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'What now?' said Adric. 'We can't fight all of them.'

'We bluff our way.' The Doctor stepped forward, smiling. 'Ah, good morning, gentlemen...' But before he could finish the first of the band was upon him, lashing out with his club. The Doctor ducked and weaved, trying every trick he knew to disarm him.

But his attacker was no stranger to hand-to- hand fighting.

As the second man closed in, Adric ran behind him, dropped to the ground and made himself into a tight ball.

'Now!' shouted Tegan, and both she and Nyssa shoulder-charged the man, sending him tumbling backwards over Adric's crouched body.

The Doctor fought on, his opponent beginning to tire. The man lunged again, but this time the Doctor was able to side-step the blow and grab his attacker's tunic. The Doctor pulled hard, at the same moment extending his leg, causing the bewildered man to trip and crash to the ground.

'Hurry, Doctor,' shouted Tegan. 'The others will be here in a moment.'

They ran off leaving their two attackers bewildered and winded. They ran as fast as they could, low branches of trees grabbing and whipping at them as they went. They ran until their lungs ached. Suddenly Adric fell to the

ground, his foot twisted in a hole.

The others stopped while the Doctor bent down to feel Adric's leg for broken bones.

Tegan remained on guard, watching for the three pursuers. 'Hurry, Doctor,' she shouted. 'I can see them. They're still following.'

'Come on,' grunted the Doctor as he pulled Adric to his feet. 'I'll help you.' But Adric couldn't place any weight on the damaged ankle. 'We must carry him,' the Doctor said urgently.

'I'll be all right in a minute.'

'We don't have a minute!' shouted Tegan.

'Then leave me.' Adric pulled himself free of the Doctor's grip and collapsed. 'Save yourselves.'

Tegan and Nyssa were beginning to panic as the three men drew nearer. 'We can't leave Adric,' said Tegan. 'They'll kill him.'

'I think not,' said a rich, plummy voice from above them.

Startled, they looked up and saw the portly frame of a man in his forties lounging on the limb of a tree. 'May I be of any assistance?'

'You think you can help us?' said the Doctor.

The stranger fingered the handles of two flintlock pistols protruding from a shabby sash at his middle. 'Indeed I can. I also have a convenient refuge nearby where the boy can rest.'

Tegan turned to the Doctor. 'How do we know we can trust him?'

'You have little choice.' The man removed his pistols and cocked them. You either trust me, or you give yourselves up to your pursuers...' He took careful aim. '...who would promptly cudgel you to death.' The guns exploded, causing a dozen pigeons to take flight and the three pursuers to dive for cover. 'Bull's-eye!'

'But you missed,' said Tegan.

'My intention was to scare, not maim.'

With considerably more flamboyance than the situation demanded, their unexpected rescuer thrust his pistols back into his waistband, adjusted a filthy dirty cravat at his neck, cocked his leg over the branch he was sitting on and slid to the ground.

'Richard Mace, ladies and gentlemen, at your service,' he said, and gave a small formal bow. 'If the boy can walk,' the portly man grunted, 'my camp is this way.'

Uncertain what to do, Tegan and Nyssa looked at the Doctor for guidance.

'Why not?' the Doctor said brightly, bending down to help Adric to his feet.

Tegan looked for the pursuers, but couldn't see them. 'Who were those people chasing us?' she said.

'Local villagers,' said Mace, striding off into the wood. 'I don't think they'll bother us any more.'

But he was mistaken. While one of the men returned to the village for help, the other two, very discreetly, continued to follow.

Chapter Three

Richard Mace pushed open the heavy door of the barn and bid the others enter.

The barn was cool and dry with a friendly smell.

In the loft, rats could be heard scampering about, while sunlight poured through a small window set high in one of the gable walls. Tegan wandered around the huge barn kicking