Doctor Who_ The Room With No Doors - Kate Orman [14]
Chris had a vague memory of being carried out of the funeral home by his mother, crying, because he didn’t want Granddad to be shut up in that box 29
forever.
He had been much older when he realized that the coffin would have been vaporized after the service. There was no room left on Earth for the dead.
Chris shrugged his shoulders, leaning back against the wall. ‘That’s all it is,’
he told the nightmare, his voice echoing. ‘A childhood scare. Do your worst.’
He didn’t wake up for five hours.
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3
How to lose
Someone shook Chris. He opened one eye. The Doctor was standing over him, holding a lamp.
‘Time to go, I think,’ said the Time Lord.
Chris sat up. ‘It’s the middle of the night,’ he protested. The Doctor looked vaguely agitated, but didn’t say anything. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘I hate goodbyes,’ whispered the Doctor. ‘And I want to get an early start.’
Chris groaned theatrically. ‘Well, couldn’t you start without me?’
The Doctor looked at him, sharply, the lamp flame reflected, jumping, in his eyes. ‘I’d rather not,’ he said, very softly. ‘There may not be much time.’
‘Something is wrong,’ said Chris, scrambling out of bed. But the Doctor had already turned and gone out of the room.
Chris frowned. It wasn’t fair dragging him out of bed and then not telling him what the problem was. Unless the Doctor was just being weird – to keep his companion interested?
Chris had the sudden, wild idea of getting back under the covers. He didn’t want an adventure. Let the Doctor go off and fool around with the time distortion. He’d stay here, nice and warm and actually safe for once, and get –
– a few more hours’ sleep.
Chris groaned and reached for his kimono.
The Doctor patted his horse reassuringly on the neck. He led it through the blackness towards the exit, motioning for Chris to do the same, and stepped on the man sleeping in front of the gate.
The Roshi looked up at them. He was curled in a pile of straw. ‘Oh, I beg your pardon,’ he said with a polite smile.
The Doctor made a face, as though he had just squashed his fingers in a door, and couldn’t quite believe he’d done it. He looked down, looked back at Chris, muttered something inaudible, and slunk past the old monk, leading his horse.
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Chris looked down at the Roshi. ‘How’d you know?’ he said.
The Roshi said nothing, smiling up at him. He fluffed up the straw, lay back down and went to sleep.
After a moment, Chris followed the Doctor, his horse’s hooves loud on the dry earth.
The village was a cluster of huts at the nub of four rice paddies. The fanners were hidden beneath wide straw hats, keeping the sun off their shoulders as they worked.
They’d ridden for most of the morning, galloping down roads and across fields. The Doctor rode hard, forcing Chris to keep up with him. He didn’t understand the Time Lord’s haste.
The Doctor got down from his horse when they were still a klick from the village. ‘We both look very intimidating,’ he said.
‘Me more than you,’ said Chris. ‘Do you want me to stay behind?’
The Doctor shook his head. ‘We won’t stay long. I just want to pick up the gossip and ask for directions.’
There was a group of children playing at being samurai outside the village, defending a mound of dirt and shouting as they waved sticks at one another.
They fell silent as they caught sight of the two strangers. Wide black eyes in small faces, watching them.
One little boy ran back into the village. Another ran up to Chris and started pounding on his shins with the stick.
‘Ow!’ protested Chris. ‘I surrender!’
‘You’ve captured him,’ the Doctor told the boy, taking the stick away. ‘Now You’d better present your prisoner to the village headman.’
‘That’s my grandfather!’ said one of the girls, marching up.
‘He’s my prisoner,’