Doctor Who_ The Stone Rose - Jacqueline Rayner [38]
‘Oi!’ called a guard as the Doctor and the girl walked out of the trees and made to cross the armed line.
The Doctor beamed at him. ‘Hello.’
‘No one’s allowed in there!’
‘We’re not in there,’ the Doctor pointed out, reasonably. ‘We’re out here.’
‘What were you doing in there? We searched it all.’
‘Well,’ said the Doctor, ‘you obviously missed us. Not hard to do. No blame attached to you, I’m sure. My, er, friend and I –’ The guard sniggered knowingly – ‘must have fallen asleep in the afternoon sun. Still, we’re wide awake now, so if you’d just let us leave…’
‘Hey!’ The shout came from inside the grove. ‘The statue’s gone!’
The Doctor was suddenly surrounded by guards. He put on his best blasé expression.
‘Where is it?’ demanded a guard.
‘Where’s what?’ asked the Doctor.
‘The statue! You must have taken it – no one’s been allowed inside!’
The Doctor raised his arms. ‘Please, search me,’ he said. ‘If you think I have a statue concealed in my tunic somewhere…’
‘Then you’ve got it out already.’
‘What, I just walked past all you armed gentlemen with a bloomin’ great statue – and then returned for the fun of it?’
The guards looked at each other, floored but reluctant to give up on their one hope of avoiding ignominious failure. Suddenly the man who’d been guarding the sculpture spoke up. ‘’Ere,’ he said, pointing at the Doctor’s companion, ‘she don’t ’alf look like that statue. Even those clothes what she’s wearing.’
The Doctor slapped his palm against his forehead. ‘of course! That’s it! You’ve got me bang to rights. What I actually did was sneak in there, transform the statue into this young lady and then try to casually walk out with her. What a fool I was to think I could get away with it with you fine gentlemen on guard. I’ll just come quietly, shall I?’
At that moment, Gracilis wandered up to them. ‘Is there a problem, Doctor?’ he said. ‘I am Gnaeus Fabius Gracilis,’ he told the guards importantly, ‘and this man is my friend. May I inquire as to why you are detaining him?’
Grumbling and suspicious, the guards let the Doctor and ‘Gaia’ pass.
‘Thanks,’ said the Doctor, thumping Gracilis on the back. ‘Told you we could do it. Now – let’s get out of here…’
* * *
Gracilis arranged transport for the slaves, and then he and the Doctor headed for his own carriage. ‘Back to my son, at last!’ Gracilis cried, beaming. The Doctor was less happy. He had every confidence in his ability to track down Rose, but that didn’t change the fact that, right at this moment, he had no idea where she was. A thought suddenly struck him.
‘And we can check up on Vanessa too,’ he said. ‘There’s been no word from her, has there? I hope she’s OK.’
But at the moment all Gracilis could think of was that he had a son to save.
As they walked towards the city gates, the Doctor spotted a familiar‐looking street. ‘Hold on a tick,’ he said. ‘I don’t suppose there’s room in that excellent carriage of yours for a rather stylish blue box?’
* * *
It was late afternoon the next day. The carriage carrying the Doctor and Gracilis approached the villa, closely followed by a hired cart bearing the solid blue shape of the TARDIS (the Doctor had been right – there hadn’t been room in the carriage).
Gracilis ordered the carriage to stop before they reached the villa itself. ‘I want to bring Optatus to my wife,’ he said. ‘I do not want her to witness his restoration. I fear the knowledge of what truly happened would disturb her mind.’
They walked to the grove and Gracilis stared at the statue, not speaking. Perhaps, now the moment had come, he was too scared to rush in, knowing that his hopes could still be dashed. But finally he nodded to the Doctor.
The Doctor stepped forward and let one of the last remaining precious drops of green liquid fall on the stone.
Even the Doctor didn’t breathe as