‘No, Tom!’ Alice cried in alarm. ‘Don’t listen to her. She’s created a bone-yard here and this tree’s right at its centre. You’ll be crushed as soon as you touch the ground!’

Although I’d never encountered one, I knew what a bone-yard was from my reading of the Spook’s Bestiary. Crafted by dark magic, it made the bones of any creature that entered it very heavy. They were unable to move and were trapped until the witch came, either to collect them for food or harvest their bones for dark magical purposes. Near the centre, the pressure was so great that the victim was crushed to death – though only something very fast, like a hare, would get that far before the magic forces took effect. But here we were right at its centre, in its eye – safe from its forces. If I left the hollow tree, however…

‘You’ve got a big gob on you, girl!’ Lizzie said angrily. ‘Wants stitching up again…’

Alice ignored her and pulled a small leather pouch from the pocket of her skirt. It contained the herbs she used for healing. She crawled towards me and peered closely at my forehead.

‘Nasty cut, that, Tom,’ she said. The inside of the tree trunk was wet in places and Alice collected some moisture with her fingers and used it to dampen a leaf before pressing it firmly against my skin. ‘That should do it, keep infection away – but you’ll have a scar. Nothing I can do about that.’

So I’d have another scar to add to the one on my ear where Morwena, the water witch, had once hooked me with her finger, driving the nail right through the flesh. It was all part of the job; to be expected when training for the dangerous job of spook.

Next Alice licked her lips and pressed small pieces of leaf against the holes around her mouth left by the twine. When she’d finished, she held a leaf out towards her mother, but Bony Lizzie shook her head.

‘I’ll heal myself, girl. Don’t need your help,’ she sneered, getting to her feet. ‘I’ll go and get my own rabbits. You two stay here if you know what’s good for you!’

With that she began to climb up the inside of the tree, pushing her head through the curtain of spider webs. She was soon lost to view in the darkness, but we could hear her pointy shoes scrabbling on bark, and then a soft thud as she dropped to the ground outside. Lizzie would be safe enough in her own bone-yard: a witch usually left a secret twisty path so she could move through it unharmed. She could also guide others through – but how could we force her to do that? Our only real option was to go back into the tunnels, but I didn’t fancy our chances against the buggane one bit.

‘Oh, Tom, is the blood jar safe? Do you still have it?’ Alice asked, her eyes full of anxiety.

‘Yes, it’s safe. I wasn’t searched. Barrule even let me keep my silver chain – but how were you caught, Alice?’ I wondered. ‘I saw you roll over and avoid the buggane, but then you just disappeared.’

‘I hid behind a tree so it couldn’t charge me again, but then Lizzie stole up on me – clamped her hand over my mouth, she did. I never sensed her coming – must have used some really powerful magic. She dragged me away and brought me here. Before that she’d been hidden here for days. They’d never have found her, but she took a risk because she wants Old Gregory really badly. Wants him dead, she does, in revenge for binding her in that pit in his garden. Wants to give him a slow, painful death.

‘So later that night we set off hunting for him. She had me bound fast under a spell and only half my head was working. Couldn’t object to anything she did or said. But she was too confident – didn’t even bother long-sniffing for danger. Thought she could deal with anything. When we were out in the open, the shaman’s men attacked us. She used dread and killed several of the yeomen, she did – some with her knives, a couple with curses – but there were too many of them. Eventually they beat her unconscious with the ends of their spears and dragged us to Greeba Keep.’

‘Did you see any of the other prisoners?’ I asked, thinking about Adriana.

Alice shook her head. ‘Saw nobody – put us in separate cells. They brought me up to the cage just before you came in. Didn’t see her again until they dragged her in to fight you. It’s been bad, Tom, really bad – especially when they stitched my lips together. But the worst part of all was when the buggane crawled out of the tunnel and sniffed at me. All hairy, it was, with big sharp teeth. I thought I was going to die and would never see you again…’

She began to sob, so I put my arms round her and hugged her tight. After a while she calmed down, and we sat there, holding hands for comfort.

‘Do you know anything about the spell that controls a bone-yard, Alice?’ I asked at last. ‘Could you find Lizzie’s secret path through it?’

‘Wouldn’t want me to use dark magic, Tom, would you? Can’t be asking me to do that…?’ There was an edge of sarcasm in Alice’s voice.

For a long time I had avoided using the dark in any way, even when I was fighting for my life. Alice had struggled to persuade me to use the blood jar. But my worries about my recent separation from her had largely been unfounded. She’d been close to Lizzie, and the Fiend couldn’t approach a witch who’d had a child by him.

‘It was just a thought, Alice. I can’t think of any other way of getting out of here. Not unless we risk the tunnels…’

‘We’d be better off doing that than tampering with Lizzie’s yard. It’s true that there’s a path through it, but it’s hard to find. Dangerous things to meddle with, they are. Make one mistake and you’re dead-’

Suddenly we heard a noise outside. Someone had started climbing down the tree. Moments later, Lizzie’s pointy shoes came into view and she dropped down the last few feet to stand before us, clutching something in her left hand.

‘Couldn’t find any rabbits so these will have to do,’ she spat, holding up three dead rats by their tails. She tossed one at our feet.

‘I can spare one but I’ll need the other two. Need to build up my strength for what’s ahead, and rat’s blood is as good as anything. It’ll do until I take your thumbs, boy!’

‘Over my dead body!’ Alice shouted, rising angrily to her feet.

Bony Lizzie gave a wicked smile. ‘Let’s hope it don’t come to that, girl. Calm down. I’ve another use for the boy that should allow him to keep breathing a little while longer – that’s if things go well.’

The witch sat down and, setting one rat aside, lifted the other by its long thin tail. She bit its head off and spat it out, then started to suck the blood from its neck; some dribbled out of her mouth and down her chin. She drank noisily, and the unpleasant sounds made me feel sick to my stomach. I shuddered, and Alice reached across and squeezed my hand.

Lizzie looked at our joined hands, lowered the rat and smirked. ‘What a fool you are, girl!’ she told Alice. ‘No man’s worth a second glance. Never get too close to ’em. This boy will bring you down for sure. Be the ruin of you. Many a good witch has gone soft because of a man.’

‘Me and Tom are good friends,’ Alice retorted. ‘That’s something you know nothing about. Eating rats and killing people – that’s all you’re good for. Why did I have to have a mother like you? What did you want with the Fiend? Couldn’t you find a normal man?’

Lizzie’s expression hardened and she glared at Alice. ‘I’ve had men, but none of ’em have lasted long. They liked pretty young things, they did. Know why? Because they’re scared. Scared of a real woman in her prime. They look at me, see what I am and run back to their mothers. Know how old I am, girl?’

Alice shook her head and squeezed my hand again.

‘I turned forty just a week ago, the day after Old Gregory’s house burned and I got out of the pit. A Pendle witch comes into her prime at forty and inherits her full power. Now I’ve got the strength to deal with anybody. You, daughter, could be even stronger one day.’ Lizzie gave me an evil smile, staring straight into my eyes. ‘Know what Alice is, boy? She’s my gift to the County…’