I decided to use the mirror on the bedside table to try and contact her again, but no sooner had the thought crossed my mind than it suddenly lit up. I realized why thoughts of Alice had come into my mind. She was trying to contact me. A moment later her face was smiling at me from the mirror, but then she looked concerned and began to write quickly with her finger. The text appeared backwards, but we’d used this method of communication many times and I was well practised at reading it.
She had guessed that I was in trouble because our return to Chipenden was long overdue. We should have been back two days ago. Suddenly my need overcame my reluctance to draw her into danger, so I knelt in front of the bedside table, breathed on the mirror, and wrote with my forefinger. I did it very slowly, doing my best to make it legible. And I chose my words carefully. I didn’t say that my master was dead because I wanted to break that news to her face to face. There would be time for explanations later.
A daemon took my master . . .
Then, to save time, I wiped the mirror with the back of my hand, put my face close to it and started to mouth words. I did it in an exaggerated way to make it easier to understand:
‘The daemon is powerful and has many allies. We are in great danger. Help me if you can. Get here as soon as you can or it may be too late . . . ’
I hated the thought of bringing Alice into danger, but I knew that she could make all the difference. However, I also thought about her use of dark magic. On our journey back across Ireland she had experienced pain every time we crossed a bridge over running water, and it had been hard to hide the fact from my master. I’d complained when she’d given Agnes Sowerbutts strength – so asking her to help now made me feel like a hypocrite, and I knew that it would have upset my master. But sometimes, in order to survive, we’d had to use the powers of the dark in order to overcome it.
Before Alice could reply, the mirror suddenly went dark. I waited, expecting her to re-establish contact – but in vain. Suddenly a terrifying thought came into my head. What if Alice had already found Grimalkin and was bringing the witch assassin with her? The Romanian forces wanted the Fiend’s head. If the sack was here, their task would be made far easier. I should have remembered that and warned Alice, but I’d expected our conversation to be longer than this. I held the mirror and called Alice’s name, but there was no response.
After a while I gave up and went to knock on Judd’s door. He came out yawning and rubbing his eyes. ‘Time for supper?’ he asked.
I frowned. ‘Can’t say that I’m very hungry.’
‘Neither am I, Tom,’ Judd said, ‘but we need to keep up our strength. It could be a long, dangerous night.’
‘My master never ate much when facing the dark,’ I pointed out.
Judd nodded and gave me a wry smile. ‘I remember it well – a few nibbles of County cheese was all he allowed us. Some nights I was so hungry, my belly thought my throat had been cut.’
We went downstairs to be served supper by the fire by the surly innkeeper. It was tough cold mutton and stale bread, and I found it difficult to swallow. I was nervous about what might happen when night fell. Judd had no appetite either. After a while the landlord came back to collect our plates.
‘How long have you lived in Todmorden?’ I asked, trying to draw him into conversation and learn more about the town.
He shrugged. ‘More years than I care to remember. I was born here, and no doubt I’ll die here. But I mind my own business – and so should you. I’m off to bed now,’ he told us with a scowl.
We weren’t going to get any information from him, and I was glad to see the back of him. As soon as he’d clumped upstairs, Judd and I were able to talk more freely. I began to tell him about Alice – and some of the things she’d done in the past.
‘I’ll bet John Gregory found most of that difficult to stomach – even worse than our supper!’ he joked. ‘I find it hard to believe that he’d ally himself with the dark. I’ve never known any other man with such strong principles.’
‘He had little choice,’ I explained. ‘It was a question of survival – but he found it difficult all right. Alice might just be able to find what we’re looking for, though. She could sniff my master out – lead us straight to the place where they’re keeping his head.’
‘That’s certainly true. They’ll be ready for us, but if we know precisely where to go, we can get in and out quickly,’ he agreed.
The hours passed and there was no sign of the anticipated attack. But just before dawn we heard a sudden loud hammering at the front door of the inn.
Judd rose to his feet and readied his axe. I drew my sword, wondering what to do for the best. We had no intention of opening the door, and I was sure that the innkeeper would not do so before the sun came up. Was it better to wait for them to break it down or take the fight to them outside? Then I heard a sash window being raised upstairs.
‘You have two within your walls who have committed crimes against my people!’ a woman’s voice cried out. ‘Surrender them to us so they may be punished!’
I saw a look of pain flicker across Judd’s face, and suddenly recognized the voice calling up to the window. It was Mistress Fresque. I could see that Judd was determined to leave the inn and confront the daemon who was using her body.
‘No!’ I said, grabbing his arm to restrain him. ‘There may be other strigoica concealed nearby.’
He nodded and relaxed a little. Then the innkeeper called out: ‘It will be done before nightfall. We will keep to the pact, don’t you worry.’
‘A pact?’ Judd said, raising his eyebrows. ‘I wonder what that’s all about . . . I think that surly fellow upstairs has a few questions to answer!’
We heard the innkeeper slam the window shut, and sat by the embers of the fire, waiting for him to come downstairs.
When he appeared, he was dressed in a jacket and scarf. He seemed surprised to see us sitting by the hearth. No doubt he’d thought we were fast asleep in bed.
‘I have to go out,’ he blustered. ‘I’ll be back within the hour to attend to your breakfasts.’
But before he could reach the door, Judd had intercepted him, laying a firm hand on his arm and leading him towards the fireplace. ‘I don’t think you’ll be going out until later. We have a few questions to put to you!’ he said, pushing him down into a chair.