Doctor Who_ Wooden Heart - Martin Day [62]
First one creature hurtled towards it through the water, snapping its jaws shut and then twisting around and around like a crocodile. A second soon followed. The suffering creature, now mortally wounded, attempted one brief retaliation. Countless more slid towards it, mouths gaping wide. Within moments the entire area was filled with white, overlapping shapes, the water frothing and foaming as if alive.
A low, injured cry – and the water now lapping at her chest – reminded Martha that her own predicament wasn’t over yet. ‘Come on,’ said Petr, holding her arm and half-jumping, half-swimming back to where Saul had fallen.
The hunter had become caught on the large wooden board that normally housed the boat’s main rower. Behind him the entire prow of the craft was upright in the air, like the doomed Titanic recreated in miniature. Saul was silent and motionless but for the long, broken-sounding moans he made every few seconds.
Taking an arm each, and pushing through the splintered remains of the boat, Martha and Petr tugged Saul away from the water that broiled with the creatures. Saul’s eyes suddenly shot open when his head and shoulders hit the cold water of the lake, and he began swimming as best he could, though Martha noticed that he wasn’t using his legs. They trailed behind him like streamers of useless flesh and cloth.
The three swam furiously away from the boat as it slid entirely beneath the water, sometimes pausing to help each other, sometimes almost selfishly forcing tired arms and legs through the cold lake. Anything to put distance between them and the writhing predators. Martha hoped that the creatures would be more occupied with each other – and the huge, wounded beast that had prompted their feeding frenzy – than with the blood still seeping from Saul’s legs.
Suddenly, out of the all-pervading blanket of fog, a dark shape began to form. Martha heard Petr almost whoop with joy. It seemed that these monsters patrolled only the deepest waters, and now Martha and the others were almost in reach of land – and safety.
Even Saul, who had been in danger of falling behind, seemed energised. Martha concentrated on her own progress, kicking for shore in desperation as much as relief. The water was colder than ever, and she couldn’t stop shivering, swallowing mouthfuls of brackish water, but not caring if that meant she could emerge from the lake more quickly.
Still half-expecting to feel the vice-like grip of merciless jaws on her legs, still wondering if her aching arms and legs had any energy left in them, Martha forced herself up onto the rocky beach at the edge of the island. She collapsed for a moment, panting.
Petr was already standing and looking about him. ‘I can’t believe we’re here,’ he said quietly. ‘All my life, we’ve looked out over the waters, but we never dared…’ He looked down at Saul – only a villager could understand the importance of what they had just achieved. ‘I never imagined I’d ever stand here.’ He gripped his brother’s hand, hauling him upright. ‘Never dreamed we’d be the first to set foot on the island.’
And, just for a moment, a look of grim satisfaction passed between the brothers – a look of achievement and pride. A look of warmth and respect.
Martha, shivering, couldn’t help but break the moment.
‘Two questions,’ she said. ‘Do either of you really know what we’re doing here?’ She looked out over the dark waters of the lake, through the patchy fog, trying to see one last glimpse of the shark creatures. ‘And how are we going to get back?’
FOURTEEN
Jude stumbled suddenly into blinding light, a cork popping out of darkness and dream. Her body was stiff, as if she had been asleep for a thousand years, and her mind fogged with images. Absolutely disorientated and blinded, she fell against an upright, dark shape – and cried out, thinking it was the creature again.