The Spook's Bestiary - By Joseph Delaney Page 0,9

to him for all eternity.

“I was so terrified I could hardly think and blurted out the first task that came into my head. ‘Tell me how many grains of sand there are on Cockerham’s shore,’ I said. But immediately I realized my mistake. Cockerham’s sands are very large and flat, but what are their exact boundaries? Is it the extent of the sands at the lowest tide or the highest? And where exactly do Cockerham’s sands become Pilling’s sands, the shore of the next village along the coast? But the worst problem of all was that I didn’t know the answer to my own question.

“The Devil disappeared but was gone for less than three seconds. When he was standing before me again, he said a number so big that it was impossible to imagine. Too scared to challenge him, I could only accept his answer and set him another task. I was foolish for a second time. ‘Tell me how many buds there are on all the sycamore trees in Cockerham,’ I said. Again, it was a poor task because, whether the Devil really counted them or not, there was no way to check. I still didn’t know the answer myself, so I just had to take his word for it. But finally I calmed down enough to ask for three days in which to think up a third task. The Devil agreed, and so I had just enough time to get word to you. Can you help me? I’m at my wits’ end!”

“What did he look like, this Devil?” I asked.

“Just the way you’d expect, only worse,” answered the teacher. “He had horns and a tail and he smelled like a goat. I’ve never felt so terrified in my life. That’s why I couldn’t think.”

“Don’t you worry,” I reassured him. “I’ll soon sort him out for you. Just take me to that schoolroom of yours and then come back here and heat up that soup for our suppers. Ten minutes after midnight, and it’ll all be over.”

There were just four things in the big schoolroom: the teacher’s desk, a large cupboard, a sink with a tap, and the Bible, unopened on the desk. I’d taken off my cloak and hood because I didn’t want to be recognized as a spook. I knew that the schoolmaster had really been plagued not by the Devil but by a dangerous hairy boggart that could talk and had the ability to shift its shape. As it had taken human lives already, I had no choice but to proceed to the fourth stage in the process, which was to slay it.

No sooner had I entered the room than there was a bright flash of lightning right outside the window, followed by a clap of thunder so loud that it made the roof shake and the floorboards vibrate beneath my feet. Distracted by that, I glanced toward the window. When I looked back again, something nasty was standing in front of the desk.

Hairy Boggart Disguised as the Devil

The boggart was exactly as the teacher had described, but no words could do justice to actually seeing it in the flesh. In addition to the curved horns and tail, it had cloven hooves just like a goat—and, yes, it certainly did smell very bad. Its body was covered in black hair that gleamed in the candlelight like the coat of a thoroughbred horse groomed for a big race. The face was very long, with two rows of brilliant white teeth.

But its tail reminded me of a rat’s. It was long, thin, and black, and completely hairless. The boggart smiled at me then, a wicked, ugly smile that showed all its teeth. That long tail coiled and uncoiled, rapping three times upon the boards each time it was fully extended.

“What have we got here?” it asked, looking at me like I’d just been served up for supper.

“The schoolteacher’s not feeling too well,” I explained, “so he’s sent me along in his place. I’m here to set the third task.”

“Do you know the rules?”

I nodded.

“Good,” said the evil creature, its tail rapping again on the wooden boards. “So get on with it. Set me my third task!”

“Weave a rope out of the best sand on Cockerham’s shore,” I said. “Then carry it back, wash it under that tap there, and give it to me.”

I was pleased with the task I’d set, because even if the boggart did somehow manage to weave a rope out of sand, it would never