Doctor Who_ The Bodysnatchers - Mark Morris [107]
It sniffed the air, then lumbered forward, stepping over the woman so that for a few moments she was thrown into the dark shadow of its body. Sam, who had picked herself up now, winced as the Skarasen's back feet thumped down, certain that the woman would be crushed like a bug.
However, as the Skarasen advanced on the screaming horses, Sam saw the woman reappear behind it, still lying on the ground but undoubtedly alive.
The Skarasen reached the tethered horses and lunged forward, its jaws opening wide. Sam saw its huge claws smash into one horse and tear its body open like wet paper, felling it instantly. It clamped another of the horses in its jaws and lifted it high into the air, the leather harness that had prevented it from fleeing snapping like cotton. Sam turned away as the Skarasen began to shake the horse from side to side, but she couldn't blot out the sound of its awful screaming. It seemed to go on for a very long time.
The Skarasen ignored her as she ran past it on shaky legs. She ran up to the woman, who was still lying on her back, looking dazed. When Sam asked her if she was all right, the woman gazed at her as if she had no idea what language Sam was speaking in. She was willing enough to allow Sam to help her to her feet, however. Once she was upright, her eyes flickered and she murmured,'Daisy... Where's my little Daisy?'
'She's safe,' Sam said.'She's with the Doctor.'
'Doctor?' murmured the woman. 'She ain't hurt, is she?'
'No, she's... look, here they are.'
Sam pointed as the Doctor emerged from the shelter of the building, carrying the little girl in his arms.The girl seemed quite content to be with him. She was snuggled into his chest, sucking her thumb. The Doctor smiled and said, 'Here's a little girl who wants her mother.' He held her out and the woman took her gratefully. Despite his words, the girl barely seemed to have noticed that she had been passed from one person to another.
'Thank you, sir,' the woman said, a spark of real life returning to her eyes.
'Thank you most kindly.'
'Just take good care of her,' the Doctor said. 'Find somewhere to hide, and quickly. These creatures are everywhere.'
'Oh, I will, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you.'
The woman hurried away, bowed down somewhat by the weight of her burden.
'Will they be all right?' Sam asked anxiously, watching them go.
The Doctor watched them too, his face troubled. 'Even I don't know everything,' he said softly.
Sam realised that the high-pitched screaming of the horse that the Skarasen had picked up had stopped behind them, though the others were still whinnying in panic. She turned to see the Skarasen lying on its stomach, holding the body of the now dead horse between its front paws and tearing at it with its teeth in much the same way as a lion will tear at a gazelle.The horse that the Skarasen had first attacked was lying dead beside the carriage, its body ripped open from its throat to its hindquarters.
The two remaining horses were still bucking and rearing in a desperate attempt to break free of their restraints, their eyes crazed and rolling, foam flying from their mouths.
Sam felt sick with helplessness. She wished there was something she could do. It was terrible to see the creatures suffering like this. Even a well-aimed bullet would have been kinder than walking away and leaving them to their fate. She looked beyond the Skarasen and the horses to where Emmeline and her father were still waiting, their eyes dark smudges in their pearl-white faces. She wondered whether Nathaniel had a revolver. Did Victorian gentlemen carry such things around with them? But no, even if he had had a weapon, the Zygons would have taken it or it would have got lost or ruined in the