return the blood of creatures in the home after dark, as well as any hostile creatures of the dark. Tom is sent out on an errand to pick up some food for the house (as the boggart kills guests, provisions are supplied by having someone go to the town grocer). He is given a strict warning by the Spook: do not talk to women wearing pointy shoes, something characteristic of witches, whom spooks oppose. On his way home, some boys about the same age as Tom threaten to beat him unless he gives them some food. Tom refuses and the boys are about to beat him when suddenly a girl in pointy shoes shows up and scares them away by telling them a certain person is back. The mysterious girl's name is Alice Deane, and she is a relative of some of the most dangerous witches in the county: Mother Malkin and Bony Lizzie. The two are powerful witches in Pendle, a town conducive to the use of dark magic, and members of the Malkin clan, one of three Pendle witch clans along with the Deanes and Mouldheels (Alice's father was supposedly a Deane and her mother was Bony Lizzie, so her last name remains Deane despite her Malkin allegiance/membership). Alice tricks Tom into giving cakes, which he does not know contain blood, to Mother Malkin, a powerful witch Gregory has imprisoned in his garden. The blood empowers Malkin to escape, fulfilling in part Lizzie's plan, which also calls for Gregory's killing. Lizzie, a bone witch, works with her supposed niece and reluctant witchcraft student Alice, whom she abuses, and Tusk, a large and powerful abhuman (the offspring of a union between a human witch and the devil, referred to in the series as the Fiend). Dissatisfied with the cruelty of her relatives and fellow Pendle witches, Alice tentatively aligns herself with Tom, whom she befriends. However, Gregory remains distrustful of the young witch and his principles keep him in steadfast opposition to the use of dark magic, in which Alice still participates. This conflict over Alice leads to tension between Tom and Gregory in future installments. Gregory kills Tusk in battle by stabbing him through the forehead. Tom manages to "kill" Malkin at one point through a combination of his rowan wood staff, the staff's silver-alloy blade, and a furious river. Rowan wood, silver, and running water are all