Doctor Who_ Wolfsbane - Jac Rayner [92]
That did the trick. George left his labour and turned to face them. Mud streaked his cheeks, and the tangle of thorns hanging over one ear added bloody scratches to the pattern.
„I royally command you to help me get to Mother!‟ George demanded.
The Doctor spoke as if to a kindergarten child. „Is your mother down there, under the earth, your majesty?‟
„Yes! Right under! It just opened up and voomph, she was gone! But it‟s all part of her plan. I know it‟s all part of her plan. So I‟m just letting her out again, so we can rule the world.‟
„I see,‟ the Doctor said. He whispered to Emmeline:
„Swallowed up by the land. I‟m not surprised.‟
Emmeline shivered.
„Your majesty, I need to ask you about two of your loyal subjects. I am speaking of Harry Sullivan and of Godric.‟
George shook himself in amazement. „You dare to ask me of those - those - traitors! Waving that cup around! That‟s why mother had to hide under the earth.‟
The Doctor took a step forward. „So they were here? What happened? Tell me!‟
George drew himself up. „You dare to order me?‟
The Doctor hastily backtracked. „I apologise, your majesty. I beg your pardon. And I beg you to tell me more. You speak of a cup... where is this cup now?‟
„Mother has it.‟ George sighed. „They‟re all with Mother now.
Mother‟s under the earth. Everyone‟s under the earth. The cup is under the earth. Perhaps mother is going to rule under the earth, while I rule above. Do you think that‟s it?‟
„I expect so, your majesty,‟ said the Doctor. He held out a hand to the pathetic figure. „Why don‟t you come with me now.‟
„But Mother...‟
„It‟s what your mother would have wanted.‟
„So that‟s that,‟ said the Doctor to Emmeline, as they walked George through the woods. „Poor Harry. Poor Godric.
Swallowed up by the earth, as they saved it.‟
„They are heroes,‟ said Emmeline. „And the Grail.
The Doctor‟s face was hard. „The Grail has been swallowed too.‟ He stopped and stared hard at Emmeline. „I don‟t know about you, but I hope it‟s never found.‟
She nodded. „It has served its purpose. I have no wish to see again something that caused me such pain.‟
„No,‟ said the Doctor, „neither have I.‟
They took George back to The Manor. Emmeline was nervous, being out and about, looking over her shoulder all the time. George was screaming and shouting, running through every room looking for his mother, and she was terrified that he could be heard all the way down in the village proper, that the villagers would come to investigate with their pitchforks and scythes and guns. Trelawny was still in the house, looking as scared as she felt. She told him that Lady Hester, and Harry Sullivan, and Godric, were all dead, but she did not tell him how or why, and he didn‟t ask.
He volunteered - the duty of an old family retainer - to watch over Mr George until the „arrangements‟ had been made.
Emmeline knew she would never come back to this house again. But she was too scared even to go upstairs and pack her belongings. Finally, the Doctor rejoined her downstairs, and took her back to his cottage.
Leaving her there making the tea, the Doctor visited the general store and post office, and put in two phone calls. One was to St Sebastian‟s Asylum for the Insane. The other was to Tharris and Son, Undertakers.
An hour or so later, the men in white coats turned up at the Leffy house to take away George Stanton, the last of the Leffy line. He threatened to have their heads cut off and put on spikes, but they ignored him.
Shortly afterwards, three coffins arrived at the Doctor‟s cottage. Emmeline did not understand. „But we have no dead to bury,‟ she said.
„I know,‟ said the Doctor. „But no one else knows that.
They‟ll come looking, you see. Three people missing? Harry Sullivan was expecting friends. Hester Stanton is one of the Somerset Leffys. And Godric - well, better safe than sorry. If they search for them - even if only for their bodies - who knows what they might dig up.‟
„The Grail,‟ she said, understanding.
He nodded. „No excuses. If anyone comes to look, they must believe that these three