“John Gregory’s my name and I’m the seventh son of a seventh son,” said the Spook, raising his voice. “I’m here to do what should have been done long ago; here to put an end to the evil of the Bane and give you peace at last. But there are things that I need to know. First, you must tell me your name!”
There was a long pause and I thought the ghost wasn’t going to answer, but at last it replied.
“I am Naze, the seventh son of Heys. What do you wish to know?”
“It is time to finish this once and for all,” said the Spook. “The Bane is free and soon will grow to its full power and threaten the whole land. It must be destroyed. So I’ve come to you for knowledge. How did you bind it within the catacombs? How can it be slain? Can you tell me that?”
“Are you strong?” the voice of Naze rasped. “Can you close your mind and prevent the Bane from reading your thoughts?”
“Aye, I can do that,” said the Spook.
“Then maybe there is hope. I will tell you what I did. How I bound the Bane. Firstly, I made a pact giving it my blood to drink. Three more times after could it drink, and in return three times it must obey my commands. At the deepest point of the catacombs of Priestown is a burial chamber, which contains the urns holding the dust of our ancient dead, the founding fathers of our people. It was to that chamber that I summoned the Bane and gave it my blood to drink. In return I proved myself to be a hard taskmaster.
“The first time I demanded that the Bane should never more return to the barrows and keep well clear of this area where my father and brothers are buried, because I wanted them to rest in peace. The Bane groaned in dismay because the barrows were its favorite dwelling place, where it lay through the daylight hours hugging the bones of the dead and sucking the last of the memories contained within them. But a pact was a pact, and it had no option but to obey. When I summoned it for a second time, I sent it questing to the ends of the earth in search of knowledge, and it was away for a month and a day, giving me all the time that I needed.
“For then I set my people to work, making and fitting the Silver Gate. But even upon its return the Bane knew nothing of this because my mind was strong and I kept my thoughts hidden.
“After giving it my blood for the final time, I told the Bane what I required, crying out in a loud voice the price that it must pay.
“‘You are bound to this place!’ I commanded. ‘Confined to the inner catacombs with no way out. But because I would wish no being, however foul, to endure without even a glimmer of hope, I have built a Silver Gate. If anyone is ever foolish enough to open that gate in your presence, you may pass through it to freedom. However, following that, if you ever return to this spot, you will be bound here for all eternity!’
“Thus the softness of my heart dictated to me and the binding was not as firm as it might have been. During my lifetime I was filled with compassion for others. Some considered it a weakness, and on this occasion they were proved correct. For I could not doom even the Bane to an eternity of imprisonment without offering it a faint chance of escape.”
“You did enough,” said the Spook. “And now I’m going to finish the job. If we can only get it back there, it will be bound forever! That is a start. But how can it be slain? Can you tell me that? This creature is so evil now, binding it is no longer enough. I need to destroy it.”
“Firstly, it must have taken on the mantle of flesh. Secondly, it must be deep within the catacombs. Thirdly, its heart must be pierced with silver. Only if all three conditions are met will it finally die. But there is a great risk for he who attempts this. In its death throes the Bane will release so much energy that its slayer will almost certainly die.”
The Spook gave a deep sigh. “I thank you for that knowledge,” he said to the ghost. “It will be hard, but it must be done, whatever the cost. But your task is now complete. Go in peace. Pass over to the other side.”
In reply the ghost of Naze groaned so deeply that the hair began to move on the back of my neck. It was a groan filled with agony.
“There’ll be no peace for me,” moaned the ghost wearily. “No peace until the Bane is finally dead . . .”
And with those words, the small column of light faded away. Wasting no time, I moved back along the wall and into the ruins once more. A few moments later the Spook walked in, lay down on the grass, and closed his eyes.
“I’ve some serious thinking to do,” he whispered.
I didn’t say anything. Suddenly I felt guilty for listening to his conversation with Naze’s ghost. Now I knew too much. I was afraid that if I told him, he’d send me away and face the Bane alone.
“I’ll explain at first light,” he whispered. “But for now, get some sleep. It’s not safe to leave this spot until the sun comes up!”
To my surprise, I slept quite well. Just before dawn I was awakened by a strange grating sound. It was the Spook, sharpening the retractable blade in his staff with a whetstone that he’d taken from his bag. He worked methodically, occasionally testing it with his finger. At last he was satisfied, and there was a click as the blade snapped back into the staff.
I clambered to my feet and stretched my legs for a few moments while the Spook reached down, unfastened his bag again, and rummaged around inside it.
“I know exactly what to do now,” he said. “We can defeat the Bane. It can be done, but it’ll be the most difficult task I’ve ever had to undertake. If I fail, it will go hard with all of us.”
“What has to be done?” I asked, feeling bad because I knew already. He didn’t answer, and he walked right past me toward Alice, who was sitting up, hugging her knees.
He tied the blindfold in position and inserted the first of the wax earplugs. “Now for the other one, but before it goes into place, listen well to me, girl, because this is important,” he said. “When I take this out tonight, I’ll speak to you right away and you must do what I say immediately and without question. Do you understand?”
Alice nodded, and he fitted the second plug. Once again, Alice couldn’t see and she couldn’t hear. And the Bane wouldn’t know what we were up to or where we were going. Unless it somehow managed to read my mind. I began to feel very uneasy about what I’d done. I knew too much.
“Now,” said the Spook, turning toward me. “I’ll tell you one thing you won’t like. We have to go back to Priestown. Back to the catacombs.”
Then he turned on his heels and, gripping Alice by her left elbow, walked her back to the horse and cart where the farmer’s lad was still waiting.
“We need to get to Priestown as fast as this horse can manage,” said the Spook.
“Don’t know about that,” said the lad. “My old dad expects me back before noon. There’s work to be done.”
The Spook held out a silver coin. “Here, take this. Get us there before dark and there’ll be another one. I don’t think your dad’ll mind too much. He likes to count his money.”
The Spook made Alice lie down at our feet and he covered her with straw again so that she wouldn’t be visible to anybody we passed, and soon we were on our way. At first we skirted Caster, but then, instead of moving back toward the fells, we headed for the main road that led directly to Priestown.
“Won’t it be dangerous to go back in daylight?” I asked nervously. The road was very busy and we kept passing other carts and people on foot. “What if the Quisitor’s men spot us?”
“I won’t say it’s not without risk,” said the Spook. “But those who were searching for us are now probably busy bringing the body down the fellside. No doubt they’ll bring him to Priestown for burial, but that won’t take place till tomorrow; by then it’ll all be over and we’ll be on our way. Of course, then there’s the storm to think about. People with any sense will be indoors, sheltering from the rain.”
I looked at the sky. To the south, clouds were building but didn’t look that bad to me. When I said as much, the Spook smiled.
“You’ve still a lot to learn, lad,” he said. �
�This will be one of the biggest storms you’ve ever seen.”
“After all that rain I’d have thought we were due a few days of good weather,” I complained.
“No doubt we are, lad. But this is far from natural. Unless I’m very much mistaken it’s been called up by the Bane, just as it called up the wind to batter my house. It’s another sign of just how powerful it’s become. It’ll wield the storm to show its anger and frustration at not being able to use Alice as it wants. Well, that’s good for us: While it’s concentrating on that, it’s not bothering much about me and you. And it’ll help us to get into the town without problems.”
“Why do we have to go to the catacombs to kill the Bane?” I asked, hoping that he’d tell me what I already knew. That way I wouldn’t have to keep up the pretense any longer.
“It’s in case I fail to destroy it, lad. At least once back there, with the Silver Gate locked, the Bane’ll be trapped again. This time forever. That’s what the ghost of Naze told me. Then, even if I don’t succeed in destroying it, at least I’ll have returned things to the way they were. And now that’s enough of your questions. I need some peace to prepare myself for what I’m going to do. . . .”
We didn’t speak again until we reached the outskirts of Priestown. By then the sky was as black as pitch, split with great zigzags of lightning as thunderclaps burst almost directly overhead. The rain was coming straight down and soaking into our clothes, and I was wet and uncomfortable. I felt sorry for Alice because she was still lying on the floor of the cart, which now held almost an inch of water. It must have been really hard not being able to see or hear and not knowing where she was going or when the journey would end.
My own journey ended a lot sooner than I’d expected. On the outskirts of Priestown, when we came to the last crossroads, the Spook called out to the farmer’s lad to stop the cart.
“This is where you get out,” he said, looking at me sternly.
I gazed at him in astonishment. The rain was dripping from the end of his nose and running into his beard, but he didn’t blink as he stared at me with a very fierce expression.
“I want you to go back to Chipenden,” he said, pointing toward the narrow road that went roughly northeast. “Go into the kitchen and tell that boggart of mine that I might not be coming back. Tell him that if that’s the case he’s got to keep the house safe for when you’re ready. Safe and secure until you complete your apprenticeship and are finally fit to take over.
“That done, go north of Caster and look for Bill Arkwright, the local spook. He’s a bit of a plodder, but he’s honest enough, and he’ll train you for the next four years or so. In the end you’ll need to go back to Chipenden and do a lot more studying. You must get your head down in those books to make up for the fact that I’ve not been there to train you!”
“Why? What’s wrong? Why won’t you be coming back?” I asked. It was another question to which I already knew the answer.
The Spook shook his head sadly. “Because there’s only one certain way to deal with the Bane, and it’s probably going to cost me my life. The girl’s, too, if I’m not mistaken. It’s hard, lad, but it has to be done. Maybe one day, years from now, you’ll be faced with a task like this yourself. I hope not, but it sometimes happens. My own master died doing something similar, and now it’s my turn. History can repeat itself, and if it does, we have to be ready to lay down our lives. It’s just something that goes with the job, so you’d better get used to it.”
I wondered if the Spook was thinking about the curse. Was he expecting to die because of that? If he died, then there’d be no one to protect Alice down there at the mercy of the Bane.
“But what about Alice?” I protested. “You didn’t tell Alice what was going to happen! You tricked her!”
“It had to be done. The girl’s probably too far gone to be saved anyway. It’s for the best. At least her spirit will be free. It’s better than being bound to that filthy creature.”
“Please,” I begged. “Let me come with you. Let me help.”
“The best way you can help is to do what I say!” the Spook said impatiently, and seizing my arm, he pushed me roughly from the cart. I landed awkwardly and fell onto my knees. When I scrambled to my feet, the cart was already moving away, and the Spook wasn’t looking back.
CHAPTER XX
Mam’s Letter
I WAITED until the cart was almost out of sight before I began to follow it, my breath sobbing in my throat. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I couldn’t bear the thought of what lay ahead. The Spook seemed resigned to his death, and poor Alice didn’t even know what was going to happen to her.
There shouldn’t have been too much risk of being seen—the rain was teeming straight down and the black clouds above made it almost as dark as midnight. But the Spook’s senses were keen, and if I got too close, he’d know right away. So I ran and walked alternately, keeping my distance but still managing to get a glimpse of the cart from time to time. The streets of Priestown were deserted, and despite the rain, even when the cart was far ahead, I could still hear the distant clip-clop of hooves and the trundling of the cart’s wheels over the cobbles.
Soon the white limestone spire began to loom up above the rooftops, confirming the Spook’s direction and destination. As I’d expected, he was heading for the haunted house with the cellar that led down into the catacombs.
At that moment I felt something very strange. It wasn’t the usual numbing sensation of cold that announced the approach of something from the dark. No, this was more like a sudden tiny splinter of ice right inside my head. I’d never experienced anything like it before, but it was all the warning I needed. I guessed what it was and managed to clear my mind just before the Bane spoke.
“Found you at last, I have!”
Instinctively I halted and closed my eyes. When I realized that it wouldn’t be able to see out of them, I kept them closed anyway. The Spook had told me that the Bane didn’t see the world as we saw it. Even though it might be able to find you, just like a spider linked to its prey by a silken thread, it still wouldn’t know where you were. So I had to keep it that way. Anything my eyes saw would be filtered into my thoughts and soon the Bane would start trying to sift through them. It might be able to pick up clues that I was in Priestown.
“Where are you, boy? Might as well tell me. Sooner or later you’ll do it. Easy or hard, it can be. You choose . . .”
The splinter of ice was growing, and the whole of my head was becoming numb. It made me think again of my brother James and the farm. Of how he’d chased me that winter and filled my ears with snow.
“I’m on my way back home,” I lied. “Back home for a rest.”
As I spoke, I imagined walking into the farmyard with Hangman’s Hill just visible on the horizon, through the murk. The dogs were starting to bark and I was approaching the back door, splashing through puddles, the rain driving into my face.
“Where’s Old Bones? Tell me that. Where’s he going with the girl?”
“Back to Chipenden,” I said. “He’s going to put Alice in a pit. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen. That’s what he always does with a witch.”
I imagined myself jerking open the back door and entering the kitchen. The curtains were drawn and the beeswax candle was alight in the brass candlestick on the table. Mam was sitting in her rocking chair. As I came in, she looked up and smiled.
Instantly the Bane was gone and the cold began to fade. I hadn’t stopped it from reading my mind, but I’d deceived it. I’d done it! Seconds later my elation faded. Would it pay me another visit? Or worse still, would it pay my family one?
I opened my eyes and began to run as fast as I could toward the haunted house. After a few minutes I heard the sound of the cart again and went back to walking and running alternately.
At last the cart came to a halt, but almost immediately it set off again and I ducked into an alley as it rumbled back toward me. The farmer’s lad
sat hunched low and flicked the reins, sending the hooves of the big shire horse clattering across the wet cobbles. He was in a rush to get home, and I couldn’t say I blamed him.
I waited five minutes or so, to let Alice and the Spook get into the house, before I ran along the street and lifted the latch on the yard door. As I expected, the Spook had locked the back door, but I still had Andrew’s key, and a moment later I was standing in the kitchen. I took the candle stub from my pocket, lit it, and after that it didn’t take me long to get down into the catacombs.
I heard a scream somewhere ahead and guessed what it was. The Spook was carrying Alice over the river. Even with the blindfold and the earplugs she must have been able to sense the running water.
Soon I was crossing the steps over the river myself, and I reached the Silver Gate just in time. Alice and the Spook were already on the other side, and he was on his knees, just about to close it.
He looked up angrily as I ran toward him. “I might have known it!” he shouted, his voice filled with fury. “Didn’t your mam teach you any obedience?”
Looking back, I can see now that the Spook was right, that he just wanted to keep me safe, but I rushed forward, gripped the gate, and started to pull it open. The Spook resisted for a moment, but then he simply let go and came through to my side, carrying his staff.
I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’d no idea what I hoped to achieve by going with them anyway. But suddenly I remembered the curse again.
“I want to help,” I said. “Andrew told me about the curse. That you’ll die alone in the dark without a friend at your side. Alice isn’t your friend, but I am. If I’m there it can’t come true.”
The Last Apprentice: Complete Collection Page 37