He and his wife, Ellie, have just had a new baby, and he rightly fears Thomas is bringing evil into the home. Thomas’ oldest brother, Jack, who runs the farm with his father, doesn’t take kindly to the boy’s arrival with Alice. Old Gregory tells him to take Alice to Thomas’ home first so she can talk with Thomas’ mother. He can either lock her up or have Thomas take her to the home of relatives some distance away. Old Gregory isn’t sure what Alice’s future holds since she comes from a family of witches. Alice helps Thomas escape, and they run back to the Old Gregory’s home. Now she will likely return and possess someone else’s body in an effort to get back at the apprentice.Īlice and Mother Malkin’s evil relatives, Bony Lizzie and Tusk, capture Thomas and leave him to die in a pit with the thumb bones of Old Gregory’s former apprentice. Old Gregory returns home and tells Thomas that killing the witch was a mistake. A child from the town has gone missing, and Thomas is sure the witch took the child to use for her blood magic. Thomas wrestles with her, and she dies in a river near Old Gregory’s home. The cakes give the witch strength, and she escapes from her prison. Alice asks Thomas to give some cakes to Mother Malkin while Old Gregory is out of town, and he does so, against his better judgment. He later learns she is kin to a witch called Mother Malkin, who is trapped in Old Gregory’s yard. She protects him from a pack of bullies and asks Thomas to promise her a favor in return. When Thomas goes into town to pick up Old Gregory’s food and supplies, he meets a girl named Alice.

He teaches Thomas about different types of evil spirits and how they can be bound so they will not disturb the townspeople. Old Gregory keeps witches and other dangerous spirits imprisoned in pits in his yard. At home, a spirit known as a boggart makes large meals for them. While traveling, he and Thomas eat little but cheese. Old Gregory divides his time between wandering the land and staying at his home. Others have been killed in the line of duty. He learns 29 apprentices have worked for Old Gregory before him. Thomas knows it is a lonely job, as people fear the Spooks and keep their distance. Spooks are men who travel the country subduing the witches and spirits who make trouble for the locals. She believes Thomas has a special gift, the ability to sense things others cannot.īy his mother’s design, Thomas becomes an apprentice to a Spook known as Old Gregory. He’s surprised when his mother (Mam) tells him she married his father, a seventh son, just so she could eventually give birth to Thomas.

Twelve-year-old Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son.

Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney