The Spook's Nightmare Part 17

'Spread out!' the Spook commanded. 'Giving it more than one target will distract it.'

I did as he said, obeying without question and moving away to the left. My master was the expert here and, having already faced a worme, I knew it was the same advice that Bill Arkwright would have given: he'd been the specialist on all creatures that lived in marsh and water.

We were very close to the riverbank now, and the Spook was hidden from view by bushes and tall reeds, though I could still hear the suck and squelch of his boots.

It was then that I heard another noise in the reeds; a heavy wet slippery sound, almost as if someone had fallen onto their back and was sliding down the steep slope towards the water. But the sound was getting louder and moving closer up the slope, directly towards us. My heart lurched with fear.

All at once something burst through the reeds directly ahead of me and lunged for my head. I threw myself sideways, catching a glimpse of something above me before it withdrew back into the reeds: a long, sinuous body like a fat snake, small fierce eyes and a mouthful of fanged teeth.

It certainly wasn't a worme at least not the type that I'd once fought and the only snakes I'd ever seen were small gra.s.s snakes and, more rarely, adders. But this was huge. It had to be the buggane, and it had taken the form of a great serpent.

In a blind panic, I struggled to my knees. I was only just in time. It attacked, and this time I jabbed at the creature with my staff. It hissed and retreated again. I came cautiously to my feet and heard a scuffle to my right. Then the Spook shouted something I didn't catch it the first time, but when he repeated it, I realized it was a cry of warning.

'Hydra!'

From what my master had taught me, I knew that we were in serious trouble. There were many forms of hydra, some real, some just fantastic creatures made up by storytellers. The one referred to in the Spook's Bestiary was a creature called a Scylla, which had seven heads. All hydra certainly had several heads and this one was attacking my master and me simultaneously.

Again I heard that slithering sound, and the snake-like head surged towards me along the ground, parting the reeds before rearing up towards my throat. But this time I was ready, and I used my staff like a spear, ramming the blade past its teeth and right down its throat with all my strength. It screamed and convulsed, and blood sprayed in an arc from its fanged mouth. It retreated immediately, almost dragging the staff out of my hand, but I held on tight and the daemon's head slid away, its mouth gushing blood.

I followed it through the reeds towards the water's edge. Once on the riverbank I could see the buggane by the light of the moon. Its body was hidden underwater but its many heads reared and writhed, lunging towards me. I quickly counted to nine, but then gave up because they were moving too quickly. The one nearest me hung limp, dark blood issuing from its gaping mouth and swirling away in the current. That was the one I'd just speared. The Spook was now on the riverbank too, jabbing furiously with his staff. But a there were so many heads, all roaring and howling eerily. How could we deal with them?

'To me, lad!' cried the Spook, plunging into the strong river current. 'Its heart we need to cut our way to its heart! I'll go for the body while you tackle the heads!'

I splashed along to his side. The water reached our waists and it was a struggle to stay on our feet. The grey body of the hydra surfaced briefly before submerging again. That sight filled me with hope because it didn't seem to have the hard defensive scales of a worme and would be vulnerable to our blades. No doubt the daemon had sacrificed that defence in favour of the attacking capability of those many fanged heads. I kept swinging my staff in an arc and jabbing directly at any ravening mouth that came too close.

The Spook began to attack the hydra's body, driving his staff in deep and leaning against it while I defended us both against those heads with their dangerous teeth.

How long that struggle went on I don't know. All I remember is the water, dark with blood, and those daemonic heads shining silver in the moonlight as they sought to put an end to us. At one point I was almost overwhelmed teeth and ravening jaws were all around me and the Spook had to halt his attack on the body and help me fight off the heads. But then I heard a cry from the bank, and saw Alice standing there, waving the short blade and shouting at the buggane, trying to attract its attention.

Several of its heads immediately lurched towards her. I was afraid for her, but the daemon was distracted and it gave us our chance. Furiously the Spook renewed his attack. Within moments his silver-alloy blade had found the daemon's heart. There was a blast of foul air, and then water rose up before me in a high wave and I went under, still gripping my staff. Moments later I floated up to the surface.

Eventually the Spook and I dragged ourselves wearily out onto the riverbank. Alice's face looked full of relief. I stood there beside her, shivering and dripping wet.

'It's gone, lad. Not one bit of it remains,' said the Spook, bending over, exhausted. 'And as for you, girl will you never do as you're told?'

'If Alice hadn't disobeyed we'd probably both be dead now,' I pointed out indignantly.

My master gave a grudging nod but didn't comment further. He knew what I said was true.

'Now it's time to deal with the witch,' he muttered.

Chapter 29.

Once we'd rejoined Adriana and Simon, the Spook wasted no time looking for signs of Bony Lizzie.

I knew he was an expert tracker, but with only moonlight to rely on, would he find Lizzie's trail when even Alice couldn't sniff her out? We watched him pace around the wood, checking it systematically, bit by bit. Every so often he paused and knelt down, studying the ground. Maybe there wasn't anything to find? Maybe Lizzie was still hiding in the tunnels?

It was almost an hour before my master found something and waved us over. There were three footprints in the mud. They were fresh and made by pointy shoes ...

'They ain't mine, that's for sure,' said Alice. 'Got big feet, Lizzie has. Much bigger than mine.'

'So she's heading south-west,' said the Spook. 'That's the way we should go-'

'I'd like to know something ...' Alice interrupted.

'What is it, girl?' demanded the Spook impatiently. 'We've not got all day, so speak up!'

'You ain't going to bind Lizzie you're going to kill her, aren't you?' she asked. It wasn't really a question. I could tell from her face that she knew the truth of it and she didn't look happy.

The Spook nodded in confirmation, his expression grave. 'I've no choice, girl. She's murdered too many innocents. I can't leave a witch like her at large especially one with such ambition. If she'd had her way, this whole island would have been plunged into her rule of darkness. Who knows what else she might attempt in the future? Best thing would be for you to stay here until we return. She is still your mother, after all. No need for you to be there. You've done enough, girl. Get yourself back to the mill with Adriana until it's over.'

But I knew Alice would refuse. I'm sure she didn't want to be a witness to her own mother's death, but if she waited here, she'd be beyond the protection of the blood jar. She had to accompany me.

She shook her head. 'I need to be there,' she said quietly.

'I'm going after Lizzie too,' Adriana told the Spook. 'You might need my help are you with us, Simon?'

Simon Sulby nodded. 'Yes,' he said, looking determined. 'We're going to spend the rest of our lives together so we'll do this together too.'

We went as fast as we could, but after half an hour we'd seen no sign of the witch; my master was getting worried.

'We've got to catch Bony Lizzie, lad,' said the Spook, 'and put an end to her once and for all.'

'Perhaps we should go back to the mill for the dogs now,' I suggested. 'They'd soon hunt her down.'

'No time. She's already got too much of a head-start.' My master knelt down and searched the ground nearby before shaking his head. 'Wait here. I'll see if I can find her tracks again ...'

He wandered off into the trees. As before, he kept pausing and looking down to scrutinize the ground, but there was more cloud now and the moonlight was intermittent.

'Can he find her again?' Adriana asked me.

'He's an excellent tracker but it's really hard,' I said. 'The Pendle witches can cloak themselves, using dark magic to conceal their trail. A seventh son of a seventh son can still follow them but it's not easy. If he doesn't pick up her tracks soon, she'll get clean away.'

The Spook was now out of sight, but within five minutes he reappeared on the edge of a copse of trees and beckoned us over. When we reached him, he gave one of his rare smiles and pointed down at a patch of mud close to a tree trunk. There were two clear prints. Pointy shoes again ...

'At least we've got confirmation of her direction. She's still heading south-west,' he said. 'No doubt she hopes to make her escape by sea compel some poor fisherman to carry her west towards Ireland.'

We set off even faster. Twice more the Spook found Lizzie's tracks, but then he lost the trail.

Adriana thought she'd probably be making for either Port Erin or Port St Mary, where there were vessels capable of making the trip westwards even in a rough sea.

We were pressing on through the dark as fast as we could when a sudden vivid flash of lightning in the distance turned night into day. This was followed by a low rumble of thunder, and then the wind began to freshen. A storm was heading our way. And what a storm! Within minutes torrential rain had driven us to take shelter in a grove of trees, while a fury of thunder and lightning erupted from the clouds above.

'If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Lizzie had sent this storm to hold us at bay!' said the Spook as we waited for it to subside.

Cut off from the cache of animas, she was unlikely to have had the power to unleash such a storm, but she was still strong as we soon discovered to our cost.

The storm now abated just as quickly as it had arisen. The clouds were scurrying away to the east, and we were suddenly bathed in moonlight.

We were just about to leave the shelter of the trees when, in the silence after the storm, we heard a cacophony of squeals and shrieks approaching from the west.

'Rats!' Simon shouted.

Moments later he was proved correct. A horde of huge, fierce rats with long whiskers and sinuous tails surged into view. I knew a witch could summon rats and drink their blood, but I'd never heard of them being used to attack her enemies. We were soon fighting for our lives. We laid about us with our staffs, beating at the ground to squash the rodents and desperately plucking them off as they raced up our legs, biting and scratching as they made for our throats and faces.

I heard Alice scream and turned to find her covered in rats. She was trying to protect her head, but she was losing the battle. I tore a big rat off her head, hurled it to the ground and stamped it underfoot.

Wave upon wave of grey rodents continued to attack us; then, suddenly, they were fleeing, leaving behind a ma.s.s of dead and dying bodies.

Luckily we were more exhausted than hurt. 'That was Lizzie's doing,' I said.

'Aye, lad, there's little doubt about that,' replied the Spook. 'But why they broke off and fled we can only surmise. Maybe Lizzie doesn't want to use up too much of her power. Could be she's saving the worst for later.'

At dawn we halted and rested for a couple of hours. Simon offered to keep watch while the rest of us grabbed some sleep. The Spook was the only one who managed to doze. His nap didn't last long either; he awoke groaning and sweating. Lizzie had been speaking inside his head again.

Adriana suddenly started to shiver; Simon turned to her, concerned, and put his arm around her. 'What's the matter, love?' he asked her.

'I've got that feeling again,' she said. 'A premonition that I've not got long for this world.'

'But you felt like that before they rolled you down the hill and you survived the barrel, didn't you?' I pointed out.

'I did, but this time it's stronger than ever. I'm certain that I'm going to die soon.'

Needing to keep up our strength, we bought bread and cheese from a cottage. It was then that Adriana offered to try her powers again. The Spook didn't like it, but he had no better suggestion to offer.

She cupped her hands and gave a high whistling cry. Within minutes, in answer to her summons, a pair of sparrowhawks dropped out of the sky to land on her shoulders. She stroked them gently with the tip of each forefinger and whispered to them, her voice so low that, even though I was standing close, I couldn't catch what she said.

They flew off but returned within the hour. This time they circled overhead before flying off in a different direction. When they repeated the manoeuvre exactly, Adriana pointed in the direction they'd taken.

'They've found her,' she said. 'That's the way. She's making for Port Erin.'

Adriana was a bird witch all right her magic had succeeded in tracking down Bony Lizzie.

Not long after, the Spook discovered another pointy footprint in the mud. We were hot on the witch's trail again. And then Alice confirmed it: she could now sniff her mother's presence. Finally, at twilight, we saw Lizzie in the distance, and despite our exhaustion, increased our pace.

She was somewhere ahead of us in the gathering dusk: we glimpsed her once more, little more than half a mile away, but it was now almost dark, and a sudden shower exploded from the heavens, soaking us to the skin in the five minutes it took to blow itself out.

Adriana and Simon were sprinting alongside me and Alice, the Spook just behind us, and we were closing in on the bone witch with every stride. Soon I heard the angry roar of the sea in the distance, and the rhythmical pounding of waves against the rocky sh.o.r.e. At last the moon came out from behind a cloud, bathing the scene in silver light, and I saw Lizzie less than a hundred yards ahead of us. Then Simon noticed something on the ground: a pair of pointy shoes lying in the gra.s.s. Lizzie had kicked them off in a desperate attempt to gain more speed.

'She's running straight for the headland. We've cut her off from the port. She's nowhere to go now but the salty sea!' shouted the Spook.

He was right. Lizzie was running directly towards the cliffs. Very soon we would face the last of her power. How strong was she still? Would the five of us be able to overcome her? It was far from certain, but we had to try.

It was then that disaster struck. Alice slipped on the wet gra.s.s and went down hard. I stopped and helped her up, but when she tried to put weight on her left foot, it buckled under her and she fell to her knees. As the Spook raced past us, he turned to shout at me: 'Leave the girl, lad! We'll come back for her later. I need you with me! Now!' He ran on towards the cliffs, his footsteps fading into the distance.

'Yes, leave me, Tom! My ankle's sprained. He's right he'll need all the help he can get to beat Lizzie. She's still strong.'

'No, Alice, we stick together,' I told her, putting my arm under her left shoulder and lifting her back onto her feet. 'You know why we can't risk being separated ...'

Alice could only limp forward slowly, grunting with pain.

The witch had nowhere left to run. She turned her back on the sea to face the Spook, Adriana and Simon. They'd slowed to a walking pace but continued to advance along a narrow spur of gra.s.s that jutted out above the sea. The waves crashed onto the rocks below before drawing back to surge forward once more.

At first nothing happened; then, very suddenly, like a blow to my solar plexus, I felt Lizzie's power again. It took my breath away, almost stopped my heart. But it wasn't dread or any other spell designed to immobilize us while she took our lives with her blade. It was a spell of compulsion. I was consumed by a strong urge to run forward and throw myself off the cliff. I wanted to fall onto the rocks and break into little pieces; to become nothing as if I'd never been born.

I fought back but she was too strong. I saw the waves far below. I had never wanted anything so much.

Far ahead, the Spook had fallen into a crouching position, his staff still in his left hand. With his right he was clutching a tussock of gra.s.s as if that would somehow anchor him to the cliff-top. But then, to my dismay, Simon suddenly sprinted directly towards the cliff edge. I realized that he was going to throw himself over!

I heard Adriana scream, a long wail of anguish and loss. Simon had jumped out into nothingness, and was gone. Under the compulsion of Lizzie's dark magic he'd hurled himself over the edge to his death.

Ahead, Adriana was stretching her arms above her head and pointing towards the sky, arching her back just as Lizzie had earlier. Then she began to chant, hurling her words up into the firmament. She was speaking in the Old Tongue, gabbling far too quickly for me to understand.

In answer came a peal of thunder and a flash of sheet lightning, and suddenly, far above us, the heavens were filled with birds. There were crows, ravens, black-birds, finches and swallows and a single magpie ...one for sorrow.

Alice and I had almost reached the cliff, and I heard Adriana utter four more words very slowly and clearly. Even with my poor command of the Old Tongue, these were easy to translate. It was a command: 'Peck out her eyes!'

From the smallest to the largest the birds obeyed, swooping down in unison to attack the witch. For a moment Lizzie was hidden from our sight, buffeted to and fro by the frenzied, screeching birds.

But she was not to be defeated so easily. There was an intense flash of light and a blast of hot air that made me close my eyes. When I opened them again, the birds were screaming, falling out of the sky, wings aflame. Some dropped, blackened, burned and twitching, onto the cliff-top; others fell down towards the sea, trailing smoke. Lizzie had blasted them out of the sky.

Adriana let out a great sob and rushed towards her, but the bone witch seized her by the throat and lifted her off her feet.

I knew what was going to happen: I let go of Alice and stumbled forward to try and help her, but the world was still spinning about me and I was forced to my knees, hard pressed just to stay on the cliff-top, still consumed by the desire to throw myself onto the rocks.

As I watched, horrified, Lizzie hurled Adriana over the cliff. As she fell towards the rocks, she gave a shrill cry like a bird. Then she was gone.

Chapter 30.

Agloating smile settled over Lizzie's face.

'Do you know why the boy stayed behind with the girl instead of coming to help you?' she asked the Spook. 'Do you know why he disobeyed you? He needs her more than anything else in the world, and she's just as soft on him. Your apprentice sold his soul to the Fiend, and now the only thing that's keeping him and the girl safe is a blood jar. That's why they have to stay together. He's using dark magic to save the both of them. That's just one step short of belonging to the dark!'

The Spook staggered to his feet and looked at me, and as our eyes met, I saw on his face a mixture of sadness and disappointment. I'd let him down. I wasn't the apprentice he thought I was.

Lizzie laughed long and loud, and the ugly sound was filled with triumph, with the knowledge that the dark had won.