Spook's Destiny by Joseph Delaney Read Free Book Online

she left the County and returned to Ireland. But once outside, I’d no sooner released her from my silver chain than Bill Arkwright had thrown his knife into her back, killing her on the spot. Later he’d cut out her heart and it had been eaten by his dogs – thus ensuring that she could not return from the dead.
    So there was no way the same witch could be here in Ireland seeking revenge. I tried to convince myself of that, but I still felt uneasy and had a strong sense of foreboding – as if something had followed me back from the nightmare and was in the room with me.
    Suddenly, from the far corner of the room, just by the door, I heard a faint noise. Could it be a mouse or a rat?
    I listened carefully, but there was nothing. Maybe I’d been mistaken … Then it came again. This time it was like a footstep, and it was accompanied by another sound – one that filled me with new terror.
    It was the sizzle and hiss of burning wood.
    That sound brought back the memory of one of my worst experiences since becoming the Spook’s apprentice. It usually heralded the approach of the Fiend, his cloven hooves burning into the floorboards.
    My heart lurched up into my mouth as I heard the terrifying sounds twice more in quick succession. I could now actually smell the burning wood!
    But just when I thought the Fiend would appear by my side at any second, the sizzling ceased and the burning smell faded away. Then there was silence. I waited a long time before I dared to get out of bed. At last, summoning my courage, I got up, carrying my candle across to examine the floorboards. The last time I’d seen the Fiend manifest himself in this way, deep grooves had been burned into the floor. Here the prints had left only faint marks on the wood. But they were unmistakable: four cloven hoof prints leading from the door towards the bed.
    Trying not to wake the household, I went to fetch my master and Alice and brought them to my room. My master shook his head; Alice looked really scared.
    ‘There’s little doubt, lad,’ the Spook said. ‘It’s the Fiend for sure. I thought that jar was supposed to keep him at bay …’
    ‘Let me see it again, Tom,’ Alice demanded, holding out her hand.
    ‘I fell on the jar when we faced that first jibber,’ I told my master, handing it over. ‘But I showed Alice and she thought it was all right.’
    ‘Ain’t sure that it’s all right now,’ she said, shaking her head and looking worried.
    She carefully traced her finger along the line of the crack. When she held it up, there was a very faint red smear on it. ‘It’s hardly leaking at all – but there were only six drops of blood in the jar to start with. Its power to keep the Fiend at bay is slowly lessening. Time is running out for us …’
    She didn’t need to finish her sentence. As the jar’s power weakened, the Fiend would be able to get closer and closer. Eventually he’d snatch me away into the dark – and destroy Alice too in revenge for the help she’d given me.
    ‘We thought we had plenty of time to deal with the Fiend,’ I said to my master. ‘Now it’s becoming urgent. The jar could fail at any moment.’ I turned to Alice. ‘Why don’t you try and contact Grimalkin again?’
    ‘I’ll do my best, Tom. Just hope nothing’s happened to her.’
    The Spook said nothing, but his expression was grim. From his point of view it was all bad. By depending on the blood jar, we were already in collusion with the dark. If we didn’t summon Grimalkin, the jar would eventually fail and the Fiend would come for me and Alice – the Spook too if he tried to get in the way. But in asking for Grimalkin’s help, we were using the dark once again. I knew he felt trapped and compromised by the situation – and it was of my making.
     
    The night had been cold and windless, and a heavy hoar frost whitened the ground as we set off west for Kerry. The early morning sun glittered off the still-distant snow-clad peaks ahead. Yet