Doctor Who_ The Awakening - Eric Pringle [39]
Lights were forming against the wall. This time they developed quickly, much faster than those in the barn, and in no time the first point of brilliance had become a mass of moving stars which danced like fireworks in the corner.
The others gaped, half shocked, half entranced, but shock took over completely when the lights suddenly grouped together in a complex pattern out of-which there formed, with a phosphorescent glow, a rapidly stabilising image.
It hung on the wall like an obscenely bloated grey spider. Lights still flickered around it and it was not yet fully formed, but it contained in recognisable form all the features of the Malus – the flaring, sneering nostrils, the sardonic mouth, hair like writhing snakes turned to stone, and the unmistakable aura of evil. While the others stood rooted to the floor, hypnotised by the manifestation, the Doctor moved slowly towards it.
‘Be careful.’ Tegan shuddered at the memory of her previous encounter; she was not at all pleased that it was happening again.
‘That’s the thing in the church!’ Jane’s voice had shrunk to an awed whisper.
‘Not quite,’ the Doctor decided. He was close to the wall, and was examining the image carefully. ‘This is a projection of the parent image. It must be one of several energy gathering points.’
Projection or not, the Doctor was much too close to it for Tegan’s comfort. ‘Keep away from it,’ she pleaded.
The Doctor smiled at her concern. ‘It has no force yet.’
He spoke reassuringly, but the image seemed to Tegan to pulsate slightly, and to be growing brighter and stronger by the minute.
By now Ben Wolsey was over his initial surprise. Like the practical, rough and ready farmer he was, he now addressed the situation in a practical, down-to-earth way by aiming his pistol at the Malus image as he would at a crow or a rat. It was vermin, and should be treated as such.
‘Will this put a stop to it?’ he asked.
Holding up his hands to forestall any precipitate action, the Doctor hurried over to him. ‘No, it won’t,’ he said quickly. ‘I’m afraid you can’t hurt it, because it has no substance.’
The image had the colour and texture of old stone, and to Ben Wolsey it looked as solid as a lump of rock. ‘We have to do something,’ he said.
The Doctor nodded. ‘Yes. We have to prevent the re-enactment. The last battle must be stopped. We must spoil it in any way we can.’ He paused, then explained: ‘We have to reduce the amount of psychic energy being produced.’
The Doctor’s words sent relief flooding through Tegan.
‘Then we can forget the May Queen procession!’ she cried.
But Wolsey shook his head and crushed her rising spirits.
‘The cart to take you to the village is already here,’ he said.
Disappointed, Tegan looked to the Doctor for support.
He was frowning heavily. She knew that look of old – it meant that some fast and furious thinking was going on, so she waited for the plan forming in his mind to surface.
Suddenly he gave Wolsey a sharp, appraising glance and asked, ‘Will there be guards for the procession?’
Wolsey shook his head. ‘No, I’m the only escort. But they will send someone to investigate.’
The Doctor reached his decision. ‘Then you make sure that Tegan and Jane get safely back to the church,’ he said quickly. ‘You can use the underground passage. I must find Turlough and Will. And, er ...’ – as he headed for the door he glanced at the image of the Malus growing stronger on the wall – ‘Good luck!’
He set out on his search, and left them to their preparations.
Tegan turned to the farmer. ‘Do you know where my clothes are?’ she asked him.
‘I’ll fetch them for you,’ he promised, ‘but stay as you are for the moment.’
‘Why?’
He sighed, a picture of the unbounded obsession of Sir George Hutchinson filling his mind. ‘Because if you don’t turn up in that cart, Hutchinson will turn out the whole village to search for you ... and the Doctor won’t stand a chance.’
Tegan’s heart sank. Shc knew he was right, and that she was going to he Little Hodcombe’s Queen of the May whether she liked it or not.
Will kept running until he reached