Doctor Who_ The Stone Rose - Jacqueline Rayner [32]
The Doctor cut the ropes of the next prisoner. He pointed over to another stake, where Paul was tethered. ‘Try to untie him,’ the Doctor instructed.
Shaking, the man hurried off and began to comply.
The crowd screamed its disapproval. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen.
More trapdoors opened. Half a dozen leopards leapt through. It took them a moment to get the scent, but then they were speeding towards the condemned men. The Doctor yelled for everyone to stand their ground, but a couple of the prisoners, too terrified to listen, made a bolt for it. The movement attracted the wild cats and once more the crowd had something to cheer about.
The remaining men gathered in a group, Ringo at the front frantically waving the torch to and fro. The group surged from one stake to another, the Doctor freeing each prisoner as others grabbed the chunks of raw meat, flinging them at the leopards to distract their attention.
The last man the Doctor reached was George. He was a rough‐looking, dark‐skinned man of about forty, but at the moment his face shone like an angel’s. ‘Is this really happening?’ he said. ‘Or have I died already?’
The Doctor grinned. ‘Cooperation,’ he said. ‘Beautiful word. We’re gonna make it out of here, you know.’
‘I’m not asking for a miracle,’ George told him.
‘Just as well,’ said the Doctor. ‘Those who ask don’t get, or so they say. But I reckon a miracle might just be on its way.’
The instant George was free, the Doctor raised a shout. ‘To the wall!’
He led the group in a charge towards the arena’s perimeter. A nearby door burst open and armed men appeared, the stumbling, sweaty forms of gaolers Flaccus and Thermus at the back. The prisoners, however, were too full of adrenalin to stop. The stunned guards suddenly found themselves falling beneath an onslaught of torch, trident, fists and just plain rage. By the time the fight was over, a number of the condemned men lay dead – but many others now wielded swords and stood over the bodies of their one‐time captors.
Flaccus and Thermus had held back during the fight, waving their swords ineffectually. It was Paul who spotted them and alerted the others. The two guards backed away as the furious men turned on them.
‘We were only following orders!’ yelped Thermus. ‘We did our best for you – don’t you remember?’ said Flaccus, gulping. ‘Treated you like our own sons!’
‘Treated us like scum, more like!’ yelled Paul, brandishing a liberated sword in the air.
Flaccus and Thermus turned and fled.
And tripped right over the lion the Doctor had put to sleep earlier.
The lion woke up.
* * *
As the guards’ screams died away, the Doctor’s men made it to the wall at last. Those slain in the fight were acting as a diversion for the marauding beasts, but everyone was uncomfortably aware that their attention might be recaptured at any moment.
‘What now?’ gasped George, staring up at the marble wall. Even if they could climb it – which they couldn’t – the fence on top of it would stop them going any further.
The Doctor looked up too. Not far above him he could see the furious face of Rufus, still cheated of the Doctor’s blood. Next to Rufus, to the Doctor’s absolute delight, he saw Gracilis, pulling at the magistrate’s cloak. He grinned. The triumph of the little man, that’s what all this was about.
He looked at the fence above him. Then he looked at the long trident he carried. Then he looked up again. He began to back away from the wall.
He grinned at his comrades. ‘I’ve always fancied myself as an athlete,’ he said. ‘Now’s the time to find out if the pole‐vault’s the event for me…’
He ran forward, plunging the trident into the ground and using it to launch himself into the air. The crowd gasped. No one could do this. He was going to impale himself on the fence spikes…
But he didn’t. The Doctor let out a laugh of joy as he cleared the top and landed in a heap on top of two startled senators. ‘Olympics, here I come!’ Still laughing, he scrambled to his feet. ‘Chuck us a sword,’ he yelled down.
A blade