Doctor Who_ Daemons - Barry Letts [53]
'Am I?' snarled Bert and lifted the torch. But before he had a chance to thrust it into the heart of the pyre he gave a sharp cry of alarm as it flew from his fingers as if by magic, landing on the ground a good twelve feet away.
'That was a near one,' thought Sergeant Benton. 'If I'd missed that time, the Doctor would have had it.'
This last demonstration of the power of the mighty Quiquaequod had quite convinced the last doubters.
'Daughter of Light,' said the great wizard, 'would you be so good as to untie me?' Blushing with pleasure and relief, Miss Hawthorne stepped forward. Seeing that the bundles of wood were in her way, Wally Stead started to clear them.
Bert frowned. 'You won't scare me with a lot of daft tricks. Mr. Magister has the real power.'
'In comparison he is worth nothing,' Miss Hawthorne said scornfully. 'Quiquaequod has twice his power.'
'Of course I have,' said the Doctor, trying to intimidate Bert with an arrogant wizard-like stare.
'Right then,' said Bert, not in the least dismayed, let's see if you can turn aside a bullet!' and from under his coat of paper scraps he drew his gun.
'Ooops!' thought Sergeant Benton, 'I'd forgotten that,' and he took careful aim at Bert's hand, only to find his view completely blocked by Miss Hawthorne, as she instinctively stepped back.
The Doctor was apparently quite unconcerned. 'I'll give you one more chance, you foolish man. Look behind you.'
'I'm not an idiot,' said Bert, 'that's the oldest trick in the book; you can't fool me.' But his hand was shaking.
The Doctor raised his voice. 'You see that car, everybody? The little yellow car.'
All heads swung round; all, that is, save Bert's.
'Let my familiar spirit bring that car to me,' went on the Doctor in a loud and confident tone.
Miss Hawthorne looked at the Doctor, appalled. Was the man mad? She tried to attract his attention with a hiss and a surreptitious shake of the head.
'Honk honk!'
Miss Hawthorne turned back as a gasp of amazement came from the watching crowd. Giving another cheerful honk on her horn, Bessie started trundling across the green, her headlights flashing.
Bert said asurely, still refusing to look, 'You won't frighten see. Do you think I'm as stupid as this lot?'
All attempts at concealment abandoned, Sergeant Benton stepped out of the door of 'The Cloven Hoof', his mouth dropping open as he watched the little old car going to the rescue of her beloved Doctor. As she approached, faster and faster, the crowd scattered, leaving Bert standing right in her path.
'Honk, honk!'
Bert spun round with a yell of fear and fired at her. By this time, however, she was right on top of him. Before he could dodge, he was knocked flat, the gun flying from his grasp. As Bessie stopped, with Bert lying between her front wheels shaking with fear, a sigh of wonder escaped from the crowd. Miss Hawthorne ran to the Doctor and started to untie his bonds.
'You really area magician!' she said quietly, breathless with admiration. The Doctor shook his head.
'Sorry to disappoint you, madam, but I'm not.'
Sergeant Benton came running up. 'How on earth did you do it, Doctor?' he said, making sure that no one could hear him.
'Elemental, my dear Benton ,' smiled the Doctor wickedly.
Before the Sergeant could react to the Doctor's excruciating joke, a commotion amongst the people caught his attention. Bert Walker had pulled himself free of the car and was making a dash for it.
'Oh no you don't, mate,' said Benton and with a low tackle which would have done credit to any Rugby international, he brought the fleeing man to the ground. Pulling out his gun, he aimed it at the now terrified Bert.
'You're not going anywhere, chum,' he said. 'We've all got a date with the Master. Haven't we?'
It was when the chicken was produced and stretched out for the Master's knife, that Stan Wilkins finally decided that he wanted no more part of this 'magic'. Chanting a few nonsense words was one thing, blood sacrifice was quite another. All very well twisting a bird's neck for the pot, but this was just plain nasty.