Doctor Who_ The Hollow Men - Keith Topping [37]
as if seeking warmth. There was no gap, no way through.
Ace swallowed down her rising panic, and turned back for the village. As she glanced over her shoulder, the wind tugged at the scarecrows. It was as if they were turning their faces to watch her.
PART TWO
JACK IN THE BOX
CHAPTER 5
THE PROMISED LAND
The Doctor sat on a mountain top. Below him, a thousand miles away, friends, family and companions were calling to him. He could hear the voices clearly as they echoed up through the clouds and the thin air towards him. He tried to answer, but his tongue was tied. Above him there was nothing but the vast rich blue of the universe. A scattering of stars, as bright as a hundred suns, cascaded their light upon him... And there was Pogar, his guiding star. The light that always brought him home from the furthest reaches of time and space.
He was dreaming, of course. He had known that for some time. The Yeti who had asked him, in halting Old High Gallifreyan, if he had any cigarettes probably gave the game away.
Get up.
Consciousness overwhelmed the Doctor‟s mind, and for a moment he lost all sense of where he was. When he finally opened his eyes - focusing on a beautiful woman sitting on a cream leather sofa - he was none the wiser. She was blonde, with high cheekbones. She wore a strapless full-length dress that, the Doctor supposed, probably curved in all the right places. In her hand was a half-smoked cigarette. She glanced at the Doctor and noticed that he was awake. She got to her feet without a word.
„Those are very bad for you,‟ observed the Doctor, but the woman had already gone.
He looked around the room keenly. He seemed to be in some sort of luxurious apartment, and he noticed for the first time that he was slumped in an armchair that would, in other circumstances, have been hugely comfortable. His wrists and ankles were bound, and he couldn‟t feel his feet at all. When he tried to push himself into a more upright position, the cramp in his legs caused him to cry out in pain.
„Are you compos mentis yet, or what?‟ asked a familiar voice.
„You always were good at Latin, as I remember,‟ said the Doctor, still wincing against the terrible ache in his legs. „Nice place you‟ve got here.‟
„Ta,‟ said Shanks, looking almost embarrassed, although there was no one else in the room to hear the Doctor‟s remark. He knelt beside the Doctor, beginning to loosen his bonds. „The drug will take a while to wear off, so don‟t do anything too energetic just yet.‟
„I know,‟ said the Doctor, feeling as though his head was stuffed with cotton wool. He had a vague memory of Shanks injecting him with something during the long journey from Hexen Bridge. „I am a pharmacologist. Amongst other things.‟
„You poor bloody divvy,‟ said Shanks with a seemingly genuine sadness. „You ain‟t gonna like what I‟ve got planned for you.‟
On her second morning in Hexen Bridge, Ace awoke to the sound of smashing crockery. The Matsons were clearly having a big argument in the kitchen. Ace didn‟t like listening in on private conversations, but the volume employed made it impossible not to.
„I saw you at the stinking yellow restaurant!‟ It was Bob Matson in full flood. „Try and deny it.‟
„I was talking business.’ Joanna‟s voice was calmer, but the anger in it, too, was unmistakable.
„Oh, don‟t give me that. You‟re screwing that chink kid.‟
„That‟s rich coming from you. At least he’s over sixteen.‟
„What the hell are you on about, woman?‟
„That bit of jailbait you‟ve been knocking up. Our “guest”.
There are laws in this country.‟
Ace couldn‟t help but shiver; the entire idea was too gruesome for words.
„You‟re round the bloody twist! Anyway, she‟s over sixteen.‟
„Oh, you know, do you?‟ shrieked Joanna, the first touch of hysteria audible in her voice.
Ace had heard enough. This had gone way beyond soap-opera funny. These were real people self-destructing beneath her feet, and it was time to get out. She pulled on her clothes as quickly as she