‘I wasn’t very old. Probably seven at the most. I climbed back up the steps and, screaming fit to burst, scratched and banged at the door. But my father was a hard man and he left me all alone in the dark and I had to stay there for hours, until long after dawn. After a bit, I calmed down and do you know what I did then?’
I shook my head, trying not to look at his face. His eyes were glittering very brightly and he looked more like a wolf than ever.
‘I walked down the steps and sat there in this cellar in the darkness. Then I took three deep breaths and I faced my fear. I faced the darkness itself, which is the most terrifying thing of all, especially for people like us, because things come to us in the dark. They seek us out with whispers and take shapes that only our eyes can see. But I did it, and when I left this cellar the worst was over.’
At that moment the candle guttered and then went out, plunging us into absolute darkness.
‘This is it, lad,’ the Spook said. ‘There’s just you, me and the dark. Can you stand it? Are you fit to be my apprentice?’
His voice sounded different, sort of deeper and strange. I imagined him on all fours, wolf hair covering his face, his teeth growing longer. I was trembling and couldn’t speak until I’d taken my third deep breath. Only then did I give him my answer. It was something my dad always said when he had to do something unpleasant or difficult.
‘Someone has to do it,’ I said. ‘So it might as well be me.’
The Spook must have thought that was funny, because his laughter filled the whole cellar before rumbling up the steps to meet the next peal of thunder, which was on its way down.
‘Nearly thirteen years ago,’ said the Spook, ‘a sealed letter was sent to me. It was short and to the point and it was written in Greek. Your mother sent it. Do you know what it said?’
‘No,’ I said quietly, wondering what was coming next.
‘"I’ve just given birth to a baby boy," she wrote, "and he’s the seventh son of a seventh son. His name is Thomas J. Ward and he’s my gift to the County. When he’s old enough we’ll send you word. Train him well. He’ll be the best apprentice you’ve ever had and he’ll also be your last."
‘We don’t use magic, lad,’ the Spook said, his voice hardly more than a whisper in the darkness.
‘The main tools of our trade are common sense, courage and the keeping of accurate records, so we can
learn from the past. Above all, v?e don’t believe in prophecy. We don’t believe that the future is fixed. So if what your mother wrote comes true, then it’s because we make it come true. Do you understand?’
There was an edge of anger in his voice but I knew it wasn’t directed at me, so I just nodded into the darkness.
‘As for being your mother’s gift to the County, every single one of my apprentices was the seventh son of a seventh son. So don’t you start thinking you’re anything special. You’ve a lot of study and hard work ahead of you.
‘Family can be a nuisance,’ the Spook went on after a pause, his voice softer, the anger gone. ‘I’ve only got two brothers left now. One’s a locksmith and we get on all right, but the other one hasn’t spoken to me for well over forty years, though he still lives here in Horshaw.’
By the time we left the house, the storm had blown itself out and the moon was visible. As the Spook closed the front door, I noticed for the first time what had been carved there in the wood. The Spook nodded towards it. ‘I use signs like this to warn others who’ve the skill to read them or sometimes just to jog my own memory. You’ll recognize the Greek letter gamma. It’s the sign for either a ghost or a ghast. The cross on the lower right is the Roman numeral for ten, which is the lowest grading of all. Anything after six is just a ghast. There’s nothing in that house that can harm you, not if you’re brave. Remember, the dark feeds on fear. Be brave and there’s nothing much a ghast can do.’
If only I’d known that to begin with!
‘Buck up, lad,’ said the Spook. ‘Your face is nearly down in your boots! Well, maybe this’ll cheer you up.’ He pulled the lump of yellow cheese out of his pocket, broke a small piece off and handed it to me. ‘Chew on this,’ he said, ‘but don’t swallow it all at once.’
I followed him down the cobbled street. The air was damp, but at least it wasn’t raining, and to the west the clouds looked like lamb’s wool against the sky and were starting to tear and break up into ragged strips.
We left the village and continued south. Right on its edge, where the cobbled street became a muddy lane, there was a small church. It looked neglected - there were slates missing off the roof and paint peeling from the main door. We’d hardly seen anyone since leaving the house but there was an old man standing in the doorway. His hair was white and it was lank, greasy and unkempt. His dark clothes marked him out as a priest, but as we approached him, it was the expression on his face that really drew my attention. He was scowling at us, his face all twisted up. And then, dramatically, he made a huge sign of the cross, actually standing on tiptoe as he began it, stretching the forefinger of his right hand as high into the sky as he could. I’d seen priests make the sign before but never with such a big, exaggerated gesture, filled with so much anger. An anger that seemed directed towards us. I supposed he’d some grievance against the Spook, or maybe against the work he did. I knew the trade made most people nervous but I’d never seen a reaction like that.
‘What was wrong with him?’ I asked, when we had passed him and were safely out of earshot.
‘Priests!’ snapped the Spook, the anger sharp in his voice. ‘They know everything but see nothing!
And that one’s worse than most. That’s my other brother.’
I’d have liked to know more but had the sense not to question him further. It seemed to me that there was a lot to learn about the Spook and his past, but I had a feeling they were things he’d only tell me when he was good and ready.
So I just followed him south, carrying his heavy bag and thinking about what my mam had written in the letter. She was never one to boast or make wild statements. Mam only said what had to be said, so she’d meant every single word. Usually she just got on with things and did what was necessary. The Spook had told me there was nothing much could be done about ghasts, but Mam had once silenced the ghasts on Hangman’s Hill.