Doctor Who_ The Visitation - Eric Saward [19]
Tegan quickly withdrew her head.
'What is it?' said Adric in a low voice.
'The android.'
Silently they waited, listening to the rasp of steel on stone as the machine walked by.
On hearing the cellar door slam, Tegan instantly set about freeing the remaining slats.
She worked quickly and with determination although her arms and hands were sore and shaky with the unaccustomed effort.
With the last of the boards removed, she paused for a moment. 'I'm so unfit,' she muttered.
'Do you want me to go first?'
'Certainly not!'
And with more agility than Adric had expected, she pulled herself up, clambered through the fanlight and silently dropped to the floor in the passageway. She then moved quickly and quietly to the cellar door and listened. All was quiet but for the grunting and groaning of Adric as he half dropped, half fell to the floor. If Tegan hadn't been so scared, she would have been amused by the crumpled heap she saw.
'Come on,' she whispered, helping him to his feet. 'Let's get out of here.'
The Doctor and Mace crossed the clearing and peered into the rickety stable alongside the mill. The dull boom of a fast-running stream could be heard tumbling over the sluice, its power untapped, the water wheel stationary.
Silently they entered the stable. At one end was a harness room, its rickety clapboard door gently swinging on its hinges. Above them the well-stocked loft bulged with hay and straw. In the middle of the stable the miller's horse, hitched to a loaded wagon, patiently waited.
'Ah!' said Mace delightedly, 'the object of my desire.' Lovingly he patted and stroked the animal, then gently, reassuringly, blew into its nostrils.
'Hallo,' shouted the Doctor.
The sudden noise startled the horse, who snorted loudly. This was echoed by a donkey lurking in a stall at the back of the stable.
'Thievery,' said a disgruntled Mace, 'is a matter of stealth not hearty greeting, sir.'
'I'm here to see the miller, not to help you steal.'
'You are without pity, sir.'
The Doctor made his way along the side of the wagon towards the back of the building.
As he did so he heard the plaintive squeaking of rats. At first he didn't pay much attention, but then realised it was coming from under the tarpaulin covering the load on the wagon.
The Doctor lifted the corner of the stiff, heavy cover expecting several bewildered rats to scurry out, but instead found that the wagon was loaded with cages full of the creatures.
Quickly, the Doctor recovered the cages as the miller emerged from the harness room, whip in hand.
'Ah, good day,' said the Doctor cheerfully. 'Are you by any chance...' But the question remained uncompleted as the miller pushed by him and climbed up onto the box of his wagon. Undeterred the Doctor continued: 'I'll only keep you a moment.'
Richard Mace, who, on hearing the Doctor speak, had concealed himself behind the horse, now appeared, pistol in hand, and pointed it at the miller. 'You heard the gentleman,' he said in his best highwayman's voice.
'He only wants a word.'
Still the miller didn't respond. As he leant forward to pick up the reins, the Doctor saw he was wearing a control bracelet.
'Walk on!' shouted the miller, as he flicked the reins.
Mace cocked his pistol.
'Let him go,' said the Doctor.
Puzzled, Mace stepped to one side as the wagon lurched forward and rattled out of the stable. 'Why did you let him go?'
'He was wearing a bracelet,' said the Doctor.
'Him too.' Mace ran a hand over his stubbly jowls and looked worried. 'What is going on, Doctor?' he asked in concern.
'I wish I knew.'
Adric and Tegan burst into the main hall of the manor house, ran across the room and out into the hal . Out of breath, Adric fell on the bolts securing the front door and attempted to release them.
'Please hurry,' said Tegan nervously.
'I am.' Adric struggled with the bolts. 'But I can't shift them. It's as though they've been sealed.'
Tegan also