Doctor Who_ Relative Dementias - Mark Michalowski [82]
‘You wait here, Professor, OK? You got that?’
He looked at her, blank and uncomprehending. She felt Michael patting her on the arm.
‘Come on, Ace. If they catch sight of us here, we’ve had it –
and so’s he.’ He gestured, almost dismissively, at the Doctor.
‘Just don’t move,’ she said, turning to the Doctor again.
‘We’ll be back for you soon.’ Reluctantly, she closed the door, trying hard not to feel like she was abandoning him.
‘All right!’ she hissed, more snippily than she’d intended, as Michael reminded her that they had to get moving. The sounds of pursuit were becoming louder again, but they still – thankfully
– couldn’t see anyone.Which hopefully meant that they couldn’t be seen either.
They set off, moving at roughly a right angle to their pursuers’ course: they wanted to lead them away from the Doctor, after all.
‘So what’s the plan?’ asked Ace, giving one last look at the hut.
‘Stick together,’ Michael said. ‘If they catch sight of us, we need to be able to fool them into thinking we’ve still got the Doctor with us. Otherwise they might stop and look around for him.’ He put his arm around Ace’s shoulder.
‘Oi! Cut that out!’
‘For God’s sake, Ace!’ he sighed. ‘From a distance, we’ll look more like we have the Doctor with us if we do this.’ She gave him a look. He shrugged. ‘Fine, do it your way. Just remember that I’m the one that’s been in the army, not you.’
‘Yeah – well maybe you should go back there, soldier boy.’
Michael didn’t reply, and Ace felt a bit cheap for throwing that one back at him. She took his arm and laid it over her shoulder and the two of them set off in silence.
It was mid-afternoon and, through the thin canopy of spring leaves, the sun shone brightly – if none too warmly. Michael kept checking behind them, altering their course or speed when they felt that their pursuers were losing the scent. At least, thought Ace with some relief, they’ve not stopped to look for the Doctor.
She was getting used to Michael’s arm around her shoulder, and although she’d never have admitted it, it was rather comforting – but she wished she’d had the sense to do it the other way round, with him taking some of her weight. Her knee was still throbbing.
Neither of them spoke very much, other than to urge each other left or right, or to point out obstacles or landmarks they could use later to retrace their steps back to the Doctor. On the couple of occasions the Doctor’s name was mentioned, Ace felt Michael tense up, but she really didn’t want to start a counselling session. She glanced at her watch: they’d been running for over half an hour. Ahead, Ace could see the main road. A red car flashed past, flickering behind the trees. She wasn’t sure what they were going to do when they got there. Behind them, the sounds of snapping twigs and crunching footsteps told them that they were still being chased. It seemed odd, she thought, that she’d be more worried if they weren’t being followed.
‘Nearly there,’ Michael said.
‘And then what?’
‘I reckon we should cross the road and head into the wood on the other side – and then hide. With a bit of luck, they’ll think we’ve managed to get farther down the road than they expected
– or that we’ve hitched a lift. Hopefully they’ll call the chase off and head back to Graystairs.’
Ace nodded, and the two of them resumed their three-legged-race-style lumber through the wood until they climbed the shallow bank up onto the road. In seconds they were across to the other side, scrambling back down into the shelter of the trees, Ace’s rucksack bouncing around on her back. Michael spotted a dip in the ground under a fallen tree, and the two of them slipped into it.
‘Now we play the waiting game,’ Michael said.
After a few moments’ silence, Ace turned to him. ‘I’m bored with the waiting game – can’t we play Battling Tops instead?’
From where they were hidden, the slope of the bank not only hid them from the road, but prevented them from seeing their pursuers. They heard them crash through the last bit of the wood on the other side of the road and then there was