just rip me to pieces. Either way, I expected it to be quick.

Perhaps Betsy had lied about not being able to use magic? I thought. I didn’t want my life to end here: I had to find the dagger. We had to put an end to the Fiend.

So I exerted my will.

Nothing.

No response.

Magic really
didn’t
work here.

I had failed to get the dagger that Tom needed. Now the Fiend would triumph and my best friend would die
too. It had all been for nothing. I was filled with anger.

If this was the end of me, at least I would hurt Betsy one more time.

I kicked out hard, and the point of my shoe went deep into her fat belly. The air came out of her with a
whoosh
, and she doubled over and fell to her knees.

But then many clawed hands seized me and dragged me towards the water. I struggled, but they were extremely strong and there were too many of them. Fanged teeth appeared inches from my face. Rancid breath filled my nostrils. Then the water closed over my head and I felt myself being pulled down. It happened so quickly that I hadn’t time to take a breath, and as I sank into the murk, water rushed up my nose and into my open mouth. I was choking, drowning, desperate for air.

I thrashed about but couldn’t tear myself out of the relentless grip of my enemies. After a while, all grew dark and I felt my consciousness fading away. All I could hear was the
thump-thump
of my heart, slower and slower. Perhaps they were draining my blood. If so, there was no pain other than that in my chest – the frantic need to breathe.

Then there was nothing.

Nothing at all.

The next thing I knew, I was back on the muddy bank on my hands and knees, retching.

‘Did you enjoy that, girl?’ Betsy gloated, once more seated in her chair. On either side of me, a water witch gripped my shoulder with a taloned hand. ‘Now you know what it’s like to be drowning. You know how I felt when you did that to me.
But it’s not over yet! Soon as you’ve got your breath back, it starts all over again! A very slow and painful death is what I plan for you!’

She was as good as her word. Within a minute I was dragged back into the water again. By now there were only two water witches present, but I would have been helpless against just one.

This time I managed to suck in a deep breath first. But all that did was delay my agony. Once again the pressure in my lungs was so great that I was forced to breathe out, and soon the water was rushing into my nose and mouth once more.

There was a roaring in my ears; darkness; then, once again, I found myself on my knees, gasping for air and vomiting water.

I lost count of how many times the process was repeated; on each occasion Betsy taunted and gloated from her chair while I went through the agonizing process of recovery.

But everything must come to an end.

I looked up for the umpteenth time, water pouring from my nose and mouth, trying to draw in a first painful breath, when I realized that it was Betsy who had come to an end.

She was sitting back, slumped in her chair, a knife buried up to its hilt in her throat. Even as I watched, I saw her body start to disintegrate. Her head had fallen off now, and was sliding down between her knees. I vaguely remember wondering if that was what usually happened when you died for the second time.

Moments later I knew the answer.

There were no taloned hands gripping my shoulders
any longer. The two water witches were lying beside me, stretched out on the muddy floor of the cellar. Each had a knife between her shoulder blades. Their bodies were starting to crumble too.

A hand seized my arm and yanked me to my feet. I came face to face with Thorne, and angrily tried to pull away. But I was too weak, still fighting for breath.

‘Come on! Come on!’ she screamed into my face. ‘Morwena could arrive at any moment.’

She dragged me towards the steps and pulled me up to the top. I was too feeble to resist.

We crossed the room and went out through the front door. I staggered across the marshy ground with Thorne. Finally we crouched in the shadow of a stone wall, out of the light of the blood-moon.

‘I’m sorry.’ Thorne’s voice was hardly more than a whisper.

I was about to give her a piece of my mind, but my stomach lurched, everything began to spin, and I leaned sideways and vomited into the grass.

At last I got my breath back and blasted her with my anger.

‘You’re sorry?
Sorry?
Sorry for what – for betraying me and sending me to my death? Sorry for stopping me getting the dagger and destroying the Fiend! And who would he go after first? Ain’t much doubt about it! Grimalkin, I think, because of what she’s done. Fine way to repay someone who trained you! Grimalkin wouldn’t be pleased with what you did. You were brave in life; she hoped you’d be brave in death. That’s what she told me. But you weren’t brave, were you? You were
a coward who couldn’t face being in the dark and would do
anything
for the chance of a second life!’

Thorne said nothing; she just bowed her head and stared down at the ground.

After a while my anger began to ebb away and I spoke again. ‘Why did you come back?’

She replied without looking up. ‘Even before I reached the top of the steps I regretted what I’d done. It hadn’t seemed real until then. Then I heard what was happening below. You drowned Betsy back on earth, but her death was nothing compared to what you would experience. After a while I couldn’t bear it. So I came down to help you.’

‘What now?’ I asked.

‘I’ll help you to get the dagger.’

‘I would be better off on my own,’ I retorted. ‘How can I trust you after that? Did you talk to anybody else when you left the cellar? Did you tell ’em why I’m here – that I have to reach the Fiend’s domain?’

That was important. If they knew what I wanted and where I was going, they’d be there waiting for me.

‘No, Alice, I didn’t have time. They still don’t know . . . So think about it. You’ve more chance with me than on your own; we need each other. After what I just did, they’ll be after me too. No doubt they’ll plan a horrible slow second death for me. You’re close now to where you want to go. The domains move around, but they say the Fiend’s domain is always near this one with its basilica for worship. There’s a good chance that this gate will take us there. Trust me again, please. Let me help you . . .’

I thought carefully. There was truth in what she’d just said. And she
had
come back for me.

‘I need to get into the basilica and avoid the trap they’ve set,’ I told Thorne. ‘I must reach that gate. Can you help me to do that?’

‘Inside the basilica, we’ll have to trust to luck. I’ve never been in there myself and the gate could be anywhere – we’ll have to search for it. But I might be able to get us inside unobserved. I do know someone who might help – truly. But you’ll have to wait here. It’ll be easier and faster if I go alone.’