Doctor Who_ Warchild - Andrew Cartmel [113]
‘Well, I was at a bit of a loose end,’ said Redmond affably. ‘What with the state of emergency suddenly being over and all. And you seemed like an interesting bunch of folk to visit for a little while. Since the Doctor was kind enough to invite me down to his house in Kent.’
‘Well, couldn’t you have caught the train? No, look I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. But shouldn’t you have stayed with Norman Peverell and Jessica? Won’t they need help?’
‘They didn’t look like they’d welcome anybody’s help,’
said Creed. ‘Or anybody’s company.’
‘I thought Norman was supposed to be summoning reinforcements,’ said Roz, squinting over the steering-wheel into the steep rays of early sunlight. Benny wished she’d lower the sun-visor. It wasn’t safe driving like this.
‘I’m sure he’ll get around to it,’ said Creed, and both he and Redmond chuckled.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, the emergency’s over and all that,’ said Redmond.
‘There’s no more danger. No hurry. Might as well take it easy.’
‘I can’t imagine Norman taking it easy. He’s a stickler for rules and regulations.’
‘Maybe he’s loosening up a little.’
Creed and Redmond laughed again and Roz frowned at them. ‘What is the joke?’ she said.
‘Well,’ said Redmond. ‘I suppose pissing your pants is one way to strike up a conversation with a pretty girl.’
‘People have met under stranger circumstances,’ said Creed. ‘And ended up together.’ He repressed an image of his wife; a flash of her in London on the day they’d met.
Walking up that long stone staircase in St James. In his memory she was forever walking up that staircase in her black culottes and leather jacket, defiant and young and so beautiful.
‘But do you really think he’ll get his leg over?’ said Redmond.
‘Yes,’ said Creed.
‘Male bullshit,’ said Roz.
‘Maybe, but I still say they’ll end up in bed.’
Roz turned and looked at the Doctor. Her normally caustic tone was tempered by her respect for him.
‘What do you think?’
The Doctor pursed his lips. ‘Oh, I think quite probably.’
‘Does that mean yes?’
‘Yes.’
‘But her boyfriend’s just been killed,’ said Roz.
‘And Norman’s just pissed his pants,’ added Redmond irreverently.
‘Precisely,’ said the Doctor. ‘They’re both extremely vulnerable. They need each other at this point and if they can help each other heal their wounds then that’s good.’
‘What do you think, Benny?’
‘I think Roz should put the visor down so she isn’t driving with the sun in her eyes.’
The old house on Allen Road looked warm and welcoming as they approached it, the tyres of the hearse crunching on the gravel drive. Benny had climbed out to shut the gate behind them and suddenly there was enough room in the front so everyone could relax, for the last half-minute of the journey anyway.
The hearse climbed the curved length of the drive and stopped in front of the big garage, which had once been stables designed for a dozen or more horses.
The house beside the garage was big, clean and simple in its lines; its bricks a warm rusty shade of red.
Creed was startled by the intensity of the memories it stirred in him. ‘It’s just the way I remember it,’ he said.
‘You can have the same bedroom upstairs if you like,’
said the Doctor. Roz pulled the hearse to a halt outside the garage and they all climbed out, yawning and stretching.
They heard footsteps rattling on the loose gravel behind them and turned to see Benny sauntering up the driveway.
She looked exhausted after wrestling with the rusty gates.
Creed shivered in the cool morning air as he followed the Doctor to the back door of the house. The Doctor paused to scoop up a bottle of milk, then he unlocked the door and held it open for Creed.
Creed stepped into the big farmhouse-style kitchen and froze on the spot.
‘Are you all right?’ said the Doctor.
‘Yes, fine,’ muttered Creed.
The truth was, he was experiencing a rush of memory so powerful it was almost incapacitating. It was in this room that, in a very real sense, he and Justine had come together.
They had made love already, of course.