I awoke with a start as the sound of the bell announced supper. I sat up to find I was sitting in mine and Tom's bed. In for even more of a shock, I was, when I slowly lowered the covers to discover that I'd been stripped of my green dress and pointy shoes. I rolled my eyes. Honestly, that Tom Ward...

Once I got up, I searched the room until I eventually found my green silk dress and pointy shoes gathered in a pile in a corner of the room. After slipping the dress on over my head and sliding my feet into the pointy shoes, I made my way down to the kitchen where a delicious supper was waiting. I sat down and just as I started to wonder where Tom was - he knew the boggart favoured punctuality above all else when it came to his efforts of cooking a succulent meal - from out of the corner of my eye, I caught something triangular peeping out from underneath my plate. I lifted it slightly, careful that the supper wouldn't slide off it, and picked up a small rectangular piece of paper, a note from Tom:

I'll be late tonight so don't wait for me. A farmer is having some trouble with a boggart. But it's just a simple task.

With love,
Tom.

Well, that was that then. Looked like I wasn't going to see Tom tonight, but I understood his trade so I didn't feel annoyed in the slightest that he wasn't going to show. At least he had the decency to leave a note so I wouldn't worry. The problem was, I did worry. I always worried about him when he went out on spook's business without me and he knew that! Why didn't he wake me?

Wait, where were these sudden emotional thoughts coming from? Wasn't like me at all, was it? Now irritated with myself for thinking such immaturely sensitive thoughts, also for being insensitive towards Tom when I knew how polite he was that he wouldn't wake me up when I wasn't ready, I hastily thrust those thoughts and emotions to the back of my mind. Instead, I focused on the food in front of me that the boggart had gone to the trouble of generously preparing for me.

After I finished my supper, I thanked the boggart who seemed prone to not showing me as much gratitude as he did Tom, left the kitchen and headed for the library again. Interesting, that book about a temptress, so I was going to read more. Maybe it would come in handy someday...

Literally just sat down and only managed to open the book when that rusty old bell down by the withy trees rang out. Tom wasn't home, who usually answered those calls, so I decided to go and see for myself who needed help. I'd probably contact Tom through a mirror afterwards if it was anything that needed to be dealt with urgently, which it usually was.

I headed for the bell and as I got nearer, I decided to sniff and see if I could get a rough idea of who was waiting by the withy trees. What I detected was odd and slightly off-putting: a strange odour greeted my nostrils though I couldn't quite place what it was. But I continued on my way. Wasn't going to turn and run over some scent foreign to me when I didn't even know what it was, was I? I'm Alice Deane, born just east of Pendle to one of the main three witch clans and the Fiend himself, after all. If I could survive in Pendle – a dark place where all sorts of witch clans and dangers dwelt – then I was fairly certain I could face this, whatever it was, when it was alone.

When I reached the withy trees, there was a tall figure waiting, his face shadowed by a feathered hat on top of his head and the darkness cast by the night and the trees themselves. Definitely under the impression he didn't need help, wasn't I? Along the edges of his blood-red long coat were golden elaborate patterns and along the hem of the turned-up sleeves. Dark leather boots donned his legs and feet from the knees.

"Alice Deane," the stranger acknowledged. His voice was well-mannered, but there was something in his words that seemed almost rude and his speech told me he wasn't from the County.
"Who are you?" I asked curiously.
"Curious girl...does it matter who I am?" he responded, although there was something sharp in his voice that told me it wasn't a question, that he didn't want me to know who he was.
He took a step closer and I could now see long dark brown curly hair extending from the shadow cast by his red feathered hat, which had golden intricate detail along the edges.
"Then how do you know my name?"
"That is hardly relevant to my business here."
"The Chipenden Spook ain't here right now. Already out on spook's business, he is, and will be late coming back. If you'd just give me your name, I can pass it onto him that you stopped by," I attempted, despite knowing somehow that he wasn't here to speak to Tom.
"I'm not here for your beloved spook; his services are not required here," he told me. "I'm here for something else."
"What's that then?" I challenged him.
"Guard your tongue, challenging girl. Respect those with power over you. I could reduce you to dust if I wanted, although, you wouldn't be much use to me if you were dust," he warned with a grim, toothy smile at the latter.
"So can I. Ain't so intimidating, that. But I ain't sure about not turning you to dust, not sure that I wouldn't want to..."
"Well then, our powers are something we have in common," he replied, clearly ignoring the last part of my answer. "You do not scare me either, Miss Alice," he continued quickly. "I know an awful lot about you. You make yourself look like a strong, confident one, but I know your weakness. However, I'll not hold it against you...yet. I need you to carry out a little...assignment for me."
"What's the assignment for, then?"
"That does not concern you but you'll do as I say," he spoke harshly.
"What if I won't until you tell me what it is you're planning?"
"Then your friend, Thomas Ward, pays the price," he threatened.
"Is that as threat? You'll get to him...over my dead body!" I cried.

Faster than the eye could see, he slipped behind me and held something to my neck in one swift move. As his other arm locked around my neck, I slowly turned my head to find a squared silver hook with golden intricate detail was pressed against my skin.
As I struggled in his grasp, he hissed in my ear, "No more struggling or I'll lodge my hook in you! We wouldn't want to scar that perfect skin of yours, now, would we, dearie?"
I nodded in agreement, purely from the desperation to keep that hook from piercing through my flesh.
"Very well then. I will let you go after you agree to do what I'm about to tell you. Remember: your beau's life hangs in the balance as well as your own...You are going to fetch me that starblade the spook always keeps with him - usually on his person, if I'm not mistaken. I would get it myself but it needs to be someone close to him, someone whom he deeply trusts."
"No way!" Just the simple fact that he knew about the starblade told me that he was dangerous and trouble.
His hook pressed harder into my neck and I gasped, adding quickly, "How am I supposed to get it? Won't hurt him for it, will I? Know something's wrong straight away, he will, if I ask for it. Don't even know anything about this plan of yours, do I?"
"You will get it...I don't care how. I have told as much as you need to know about my plans," he hissed in my ear again.

"But-"
"No buts, dearie. 'Tis but a simple task for a simple, lonely earth witch like you. I will return tomorrow afternoon; you have until then to get the starblade. You will meet me here alone." By the time he reached the end of his statement, his voice had returned to its calm, well-mannered state.
"Fine...I'll try," I sighed in resignation.
"That is not good enough, dearie. You will fetch it for me," he said, almost sharply again. His tongue seemed as sharp as his hook to me. "I'll not waste anymore of my time here. You know what you need to and what you have to do. Farewell, Alice Deane."
He threw me away from him as if I was something that disgusted him. When I turned back round, he was nowhere to be seen.

It felt like my head was swimming as questions raced through my mind. Who was that man? What did he want the starblade for? How did he know so much about me? Why did he keep his face hidden? Where did he come from? If he was human, the scent would've been familiar, but he didn't smell like a creature, either. Since when did I start taking orders from a stranger I just met?
More importantly, how was I even supposed to get the starblade without Tom noticing? How did that…man know about the starblade in the first place?

Walking back, I wondered what I was going to do, what was the right thing to do. Maybe if I told Tom about this man, we could decide what to do next together.

I returned to the library to finish that book and that's what I did for the remainder of the night. Couldn't relax, could I, and I tried so hard. But each time I attempted to relax, my mind trailed back to my meeting with that stranger. He smelt of the salty sea, his breath reeked of fish but his hook stank of blood. That made me gulp and his coat had smelt a little musty with a hint of alcohol while his hair had that smell of pipe smoke.
Who was he?

As moonbeams streamed through the window, the silvery light conveyed it was time for bed.

I retired to mine and Tom's room but couldn't sleep. That stranger interrupted all train of thought – but there were other things to concern myself with. Like what I was going to do for Tom's birthday, which was just a day away, and the boggart wouldn't help; his birthday was a Sunday and that was the boggart's only day off.

After a while, sleep finally claimed me but it only turned the night into even more of a nightmare, rather than relieving even an ounce of the stress I felt.