Joseph Delaney - The Spook’s nightmare

Lizzie smiled malevolently. ‘A ruler needs to be strong, and I’m the strongest here!’ she said, arching her back. ‘You’re challenging my right to rule, old man. For that, your life is forfeit!’

She stamped her foot three times, muttered something under her breath and pointed the index finger of her left hand straight at the man, whose face was already contorted with terror.

His hands went to his throat, and I could see his eyes bulging from their sockets. He made no sound, but blood started to ooze from each nostril and dribble down over his mouth before dripping off his chin. Then he fell forward and collapsed, striking his head hard against the flagged floor. He lay there perfectly still.

Lizzie had killed him stone dead.

The grey-haired woman got to her feet and, with a cry of anguish, rushed forward to help her husband. But she never reached his body.

Lizzie made a sign in the air and chanted the words of a spell. The woman fell to her knees, her hands fluttering in front of her face as if warding off something terrifying.

I was aware of another commotion at the back of the room, where the prisoners had been seated. Someone was trying to force her way towards us but was being restrained by the yeomen. It looked like Adriana. What was wrong with her? If she wasn’t careful she’d be returned to the cells.

But Lizzie wasn’t finished yet. This was a clear demonstration of her power, its aim to cow her audience so that none would ever dare oppose her again. She stamped her foot three times and, in a loud, imperious voice, uttered more words of enchantment in the Old Tongue. I was still learning that language, a relative novice, and they were chanted so quickly that I could neither catch nor understand them. But the consequences were immediate and terrifying.

All the torches in the room flickered and died down, and we were plunged into almost total darkness. Wails of fear went up from the gathering. Then the huge figure of a man began to form in the air above Lizzie. It looked like a trapped spirit summoned from Limbo. At first I thought she had summoned Bill Arkwright again, but as the apparition took shape, I saw that it was the ghost of the man that Lizzie had just killed. Around him swirled the gloomy grey mists of Limbo.

‘I’m lost! ’ the spirit cried. ‘Where am I? What’s happened to me?’

‘You’re dead and finished with this world for good,’ Lizzie snapped. ‘What happens to you now depends upon me. I can keep you trapped in that mist for ever or I can let you go free.’

‘Go? Go where?’ asked the spirit.

‘Either to the light or to the dark, whichever your life on this earth has fitted you for. What’s your name? What did you do upon this world while you lived and breathed?’

‘I’m the chief miller at Peel, a hard-working man. My name is Patrick Lonan and I’m a member of the Tynwald…’

No wonder Adriana had needed to be restrained by the yeomen. Lizzie had just killed her father.

The witch gave a low, cruel laugh. ‘You were a member of the Tynwald. Now you’re just a lost spirit. You serve me and you’ll do my bidding. Return into the mist and await my call!’

The ghost of Patrick Lonan gave a wail of fear and began to fade. The torches flared into life once more, revealing the terrified faces of the guests. Many were on their feet, about to try and leave the hall. The yeomen looked just as scared, in no state to detain any who tried to flee. But Lizzie immediately took control of the situation.

‘Be seated!’ she commanded. ‘All of you. Do it now or join the dead miller!’

Within seconds they had taken their places again. I looked at the table at the back but could see no sign of Adriana. The woman, whom I took to be her mother, was still on her knees, trying to fend off some unseen attacker. Her whole face was twitching, her body starting to convulse. She was muttering gibberish, driven to the edge of insanity by Lizzie’s magic.

I looked at Daniel Stanton. He was just as terror-stricken as the rest of the gathering, clearly in no position to make an attempt on Lizzie’s life.

‘You’ve seen what I can do,’ the witch cried out. ‘Death awaits those who oppose me – along with fear and suffering beyond the grave. I will allow the Tynwald to meet one last time in order to dismiss the Ruling Council and declare me ruler of this island. Get ye gone! All of you! Any who wish to serve me may return to the keep at the same time tomorrow night and I will receive your obeisance then.’

The hall emptied quickly and I saw that Lizzie had a triumphant look on her face. She signalled to two of the guards and pointed to the miller’s wife.

‘Take her home – to die!’ she commanded. ‘Let her be an example of what happens to those who displease me.’

They dragged Adriana’s mother away, still wailing with distress.

‘Out of my sight, you two!’ she said, pointing to me and Alice. ‘Go back to the tower. I want to talk to my seneschal in private.’

I thought briefly about simply following the other guests out of the great hall and over the moat. But then we’d never manage to get back into the keep to rescue the Spook. And anyway, I doubted whether Lizzie would allow it – her power over me was still strong. So I obediently followed Alice across the courtyard to the tower. We went up the stairs and into my room and sat together on the window seat. Outside it was very dark and neither the moon nor the stars were visible; just a few lanterns flickered on the distant boundary wall.

‘That was Adriana’s father that Lizzie killed…’ I murmured.

Alice nodded. ‘And now Adriana will have been taken down to the dungeons to join Old Gregory. Didn’t take Lizzie long to start filling up those cells again, did it? We can’t let her just murder anybody she wants. We’ve got to do something, Tom.’

‘If we attack her, she could strike us stone dead with one of her spells. You saw what she did to the miller. She can force me to do things against my will – even smash the blood jar. In a few days she may be in control of this island and then she’ll think about taking her revenge on the Spook. We’ve got to get him out of that cell before she starts to really hurt him. It’s risky, but the only way out of this keep is through the buggane’s tunnels.’

My words were brave, but inside I shivered at the mere thought of the buggane. To come face to face with the daemon in its own domain would surely mean death.

‘You’re right, Tom, but we’ll have to choose a time when she’s not watching us. Soon as Lizzie finds out we’re gone, she’ll send it after us. Right now she’s busy giving orders to her new seneschal, consolidating her power here. And all the guards are on duty at the moment – they won’t be in the guardroom! Now – right now, is the time to make a move!’ she cried.

Alice was right. We had to strike – and now, when Lizzie would least expect it. If she caught us, she would show no mercy. Trying not to think of the risk of what we were attempting, I led Alice up to the study, where Lord Barrule had studied and practised animism. I opened the door and retrieved both the Spook’s staff and mine. As we turned to go, Alice picked up the shaman’s notebook.

‘What do you want that for, Alice?’ I asked with a frown, eager to get away before Lizzie returned.

‘Who knows what we might learn, Tom? It might come in useful. Besides, if we take it, then Lizzie can’t get her hands on it.’

I nodded – that was true enough. We hurried down through the throne room and descended the steps towards the dungeons. We passed safely through the guardroom and, taking a lantern from a hook, headed along the damp narrow passageway towards the dungeons.

There were a lot of cells but we didn’t need to check each one because the empty ones had their doors open. At last we came to two that were locked. I used my key and opened the first one to find Adriana sitting on the floor in the corner, her head in her hands. When she saw that it was us, she jumped up and rushed over.