Jenny shrugged. “I didn’t know how dangerous it was at the time.”

“No? You knew that it had killed three girls. You could have been next, but you persisted despite the danger.”

“I was scared—absolutely terrified at times. . . . I knew that it was a killer, and I suspected that it was very powerful. But I forced myself to do it because I knew that I could use the knowledge to persuade you to let me become your apprentice.”

“And yet when you finally got that chance, you fled from the haunted house? Were you that scared that you’d give up your dream? I remember my own experience in that house when I was an apprentice. I was terrified too, but there was no way I would have run. That would have meant letting down my mam, who had faith in me and wanted me to learn from John Gregory. I faced my fear and stuck it out. You could have done the same. Did you run when the ghast came up the stairs from the cellar?”

Jenny nodded, and a single tear trickled down her cheek.

“Why didn’t you face your fear?” I demanded harshly.

She turned away, but she wasn’t fast enough. I’d already seen the tears streaming down her face.

“Why did you run? There must have been some other reason. Come on, Jenny, tell me.” Suddenly I felt sorry for the girl. She’d dreamed of becoming a spook, and I knew that it had hurt her to fall at the first hurdle.

“I was scared,” she said, without turning round, “but it wasn’t the fear that made me run. It was the anguish of the miner and his wife. I knew exactly how they felt. I knew what it was like to be them and experience what they went through. He was jealous beyond all reason and murdered his wife, but then instantly regretted it. He was in torment as he buried her because he’d loved her so much; now he’d lost her forever. And she was lying there paralyzed, waiting to be buried, but she was still alive, aware of everything that was happening to her. She was in terror of being buried alive. And the terrible thing was that she loved him with all her heart. She loved him every bit as much as he loved her. And she hadn’t been unfaithful. I lived through every moment of her terror, every moment of his fear and anguish. And yes, she went alive into that grave and had to watch as her own husband threw earth over her until it grew dark and she couldn’t breathe. . . .

“You see, that’s one of my gifts as a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. I have a strong empathy with others. I can’t read their minds, but sometimes I can sense their emotions so strongly that they become my own. So that’s why I ran. I couldn’t stand being so close to the miner and his wife any longer. When he came up the stairs, I just had to get away.”