Alice’s tone suddenly became sad. ‘Would you really do that to me, Tom?’ she asked. ‘After all we’ve been through together? I saved you from a pit. Don’t you remember that, when Bony Lizzie wanted your bones? When Lizzie was sharpening her knife?’

I remembered it well. But for Alice’s help I would have died that night.

‘Look, Alice, go to Pendle now before it’s too late,’ I told her. ‘Get as far away from here as possible!’

‘Bane don’t agree. Thinks I should stay nearby a while longer, he does.’

‘The Bane’s an it, not a he!’ I said, irritated by what Alice was saying.

‘No, Tom, he ain’t,’ said Alice. ‘Sniffed him out, I did, and he’s a man-thing for certain!’

‘The Bane attacked the Spook’s house last night. It could have killed us. Did you send it?’

Alice shook her head in a firm denial. ‘That ain’t nothing to do with me, Tom. I swear it. We talked, that’s all, and he told me things.’

‘I thought you weren’t going to have any more dealings with it!’ I said, hardly able to believe what she was saying.

‘I’ve tried hard, Tom, I really have. But he comes and whispers things to me. Comes to me in the dark, he does, when I’m trying to sleep. He even talks to me in my dreams. He promises me things.’

‘What sort of things?’

‘It ain’t easy, Tom. It’s getting colder at nights. The weather’s drawing in. Bane said I could have a house with a big fireplace and lots of coal and wood and that I’d never want for anything. He said I could have nice clothes too, so that people wouldn’t look down their noses at me like they do now, thinking I’m something that’s just crawled out of a hedge.’

‘Don’t listen to it, Alice. You’ve got to try harder!’

‘Good job I do listen to him sometimes,’ Alice said, a strange half-smile on her face, ‘otherwise you’d be really sorry. I know something, see. Something that might save Old Gregory’s life as well as yours.’

‘Tell me,’ I urged.

‘Not sure why I should, seeing as you’re plotting for me to spend the rest of my days in a pit!’

‘That’s not fair, Alice.’

‘I’ll help you again, I will. But I wonder if you’d do the same for me…?’

She paused and gave me a sad smile. ‘You see, the Quisitor’s on his way up here to Chipenden. Burned his hands in that fire, that’s all, and now he wants revenge. He knows Old Gregory lives somewhere nearby and he’s coming with armed men and dogs. Big bloodhounds, they are, with big teeth. He’ll be here by noon at the latest. So go and tell Old Gregory what I said. Don’t expect he’ll say thanks though.’

‘I’ll go and tell him,’ I said, and set off right away, running up the hill towards the house. As I ran, I realized that I hadn’t thanked Alice, but how could I thank her for using the dark to help us?

The Spook was waiting just inside the back door. ‘Well, lad,’ he said, ‘get your breath back first. I can tell from your face you’re bringing bad news.’

‘The Quisitor’s on his way here,’ I said. ‘He’s found out that we live near Chipenden!’

‘And who told you this?’ asked the Spook, scratching at his beard.

‘Alice. She said he’ll be here by noon. The Bane told her…’

The Spook sighed deeply. ‘Well, we’d better get away as soon as possible. First of all, you go down to the village and let the butcher know we’re heading north over the fells to Caster and won’t be back for some time. Go into the grocer’s and tell him the same and say that we won’t need any provisions next week.’

I ran down into the village and did exactly what he’d told me. When I got back the Spook was already waiting at the door, ready to set off. He handed me his bag.

‘Are we going south?’ I asked.

The Spook shook his head. ‘No, lad, we’re heading north as I said. We need to get to Heysham and, if we’re lucky, speak to the ghost of Naze.’

‘But we’ve told everyone the way we’re going. Why didn’t I pretend we were heading south?’

‘Because I’m hoping the Quisitor will pay a visit to the village on his way up here. Then, instead of searching for this house, he’ll head north and the hounds will pick up our trail. We’ve got to draw them away from the house. Some of the books in my library are irreplaceable. If he comes here, his men might loot this place and maybe burn it to the ground. No, I can’t risk anything happening to my books.’

‘But what about the boggart? Won’t it guard the house and gardens? How can they even get in without the risk of being torn to pieces? Or is it too weak now?’

The Spook sighed and stared down at his boots. ‘No, it’s still got strength enough to deal with the Quisitor and his men but I don’t want unnecessary deaths on my conscience. And even if it killed those who entered, some might get away. What more proof would they need then that I deserve to burn? They’d come back with an army. There’d be no end to it. No peace until the end of my days. I’d have to flee the County.’

‘But won’t they catch us anyway?’

‘No, lad. Not if we take the route over the fells. They won’t be able to use their horses and we’ll have a good few hours’ start. We have the advantage. We know the County well, but the Quisitor’s men are outsiders. Anyway, let’s get started. We’ve wasted enough time already!’

Heading for the fells, the Spook set off at a very fast pace. I followed as best I could, carrying his heavy bag as usual.

‘Won’t some of his men just ride ahead and wait for us at Caster?’ I said.

‘No doubt they will, lad, and if we were going to Caster, that could just be a problem. No, we’re going to pass the town to the east. Then we’re going southwest, as I just told you, to Heysham, to visit the stone graves. There’s the Bane still to be dealt with and time is running out. Talking to the ghost of Naze is our last chance to find out how to do it.’

‘And after that? Where will we go? Will we ever be able to come back here?’

‘I see no reason why we couldn’t in time. Eventually we’ll throw the Quisitor off our trail. There are ways to do that. Oh, he’ll search for a bit and make a nuisance of himself, no doubt. But before long he’ll go back to where he came from. To where he can keep himself warm during the coming winter.’

I nodded but I wasn’t entirely happy. I could see all sorts of flaws in the Spook’s plan. For one thing he might have set off strongly, but he still wasn’t fully fit and crossing the fells would be hard work. And they might just catch us before we reached Heysham. Then again, they might search for the Spook’s house anyway and burn it out of spite, especially if they lost our trail. And there was next year to worry about. In the spring the Quisitor was bound to come north again. He seemed like a man who’d never give up. I couldn’t see any way that life would ever return to normal. And another thought struck me…

What if they caught me? The Quisitor tortured people to make them answer questions. What if they forced me to tell them where I used to live? They confiscated or burned the homes of witches and warlocks. I thought of Dad, Jack and Ellie with nowhere to live. And what would they do when they saw Mam? She couldn’t go out in sunlight. And she often helped the local midwives with difficult deliveries and had a big collection of herbs and other plants. Mam would be in real danger!

I didn’t say any of this to the Spook because I could see that he was already weary of my questions.

We were high on the fells within the hour. The weather was calm and it looked like we’d have a fine day ahead.

If only I could have got out of my mind the reason we were up there, I’d have enjoyed myself because it was good walking weather. We’d only curlews and rabbits for company, and far to the north-west the distant sea was sparkling in the sunshine.

At first the Spook strode out energetically, leading the way. But long before noon he began to flag, and when we stopped and sat ourselves down close to a cairn of stones, he looked utterly weary. As he unwrapped the cheese, I noticed that his hands were trembling.