At last I managed to get the key into the right position and it turned. I pushed the gate open, seized the key and the staff and crawled through.

‘Bring the candle!’ I shouted back to Alice, and as soon as she was safely through, I slid the key into the other side of the lock and struggled to turn it. This time it seemed to take an age; at any moment I expected the Bane to come back.

‘Can’t you go any quicker?’ Alice asked.

‘It’s not as easy as it looks,’ I told her.

Eventually I managed to lock it and let out a sigh of relief. Then I remembered the Spook…

‘Was Mr Gregory in the cell with you?’ I asked.

Alice shook her head. ‘Not when you let us out. They took him away for questioning about an hour before you came.’

I’d been lucky in managing to avoid capture. Lucky in getting the prisoners out of the cell. But luck has a way of balancing itself out. I’d been just an hour too late. Alice was free but the Spook was still a prisoner, and unless I could do something about it, he was going to burn.

Wasting no more time, I led Alice along the tunnel until we came to the fast-flowing river.

I crossed quickly but when I turned back, Alice was still on the far bank, staring down at the water.

‘It’s deep, Tom,’ she cried. ‘It’s too deep and the stones are slippery!’

I crossed back to where she was standing. Then, gripping her hand, I led her back across the nine flat stones. We soon reached the open hatch that led up into the empty house and, once inside the cellar, I closed the hatch behind us. To my disappointment, Andrew had already gone. I needed to talk to him: to tell him that the Spook hadn’t been in the cell; warn him that Brother Peter was in danger and that the rumours really were true – the Bane’s strength was back!

‘We’d better stay down here for a while. The Quisitor will start searching the town once he realizes so many of you have escaped. This house is haunted – the last place anybody will want to look is down here in the cellar.’

Alice nodded, and for the first time since the spring I looked at her properly. She was as tall as me, which meant that she’d grown at least an inch too, but she was still dressed as I’d last seen her when I’d taken her to her aunt in Staumin. If it wasn’t the same black dress, it was its twin.

Her face was as pretty as ever but thinner, and older, as though it had seen things that had forced it to grow up quickly; things that nobody should have to see. Her black hair was matted and filthy and there were smears of dirt on her face. Alice looked like she hadn’t had a wash for at least a month.

It’s good to see you again,’ I said. ‘When I saw you in the Quisitor’s cart, I thought that would be it.’

She didn’t reply. Just grabbed my hand and squeezed it. ‘I’m half-starved, Tom. Ain’t got anything to eat, have you?’

I shook my head.

‘Not even a piece of that mouldy old cheese?’

‘Sorry,’ I said. I’ve none left.’

Alice turned away and seized one edge of the old carpet that was at the top of the heap.

‘Help me, Tom,’ she said. ‘Need to sit down and I don’t fancy the cold stones much.’

I put the candle and staff down and together we pulled the carpet onto the flags. The musty smell was stronger than ever and I watched the beetles and woodlice that we’d uncovered scurrying away across the cellar floor.

Unconcerned, Alice sat down on the carpet and drew her knees up so that she could rest her chin. ‘One day I’m going to get even,’ she said. ‘Nobody deserves to be treated like that.’

I sat down next to her and put my hand on hers. ‘What happened?’ I asked.

She was silent for a while, and just as I’d decided she wasn’t going to answer me, she suddenly spoke. ‘Once she got to know me, my old aunt was good to me. Worked me hard, she did, but always fed me well. I was just getting used to living there at Staumin when the Quisitor came. Took us by surprise and broke down the door. But my aunt weren’t no Bony Lizzie. She weren’t no witch.

They swam her down at the pond at midnight while a big crowd watched, all laughing and jeering. Real scared I was, expecting it was my turn next. Tied her feet to her hands and threw her in. Sank like a stone, she did. But it was dark and windy and a big gust came the moment she hit the water; blew a lot of the torches out. Took a long time to find her and drag her out.’

Alice buried her face into her hands and gave a sob. I waited quietly until she was able to go on. When she uncovered her face, her eyes were dry but her lips were trembling.

‘When they pulled her out she was dead. It ain’t fair, Tom. She didn’t float, she sank, so she must have been innocent but they’d killed her anyway! After that they left me alone and just put me up in the cart with the rest.’

‘My mam told me that swimming witches doesn’t work anyway,’ I said. ‘Only fools use it.’

‘No, Tom, the Quisitor’s no fool. There’s a reason for everything he does, you can be sure of that. He’s greedy. Greedy for money. He sold my old aunt’s cottage and kept the money. We watched him counting it. That’s what he does. Calls people witches, gets them out of the way and takes their houses, land and money. What’s more, he enjoys his work. There’s darkness in him. He says he’s doing it to rid the County of witches, but he’s more cruel than any witch I’ve ever known -and that’s saying something.

‘There was a girl called Maggie. Not much older than me, she was. Didn’t bother with swimming her. Used a different test and we all had to watch. Quisitor used a long sharp pin. He kept sticking it into her body over and over again. You should have heard her shriek. Poor girl almost went mad with the pain. She kept fainting and they had a bucket of water by the side of the table to bring her round. But at last they found what they were looking for. The Devil’s mark! Know what that is, Tom?’

I nodded. The Spook had told me that it was one of the things witchfinders used. But it was another lie, he’d said. There was no such thing as the Devil’s mark. Anyone with true knowledge of the dark knew that.

‘It’s cruel and it ain’t just,’ Alice continued. ‘After a bit the pain gets too much and your body goes numb, so eventually when the needle goes in you don’t feel it. Then they say that’s the spot where the Devil touched you, so you’re guilty and have to burn. Worst thing was the look on the Quisitor’s face. So pleased with himself, he was. I’ll get even all right. I’ll pay him back for that. Maggie don’t deserve to burn.’

‘The Spook doesn’t deserve to burn either!’ I said bitterly. ‘All his life he’s worked hard fighting the dark.’

‘He’s a man and he’ll get an easier death than some,’ said Alice. ‘The Quisitor gives women a much harder time. Makes sure they take a long time to burn. Says it’s harder to save a woman’s soul than a man’s. That they need a lot of pain to make them feel sorry for their sins.’

That brought to mind what the Spook had said about the Bane not being able to abide women. The fact that they made it nervous.

‘The creature you spat at was the Bane,’ I told her. ‘Have you heard of it? How did you manage to scare it away so easily?’

Alice shrugged. ‘Ain’t too difficult to tell when something ain’t comfortable having you around. Some men are like that – I always know when I’m not welcome. I get that feeling near Old Gregory and it was the same down there. And spit sends most things on their way. Spit three times at a toad and nothing with cold damp skin will bother you for a month or more. Lizzie used to swear by it. Don’t think it’ll work that way on the Bane though. Yes, I’ve heard about that creature. And if it’s now able to shape-shift then we’re all in for some serious bother. I took it by surprise, that’s all. It’ll be ready next time so I ain’t going down there again.’

For a while neither of us spoke. I just stared down at the musty old carpet, until suddenly I heard Alice’s breathing deepen. When I looked back her eyes were closed and she’d fallen asleep in the same position, her chin resting on her knees.