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Mike Yates looked a little bewildered. 'So? I mean, why did that destroy him?'

'All his power was turned back against himself,' said the Doctor. 'You might say he blew a fuse!'

'There you are, you see. Exactly the same magic principle I was trying to use against that stone creature,' said Miss Hawthorne.

'Not magic, Miss Hawthorne, science.'

'Magic, Doctor.'

'Science.'

'Magic,' she said firmly. 'And I shall never know now whether my plan would have worked,' she added wistfully.

'So that would seem to be that,' said the Brigadier. 'Will that heat barrier have cleared itself?'

'Of course.'

'Good. Get ready to move out, Yates'

'Sir. Benton ?'

'Yes, sir.' Benton raised his voice. 'Right, you lot, you heard the man! The picnic's over!'

The UNIT troops pulled themselves reluctantly to their feet and sloped off towards the vehicles.

'And get a move on!' barked Benton .

Unfortunately, his attention had wandered for a moment. Seizing his opportunity, the Master, with a balletic twist, flung his scarlet robe over Benton and made a run for Bessie. Before anybody could stop him, he had jumped in and was rolling away across the green. The Brigadier and Mike pulled out their guns and started firing.

'No! Stop shooting!' cried the Doctor. 'You'll damage Bessie.'

'You want him to get away, man?' snapped the Brigadier.

'Don't worry, Lethbridge Stewart,' the Doctor said and called across the green: 'Bessie! Bring him back!'

The little yellow car obediently swung round and, despite all the Master's efforts, brought him back, straight into the muzzles of the UNIT guns.

The Brigadier looked at the Doctor. 'You want me to ask you how you did that. Well, I won't.'

The Doctor laughed and so did the Brigadier. 'How on earth did you do it, anyway?'

The Doctor winked at Jo. 'Well, it wasn't magic,' he said.

Epilogue

Young Stan Wilkins surveyed the busy village green with mixed feelings. Curious how things worked out. Everybody seemed happy now, and yet, just think, the Squire was dead. Old Josh too, P.C. Groom, the UNIT soldiers and, of course, poor Tom. Yet again, his uncle's death meant that the garage would now be his own. He knew enough about cars to make a go of it—and Mam would have somewhere to live! Aye, it was a funny old world, right enough. Stan took a deep breath of the clean spring air and walked towards the Maypole.

'Listen,' said Miss Hawthorne. 'The birds are singing. And smell the flowers! The May Day miracle has happened again. The earth is born anew.'

Sergeant Benton reported to the Brigadier. 'All under way, sir. The Master's under constant guard.'

'Sergeant,' cried Miss Hawthorne with delight. 'You and I must do the fertility dance to celebrate the deliverance of Devil's End—nay, the deliverance of the world!' And taking his hand, she started to pull him over to the Maypole.

'Sorry, ma'am,' said the blushing Benton . 'I'm rather busy at the moment. Thanks just the same.'

'Nonsense,' she answered gaily. 'Come along at once.'

Watching the suffering Benton , Jo giggled. 'Come on, Doctor,' she said, 'let's give him some moral support.'

The Doctor laughing, allowed himself to be dragged off. Mike Yates turned to Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart. 'Fancy a dance, sir?' he said, straight-faced.

'No, thank you, Captain Yates,' he replied. 'I'd rather have a pint..

As the two officers walked towards the pub, the piper started to play a lilting tune. The Morrismen began their intricate figures, while around the Maypole the people of Devil's End danced a dance of thanksgiving, a dance of liberation, a dance of joy.

Table of Contents

Prologue

1 The White Witch

2 The New Vicar

3 The Opening of the Barrow

4 The Appearance of the Beast

5 The Heat Barrier

6 Meetings

7 Explanations

9 Into Danger

1O The Third Appearance

11 The Rescue

12 Into the Cavern

13 The Sacrifice

Epilogue