Chapter 15
THE APPROACH TO THE ORD
We made our way south, fighting against the human tide of those fleeing the Ord. Refugees were everywhere. Some were on foot, clutching possessions or carrying children; others had loaded what they could onto small carts, which they pulled or pushed by hand. Many kept glancing back and called out warnings, telling us to flee with them; they were desperate and fearful for themselves and their families.
We walked all morning across that arid landscape under the sickly yellow sky. Dark whirlwinds had been visible on the horizon, moving north and destroying everything in their path, but luckily they hadn't passed close to us. And now the wind had dropped, the air growing warmer and more oppressive by the minute. I was carrying my staff as well as my bag, which I had retrieved from Mam's wagon. Mam's escort rode just behind her, and behind them were the Pendle witches, led by Grimalkin. Bill Arkwright and the Spook walked to the right of Alice and me, the three dogs following in their wake. And far to our rear, at least a couple of hundred yards distant, were the mounted mercenaries.
Alice and I were both weary and afraid of what was to come so we hardly exchanged a word. At one point Bill Arkwright came up alongside me.
'Well, Master Ward, how does this compare to the County? Have you changed your mind yet? Would you like to live here?' he asked.
'I wish I was back home,' I told him. 'I miss the green hills and woods – even the rain!'
'Aye, I know what you mean. This is a parched land all right, but from what your mam said I think we'll be getting some rain soon enough.'
He was referring to the deluge that would come soon after the appearance of the Ord. 'There's something I'd like to ask you, Master Ward. If anything happens to me, would you take care of the dogs? No doubt Mr Gregory wouldn't want them at Chipenden – a boggart and dogs don't mix too well! But you'd be able to find them a good home somewhere, I'm sure.'
'Of course I will.'
'Well, let's hope it won't come to that; let's hope we're all safely back home in the County before too long. There's danger ahead, worse than we've ever faced before, I fear. So just in case we don't meet again, here's my hand in friendship . . .'
Arkwright held out his hand and I shook it. With a nod and a smile towards Alice, he left my side. I felt sad: it was as if we were saying goodbye for ever.
But there was another goodbye to face, this one from the Spook. A while later, he too moved across to walk beside me. As he approached, I noticed Alice fall back to join Grimalkin, who was now behind us.
'Are you nervous, lad?' my master asked me.
'Nervous and scared,' I told him. 'I keep taking slow deep breaths but it doesn't seem to help much.'
'Well, it will, lad, it will. So just keep at it and remember all I've tried to teach you. And once we get inside that citadel, stay close to me. Who knows what dangers we'll find there.'
He patted me on the shoulder, then moved away again. I wondered if that was because he didn't like walking too close to Alice. Soon afterwards we paused for a short rest and I wrote down what Seilenos had told me about tappers in my notebook. It helped to calm me down. No matter what danger threatened, I had to keep up with my training.
When we set off again, I had one more visit – one that both Alice and I could well have done without. Mab and her two hook-nosed sisters approached us.
'What you been up to, Tom?' Mab asked, looking sideways at me. 'That's no dead girl walking beside you. She should be dead by rights, that Alice Deane. Saw it happen. Saw that lamia witch sucking her blood and tearing her with its teeth. Only something from the dark could have saved her. That's the only thing I couldn't have seen coming. What you been up to, Tom? Must have meddled with the dark, I think. That's the only thing that could've done it! What does Mr Gregory think about that, eh?'
Alice ran and pushed Mab backwards so that she almost overbalanced and fell. 'Things are bad enough without having to listen to you talk rubbish. Get you gone! Leave Tom alone!'
Mab turned to Alice and stretched out her hands in front of her, clearly intending to scratch her face, but I quickly stepped between them. Mab shrugged and backed off.
'We'll be on our way,' she said, her mouth twisting into a smile. 'Leave you to think over what's been done and what's been said. You're close to the dark now, Tom. Closer than you've ever been before . . .'
With that Mab and her sisters moved away, leaving me with my thoughts. I continued to walk with Alice but neither of us spoke. What was there to say? We both knew that I'd been compromised by the dark. I was just glad that the Spook hadn't overheard what Mab had said.
Late that morning the weather began to change. The wind got up again, blustering into a gale that screamed about our ears. We journeyed on through the heat, but we were now very uncomfortable.
Soon Alice pointed directly ahead. 'Look at that, Tom. Ain't ever seen anything like that before!'
At first I could see nothing; then a menacing shape loomed up on the horizon.
'What is it? A cliff? Or a black ridge of hills?' I asked.
Alice shook her head. 'It's a cloud, Tom. And a strange dark one for sure. Ain't natural, that! Don't like the look of it one little bit.'
In normal circumstances such a fearsome cloud would have heralded a violent storm, with a heavy downpour to come. But as we drew nearer, I could see that it was curved at its rim like a great black plate or shield. The wind ceased again, and the temperature began to drop alarmingly; whereas before we'd been scorched by the heat, now we began to shiver with cold and fear. We were suddenly plunged into a twilit world, our faces deep in shadow.
I looked about me: Alice, Arkwright and the rest of our company, including the Pendle witches, were walking very slowly, with bowed heads, as if oppressed by the weight of the darkness above us. Only the Spook held his head high.
Although there was now not a breath of wind, I could see that the ominous and unusual cloud was in turmoil, churning and swirling far above as if some giant was stirring it with a massive stick. Soon I could hear a high, shrill shriek; suddenly, on the distant horizon, I saw a column of orange light.
'That's what Mam told us about, Alice,' I exclaimed, pointing ahead. 'It's the pillar of fire. The Ord must be somewhere within it!'
We were at least three miles away from the fiery column, but I could soon feel its warmth on my forehead despite the drop in temperature around us. We were heading for an immense crimson vortex, a gigantic throbbing artery connecting sky to earth. It looked dramatic and disturbing, and seemed to be thickening and flexing rhythmically: I was afraid that it might suddenly explode outwards to engulf us all. Lightning forked upwards from its base, bifurcations of white and blue like the jagged branches of trees reaching out into the black cloud above.