Doctor Who_ Combat Rock - Mick Lewis [26]
Father Pieter remained in his armchair, staring vacantly at the window as if expecting the glass to flip back into place, for the entire incident to rewind, never to have happened.
But of course, the head was still there at his feet, like a gruesome pet, to remind him that it had.
He had often thought about marrying an Indoni girl. They were so beautiful after all, and he’d never found a Papul girl that appealed to him in quite the same way these slight, sinuous beauties did. Especially the one not far behind him now. Wina. Yes, what a rare beauty. Was Wemus deluding himself or had he actually caught her sending him some interested glances throughout the day, first of all in the canoe, and later as he occasionally stopped the group to inform them about the various wildlife that scurried, slithered and hopped incessantly around them?
No, he was fooling himself. Although he prided himself on being a handsome Papul man, he also knew that it was rare indeed for one of the haughty Indoni women to ever look twice at the thick-bodied, heavy-featured islanders. Perhaps that was what made him want one so much. But then, the young man from Earth with the peculiar skirt obviously had something going on with her. The other girl was attractive too, in, a somewhat coarser manner. Her clothes, her body, face, voice, all were less refined than Wina’s. He’d let that slimy Drew character continue to make advances on her, it really didn’t bother him. Of course if he made any more moves on Wina...
Then there was the white girl. Companion to the Doctor.
No. He didn’t like white. Too blotchy, too bumpy, too... too white.
He hacked at a hanging vine until it dropped neatly at his feet. The Doctor was right behind him, slightly out of breath but obviously taking a great interest in the journey. Wemus grinned at him and the Doctor smiled back, mopping sweat from his brow.
‘Wemus can carry coat for you?’ he offered, puzzled as to why the alien should want to continue wearing the garment in the steamy temperatures of the rainforest.
The Doctor shook his head. ‘No thank you, Wemus. I wonder,’ he looked around him at the dense, glistening vegetation,‘are there any particularly dangerous varieties of wildlife we may be likely to encounter?’ He clasped his hands before him, his face full of a childlike wonder. Was he really as simple as he liked to make everyone think? Wemus scrutinised him with interest before replying. The alien was definitely strange, but there was something about him that generated respect too. There was a strength and a great sense of compassion about him that was unlike anything the Papul had ever sensed in anyone before.
Before he could answer, and as if to validate the Doctor’s question, a violent smashing of vegetation came from their left.
The others had all arrived at the same spot now, and they too paused as they heard the noise.
Leaves and vines rustled again. A hand, a brown hand, appeared around the trunk of a bamboo plant taller than two men. Wemus raised his machete. A face followed the hand, peering around the trunk. A bird called, a shrill warning, the white girl put her hand to her mouth, but the scream came anyway, echoing the cry of the jungle bird.
Chapter Four
Wemus lowered the machete again and an expansive grin lit up his face. A Papul man clothed in faded T-shirt and khaki trousers stepped out onto the trail and seized Wemus by the arm, returning the guide’s warm and welcoming smile.
They spoke together in the Papul tongue for a moment.
The conversation sounded urgent, the newcomer impressing something important and rather frightening upon Wemus, judging by the guide’s incredulous reaction. The Doctor waited patiently for them to finish, mopping his brow intermittently. Jamie flashed