Joseph Delaney - The Spook's Curse

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 towards the narrow road that went roughly north-east. ‘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. Tou 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.

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 towards 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 towards 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.