Doctor Who_ Empire of Death - BBC Worldwide [33]
With those words still ringing in his ears Hawthorne had signed up for a seven-year stretch in an infantry unit. The pay was decent enough and there seemed little danger of having to a dodge a bullet or a bayonet while stationed at Aldershot.
Best of all, Hawthorne soon found his light-fingered ways and eye for an opportunity, legal or otherwise, made him a valuable asset to his brothers in arms. If anyone needed anything, Hawthorne could procure it - for a price, of course.
This lucrative sideline was providing an ample secondary income for the sly-faced private. He had tried to trade his way off this expedition north of the border but bloody Sergeant Vollmer had been having none of it. God preserve us from virtuous men, Hawthorne thought grumpily as he tapped out the contents of his pipe and ground the embers under his boot.
It was close to the end of his stint on guard and the sooner he could get his head down for a few hours' sleep, the happier Hawthorne would be. Sharing the post with Johnson had not made the sentry duty pass any faster. Nicholas had only joined up a few weeks before and was twitchier than a rat in a cheesemonger's shop. He jumped at every sound, hissing, 'Who goes there?' at the surrounding trees. In a forest filled with badgers, birds and other animals, nocturnal noises were only to be expected - but Johnson reacted to each and every one. Hawthorne had contemplated knocking his partner unconscious just to get some peace.
The moon was directly overhead and Hawthorne decided enough was enough. It was time to wake up the next pair of sentries and get some sleep himself. The sound of a branch cracking underfoot nearby sent Johnson into another spasm of nervous readiness. 'Who goes there?' he hissed for the nineteenth time.
`Nobody bloody goes there,' Hawthorne snarled, unable to contain his frustration any more. 'It'll be a fox or a deer wandering about. Now let's pack it in for the night.'
Johnson shook his head. `No, Thorny, I saw something!'
`For the love of Christ, you've said that a dozen times already,' the older solider snarled. 'There's nothing out there'
`There it is again!' Johnson was pointing now, his finger and hand shaking, terror clearly visible in his face.
Hawthorne rolled his eyes and turned to look where the nineteen-year-old was pointing. There was something in the distance. A human figure was walking through the trees, down towards the water. 'Who the bloody hell is that?'
Hawthorne whispered.
Extract from Observations and Analysis, A Journal: The Doctor put James into a trance with remarkable ease. I monitored their progress via the equipment the Doctor lad retrieved from the TARDIS. James's life signs were -relaxed, his breathing calm and measured, his brainwaves like those of most humans at rest. The Doctor began leading James back through his experiences - travelling with Mrs Walker, his attempt to get back to the Other Side, his years at the Lock.
After twenty minutes of careful work, the Doctor had regressed James to the day where he first began to experience links with the spirit world.
`You are swimming in the river when you see a light -what happens next?'
A shadow crossed James's face as he answered. 'I think it might be a coin on the bottom of the river. I dive down towards the glint. I want to get it before John or Josiah see it.
John will only take it from me and spend it, but I want it for my own...'
`But it isn't a coin, is it?'
`No. The closer I get, the more I can see. It's a light, like glimpsing the sun through a gap in black clouds. But the further down I swim, the greater the pressure is getting on my ears and eyes. I feel