I halted close to the door and put my ear against the wood. I could hear nothing, so I inserted the key and turned it very slowly. There was a faint click as the lock yielded. Before I opened the door, I held the key high so that Alice could see what I was doing and threw it back toward the line of bushes. It was a good shot and it fell on the lawn, less than a pace away from where she was hiding. That done, I eased open the door very carefully and stepped inside. Once I'd closed it behind me, it locked itself shut. I waited, rooted to the spot for at least a minute, all the while listening for danger.Reassured by the silence, I moved through the hall-way to the main staircase. I paused and untied the silver chain from around my waist, coiling it about my left wrist, ready to throw. It was still daylight, so I didn't expect to meet Tibb yet, but I was more than ready for Wurmalde.In the hallway I halted again and peered about. It seemed empty, so I began to climb the stairs, pausing every time the wood gave the slightest creak. At last I reached the landing. Just ten steps would bring me to Father Stocks's room.I crept along, opened the door, and stepped inside. The heavy curtains had been drawn across the window again and it was very gloomy, but I could just see the outline of the priest lying on the bed."Father Stocks," I called softly.When he didn't answer, I went to the window and pulled back the curtains, flooding the room with light. I turned and walked back toward the bed.

Even before I reached it, my heart had begun to beat very rapidly.Father Stocks was dead. His mouth was wide open, unseeing eyes staring up at the ceiling. But he hadn't died as a result of Tibb taking his blood. The handle of a dagger was protruding from his chest.I felt upset and horrified at the same time, my mind reeling. I'd thought he would be safe enough until dark.I should never have left him alone. Had Wurmalde stabbed him? The blood on his shirt and the sheets appeared to come from the wound. Had she done it to cover up the fact that Tibb had taken his blood? But how could she hope to get away with murdering the priest?As I was staring horrified at the body of poor Father Stocks, someone stepped into the room behind me. I turned quickly, taken by surprise. To my dismay, it was Wurmalde. She glared at me before a faint smile appeared on her face. But I'd already pulled back my left arm, readying the silver chain. I was nervous, but I also felt very confident. I remembered my last training session with the Spook, when I'd hit the practice post a hundred times without missing even once.

A fraction of a second later I'd have cracked the chain and hurled it straight at the witch, but to my astonishment another figure came in through the doorway to stand at Wurmalde's shoulder, facing me, his forehead creased in a frown of displeasure. It was Master Nowell, the magistrate!"A thief and murderer stands before you!" Wurmalde crowed, the accusation strong in her voice. "Look at those bloodstains on his shirt and look what he holds in his left hand. That's silver, if I'm not mistaken."I stared at her, unable to speak, the words "thief" and "murderer" spinning around inside my head."Where did you get that silver chain from, boy?" Nowell demanded."It belongs to me," I said, wondering what Wurmalde had told him. "My mam gave it to me."I thought you came from a family of farmers?" he asked, the frown creasing his brow again. "Better think again, boy, because you'll need a more convincing explanation than that. It's hardly likely that a farmer's wife would own such a valuable item."It's just as I told you, Master Nowell," Wurmalde accused. "I heard a noise from your study and came downstairs in the dead of night to catch him red-handed. Otherwise you'd have lost even more than you have. He'd forced open the cabinet and was helping himself toyour poor dead wife's jewelry. He ran off before I could seize him, fleeing into the night like the thief and murderer he is, and when I went upstairs to tell Father Stocks what had happened, I found the poor priest as you see him now-dead in his bed, a knife plunged into his heart. Now, not content with murder and thieving that silver chain from somewhere, he's sneaked back into your home to see what else he can get his hands on."What a fool I'd been. It had never crossed my mind that Wurmalde would kill Father Stocks and then simply blame it on me.

When I opened my mouth to protest, Nowell stepped forward and seized my left shoulder in a strong grip before snatching the chain from my hand."Don't waste your time trying to deny it!" he told me, his face livid with anger. "Mistress Wurmalde and I watched you from the windows just now. We saw you circling the house with your accomplice. My men are outside, searching the grounds-she won't get far. Before this month is out you'll both hang at Caster!"My heart sank down into my boots. Now I knew forcertain that Wurmalde had used fascination and glamour to control Nowell, and he believed everything she said. No doubt she'd broken into the cabinet and stolen the jewelry herself. But it would be a waste of time for me to accuse her. I couldn't just come out with the whole truth either, because Nowell didn't believe in witchcraft."I'm not a thief, or a murderer," I told him. "I came to Pendle following thieves who not only stole trunks belonging to me but kidnapped my family. That's why I'm here -"Oh, don't you worry about that, boy. I intend to get to the root of the whole matter. Whether there's a glimmer of truth in what you say or your whole story is a pack of lies, we'll find out soon enough. Those who live in Malkin Tower have laughed at the law for far too long, and this time I intend to bring them to justice. If they're your accomplices or it's a case of thief against thief, we'll find out tomorrow. There's been a whole day's delay persuading the military of the need to come here. But I intend to send all within that tower to Caster in chains forquestioning, and you'll be going with them, under armed guard! Now empty out your pockets. Let's see what else you've thieved!"I had no choice but to obey. Instead of stolen goods, salt and iron showered down onto the floor.

For a moment Nowell looked puzzled, and I feared that he would then search my person and discover the keys around my neck, but Wurmalde gave him a strange smile and a vacant expression settled on his face before being succeeded by a new resolve. With a frown he marched me down into the servants' quarters and locked me in a holding cell that was used by the constable. It was a small room with a stout door, and without my special key I'd no hope at all of getting out. He kept my chain, and Alice had my staff. I had nothing with which to defend myself.As for Alice, I knew that she'd have sniffed out Nowell's men and fled the grounds before they'd gotten anywhere near her.

That was the good news. The bad news was that it was very unlikely that she'd try to getinto the house and free me tonight. It was just too dangerous. And she couldn't rescue my family without me. Time was passing, ticking toward the midnight deadline set by Wurmalde. If I didn't give her my keys by then, she would hand Jack, Ellie, and Mary over to Grimalkin to be tortured. It didn't bear thinking about.But while Alice was free, I still had some hope of rescue. If not tonight, she'd do her best tomorrow -if I was still alive when dawn came. Wurmalde might visit me in the night to make one final demand for the keys. Or, worse -she might send Tibb.A little while later, as I lay there in the darkness of the cell, I heard a key turning in the lock. Quickly I came to my feet and moved back to the far corner of the room. Dare I hope? Could it be Alice?But to my disappointment and dismay, Wurmalde came in carrying a candle and closed the door behind her. I looked at her voluminous skirts and wondered if Tibb had entered the cell with her."Things may seem grim, but they're not hopeless," she said with a thin smile. "Everything can be put to rights. All it would take is the keys to the trunks. Give me what I want, and by tomorrow evening you could be on your way back home with your family-"Yes, and be hunted down as a murderer. I can never go home now."