painfully into my hands and knees. Suddenly I heard a dull thud and a cry of pain. As I got shakily to my feet, Stanton spun away from me, reaching for his sword. He started to draw it, but then there was another thud and he fell to his knees, blood flowing down over his forehead.
‘Alice!’
She was standing facing me, holding a rock in her left hand. She’d used it to fell both Stanton and theremaining guard. A mixture of emotions came over me in waves: shock, relief, happiness and then fear again …
I heard shouts from the top of the hill and glanced up to see some of the guards heading towards us.
‘Run, Tom!’ Alice cried, throwing down the rock and sprinting into the trees.
I followed at her heels. The trees were old and mature to begin with, well-spaced with big branches. I glanced back and saw figures less than a hundred yards behind us now. We splashed across a stream and headed towards a denser part of the wood where the saplings hadn’t been coppiced. Before we entered the thicket, I looked behind again and saw to my satisfaction that our pursuers were no nearer. Now it would be a question of who had the greater endurance – or perhaps we could somehow lose them in the dense wood.
We ran on for five minutes, thin branches snapping as we passed, dead twigs crunching underfoot. We were making a lot of noise, but so were those followingus, and they seemed to be falling further and further behind.
Suddenly Alice halted and pointed to our left. She dropped to her knees and began to crawl into an even denser thicket. For some time we moved forward on all fours, doing our best to make as little noise as possible. Then we waited, listening out for our yeomen. We heard sounds in the distance, but they grew fainter and fainter and finally faded away altogether.
Alice reached across and took my hand. ‘Sorry, Tom. Did I give you a scare?’
‘I thought you were dead, Alice,’ I said, filling up with emotion again. ‘Don’t know how that guard made such a mistake …’
‘Didn’t make a mistake – not really. I stopped my own heart and breath. Easy when you know how. Lizzie used to make me practise it – it’s very useful when talking to spirits. Dangerous though. Some witches forget to start breathing again and never wake up!’
‘I wish I’d known what you intended to do,’ I said, squeezing her hand.
‘I didn’t know myself until I got into the barrel. No sooner wedged myself in than I thought of that and did it as soon as the barrel came to rest at the foot of the hill. Better than being taken to the buggane, ain’t it? Mind you, we didn’t get off scot-free!’
I smiled. She was right: we were both covered in gashes from the spikes and there were ragged tears in my shirt and breeches and Alice’s dress.
‘We both look like Mouldheels now!’ I joked, looking down at Alice’s muddy feet. The Mouldheel witch clan were well-known for their bare feet and ragged clothes.
‘Well, Tom, you certainly know how to make a girl feel good about herself,’ she said sarcastically. My face dropped, but then she gave me a warm smile and squeezed my hand again.
‘Poor Adriana,’ she went on after a while. ‘Told us how to survive but it ain’t done her much good. They’ll feed her to the buggane now for sure.’
We waited for about an hour before leaving ourhiding place, then headed south-east, towards the hill where the Spook had waited while we went down into Douglas. We just had to hope that he’d still be there.
We hadn’t been walking long when we heard dogs barking in the distance. ‘Sounds like tracker dogs!’ I said.
The animals seemed to be approaching us from the east. Just when we thought we were safe, the pursuit had begun again. If we were caught, we’d no doubt receive a good beating because of what Alice had done – before being taken to the buggane. We could expect little mercy.
Once again we began to run, but this time the sounds of pursuit drew steadily closer no
‘Alice!’
She was standing facing me, holding a rock in her left hand. She’d used it to fell both Stanton and theremaining guard. A mixture of emotions came over me in waves: shock, relief, happiness and then fear again …
I heard shouts from the top of the hill and glanced up to see some of the guards heading towards us.
‘Run, Tom!’ Alice cried, throwing down the rock and sprinting into the trees.
I followed at her heels. The trees were old and mature to begin with, well-spaced with big branches. I glanced back and saw figures less than a hundred yards behind us now. We splashed across a stream and headed towards a denser part of the wood where the saplings hadn’t been coppiced. Before we entered the thicket, I looked behind again and saw to my satisfaction that our pursuers were no nearer. Now it would be a question of who had the greater endurance – or perhaps we could somehow lose them in the dense wood.
We ran on for five minutes, thin branches snapping as we passed, dead twigs crunching underfoot. We were making a lot of noise, but so were those followingus, and they seemed to be falling further and further behind.
Suddenly Alice halted and pointed to our left. She dropped to her knees and began to crawl into an even denser thicket. For some time we moved forward on all fours, doing our best to make as little noise as possible. Then we waited, listening out for our yeomen. We heard sounds in the distance, but they grew fainter and fainter and finally faded away altogether.
Alice reached across and took my hand. ‘Sorry, Tom. Did I give you a scare?’
‘I thought you were dead, Alice,’ I said, filling up with emotion again. ‘Don’t know how that guard made such a mistake …’
‘Didn’t make a mistake – not really. I stopped my own heart and breath. Easy when you know how. Lizzie used to make me practise it – it’s very useful when talking to spirits. Dangerous though. Some witches forget to start breathing again and never wake up!’
‘I wish I’d known what you intended to do,’ I said, squeezing her hand.
‘I didn’t know myself until I got into the barrel. No sooner wedged myself in than I thought of that and did it as soon as the barrel came to rest at the foot of the hill. Better than being taken to the buggane, ain’t it? Mind you, we didn’t get off scot-free!’
I smiled. She was right: we were both covered in gashes from the spikes and there were ragged tears in my shirt and breeches and Alice’s dress.
‘We both look like Mouldheels now!’ I joked, looking down at Alice’s muddy feet. The Mouldheel witch clan were well-known for their bare feet and ragged clothes.
‘Well, Tom, you certainly know how to make a girl feel good about herself,’ she said sarcastically. My face dropped, but then she gave me a warm smile and squeezed my hand again.
‘Poor Adriana,’ she went on after a while. ‘Told us how to survive but it ain’t done her much good. They’ll feed her to the buggane now for sure.’
We waited for about an hour before leaving ourhiding place, then headed south-east, towards the hill where the Spook had waited while we went down into Douglas. We just had to hope that he’d still be there.
We hadn’t been walking long when we heard dogs barking in the distance. ‘Sounds like tracker dogs!’ I said.
The animals seemed to be approaching us from the east. Just when we thought we were safe, the pursuit had begun again. If we were caught, we’d no doubt receive a good beating because of what Alice had done – before being taken to the buggane. We could expect little mercy.
Once again we began to run, but this time the sounds of pursuit drew steadily closer no
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