'And that's not all, lad. Others, called asteri, are similar in shape to a starfish, with five fiery radiating arms. These elementals cling to walls or ceilings and drop onto the heads of unsuspecting victims. And once they make contact, you're as good as dead.
'But it's not all bad news. Fire elementals are notoriously difficult to defend against, but a metal alloy blade with the correct percentage of silver can cause them to implode. A spook's staff is particularly useful. Failing that, water can seriously weaken a fire elemental and send it into hibernation until conditions are drier. Water is a very good refuge when under attack.'
The Spook paused to give me time to write everything up in my notebook. When I'd finished, my curiosity finally got the better of me. Why had my master sacrificed his principles to join us on the journey to Greece? I knew he wouldn't want to talk about it but I had to ask anyway.
'Mr Gregory, why did you finally come with us? What made you change your mind?' I asked.
He looked at me, his face filled with anger. Then his expression became sad and resigned. 'Your mam wrote to me and told me things I'd rather not have heard. Things I didn't want to believe. After her letter arrived at Chipenden, I struggled with my conscience for a long time and almost left it too late.'
I wanted to know more, but before I could speak there was a sudden shout from the lookout far above our heads. We stood up and gazed over the starboard bow. As we were very near the coast of Greece, I thought it meant that land had been sighted.
But I was wrong. The crew began to scurry up the rigging, unfurling every last inch of available sail. A large ship had been spotted to the west, sailing out of the setting sun. It had black sails and was closing on us rapidly. Fast as the Celeste was, it seemed that this ship was even swifter. Our crew were agitated and worked feverishly, but still the vessel drew steadily nearer.
The captain watched it for a while with his spyglass. 'It's a pirate ship – we've no chance of outrunning it before dark,' he said, scratching at his side-whiskers.
'And I don't fancy our chances if it comes to a fight.
We're heavily outgunned.'
The pirate ship was bristling with cannon, whereas we had only four guns, two on each side. No sooner had he spoken than we heard a gun being fired. A cannonball hit the water close to our bows, sending up a big plume of spray. The pirates clearly had the armaments to sink our ship with ease.
Bill Arkwright shook his head and smiled grimly.
'It's not as bad as it seems, Captain. Just don't return fire. We certainly can't win any fight that involves an exchange of cannonfire, but it won't come to that. The last thing they want is to sink us. They'll want this ship as a prize. No doubt they intend to cut our throats and throw us to the fishes, but when they board us they'll get a nasty surprise.'
He turned to me with a grim smile. 'Go down into the hold, Master Ward, and let the young ladies down there know the situation.'
Wasting no time, I went down to tell the Pendle witches what was afoot. Grimalkin was sitting on the steps sharpening one of her throwing knives.
'We're already preparing, child,' she told me. 'Mab scryed the threat hours ago. To be honest we're anticipating the fight with relish. We've spent too long cooped up down there and my sisters thirst for blood.'
I saw some of the other witches below her, their eyes glinting cruelly as they licked their lips with relish at the thought of the fresh blood that was soon to be theirs. Their fingernails looked as sharp as the blades they were honing, all weapons ready to rend and pierce human flesh.
Back on deck the Spook was standing beside Bill Arkwright, both of them readying themselves for the fight ahead. Arkwright always looked forward to cracking heads. He was actually smiling in anticipation of the impending action. I released the blade from my staff and moved forward to join them. The Spook gave me a nod and Arkwright gave me a pat on the back in encouragement.
The captain and most of the crew were lined up between the masts, gripping cudgels, but they seemed to have little heart for a fight. We would certainly be glad of the Pendle witches' help. My mouth was dry with fear and excitement, yet I was determined to do my best; but at that moment I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. It was Mam.
'No, son,' she said, drawing me away from the others. 'You keep well clear of this battle. We can't take the risk of you being hurt. You have more important things to do in Greece.'
I tried to argue but Mam would not be persuaded. It was frustrating that others were free to take risks but not me. I resented being mollycoddled, but I had to obey Mam. So I stood at her side, furious that I couldn't take part in the coming battle.
We didn't have long to wait for the attack. The pirate ship drew close and then its crew hurled grappling hooks across the gap and drew the two ships together, their port side crunching hard against our starboard. Some of the pirates paced the deck of their ship with an arrogant swagger. Armed with knives, cutlasses and big cudgels spiked with nails, they looked pitiless and fierce. Others waited in the rigging, looking down upon us like vultures, considering us nothing more than dead meat.
But before the first of the pirates could leap across, the witches came up from the hold, led by Grimalkin. Wearing their hoods and bristling with weapons, they looked like a force to be reckoned with. Some were drooling, the saliva running from their mouths to drip from the bottom of their leather hoods as they anticipated the feast of blood ahead. Others were baying like hunting dogs, their bodies quivering with excitement. They looked fierce and deadly, none more so than Grimalkin, who with a blade in each hand led them close to the rail to form the first line of defence. And Alice stood there too, looking as resolute and determined as the rest.
The pirate captain, a huge man brandishing a cutlass, was first to jump down onto the deck of the Celeste. He was also the first to die. Grimalkin slipped a blade out of a shoulder sheath and hurled it straight and true at his throat. He hardly had time to register surprise before the cutlass slipped from his hands and his lifeless body fell to the deck with a heavy thud.
The rest of the pirates boarded us immediately and the battle commenced. The Spook and Arkwright were required to play little part in the proceedings; they waited at the rear, their weapons at the ready. The captain and his crew were also redundant, no doubt relieved that their services were not required.
Little of the fight took place on our own deck. After a preliminary fierce skirmish with the witches, those pirates still standing quickly retreated to their own ship. Seeing what they faced, and having witnessed the death of their captain, no doubt they would have preferred to withdraw to a distance and blow us to pieces with cannonshot, but the grappling irons now worked against them. Before they could unhook them, and separate the two ships, the witches went on the offensive. Shrieking and howling with blood-lust, they boarded the pirate ship and the slaughter began. And Alice went with them.