Doctor Who_ Empire of Death - BBC Worldwide [5]
Eventually John gave up, his teeth chattering, his breath coming in brief gasps. 'It's no use, it's no use,' he cried. 'We should never have come here. This place, it is cursed!'
'Maybe he ran home as a joke,' Josiah replied. 'Maybe the current carried him downstream. He's probably walking back up the path now to get his shirt.'
John shook his head. 'You don't believe that any more than I do!
Josiah sneered at his brother. 'Stop snivelling! If we can't find James, we can't go home - you understand that, don't you?'
John nodded helplessly, then twitched involuntarily. 'What was that?'
'What?' Josiah demanded.
'Something touched my foot - I felt it!' John peered down into the shallows.
Josiah was already diving down past his brother's legs.
John hastily sucked in a deep breath of air and followed. For a few seconds he could see nothing. Then, between some rocks at the edge of the river, John thought he could see a hand reaching out. Josiah motioned for John to help him.
They grasped at the twitching fingers, getting a firm grip on the limb. Together they pulled and tugged with all their might.
Just as John thought his lungs would burst, the rocks around the arm began to fall away. The two brothers were able to swim upwards, still holding on to the convulsing hand.
The pair broke the surface, followed a second after by James, all three of them panting and spitting out mouthfuls of river water. John struggled to keep hold of his younger brother, the boy flailing at him with clenched fists. Strange, guttural sounds were issuing from James's snarling mouth, inarticulate in word and phrase but full of threat.
'For the love of God, stop it!' Josiah commanded, slapping James across the face. The boy reacted with shock, his eyes ablaze with anger. Then the pupils rolled back behind his eyelids and James was unconscious, his body becoming a dead weight in the water.
'Josiah! What have you done?' John demanded. The sun had disappeared behind the high hills and twilight was fast drawing in, bringing a sudden drop in temperature.
'Help me get him to the riverbank,' Josiah commanded.
Together they got James to the water's edge. John clambered out first and pulled the boy up and out by one arm.
Josiah joined him and they began slapping James on the face, trying to awaken their brother.
John could feel panic rising within himself again, a sick dread clawing at his insides. What would they do if James was dead? How would they explain to their parents? The youngest sibling was their father's favourite, the baby of the family. John had always been jealous of the attention his younger brother received and took any opportunity to exact that frustration on James. Now he looked down at the boy's ashen, lifeless face and wished he could take it all back.
The young boy's eyes blinked and then opened fully as James breathed in at last. 'I saw him, I talked to him.' he whispered.
'Who?' Josiah asked.
'Grandfather. He was there to welcome me. I saw him!'
'James, what are you talking about? Grandfather is dead, he has been for years. You can't have -'
'You're wrong. He was waiting there for me. He reached out and took my hand. He was going to be my guide.'
'Guide? To where?'
James sat upright, his breathing quicker now. 'The Other Side. The next life. I saw him, he was there.'
'James, you're not making any sense!'
'He told me you wouldn't understand, wouldn't believe me.
But it's true, all of it.' James reached a shaking hand up to the side of his head. can hear them talking in here. All those who have passed over.'
'Passed over?' John asked, not understanding any of this.
James just nodded. 'They want me to speak for them, to spread the word. Then, when the time is right, I have to go back!
'Go back?'
'To the Other Side!'
Josiah grabbed James by the shoulders and began to shake him violently. 'James, will you shut up! You can't talk about