Doctor Who_ Wolfsbane - Jac Rayner [68]
that one day I would be chosen as a knight of the king himself, and I strived always to be worthy of such an honour if my wish was granted.‟ He blushed. „I know I could not truly sit beside Sir Lancelot and Sir Bedivere and the other great knights of the court, but what harm is it for a foolish lad to have a dream, if it does not keep him from his rightful tasks?‟
Harry smiled in sympathy, not knowing quite what to say.
„But,‟ Godric continued, „although I try to be brave, as are such knights, and to be chaste‟ - as weren‟t such knights, at least if the stories were to be believed, Harry thought - „and to think ill of no man, I cannot claim to have achieved these things. I have harboured many an ill thought of a cruel-tongued master or a spiteful wench, played my flute by the river bank when there were pots to wash, gazed on the beautiful face of a maiden and had no thought of anything but her beauty. And so I know I am not worthy of being a knight - and thus I fear that when I am called to take my part in this most terrifying of endeavours, I will not be equal to the task. I will turn on my heel and run, like the coward I strongly suspect I am. And then the world will be plunged into darkness!‟
„Oh, I‟m sure you‟ll be fine,‟ said Harry, feeling utterly inadequate. „Er, yes. Fine.‟ He patted the lad awkwardly on the shoulder. „Absolutely fine.‟
The plan was simple. They would escort Emmeline to the railway station and see her safely out of the area, then beard Hester Stanton in her den. „George said “tonight”,‟ Harry reminded them, so we should be all right as long as we get to her before then.‟
The Doctor excused himself for a moment, and popped into the kitchen. Harry, carrying out the dirty mugs, saw he was writing a note. It said: „If I do not return, please look after Betty and Mary (hens).‟ An arrow pointed towards the back door. This did not inspire Harry with confidence.
They walked round to the side of the house and piled into the Doctor‟s shiny black Ford Popular; Emmeline behind Harry, Godric behind the Doctor. Harry tried not to show his thrill at being in the front seat of a genuine vintage car - he wondered if the Doctor would let him have a go at driving it -
but a few minutes into the trip he was more concerned with the vintage idea of shock absorbers. A smooth ride it was not.
Godric seemed outwardly unconcerned by this further strange and futuristic thing, but Harry‟s medical instincts began to flare up and he became aware that the lad was fighting to keep panic at bay. Harry began to talk to the Doctor, quite calmly, about the safety of motor cars, and was relieved to see Godric relax eventually.
The grass verges had grown to waist height, but the bumpy stone surfaces of the road were relatively clear - a clump of outsize weeds here, a hedge grown too far outwards there.
The Doctor opened the window and plucked a handful of blackberries from a bramble bush as they passed, as if the overgrown hedgerow were an American-style drive-through diner constructed for his convenience. He passed the bounty around. „Isn‟t this grown from the blood of those murdered girls?‟ asked Harry, uncomfortably. But the Doctor said that if you thought about what was nourishing the food you ate, you‟d never take another bite ever again. Harry reluctantly swallowed the tart fruit, and refused a second helping.
The road leading to the station was wider than many of the roads around - it was here, the Doctor said, that the farmers brought their carts full of milk, and animals, and crops, ready to be taken on the train up to London, or to the slaughterhouse, or the mills and factories.
Today there were no carts. But then, today there was no road.
„I say,‟ said Harry.
Above them rose a forest of green. Trees had leaned together, intertwining their branches, in and