Doctor Who_ Peacemaker - James Swallow [47]
He remembered Godlove’s arrival, and the sweet relief at awaking the next day whole and well. There was no doubt in his mind that this amazing cure-all device in the man’s possession would save Martha’s life, as it had Nathan’s – but at what cost? Would she, like him and all 115
the others, then be doomed to a lifetime of nightmares ripped from these Clade-monsters? Was it better to die than live on tormented by dreams of other people’s endless wars?
He thought of his father and stifled a sudden sob. Despite Tobias Blaine’s gruff exterior and hard edges, the sheriff had looked after his son, and his sudden death left an aching hole in Nathan’s world.
The boy glared at Kutter’s back as the outlaw rode alongside them.
He felt the pressure of something dense and heavy in his vest pocket, and for a long moment he had to clench his fist to stop from reaching for it. Not yet. Soon, though.
He glanced at Walking Crow. The Pawnee had barely said a word since the girl had been injured, the shock visible on his leathery face.
The man looked as if he had aged ten years in a moment, grim and gloomy with the dark turn of the day’s events.
The Doctor waved his glow-tipped wand over the injured woman, frowning. With a sigh, he snapped it off and put it away. ‘Decay streams in her blood,’ he said to the air, ‘and the wound won’t knit closed. I can’t stop her bleeding.’
‘Venom?’ asked Nathan. ‘I’ve heard of snakebites that don’t heal, but how’d that come from a gun?’
The other man eyed him. Those weapons are like nothing on Earth,’
he said. ‘They’re made only for inflicting pain and for killing.’ The Doctor was bitter. ‘This is my fault. I should have brought the TARDIS.’
‘The what now?’
The Doctor kept talking, ignoring him. ‘Or better yet, I shouldn’t have brought her here at all.’
Nathan reached out a hand and touched the man’s shoulder, feeling a sudden sympathy for the stranger. ‘Doc, if you hadn’t been here, who knows who else would have been ridin’ with the angels right now? Me? Miss Forrest? All the folks in Redwater?’ He nodded at Martha. ‘We’re tough out here in the West. We’re robust, and I reckon Miss Jones is too.’
‘Hope so, Nathan.’ He looked away. ‘I don’t want to lose someone else.’
∗ ∗ ∗
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They rode into the shallow, ruddy-coloured hills and came upon the deserted mining site. It wasn’t much to look at – just a scattering of tumbledown shacks and the remains of some rails fenced in by rough-hewn enclosures, clustered around a square-cut hole in the hillside.
‘There,’ called Walking Crow, pointing out the entrance. He spotted fresh tracks in the dirt from a horse, from where the animal had been ridden up to the cave mouth and then loitered before ambling away of its own accord. He had no doubt that he would find the distinctive spade-shaped prints from Godlove’s boots up around the mine works if he looked for them.
Walking Crow gently snapped the reins on the grey horse pulling the wagon and the vehicle put on a little speed as they approached.
He did it without really thinking about it, acting on a half-formed impulse. The ground rose up either side of the trail, turning quickly into a steep-walled pass.
He sensed someone at his side. ‘What are you doing?’ the Doctor asked quietly.
‘They’ll kill us all as soon as they find Godlove,’ said Walking Crow, and as the words left his mouth he knew he was right. ‘We cannot let that happen. I should have stopped him, but I did not because I was afraid.’ He shot the Doctor a loaded look. ‘You must not make the same mistake I did.’ The wagon was going faster now, rattling down the approach to the mine, the weight of the wooden vehicle giving it pace. He sucked in a breath. ‘Take Martha and the boy. I’ll hold them off.’
‘No,’ began the Doctor, but Walking Crow shook his head.
‘I have heard you speak of these Clades and I understand the great evil they represent. There is war enough already in this land between the white and the red. We do not wish more of it falling