Doctor Who_ Rags - Mick Lewis [13]
And this long-hair was alluding to that big thing without being eloquent or intelligent enough to nail it. And that frustrated her 35
immensely. Maybe she should talk to someone else. And then she knew she didn’t need to.
A mummer had entered the pub.
The Beast had never seen the Elbow so busy Even if it was full of scruffy-looking bastards he’d never seen before. He wished the town could see in a few more riots and murders, just to help his trade along a bit, you understand. He grinned as he collected empty glasses from a table and awarded himself a glance at the TV chick’s legs. Mmmm.Can’t beat the odd atrocity for bringin’
out the talent. Yeah, he was a Beast, and he knew it. Admitted it to himself. But he had a heart of gold, y’understand.
Heart of bleeding Gold...
‘That’s right, my girl,’ he winked at the TV girl, er, whassername... Truly Goodlegs, or somethin’. ‘You tell all the good folks out there in TV land what’s been goin’ on. I can fit ‘em all in here, see.’
She looked at him doubtfully. Like he was some sort of dog splat on her shoe. Just buy some more G&T’s, ya bitch. Let my good old till chime. Anyroad, what right had she to give him a look like that when there was this dodgy crowd in here.Jeeeee-sus. Look at ‘em. He would have refused to serve the whole bleedin’ lot of ‘em ‘cept for the fact that he had a heart of gold.
Then the ugliest bleeder he’d ever clapped eyes on entered the pub.
Jo was sipping her half of bitter nervously. In fact, she didn’t think she’d ever sipped a beer more nervously than she was now.
Thanks, Doctor. Thanks for bringing me to the most threatening-looking place I’ve ever been to. Ogrons, Axons, Daleks: they were nothing compared to these freaks and villains. She’d never really adjusted to punk. Too violent, too nihilistic. The flower child in her would take some banishing. But, looking around her, she realised this crowd could kick it out of her in seconds.
Spiked hair; multicoloured hair; leather.Spiked belts.Big boots.
36
Most of them hadn’t been here at the start of the gig, she realised.
they’d just sort of materialised as the day wore on. Drawn here, like the TV crew and the Doctor. And herself. Still, there were a lot of hippies about too, and bikers. They seemed almost conservative now, or at least conventional, and wasn’t that strange? The jukebox hadn’t acclimatised to the change in the musical environment either: Hawkwind was blasting out right now, and some of the punks didn’t look too amused by that. One of them spat on the floor next to her at the bar. She turned away, her anxiety deepening. She wished the Doctor would hurry up. It had been a good thirty minutes since she’d left him.
And yet, strangely enough, part of her didn’t want to leave.
You’re a mixed up girl, Jo, she told herself and smiled wryly.
Someone next to her turned to her and smiled wryly back. Not the punk who’d spat, but a young man with a black mohair jumper and dark jeans. His eyes were a little lost-looking, his face thin but friendly. Of course, his hair was a little too spiky for Jo’s tastes, but he was kind of sexy. Then a cute little Chinese girl came up behind him, close enough for Jo to get the hint they were an item, and she smiled again, this time a little wistfully.
‘You all right?’ the young man asked her, and Jo wondered how many more people were going to say that to her tonight.
‘Well, considering I’ve just seen two men brutally murdered, I think I’m not shaping up too badly.’
‘You saw it too, then? Thought you might be a TV person.’
The Chinese girl was frowning at her as the young man spoke.
Her eyes were quite cold, and Jo imagined she could have an evil temper on her.
‘No, I’m just... just a traveller,’ she said and sipped her beer.
Where was the Doctor?
‘You don’t look like a traveller.’ The Chinese girl’s voice was accusatory.
‘I’m Nick,’ the young man said a little too quickly, and grinned sheepishly at her. ‘This is Sin. And going out with her is one, believe me.’
37
‘You’re such a corny bastard, it’s embarrassing.’ Sin