I wasn’t sure.

‘You’re a brave lad, the bravest that was ever apprenticed to me. But that’s what you are, an apprentice, and we mustn’t let ourselves lose sight of that. So get back there with you!’ he said, waving me away.

I did as I was told and trudged my way back to the ruined chapel. Alice was asleep so I sat down next to her for a few moments but I couldn’t settle. I was restless because I really wanted to know what the ghost of Naze would have to say for itself. As for the Spook’s warning about the Bane rummaging through my mind while I was sleeping, it didn’t worry me that much. We were safe from the Bane here, and if the Spook found out what he needed to know, it would all be over for the Bane by tomorrow night.

So I left the ruins again and crept along the wall nearer to the Spook. It wasn’t the first time I’d disobeyed my master, but it was the first time so much had been at stake. I sat down with my back against the wall and waited. But not for long. Even at that distance I began to feel very cold and kept shivering. One of the dead was approaching, but was it the ghost of Naze?

A faint glimmer of light began to form above the smaller of the two graves. It wasn’t particularly human in shape, just a luminous column hardly up to the Spook’s knees. Immediately I heard him begin to question it. The air was very still, and even though the Spook was keeping his voice low, I could hear every word he said.

‘Speak!’ said the Spook. ‘Speak, I command you!’

‘Leave me be! Let me rest!’ came the reply.

Although Naze had died when he was young and in the prime of life, the voice of the ghost sounded like that of a very old man. It croaked and rasped and was filled with utter weariness. But that didn’t necessarily mean this wasn’t his ghost. The Spook had told me that ghosts didn’t speak as they had in life. They communicated directly to your mind and that was why you could understand one that had lived many ages ago; one that might have spoken a very different language.

‘John Gregory’s my name and I’m the seventh son of a seventh son,’ said the Spook, raising his voice. ‘I’m here to do what should have been done long ago; here to put an end to the evil of the Bane and give you peace at last. But there are things that I need to know. First, you must tell me your name!’

There was a long pause and I thought the ghost wasn’t going to answer but at last it replied.

‘I am Naze, the seventh son of Heys. What do you wish to know?’

‘It is time to finish this once and for all,’ said the Spook. ‘The Bane is free and soon will grow to its full power and threaten the whole land. It must be destroyed. So I’ve come to you for knowledge. How did you bind it within the catacombs? How can it be slain? Can you tell me that?’

‘Are you strong?’ the voice of Naze rasped. ‘Can you close your mind and prevent the Bane from reading your thoughts?’

‘Aye, I can do that,’ said the Spook.

‘Then maybe there is hope. I will tell you what I did. How I bound the Bane. Firstly, I made a pact giving it my blood to drink. Three more times after could it drink, and in return three times it must obey my commands. At the deepest point of the catacombs of Priestown is a burial chamber which contains the urns holding the dust of our ancient dead, the founding fathers of our people. It was to that chamber that I summoned the Bane and gave it my blood to drink. In return I proved myself to be a hard taskmaster.

‘The first time I demanded that the Bane should never more return to the barrows and keep well clear of this area where my father and brothers are buried, because I wanted them to rest in peace. The Bane groaned in dismay because the barrows were its favourite dwelling place, where it lay through the daylight hours hugging the bones of the dead and sucking the last of the memories contained within them. But a pact was a pact and it had no option but to obey. When I summoned it for a second time, I sent it questing to the ends of the earth in search of knowledge, and it was away for a month and a day, giving me all the time that I needed.

‘For then I set my people to work, making and fitting the Silver Gate. But even upon its return the Bane knew nothing of this because my mind was strong and I kept my thoughts hidden.

‘After giving it my blood for the final time, I told the Bane what I required, crying out in a loud voice the price that it must pay.

‘ “You are bound to this place!” I commanded. “Confined to the inner catacombs with no way out. But because I would wish no being, however foul, to endure without even a glimmer of hope, I have built a Silver Gate. If anyone is ever foolish enough to open that gate in your presence, you may pass through it to freedom. However, following that, if you ever return to this spot, you will be bound here for all eternity!”

‘Thus the softness of my heart dictated to me and the binding was not as firm as it might have been. During my lifetime I was filled with compassion for others. Some considered it a weakness and on this occasion they were proved correct. For I could not doom even the Bane to an eternity of imprisonment without offering it a faint chance of escape.’

‘You did enough,’ said the Spook. ‘And now I’m going to finish the job. If we can only get it back there it will be bound for ever! That is a start. But how can it be slain? Can you tell me that? This creature is so evil now, binding it is no longer enough. I need to destroy it.’

‘Firstly it must have taken on the mantle of flesh. Secondly it must be deep within the catacombs. Thirdly its heart must be pierced with silver. Only if all three conditions are met will it finally die. But there is a great risk for he who attempts this. In its death throes the Bane will release so much energy that its slayer will almost certainly die.’

The Spook gave a deep sigh. ‘I thank you for that knowledge,’ he said to the ghost. It will be hard but it must be done, whatever the cost. But your task is now complete. Go in peace. Pass over to the other side.’

In reply the ghost of Naze groaned so deeply that the hair began to move on the back of my neck. It was a groan filled with agony.

‘There’ll be no peace for me,’ moaned the ghost wearily. ‘No peace until the Bane is finally dead…’

And with those words the small column of light faded away. Wasting no time, I moved back along the wall and into the ruins once more. A few moments later the Spook walked in, lay down on the grass and closed his eyes.

‘I’ve some serious thinking to do,’ he whispered.

I didn’t say anything. Suddenly, I felt guilty for listening to his conversation with Naze’s ghost. Now I knew too much. I was afraid that if I told him, he’d send me away and face the Bane alone.

‘I’ll explain at first light,’ he whispered. ‘But for now, get some sleep. It’s not safe to leave this spot until the sun comes up!’

To my surprise, I slept quite well. Just before dawn I was awakened by a strange grating sound. It was the Spook, sharpening the retractable blade in his staff with a whetstone that he’d taken from his bag. He worked methodically, occasionally testing it with his finger. At last he was satisfied and there was a click as the blade snapped back into the staff.

I clambered to my feet and stretched my legs for a few moments, while the Spook reached down, unfastened his bag again and rummaged around inside it.

‘I know exactly what to do now,’ he said. We can defeat the Bane. It can be done but it’ll be the most difficult task I’ve ever had to undertake. If I fail, it will go hard with all of us.’

‘What has to be done?’ I asked, feeling bad because I knew already. He didn’t answer and he walked right past me towards Alice, who was sitting up, hugging her knees.

He tied the blindfold in position and inserted the first of the wax earplugs. iSTow for the other one, but before it goes into place listen well to me, girl, because this is important,’ he said. ‘When I take this out tonight, I’ll speak to you right away and you must do what I say immediately and without question. Do you understand?’