Doctor Who_ Camera Obscura - Lloyd Rose [23]
The Doctor looked at him sadly. ‘When did he go mad?’
‘Very young, very young. We were so much alike, everyone said so. Then he changed. His mind withered. While I – I prospered.’ Chiltern’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘It was as if I stole his life.’
‘That’s nonsense.’
‘As if there had only been enough to make one person, and I sucked it all up. You know, twins kill each other in the womb. One absorbs the other. Or they’re born with one strong and the other sickly, and the sickly one soon dies.
‘You brother’s madness came after you were born.’
‘But still, still...’ Chiltern fell back. The Doctor’s face floated above him, remote yet sympathetic, an angel’s face, something to confess to. ‘Sometimes,’ he whispered, ‘I think there were three of us.’
‘Three?’
‘But he says there weren’t. He laughs at me. He’s always laughing at me, as if he knows something I don’t.’
‘What would that be?’
‘The thing I’ve forgotten.’
The Doctor looked down at his clasped hands. After a moment he said, ‘Perhaps I should speak to him.’
‘No. No, it wouldn’t be any good. He’s quite mad. But I want you to help me. Isn’t that why you’re here?’ The Doctor nodded. ‘I called you and you came.’
‘In a manner of speaking.’
Chiltern stared at his eyes. He began to be afraid of them, as if he might fall in and fall forever, drowning...
‘Who are you?’
‘Ah,’ said the Doctor, ‘I don’t know. Does it matter?’
‘No.’ Chiltern lay back, oddly relieved. ‘I don’t know who I am either.’ The Doctor smiled reassuringly. Chiltern smiled back. ‘You must hypnotise me.’
‘I don’t think this is the time.’
‘No, no.’ Chiltern grasped his arm again. ‘This is exactly the time. Now, while the drug is working as well.’ The Doctor shook his head firmly. ‘Please. Take me back.’
‘I’ll take you back to the clinic.’
Chiltern let go of him. He said dully, ‘You really are here, aren’t you? You followed me.’
‘I’d come up to visit you and saw you leaving.’
‘Why had you come?’
‘I wanted to talk to you about your brother. I still do. I’m willing to hypnotise you. But I’m not sure it’s a good idea with the drug in your system.’
‘Then when? Tomorrow?’
‘The next day. Tomorrow, I’m going to Liverpool.’
‘Liverpool?’ Chiltern frowned in surprise. ‘Whatever for?’
‘Magic.
Chiltern dreamed again. The Doctor, in a splendid scarlet coat, was a magician, spreading a fan of cards in his long fingers. Only, Chiltern discovered as he drew one, these weren’t playing cards but the fortune-telling kind. He held a picture of a tower being struck by lightning. It was extraordinarily well done: the lightning seemed to flash, and he could see the rain slipping down the rough wall of bricks. He squinted at those bricks for what seemed quite a long time before he realised that they were right in front of him and that his face was wet and cold and that the Doctor had his arm and was looking up at him with concern.
‘Dr Chiltern...?’
Chiltern’s lungs filled with clear, damp air. He turned and saw pavement and the rain-slicked street glistening beneath a streetlamp. ‘We’re outside,’ he said in surprise. ‘How long have we been outside?’
‘Not long,’ said the Doctor patiently, guiding him towards a cab. Chiltern looked at his damp hair.
‘Did you leave your hat?’
‘I forgot to bring it. Here.’ The Doctor opened the door of the cab and in a minute they were both inside, out of the rain and headed back to Hampstead. Chiltern laid his head back against the seat and shut his eyes.
‘How are you feeling?’ said the Doctor’s quiet voice.
‘Sober,’ said Chiltern tiredly. ‘I recover with unwelcome alacrity. Do you know Poe? There’s a story of his that begins with a description of coming out of an opium dream, something about “the bitter lapse into everyday life.” That describes it nicely.’
‘ “The Fall of the House of Usher”.’
‘Yes. It’s quite a fascinating piece, actually. The brother and sister are two parts of the same mind, you see, and the house is the skull that contains them. When he tries to bury her, she returns and then the house cracks and collapses. A metaphor for madness.