Doctor Who_ Wolfsbane - Jac Rayner [83]
„The dangerous creature who has risked her humanity to save your life?‟
„Oh, they save your life, you have to be grateful,‟ groused Sarah.
The Doctor tapped his long nose with a long finger. „Wait and see, Sarah, wait and see.‟ He thought for a moment.
„What we need is bait.‟
„To catch a wolf? I hope you‟re not intending to tie a sheep to a post or something.‟
He shook his head. „But we do need some meat. She‟ll be hungry. Wolf hungry. But there‟s still a human mind in there, I don‟t think she‟ll kill anything.‟
„She had a pretty good go at it,‟ said Sarah, rubbing her leg, sore even after her sojourn in the ash tree.
„If she‟d been trying to kill you, you‟d be dead,‟ said the Doctor. He stopped and spun on his heel. „Come on. We‟re going shopping.‟
They walked back through the wood, through the village, across the village green, and went into the general shop and post office. It was quite small. There were no other customers, and nobody serving, either. The Doctor located the counter bell and dinged it sharply with the palm of his hand. „Shop!‟
An elderly blue-rinsed woman shuffled out of a door to the back of the shop. „Can I help you, sir?‟
„We‟d like to buy some fresh meat,‟ the Doctor boomed.
She looked worried. She bit her lip, then shook her head.
„No meat here, sir, I‟m afraid.‟
The Doctor looked taken aback. He strode over to the grocery side of the shop and picked up a potato in one hand and a tin of peas in the other. He put them down on the counter. „Surely there must be something to go with them?
Or are all the folk round here vegetarian?‟
She shook her head again, and pointed over to the canned goods. „There‟s corned beef, tinned ham, tinned tongue, beef paste, chicken paste, salmon paste -‟
„I think wolves like fish,‟ Sarah whispered to the Doctor. „I read it somewhere.‟
„- or else they kills their own. Or goes to the butcher over to town.‟
„No time,‟ said the Doctor.
„And we‟re certainly not killing our own,‟ said Sarah.
„I‟ve a good range of humorous postcards...‟ the woman suggested.
„I don‟t think so,‟ said Sarah. “Thanks anyway. Come on, Doctor.‟
She left the shop. Then had to wait a few minutes for the Doctor, who had decided to have a look at the range of humorous postcards.
„What do we do now?‟ she asked, when he eventually deigned to join her.
He held up a hand to stop her speaking, and stuck his nose in the air like a Bisto kid. „I think, Sarah, it must be lunchtime.‟
„Yes?‟
„Sunday lunchtime.‟
She sniffed. „Roast dinners!‟
„Exactly. And I expect we‟re due a couple.‟
They hurried over to the Rose and Crown. It felt like somewhere from another lifetime, didn‟t seem possible that it was only yesterday that Sarah had been in there last.
Yesterday, when Harry had still been dead. When she‟d been alone. When she hadn‟t even known werewolves existed.
The landlord didn‟t look overjoyed to see them. Probably hoping for another lot of fees without the bother of actually having to serve them. „You‟ll have to wait for your meal,‟ he said. „Didn‟t know if you‟d be in for it or not.‟
„Excellent!‟ said the Doctor. „Just what I hoped to hear.
What is it, by the way?‟
The landlord looked suspicious. „Lamb chops. And if you don‟t like it...‟
The Doctor beamed. „No, no! Perfect. The only thing is, we like our meat - well, chewy, don‟t we, Sarah.‟
„Underdone, really,‟ she chimed in.
„One might almost say uncooked; added the Doctor.
The landlord appeared to think they were mad. „You want your chops raw?‟
„That‟s it! And I wouldn‟t bother about the vegetables, either.‟
He stared at them.
„I wouldn‟t trust a vegetable,‟ whispered the Doctor, confidentially. „You don‟t know where it‟s been.‟
The landlord didn‟t so much retreat to get their food as back carefully away. A few minutes later, he returned with two plates of chops, and two sets of steak knives and forks.
„Excellent!‟ said the Doctor. „Wonderful service.‟ He reached into a pocket and plonked a handful of notes and coins on the bar. „That should settle our account. No need to keep our