Suddenly Alice gasped, came to a sudden halt and pointed downwards. A cold draught was coming up the steps from the cellar, making the candle flame dance and flicker, and by its light I glimpsed a dark shape moving rapidly up the steps towards us. For a moment, my heart racing, I thought it was the feral lamia: I stepped down alongside Alice, raised my left hand and prepared to cast the silver chain.
But as the draught from below ceased, the light steadied and I saw that the rapid movement of the dark shape was an illusion caused by the flicker of the flame. Something was moving up the steps, but it was crawling; dragging itself upwards so incredibly slowly that it would take a long time to reach the gate.
It was Bessy Hill, the other live witch - the one who'd been in the pit next to the feral lamia. Her grey hair was long and greasy and heaving with small black insects, while her tattered gown was stained with mildew and patches of slime. She was slowly dragging her body up the stairs, but although she'd managed to get free of her grave, years of surviving on a diet of slugs, worms and other creepy-crawlies meant that she hadn't much power at her disposal. Of course, it might have been a very different story if we'd blundered into her in the dark.
We came to a halt. If she managed to get a grip on one of our ankles it would be hard to prise her off. She wanted blood desperately and would fasten her teeth into any warm flesh that came near. A mouthful of blood would immediately make her much stronger and more dangerous. It was scary, but we had to get past her.
I moved downwards nervously, gesturing to Alice that she should follow behind me. The steps were broad and we were able to give the witch a wide berth. I wondered how she'd managed to escape from her pit. One possibility was that the feral lamia had bent the bars for her. Or maybe Meg had released her. As we passed, I glanced down at her quickly. Her head was facing towards us but her eyes were tightly closed. Her mouth was open though, and her long purple tongue was protruding down onto the step, as if licking something from the damp stone. She sniffed, snuffled, twisted her head upwards and tried to lift her hand. When she opened her eyes they were like points of fire burning in the dark.
We moved downwards quickly, leaving her behind. When we reached the landing with the three doors, I handed my staff to Alice. She accepted it with a grimace. She didn't like to touch rowan wood. But I was already pulling my own key from my pocket and it was the work of a moment to unlock the door to the Spook's cell.
Until then I'd been worried that he might not be there. I thought that Meg might have moved him somewhere else, even putting him in a pit in the cellar. But there he was, sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. As the candle flickered light into the cell, he looked towards us, but his expression was one of bewilderment. After glancing down the steps and listening carefully to check that the lamia wasn't coming up, I went into the cell with Alice and we helped the Spook to his feet. He made no resistance as we tugged him towards the door. He didn't seem to recognize either of us and I guessed that Meg had only recently given him a strong dose of the potion.
My chain was back in my pocket now - not the best place for it if the lamia attacked, but I had no choice. Progress up the steps was slow as the Spook shuffled upwards, Alice and I supporting him by each elbow. I kept glancing backwards but there were no threatening sounds from below. When we came to the witch on the stairs, she was asleep, eyes tightly closed, snoring loudly through her open mouth. Climbing the steps had exhausted her for now.
Soon we reached the gate. Once through it, Alice locked it carefully and quietly again and I took the key from her and slipped it into my pocket. We continued upwards until we arrived at the ground floor. The sound of Meg's breathing from the kitchen reassured me that she too was still asleep, so I now had an important decision to make. Either I could help Alice to get the Spook clear of the house or I could enter the kitchen and bind Meg with the silver chain.
If I succeeded in binding her, it would be over and the house would be back in our hands. But trying it was filled with risk. Meg might wake up suddenly -and nine times out of ten wasn't quite ten out of ten! I might miss, and Meg was incredibly strong. The Spook was in no condition to help, and the three of us would be at Meg's mercy. So I pointed down the passageway to the front door.
Moments later I had the door open and helped Alice to get the Spook outside. Next I took the candle from her, shielding it close to my body to stop it from going out.
'I've got something to do back in the house,' I told her. T won't be long, but get Mr Gregory away from here. Andrew should be waiting further down the clough-'
'Don't be daft, Tom!' Alice exclaimed, her face filled with concern. 'What could be so important as to make you want to go back in there?'
'Trust me, Alice. It's got to be done. I'll see you back at Andrew's-'
'There's something you ain't told me,' Alice complained. 'What is it? Don't you trust me?'
'Go on, Alice, please. Just do as I say. I'll explain it all to you later.'
Reluctantly Alice moved off down the hill, guiding the Spook by the elbow. She didn't look back and I could tell that she was really angry with me.
Chapter 16
Once inside, I closed the door behind me and started to climb the stairs. In my right hand I held the candle; in my left was my rowan staff. The silver chain was still in the left pocket of my sheepskin jacket. I moved up faster than we'd come down but I was still careful. I didn't want to wake Meg. I had another worry too. My key would be too big for the lock of the Spook's desk. I was going to have to force it open with the crowbar and that was likely to make more than just a bit of noise.