The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney Read Free Book Online Page A

shiver run up and down my spine. It almost made me think that they were listening to us.
    Then we came out into a clearing, and directly ahead was a house. It was surrounded by a tall hawthorn hedge so that just its upper storey and the roof were visible. From the chimney rose a line of white smoke. Straight up into the air it went, undisturbed until, just above the trees, the wind chased it away to the east.
    The house and garden, I noticed then, were sitting in a hollow in the hillside. It was just as if an obliging giant had come along and scooped away the ground with his hand.
    I followed the Spook along the hedge until we reached a metal gate. The gate was small, no taller than my waist, and it had been painted a bright green, a job that had been completed so recently that I wondered if the paint had dried properly and whether the Spook would get it on his hand, which was already reaching towards the latch.
    Suddenly something happened that made me catch my breath. Before the Spook touched the latch, it lifted up on its own and the gate swung slowly open as if moved by an invisible hand.
    ‘Thank you,’ I heard the Spook say.
    The front door didn’t move by itself because first it had to be unlocked with the large key that the Spook pulled from his pocket. It looked similar to the one he’d used to unlock the door of the house in Watery Lane.
    ‘Is that the same key you used in Horshaw?’ I asked.
    ‘Aye, lad,’ he said, glancing down at me as he pushed open the door. ‘My brother, the locksmith, gave me this. It opens most locks as long as they’re not too complicated. Comes in quite useful in our line of work.’
    The door yielded with a loud creak and a deep groan, and I followed the Spook into a small, gloomy hallway. There was a steep staircase to the right and a narrow flagged passage on the left.
    ‘Leave everything at the foot of the stairs,’ said the Spook. ‘Come on, lad. Don’t dawdle. There’s no time to waste. I like my food piping hot!’
    So leaving his bag and my bundle where he’d said, I followed him down the passage towards the kitchen and the appetizing smell of hot food.
    When we got there I wasn’t disappointed. It reminded me of my mam’s kitchen. Herbs were growing in big pots on the wide window ledge and the setting sun was dappling the room with leaf-shadows. In the far corner a huge fire was blazing, filling the room with warmth, and right at the centre of the flagged floor was a large oaken table. On it were two enormous empty plates and, at its centre, five serving dishes piled high with food next to a jug filled to the brim with hot, steaming gravy.
    ‘Sit down and tuck in, lad,’ invited the Spook, and I didn’t need to be asked twice.
    I helped myself to large slices of chicken and beef, hardly leaving enough room on my plate for the mound of roasted potatoes and vegetables that followed. Finally I topped it off with a gravy so tasty that only my mam could have done better.
    I wondered where the cook was and how she’d known we’d be arriving just at that exact time to put out the hot food ready on the table. I was full of questions but I was also tired, so I saved all my energy for eating. When I’d finally swallowed my last mouthful, the Spook had already cleared his own plate.
    ‘Enjoy that?’ he asked.
    I nodded, almost too full to speak. I felt sleepy.
    ‘After a diet of cheese, it’s always good to come home to a hot meal,’ he said. ‘We eat well here. It makes up for the times when we’re working.’
    I nodded again and started to yawn.
    ‘There’s lots to do tomorrow so get yourself off to bed. Yours is the room with the green door, at the top of the first flight of stairs,’ the Spook told me. ‘Sleep well, but stay in your room and don’t go wandering about during the night. You’ll hear a bell ring when breakfast’s ready. Go down as soon as you hear it -when someone’s cooked good food they may get angry if you let it go cold. But don’t