‘That was Adriana’s father that Lizzie killed…’ I murmured.

Alice nodded. ‘And now Adriana will have been taken down to the dungeons to join Old Gregory. Didn’t take Lizzie long to start filling up those cells again, did it? We can’t let her just murder anybody she wants. We’ve got to do something, Tom.’

‘If we attack her, she could strike us stone dead with one of her spells. You saw what she did to the miller. She can force me to do things against my will – even smash the blood jar. In a few days she may be in control of this island and then she’ll think about taking her revenge on the Spook. We’ve got to get him out of that cell before she starts to really hurt him. It’s risky, but the only way out of this keep is through the buggane’s tunnels.’

My words were brave, but inside I shivered at the mere thought of the buggane. To come face to face with the daemon in its own domain would surely mean death.

‘You’re right, Tom, but we’ll have to choose a time when she’s not watching us. Soon as Lizzie finds out we’re gone, she’ll send it after us. Right now she’s busy giving orders to her new seneschal, consolidating her power here. And all the guards are on duty at the moment – they won’t be in the guardroom! Now – right now, is the time to make a move!’ she cried.

Alice was right. We had to strike – and now, when Lizzie would least expect it. If she caught us, she would show no mercy. Trying not to think of the risk of what we were attempting, I led Alice up to the study, where Lord Barrule had studied and practised animism. I opened the door and retrieved both the Spook’s staff and mine. As we turned to go, Alice picked up the shaman’s notebook.

‘What do you want that for, Alice?’ I asked with a frown, eager to get away before Lizzie returned.

‘Who knows what we might learn, Tom? It might come in useful. Besides, if we take it, then Lizzie can’t get her hands on it.’

I nodded – that was true enough. We hurried down through the throne room and descended the steps towards the dungeons. We passed safely through the guardroom and, taking a lantern from a hook, headed along the damp narrow passageway towards the dungeons.

There were a lot of cells but we didn’t need to check each one because the empty ones had their doors open. At last we came to two that were locked. I used my key and opened the first one to find Adriana sitting on the floor in the corner, her head in her hands. When she saw that it was us, she jumped up and rushed over.

‘What happened to my mother?’ she asked, her eyes full of tears.

‘They took her home,’ I said. ‘I’m really sorry, Adriana, about your father-’

‘She killed him then? They dragged me out before I could be sure what had happened.’ She looked at me, her dark eyes sorrowful.

‘Yes, she killed him,’ I admitted, bowing my head. I didn’t tell her about Lizzie summoning his spirit from Limbo; it would only have added to her pain.

‘My mother will find it hard to live without him,’ she said, beginning to sob. ‘Father was always so outspoken.’

‘He was brave,’ I said, ‘but he couldn’t have known what he was up against – how powerful Lizzie really is…’

‘We’re going to try and escape from the keep down the tunnels,’ Alice said, patting Adriana’s shoulder sympathetically. ‘It’ll be dangerous but it’s better than staying here.’

We left her cell, and I inserted my key into the lock of the next one. It was stiff, and for a few moments I struggled to turn the key. Eventually it yielded and I opened the door. Alice held up the lantern and we peered inside.

I saw the earthen wall and the tunnel in it. Then something moved. My heart lurched and I stepped back nervously. At first I thought it was the buggane, but then the Spook shuffled towards us, one hand raised to shield his eyes from the glare of the light. He’d been in the dark for a long time.

‘Well, lad, you’re a sight for sore eyes and no mistake.’

I smiled and handed him his staff. ‘I’ve lots of things to tell you but it’ll have to wait till later. The guards could come looking for us at any moment. We’re going to try and escape down the buggane’s tunnels. It’s either that or back up the stairs to face Lizzie. And she controls the yeomen now.’

The Spook nodded. ‘Then we’ve little choice. We don’t know where the tunnels lead, so we might as well try up here,’ he said, pointing back to the dark entrance in the earth wall of his own cell.

I suddenly wondered why he hadn’t already made his escape down that tunnel. Locked in my cell earlier, I’d made the decision not to risk it. But I was still an apprentice and he was the Spook; he must have thought that it would be his only chance to escape before being tortured and killed. Had he lacked the strength and courage to face the tunnel alone? I had little time to dwell on that thought before Alice spoke again.

‘We do know where one of the tunnels leads,’ she said. ‘The one from the long room where the dogs fought – it leads to that hollow tree…’

‘But it’s surrounded by a bone-yard, Alice,’ I reminded her.

‘It’s very dangerous, but I might be able to find Lizzie’s secret path out. I’m prepared to try.’

‘Make a mistake and you’d be crushed to death in seconds, girl,’ the Spook said, shaking his head.

‘Ain’t any better option,’ Alice retorted. ‘Otherwise we’ll be travelling blind through the buggane’s tunnels.’

The Spook sighed, then nodded his agreement. ‘Right, you lead the way then…’

We left his cell and followed the passageway along; soon it widened out and there were dry stone flags under our feet. We helped ourselves to more wall lanterns; we’d need as much light as possible in the tunnel. As we approached the long room, we heard loud barks; the stench of death and animal faeces was overpowering. We saw that the three wolfhounds were still locked in their cages and Lord Barrule’s rotting body lay where it had fallen next to the throne.

‘We should let the dogs out,’ I said. ‘They haven’t been fed. It might be days before anybody bothers to do anything about them.’

‘Take care, lad,’ the Spook warned me. ‘They’ve been cruelly treated – who knows how they’ll react?’

Warily, we released them. But the dogs neither attacked us nor fought each other. A couple bounded out of the room immediately, but most just wandered about forlornly. Claw, Blood and Bone, however, were pleased to see me. It was good to pat them again and see their tales wagging with excitement; their joy brought a lump to my throat. They were starving and dirty, and I felt angry at the way they’d been treated, but at least the shaman’s power over them was broken and they were their old selves again. When we entered the tunnel at the end of the room, they followed us in.

I took the lead, Alice at my heels, and the Spook followed behind Adriana in case we were attacked from the rear. The tunnel was just earth, with no wooden supports like a mine, and the thought of that weight of soil above us was scary. We could easily be buried alive down here; segments of tunnel must collapse all the time. There were roots visible too; sometimes they were twisted like snakes and I had to keep telling myself that they weren’t moving.

The lanterns were very much more effective than the candle stub we’d used the first time I came down here with Alice and Lizzie, and it wasn’t long before we saw the first of the bones: they weren’t lying in large piles, as in the lair of a bone witch, but we never went more than twenty yards without catching a glimpse of some fragment of a human skeleton. Sometimes it was a skull half buried in the side wall of the tunnel, or a fragment of a leg or arm bone, or just a few fingers or toes. However, I did not sense any lingering spirits here; they were just remains. I paused beside an almost intact human foot; only the little toe was missing. To the left of it was a skull; a tree root had twisted its way in through the left eye-socket and emerged from the right before continuing down into the soil.