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

CHAPTER 19

The Stone Graves It was daylight so there was no immediate threat from the Bane. Like most creatures of the dark it would be hiding underground. And with Alice blindfolded and her ears plugged, it could no longer look out through her eyes or listen to what we said. It wouldn’t know where we were.

I had anticipated another day of hard walking and wondered if we’d get to Heysham before nightfall. But to my surprise the Spook led us up a track to a large farm and we waited at the gate, the dogs barking fit to wake the dead, while an old farmer limped towards us leaning on a stick. He had a worried expression on his face.

‘I’m sorry,’ he croaked. ‘I’m really sorry, but nothing’s changed. If I had it to give, if d be yours.’

It seemed that five years earlier the Spook had rid this man’s farm of a troublesome boggart and still hadn’t been paid. My master wanted paying now but not in money.

Within half an hour we were riding in a cart pulled by one of the biggest shire horses I’d ever seen; driving the cart was the fanner’s son. At first, before setting off, he’d stared at the blindfolded Alice, a puzzled look on his face.

‘Stop gawping at the girl and concentrate on your own business!’ the Spook had snapped and the lad had quickly averted his eyes. He seemed happy enough to take us, glad to be away from his chores for a few hours, and soon we were following the back lanes, passing east of Caster. The Spook made Alice lie down in the cart and covered her with straw so that she couldn’t be seen by other travellers.

No doubt the horse was used to pulling a heavy load, and with just us three in the back was trotting ahead at a fair old lick. In the distance we could see the city of Caster with its castle. Many a witch had died there after a long trial, but they didn’t burn witches in Caster, they hanged them. So, to use one of my dad’s sea-going expressions, we gave it ‘a wide berth’, and soon we were beyond it and crossing a bridge over the river Lune, before changing our direction to head south-west towards Heysham.

The farmer’s lad was told to wait at the end of the lane on the outskirts of the village.

‘We’ll be back at dawn,’ said the Spook. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll make it well worth your while.’

We climbed a narrow track up a hill, with an old church and graveyard on our right. There, on that lee side of the hill, everything was still and quiet and tall ancient trees shrouded the gravestones. But on clambering over a gate onto the cliff top we were met by a stiff breeze and the tang of the sea. Before us was the ruin of a small stone chapel with just three of its walls standing. We were quite high up and I could see a bay below, with a sandy beach almost covered by the tide and the sea crashing against the rocks of a small headland in the distance.

‘Mostly, shores to the west are flat,’ said the Spook, ‘and this is as high as County cliffs ever get. They say this is where the first men landed in the County. They came from a land far to the west and their boat ran aground on the rocks below. Their descendants built that chapel.’

He pointed and there, just beyond the ruin, I saw the stone graves. ‘There’s nothing like them anywhere else in the County,’ said the Spook.

Carved into a huge slab of stone, right on the edge of a steep hill, there was a row of six coffins, each in the shape of a human body and with a stone lid fitting into a groove. They were different sizes and shapes but generally small, as if hewn for children, but these were the graves of six of the Little People. Six of King Heys’s sons.

The Spook knelt down beside the nearest of the graves. Above the head of each was a square socket and he traced the shape of it with his finger. Then he extended the fingers of his left hand. The span of his hand just covered the socket.

‘Now what could those have been used for?’ he muttered to himself.

‘How big were the Little People?’ I asked. The graves were all different sizes and, now that I looked closely I saw that they weren’t quite as small as I’d first thought.

By way of answer the Spook opened his bag and pulled out a folded measuring rod. He opened it out and measured the grave.

‘This is about five foot five long,’ he announced, ‘and about thirteen and a half inches wide in the middle. But some belongings would have been buried with the Little People for use in the next world. Few were above five feet tall and a lot were much smaller. As the years went by, each generation got bigger because there were marriages between them and the invaders from the sea. So they didn’t really die out. Their blood still runs through our veins.’

The Spook turned to Alice and, to my surprise, untied her blindfold. Next he removed her earplugs, putting everything safely back in his bag. Alice blinked and looked about her. She didn’t look happy.

‘Don’t like it here,’ she complained. ‘Something ain’t right. It feels bad.’

‘Does it, girl?’ the Spook said. ‘Well, that’s the most interesting thing you’ve said all day. It’s odd because I find this spot quite pleasant. There’s nothing like a bit of bracing sea air!’

It didn’t seem bracing to me. The breeze had died away and now tendrils of mist were snaking in from the sea and it was starting to grow colder. Within an hour it would be dark. I knew what Alice meant. It was a place to be avoided after sunset. I could sense something and I didn’t think it was too friendly.

‘There’s something lurking nearby,’ I told the Spook.

‘Let’s sit over there and give it time to get used to us,’ said the Spook. We wouldn’t want to frighten it off…’

‘Is it Naze’s ghost?’ I asked.

‘I hope so, lad! I certainly hope so. But we’ll find out soon enough. Just be patient.’

We sat on a grassy bank some distance away, while the light slowly failed. I was getting more and more worried.

‘What about when it gets dark?’ I asked the Spook. ‘Won’t the Bane appear? Now you’ve taken Alice’s blindfold off it’ll know where we are!’

‘I think we’re safe enough here, lad,’ said the Spook. ‘This is possibly the one place in the whole County where it has to keep its distance. Something was done here, and if I’m not mistaken, the Bane won’t come within a mile of the place. It might know where we are but there’s not much it can do about it. Am I right, girl?’

Alice shivered and nodded. ‘Trying to speak to me, he is. But his voice is very faint and distant. He can’t even get inside my head.’

‘That’s just what I hoped,’ said the Spook. ‘It means our journey here hasn’t been wasted.’

‘He wants me to get right away from here. Wants me to go to him…’

‘And is that what you want?’

Alice shook her head and shivered.

‘Glad to hear it, girl, because after the next time, as I told you, nobody will be able to help you. Where is it now?’

‘He’s deep under the earth. In a dark, damp cavern. He’s found himself some bones but he’s hungry and they aren’t enough.’

‘Right! Now it’s time to get down to business,’ said the Spook. ‘You two settle yourselves down in the shelter of those walls.’ He pointed towards the ruin of the chapel. ‘Try to get some sleep while I keep watch here by the graves.’

We didn’t argue and settled ourselves down on the grass within the ruins of the chapel. Because of the missing wall we could still see the Spook and the graves. I thought he might have sat down but he remained standing, his left hand resting on his staff.

I was tired out and it wasn’t long before I fell asleep. But I awoke suddenly. Alice was shaking me by the shoulder.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.

‘Wasting his time there, he is,’ Alice said, pointing to where the Spook was now crouched down by the graves. ‘There’s something nearby but it’s back there, close to the hedge.’

‘Are you sure?’

Alice nodded. ‘But you go and tell him. Won’t take it too kindly coming from me.’

I walked over to the Spook and called out, ‘Mr Gregory!’ He didn’t move and I wondered if he’d gone to sleep crouching down. But slowly he stood up and turned his upper body towards me, keeping his feet in exactly the same position.

There were a few gaps in the cloud but those patches of starlight weren’t enough to let me see the Spook’s face. It was just a dark shadow under his hood.

‘Alice says there’s something back there close to the hedge,’ I told him.

‘Did she now,’ muttered the Spook. Then we’d better go and have a look.’

We walked back towards the hedge. As we got nearer it seemed to get even colder so I knew Alice was right. There was some sort of spirit lurking nearby.

The Spook pointed downwards, then suddenly he was on his knees, pulling at the long grass. I knelt too and began to help him. We uncovered two more stone graves. One was about five foot long but the other was only half that size. It was the smallest grave of all.

‘Someone with the old blood running pure in his veins was buried here,’ said the Spook. ‘With that would come strength. This is the one we’re looking for. This’ll be the ghost of Naze all right! Walk back a little way, lad. Keep your distance.’

‘Can’t I stay and listen?’ I asked.

The Spook shook his head.

‘Don’t you trust me?’ I asked.

‘Do you trust yourself?’ was his reply. ‘Ask yourself that! For a start he’s more likely to put in an appearance with only one of us here. Anyway, it’s better that you don’t hear this. The Bane can read minds, remember? Are you strong enough to stop it reading yours? We can’t let it know that we’re onto it; that we have a plan; that we know its weaknesses. When it’s in your dreams, rummaging through your brain for clues and plans, do you trust yourself not to give anything away?’

I wasn’t sure.

‘You’re a brave lad, the bravest that was ever apprenticed to me. But that’s what you are, an apprentice, and we mustn’t let ourselves lose sight of that. So get back there with you!’ he said, waving me away.

I did as I was told and trudged my way back to the ruined chapel. Alice was asleep so I sat down next to her for a few moments but I couldn’t settle. I was restless because I really wanted to know what the ghost of Naze would have to say for itself. As for the Spook’s warning about the Bane rummaging through my mind while I was sleeping, it didn’t worry me that much. We were safe from the Bane here, and if the Spook found out what he needed to know, it would all be over for the Bane by tomorrow night.

So I left the ruins again and crept along the wall nearer to the Spook. It wasn’t the first time I’d disobeyed my master, but it was the first time so much had been at stake. I sat down with my back against the wall and waited. But not for long. Even at that distance I began to feel very cold and kept shivering. One of the dead was approaching, but was it the ghost of Naze?

A faint glimmer of light began to form above the smaller of the two graves. It wasn’t particularly human in shape, just a luminous column hardly up to the Spook’s knees. Immediately I heard him begin to question it. The air was very still, and even though the Spook was keeping his voice low, I could hear every word he said.

‘Speak!’ said the Spook. ‘Speak, I command you!’

‘Leave me be! Let me rest!’ came the reply.

Although Naze had died when he was young and in the prime of life, the voice of the ghost sounded like that of a very old man. It croaked and rasped and was filled with utter weariness. But that didn’t necessarily mean this wasn’t his ghost. The Spook had told me that ghosts didn’t speak as they had in life. They communicated directly to your mind and that was why you could understand one that had lived many ages ago; one that might have spoken a very different language.

‘John Gregory’s my name and I’m the seventh son of a seventh son,’ said the Spook, raising his voice. ‘I’m here to do what should have been done long ago; here to put an end to the evil of the Bane and give you peace at last. But there are things that I need to know. First, you must tell me your name!’

There was a long pause and I thought the ghost wasn’t going to answer but at last it replied.

‘I am Naze, the seventh son of Heys. What do you wish to know?’

‘It is time to finish this once and for all,’ said the Spook. ‘The Bane is free and soon will grow to its full power and threaten the whole land. It must be destroyed. So I’ve come to you for knowledge. How did you bind it within the catacombs? How can it be slain? Can you tell me that?’

‘Are you strong?’ the voice of Naze rasped. ‘Can you close your mind and prevent the Bane from reading your thoughts?’

‘Aye, I can do that,’ said the Spook.

‘Then maybe there is hope. I will tell you what I did. How I bound the Bane. Firstly, I made a pact giving it my blood to drink. Three more times after could it drink, and in return three times it must obey my commands. At the deepest point of the catacombs of Priestown is a burial chamber which contains the urns holding the dust of our ancient dead, the founding fathers of our people. It was to that chamber that I summoned the Bane and gave it my blood to drink. In return I proved myself to be a hard taskmaster.

‘The first time I demanded that the Bane should never more return to the barrows and keep well clear of this area where my father and brothers are buried, because I wanted them to rest in peace. The Bane groaned in dismay because the barrows were its favourite dwelling place, where it lay through the daylight hours hugging the bones of the dead and sucking the last of the memories contained within them. But a pact was a pact and it had no option but to obey. When I summoned it for a second time, I sent it questing to the ends of the earth in search of knowledge, and it was away for a month and a day, giving me all the time that I needed.

‘For then I set my people to work, making and fitting the Silver Gate. But even upon its return the Bane knew nothing of this because my mind was strong and I kept my thoughts hidden.

‘After giving it my blood for the final time, I told the Bane what I required, crying out in a loud voice the price that it must pay.

‘ “You are bound to this place!” I commanded. “Confined to the inner catacombs with no way out. But because I would wish no being, however foul, to endure without even a glimmer of hope, I have built a Silver Gate. If anyone is ever foolish enough to open that gate in your presence, you may pass through it to freedom. However, following that, if you ever return to this spot, you will be bound here for all eternity!”

‘Thus the softness of my heart dictated to me and the binding was not as firm as it might have been. During my lifetime I was filled with compassion for others. Some considered it a weakness and on this occasion they were proved correct. For I could not doom even the Bane to an eternity of imprisonment without offering it a faint chance of escape.’

‘You did enough,’ said the Spook. ‘And now I’m going to finish the job. If we can only get it back there it will be bound for ever! That is a start. But how can it be slain? Can you tell me that? This creature is so evil now, binding it is no longer enough. I need to destroy it.’

‘Firstly it must have taken on the mantle of flesh. Secondly it must be deep within the catacombs. Thirdly its heart must be pierced with silver. Only if all three conditions are met will it finally die. But there is a great risk for he who attempts this. In its death throes the Bane will release so much energy that its slayer will almost certainly die.’

The Spook gave a deep sigh. ‘I thank you for that knowledge,’ he said to the ghost. It will be hard but it must be done, whatever the cost. But your task is now complete. Go in peace. Pass over to the other side.’

In reply the ghost of Naze groaned so deeply that the hair began to move on the back of my neck. It was a groan filled with agony.

‘There’ll be no peace for me,’ moaned the ghost wearily. ‘No peace until the Bane is finally dead…’

And with those words the small column of light faded away. Wasting no time, I moved back along the wall and into the ruins once more. A few moments later the Spook walked in, lay down on the grass and closed his eyes.

‘I’ve some serious thinking to do,’ he whispered.

I didn’t say anything. Suddenly, I felt guilty for listening to his conversation with Naze’s ghost. Now I knew too much. I was afraid that if I told him, he’d send me away and face the Bane alone.

‘I’ll explain at first light,’ he whispered. ‘But for now, get some sleep. It’s not safe to leave this spot until the sun comes up!’

To my surprise, I slept quite well. Just before dawn I was awakened by a strange grating sound. It was the Spook, sharpening the retractable blade in his staff with a whetstone that he’d taken from his bag. He worked methodically, occasionally testing it with his finger. At last he was satisfied and there was a click as the blade snapped back into the staff.

I clambered to my feet and stretched my legs for a few moments, while the Spook reached down, unfastened his bag again and rummaged around inside it.

‘I know exactly what to do now,’ he said. We can defeat the Bane. It can be done but it’ll be the most difficult task I’ve ever had to undertake. If I fail, it will go hard with all of us.’

‘What has to be done?’ I asked, feeling bad because I knew already. He didn’t answer and he walked right past me towards Alice, who was sitting up, hugging her knees.

He tied the blindfold in position and inserted the first of the wax earplugs. iSTow for the other one, but before it goes into place listen well to me, girl, because this is important,’ he said. ‘When I take this out tonight, I’ll speak to you right away and you must do what I say immediately and without question. Do you understand?’

Alice nodded and he fitted the second plug. Once again, Alice couldn’t see and she couldn’t hear. And the Bane wouldn’t know what we were up to or where we were going. Unless it somehow managed to read my mind. I began to feel very uneasy about what I’d done. I knew too much.

‘Now,’ said the Spook, turning towards me. ‘I’ll tell you one thing you won’t like. We have to go back to Priestown. Back to the catacombs.’

Then he turned on his heels and, gripping Alice by her left elbow, walked her back to the horse and cart where the farmer’s lad was still waiting.

‘We need to get to Priestown as fast as this horse can manage,’ said the Spook.

‘Don’t know about that,’ said the lad. “My old dad expects me back before noon. There’s work to be done.’

The Spook held out a silver coin. ‘Here, take this. Get us there before dark and there’ll be another one. I don’t think your dad’ll mind too much. He likes to count his money’

The Spook made Alice lie down at our feet and he covered her with straw again so that she wouldn’t be visible to anybody we passed, and soon we were on our way. At first we skirted Caster but then, instead of moving back towards the fells, we headed for the main road which led directly to Priestown.

Won’t it be dangerous to go back in daylight?’ I asked nervously. The road was very busy and we kept passing other carts and people on foot. ‘What if the Quisitor’s men spot us?’

‘I won’t say it’s not without risk,’ said the Spook. ‘But those who were searching for us are now probably busy bringing the body down the fellside. No doubt they’ll bring him to Priestown for burial but that won’t take place till tomorrow; by then it’ll all be over and we’ll be on our way. Of course, then there’s the storm to think about. People with any sense will be indoors, sheltering from the rain.’

I looked at the sky. To the south, clouds were building but didn’t look that bad to me. When I said as much, the Spook smiled.

‘You’ve still a lot to learn, lad,’ he said. ‘This will be one of the biggest storms you’ve ever seen.’

‘After all that rain I’d have thought we were due a few days of good weather,’ I complained.

‘No doubt we are, lad. But this is far from natural. Unless I’m very much mistaken it’s been called up by the Bane just as it called up the wind to batter my house. It’s another sign of just how powerful it’s become. It’ll wield the storm to show its anger and frustration at not being able to use Alice as it wants. Well, that’s good for us: while it’s concentrating on that, it’s not bothering much about me and you. And It’ll help us to get into the town without problems.’

‘Why do we have to go to the catacombs to kill the Bane?’ I asked, hoping that he’d tell me what I already knew. That way I wouldn’t have to keep up the pretence any longer.

‘It’s in case I fail to destroy it, lad. At least once back there, with the Silver Gate locked, the Bane’ll be trapped again. This time for ever. That’s what the ghost of Naze told me. Then, even if I don’t succeed in destroying it, at least I’ll have returned things to the way they were. And now that’s enough of your questions. I need some peace to prepare myself for what I’m going to do…’

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.