'Who else did you see?'
'Mab Mouldheel and her two sisters.'
'What did they want?'
Mab, although no more than fifteen or so, was the leader of the Mouldheel Clan. She was one of the most powerful scryers in the whole of the Pendle district, able to use a mirror to see clear visions of the future. She was also malevolent and often used human blood.
'They knew about the journey to Greece and what we were going to do because Mab scryed it. They wanted to come too.'
'But Mab played a big part in bringing the Fiend through the portal, Alice. Why would she want to destroy one of his servants?'
'They realize they done wrong and want to put it right. Don't you remember how Mab was reluctant to join with the other two clans? Soft on you, she was, and only did it because you betrayed her and drove her from Malkin Tower.'
That was true enough. I'd tricked her into releasing Mam's two sisters, feral lamias, from the trunks. In revenge she'd led her clan into an alliance with the Deanes and Malkins to raise the Fiend.
'So what happened, Alice? Are they here? Are they going to travel with us?'
'Your mam told me to contact Mab again and ask her to come. Ain't arrived yet but they'll be here soon enough.'
'Apart from Mam, do any of the witches know who your father is?'
Alice shook her head and looked about her furtively.
'I've told nobody,' she whispered. 'As far as they're concerned, my dad was Arthur Deane, and I want to keep it that way. If they knew who I really was, none of 'em would trust me.
'Anyway, you hungry, Tom?' she went on, raising her voice again. 'Got some rabbits cooking, I have. Just how you like 'em!'
'No, thanks, Alice,' I told her. As much as I wanted to be with her, I needed time to collect my thoughts.
There was a lot to come to terms with.
She looked disappointed and a little hurt. 'Your mam's told us all to keep well away from the house in case we upset Jack and Ellie. Don't want witches too close, do they? Only way we'll see each other is if you come out here to me.'
'Don't worry, Alice. I'll do that. I'll come out tomorrow evening.'
'Do you promise?' she asked doubtfully.
'Yes, I promise.'
'Look forward to that, then. Will you eat your supper with me tomorrow?'
'Of course. See you then.'
'Just one more thing before you go back to the farm, Tom. Grimalkin's here. She's coming to Greece with us too. She wants to talk to you. Over there, she is,' Alice said, pointing to the large oak tree just beyond the meadow. 'Best you go and see her now.'
We hugged as we parted – it was really good to hold her again. Then it was time to face Grimalkin. I looked towards the tree and my heart began to beat more rapidly. Grimalkin was the witch assassin of the Malkins. At one time she'd hunted me down, ready to kill me, but the last time I'd seen her we'd fought side by side.
Better get it over with, I thought, and with a smile and a nod to Alice, I set off towards the corner of the field. There was a gap in the hawthorn hedge so I pushed my way through, to find the witch assassin waiting there with her back to the old oak.
Her arms were at her sides, but as usual her lithe body was criss-crossed with leather straps and sheaths holding deadly weapons: blades, hooks and the scary scissors she used to snip the flesh and bone of her enemies.
Her black-painted lips grinned to reveal the sharp teeth within; they had been filed to deadly points. But despite all that, she had a kind of wild beauty about her; the grace and aura of a natural predator.
'Well, child, we meet again,' she said. 'When we last talked, I promised you a gift to mark your age.'
In Pendle, she'd told me, on the Walpurgis Night sabbath following his fourteenth birthday, the boy child of a witch clan became a man. I'd turned fourteen on August the third last year, and Walpurgis Night had already passed. She'd promised me something special to mark the occasion, and she'd asked me to go to Pendle to get it. There'd been little chance of that. I hardly thought the Spook would have approved of me accepting a gift from a witch!
'Are you ready to receive it now, child?' Grimalkin asked me.
'It depends what it is,' I said, trying to keep my voice as friendly and polite as possible despite what I felt inside.
She nodded, leaned away from the tree and took a step towards me. Her eyes stared hard into mine and I suddenly felt very nervous and vulnerable.
She smiled. 'It may help if I tell you that your mother agrees that I should do this. If you don't believe me, then ask her.'
Grimalkin didn't lie – she lived by a strict code of honour. But was my mam in contact with all the witches in Pendle? I wondered. Bit by bit, it seemed, everything I believed in, everything my master had taught me, was unravelling. What Mam wanted for me seemed to be constantly clashing with the wishes of the Spook. I had another decision to make, and whatever I decided, one of the two would be unhappy. But once again I decided that Mam's needs had to take precedence over those of my master, so I gave Grimalkin a brief nod and agreed to accept the gift.
'Here, child. It's a blade . . .' She held out a leather pouch. 'Take it.'
While she watched, I unwrapped it to reveal the short dagger within. I saw then that the pouch was actually a sheath and strap.
'You wear it diagonally across your shoulder and back,' she explained. 'The sheath should be positioned at the nape of your neck so that you can reach for it over your right shoulder. The blade is very potent and can damage even very powerful servants of the dark!'
'Could it destroy the Fiend?' I asked.
Grimalkin shook her head. 'No, child. I only wish that it could – I would have used it long ago. But I also have a second gift for you. Come closer – I won't bite!'
I took a nervous step forward. Grimalkin spat into her right hand and quickly dipped her left forefinger into the spittle. Next she leaned forward, traced a wet circle on my forehead and muttered something under her breath. For a moment I felt an intense cold inside my head, and then a tingling that ran the length of my spine.
'There, it's done, child. It is yours to use now.'
'What is it?' I asked.
'My second gift is a dark wish. Has your master never told you about such things?'
I shook my head, feeling sure he'd be furious if he knew I'd received such a thing from a witch. 'What is it?'