The Spooks battle

"You've grown, child," said the witch. "So much so that I hardly recognize you. But you still smell like family, and that's enough for me. But who's the stranger with you? Who's the boy?"It's my friend Tom," Alice said.The dead witch stared hard at me and sniffed the air. Then she frowned and opened her mouth to reveal two jagged rows of blackened teeth."He's a strange one, that," she said. "Don't smell right and his shadow's too long. He's not good company for a young girl like you!"A shaft of moonlight had pierced the trees, casting our shadows along the ground. My shadow was very long, at least twice the length of Alice's and Maggie's -something that always happens in moonlight. I never give it much thought. I've just gotten used to it."Better choose friends from your own kind," continued the witch. "That's what you should do. Anything else only ends in sorrow and regret. You'd be better off rid of him. Give him to me, that's a good girl. The hunt ain't gone well tonight, and my tongue is bone-dry. So give me the boy…"With those words the dead witch thrust out her tongue so far that, momentarily, it hung well below her chin."No, Maggie-need something juicier than him, you do," Alice said. "Ain't got much meat on his bones, and his blood's too thin for your taste. No, back yonder, that's where the hunting's good tonight," she 'went on, pointing back the way we'd come.

"Mouldheel blood is what you need."Be there Mouldheels back there?" asked Maggie, raising her head and gazing through the trees while ru

Chapter VII

Alice's Tale

WITHIN an hour or so we were knocking on the presby-tery.Both Father Stocks and theSpook had returned and at first my master was angry that I'd gone off by myselfAs we sat down at the kitchen table. I noticed that the mirror above the fireplaceHad been turned to the wall.It was still dark, and Father Stocks had obviously taken that wise precaution against being spied on by witches.My master made me give a detailed account of what had happened, and by the time I'd finished, Father Stocks had placed four bowls of hot chicken soup on the table.

As my master clearly had no desire to face the witches just yet, it seemed we weren't fasting, so I wolfed down the soup gratefully.Of course, although I explained how we'd had to flee the Mouldheels, I didn't mention that Alice had talked to the dead witch. I didn't think that would be the kind of thing the Spook would like to hear. To him, it would be an indication of how close Alice still was to her family and how little we could trust her."Well, lad," he said, dunking a big slice of crusty bread into his steaming soup, "though you were foolish to go off alone with that girl in the first place, all's well that ends well. But now I'd like to hear what Alice has to say," he went on, looking at her. "So start at the begi

"Spent a day and a night sniffing around before the Mouldheels caught me," Alice began. "Long enough to find things out. Went to talk to Agnes Sowerbutts, one of my aunts, and she told me most of it. Some things are as clear as the nose on your face. Ain't too difficult to work out what's going on there. But other things are a mystery. As I told Tom, his brother Jack and his family are prisoners in the dungeons under Malkin Tower. No surprise, that. No surprise either that the Malkins done it. Tom's trunks are there, too. And having real trouble with them three big ones, they are. Got the little boxes open easy enough, but they can't get into the big trunks.

They don't know what's in 'em either. Just that it's something well worth having-"How did they know about the trunks in the first place?" the Spook interrupted."Got themselves a seer,' 'Alice said. "Calls himself Tibb. Sees things at a distance, he does, but can't see into the trunks. Just knows they're worth opening. Knows about Tom, too; sees the future and thinks Tom's a real serious threat. More dangerous even than you," she said, nodding toward the Spook. "Can't afford to let him grow up. Want Tom dead, the Malkins do. But first they want Tom's keys-so that they can open his mam's trunks."Who is this so-called seer?" asked the Spook, a touch of disdain in his voice. "Was he born and bred in the County?"My master didn't believe that anyone could see into the future, but I'd witnessed a few things that made me think he could be wrong. Mam wrote to me before we finally faced the Priestown Bane. She'd predicted what was likely to happen and had been proved right."Born in the County, after a fashion, but Tibb ain't human," answered Alice. "One glance at him tells you that -"You've seen him?" asked the Spook."Seen him all right, and so has Tom. We saw him in a mirror. The Mouldheels kept me prisoner in a cellar most of the time, and there were mirrors in there, so they could keep an eye on me.

But Tibb was too strong and used one of those Mouldheel mirrors to scry and spy for himself. He's seen that I'm here, but more importantly he knows that Tom rescued me. Ugly, he is, with sharp teeth. Small but strong and dangerous. Only got three toes on each foot, too. No, he ain't human-that's for sure."So where's he from? I've not heard of him before," said my master."Last Halloween the Malkins called a truce with the Deanes, and both covens got together to make Tibb. Put a big boar's head in a cauldron and cooked it. Boiled off all the pig flesh and brains and made it into brawn. Each member of the covens spat into it thirteen times. Then they fed it to a sow. Seven months or so later they slit open the sow's belly, and out crawled Tibb. Ain't got much bigger since, but he's stronger than a fully grown man."Sounds more a tale of dreaming than waking," said the Spook wryly, an edge of mockery in his voice. "Where did you hear it? From your aunt?"Some of it. The rest from the Mouldheel sisters -Mab, Beth, and Je

"One other thing you should know," she went on, biting at her bottom lip before taking a deep breath. "While I was a prisoner of the Mouldheels, the Deanes and Malkins came a-calling. Just a couple of each, that's all. Talked round the fire outside, they did-T was too far away to hear most of what 'was said, but I think they 'were trying to persuade Mab to help them do something. But I clearly saw Mab shake her head and send them away."The Spook frowned in puzzlement. "Why would the Malkins and Deanes speak to a mere girl about something like that?" he asked."A lot's changed since you were last here, John," Father Stocks observed thoughtfully. "The Mouldheel coven is growing in power and starting to present a serious challenge to the other two. And it's a new generation that's responsible. Mab can't be much more than fourteen, but she's more menacing than a witch twice that age. She's already the leader of the whole clan, and the others fear her. It's said that she's an expert server and can read the future better than any witch has ever done before. Perhaps this Tibb is something the Malkins have bred to counter her growing power."Then let's hope she doesn't change her mind and join with the other covens," the Spook said gravely. "Tibb sees things at a distance, you say," he continued, directing his words toward Alice. "Is it a type of long-sniffing?"Long-sniffing and scrying together, it is," explained Alice. "But he can't do it all the time. Needs to drink fresh human blood."