Part 33 (1/2)

The Doctor snorted. 'Jack seems to leave them with very little intelligence. These psychically controlled creatures are just puppets.'

With an apocalyptic thunderclap of noise, the car exploded, showering the green with pieces of metal and gla.s.s. The blast hit the Doctor and the others in the back, a fist of oily heat that hurled them to the ground. They were just beyond the range of the bullet-fast shrapnel.

The scarecrows were not so fortunate. One or two had been completely consumed in the fireball, leaving only black twigs and corn in their wake. Another burnt like a human torch, head and arms flailing through angry red flames.

The other stickmen fell back, as if in superst.i.tious awe, watching as the burning scarecrow collapsed to the ground in a rain of dark flesh and bone.

The Doctor turned to Rebecca and Trevor. 'Wake him up,'

he said, pointing at Denman. 'Then get some petrol - you saw what fire did to these creatures. And find Ace. Tell her to leave the big picture to me. She'll understand.'

'What are you going to do?' asked Trevor, wiping some of the soot from his face.

'I have a pressing engagement with Jack i' the Green,' said the Doctor. 'Matthew Hatch, too.'

'Where will you find them?' queried Rebecca.

The Doctor pointed to the inn that for centuries had watched the dark heart of Hexen Bridge. 'The Green Man,'

announced the Doctor. 'Formerly the Jack in the Green.' He sighed. 'It's obvious when you think about it, isn't it?'

The kitchen door shook, the wooden panels bulging. Cracks started to trail across from the hinges.

Steven Chen and Ace looked around the room for something that they could wedge against the door, but the cupboards and work surfaces were fixed to the floor.

'Come on!' shouted Ace, as much to herself as to her companions. 'There's got to be something we can use.'

'The fridge?' queried Chen, pointing at the freestanding unit.

'Oh, great,' said Ace sarcastically. 'If things get nasty we can offer them a lager!'

A large split appeared in the door. Mrs Chen cried out, as if she felt every impact herself.

'Got any better ideas?' snapped Steven. He pulled the plug from the wall socket and began pus.h.i.+ng the refrigerator towards the door. Ace helped, rocking it from side to side.

Vegetables spilled out on to the floor, and Steven Chen kicked them away impatiently.

A scarecrow hand smashed through a door panel, tearing at the splintered wood.

With a cry of triumph, Ace and Steven pushed the fridge against the door.

There was a crack of bone and twig from behind the refrigerator.

'Now what?' asked Steven.

Ace scanned the hanging utensils and huge chest freezers that dominated the kitchen, pulling another cleaver and an enormous serrated carving knife from a wooden block.

Joanna Matson stood at the side door that led outside, tugging bolts into position.

A dark shape appeared in the small frosted pane of gla.s.s high up on the outer door. Joanna screamed. 'We're trapped!'

The figure knocked at the door. 'Let me in! Please!' It was a human voice, edged with panic. 'They're coming for me.'

Without thinking, Ace ran towards the side entrance.

'Stop!' Steven pushed her arm away from the locks. 'You don't know what that is.'

'It's the Reverend Baber.' The voice from outside was a pleading whine. The faintest impression of a face could be seen through the gla.s.s. 'If you don't let me in they'll kill me!'

From the other end of the kitchen, the inner door shook under repeated blows.

Ace shoved Steven to one side. 'It's the vicar. We've got to let him in.'

'No!'Joanna's shout was unexpectedly loud in the confines of the kitchen. 'That's not him!'

As she spoke, a straw-filled hand smashed through the gla.s.s in the door.

'My head hurts,' said Denman, sluggishly. 'What happened?'

'We got lucky,' replied Trevor as he led the policeman through a twisting patch of trees towards the open field beyond. 'The Doctor wants us to find something to burn them with.'

Denman seemed to be having difficulty focusing on his surroundings. He rested for a second by a gnarled old oak, and patted it lovingly. 'I used to bring my wife down here when we were first married,' he said with a faraway look.

'Oh G.o.d, not the life story,' said Trevor, cuttingly. 'Come on, we've got work to do.'

Ahead of them stretched a field of billowing wheat, leading towards White's farm. Rebecca was crouching down beside a five-bar gate. She looked up nervously as they approached.

'Get down,' she hissed, letting out a sigh of relief. 'The whole area's crawling with scarecrows.' She gave Denman a close look as though his glazed eyes held some secret wisdom. 'Are you sure you're all right?' she asked.

'No,' said Denman flatly. 'But I'm not going to lie down for a bunch of walking rag men.'

'That's the spirit,' said Trevor sarcastically. 'Come on, there are some outbuildings beyond this field. There's bound to be some fuel there.'

Thomas Baber's face lay somewhere behind the sc.r.a.ps of cloth and the trailing veins of corn, but it had been hideously transformed. Only the dark, glowing eyes spoke of the remnants of a human intelligence - a spark of life corrupted beyond words and reason.