Doctor Who_ Ghost Light - Marc Platt [22]
There was a man crouched on the bare boards of the empty room. He was unable to move; his arms were bound in a strait-jacket. The Doctor knew the figure must be Redvers Fenn-Cooper, but the blinding light thickened the air with an icy haze which obscured everything but the boldest shapes.
An aurora of a hundred shifting shades of white emanated from a core of such brilliance as the Doctor had never seen. It was like looking into knives or the furnace of a frozen sun. The core burned on the floor beside the shaking form of Redvers, who crouched with his back against the heart of infinite, primal light.
As if disturbed by the Doctor’s intrusion, the sound began to die and the air to thin of the light mist. Nimrod shielded his eyes and struggled through the doorway.
‘I’m sorry, Doctor,’ he gasped, trying to pull the intruder away. But the Doctor wrenched his arm free and crouched by the explorer.
‘Redvers! What did you see? You must tell me!’ he demanded.
As Nimrod took the Doctor’s arm, Redvers raised his trembling head and slowly opened his eyes.
‘Poor old Redvers,’ he confided, staring into the Dcotor’s face. ‘He was so frightened his hair turned completely white. You know, they had to lock him away.’
Whether bleached by the light or shock, Redvers’ yellow hair was now pure white. He looked down at the floor. The core of light had dwindled to a glimmer inside the open silver snuffbox from which it had emerged — Redvers’
snuffbox, which he had watched the chief tribeswoman in black lace set down so carefully beside him, smiling as she did so.
Ace tried to push her way into the room, but Mrs Pritchard seized hold of her plait and twisted it viciously.
‘This way, please,’ she muttered through gritted teeth and dragged Ace yelling down the passage.
‘You must leave, Doctor,’ insisted Nimrod.
This time the Doctor allowed himself to be ushered to the door. He thought to offer Redvers further help, but found the door closing in his face.
Alone in the room, Nimrod crouched beside Redvers and took the explorer’s shoulders in his great hairy hands.
‘Mr Fenn-Cooper,’ he asked with the greatest urgency, ‘tell me what you saw. I must know.’
The Doctor pursued Mrs Pritchard as she escorted Ace through the house. He was more concerned about Redvers’
welfare than that of his companion and he demanded that the explorer should be moved to a place where he could be nursed in safety.
‘Out of the question,’ was the only reply the housekeeper would repeat.
Josiah was waiting in the drawing room with Gwendoline and Ernest when Mrs Pritchard finally thrust Ace from her grip. The storm had at last vented its rage and was rumbling into the distance. To Ace’s surprise, the Doctor suddenly dropped his angry questions and went into what she supposed to be parlour mode.
‘Be assured, Doctor, Redvers will be well taken care of,’
Josiah informed him.
‘I bet he will,’ snapped Ace. The Doctor laid a settling hand on her arm but she still wanted to give them a piece of her mind.
Nimrod entered from the hall and approached the Doctor direct.
‘Doctor, I can personally vouch for Mr Fenn-Cooper’s safety. He is being made comfortable and will come to no harm.’ He revealed the tooth of the cave bear in his palm as a token of good faith.
The Doctor nodded and looked Nimrod directly in the eye. ‘Only the madman may see the clear path through the tangled forest,’ he said.
Bowing reverently, Nimrod intoned the correct response. ‘So has it always been.’
‘Nimrod,’ interrupted Josiah sternly, ‘you still have other duties to perform.’
Watching the manservant leave, the Doctor restrained himself from following. He reckoned that they hadn’t seen even half of the house’s secrets yet, but it would be better to allow them to emerge a little at a time. Besides which, he wanted to see how quickly Ace could assess the situation and whether she could cope with it. It had taken him a good deal