Doctor Who_ The Bodysnatchers - Mark Morris [29]
In his cold, clipped voice, he said, 'I have no time for this nonsense. Good day, Emmeline.'
He strode away from her then, towards the door, evidently intending to open it for her, not as a gesture of courtesy, but of dismissal.
A thought fluttered across her mind: he doesn't even move like Father! He moved with a fluid, effortless grace, but with something quick and darting about it. Like a lizard, but like a predator too. Silent.
She tried to use her fear, to turn it into anger, but her blurting voice came out somewhere in between.'It is not nonsense!'
He turned to her. Did his eyes flash with a momentary orange light? Before the thought had even fully formed, she had dismissed it.
'Please leave now,' he said.
'Father, what has happened to you?' she pleaded desperately.
'Nothing has happened to me. I am perfectly fine. Everything is fine.'
'Then why don't you come home? Come back with me now and speak to Mama, comfort her.'
For a moment it seemed as though he was not even going to grace her with a reply, and then he said, 'Your mama is unstable and over-emotional.
I suggest that what she needs is a physician.'
'There is nothing wrong with her!' Emmeline cried. 'You are the one with the affliction, Father! You are the one who should see a physician!'
'Leave now!' he snarled again, and yanked the door open so violently that she was afraid he might tear it off its hinges.
She stood up, her legs shaky, smoothing down her long skirt with trembling hands. She was angry and upset, but trying not to show it. 'I will go, Father,'
she said, 'but I will not allow this situation to prevail for many more days. In spite of what you say, I know you are deeply troubled, and however you have behaved these past weeks, Mama and I still love you dearly.' She crossed to him and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. He, in turn, leaned back, preventing her from doing so, a look of distaste on his face.
Hurt and confused, Emmeline left the office, the door of which was immediately slammed behind her. She hurried along the catwalk and down the metal stairway, fighting to hold back tears. Keeping her head bowed so that the brim of the hat she wore, with its blue ribbon and jauntily angled feather, covered her face, she hurried towards the nearest door. She half expected Stoker to appear in front of her, blocking her way once again.
Well, woe betide him if he did. Despite her distress, he would soon feel the sharp edge of her tongue.
The overseer, however, was nowhere to be seen, and a moment later Emmeline was stepping out of the hot factory into the cool air. She paused a moment to compose herself.
Though the air was by no means fresh, she took great gulps of it. Her head was spinning. She felt ashamed and angered by her failure. Whatever would she tell Mama? More importantly, what more could she do to recapture the affections of her father? She wished she knew what it was that ailed him so. If she could find that out, then perhaps she would be able to help him. But how could she find out?
She began to stroll across the cobbled yard towards the gates, her mind a turmoil of thoughts and emotions. She was so deep in reverie that when a voice called out,'Excuse me? Miss Seers!' she jumped, startled.
She turned, half expecting to see sweating, red-faced Stoker clumping across the yard, but in fact the man hurrying towards her was a complete stranger. Where he had appeared from she couldn't begin to guess. Surely he had not been concealing himself, waiting for her to emerge?
The man was young, with startlingly long hair, albeit well dressed. He had a quirky mouth that seemed used to smiling, and frank, clear eyes of the most incredible blue. In spite of her reservations, Emmeline found herself instinctively warming to the man; even in this first instant of their meeting she sensed a calm, knowing manner about him.
He halted a few feet away from her. 'You are Nathaniel Seers's daughter, I take it?' he asked gently.