Doctor Who_ Wolfsbane - Jac Rayner [28]
The woman hissed: „My sisters and I have slept since last the land awoke. Once there was magic here, in every root and stem. Then it bled away, far into the soil, too deep for our roots to reach, and so we slept. But now the land has tasted blood and power again, and we have woken.‟
„Who has woken you?‟ asked the Doctor urgently.
But she wouldn‟t or couldn‟t tell him.
When Harry got to his feet again - which was more than Godric had managed to do - it was to find the woman gone.
„Who... what...?‟ he asked.
„A dryad,‟ the Doctor said. „A tree spirit, rare even in their day. Very fond of human men for company. And messes with their memories, too, I believe, so they don‟t realise how long they‟ve been in there - in fact, so they don‟t remember where they‟ve been at all, or what‟s happened to them. They don‟t want other men to be warned. Which does rather explain what happened to Godric. Now, Harry, try to hold on to this, remember what happened, the memories may not last long when you‟re away from her...‟
There was a gasping sound from behind. Godric was beginning to hyperventilate. Harry crawled over to him; made him take deep breaths. „I could not get out,‟ Godric said.
„She... she tried to put a spell on me, but I could not be ensorcelled. But still, I could not get out. I slept. Or lay waking, I do not know. Till now.‟
„The land went to sleep over a thousand years ago,‟ said the Doctor. „And now it‟s awake again, through blood and power.
Someone has given those things to the land. We must find out who. And why.‟
By the time Sarah got back to the inn, it was Saturday morning. But it was still dark. The landlord gave her some fairly unpleasant looks, but she couldn‟t even be bothered to come up with a plausible excuse for her night-long absence.
Anyway, he was up two room-fees on the deal, so she didn‟t think he had any right to stare at her so suspiciously.
She‟d thought the hunger had passed - well, not passed as such, just got to that stage where your body is too exhausted to cope with food. But there was a smell of porridge cooking, and her stomach started to grumble again. She wasn‟t even particularly keen on porridge, but right now it smelled divine.
A vague memory came into her head of a childhood story where a whole village got overrun with porridge from a magic porridge pot, because no one could remember the word to stop it being produced. Right now that wouldn‟t be a problem, because she‟d be able to eat it all.
„Any chance of some breakfast?‟ she said to the sullen landlord, with the best she could manage in the way of an ingratiating smile.
He didn‟t seem that keen on the idea, but nodded. Sarah actually fell asleep in the few minutes she was leaning on the bar waiting for him. Jerking awake again, she took the bowl and spoon, muttered what might have passed for a thank-you, and didn‟t even bother to ask about sugar or cream. The heat from the bowl began to bring her hands to life for what seemed the first time in weeks, and her fingertips prickled.
She staggered off upstairs. The landlord may possibly have said something along the lines of, „Where are you going with that?‟ but she paid no heed. She took the stairs one at a time: bring up one foot. Bring up the other foot to join it. Rest a moment, and start all over again.
She reached her room, managed half the porridge, took off shoes, trousers and jacket, and lay down thankfully between clean cotton sheets. The room and bed were freezing, and she thought she was too cold to sleep, but she wasn‟t.
At Harry‟s pleading, the Doctor and Godric had accompanied him to the house. They wouldn‟t stay for dinner, the Doctor said, but a cup of tea wouldn‟t do them any harm, he supposed. But later they had things to do, while Harry stayed behind and found out anything he could.
„Anything about what?‟ Harry