Doctor Who_ The Nightmare of Black Island - Mike Tucker [24]
‘Sorry. Butterfingers.’
Bronwyn snatched the photographs from him, putting them back in their place. The Doctor watched as her fingers ran gently over the pictures.
‘Good-looking boy.’
A flicker of a smile started to cross her face, taking years off her.
‘Yes. . . ’
The smile vanished as suddenly as it had arrived and she shot the Doctor a suspicious glance.
‘We’d better get a move on if we’re going to catch the tide,’ she said.
‘Absolutely. Don’t want to keep those seals waiting.’
Bronwyn bustled out of the room, muttering to herself. The Doctor took off his spectacles and fingered the photograph in his pocket. Something dark had happened in Bronwyn’s past, of that he had no doubt. Something to do with her son. It could not have been a coincidence that Rose had seen a child in her dream. It could also not 57
have been a coincidence that there was history between Bronwyn and Nathaniel Morton. The problem was that he was still no closer to finding out what.
He tapped his teeth thoughtfully with the arm of his glasses.
‘Jimmy,’ he murmured.
58
Thereyouare!’ Alipointedproudlyatalowpileofruinedbrickwork that emerged from under a sprawling holly bush.
She and the others had led Rose through the wood until they came to the high, imposing wall that bordered the back of the rectory grounds. Then they had followed the wall until they reached what had once been outbuildings serving the main house. Here the kids had scrambled enthusiastically underneath the foliage. Rose pushed her way forward through the tangle of branches to where Billy Palmer and Baz Morgan were clearing leaves from a sheet of rotten plywood. The ruined building had obviously been a coal house or storeroom of some kind. The remains of bunkers could be seen among the vegetation and ancient rusted rail tracks snaked off through the wood, vanishing in the undergrowth, evidence of the industry that must have thrived in the area in the past. Grunting with effort, the two boys pulled back the plywood, exposing a dark hole at the base of the wall. Woodlice scuttled away from the light as the board was pulled back and Rose could smell the damp muskiness of decay. She peered into the tunnel. It was made of brick, about a metre wide, with a stream of murky, rust-stained orange water 59
running down a drain in its centre.
Ali hunkered down next to her and peered into the tunnel, wrinkling her nose.
‘It smells a bit, but it’s quite safe.’
‘Yeah! Like you’d know,’ snorted Billy. ‘You’ve not been down there.’
‘But you have?’ Rose looked at him.
Billy nodded. ‘Like I said, it goes under the wall, comes up at the back of the house, in a kind of courtyard next to the cellars.’
‘How long is it?’
Billy shrugged. ‘Dunno. Not far.’ He paused. ‘Do you want me to show you?’
Rose smiled at the nervousness in the boy’s voice. He obviously didn’t want to go down the tunnel again, but equally he didn’t want to lose face with his friends. She shook her head.
‘Nah. It’s OK.’
‘I’ll go with you!’ piped up Ali.
‘No! I want you to stay here. All of you.’ She looked around the little group. ‘I need you to make sure no one comes in behind me. And if I don’t come back out in about half an hour, go and find the Doctor back at the pub. All right?’
The kids nodded, relieved that Rose hadn’t asked them to go with her.
Ali pouted and crossed her arms. ‘It’s not fair!’
Rose looked at her sternly. ‘I mean it, Ali. I need you to keep an eye on things at this end.’ She squeezed her arm. ‘I’ll be ten minutes, OK?’
Ali nodded.
With more bravado than she felt, Rose gave the watching children a reassuring smile, took a deep breath and ducked into the tunnel. There was a moment of panic when she realised that she wouldn’t be able to stand up straight, but the floor was so slippery with moss and slime