Doctor Who_ Foreign Devils - Andrew Cartmel [48]
Simultaneously Celandine's hair began to darken, returning from the unearthly corn silk to the thickness and lustre of golden blonde human hair.
The natural colour of her skin returned and her navel appeared again on her smooth torso as if the finger of an invisible sculptor was gently indenting pink clay. Carnacki began to snatch frantically at her discarded clothes, throwing them over her naked body. Zoe was touched by his obvious solicitude for Celandine, although he did seem more concerned about getting her dressed again than anything else. Celandine had by now reverted to a normal human form and her eyes opened. She looked up at Carnacki and began to sob. He embraced her and comforted her, trying to conceal the tears that gleamed on his own face. 'What happened to me?' sobbed Celandine. 'You're all right now, have no fears,' said Carnacki, stroking her hair. Jamie came up and stood beside them on unsteady legs. 'What's going
on Doctor? Why did that girl kiss me?'
'Oh go back to sleep Jamie,' said Zoe. She was amazed at how quickly she'd got over her profound relief at finding Jamie safe and reverted to finding him annoying. 'We'll explain it all later.' She turned to the Doctor. 'What did she mean by saying her mission here was over?'
'She was the instrument of the Chinese astrologer's revenge. Her task was to mete out retribution to the foreign devils who despoiled the Celestial Kingdom. Her mission was to kill the Upcotts. The entire bloodline. So when she says her mission is over, I can only take it to mean that the last of the Upcotts is gone. Pemberton must be dead.' 'On the contrary, Doctor.'
They all turned to see Pemberton Upcott standing in the opening of the bower clutching a rifle with a long blue steel octagonal barrel. 'As you can see, I have managed to escape from the cursory arrangement of custody imposed on me and arm myself from my family's considerable arsenal.'
'He's the one, Doctor!' said Jamie. 'He's the Sassenach that stuck me with the needle.'
Pemberton Upcott nodded. 'I knew this would happen. They're clever fiends those Chinese. It's all in my great grandfather Roderick's diary.'
'The Emperor's Chief Astrologer and his magic.'
'That's right, Doctor. All about how he put a curse on Great Grandpa and his family. Our family. A curse set to be activated after a hundred years.'
He nodded towards Jamie. 'So when this Scottish individual arrived, a walking anachronism from another century, I knew it had begun. He was the first manifestation of the curse. But I didn't know if killing him would set things right.' He frowned, showing his uneven yellow teeth. 'Or only make them worse.'
'So you put that muck in my veins,' snarled Jamie.
Pemberton nodded. 'Yes, to keep my options open by keeping you in a state suspended somewhere been life and death. A narcotic limbo. And, that achieved, it seemed safe enough to leave you here, embow ered, while I waited for the next manifestation of the curse. The Chief Astrologer predicted that our family would enjoy a hundred years of wealth and good fortune, only then to face a terrible reckoning. We would lose everything. On the principle that it is worse to have something and then lose it than to have nothing. It makes the suffering all the keener. Cruel fiend, your Chinaman.'
Chapter Twelve
Pemberton Upcott led the Doctor and the others out at gunpoint, taking them from the steamy warmth of the arboretum into the wintry garden, to the very edge of it, where the ground ceased and the star strewn void began. 'This is far enough,' he said jovially. 'Can't go any further, really, can we?' He kept the rifle pointing at them steadily as he glanced over his shoulder into the infinite abyss that began a few feet away. 'At least, I won't be going any further.'
'What does he mean?' said Celandine. Carnacki held her tight and didn't reply. Jamie and Zoe stared at the Doctor. 'I