Doctor Who_ Wolfsbane - Jac Rayner [42]
The Emmeline-wolf flew over his head, through the open window. Frozen for an instant, Harry ran to the sill and stuck out his head. She landed near the Doctor and Godric - not a good landing, there was yelping and she seemed to cower away. And then she was gone into the night.
Harry silently left the room and - not thinking about it -
walked silently down the stairs as if sleepwalking, to keep his appointment with the Doctor.
„Well, that solves one mystery,‟ said the Doctor cheerfully.
Harry, who, having recovered from the shock, had been telling the thrilling tale of how he had bearded a werewolf in its lair, would have preferred a less blasé reaction.
„We must search for this monstrous beast and put it to the sword, if there are innocent people to protect,‟ Godric declared. Harry frowned at him.
So did the Doctor. „We‟re not putting anyone to the sword just at the moment, thank you, Godric. Now Harry, tell me again what you think she said, as she transformed.‟
„I‟m really not sure,‟ Harry said, „I might have imagined it.‟
„Tell me anyway. You say she said she didn‟t do it.‟
„That‟s what it sounded like. But it was half a growl. “I didn‟t do it, help me.”„
The Doctor nodded. „And she sounded scared.‟
„Well... I suppose so. She didn‟t seem keen on the whole idea of turning into a wolfy thing, that I‟m fairly sure of.‟
„Would you like the idea of turning into a vicious beast?‟
the Doctor asked Harry. Harry thought that was rather beside the point, but shook his head.
„If someone wants our help, it‟s probably an idea to help them,‟ said the Doctor. Harry kept shaking his head.
Although if the Doctor wanted to see it as him still answering the last question, Harry wouldn‟t point out the misconception.
The Doctor paced to and fro for a minute or two. Harry and Godric exchanged worried glances. Then:
„Of course!‟ cried the Doctor, eyes ablaze. „I‟m a fool!‟
„Oh, no, no,‟ said Harry reassuringly.
The Doctor spun to face him. „You examined the body, didn‟t you?‟
Harry shook his head violently. „She may have been in one of those negligee things, but I -‟
„No, the girl‟s body. Last night. The one supposedly attacked by the werewolf.‟
„“Supposedly”?‟
„Did you examine it?‟
Harry shrugged, unsure what the Doctor was getting at.
„Not to say examined, exactly. Checked for signs of life, and so forth.‟
„But you saw the wounds?‟
„Couldn‟t miss them, really.‟
„Teeth and claws, you‟d say?‟
Harry nodded. Where this was going he didn‟t know.
„Yes,‟ agreed the Doctor, „so would I. But it was dark, and there was something of a rumpus going on. We didn‟t really see it at its best.‟
Harry had to agree with that.
„I think I‟d like to take another look at that body,‟ the Doctor said.
Harry stared. „They buried her,‟ he said.
„Then we‟ll have to un-bury her,‟ said the Doctor.
Sarah reasoned that if graves were dug - and dug they had been - there must therefore be something to dig them with.
Moreover, that something would probably be kept not that far away from where the work needed to be done. She was I handicapped by her field of vision; the radius of light from her lantern was small, illuminating little other than the spot where she stood. There was virtually no moon, only the tiniest f crescent sliver, and the sky was filled with dark clouds besides. Snow was no longer falling, but still lay here and there on the ground, a dirty grey - in the darkness, the same grey as the roses and bluebells and cowslips. Closing her eyes for a moment, breathing in the evocative smell of earth and flowers, Sarah took herself back to the day they had arrived here, the day they had found the graves. She was almost certain... yes. In the far left corner there had been a dilapidated shed.