Hollow Pike (34 page)

‘I don’t know what you mean!’ Lis screamed. She saw tears well up and spill from Delilah’s eyes. Even hard-as-nails Kitty was wide-eyed with fear.

‘Really?’ Gray smiled. ‘That’s not true, is it?
Witch!
’

He was calling her a witch? Shouldn’t it be the other way round? She glanced around the room, absorbing everything. Candles burned on the window ledges and on the teacher’s desk
where they surrounded a bronze bowl of burning incense, which filled the air with the pungent peppery smell Lis had already noticed. It was as if they’d all been transported back in time,
hundreds of years, to the dark days – the
darkest
days – of Hollow Pike. Lis remembered the old etchings of burning torches and burning bodies, and the tortured faces of the
witches tied to the stake as eager crowds looked on in glee.

And then she got it.
The Crucible
. The jigsaw was finished and it wasn’t a pretty picture.

‘What are you?’ she asked in a low voice.

‘Well, that’s exactly what I was going to ask you!’ He smiled. ‘We are The Righteous Protectors. I doubt you’ll have heard of us; we’re not really down with
the kids. We don’t have a Facebook page.’

Oh, she’d heard of them. Suddenly she wished she’d taken the time to read Dandehunt’s book herself.

‘I’ve heard about you,’ she said.

The adults in the room bristled. The colour drained from Jennifer Rigg’s face. ‘I knew it. They’ve known about us the whole time.’

‘Be quiet,’ Gray ordered. ‘And just what did you hear?’

Lis paused. Play dumb or tell the truth? She figured it was much too late to play innocent. These were the professionals after all. ‘You’re some sort of church group . . . From years
ago. You protect Hollow Pike? You chase away the ghosts and goblins.’

The adults laughed, except Gray, whose expression was suddenly overcast, a storm brewing.

‘Do you think this is a joke?’ he growled. ‘Our ancestors founded the Righteous Protectors almost four hundred years ago to purge this town of people like you! The townsfolk,
your so-called “healers” and “wise women” were sinners. They danced with the devil and look what they got: children started to disappear, plague arrived. The witches hexed
this town. We purified Hollow Pike.’

He reached under the neck of his shirt and pulled out a delicate silver cross, identical to the one Lis had seen Jennifer wearing at her home. ‘Our families have continued God’s work
for hundreds of years,’ he went on.

‘You’re related?’

‘Not all of us. Names change over the years, but
we’re
all Sternes. Meet my cousin and my grandmother. The Sternes were right there at the beginning, the proudest
witch-finders – we even helped translate the
Malleus Maleficarum
. You’re not the first witches we’ve dealt with.’

‘We’re not witches!’ Lis exclaimed truthfully.

Again, the little congregation laughed heartily. ‘Then what would you call yourself, deary?’ Daphne spoke up from her chair.

‘Nothing! I’m just a girl.’

‘Lis!’ Gray chastised. ‘You have such low self-esteem! You’re so much more than just a girl!’ He knelt before her, examining her keenly. ‘Haven’t you
ever had a dream, Lis – a dream where you see things that haven’t happened yet? Haven’t you ever had a feeling of déjà vu that you couldn’t quite place?
Haven’t you ever noticed the way birds seem to follow you?’

A tear stung Lis’s eye and rolled down her cheek. He knew her better than she knew herself. She gave her ties an experimental tug but she was tightly bound. ‘I don’t know what
you mean.’

Mr Gray wiped her tears away, and she flinched at his touch. ‘That’s interesting. In the past, witches couldn’t cry under torture – it was one way of spotting a
malefica
. You must be very powerful indeed. We’ve been watching and listening closely, Lis. Does the name Rushworth mean anything to you?’

Saying nothing, she nodded. Her gran – her mother’s mother – had been Vida Rushworth, that much was true.

‘Everything changed when you arrived,’ Jennifer spat. ‘Laura’s dreams began . . .’

‘Please,’ Lis begged. ‘I don’t know what you mean!’

Gray sighed, becoming impatient. ‘OK, I suppose there’s time for a brief history lesson. Sitting comfortably? So, our ancestors, the Righteous Protectors, first rode into this
hellhole nearly four hundred years ago. It had quite the reputation, as I’m sure you’re aware. They stormed the forests and dragged the witch women from their homes. In accordance with
the holy law, the witches were tried, convicted and executed.’

‘You mean they were tortured until they confessed?’ Lis demanded angrily.

Gray’s nostrils flared, but he didn’t rise to her taunt. ‘Unfortunately,’ he continued, ‘some of their bastard children survived. Some of the locals felt sorry for
them, can you believe that? They looked upon the witches as “healers” and that sort of thing. The pitiful creatures got wind of us coming and agreed to hide the witches’
spawn.’

Suddenly, Lis saw where this was heading. It was impossible, though. She would have known. Someone would have told her – her mum or gran . . .

‘The Rushworth family was one of those suspected of taking in these devil children and raising them as their own. We could never prove it though . . . until now. Laura was a Rushworth
witch. And so are you.’

‘What?’ Lis demanded softly.

Jennifer spoke very quietly, candlelight flickering across her glacial features. ‘She was adopted. I . . . I couldn’t have my own children . . .’

Daphne moved across to Jennifer’s side. ‘It wasn’t your fault, Jenny. You couldn’t have known you were taking in a witch.’

Gray gripped Lis’s shoulders, his voice suddenly deep and deadly serious. ‘How could we have been so stupid? The oldest Protector family in Hollow Pike and we almost allowed our
bloodline to be tainted.’ Suddenly, the weird light tone returned. ‘That’s right, Lis, your grandmother was Laura’s great-aunt. Only neither of them knew it because
Laura’s
real
mother never told anyone she was pregnant!’With a flourish, Gray produced Laura’s journal from his inside pocket and showed it to the room.

He must have picked it up in the office after he punched me
, Lis thought. She saw Mrs Rigg flinch.

‘Jenny, do you want to do this bit, or shall I?’ Gray asked.

‘Simon, please don’t,’ she replied in her clipped, fake accent.

Gray smiled. ‘We don’t know how you did it, but you somehow managed to get hold of Laura’s other diaries, didn’t you? But you’ve been looking for this one, I
understand. And rightly so! It’s a page turner! The one where Laura finally learns who she really is – a witch.’

Lis pursed her lips. She tried to make eye contact with Kitty, wondering if Kitty’s restraints were any more breakable than hers, but Kitty was nearest to Daphne, and on Daphne’s lap
lay a nasty-looking ornate knife. It was some sort of ceremonial dagger with a leather hilt and a long, wavy blade. Lis was too far away to see it, but she knew the blade had a delicate pattern
inscribed into the metal. She knew it because she had seen the knife before – in her dreams.

‘So I’m guessing Laura was your coven leader, right?’ Mr Gray asked Lis. ‘She wouldn’t have had it any other way.’

Lis was about to deny this when she noticed Kitty shaking her head. Did Kitty have a plan? Lis wasn’t sure, but as long as Mr Gray was talking, he wasn’t using the dagger.
Play
along with him
. And where was Jack? And Danny?
Oh, God, poor Danny!
If one of them had called the police, all she had to do was keep Gray talking. At the same time, she continued to rub
her wrists together, trying to loosen the tape that held her.

‘Whatever,’ Lis said with as much conviction as she could muster.

‘Four witches make a coven. A new coven in Hollow Pike. We can’t have that. Now Kitty and Delilah we’ve suspected for a long time – Kitty, you’re a witch through
your grandfather of course, and we all know about your mother, don’t we, Delilah?’ Behind their gags, Kitty looked puzzled, obviously oblivious to her supposed witch bloodline, while
Delilah’s eyes flashed with rage. Mr Gray continued. ‘You made four when you came here, Lis, and that’s when Laura started having the dreams, started asking her father questions.
He told her she was adopted and then it was only a matter of time before the four of you started practising dark magic. We had to end it.’

Lis’s heart broke on the spot. Oh, poor Laura, suffering the nightmares all by herself. She’d been going through the same things as Lis but with no one to talk to. No wonder her last
few months had been so tumultuous! Lis knew exactly what that felt like, but at least she’d had the others in the end. If only Laura had opened up that day on the field, things could have
been so different. But the Righteous Protectors had killed her, just like they were going to kill Lis and her friends now.

A hot tear trickled down her cheek. She understood everything now. They were linked. All of them. On her first day at Fulton she’d been drawn to Laura as much as to the others. Perhaps
some sort of magnetism in their bloodline had pulled them together. But Lis had been too late to reach Laura. Much too late.

Her gaze fell on Mrs Rigg and something new blossomed in Lis: anger. ‘You killed your own daughter!’ she exclaimed, aghast.

‘She wasn’t my daughter, not any more,’ Mrs Rigg replied icily. ‘She belonged to Satan. You all do. When she told me about the dreams, the birds, I knew she was in league
with the devil. There was nothing I could do. She had to die.’

‘Right, you keep telling yourself that!’ Lis snapped. She couldn’t keep that one in.

The older woman marched across the room, rage burning across her face. ‘You little bitch!’ She pulled back her arm ready to strike, but Gray intervened, catching her hand.

‘Don’t get too close,’ he told her. ‘It could be a trick. Remember what you’re dealing with.’

‘You said the pepper would protect us from spells,’ Jennifer said, pointing at the pot on the desk.

‘You can never be too careful with witches . . .’

They’re scared of me!
Lis realised. Could she use that? She tried to give them a compelling look, but it probably just came across as sullen. The tape around her wrists was
loosening, though. As subtly as she could, she tried to wriggle her fingers out from the bindings.
Play for time
, she told herself.

‘So you killed Laura?’ Lis remarked. ‘Nice. She hadn’t done anything wrong.’

‘We knew there’d be four of you so we started the search straight away,’ Gray told her. ‘We traced the family trees. You three, all from old Hollow Pike families, thick
as thieves. Didn’t take much to figure it out, to be honest. We’ve been watching you ever since.’

‘It was you outside my room last night!’ Lis suddenly realised. ‘You pervert!’

Gray winked. ‘You put on quite a show with Mr Marriott, by the way. It was so easy – I heard you tell him you were looking for the diary at school, we just had to wait here until you
were dumb enough to break in. I wish it had been someone else though, not you guys. You guys are great! Every school needs its freaks!’

‘Well, then, let us go! We haven’t done any witchcraft. We’re not
evil
.’

He stood tall, serious and business-like. The fire of hatred burned in him. ‘I’m sorry, Lis. Do you know how important being a Righteous Protector is? It’s everything. A
blessed role.
A God-given duty
. The Righteous Protectors are what stand between good and evil. We’re everywhere, Lis, quietly keeping the world safe from your kind.’

‘Your power is evil,’ chipped in Daphne. ‘It’s in your blood.’

‘That’s not true!’ Lis cried. ‘Do I look evil to you?’

‘Sorry, Lis. That’s not how it works. It doesn’t matter how you
look
. Evil can take many forms.’ Gray turned to the others. ‘Right, how do we do this? Which
one first?’

‘Wait!’ Lis pleaded. ‘Kitty and Delilah have nothing to do with any of this. They’re nothing . . . It’s just me! Let them go.’

Daphne shook her head. ‘Always four!’ she screeched and grinned. ‘You, Laura, Kitty and Delilah!’

And then, out of nowhere a silver object flashed through the candlelight – a pair of scissors curling around Mr Gray’s neck like the deadliest of snakes.

A skinny hand clutched the blade to the teacher’s throat.

‘And Jack,’ said Jack.

Living the Dream

Jack’s hand trembled, one blade of the scissors digging into the stubble on Gray’s neck. Lis could see that Jack’s eyes were wide open and wild with fear.
‘Right. This is what’s gonna happen,’ he said. ‘If anyone moves I will cut Mr Gray’s throat, and I mean it, I will.’

‘Who’s he?’ asked Jennifer, staring at Jack.

Lis had never been so pleased to see anyone in her entire life. This was her moment. She finally managed to tug her hands free and bent down to pull the tape off her legs. As she did so,
Jennifer snatched the dagger from Daphne and swung in for the kill, but she stopped when Gray yelped in pain.

‘Put down the knife! Now!’ Jack barked, drawing a drop of blood.

‘Jack. Just relax. We all know you aren’t going to hurt your teacher. You’re one of the good boys . . .’ Gray cooed, trying to charm him.

‘Yeah, well, it’s always the quiet ones . . .’ Jack muttered. ‘Now, let them go. All of them. Do it!’ he snapped at Daphne and Jennifer.

Lis finally freed herself and kicked the chair out of the way. Jennifer had placed the dagger on the floor as instructed, but it was still nearer to her than to Lis. If Lis grabbed for it,
Jennifer could easily get to it first.

‘What are you waiting for? Move!’ Jack lacked conviction, panic broke his voice into a high-pitched squeak. Nonetheless, Daphne slowly started to untie Delilah.

What happened next was a blur. Moving like lightning, Mr Gray, a good five inches taller than Jack, swung to the side and wrapped his arms around him. In a heartbeat, he had floored Jack,
despite Jack’s efforts to jab him with the scissors. Distracted, Lis failed to see Jennifer reach for the dagger on the carpet until the woman was already bearing down on her with the blade.
Thinking fast, Lis grabbed a plastic chair and swung it at her face. The metal legs clanged against her skull and Jennifer fell back into Daphne’s arms with a pained screech.