Free The Spook's Sacrifice by Joseph Delaney Page A

sitting on the
steps sharpening one of her throwing knives.
    'We're already preparing, child,' she told me. 'Mab
scryed the threat hours ago. To be honest we're anticipating
the fight with relish. We've spent too long
cooped up down there and my sisters thirst for blood.'
    I saw some of the other witches below her, their eyes
glinting cruelly as they licked their lips with relish at
the thought of the fresh blood that was soon to be
theirs. Their fingernails looked as sharp as the blades
they were honing, all weapons ready to rend and
pierce human flesh.
    Back on deck the Spook was standing beside Bill
Arkwright, both of them readying themselves for the
fight ahead. Arkwright always looked forward to
cracking heads. He was actually smiling in anticipation
of the impending action. I released the blade
from my staff and moved forward to join them. The
Spook gave me a nod and Arkwright gave me a pat on
the back in encouragement.
    The captain and most of the crew were lined up
between the masts, gripping cudgels, but they seemed
to have little heart for a fight. We would certainly be
glad of the Pendle witches' help. My mouth was dry
with fear and excitement, yet I was determined to do
my best; but at that moment I felt a firm hand on my
shoulder. It was Mam.
    'No, son,' she said, drawing me away from the
others. 'You keep well clear of this battle. We can't take
the risk of you being hurt. You have more important
things to do in Greece.'
    I tried to argue but Mam would not be persuaded. It
was frustrating that others were free to take risks but
not me. I resented being mollycoddled, but I had to
obey Mam. So I stood at her side, furious that I
couldn't take part in the coming battle.
    We didn't have long to wait for the attack. The pirate
ship drew close and then its crew hurled grappling
hooks across the gap and drew the two ships together,
their port side crunching hard against our starboard.
Some of the pirates paced the deck of their ship with
an arrogant swagger. Armed with knives, cutlasses
and big cudgels spiked with nails, they looked pitiless
and fierce. Others waited in the rigging, looking down
upon us like vultures, considering us nothing more
than dead meat.
    But before the first of the pirates could leap across,
the witches came up from the hold, led by Grimalkin.
Wearing their hoods and bristling with weapons, they
looked like a force to be reckoned with. Some were
drooling, the saliva running from their mouths to drip
from the bottom of their leather hoods as they
anticipated the feast of blood ahead. Others were
baying like hunting dogs, their bodies quivering with
excitement. They looked fierce and deadly, none more
so than Grimalkin, who with a blade in each hand led
them close to the rail to form the first line of defence.
And Alice stood there too, looking as resolute and
determined as the rest.
    The pirate captain, a huge man brandishing a
cutlass, was first to jump down onto the deck of the Celeste . He was also the first to die. Grimalkin slipped
a blade out of a shoulder sheath and hurled it straight
and true at his throat. He hardly had time to register
surprise before the cutlass slipped from his hands and
his lifeless body fell to the deck with a heavy thud.
    The rest of the pirates boarded us immediately and
the battle commenced. The Spook and Arkwright were
required to play little part in the proceedings; they
waited at the rear, their weapons at the ready. The
captain and his crew were also redundant, no doubt
relieved that their services were not required.
    Little of the fight took place on our own deck. After
a preliminary fierce skirmish with the witches, those
pirates still standing quickly retreated to their own
ship. Seeing what they faced, and having witnessed
the death of their captain, no doubt they would have
preferred to withdraw to a distance and blow us to
pieces with cannonshot, but the grappling irons now
worked against them. Before they could unhook them,
and separate the two ships,