Seventh Apprentice – A Novella

The Seventh Apprentice

(Wardstone Chronicles)

by Joseph Delaney

HarperCollins, 2015

114 Pages

Middle Grade (13 and up)

The Spook’s seventh apprentice, Will Johnson, tells the story of how he made it through his time under John Gregory’s tutelage despite being the “laziest apprentice”. He slacks off with chain throwing practice and doesn’t do the required reading in the Spook’s library. Even the boggart tries to keep him motivated, but it takes an encounter with a unique type of bone witch to ignite his passion for the job.

A pig farmer hires a traveling butcher and his son to slaughter their pigs, but the farm is overtaken by a witch. The son travels to Chippenden for the Spook’s help, but Mr. Gregory is out of town on business. Since the butcher, and likely the farmer and his wife, have been captured, the boy is frantic. Will tries to hold off until his master returns, but the situation escalates, and they both end up captured. Will his powers as a seventh son of a seventh son be able to defeat the illusions cast on them by the Pig Witch? Don’t count on it.

Since I accept the Wardstone Chronicles as some of the best horror literature ever written for kids, I don’t feel too bad about holding Delaney to a higher standard. As a Pagan myself, I was disappointed that such an easily defeated witch was considered a parallel to Circe, possibly even the mythological figure herself. I’m glad they referenced Circe as a purveyor of pig magic, but the Pig Witch was definitely not a shadow of the Goddess. And of course, Delaney gets in the obligatory plug for The Spook’s Bestiary as well (eye roll). But…

Delaney doesn’t fail to deliver horror as intense as any found in the previous Chronicles. I will likely have nightmares about the witch’s familiar and what it does to the body of the farmer’s wife. This is not for the faint of heart.

I pray that despite Delaney’s attentions to a new series featuring gladiators fighting against creatures of the Dark (Arena 13), he will continue to give us a collection of short stories like this one that will bring us back to the world of the Spook and his struggle against witches and boggarts. I am also desperately awaiting the conclusion to The Starblade Chronicles…
 

 
I feel compelled to review all the known Spooks Apprentices. According to this story:

My master’s first apprentice, Benjamin Roberts, was struck dead by a stone chucker, a violent sort of boggart with six arms that throws missiles—sometimes even large boulders. It split Benjamin’s skull wide open and dashed out his brains on the grass.
 
Mr. Gregory’s second apprentice, Paul Preston, was attacked by a deadly goat boggart as he walked across a muddy field near Wheeton. The creature’s horns pierced him under the ribs and speared his heart. He died instantly.
 
My master’s next three apprentices ran away because they found the job too difficult and scary. Mr. Gregory is still annoyed that he wasted all that time training them.
 
His sixth apprentice, Brian Houghton, completed his five-year apprenticeship successfully and is now practicing his trade somewhere south of the County. So far he has been the Spook’s only success. This is hardly surprising: Ours is a dangerous and terrifying occupation. We fight the dark, dealing with ghosts, ghasts, boggarts, and witches.
 
I’m the Spook’s seventh apprentice, and now it’s my turn to be trained. Recently I’ve been thinking of running away myself—before my master kicks me out. The truth is, my apprenticeship hasn’t been going too well, and recently things got a lot worse. . .

In Book 13, The Spook’s Revenge, we are reminded of the wall in the shadows across from the foot of the apprentices’ bed:

Three walls had been newly plastered, but the fourth had not, despite the fact that it was slightly blackened by smoke. My master had left it intact because upon that wall were thirty names, including my own. They were the names of the apprentices he had trained or, in most cases, begun to train. Over a third of them, including my predecessor, Billy Bradley, had died violent deaths while learning the trade. One at least had gone to the dark, while many others had simply not completed their time. I had met three who had: Father Stocks, Bill Arkwright and, most recently, Judd Brinscall.

William Johnson (#7) was considered the Spook’s laziest apprentice, but found some determination after he faced the Pig Witch while his master was away from Chipenden.

Morgan Hurst was one of the Spook’s failures. He turned to the dark and became a necromancer. He attempted to summon Golgoth while John Gregory and Tom Ward were staying in Anglezarke.

Father Stocks chose not to become a spook after completing his apprenticeship. He was not considered a failure as he purposely decided to turn to the church and become a priest.

Bill Arkwright successfully completed his apprenticeship and became a spook himself in the North country, a bastion against water witches. He kept two dogs, Tooth and Claw, and trained Tom Ward in swimming and staff fighting.

Judd Brinscall, also a successful apprentice of the Spook, took up residence in Bill Arkwright’s old water mill after Bill’s death during the assault on the Ordeen’s fortress. Judd was part of the final army against the witches of Pendle and the Fiend.

Billy Bradley (#29) died after cutting corners while binding a boggart. His fingers were caught under the capstone and the boggart drained his blood before he could be rescued.

Tom Ward (#30)The Spook’s last apprentice, and his Mam’s revenge against the Dark. Tom takes up the role of the Chippenden Spook after John Gregory dies in the final battle against the Fiend and his army.