Part 19 (1/2)

So for the next hour I rushed around doing all the necessary jobs: cleaning out the grates and was.h.i.+ng all the pots, plates and cups to make life easier on our return next winter. At last the Spook locked the back door behind us and was striding away down the clough with me following happily at his heels, carrying two bags as usual as well as my rowan staff.

I had remembered my promise to Alice - to ask if she could come with us to Chipenden - but was just waiting for the right moment, when I realized that, rather than taking the most direct route to the north, we were heading straight towards Adlington. Even though he'd visited him the previous day, I supposed that the Spook wanted to say another farewell to his brother. I was still dithering about mentioning Alice when we came in sight of the shop.

To my surprise, both Andrew and Alice came out to meet us on the cobbled street. Alice was carrying a small bundle of belongings and looked ready for a journey. She was smiling and looked excited.

'Have a good, prosperous summer, Andrew,' the Spook called out cheerfully. 'See you in November!'

'Same to you, brother!' Andrew replied with a wave.

Next, to my utter astonishment, the Spook turned and led the way and, when I turned to follow, Alice fell into step beside me grinning from ear to ear.

'Oh, I forgot to tell you, lad,' called the Spook over his shoulder, 'Alice will be coming to stay with us in Chipenden on the same terms as previously. I arranged it all yesterday with Andrew. She needs to be where I can keep a watchful eye on her!'

'Big surprise, is it, Tom? Glad to see me, are you?' Alice asked.

'Of course I'm glad to see you and I'm really pleased that you're coming back to Chipenden with us. It's the last thing I expected. Mr Gregory didn't say a word about it.'

'Oh! Didn't he?' laughed Alice. 'Well, now you know what it feels like when people keep secrets and don't tell you things you ought to know! Serves you right!'

I laughed as well. I didn't mind Alice's gibe. I deserved it. I should have told her all about my intention to steal the grimoire. If I had, she might have drummed some sense into my head. But it was all over now and we walked along happily together on our way back to Chipenden at last.

The following day there was another surprise. The route back to Chipenden led us to within about four miles of our farm. I was going to ask if I could call in but the Spook beat me to it.

'I reckon you should pay a visit home, lad. You might find that mother of yours is back; if so, she'll be expecting to see you. I'll press straight ahead, because I need to visit a surgeon on the way.'

'A surgeon? Are you ill?' I asked, starting to worry for him.

'Nay, lad. The man in question does a bit of dentistry as a side-line. He's got a big supply of dead men's teeth and there's bound to be something that'll fit,' he said, giving me a wide smile so that I had a good view of the gap left where the boggart had knocked out his front tooth.

'Where does he get them from?' I asked, appalled.

'From grave robbers?'

'Most of them come from old battlefields,' the Spook said, with a shake of his head. 'He'll make me up a denture and I'll soon be as good as new. He does a nice line in bone b.u.t.tons too. Meg made all her own dresses and was one of his best customers,' the Spook said sadly.

I was glad to hear that. At least her b.u.t.tons hadn't come from her past victims, as I'd first suspected.

'Anyway off you go now,' said the Spook, 'and take the girl with you for a bit of company on the way back.'

I was happy to obey. No doubt the Spook didn't want Alice following at his heels. But I would have the usual problem. Jack wouldn't want her to take one step across the farm boundary and, as Brewer's Farm belonged to him now, it wasn't worth arguing.

An hour or so later Alice and I were in sight of the farm when I noticed something very unusual. To the north, just beyond the farm boundary, was Hangman's Hill, where a plume of dark smoke was now rising from the trees at its summit. Someone had lit a fire there. Who would do that? n.o.body ever went there because it was haunted by the ghasts of men who'd been hanged during the civil war that had swept through the County generations earlier. Even the farm dogs kept well clear.

Instinctively I knew it was Mam. Why she should be up there I couldn't guess, but who else would dare? So we skirted the farm to the east and, once beyond its northern boundary, headed up the hill through the trees. Of the ghasts there was no sign and Hangman's Hill was silent and still, the bare branches gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight. The leaf buds were swollen but it would still be a week or so until they unfolded. Spring had come very late this year.

Immediately we came to its summit, I was proved right. Mam was sitting in front of a fire gazing into the flames. She was sheltering under a refuge of branches, twigs and dead leaves which s.h.i.+elded her from the sunlight. Her hair was matted with dirt and it looked as if she hadn't washed for a long time. She'd lost weight too and her face was gaunt, her expression sad and weary, perhaps of life itself.

'Mam! Mam!' I said, sitting down beside her on the damp earth. 'Are you all right?'

She didn't answer right away and there was a faraway look in her eyes. At first I thought she hadn't heard me. But then, still staring into the fire, she put her left hand on my shoulder.

'I'm glad you're back, Tom,' she said at last. 'I've been waiting here for days .. .' 'Where've you been, Mam?'

She didn't answer, but after a long pause she looked up and met my eyes. 'I'll be on my way soon but we need to talk before I leave.'

'No, Mam, you're in no state to go anywhere. Why don't you go down to the farm and get some food inside you. You need a good night's sleep too. Does Jack know you're here?'

'He knows, son. Jack comes up to see me every day and begs me to do what you've just asked. But it's too painful to go down there now that your dad's not at home. It's. .h.i.t me hard, Tom, and my heart is broken. But now that you've come at last, I'll force myself to go back down there one last time before I leave the County for ever.' 'Don't go, Mam! Please don't leave us!' I begged. Mam didn't reply but just stared into the flames. 'Think of your first grandson, Mam!' I continued desperately. 'Don't you want to see him born? Don't you want to see little Mary grow up either? And what about me? I need you! Don't you want me to complete my time and become a spook? You've saved me in the past and I might need your help again just to get that far...'

Still Mam didn't reply and Alice suddenly seated herself so that she was facing her directly across the fire. 'Not sure, are you?' she said to Mam, her eyes fierce in the firelight. 'You don't really know what to do.'

Mam looked up, her own eyes glistening with tears. 'How old are you, girl? Thirteen, is it?' she asked. 'You're just a child. So what can you know about my business?'

'May only be thirteen,' Alice retorted defiantly, 'but I know things. More things than some who've lived a whole lifetime. Some were taught me. Others I just know. Maybe I was born knowing them. Ain't no idea why. Just is, that's all. And I know about you. Some things anyway. And I know that you're torn between going and staying. Ain't that so? It's true, ain't it?'

Mam bowed her head and then, to my astonishment, nodded.

'The dark is growing in power, that's plain enough, and it's something I've told Tom before,' Mam said, turning to face me again, her eyes glittering more fiercely than those of any witch I'd faced. 'You see, it's the whole world that's falling under the power of the dark, not just the County. I need to fight it in my own land. If I go back now, I might just be able to do something about it before it's too late! And there are other things there that I've left unresolved.'

'What things, Mam?'

'You'll know soon enough. Don't ask me now.'

'But you'd be alone, Mam. What can you do alone?'

'No, Tom, I wouldn't be alone. There are others who'd help me - precious few, I must confess.'

'Stay here, Mam. Stay here and let it come to us,' I begged. 'Let's face it together in my land, not yours...'

Mam smiled sadly. 'This is your land, is it?'

'It is, Mam. This is the County, where I was born. The land I was born to defend against the dark. That's what you told me. You said I'd be the Spook's last apprentice and then it would be up to me to keep everything safe.'

'That's true enough and I won't deny it,' Mam said wearily, staring into the flames.

'Then stay and let's face it together. The Spook's training me. Why don't you train me too? There are things you can do that even he can't. The way you once silenced the ghasts here on Hangman's Hill. He said that nothing could be done about ghasts; that they just faded away in their own time. But you did it. They were silent for months afterwards! And then I've inherited other things too. 'Intimations of death', that's what you called it. I knew when the Spook was close to death recently. And when I think back, I knew when he was on the mend too. I'll know next time when somebody turns the corner on the way back to health. Don't go, please. Stay and teach me.'

'No, Tom,' said Mam, coming to her feet. 'I'm sorry, but my mind's made up. I'll stay here one more night, but I'll be on my way tomorrow.'

I knew I'd argued enough and it was just selfish to continue. I'd promised my dad that I'd let her go when the time came and the time was now. Alice was right: Mam was in two minds, but I knew it wasn't up to me to make the decision for her.

Mam turned to face Alice. 'You've travelled a long way, girl. Further than I ever dared hope. But there are bigger tests yet to come. For what's ahead you'll both need all of your combined strengths. John Gregory's star is starting to fade. You two are the future and the hope of the County. He needs you both by his side.'

Mam was looking down at me as she finished speaking. I stared into the fire for a moment and s.h.i.+vered. 'The fire's nearly out, Mam,' I said, giving her a smile.

'You're right,' said Mam. 'Let's go down to the farm. All three of us.'