I followed her down into the lane, where she moved under the shadow of some trees and waited for me. Before leaving Ireland, she had contacted me to tell me of her experiences when she’d been taken into the dark. I couldn’t get used to the sight of her white hair.
Her eyes widened as I approached. “Where’s the Fiend’s head?” she demanded.
“Our enemies have it, Alice. They seized it yesterday, and they’re now taking it to the coast—to Liverpool, I think. I need your help!”
Alice looked afraid—and with good reason. If the Fiend’s supporters succeeded in reuniting the head with the body, the Fiend would walk the earth once more. Tom and Alice no longer had the blood jar as a means of defense. His first act would be to seize them and drag them off into the dark, and then they’d face an eternity of torment.
“What sort of help? What can I do?”
“My magic’s gone, Alice, all used up.”
“Magic ain’t everything,” Alice said. “You’re Grimalkin. You can use your blades. Hunt ’em down one by one. What’s wrong with you? Never heard you talk like this. What am I supposed to do?”
“My blades won’t be enough, Alice. There are too many of them. I need my own magic to deflect theirs, and to be able to cloak myself and retain an element of surprise. Then there’s the kretch—it was specially made to kill me and take back the head. It’s formidable. It’s already killed one of the lamias left to guard Malkin Tower. Its claws are coated with a deadly poison. It hurt me badly, Alice; now I am plagued by bouts of weakness.”
“My aunt, Agnes Sowerbutts, could help. Some wouldn’t agree, though I reckon she’s the best healer in Pendle.”
“She tried, Alice. She pulled me back from the brink of death, but I’m permanently damaged. You can’t believe how bad things have been. Agnes is dead. They killed her. They killed Thorne too, and took her thumb bones while she was still alive and—”
I was going to say more about how brave Thorne had been and how she’d saved me after I’d been poisoned, but I had to stop, choked with emotion.
As Alice took in the full import of what I was saying, her eyes widened in horror.
“So I need some of your magic, Alice. You’ve plenty. Just transfer some to me.”
“No!” Alice cried, clenching her fists at her sides. “I won’t do it. Build up your own magic again—you can do it.”
What Alice meant was that I should kill, take the thumb bones of my victims, and carry out the necessary rituals. Yes, it could be done, but there wasn’t time.
“Within a day they will have sailed for Ireland with the Fiend’s head. There simply isn’t time to replenish my magic using the normal methods. Give me some of your power, Alice. Heal me as well. You’ve more power than you need. You can do it.”
Alice was a special kind of witch, a type rarely found. Although she didn’t practice the rituals of blood, bone, or familiar magic, she had a power within her. Tremendous innate power that was part of her being; part of being Alice.
“I can’t touch it. You know that!” Alice retorted. “Use the dark and you end up being part of the dark. Don’t want that, do I?”
“You’ve used it before,” I accused her.
“That’s true enough. I did so in Ireland to save Tom, so I can’t risk using it again now.”
“You have to take the risk. Otherwise the Fiend will come for you—and soon. How long will it take them to dig him up from the pit and join the head to the body? Even counting the sea voyage and the journey across Ireland to Kerry, he could well come for you within the week. Tom too! That’s how long you’ve got, Alice, if you don’t help me now.”
Alice was quiet for a long time. When she spoke, her voice was little more than a whisper. “All right, I’ll come with you. We’ll follow ’em and see what’s what, but I ain’t promising anything. Wait here. I’ll just go and tell Tom.”
“No, that would be a mistake. We don’t want to lead him into danger; nor that master of his. Besides, they’re off somewhere tomorrow. I overheard your conversation in the garden. They’ll be away for a few days, and it’ll all be over before they get back.”
“They’re going east, to the County border,” Alice replied. “Old Gregory’s heard of a collection of books about the dark. He’s hoping to get his hands on some to restock his library. You’re right. Let’s leave Tom and Old Gregory out of it.”
So, without further words, we set off in a westerly direction. Within hours we had picked up the trail of our enemies and were heading toward the coast.
CHAPTER XXII
A MALEVOLENT WITCH
Alice Deane has the potential to become
the most powerful witch who has ever lived.
WE followed our enemies with great caution, gradually catching up to them. By the time we sniffed out that they’d made camp for the night, we were only two miles behind.
We settled down in a grove of trees and watched their campfires spark into life like fireflies. We were close and already in danger. We were able to sniff them out, but they could do likewise. They might well send some of their party back to deal with us.
“Alice, you need to use some of your magic now to cloak us. The kretch was able to find me despite my best efforts to hide myself, so the spell needs to be as strong as you can make it!”
Alice nodded, then settled down with her back against a tree trunk, closed her eyes, and began to mutter to herself. The moon was out, casting dappled shadows on the ground. By its light I studied Alice’s face. Even without taking into account her white hair, her face looked older. It was still that of a girl, but now it had a maturity that belied her years. She had seen too much.
When she opened her eyes, I was momentarily shocked. They were still youthful and pretty, but it was as if some ancient, powerful being stared out at me; something hardly human that had dwelt on earth since time began. It only lasted for a second, and disappeared as she began to smile, but I shivered all the same.
“It’s done,” she said. “They can’t find us now.”
“Next you must try to heal me,” I told her. “Do it now. Heal me first, then give me some of your magic.”
The smile slipped from her face. “Ain’t sure if I can do it,” she responded.
To give me some of her magic was feasible. Pendle witches sometimes did it—though grudgingly; they were like money lenders, expecting it to be returned threefold at a later date. But it might well be that Alice would be unable to heal me. Agnes had failed, and healing had been her specialty. Sometimes sheer power simply wasn’t enough. But, as it turned out, Alice wasn’t actually doubting her ability; she was afraid of the consequences.
“It’s really dark magic, and it could cost me too much,” she said, and now it was her turn to shiver. “I could end up being a fully malevolent witch. That’s why Old Gregory don’t trust me. He’s always believed that’s the way I’ll turn out.”
I shrugged. “Being a malevolent witch isn’t that bad, Alice. It’s what I am. You’d be no worse than me. You can’t fight your own nature. Maybe it’s what you were always born to be.”
“There are worse witches than you, Grimalkin. You’ve a code of honor. You don’t kill for fun, but slay those who deserve to die. You love hunting strong enemies who put up a good fight, but you don’t trample on the weak. There are some witches who do, some witches who glory in power and in hurting others. I don’t want to end up like them. I’m afraid that in using the power I’ve been given, that’s exactly how I will end up. Best not forget who I am—the daughter of the Fiend!”
“You’ll always be what you were destined to be, Alice. Like Tom Ward, you have a path to follow, and you must take the necessary steps or always be less than you could be. Now heal me and give me some of your power. Please do it—otherwise the Fiend will walk the earth once more. He will come for you and then for Tom.”
Alice shivered, but then she nodded. “I’ve no choice, have I? Kneel facing the north,” she commanded, “and I’ll do what
I can.”
I obeyed, falling to my knees and facing north, the direction that was most conducive to both the healing and the transfer of power.
Alice placed her hands on my forehead. “First I’ll try to heal you,” she said, her voice hardly more than a whisper.
I don’t know what I expected to happen. With a healer like Agnes Sowerbutts, the use of herbs and plant extracts was as important as the words and ritual. I knew that Alice administered such medicines herself and carried them in a leather pouch, but now she was using nothing more than her hands on my head. She didn’t even chant a spell.
“It’s really difficult,” she said after a while. “The poison lies deep within. It’s oozed into every part of your body. In places the damage is subtle; in others obvious and severe. I’m going to have to use more magic, but I’m scared of hurting you. There’s even a risk that the process could kill you,” she warned.
“Don’t let that concern you,” I answered. “I would rather be dead than less than what I was.”
“That’s your choice. But if you’re dead, who’ll retrieve the Fiend’s head?”
“I cannot retrieve it in my present state, so what’s the difference?” I said. “If I die, go and get Thomas Ward. Work together. Only you two will stand any chance against our enemies.”
I felt a slight tremor in Alice’s fingers, and then she pressed them into my skull and the world spun about me. My breathing gradually became faster, as did my heartbeat. I began to tremble all over. There were sharp pains in my stomach and chest, as if some invisible being were plunging a needle into my flesh over and over again.
Quickly the process reached a crisis. My heart was now beating so fast that the individual pulses of blood merged and it seemed to be vibrating continuously. I felt as if I were dying, but then a surge of warmth flowed out of Alice’s fingertips and I fell forward onto my face and momentarily lost consciousness.
I felt myself being pulled back up into a kneeling position, and opened my eyes.
“How do you feel?” Alice asked.
“Weak,” I said, aware that my heart was now beating slowly and steadily again. “Did you succeed?”
“Yes, I’m certain of it.” Alice gave a proud smile. “The last traces of the poison and its effects upon your body are gone.”
What she had done was more than impressive—it was astounding. Where Agnes, with all her skill and knowledge, had failed to find me a permanent cure, Alice had succeeded. She was still a girl, but how formidable would she be as a woman and a fully fledged witch? What better ally could I have on my side?
“I thank you for that, Alice. Now lend me the magical power I need—the power to retrieve the Fiend’s head and deal with our enemies.”
Once more Alice laid her hand upon me. For a moment she hesitated, and I sensed her reluctance: I glared at her angrily. Then, with a sharp intake of breath, she began to chant the spell of transference; within seconds, a tingle started at my head and moved down my neck toward my heart and then to my extremities. She was giving me some of her magic—a lot of it. It was going straight into my body. I wouldn’t need to draw it from my necklace; it would be available the moment I willed it. The process went on for a long time. And it felt right.
I was filled with new hope. Finally I believed that I would succeed.
At first light we picked up the trail of our enemies again; it was now apparent that they were not making for Liverpool after all. Their route led more directly westward. They were heading straight for the sea, many miles north of that town.
“Don’t want to draw unwelcome attention to themselves, do they?” Alice said. “That many witches and a kretch—they’re best kept out of sight. Liverpool’s a seaport that does lots of trade. Got their own militia, they have, to look after the interests of all those rich merchants. Those part-time soldier boys wouldn’t take kindly to a bunch of witches strolling into town. So they’ll be looking for somewhere quieter. One of the villages farther north, maybe. Then they’ll send a couple of witches into Liverpool to terrorize a captain and crew.”
“What if they just send those couple of witches straight back to Ireland with the head? In that case they’d only need a small fishing boat,” I said.
“Would you follow ’em?” asked Alice.
“I would if I had to,” I replied. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
As it turned out, we were both proved wrong. We were moving across mossy, flat land now and, despite Alice’s cloaking magic, we could still be seen against the skyline, so we had dropped back another mile or so.
But then, in the distance, we saw the ship lying at anchor. She was large, with three masts, and her sails were already unfurled.
The tide would be changing to ebb, and she was ready for her voyage. Our enemies had prepared everything in advance. They had chartered a ship and must have sent word by mirror to other witches already waiting on board.
We began to run, but when we reached the shore, we could see the kretch and a couple of witches some distance away on the sands, staring at the ship—which was already beginning to turn away, the wind filling her sails. The majority of our enemies were on board, and they had the Fiend’s head in their possession. We had arrived too late.
“I have to follow. We need a boat of our own.” I pointed toward a village in the distance. “That’s Formby. There will be fishermen there.”
Alice shook her head. “She’s a big ship, that, with lots of sails. She would reach Ireland long before any fishing boat. They’ll have prepared everything, they will. Coaches with fast teams of horses will be ready to take them to the southwest. It’ll be over long before you can reach Kenmare.”
In my mind’s eye I saw the village of Kenmare once more: The circle of standing stones and, at its center, the huge boulder and the earth hiding the flat stone beneath which the Fiend’s body was impaled upon silver spears. I saw my enemies digging it up, freeing it, and then reuniting it with the head. I saw the fury in that monster’s bestial face and his lust for revenge. I had borne his child, so he couldn’t come for me unless I allowed it. But Alice and Tom would be his first victims, and with Tom’s death my last chance of destroying him for good would be gone. Eventually I too would die, and even a dead witch cannot exist within the dell forever. Inevitably I would go to the dark, and the Fiend would be waiting for me—time was nothing to an immortal.
“You’ve got to use your magic, Alice. We can’t just let them escape or it’s over for all of us—you, me, Tom, and John Gregory. Surely you can do something?”
“There is a way, but it’ll cost me again!” Alice said, her voice full of bitterness. “What choice do I have now? Everything’s against me. It’s as if all this was meant to happen long in advance. I ain’t got no choice but to go along with it!”
She raised her arms and pointed up into the sky; then she began to chant. At first it was hardly more than a singsong under her breath, but as she began to spin, her voice grew steadily louder.
There had been a wind blowing from the southeast, filling the ship’s sails, but now that stopped very suddenly. I watched the sails become limp.
Was that what Alice Deane was trying to accomplish? To use her magic to becalm the ship and prevent it from sailing for Ireland? If so, how long could she hope to maintain such a situation?
“What are you trying to do, Alice?” I demanded. There had to be a better way of dealing with our enemies.
But Alice did not reply; she looked rapt, deep in a magical trance, gathering her power.
I need not have concerned myself because, within seconds, everything changed dramatically. The wind sprang up again, but this time from a different direction—from the west, from the sea, driving straight into our faces. It lifted clouds of sand up off the beach and drove spray toward me, stinging my face, which I covered with my hands, peering through my fingers.
I saw the witches and the kretch turn away and cower down on the sands with their backs to the waves; they were much
closer to the sea, and the salt spray would be burning them. Salt water is deadly to witches, and those on board the ship would be wearing protective hoods and gloves—maybe knitted face masks too—and cowering down in the hold. Despite the frantic efforts of the crew, the ship was now turning in the water. Faster and faster she came about, and the surging waves began to move her toward the shore.
Alice was still chanting and spinning, her voice almost lost in the shrill shrieks of the wind. Dark clouds raced in from the sea, and the gale drove the ship before it relentlessly. There was no way the crew could turn her round. Soon she would run aground.
But for the witches, there was even worse to come.
Forked lighting ripped the sky apart to the west, and within less than a second there came an answering deep rumble of thunder, like the growl of a huge vengeful beast. The second flash of lightning came at the same time as the thunderclap. The third lit the whole sky and struck the central mast of the ship, which instantly ignited. Suddenly the whole sail was on fire, and then, moments later, the second and third sails were alight. We could hear the screams and shouts of those on board, carried to us by the wind.
Which would be first? Would the boat run aground, or would it burn? Whatever happened, it was no place for witches. Either they would burn or they would be immersed in salt water.
Then I saw figures climbing down the rope ladder to the two small boats lashed to the ship’s stern. One witch shrieked as she fell into the waves. Thrashing about desperately, she sank within seconds. But others were managing to clamber into the boats. Some of them might survive.
I glanced at Alice and saw the exultation in her face. She was enjoying this, relishing her power. And why shouldn’t she? This was a formidable display of magic. Even after weeks of preparation, the whole Malkin coven would be hard-pressed to match this spontaneous display of raw magical power.
Now was the best time to attack. I should cut them down as they walked up the beach—the kretch too if it got in my way. But then Alice stopped spinning and fell to the ground. I quickly ran forward and knelt beside her.
The Last Apprentice: Complete Collection Page 190