Doctor Who_ The Nightmare of Black Island - Mike Tucker [10]
The door behind her opened and Mervyn, her husband, stepped back into the bar, giving her a weak smile.
‘She says she’s going to read for a while. That new Invisible Detective book Maureen gave her.’
Beth nodded. They both knew that it was just delaying the inevitable. However much Ali fought against it, sleep always won the battle and the nightmares would start again.
‘How’s it going through there?’
Beth shrugged. ‘Just the usual. Bob and the vicar sniping at each other, one blaming the Devil, the other blaming anything and everything.’
‘I’ll go and see if I can calm things down a little.’
He squeezed her arm and crossed the room. Beth sighed and picked up the bottle of whisky from the bar. She was lifting it up to the waiting optic when the door swung open with a flurry of wind. The bottle nearly slipped from her fingers, thumping against the side of the bar. In the doorway stood a tall, thin-faced man in a long brown coat and a young girl huddled into a parka. Everyone in the pub turned to look at the Doctor and Rose, surprise 25
etched on their faces. Seemingly oblivious to the attention he was attracting, the Doctor strode across to the bar, a friendly smile on his face. Rose followed him nervously, aware of the stares. The babble of conversation from the restaurant had stopped too and the pub became frighteningly quiet.
‘Right, Rose. What are you having? They’ve got those little cheesy biscuits! I love them!’
Rose tugged at the sleeve of his coat. ‘Doctor, I really don’t think these people are happy to see us.’
Beth felt her heart jump. ‘Doctor? You’re a Doctor?’
‘Yes.’ The man gave her a puzzled look. ‘Why? Is there something wrong here?’
‘Yes. Please. . . ’
‘That’s enough, Beth!’ Mervyn’s voice boomed across the bar. He pushed his way through the tangle of tables. ‘Who are you? How did you get here?’
The Doctor turned to face him. ‘I’m the Doctor, this is Rose. We walked.’
‘Walked?’
There was a low murmur from the watching regulars.
‘Yes. Through the woods. Quite an interesting walk, wouldn’t you say, Rose? Lots of wildlife.’
Mervyn flinched. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘And we found a large pool of blood by the shore.’ The Doctor’s voice was hard now. ‘I don’t suppose you’d know anything about that either?’
Beth saw her husband’s fists clench.
‘I think that you’d better go.’
Beth clutched at her husband’s arm. ‘Mervyn! We can’t send them back out again. Not at night. You know we can’t! He says he’s a doctor. He might be able to help! What harm can it do?’
‘Mummy, what’s going on?’
The tired voice cut through the bar. Beth turned to see her daughter standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes, a colouring book tucked 26
under her arm. ‘I heard the door open. I thought you said no one could go outside.’
Beth scooped Ali up into her arms. ‘That’s right, baby. It’s dangerous outside.’
‘I’ve been drawing. Drawing the monsters.’
She held out her book. There was a crude pencil drawing of a tall grey monster with four arms and huge teeth. Beth heard the girl Rose gasp.
‘Doctor, that’s the thing we just saw in the woods. The thing from my dream!’
The Doctor plucked the drawing book from Ali’s hand, studied it for a moment, then fixed Beth with a piercing stare. ‘What is going on here?’
Rose sat close to the roaring fire in the corner of the pub, sipping gratefully at a mug of hot chocolate. The Doctor was at the bar, talking animatedly with a gaggle of villagers. The arrival of the little girl, Ali, couldn’t have been better-timed. Rose was sure there would have been a fight if she hadn’t turned up when she did, and the Doctor didn’t look like he was the brawling type.
The Doctor’s psychic paper had helped as well, of course. Mervyn, the landlord, had asked to see some identification and the Doctor had been only too happy to oblige. Whatever it was that the villagers saw on the paper, their relief was obvious and their hostility quickly evaporated. Now they were only too eager to accept the Doctor’s offer of help.
Ali pushed