by Doctor Who
109
Felic gave a warning rattle.
‘Look, you can threaten my friends, hold me at sting-point, whatever. I’ll go along with it – because I want this Skarasen back under control. That way you can feed up, go back into hiding and stay out of trouble till the rescue ships come in a few centuries’ time, and me and Martha can push off and leave you to it. No hard feelings, we’ll let bygones be Zygons. . . ’ The Doctor winked. ‘Whaddya say?’
The door hissed upwards, and Brelarn stalked back inside. ‘Very well, Doctor.’ he rumbled. ‘You shall gain control of the Skarasen for us.’
‘Good one, big fella,’ said the Doctor. ‘You know it makes sense.’
Brelarn watched him and smiled. . .
110
Back on the bumpy, rutted lanes with the petrol-guzzling roar of the motor car in her ears, Martha didn’t feel much safer. The Zygon had not come running at the first turn of the crank handle. It hadn’t even showed as she, Ian and Victor screeched away in a hail of gravel.
She almost wished it had. It would make her feel better for not staying to search for Miss Flock. The nanny’s body had disappeared from the hall. Ian reckoned she’d made her own break for it, and Martha hoped that was true.
‘We made it!’ whooped Victor as they thundered along the road to Goldspur. But Martha couldn’t feel too elated. Not while the Doctor was still a Zygon prisoner.
It’s OK, she told herself, trying to keep the prickle of tears at bay.
They haven’t got you to use against him now. He’ll sort them out. . .
Course he will.
Trying to stay positive, she let her thoughts drift to Mrs Unswick.
She supposed certain things made sense now. Like the way she and the Doctor had disturbed Mrs U in her private movie screening; never mind an inquisitive woman fascinated by new technology, she must have been scouring it to be sure there was nothing in Romand’s film that would give the Zygons away to the police when they came to col-111
lect it. Or maybe she’d wanted to watch the different hunting parties at work, to study their techniques, their position, their mood. Intelligence gathering.
Martha shuddered.
These things were already quite intelligent
enough.
‘Hold on,’ said Victor, peering into the wing mirror. ‘I recognise that Rover 20. . . ’
She turned round and started waving excitedly. ‘It’s Claude!’
Victor stopped the car and motioned Romand to pull up alongside.
The Frenchman did so. ‘My friends,’ he called, ‘is all well?’
‘Not remotely,’ said Victor. ‘Did you happen to come along the main Kelmore road?’
Romand frowned. ‘Yes. I have been driving round the area, filming other hunters at work. I was just heading back to Wolvenlath. Why, what has happened?’
‘You didn’t see the crashed carriage on one of the bends?’ asked Martha. ‘An injured horse?’
‘There was nothing,’ he told her.
Ian sighed. ‘I suppose if those Zygon things were desperate enough to attack that carriage while it was still moving, a sitting target would be irresistible.’ Martha nodded and glanced round nervously. ‘Speaking of sitting targets. . . ’
‘You’re right, we shouldn’t tarry,’ said Victor. ‘Monsieur Romand, would you mind taking Miss Jones and Ian on to Wolvenlath with you? I must away back to Goldspur.’
‘I’m staying with you,’ Ian insisted. ‘I have to know Mother and Father are safe.’.
‘Very well, urchin,’ Victor grumbled.
‘Safe?’ Romand frowned. ‘What has happened?’
‘It’s a long story,’ said Martha.
‘But some intruders have been
sighted, both at Goldspur and at the Lodge. We need to go to Lord Haleston for help.’
‘Yes, rally the hunting party,’ said Victor. ‘Haleston knows the chief inspector for these parts. We’ll band up with the police, secure Goldspur all together, have a proper hunt round for Miss Flock at the 112
Lodge, then see if we can’t find the Doctor at Kelmore.’
If Martha hadn’t been so exhausted she might have attempted a hysterical laugh. ‘You make it all sound so straightforward.’
‘I hope we find Teazel, too,’ said Ian solemnly, surveying the empty fields around them. ‘Oh, Teazel, boy, where are you?’
‘Come on, old chap,’ said Victor, forcing jolliness into his tone. ‘I’m sure Teazel will soon return a conquering hero. Why, the King will probably want to give him a medal when he arrives. . . ’
Romand’s eyes widened. ‘The King?’ Martha half-smiled to see him look back automatically for his battered movie camera. ‘He is coming here?’
Ian nodded. ‘He’ll be arriving at Stormsby Castle tomorrow!’
‘His Highness is a keen hunter,’ Victor explained. ‘Quite naturally he wants to see the downed beast at the lakeside with his own eyes, and get the proper lecture from his old pal Lord Haleston.’
‘His Majesty will have soldiers with him, won’t he?’ Ian reflected.
‘Perhaps we should ask them for help.’
‘Whoa, urchin, whoa,’ said Victor. ‘One step at a time.’
‘Speaking of time,’ Martha said, with a pointed look at Romand.
He seemed away in a world of his own. ‘But this is wonderful!
Imagine if I could film the King’s examination of the Beast with Lord Haleston. A truly historical moment, no?’
‘You can ask Haleston when we get to Wolvenlath,’ said Martha firmly, getting out of Victor’s car and climbing in beside Romand.
‘Now, step on it.’
As Victor and Ian rumbled away and Romand followed on, Martha rubbed her aching back. She decided she would never complain about travel by TARDIS again.
If she ever got the chance.
At last the Rover juddered past a large, granite millstone marked Wolvenlath, by the side of the rucked-up road. The path ahead forked, one way into forest and the other over a hill, and Romand stopped while considering which way to take.
113
But when the car kept vibrating beneath them, Martha knew straight away that something big was happening.
Correction. Something big was coming right at them.
Martha yelled in horror as the Skarasen came crashing out of the forest close beside them, rending and upending trees with its claws.
Its huge eyes gleamed like black ice as it tossed its head from side to side, like a wrecking ball swinging from the thick, snaking neck. Then it seemed to notice the car, and stopped suddenly in its tracks.
Martha threw herself from the car and scrambled for the cover of the roadside bushes. ‘Get out!’ she yelled to Romand.
But Romand seemed mesmerised by the sight of the Skarasen. The monster opened its jaws and screeched at ear-splitting volume, took another step forwards, splintered a giant oak with a razor-sharp lash of its tail. Its drooling jaws stretched open as it stared down at the motorcar.
‘Romand!’ Martha yelled again.
But then, past the uncertain growl of the engine and the gravel-gargling roar of the Skarasen, Martha heard a voice shouting, soaring over the din.
‘No, Haleston! I told you, no guns. I can get the Beast back under control. . . ’.
She couldn’t believe it. ‘Doctor?’
Suddenly, the Skarasen’s fury seemed to subside. It stopped its thrashing, actually held still, angling its head to one side like it was listening to something. . .
‘See? No need for panic. Leave this to the expert.’
Doubting her senses and abandoning her cover, Martha ran towards the sound of the Doctor’s voice, grinning her head off. ‘Doctor!’
‘Martha!’ He saw her coming and stared, astounded. ‘You escaped!
You’re all right!’
She ran to him all the faster. ‘Just! How about you?’
‘Sort of complicated. . . ’ He pointed up at the swaying Skarasen,
like a tourist posing with one of the dinosaurs at Crystal Palace. ‘Got the trilanic activator working.’
114
She reached him at last and threw her arms around his neck. ‘How the hell did you get away, anyway? I only had one Zygon to get rid of, you must’ve had a whole ship full. . . ’
Suddenly, he went rigid in her arms and shouted past her: ‘Haleston, I meant it – no. Start blasting at the Skarasen and you’ll bring it out of its trance!’
Martha sprung away to find Lord Haleston had stumbled out of the forest, his clothes caked in dirt, aiming his shotgun at the Skarasen’s head whit glaring at the Doctor. ‘May I remind you, sir, that the beast has already emerged once from your spell, and almost did for the lot of us.’
The Doctor ignored him. And Martha could see now that other hunters were emerging, red-faced and wild-eyed, their clothes covered in mud and bloodstains. She supposed that after a long day spent itching to blast holes in this thing, they were unhappy to be thwarted by this strange, skinny interloper, crashing their party.
‘How did you get away?’ Martha repeated.
The Doctor lowered his voice. ‘I was let out. Temporarily.’ He held up the fleshy lump with its metal implants and his voice dropped even further. ‘This is my gadget, so no one can work it better than me
– and the Zygons know that. They’re too desperate to take chances.’
He gave her a funny look. They’re meant to be holding you hostage to make sure I don’t try anything.’
‘Then it’s lucky I’m just too good, isn’t it?’ She smiled. ‘Well, me and Victor and Ian are, anyway. The Zygon guard was weak, starving, it’s been on rations. . . ’ Her face clouded. ‘Didn’t stop it killing Clara, though.’
The Doctor frowned. ‘What, there was another human locked up with you?’
‘Hello?’ Martha tugged at her clothes. ‘Maid at the Lodge who disappeared in the night?’
The Skarasen emitted a low, keening wail that almost made it sound like it was sorry. Its coal-black hide heaved and swelled with deep, shuddering breaths. Talk about sitting on a powder keg – or standing underneath one. . .
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‘Doctor,’ Haleston broke out impatiently, ‘if you’re set on playing the pied piper for this thing all the way to Templewell, could you perhaps exercise a little urgency?’
‘All right, hang on,’ said the Doctor tetchily, peering at his device.
‘I’ll just up the wave frequency a couple of remars. . . ’
‘Remars?’ Martha wondered.
He nodded. ‘Zygon term.’
‘And really, Miss Jones,’ Haleston went on. ‘I feel it might be best if you could postpone your conversation and get to a place of safety with all haste.’
‘No, she’s staying with me,’ said the Doctor. He turned to her, his voice low again: ‘If they’re watching me, then they’ll know you’ve escaped. They’ll come for you.’
‘We’re surrounded by armed men,’ Martha reasoned. ‘That should keep them away. Speaking of which, Victor wanted me to bring everyone back to Goldspur – I told him about that Zygon I saw this morning, and he’s afraid there may be others about.’
The Doctor snorted. ‘The Zygons are highly intelligent beings trying not to starve to death. Why would they want to go after a few women and an invalid?’ He shook his head. ‘Anyway, don’t mention orange blobby monsters to old Haleston now.’ He pointed discreetly up at the Skarasen. ‘I need everyone focused. We’ve got to get this thing secured as soon as possible.’
‘Why Templewell, anyway?’ Martha asked.
‘Easier to secure a single site,’ said Halcston, overhearing her as he marched over. ‘My equipment’ already set up, the lakeside’s nicely sheltered from prying eyes. . . plus, it’s closer to the canal than here.
The cranes, the chains, the hoists and diggers, they’re being unloaded in Templewell now.’ He glanced over to where Romand was sat in his car fiddling with his camera, and his craggy features frowned in thought. ‘I say, Miss Jones, do you think we could hijack that French newshound’s autocar? It could help us lead the Beast to Templewell all the faster, while the men and the hounds can follow on in the carriages.’
And we’ll all get back to Goldspur sooner, thought Martha. Just in 116
case Ian and Victor do run into trouble.
‘I’ll go and ask Monsieur Romand,’ she offered. She jogged back to the car and gave him a brief rundown of the situation.
‘So the Doctor is well after all, yes?’ Romand murmured, still staring up in wonder at the docile Skarasen. ‘I am glad. And I am delighted to be of service to Lord Haleston. . . ’ A crafty smile spread over his face. ‘If, in return, my camera and I might be given privileged access to the sensational stories that will soon be unfolding. . . ’
Martha smiled too. ‘You journalists, you’re just so giving.’
Romand cupped both hands around his mouth and shouted: ‘My car and my services are at your disposal, your grace.’
Lord Haleston nodded with satisfaction and hurried over, the Doctor just behind him. ‘Much obliged, Monsieur.’
He climbed in beside Romand, and the Doctor and Martha rode in the back. The Doctor’s face was lined with concentration as he studied his little gadget, giving the sonic screwdriver cautious little squeezes now and then.
The Skarasen raised one enormous clawed foot and took a sleep-walking step after them. The hunters reacted busily, shouting and backing away, and Romand, with some difficulty, started to turn the car around over the long grass and deep ruts in the road. Martha wondered if Victor and Ian were all right, if the Zygons had seen her here. . . and if, even now, they were plotting to get her back.
117
‘So far, so good.’ muttered Ian as Victor’s battered motor car trundled along Goldspur’s winding drive. The most threatening animal life he had spied so far were a couple of cows who had strayed onto Haleston’s land from a neighbouring field; but since all they threatened were the immaculate lawns, Ian decided it was an intrusion they could afford to ignore for now.
‘Hello, what’s this?’ said Victor as they pulled up outside the grand old house. A horse and carriage was just leaving; the driver touched his cap absently as he rode past. Ian saw a woman had been dropped off outside the house.
‘Mother!’ he cried. She was dressed simply but elegantly as usual in a blue dress. He threw his arms around her so hard that he knocked her shopping basket from her grip. Victor retrieved it for her.
‘Ian! Goodness, what a display!’ She gently pushed him away and took the basket from Victor without comment.
Now Ian could see how tired she looked. ‘Where have you been, Mother? Were. . . were you out looking for me?’
‘I had to go into Kendall to send a telegram.’ Irritation crossed her face. ‘It seems the telegraph lines here are out of service.’
119
‘No telephone at Goldspur either, then,’ said Victor gravely.
‘I had hoped I might spy you along the way, Ian.’ She pursed her lips. ‘You know, I’m quite furious with you, darling. I’ve been so worried for you, and so has Nanny Flock. You should feel very guilty, she’s gone out searching for you, trying to put my mind at rest.’
Ian’s mouth went dry. He looked to Victor to speak for him.
‘Yes, well. . . It’s rather my fault, I’m afraid, Cynthia. I saw young Ian as I was driving back from Kelmore and offered him a ride. We did bump into Miss Flock, actually. . . ’ Victor cleared his throat. ‘Thing is, old girl. . . well. Nothing unusual has happened here in our absence, has it?’
‘Unusual?’ She looked puzzled. ‘Not remotely. Not since that awful Jones woman came to call this morning.’
‘Has the study window been boarded up?’ Ian asked urgently.
His mother nodded. ‘Chivvers had to get somebody in. He said he’d forward the bill to Mrs Unswick.’
‘I shouldn’t if I were him,’ muttered Victor. ‘How about Lady Haleston, is she we
ll?’
‘Lady Haleston and the others were in the drawing room when I left them, playing bridge. . . ’ She held a hand to her head. ‘Which, I trust you’ll agree, is not remotely unusual.’
Victor looked at her, concerned. ‘Are you feeling all right, Cynthia?’
‘Forgive me. . . ’ She forced a smile. ‘My nerves are bad today.’
‘Is Eddie feeling better?’
‘He’s been sleeping a good deal. I should look in on him now.’ She smiled wanly and went to the door, which had been left open. ‘Do please excuse me.’
‘Well, it seems our fears were unfounded,’ said Victor, looking re-lieved. ‘Even so, let’s have a quick scout about the grounds, eh?’
‘I’m with you,’ Ian agreed. ‘Perhaps we’ll spy Teazel.’
‘I’m sure he’s making his own way back even now.’ said Victor, clapping a hand on Ian’s shoulder. ‘Come along, then. Off we march!’
Lord Haleston felt his heart kick at his ribs as he watched the giant Beast stamp after them through the deserted countryside. It didn’t 120
feel right, relying on the invention of this mercurial Doctor in place of his own mettle. But what alternative was there? This creature was not only a dire threat to human society; it was the zoological find of the century. For both these reasons, it had to be subdued.
He had spent a discouraging day overseeing the firing of shot and the dropping of boulders into the waters of the lake. The beast had simply refused to show itself. Then the Doctor had ridden up on a dark horse, and within minutes of producing his infernally unlikely contraption, had summoned the second Beast of Westmorland to appear before them. It seemed he could even command the thing.
A lot of the men had complained there was no sport in that. But when the Beast had slipped out of the ’fluence and almost killed a man with a casual claw – and since the resultant volley of gunfire had left not the slightest scratch on its hide – they were less vocal in their protests when the Doctor managed to regain control. And once the Beast had started to follow the impertinent fellow into the forest like a lovelorn maid, Haleston had wasted no time sending word to the steam barge with the construction tools aboard to divert to Templewell. . .