Doctor Who_ Dinosaur Invasion - Malcolm Hulke [3]
Sarah put her hands against the wall, her back to the man. Looking under her arm, she could see him scooping precious rings and necklaces into a leather bag.
‘I appreciate that you’re very busy,’ said the Doctor calmly, ‘but could you tell us what’s going on?’
‘You find your own places,’ said the man. ‘There’s plenty to choose from.’
‘We don’t want to find any places ,’ the Doctor answered. ‘We just want to know why the streets are deserted.’
‘Because they are,’ said the man. His bag was now brimming with valuables. ‘If you both stay exactly where you are, I won’t hurt you.’ He laughed. ‘In any case, I’m leaving you plenty of stuff here!’
He dashed out of the shop. Sarah immediately made for the door. The Doctor checked her.
‘No, Sarah! He may shoot you in panic!’
They listened as the car sped away. Sarah hurried across the ransacked shop to a telephone on a ledge behind the counter. She scooped it up and dialled 999.
‘There’s no ringing-tone. Nothing. It’s dead.’
‘The sooner we reach the Brigadier, the better,’ the Doctor replied.
‘But do you realise we’ve got no idea where we are?’
‘That’s easily fixed.’ The Doctor went behind one of the counters and quickly found the shop’s account books and stationery. He read from an invoice, ‘ The Little Shop, Acton . So we’re in West London. All we have to do is strike east.’
‘It’ll be a long walk.’
‘Don’t forget you’re over 700 years younger than me, so you should be able to manage it. Let’s make a start.’
They came out of the shop. Sarah looked up and down the deserted street. ‘Which way is east?’
The Doctor produced a small compass from the capacious pockets of his frock coat, and held it steady until the needle stopped rotating. ‘That way.’ He pointed up the high street.
After a few steps Sarah paused. ‘Doctor, I’m really very hungry.’
‘If you’d mentioned that while we were still in the TARDIS, I could have fixed you a meal in no time.’
‘Those pills from the machine?’ She pulled a face. ‘I’d like something real to eat.’
‘There’s plenty to choose from here.’ He pointed out some of the signs in the street. ‘ Chinese Take Away, Wimpy’s, Bert’s Cafe . Take your pick.’
The door to Bert’s Cafe was standing open. Sarah crossed the empty street, followed by the Doctor.
The little cafe had plastic-top tables, a counter on one side by the door, and a sign that read ‘ Thanks for your custom. Please call again. Bert. ’ Sarah saw a large ham on the counter. Her mouth watered and she went straight to the ham—then recoiled when she saw the flies clustered on it. ‘The food’s gone rotten.’
But the Doctor was concentrating on the partly-eaten plates of food on some of the tables. ‘Just like the Marie Celeste ,’ he muttered.
‘The what?’
‘A very famous incident in the last century,’ he explained. ‘A ship called the Marie Celeste was found on the high seas, intact but totally abandoned. The crew and all the passengers had vanished as though they never existed. And, just as here, partly eaten meals were left on plates in the dining-saloon. No one ever discovered what happened to the people on that ship, and they never will.’
A cold shiver of fear ran down Sarah’s spine. ‘Suddenly I don’t feel hungry,’ she said.
The Doctor smiled. ‘Don’t worry, Sarah. There must be some logical explanation for all this. Take a couple of bars of chocolate from that shelf. I’m sure you’ll be able to eat them later. And, as you said, we’ve got a long walk ahead of us.’
Sarah picked up the chocolate, and placed a couple of tenpenny pieces on top of the till. ‘The people eating in here must have all left in a hurry. But why?’
‘Why indeed,’ replied the Doctor. ‘Now let’s recommence our long walk.’
An hour later they had reached Shepherd’s Bush, an older and less suburban area of West London. In all the miles they had walked they hadn’t seen a sign of life anywhere. Sarah stopped.
‘I’m whacked.’
The Doctor looked about the street they were walking down. ‘Let’s try the Times Furnishing Company over there.’ He pointed and grinned. ‘The shop door’s open. Surely we’ll find a seat in there.