Doctor Who_ The Taint - Michael Collier [69]
***
Roley was feeling uncomfortable. He'd let his weakness overtake him, greedy for comfort of any kind. Now, Maria had dozed off while holding him, snoring softly. Every time he tried to move she seemed to wind herself tighter around him. Someone would come in, soon. Young Russell, or the Kreiners and Cynthia. What would they think? He was the still the man of the house, after all, still meant to be in control. It wouldn't do to be found in a compromising position.
Suddenly, Maria started chuckling to herself, little high-pitched titters in her sleep. Just how much had she had? wondered Roley. Then it got louder, earthier, until she woke herself up. She stared around her in surprise, then found herself laughing even more.
'What's so funny?' asked Roley, trying to wriggle free.
***
'Don't be so boring,' said Lucy, still laughing, as Davydd tried to pull free.
With a broad smile, he slapped her across the face, and she fell back on the bed.
***
Maria stopped laughing, staring up at Charles in disbelief. 'You hit me.'
Roley stood there, staring first at her, then at his hand. Then a shudder seemed to go through him as words seemed to force their way out of his mouth. 'I'm - just - warming up,' he said.
***
Lucy smiled. 'Oh, I see...'
She knelt up on the bed, draped her arms round him and kissed him hard on the mouth.
***
'Maria!' Roley managed to gasp through a mouthful of her sherry-tasting tongue. 'What the devil do you think you're doing?'
She recoiled, suddenly, seeming to come to her senses, backing away in horror.
'I'm sorry, Charles, I'm so sorry, please don't be angry with me, please...'
He left the room, furiously wiping his mouth.
***
'No...' said Watson, as Lucy raked her fingernails down his back. 'No, we've lost them.'
She backed off, demurely. 'It worked, though, didn't it? We bad them!'
He smiled at her.'Yes. We had them. And it's going to get better.'
'Like we have,' said Lucy, grinning. Let any of those narrow-minded, petty nags who had dogged her all her life dare say she was ill now. She walked over to the window, where the sun was shining through a chink in the net curtains. 'I don't suppose Jesus will want me for a sunbeam any more, will he?'
'Forget Jesus,' Watson said. 'He's nothing. We're going to show people some real miracles.'
Lucy smiled again, pulling the white lace aside from the window. It felt wanton to have the sun on her skin. 'We could do anything on a day like this.'
He nodded at the door, and it opened. 'The four of us could do even more.'
Then he considered for a moment. 'And if we numbered five ...'
***
Sam winced. Tarr was dragging her along by the scruff of her neck through the tunnels, hurting her - but the pain was helping her concentrate. Her mind was learning to accommodate this new faculty – it was hurting less and she was becoming less conscious of it. Even so, she was glad it was dark in here. She could still make out the creatures on herself, and on Tarr, too, so she resolved only to look dead ahead. That kept the blurry superimpositions at bay.
It was weird; while it was freaky, frightening now, she could imagine it feeling as natural as breathing eventually, seeing things in this way. She hated to think what the consequences of that would be for her poor brain.
Tarr propelled her roughly towards a kind of ladder, one seemingly made of crystal, leading up a kind of chimney affair that was dark and narrow. She couldn't see any trace of light up there, and wondered where it would lead her.
'Climb,' he ordered.
'Just because he treats you like his hired help, there's no need to take it out on me,' Sam said. 'Some friend you've got, there. Is he always like that?'
'It's only since you came along,' said Tarr, scowling at her.
'Well, three's a crowd, I guess.'
'I told you to climb.'
She started up. Her shoulder had been bound up, but it was still sore, and putting pressure on it was agony. 'Why not let me go? You can work things out, I'm sure. Just the two of