Spook's Destiny (20 page)

THE FOLLOWING DAY
we soon hit solid rock, and could go no deeper. I hoped the pit would be big enough for our purposes. About mid afternoon, when I’d just about finished, Grimalkin paid us a visit. Over her shoulder she was carrying something wrapped in sacking – no doubt the spears that she’d forged.

‘Will that be big enough?’ she asked, looking down at the pit doubtfully.

‘I hope so. I was going to make it deeper but this rock’s put an end to that,’ I told her.

Grimalkin looked worried. ‘I’ve seen the Fiend bigger than that. He was a giant, a monster.’

‘If he’s that big, there may be nothing we can do,’ I said.

‘Remember, I have given birth to his child – the child he slew,’ Grimalkin said. ‘He cannot come near me unless I will it. That could be our last line of defence.’

She smiled, curling her lips over her needle-sharp teeth. ‘And perhaps that layer of rock will be to our advantage,’ she said. ‘I have crafted spears and also some shorter nails. The rock will provide a firm base for the binding.’

‘Well,’ said the Spook, ‘we’re ready now – as ready as we’ll ever be. We can rest now, and gather our strength for the ordeal tonight.’

Grimalkin shook her head. ‘No, there is further work to be done first,’ she told him. She knelt and unrolled the sacking on the ground to reveal the stakes and nails. I could not see even a hint of silver alloy. They seemed to be crafted of plain steel.

‘I need silver to fold into the steel,’ she said.

I knew I had no choice. I would have to offer my silver chain. It was a vital tool for a spook, and a present from my mam, but surrendering it would make the binding of the Fiend possible.

‘You can use this,’ I said, making to hand it to her.

But the Spook frowned. ‘Nay, lad, you’ll need it again one day. We’ll use mine. What better use could it serve? Besides, my old master, Henry Horrocks, had a chain of his own and I inherited it after his death. It’s out of harm’s way with my brother Andrew in Adlington – at his locksmith’s shop. One day, when it’s safe to return to the County, we’ll go and collect it.’

As he spoke, there was a hint of sadness in the Spook’s face. That chain had served him well over the years. To surrender it was hard.

It took nearly two days for Grimalkin to craft the weapons to her satisfaction. Behind the house the forge rang with the rhythmical pounding of her hammer. She melted down my master’s silver chain before forming it into strips, which she worked skilfully into the iron of the stakes and the broad-headed nails.

In the afternoon of the second day, one of Shey’s servants brought word that Grimalkin wished to speak to me alone. I entered the shed that housed the forge where she was working. Afraid of disturbing her concentration, I didn’t speak, but instead waited patiently in a corner, watching her craft a spear. She wore thick leather gloves to protect her witch’s skin from the iron and silver. The long sharp spear in her grasp was being formed into a slender helix, a fine twisting alloy of silver and iron. It was the last of four; the nails had already been completed.

Satisfied at last, she laid the finished weapon down on a bench close to the anvil, and then she turned to face me, her gaze holding mine.

‘Listen,’ she said, her eyes glittering fiery red with the reflected light of the forge. ‘Tonight we’ll bind him – whatever it takes. I’d give my life to achieve that, if it was necessary.’

I nodded. ‘I fear that the moment the Fiend realizes he’s in the pit, he’ll halt time. And I won’t be strong enough to stop him – though I vow I’ll die trying.’

She frowned. ‘I have often thought about the Fiend and his powers. When he’s halted time in the past, the initiative has been his. So, rather than being on the defensive and trying to prevent that, why not attack by halting time yourself at the very moment he appears?’

‘I’ve managed to achieve that a couple of times in the past, but the effect hasn’t lasted. Still, I’ll do my best,’ I assured her.

‘Succeed, and time will halt for all those in the vicinity of the pit – all but you. The Fiend will quickly understand the situation, but by then you will already have driven your spear deep into his dirty hide.’

I nodded. It might just work. Grimalkin was right. This time I would take the initiative and strike first.

We tried our best to grab a few hours’ sleep before dark. We’d need to be strong, rested and alert for the task ahead. I didn’t bother getting undressed – though I quickly checked the blood jar in my pocket; the crack still seemed to be holding the Fiend at bay. Then I lay on top of the bedcovers and closed my eyes.

I soon fell into a deep dreamless sleep but, sensing something strange, I jerked awake, sitting bolt upright.

The mirror on the bedside table was flickering. A face appeared. It was Alice! She was wide-eyed with terror: it wrenched at my heart to see her in that state.

The mirror clouded. She had breathed on the surface of the one she was using. She began to write, and her message slowly appeared.

The letters appeared backwards on the glass:
Help me, Tom! I can get back with your help
.

Could she really escape from the dark? I wondered. All at once I was filled with fresh hope. Quickly I breathed on the mirror and wrote my reply on the misted glass.

How can I help?

Alice began to write again, but the words appeared only very slowly. Was she in pain? What was wrong?

I read this one with ease, in less time than it had taken her to write it:
Pan found me a doorway back. But can’t get through alone, can I? Need your help, Tom
.

Could there really be a doorway back to our world? Pan must be aiding Alice in repayment for my help with the mages. But he’d said he
couldn’t
help – that the Fiend was too strong. And how was it possible to use a mirror to communicate from the dark? I wondered. Was that why it was taking her so long to write each message! I quickly breathed on the mirror and wrote again.

Where is the door, Alice?

Her reply came more quickly this time.

The
lair of the dragon
? That was what the Spook had called the circle of stones where we hoped to bind the Fiend.

Do you mean the stone circle at Kenmare?

The mirror flickered and grew dark. My heart plummeted into my boots. Alice had gone before I could get that vital information from her. But just as I began to despair, the mirror filled with light again, and Alice’s finger began to write very slowly.

She was asking me to come alone – that certainly made sense. Grimalkin had told the Spook that Pan had only dealt with me because of my mam. It was dangerous to go alone, but if that was the only way, then I had no choice.

I drew back the curtains and looked through the window. It was twilight; soon it would be completely dark. In the next room I could hear the Spook stirring. From the pouches in my bag I quickly filled my pockets with salt and iron. Next I took my silver chain and tied it around my waist, hiding it under my shirt.

Carrying my boots in one hand and my staff in the other, I tiptoed out through the door, and managed to get downstairs without meeting anyone. One of the servants saw me sitting on the step pulling on my boots. He nodded, and I nodded back before setting off down the path and letting myself out through the main gate.

I couldn’t see any of Shey’s guards, but they usually kept out of sight. They were probably hiding in the trees, watching me now, but it didn’t matter. They had been told a little of what we intended to do at the stone circle, but not enough to scare them too much. They thought it was some sort of rite to combat the dark power of the mages; when they saw me heading in that direction now, they would merely think I was setting out a little ahead of the others.

Soon I was among the trees, approaching the stones – the lair of the dragon. As I stepped over the soft ground, my feet cracked the occasional twig. A white mist lay close to the ground, but there was still enough light to avoid walking into a tree or stumbling over a log. I emerged at the foot of the hill, looking up at the standing stones, which were just visible against the cloudless sky. The brightest of the stars were out now, but the moon wouldn’t be up for several hours yet.

My heart was beating fast. Would I really be able to get Alice back?