Doctor Who_ Nightshade - Mark Gatiss [8]
wrinkled her freckled nose as Vijay’s moustache brushed this year’s great discovery - sweeping the heavens for likely against it.
sources.
‘Enjoy myself?’ said Vijay, laughing. ‘In this place?’
The ink tracer continued on its placid path. Smooth as a
‘Well, get yourself over to York or somewhere. How about knife through water.
the Brontes’ house?’
Holly went to the window and gazed up at the brilliantly Vijay shrugged. ‘Been there, seen it et cetera. Besides, how lit disc of the radio telescope which towered above the can I enjoy myself if you’re not around?’
station. There were few stars visible in the murky black sky.
Holly pulled away, blushing a little in spite of herself.
She recognised Gemini and part of Taurus. Then a little of Again that reluctance, thought Vijay, that reticence...
Orion, the constellation on which they were presently
‘Go to bed,’ said Holly. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
concentrating. But it rapidly vanished under a blanket of Vijay picked up his lab coat and nodded. He turned as he greasy cloud.
reached the door to the interior. ‘Keep smiling.’
Yawning, Holly moved away from the window and, more He disappeared into the darkness.
through a desire to avoid starting work than any real need, Holly sat down in Vijay’s chair and rubbed her face. She walked into the corridor to make herself some more coffee.
really did wish Vijay didn’t have the day off on Saturday.
Outside, the rain lashed the great parabola of the Dr Hawthorne would be breathing down her neck all day.
telescope, bouncing off into the guttering and cascading Another interminable shift of doubles entendres and down the stained concrete walls of the station.
sarcasm from that nasty, rat-faced man. Always patronising.
Always smiling that sickly smile.
A mile away, in the village, Win Prudhoe spent her first
‘You must pay more attention, Miss Kidd, you really night alone in forty years.
must,’ said Holly to herself, imitating Hawthorne’s funny, high-pitched voice. Then he’d probably get in a dig about 24
25
DOCTOR WHO: NIGHTSHADE
DOCTOR WHO: NIGHTSHADE
Trevithick awoke with a start. His gaze darted about the his nostrils till he felt the room shuddering and blackening room as he took in the familiar shapes, still enveloped in around him.
thick darkness. The chair with his trousers laid across it and the old wardrobe with the wonky door were still there, but Holly looked at the clock. It was still ten past five. She there was something wrong.
must’ve looked at the thing a dozen times and there seemed It was only when a sharp gust of freezing air wafted into to be no difference. Clockwatching, she thought. Naughty, his face that Trevithick noticed the window. His heart began naughty.
to slam against his ribs and he felt a great tide of adrenaline Ten past five. December 23, 1968. God, it was nearly pulse unpleasantly to his head.
Christmas. A fact which had totally escaped her until she’d Slowly, with great deliberation, Trevithick folded back the looked at the calendar instead of the clock. The exhausting top blanket and tiptoed softly across the room. He clicked routine at the station had numbed her to the passage of time.
on the light.
Once, she would’ve been all excited, preparing presents and A huge hole had been smashed in the thick pane of the puddings. But all that was back in Wales with Uncle Louis.
window and the curtains hung in shreds, swinging from the The only festive spirit she could imagine inside Hawthorne broken rail like gibbet corpses. The shattered glass rattled as and Cooper was a couple of glasses of sherry.
a stiff breeze from the moor ebbed and flowed against it.
Holly could remember playing snowballs with her Uncle Trevithick licked his suddenly dry lips and sat down Louis, using a pair of his old pit socks instead of gloves.
heavily in his chair, crumpling the trousers he had so Little bobbles of snow clung to the wool. She’d pulled a face.
carefully laid out. His eyes moved quickly from the
‘They are clean, you know, flower,’ Louis