Doctor Who_ The Room With No Doors - Kate Orman [86]
‘What do you want?’ said the human, dully.
175
‘To change sides, of course. Umemi-sama’s head got blown off during the battle, so it’s no damned use working for him any more. I’ve got a bunch of information about what’s left of his forces. Not that there’s much to tell!
Anyway, I’ll bet this daimyo’s going to head for the monastery as soon as he’s got his act together. And that’s where I want to go.’
She looked out across the valley, towards the monastery, sitting on its distant rock. ‘That’s what I want,’ she repeated. ‘The pod, some Kapteynian vol-au-vents, the Doctor and a vegetable peeler.’
She grinned down at Joel, who shivered uncontrollably. ‘Doesn’t take much to keep me happy.’
On a tree stump, somewhere – in the forest, the Doctor sat, listening to a nearby stream.
He could see the water through the trees, a little way away down a gentle slope. It caught the moonlight in tiny sparkling flashes.
The water sounded like music, like a million miniature bells. The sound echoed softly from the trees, mixing with the low breathing of the wind in the leaves.
It was so calming. So quiet and random, so soft and natural. It soothed his mind, soothed away the panic and the worry. He could feel all of that built-up fear drifting away on the water, years and years of it, bubbling softly downstream.
The little girl he was holding couldn’t hear it, of course.
She was so small and light it was as though he had an arm full of nothing, but he was holding her tightly, as tightly as though the lethal arrow still connected them.
‘Death defies the Doctor,’ he murmured, and even the words went floating downstream.
It took Chris far longer to find the grave than he would have liked. He wished he hadn’t hidden it quite so well.
He crept through the forest. It was so quiet. Even the birds had been scared silent, waiting to see what would happen next.
At first he had wondered why the monastery hadn’t been attacked yet, but his first look at the battlefield had given him a good idea. The two armies had annihilated each other. Part of him was glad. They wouldn’t be terrorizing any more peasants. On the other hand, if Umemi and Gufuu were helpless now – some other daimyo would just move in and take over.
He couldn’t assume it was all over. Not yet. There might be reinforcements on the way, or even one of those other daimyo. And Goddess knew what Joel 176
might be up to. They needed to open the pod, and for that they needed the Doctor.
Chris was looking so hard for the oddly shaped rock that he almost ran into a pair of Gufuu’s samurai. He slipped behind a huge pine. They’d found the body of one of the enemy warriors. As he watched, one of them loosened and yanked off the man’s helmet, while the other pulled his dagger out and started slicing.
Chris thought about throwing up, but he was too furious with the Doctor.
He turned, putting his back to the rough bark. And saw the rock.
He crept away as the samurai concentrated on their grisly work. They’d present the head and claim the kill, though the poor bastard had probably been skewered by one of the arrows that had randomly hailed down through the trees. Here and there, shafts still stuck out of the soil or tree trunks.
Chris followed his trail. The rock, the marked pine. . .
The empty grave.
The freshly dug soil was scattered again, the leaves and twigs shoved to the side. Had someone dug up the Doctor’s body, dirk in hand, ready to slice away his head and claim the kill?
No. The dirt had been pushed away from beneath.
He made himself look closer, making certain. The body of the little girl was gone as well. Had the samurai dug her up and taken her away? No. She wouldn’t earn them any reward from an admiring daimyo.
Chris turned from the grave, stared out into the silent forest. Somewhere out there the Doctor was walking with a cold child in his arms and dirt in his hair.
Suddenly he was a lot less angry.
Penelope had finished emptying the Doctor’s pockets. It had taken