‘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.
‘The only problem is that Lizzie has supporters – lots of well-armed yeomen bought with bribes of wealth and power – and it won’t be so easy to get her on her own again,’ Stanton told us.
‘You said that you were lucky to escape with your life … What happened?’ I asked him.
‘That night when the witch killed your father’ – he nodded towards Adriana – ‘I’d already decided to make an attempt on her life. But I was as helpless and terrified as the rest of that gathering and my blood just turned to water. And she sensed something. It was almost as if she could read my mind.
‘Later she questioned me. Wanted to know how loyal I was. She said she was starting to have doubts about me and ordered me to tell her the truth. I could feel her right inside my head, twisting and prodding. I began to shake and sweat, and it took all my will power not to admit that I’d planned to kill her. It was close – very close.’
‘Well, it seems to me that a lot will depend on just how much support you can muster,’ said the Spook. ‘With enough men you could attack when the Tynwald meet. In the confusion we might be able to put an end to her. If Lizzie was distracted, she could still be bound with a silver chain.’
‘Or I could put my sword through her heart,’ Stanton said. ‘I’m going to send runners to the nearest towns and villages to drum up support. Anyone who can carry a weapon and wants to fight for the freedom of our land will do.’
Although word had already been spread to the surrounding villages, by noon only about a dozen new men had rallied to Stanton’s cause. Most were farm labourers who had brought nothing better than clubs – though three boasted pikes and one had brought a spear. These latter had once been yeomen, but they were no longer young and their weapons were rusty. Despite that, Stanton had greeted each man warmly and accepted his pledge of loyalty.