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

way through the hedge
and set off for the nearest campfire without even a
backward glance.
     
    I went back towards the farmhouse and found
Arkwright chaining up his three dogs in the barn.
    'Don't like to do this, Master Ward, but it's for the
best. Claw's very territorial. Your farm dogs wouldn't
last long if I let her roam free.'
    'Have you decided? Are you coming with us to
Greece?' I asked.
    'That I am. My one worry is leaving the north of the
County unattended. No doubt there'll be more than
one water witch to deal with on my return, but your
mam's talked me round. She's a very persuasive
woman. So the County will just have to manage: for
now, the really important work lies across the sea.'
    'Has Mam said when we'll be leaving?' I asked. It
struck me that she wasn't telling me much at all.
    'In two days at the most, Master Ward. We'll be
travelling to Sunderland Point and sailing from there.
And don't worry about your old master, Mr Gregory.
He's set in his ways, but sometimes there are other
means to achieving the ends we seek. If he doesn't
come round, then you can always finish your
apprenticeship with me. I'd gladly take you on again.'
    I thanked him for his kind offer, but deep down I was still
    disappointed. Much as I liked Arkwright, he wasn't John Gregory and it hurt
    to think I wouldn't complete my apprenticeship with him as my master.
     
    I turned towards the farmhouse to see Jack bringing in
the cows for milking.
    'Who was that?' he asked. 'Another spook by the
looks of him.'
    'Yes,' I said. 'It was Bill Arkwright from the north of
the County. Mam sent for him.'
    'Oh,' he said, far from happy. 'Seems I'm the last to
know who's visiting my own farm these days.'
    Just then, carried on the breeze from the south, I
heard a strange keening noise, halfway between
singing and chanting. It was the witches, probably
carrying out some sort of ritual.
    'Mam says those witches are on our side,' Jack went
on grimly, with a nod towards the south meadow. 'But
what about the other lot from Pendle, the ones who
aren't? Won't they visit the farm again when you've
gone? When I'm alone here with just James and my
family? That's what Ellie fears. She's been under such
a lot of strain during the past two years. She's close to
breaking point.'
    I understood that. Ellie had always been afraid that my becoming
    a spook's apprentice would put them at risk from the dark. Her fears had proved
    well -founded, and last year she'd lost her unborn baby while a prisoner of
    the Malkins. There was nothing I could say to comfort Jack so I kept my mouth
    shut.

CHAPTER
6
A DREADFUL PROPHEC Y

    That night at supper it was just me, Mam and
James. It seemed that little Mary had an upset
stomach so Jack and Ellie had taken her to bed early,
but I suspected that my eldest brother wasn't happy
with all that was happening at the farm and was
staying away.
    Mam was cheerful and kept the conversation going,
but only James really responded much. Finally he went
off to bed, leaving me alone with Mam.
    'What's troubling you, son?' she asked.
    'I'm confused, Mam.'
    'Confused?'
    'Aye. Take the witches . . . Do we really need them?
They're clearly troubling Jack and Ellie, and without
them the Spook would probably have come with us to
Greece.'
    'Sorry, son, but we do. For one thing they're
excellent fighters, particularly Grimalkin, and we're
going to need all the forces we can muster in the battle
that faces us. The Ord is a terrifying place, and the
Pendle witches are just about the only creatures I know
who won't be too afraid to enter it. They all have their
part to play.'
    'What about Grimalkin's presents of the dark wish
and the blade? She said you'd agreed to her giving
them to me. How can it be right or safe to use anything
that comes from the dark? You sent me off to be Mr
Gregory's apprentice and now you're making me go
against everything he's taught me.'
    I saw a sadness in Mam's eyes. 'Only you can decide
whether or not to use those two