Doctor Who_ The Room With No Doors - Kate Orman [53]
He risked a glance back. They had lost all but a handful of their pursuers.
There were two arrows embedded in the side of the cab. Which, if she could see them, might give Penelope a hint about why they’d suddenly broken into a furious gallop.
The Doctor still had his bow. He was loosing incredibly precise shots over the top of the cab, popping up, aiming for a split second, and then launching a blunt-tipped arrow at one of their pursuers.
Some had tumbled from their horses, half stunned by the sudden impact on their armour, then stunned the other half by the rough fall. Some had lost swords or spears, knocked neatly out of their hands. The Doctor had even used a ‘live’ arrowhead to snip the bowstring of one of their attackers.
He hadn’t even broken a sweat, loosing the arrows like he was tossing pebbles into a lake. Chris was grinning all over his face. If Zen archery taught you to make neat shots like that, it’d be worth putting up with years more of those lessons!
The Doctor was running out of arrows, but they were running out of pursuers. There hadn’t been more than a dozen samurai in the patrol anyway, and maybe thirty lowerclass warriors on foot.
‘Just three more of them,’ shouted the Doctor.
‘Is there any way we can use the egg, er, Penelope’s machine to escape?’
‘Best to save it,’ shouted the Doctor. ‘Probably only one, maybe two more jaunts left in it.’
There was an almighty cracking sound. Chris almost dropped the reins.
‘What the cruk?’
The Doctor twisted in his seat. ‘Just two more of them,’ he corrected himself.
‘Penelope?’
The Doctor was nocking another of the blunt arrows. ‘I’m afraid so,’ he said.
‘Don’t look. She’s leaning out of the window with her matchlock.’
The Doctor sat right up in his seat, almost standing, and Chris suddenly realized he was taking aim at Penelope’s gun. He fought the urge to turn around and watch what happened next – if they caught a wheel on one of those big rocks, they’d go flying.
Penelope loosed another shot. Chris expected the Doctor to let his arrow fly, but the Time Lord sat back down, letting his bowstring relax. ‘They’re turning back,’ he said. ‘She’s given them a thorough scare.’
‘Did she kill one of them?’
107
‘I think so. Her gun’s one of the Japanese adaptations of the Portuguese originals. Those bullets will go right through armour.’ The Doctor scowled.
‘She probably thought she was doing the right thing,’ said Chris.
‘Of course she did,’ grumbled the Doctor. ‘Just trying to help.’
‘And they were trying to kill us.’
‘Hmmph. At least the pod didn’t fall off. Goodness knows how much longer the back axle will hold out. Are we still heading in the right direction?’
‘I have no idea,’ Chris said.
‘Right then,’ said the Doctor. ‘Pull over. We’ll take a look at the map.’
‘Goddess, I enjoyed that!’ said Chris, as the horses slowed. The Doctor’s serious look became more serious. ‘How do you suppose Joel is getting along?’
‘Oh, I’m sure he’s having a marvellous time.’
Later.
Oh man, diary, I’m still wobbly.
The daimyo sent one of his pages to collect me. I got to see quite a bit of the palace – I think the page was meant to give me a bit of a tour, show it off. It’s huge, it’s empty, it’s clean. There are gardens around it and courtyards inside.
(The thing that really amazes me – and is kind of frustrating – are the bathrooms. They’re like outhouses – you get there via a paved path – and they’re incredibly clean. I think there’s a servant whose job it is to clean the thing out every time someone uses it. And there’s handmade toilet paper, and perfume. I was hoping to sell them plumbing.) They wash – twice a day – and they have clean toilets. These guys are civilized.
On the other hand. . .
I got to see something I really really wish I hadn’t. Lord Gufuu testing out his new sword. Thing is, he was testing it out on some poor bastard who