Doctor Who_ The City of the Dead - Lloyd Rose [112]
'what's wrong with your feet?'
Thales sighed, a deep exhalation that seemed to use more breath than could possibly be in his frail body. He leaned over and laid his crutches on the rug, then sat with his arms crossed on his knees, head down. The Doctor waited. The wind boomed and the house's shutters creaked. Slowly, Thales reached down and worked at the laces of his left shoe. He pulled it off and peeled away the sock. What was underneath could not properly be called a foot at all, lacking as it did toes or any semblance of an arch.
The Doctor stared at the lump of flesh. Questions whirled through his mind.
Why had two spirits been called by the summons? Or had they come separately? Who had found Thales?
What had they made of him?
But what he asked was, 'Why did you give me the charm?'
Thales raised to him eyes as trusting as a child's.
'Because I knew you would keep it safe, and that you would make everything all right.'
A crash of thunder made them both flinch. The lights went out. In their jars, the candles burned serenely.
'Please ' said Thales. 'Oh, please, tell me about the the other one.'
The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, but whatever he was going to say turned into a yell as he was lifted by a rushing shadow and smashed against the wall.
'Hello,' said Rust.
He strolled in from the dark hall, crossing casually to where the Doctor, breath knocked out, was trying to sit up. Rust put a foot to his chest and pushed him down.
'You're slippery as a greased pig, you know that? I can't wait to hear how you escaped from that swamp. Not right now, though.'
'How ' the Doctor gasped, still struggling for breath, 'did ?'
'Same as always.' Rust bent and seized the hair at the base of the Doctor's neck, pulling him to his knees. 'Just loosed the darkness on you. It ran you down like a hound.' He held something up in front of the Doctor's eyes. A small, white circle of bone. 'I believe you've already met my father.'
A clatter made him. spin around, hauling the Doctor with him. Thales was frozen halfway out of the chair, reaching for a fallen crutch. Rust's eyes fixed on his naked foot.
'My God,' he breathed. In an instant, he had dropped the Doctor and was beside Thales, who whimpered and shrank away. Rust grabbed his jaw and twisted his head from side to side, then stepped back, staring at the malformed foot. 'It's over,' he whispered. 'It's all over.'
At a noise, he whirled, and his baleful gaze slammed into the charging Doctor, who pitched to the floor, hearing beneath his own cry a breaking stick, a grinding snap, the crack of his shattering leg. 'You just stay put. I'll get to you in a minute.'
'Who are you?' Thales gasped as Rust pulled him into the middle of the room, kicking at the carpet to clear a space on the floor. Rust laughed shortly.
'I guess you could say I'm your brother.'
The Doctor rolled off his broken leg, groaning. 'Rust, stop. Have you ever thought about all this instead of just brooding on it? You said you were good at your job.'
'What?' said Rust, distracted.
'When did you start? When you were nineteen? You might have faked your employment history with magic, but once you were in the job I assume you had to do it. You hadn't the spare energy to use spells to catch murderers.
But you caught them. And in the meantime you were becoming one of the most powerful mages I've ever run across. You're a brilliant man, Rust. Do you know that? You could have a life.'
Rust was suddenly standing over him. '"Have had a life",' he corrected softly. He placed his foot on the Doctor's injured leg. The Doctor gasped.
'How long until this heals? A few days? A few hours? Twenty minutes?
Every day I ask myself the same question about how long my heart will last.'
'Well, you're right of course,' said the Doctor tightly. 'And since it heals so quickly, why not do this?' Teeth