Doctor Who_ Wooden Heart - Martin Day [21]
‘Thanks.’ Martha turned to Saul. ‘Do you mind if I tag along? I need to stretch my legs…’ In truth, Martha remained convinced that there was more to the forest than met the eye, but she wasn’t about to tell Saul that.
Saul looked Martha up and down, as if assessing her suitability to be a companion on his trip. ‘All right,’ he said at last. ‘We’ll meet over by the lake. I need to get some things first.’
He bowed to both women, and then was gone. Kristine continued to stare into the middle distance, a distracted look on her face.
‘Petr told us about the missing children,’ said Martha quietly. ‘A terrible thing to have happened.’
Kristine managed a weak smile. ‘We lost Thorn a month ago. Our only child. I suppose it means we can share in the sadness of the others, but even so…’ She glanced downward, perhaps wanting to hide the extent of her emotion from Martha. ‘All I want is for Thorn to comeback.’
‘Of course you do,’ said Martha. ‘I’m sorry, I had no idea…’
‘You don’t understand,’ said Kristine sharply. ‘It’s wrong for me to want to see Thorn again!’
‘I’m sure it’s perfectly natural…’
‘No.’ Kristine looked up, tears softening her features. ‘If Thorn, if the other departed children, return to us… Then the village will be destroyed.’
SIX
The Doctor stood before the little house at the edge of the village. Before he could even knock, the door slid back, as if the old woman had been standing there, listening for his arrival.
She was stooped and her skin was cracked and folded, but her eyes were bright and they danced continuously, as if trying to make sense of this strange man standing on her doorstep.
‘Hello,’ said the Doctor brightly. ‘I’ve got some questions about the history of the village. I’m told you’re the person to speak to.’
‘Ah,’ said the woman. ‘You’re the man who thinks we’re all a figment of someone else’s imagination.’ She smiled, a rictus of dry lips and crooked teeth.
‘Blimey,’ said the Doctor, his face falling. ‘Word travels fast around here, doesn’t it?’
‘People who don’t really exist obviously have little else to talk about,’ said the woman, her voice rich with sarcasm.
‘I said you didn’t exist,’ said the Doctor. ‘It’s perfectly clear that you do now.’ He paused. ‘At least, I think that’s what I said. It’s a complicated situation…’
‘Are we real?’ demanded the woman firmly, ‘or are you the phantasm, a wandering spirit designed to unsettle us all…? As if we don’t already have troubles enough,’ added the woman more quietly.
‘I thought I was supposed to ask you the questions,’ said the Doctor after a pause.
The woman smiled again. ‘Come in,’ she said, moving aside so the Doctor could enter. ‘I will make some tea.’
‘Of course,’ said the Doctor, relieved. ‘I find metaphysical questions much easier to handle over a nice cuppa…’
Kristine refused to say anything else about her son and disappeared back inside the house. Martha was left in the cool afternoon sunshine, wondering if there was some way she could comfort Kristine, or if she should just follow her instinct and go back into the forest with Saul.
She sighed, and headed in the direction of the lake, wondering if facing monsters in the woods was somehow easier than aiding a grieving mother.
As she walked, she turned Kristine’s words over in her mind. How could the return of these poor kids be linked to the destruction of the village? If they weren’t dead, if they hadn’t been murdered – and Petr had indicated that all the children had simply ‘disappeared’ – then where had they gone?
Martha found Saul standing by the lake, talking to a bright-eyed girl who must have been about twelve. It seemed that school had finished for the day as other children were spilling out from their classrooms, delighted by their long-promised liberation. The girl seemed rather serious for her age, addressing Saul confidently. Martha caught a little of their conversation before both became