Doctor Who_ Empire of Death - BBC Worldwide [71]
But like the doctor, she had a haunted look.
Kirkhope had seen James only once, several years later, since sending the boy away to the Lock. The physician was certain he had spotted the lad lurking on the fringes of the village, older and taller but with the same, unmistakable features and penetrating eyes. Kirkhope followed the young man up the narrow, winding trail to Corra Linn. He saw James dive into the water. For long minutes the boy did not reappear. Finally, when the doctor was convinced James must have drowned in the flooded valley, a body floated to the surface of the water. Kirkhope used a branch to snag the figure and drag it to shore. James was alive, just. Despite being so close to death, he still spoke with the voices of the deceased. Whatever cure was being administered in Glasgow, it had not yet been effective. After nursing the boy back to health the physician returned James to the Lock. It had seemed the only safe option.
When he first read about a psychic boy astounding the crowned heads of Europe with his powers as a medium, Kirkhope did not connect the story with James Lees. How could anyone get from the grimmest institution in Glasgow to the royal courts of a dozen different countries? But when he saw a cartoon in The Times about a séance held for the Crown Princess of Prussia, there was no mistaking the face of the medium. A letter to the administrator of the Lock confirmed that James Lees had been cured and made the ward of a German Baroness. Kirkhope suspected the exchange of money had been the cause of this sudden cure but had no proof for such an allegation.
So now he waited, his thoughts dreading the prospect of a return visit from that creature. As a man of science and learning, Kirkhope did not let himself believe in notions like demonic possession. But the cursed nature of James's ability sorely tested that honest reasoning. The physician could not explain how he knew, but he had felt the presence of the young man drawing ever closer these last few days. All the fires in the world could not keep the chill from Kirkhope's heart now.
The knock at the door was so soft he almost missed hearing it. After a few seconds the knock was repeated and the physician called out, demanding to know who was coming to his door at this hour of the night. 'I'm sorry, sir, hut I need your help,' a young woman's voice replied from outside. 'I couldn't come to see you in daylight. Kirkhope threw the shawl aside, almost relieved at the prospect of the ordeal that lay ahead.
Dealing with this woman's distress and guilt would distract him for a while.
The doctor rose and went to the entrance of his humble lodgings, pulling back the bolt and sweeping open the door. 'Well, you'd better come inside. We can't have you -'
James Lees was standing on the step, his arms clasped Around his chest in a hug. He smiled at the elderly physician's shocked face before speaking, his lips moving but the voice that of a frightened young woman. 'Thank you, Doctor. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here.' James stepped inside, closing the door behind himself.
Chapter Six
February 19, 1863
The old man is cowering on the cold stone floor. Please don't hurt me, he begs. I thought what I was doing was right.
You frightened me, you frightened all of us. Please, I don't want to die. The fury reaches down, fingers ablaze, light streaming backwards in two arcs, almost like the wings of a bird. No, not like a bird - like an angel. The creature holds the old man's face in its grasp, talons of light plunging into flesh. Choking sounds and feet thumping against the