"The Spook's Curse" - читать интересную книгу автора (Delaney Joseph)

CHAPTER 11

The Spook’s Trial The door creaked open and candlelight filled the room. To my relief it was Andrew.

‘Thought I’d find you down here,’ he said. He was carrying a small parcel. As he put it down and placed the candle next to mine, he nodded towards Alice, who was still sleeping deeply but now lying on her side with her back to us, her face resting on her hands.

‘So who’s this then?’ he asked.

‘She used to live near Chipenden,’ I told him. ‘Her name’s Alice. Mr Gregory wasn’t there. They’d taken him upstairs for questioning.’

Andrew shook his head sadly. ‘Brother Peter said as much. You couldn’t have been more unlucky. Half an hour later and John would’ve been back in the cell with the others. As it was, eleven got away, but five were caught again soon afterwards. But there’s more bad news. The Quisitor’s men arrested Brother Peter in the street just after he’d left my shop. I saw it from the upstairs window. So that’s me finished in this town. They’ll probably come for me next but I’m not sticking around to answer any questions. I’ve locked the shop up already. My tools are on the cart and I’m heading south, back towards Adlington, where I used to work.’

‘I’m sorry, Andrew.’

‘Well don’t be. Who wouldn’t try to help his own brother? Besides, it’s not that bad for me. The shop premises were only rented and I’ve got a trade at my fingertips. I’ll always find work. Here,’ he said, opening the parcel, ‘I’ve brought you some food.’

‘What time is it?’ I asked.

‘A couple of hours or so before dawn. I took a risk coming here. After all the commotion half the town’s awake. A lot of people have gone to the big hall down Fishergate. After what happened last night the Quisitor’s holding a quick trial for all the prisoners he’s still got.’

‘Why doesn’t he wait till daylight?’ I asked.

‘Even more people would attend then,’ Andrew answered. ‘Wants to get it over and done with before there’s any real opposition. Some of the townsfolk are against what he’s doing. As for the burning, it’ll be tonight, after dark, on the beacon hill at Wortham, south of the river. The Quisitor will have a lot of armed men with him in case there’s trouble, so if you’ve any sense, you’ll stay here till nightfall then be on the road and away.’

Even before he managed to unwrap the parcel, Alice rolled towards us and sat up. Maybe she’d smelled the food or had been listening all the time, just pretending to be asleep. There were slices of ham, fresh bread and two big tomatoes. Without a word of thanks to Andrew, Alice set to work right away, and after just a moment’s hesitation I joined her. I was really hungry and there didn’t seem much point in fasting now.

‘So I’ll be off,’ said Andrew. ‘Poor John, but there’s nothing we can do now.’

‘Isn’t it worth having one last try to save him?’ I asked.

‘No, you’ve done enough. It’s too dangerous to go anywhere near the trial. And soon poor John’U be with the rest, under armed guard and on the way to Wortham to be burned alive with all those other poor wretches.’

‘But what about the curse?’ I said. ‘You said yourself he’s cursed to die alone underground, not up on a beacon.’

‘Oh, the curse. I don’t believe in that any more than John does. I was just desperate to stop him going after the Bane with the Quisitor in town. No, I’m afraid my brother’s fate is sealed so you just get yourself away. John once told me that there’s a spook operating somewhere near Caster. He covers the County borders to the north. Mention John’s name and he might just take you on. He was once one of John’s apprentices.’

With a nod, Andrew turned to go. ‘I’ll leave you the candle,’ he said. ‘Good luck on the road. And if you ever need a good locksmith, you’ll know where to come.’

With that he was gone. I listened to him climb the cellar steps and close the back door. A few moments later Alice was licking tomato juice from her fingers. We’d eaten everything – not a crumb was left.

‘Alice,’ I said, ‘I want to go to the trial. There might be a chance I can do something to help the Spook. Will you come with me?’

Alice’s eyes widened. ‘Do something? You heard what he said. Ain’t nothing to be done, Tom! What can you do against armed men? No, be sensible. Ain’t worth the risk, is it? Besides, why should I try to help? Old Gregory wouldn’t do the same for me. Leave me to burn, he would, and that’s a fact!’

I didn’t know what to say to that. In a way it was true. I’d asked the Spook about helping Alice and he’d refused. So, with a sigh, I came to my feet.

‘I’m going anyway,’ I told her.

‘No, Tom, don’t leave me here. Not with the ghost…’

‘I thought you weren’t scared.’

‘I ain’t. But last time I fell asleep I felt it starting to squeeze my throat, I did. Might do worse if you’re not here.’

‘Come with me then. It won’t be that dangerous because it’ll still be dark. And the best place to hide is in a big crowd. Come on, please. What do you say?’

‘Got a plan?’ she asked. ‘Something you ain’t told me about?’

I shook my head.

“Thought as much,’ she said.

‘Look, Alice, I just want to go and see. If I can’t help we’ll come away. But I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t at least try.’

Reluctantly, Alice stood up. ‘I’ll come and see what’s what,’ she said. ‘But you’ve got to promise me that if it’s too dangerous we’ll turn back right away. I know the Quisitor better than you do. Trust me, we shouldn’t be messing around near him.’

‘I promise,’ I told her.

I left the Spook’s bag and staff in the cellar and we set off for Fishergate, where the trial was being held.

Andrew had said that half the town was awake. That was an exaggeration, but for so early in the morning there were a lot of candles flickering behind curtains and quite a few people seemed to be hastening through the dark streets in the same direction as we were.

I’d half expected that we wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near the building, thinking guards would be lining the road outside, but to my surprise none of the Quisitor’s men were anywhere to be seen. The big wooden doors were wide open and a crowd of people filled the doorway, spilling out onto the road outside, as if there wasn’t room for them all to fit inside.

I led the way forward cautiously, glad of the darkness. When I reached the back of the crowd, I realized that it wasn’t as densely packed as it had first seemed. Inside the hall the air was tainted with a sweet, sickly scent. It was just one big room with a flagged floor, across which sawdust was scattered unevenly. I couldn’t see properly over the backs of the crowd because most of the people were taller than me, but there seemed to be a big space ahead that nobody wanted to move forward into. I grabbed Alice’s hand and eased my way into the throng of people, tugging her along behind me.

It was dark towards the back of the hall but the front was lit by two huge torches at each corner of a wooden platform. The Quisitor was standing at the front of it, looking down. He was saying something but his voice sounded muffled.

I looked at those about me and saw the range of expressions on their faces: anger, sadness, bitterness and resignation. Some looked openly hostile. This crowd was probably mainly composed of those who opposed the work of the Quisitor. Some of them might even be relatives and friends of the accused. For a moment that thought gave me hope that some sort of rescue might be attempted.

But then my hopes were dashed: I saw why nobody had moved forward. Below the platform were five long benches of priests with their backs to us, but behind them and facing towards us was a double line of grim-faced armed men. Some had their arms folded; others had hands on the hilts of their swords as if they couldn’t wait to draw them from their scabbards. Nobody wanted to get too close to them.

I glanced up towards the ceiling and saw that a high balcony ran along the sides of the hall; faces were peering down, pale white ovals that all looked the same from the ground. That would be the safest place to be and it would provide a much better view. There were steps to the left and I tugged Alice towards them. Moments later we were moving along the wide balcony.

It wasn’t full and we soon found ourselves a place against the rail about halfway between the doors and the platform. There was still the same sweet stench in the air, much stronger now than it had been when we were standing on the flags below. I suddenly realized what it was. The hall was almost certainly used as a meat market. It was the smell of blood.

The Quisitor wasn’t the only person on the platform.

Right at the back, in the shadows, a huddle of guards surrounded the prisoners awaiting trial, but immediately behind the Quisitor were two guards gripping a weeping prisoner by the arms. It was a tall girl with long dark hair. She was wearing a tattered dress and had no shoes.

‘That’s Maggie!’ Alice hissed into my ear. ‘The one they kept sticking pins into. Poor Maggie, it ain’t fair. Thought she’d got away…’

Up here the sound was much better and I could hear every word the Quisitor spoke. ‘By her own lips this woman is condemned!’ he called out, his voice loud and arrogant. ‘She has confessed all and the Devil’s mark was found upon her flesh. I sentence her to be bound to the stake and burned alive. And may God have mercy upon her soul.’

Maggie began to sob even louder, but one of her captors seized her by the hair and she was dragged away towards a doorway at the back of the platform. No sooner had she disappeared through it than another prisoner wearing a black cassock and with his hands bound behind his back was pulled forward into the torchlight. For a moment I thought I was mistaken but there was no doubt.

It was Brother Peter. I knew him by the thin collar of white hair that fringed his bald head and by the curve of his back and shoulders. But his face was so badly beaten and streaked with blood that I hardly recognized it. His nose was broken, squashed back against his face, and one eye was closed to a swollen red slit.

Seeing him in that condition made me feel terrible. It was all because of me. To begin with he’d allowed me to escape; later he’d told me how I could get to the cell to rescue the Spook and Alice. Under torture, he must have told them everything. It was all my fault and I was racked with guilt.

‘Once this was a brother, a faithful servant of the Church!’ cried the Quisitor. ‘But look at him now! Look at this traitor! One who has helped our enemies and allied himself with the forces of darkness. We have his confession, written with his own hand. Here it is!’ he shouted, holding up a piece of paper high for all to see.

Nobody got a chance to read it – it could have said anything at all. Even if it was a confession, one look at poor Brother Peter’s face told me that it had been beaten out of him. It wasn’t fair. There was no justice here. This wasn’t a trial at all. The Spook had once told me that when people were tried in the castle at Caster, at least they got a hearing – a judge, a prosecutor and someone to defend them. But here the Quisitor was doing it all himself!

‘He is guilty. Guilty beyond all doubt,’ he continued. ‘I therefore sentence him to be taken down to the catacombs and left there. And may God have mercy on his soul!’

There was a sudden gasp of horror from the crowd but it was loudest of all from the priests seated at the front. They knew exactly what Brother Peter’s fate would be. He would be pressed to death by the Bane.

Brother Peter tried to speak, but his lips were too swollen. One of the guards cuffed him about the head while the Quisitor gave a cruel smile. They pulled him away towards the door at the rear of the platform, and no sooner had he been led out of the building than another prisoner was brought forward from the gloom. My heart sank into my boots. It was the Spook.

At first glance, apart from a few bruises on his face, the Spook didn’t seem to have had as hard a time as Brother Peter. But then I noticed something more chilling. He was squinting into the torchlight and looked bewildered, with a vacant expression in his green eyes. He seemed lost. It was as if his memory had gone and he didn’t even know who he was. I began to wonder just how badly he’d been beaten.

‘Before you is John Gregory!’ cried the Quisitor, his voice echoing from wall to wall. ‘A disciple of the Devil, no less, who for many years has plied his evil trade in this county, taking money from poor gullible folk. But does this man recant? Does he accept his sins and beg forgiveness? No, he is stubborn and will not confess. Now only through fire may he be purged and given hope of salvation. But furthermore, not content with the evil he can do, he has trained others and still continues to do so. Father Cairns, I ask you to stand and give testimony!’

From the front row of benches a priest stepped forward into the torchlight closer to the platform. He had his back to me so I couldn’t see his face, but I spotted his bandaged hand and when he spoke it was the same voice that I’d listened to in the confessional box.

‘Lord Quisitor, John Gregory brought an apprentice with him on his visit to this town, one whom he has already corrupted. His name is Thomas Ward.’

I heard Alice let out a low gasp and my own knees began to tremble. I was suddenly sharply aware of how dangerous it was to be here in the hall, so close to the Quisitor and his armed men.

‘By the grace of God the boy fell into my hands,’ Father Cairns continued, ‘and, but for the intervention of Brother Peter, who allowed him to escape justice, I would have delivered him to you for questioning. But I did question him myself, lord, and found him to be hardened beyond his years and far beyond persuasion by mere words. Despite my best efforts, he failed to see the error of his ways and for that we must blame John Gregory, a man not content with practising his vile trade, one who actively corrupts the young. To nay knowledge over a score of apprentices have passed through his hands and some, in turn, now follow that same trade and have taken on apprentices of their own. By such means does evil spread like a plague through the County.’

‘Thank you, Father. You may be seated. Your testimony alone is enough to condemn John Gregory!’

As Father Cairns took his seat again, Alice gripped my elbow. ‘Come on,’ she whispered into my ear, ‘it’s too dangerous to stay!’

‘No, please,’ I whispered back. ‘Just a bit longer.’

The mention of my name had scared me but I wanted to stay a few more minutes to see what happened to my master.

‘John Gregory, for you there can be only one punishment!’ roared the Quisitor. ‘You will be bound to a stake and burned alive. I will pray for you. I will pray that pain teaches you the error of your ways. I will pray that you beg God’s forgiveness so that, as your body burns, your soul is saved.’

The Quisitor stared at the Spook all the while he was ranting but he might as well have been shouting at a stone wall. There was no understanding behind the Spook’s eyes. In a way it was a mercy because he didn’t seem to know what was happening. But it made me realize that, even if I somehow did manage to rescue him, he might never be the same again.

A lump came to my throat. The Spook’s house had become my new home and I remembered the lessons, the conversations with the Spook and even the scary times when we had to deal with the dark. I was going to miss all that, and the thought of my master being burned alive brought pricking tears to my eyes.

My mam had been right. At first I’d been doubtful about being the Spook’s apprentice. I’d feared the loneliness. But she’d told me that I’d have the Spook to talk to; that although he was my teacher, eventually he’d become my friend. Well, I didn’t know if that had happened yet, because he was still often stern and fierce, but I was certainly going to miss him.

As the guards dragged him towards the doorway, I nodded to Alice, and keeping my head down and not making eye contact with anybody, I led the way along the balcony and down the steps. Outside I could see that the sky was beginning to grow lighter. Soon we wouldn’t have the cover of darkness and someone might recognize one of us. The streets were already busier and the crowd outside the hall had more than doubled since we’d been inside. I pushed through the throng so that I could look down the side of the building, towards the door the prisoners had been taken through.

One glance told me that the situation was hopeless. I couldn’t see any prisoners, but that wasn’t surprising because there must have been at least twenty guards near the doorway. What chance did we have against so many? With my heart in my boots I turned to Alice. ‘Let’s get back,’ I said. “There’s nothing to be done here.’

I was anxious to reach the safety of the cellar so we walked quickly. Alice followed me without a word.