Joseph Delaney - The Spook’s nightmare

The miller’s large house flanked the wheel: we were made very welcome there. After first attending to her mother, Adriana ordered the servants to prepare baths, hot meals and beds for us all. Her poor father might be dead, but she insisted on business as usual, sending word to the workers to report for duty the following morning.

The abhuman had urged us to attack Lizzie quickly, but we stayed at the mill for two days, resting and gathering our strength, wondering how best to proceed. The Spook was very quiet, and it seemed to me that he had very little hope to offer us.

How could we win now? Lizzie was in control of Greeba Keep and I saw no reason why the whole island should not soon be hers. And if she learned of the full power at her disposal… well, that didn’t bear thinking about.

However, we knew we couldn’t stay at the mill for long. It would be an obvious place to search: before long the bone witch would send her yeomen after us.

On the morning of our third day there, I awoke at dawn and went for a walk with Alice. It was a bright, cold morning with a light ground frost. Alice seemed very quiet and I sensed that she was troubled.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked her. ‘I can tell something’s bothering you. Is it Lizzie?’

‘Lizzie’s bothering all of us.’

I said nothing for a while and we walked in silence. But then I decided to question her further. ‘Lizzie’s your mother, Alice – and everyone wants her dead. That must upset you… Tell me – don’t just keep it to yourself.’

‘Hate her, I do. She’s no mother of mine. A murderer, that’s what Lizzie is. She kills children and takes their bones. I’ll be glad when she’s dead.’

‘That night I fought her, when you were in the cage, I had her at my mercy. But I couldn’t kill her. It wasn’t just that I couldn’t bring myself to do it in cold blood; it was also because she was your mother. It just didn’t seem right, Alice.’

‘You listen to me, Tom. Listen well to what I say. Next time you get the chance, kill her. Don’t hesitate. If you’d killed her that night you’d have saved everyone a lot of trouble!’

But no sooner had she said that than Alice started to sob uncontrollably. I put my arms around her and she buried her face in my shoulder. She cried for a long time, but when she was quiet, I squeezed her hand and led her back towards the house.

As we emerged from the trees, I saw Adriana throwing crumbs to a small flock of birds near the front door. When she spotted us, she clapped her hands, and the birds immediately took flight, most of them landing on the roof. She came across the frosted grass to meet us.

Her face was grave: her mother was still suffering from the effects of her encounter with Bony Lizzie and there was still no news of the whereabouts of Simon Sulby; both he and Captain Baines seemed to have disappeared without trace.

‘How’s your mother today?’ I asked.

‘She seems a little stronger,’ Adriana replied. ‘After a little persuasion she managed to sip a few mouthfuls of broth this morning. But she’s still confused and doesn’t seem to know she’s back home. Mercifully, she’s forgotten what happened to my father. I dread having to break the news to her…

‘And I’m afraid I have some bad news for us all,’ she continued with a frown. ‘I suppose it’s only what we’ve been expecting since we arrived. One of our millers was riding to work across the fields this morning, and he spied a large party of yeomen assembling on the road north-west of St John’s. It looked like they were preparing to march in this direction. If so, they could be here soon.’

‘We need to go into hiding,’ Alice said. ‘Or maybe head south down the coast.’

‘Yes, you should, but I won’t be able to go with you,’ Adriana said. ‘My mother’s too ill to move. I’ll have to stay here.’

‘Let’s see what Mr Gregory thinks,’ I suggested, and we headed back to the house. But before we reached it, Alice spotted a runner – a yeoman – in the distance. At that moment the Spook came out of the house to join us; he must have seen the man from a window. He stood beside us, holding his staff diagonally in a defensive position.

The yeoman approached us, but seemed unarmed. He stood there for a few moments, head bowed and hands on his hips, gasping for breath. Then he reached into his pocket and held out an envelope. ‘It’s for a Tom Ward,’ he said.

I took it and tore it open, unfolding the letter within and starting to read. Dear Master Ward, I have left the employment of the witch. In truth I was lucky to escape with my life. I am now recruiting a force with which to oppose the new ruler of Greeba Keep and we are on the road to Peel. We will meet you at the mill. To help defeat our enemy I need the expertise of you and your master. Yours, Daniel Stanton

‘Well, lad, don’t keep us waiting,’ said the Spook. ‘Read it aloud!’

I did as my master asked. When I’d finished, he scratched at his beard and glared at me. ‘Do you trust this Daniel Stanton?’

I nodded. ‘He’s a soldier and probably hasn’t lived a totally blameless life, but that’s true of all of us. Yes, I do trust him.’

‘Right, then we’ll wait and see what he has to say.’

‘I wonder how he knew I’d be here at the mill?’ I asked.

‘Well, it’s not too difficult to work out, lad,’ replied the Spook. ‘He knows that we escaped with Adriana and that she’d be desperate to be reunited with her mother.’

‘Well, if he knows where we are, it’s pretty certain that Lizzie will too.’

‘Aye, lad, she’ll know for sure. But she’s probably too busy with her new-found power to bother about us for a while. She’s confident she can deal with us easily when the time comes. Right now she’ll be devoting all her energies to seizing control of this island. She’ll come for us eventually – you mark my words.’

Just over an hour later, Stanton arrived with his men. There were perhaps no more than fifty in all, but they were armed with pikes and clubs and looked formidable.

Adriana, the Spook, Alice and I sat round the kitchen table with him while he explained the situation.

‘The witch has got over three hundred men under arms while I’ve barely a sixth of that so far. More will join me – and they’re prepared to fight, make no mistake. Two days ago Lizzie led raiding parties against some of the local landowners and farmers – those who’d refused outright to pledge their support. Some families – men, women and children – were murdered in cold blood. But I was already away by then.

‘Lizzie’s sent me to St John’s with some of the men you see here now. Our task is to seize the area and prepare for the meeting of the Tynwald in a few days’ time. The witch wants to dissolve the Parliament and have power handed over to her. She’s planning to go there herself once I have it under control.

‘But I talked to some of the lads and a few Tynwald members too, and we’ve decided to try and tackle her. We’re not standing for it. We’ve never had to answer to anyone before and we never will.

‘That’s where you come in,’ he went on, looking at the Spook and me. ‘I’ve been close to the witch and she terrified the life out of me. All the strength seemed to drain out of my body. She kills people without even touching them – how do we deal with that?’

‘It’s something I’m still pondering,’ said the Spook. ‘The power she wields – killing from a distance with such ease – is more potent than anything I’ve encountered before in a single witch. But now we know its source we’ll find a way to stop it eventually, don’t you worry.’ My master sounded more determined than he had for some time.