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Martha looked back at the quagga‐robed woman. Horror, surprise and fury mingled on her face. She seemed to be trying to say something, and it seemed to Martha to be a very good idea to get out of there before she managed it.

THE ISPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES

QUAGGA

Equus quagga quagga

Location: Southern Africa

The plains‐dwelling quagga is a four‐legged, hoofed mammal related to the zebra. Its coat is striped brown and white on its head and neck, the stripes gradually fading over the course of its body until it is plain brown.

Addendum:

Last reported sighting: AD 1883.

Cause of extinction: hunting by man.

ISpyder points value: 200

THE ISPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES

Creature Points

Subtotal 10000

Dodo 800

Megatherium 500

Paradise parrot 500

Velociraptor 250

Mountain gorilla 500

Aye‐aye 900

Siberian tiger 600

Kakapo 900

Indefatigable Galapagos mouse 1500

Stegosaurus 500

Triceratops 550

Diplodocus 600

Ankylosaurus 650

Dimetrodon 600

Passenger pigeon 100

Thylacine 250

Black rhinoceros 300

SIX

The Doctor was adjusting coordinates on his neck pendant, instructing Martha to do the same. ‘Probably not wise to stick around,’ he said, with which she agreed wholeheartedly.

‘Was that true?’ she said. ‘Could the quagga have come from a museum instead? Been an… already dead one?’

He shook his head, a tense, unhappy gesture. ‘Nope. Not really practical, you know, preservatives and all that. But I hope she goes on thinking it for the rest of her life…’

The wave of nausea that kept threatening Martha broke across her stomach again. ‘I’m not going to say anything,’ she said. ‘Cos, like my dad always says, there’s no point preaching to the choir. But I don’t want to meet anyone like that ever again.’

The Doctor looked at her. ‘Shame, that,’ he said. ‘Because, in case you didn’t notice, we didn’t exactly pick up a lot of clues there. So we’re trying again. Maybe someone will have made a slip. Gotta live in hope. Press your button.’

And, bracing herself for what they might find at the next set of coordinates, she did.

Their next place of arrival was rather a surprise after the opulence of the previous location.

It was a caravan.

It was in a muddy field in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, and it wasn’t even a particularly nice caravan, at least it didn’t look so on the outside. It was quite small and bits were falling off it. Thick brown curtains masked the view to the inside, although the windows were so dirty that they probably wouldn’t have been able to see much anyway.

The Doctor and Martha looked at each other, and did a synchronised shrug. Then the Doctor knocked on the door. There was a sound from inside like a surprised person going ‘eep’, but no call for them to enter. The Doctor knocked again, more forcefully. This time there was no sound at all. The Doctor knocked for a third time, and a male voice shrieked ‘Go away!’

‘No, sorry!’ called back the Doctor, cheerfully, trying the door handle. The door was locked.

‘We only want to talk to you,’ Martha added, in what she hoped was a nice, reasonable, friendly tone, although, after the encounter with the quagga‐coat woman, she wasn’t feeling particularly reasonable or friendly.

The Doctor was now trying a window. It didn’t appear to have a lock and, due to the condition of the caravan, didn’t fit properly in its frame. He pushed hard, and it sprang open.

‘Isn’t this breaking and entering?’ asked Martha nervously, as the Doctor pushed aside the brown curtain.

‘I haven’t entered yet!’ he replied. Then he stuck his head through the gap. ‘Ooh! Now I have!’

Martha stood on tiptoes and looked through the window too.

There was a table to one end of the caravan. Protruding from under it was a pair of feet, as of a person trying to hide from view but not doing it very well. The feet wore slippers – tartan ones, so at least they weren’t made out of some extinct animal, unless it was a very bizarre Scottish one she’d never heard