Immediately we came to its summit, I was proved right. Mam was sitting in front of a fire gazing into the flames. She was sheltering under a refuge of branches, twigs and dead leaves which shielded her from the sunlight. Her hair was matted with dirt and it looked as if she hadn't washed for a long time. She'd lost weight too and her face was gaunt, her expression sad and weary, perhaps of life itself.
'Mam! Mam!' I said, sitting down beside her on the damp earth. 'Are you all right?'
She didn't answer right away and there was a faraway look in her eyes. At first I thought she hadn't heard me. But then, still staring into the fire, she put her left hand on my shoulder.
'I'm glad you're back, Tom,' she said at last. 'I've been waiting here for days .. .' 'Where've you been, Mam?'
She didn't answer, but after a long pause she looked up and met my eyes. 'I'll be on my way soon but we need to talk before I leave.'
'No, Mam, you're in no state to go anywhere. Why don't you go down to the farm and get some food inside you. You need a good night's sleep too. Does Jack know you're here?'
'He knows, son. Jack comes up to see me every day and begs me to do what you've just asked. But it's too painful to go down there now that your dad's not at home. It's hit me hard, Tom, and my heart is broken. But now that you've come at last, I'll force myself to go back down there one last time before I leave the County for ever.' 'Don't go, Mam! Please don't leave us!' I begged. Mam didn't reply but just stared into the flames. 'Think of your first grandson, Mam!' I continued desperately. 'Don't you want to see him born? Don't you want to see little Mary grow up either? And what about me? I need you! Don't you want me to complete my time and become a spook? You've saved me in the past and I might need your help again just to get that far...'
Still Mam didn't reply and Alice suddenly seated herself so that she was facing her directly across the fire. 'Not sure, are you?' she said to Mam, her eyes fierce in the firelight. 'You don't really know what to do.'
Mam looked up, her own eyes glistening with tears. 'How old are you, girl? Thirteen, is it?' she asked. 'You're just a child. So what can you know about my business?'
'May only be thirteen,' Alice retorted defiantly, 'but I know things. More things than some who've lived a whole lifetime. Some were taught me. Others I just know. Maybe I was born knowing them. Ain't no idea why. Just is, that's all. And I know about you. Some things anyway. And I know that you're torn between going and staying. Ain't that so? It's true, ain't it?'
Mam bowed her head and then, to my astonishment, nodded.
'The dark is growing in power, that's plain enough, and it's something I've told Tom before,' Mam said, turning to face me again, her eyes glittering more fiercely than those of any witch I'd faced. 'You see, it's the whole world that's falling under the power of the dark, not just the County. I need to fight it in my own land. If I go back now, I might just be able to do something about it before it's too late! And there are other things there that I've left unresolved.'
'What things, Mam?'
'You'll know soon enough. Don't ask me now.'
'But you'd be alone, Mam. What can you do alone?'
'No, Tom, I wouldn't be alone. There are others who'd help me - precious few, I must confess.'
'Stay here, Mam. Stay here and let it come to us,' I begged. 'Let's face it together in my land, not yours...'
Mam smiled sadly. 'This is your land, is it?'
'It is, Mam. This is the County, where I was born. The land I was born to defend against the dark. That's what you told me. You said I'd be the Spook's last apprentice and then it would be up to me to keep everything safe.'
'That's true enough and I won't deny it,' Mam said wearily, staring into the flames.
'Then stay and let's face it together. The Spook's training me. Why don't you train me too? There are things you can do that even he can't. The way you once silenced the ghasts here on Hangman's Hill. He said that nothing could be done about ghasts; that they just faded away in their own time. But you did it. They were silent for months afterwards! And then I've inherited other things too. 'Intimations of death', that's what you called it. I knew when the Spook was close to death recently. And when I think back, I knew when he was on the mend too. I'll know next time when somebody turns the corner on the way back to health. Don't go, please. Stay and teach me.'
'No, Tom,' said Mam, coming to her feet. 'I'm sorry, but my mind's made up. I'll stay here one more night, but I'll be on my way tomorrow.'
I knew I'd argued enough and it was just selfish to continue. I'd promised my dad that I'd let her go when the time came and the time was now. Alice was right: Mam was in two minds, but I knew it wasn't up to me to make the decision for her.
Mam turned to face Alice. 'You've travelled a long way, girl. Further than I ever dared hope. But there are bigger tests yet to come. For what's ahead you'll both need all of your combined strengths. John Gregory's star is starting to fade. You two are the future and the hope of the County. He needs you both by his side.'
Mam was looking down at me as she finished speaking. I stared into the fire for a moment and shivered. 'The fire's nearly out, Mam,' I said, giving her a smile.
'You're right,' said Mam. 'Let's go down to the farm. All three of us.'
'Jack won't want to see Alice,' I reminded her.
'Well, he'll just have to put up with it,' Mam said, in a tone that told me she'd stand no messing from Jack.
And the truth was, in his happiness to see Mam back, Jack hardly seemed to notice Alice at all.
After having a bath and changing her clothes, despite Ellie's pleas that she should rest, Mam insisted on making the hotpot supper. I stayed with her in the kitchen while she cooked, and told her most of what had been happening up on Anglezarke. What I didn't tell her was how Morgan had tortured Dad's spirit. Knowing Mam, I wouldn't have been surprised to find out that she knew already But even if that had been the case, it would still have been too painful for her. So I just didn't mention it. She'd been hurt enough.
When I'd finished, she didn't say much except to draw me close and tell me I'd made her proud. It felt good to be home. Little Mary was upstairs safely asleep, the beeswax candle was in the brass candlestick at the centre of the table, a warm fire was blazing in the grate and Mam's food was on the table.
But beneath the surface things had changed and were continuing to do so. We all knew that.
Mam sat at the head of the table, in the place that had once been Dad's, and almost looked like her old self. Alice and I sat opposite Jack and Ellie. Of course, by now Jack had been able to collect his thoughts and you could tell that he didn't feel comfortable with Alice being there but there was nothing he could do about it.
Little was said at the table that night, but as we finished our hotpot, Mam pushed away her plate and came to her feet. She looked at each of us in turn before she spoke.
This might well be the last supper that we'll ever share together' she said. 'Tomorrow night I'll be leaving the County and I might never return.'
'Nay Mam! Don't say that' Jack begged, but she silenced him by raising her left hand.
'You'll all need to look after each other now' she said sadly. 'That's what your dad and I would wish for you. But I've something to say to you, Jack. So listen well. What it says in your dad's will can't be changed because it reflects my wishes too. The room under the attic must belong to Tom for the rest of his life. Even if you were to die and your own son inherited, that would still be the case. I can't explain my reasons to you, Jack, because you wouldn't like what I told you. But there are a lot more things at stake than just your feelings. My last wish, before I leave, is that you fully accept what has to be done. Well, son, do you?'