Doctor Who_ The Awakening - Eric Pringle [55]
That was the opportunity Ben Wolsey had been waiting for. He raised his dagger and moved forward for the kill.
‘No!’ the Doctor shouted. He dived at the big man and grasped his arm to hold him back. At the same moment Willow made his move, charging the group from behind.
He took them by surprise and broke through easily, then he too, knife in hand, launched himself at Wolsey.
Although Wolsey was stronger than Willow he was hampered by the Doctor, so the two men were evenly balanced and for long moments grappled for supremacy.
They gripped each other’s knife arm at the wrist and the knives hung poised in the air; their arms strained and their faces trembled with effort. The Mattes roared, Jane screamed, Tegan shouted; the Doctor tried to drag the struggling men away from Sir George, who was moaning and pushing himself to his feet.
It was Turlough who ended the impasse. He leaped on Willow from behind and dragged him backwards. Taking his chance, the Doctor finally overpowered Ben Wolsey and pulled him away too.
All the time they had been fighting, Will Chandler had taken no notice of them. Instead, he had been staring at Sir George, watching his struggle as he groped to his feet, watching him now as he stood dazed and swaying just in front of the gaping mouth of the Malus. In his mind, Will was seeing not Sir George but his ancestor of centuries ago, the evil man who had pressed Will into service and forced him into the battle of the church and the worst moments of his life. Will hated him for that.
And now, when Turlough dragged Willow unexpectedly in one direction and the Doctor pushed Wolsey in another, Will saw a clear pathway between them to Sir George, and something snapped inside him.
The Malus, screaming at the frustration of its plans, belched clouds of smoke and set the whole nave shaking with its noise. The roof timbers started to quiver. Pieces of plaster, shaken from their anchorage by the rumbling vibration, fell to the floor with a clattering sound. And Will, freed from the anchorage of his fear, shot out of the group like an arrow released from a bow and scuttled into the smoke billowing around the Malus and Sir George.
Verney and Jane saw him run and sensed instantly what he was about. ‘No!’ Verney cried. Jane shouted, ‘Will, don’t!’ But Will did not hear them. He was running blind, possessed by a single idea -- to destroy the man who had destroyed him.
Sir George could offer no resistance. His mind had been blown and he was totally confused and disoriented. Will grabbed hold of him, and as he looked up into the mad face there were tears in his eyes. ‘You gonna be dead!’ he yelled
– and pushed him backwards with all his strength.
Sir George cried out as he stumbled, tripped and full back into the wide open mouth of the roaring Malus. He disappeared from sight. There was a momentary silence and then a long, gurgling scream, suddenly cut off. Black smoke belched from the Malus, and then it fell silent, and still.
Sweating and breathing heavily, Will leaned wildeyed against the pulpit for support. Wolsey and Willow ceased struggling; stunned by this latest event, they all looked on quietly as the Doctor approached him.
Will’s fear had returned. He was appalled by what he had done. Yet he knew it was justified, and to forestall the Doctor before he could speak he looked him in the eye and shouted, ‘It is better he be dead!’
The Doctor held out his hands to placate him. ‘It’s all right, Will,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s all right.’
The church was heavy with smoke. Wreaths of it hung like fog around the silent pews. The Malus looked like a dead thing, as hideously ugly in death as it had been in life.
Jane Hampden ran to the Doctor. ‘We must seal up the church,’ she said.
Following her, Andrew Verney added,