Doctor Who_ The Roundheads - Mark Gatiss [68]
‘Jamie!’ he gasped at last. ‘I’m in a bit of bother!’
He heard scrabbling nearby. ‘Hang on! I’m coming!’
The Doctor shook his head, for the benefit of no one in particular. ‘No. It’s too dangerous. Wait a minute.’
He glanced upward and saw that the cold breeze was stirring the heavy brocade curtains of the room he wanted to enter. Biting his lip, he made a huge effort and managed to heave his elbow on to the ledge. His legs swung below him, kicking at the air.
The Doctor had timed it well, and, as the curtain billowed outwards, he grabbed hold of it for dear life just as his cloak tore completely in two and floated to the darkened ground.
Smiling to himself, the Doctor grasped the curtain with both hands and began to hauI himself up, his feet clashing against the wall.
‘It’s all right, Jamie. I’ve got it now –’ he began.
The curtain began to tear, just as the cloak before it, and the Doctor could see the wooden rings that attached it to its rail splinter and crack under his weight.
With a worried bellow of fear, he dragged himself up on to the ledge and did a neat forward roll into the corridor, casting the curtain out as he did so.
. He stood in the darkness for a moment, catching his breath, and then poked his head out of the window.
‘Jamie!’ he hissed. ‘I’m in. Just wait there and I’ll have you out in a tick.’
He didn’t wait for Jamie’s assent but raced down the dark deeply carpeted passageway, slowing only as he approached the outside of their room.
The guard stood there, looking bored and tired, his helmeted head drooping on to his chest.
The Doctor watched him in silence for a while, sucking on his finger and gazing at the long rug which stretched the length of the corridor. He frowned deeply and, reaching a decision, pressed himself flat against the wall so that the shadows cloaked him completely.
Then, without warning, he began to sing in a quiet, gentle voice. ‘”Her husband was a soldier, and to the wars did go, And she would be his comrade, the truth of all is so...”’
The guard looked up, dragged from his reverie by the unexpected voice. He peered into the darkness and thrust his pike out before him. ‘Who’s there?’
There was silence in the corridor and then the Doctor’s voice sprang up again.
‘”She put on man’s apparel, and bore him company, As many in the army for truth can testify.”’
The guard slid the visor of his helmet upward and began to advance, slowly and carefully, along the corridor.
‘Who’s there, I say?’ he barked, steadying the pike in his hands.
Again there was silence and then the Doctor stepped out from his hiding place, holding his hands above his head.
The guard was puzzled. ‘What the devil... ?’
The Doctor smiled sheepishly. ‘No. Not the devil. The Doctor.’
He threw himself down on to the floor and, grasping the trailing end of the rug in both hands, pulled with all his strength. Wrong-footed, the guard was sent sprawling against the corridor wall. His head slammed against the plaster, and with a groan he slumped unconscious to the floor.
Losing no time, the Doctor rifled through the keys that hung at the guard’s waist, found the one that gave access to the room, and then, slipping his hands under the guard’s armpits, dragged the unfortunate man into a darkened recess.
The keys rattling in his hand, he stole across the corridor and slipped a heavy black one into the lock.
‘Hang on, Jamie,’ he whispered. ‘Almost there.’
As the door opened, the Doctor’s head jerked round.
Footsteps echoed dully on the floor. Footsteps coming his way.
Jamie’s grinning head appeared around the door and the Doctor immediately pushed him back inside.
He slipped inside himself and closed the door. They stood in silence, listening, as the footsteps came closer and finally paused outside.
The door began to open and the Doctor gestured frantically to Jamie to get to the other side of the room and close the window.
The young Scot had just managed this as the