Part 5 (1/2)

'Don't forget what happened before that he turned into some kind. . . some kind of monster.'

'Do you think anyone will believe us?'

Martha's shoulders slumped. 'But. . . won't anyone miss him?'

'Of course. But he lived on his own, remember. No close family or friends to come looking for him.'

'But we can't just do nothing!'

'We will do something. But it's too late now. It's getting dark, and we can't do anything useful until tomorrow morning. We'll go back to the TARDIS. I can run some tests and then we'll come back first thing.'

Martha wasn't happy, and she looked back at the Drinking Hole, half expecting to find a small crowd of onlookers gathered outside. But there was no one. The village was deserted, only a few cars and Angela Hook's Land-Rover parked by the pub. Something moved in an upstairs window, and Martha glimpsed a curtain being drawn across the window of the pub's guest room. A s.h.i.+ver ran through her again and she suddenly felt drained.

'It's the telekinetic energy flux,' explained the Doctor. 'Whatever happened to Barney drew its power from all around us. You need sleep.'

Martha nodded and hooked her arm through the Doctor's as he led her away from the well. Some part of her brain registered a strange noise behind him, far away and lost in the depths of the approaching darkness: the sound of a sad, echoing cat's mew.[image]

Thenextmorningwasovercast,asifthesunhadsimplydecidednot to bother. The Doctor seemed not to notice or care; he was up bright and early, full of energy. He'd changed his suit and plimsolls and ditched his tie, but otherwise it looked to Martha as if he'd been awake all night.

She found him standing by the TARDIS, watching the dawn as it crept across the dry-stone walls and rolling Derbys.h.i.+re hills around them. Not far away was Creighton Mere. They could see the church from here.

'It doesn't seem right,' Martha said after a while. 'Just standing here, doing nothing. What happened to Barney was just awful.'

'I'm not doing nothing,' retorted the Doctor. 'I'm thinking.'

'What about?'

'Did you used to have a garden?'

Martha nodded, instantly transported back to the good times when her mum and dad had still been together: everyone laughing in the Jones' back garden as she tried to organise a game of tennis between herself and Tish. She was always Venus Williams, and Tish had to be Serena. Leo was ballboy, although he spent most of the time running away with the tennis ball, forcing his sisters to chase him. Happy times and places. 'Yes, we had a garden. Why?'

'Did you ever pick up one of the big stones in the damp corner of the garden and have a look underneath?'

'Ugh. No.'

'I always did,' said the Doctor wistfully. 'I always wanted to see what was lurking underneath, living in the darkness. Bugs and worms and things. You'd lift up the stone and they'd all be exposed, running away from the sudden light. Except the worms they didn't run, of course.

They just sort of squirmed and shrank.'

Martha s.h.i.+vered. 'And the point of all this?'

The Doctor nodded towards Creighton Mere. 'That's what this feels like. We're going to go down there and look under the stone. See what squirms.'

They reached the village in less than half an hour, and Martha appreciated the simple, old-fas.h.i.+oned beauty of the place far more this time, largely because she hadn't been rattling around inside an old Land-Rover on the way in.

It was busier this morning. There were a few cars pa.s.sing through and some children waiting for the school bus. A man was walking his dog across the village green, and on the far side were Angela Hook and Sadie Brown, standing by the well. The Land-Rover was parked nearby, the rear door open to disgorge a pile of equipment including tool boxes, buckets and coiled ropes of various lengths.

'Morning!' said the Doctor brightly as they approached.

The ladies seemed delighted to see them again. 'You're just in time,'

announced Angela. 'We're expecting delivery of the new windla.s.s any minute. Fancy lending a hand?'

'Love to!'

Martha eyed the patch of gra.s.s where Barney Hackett had turned to dust the night before. There was no sign of his remains now.

'We're measuring up for the new roof, too,' said Sadie. 'It'll cost a bit, but we've got to have one.' 'Otherwise rainwater and debris will just fall down the shaft and spoil the water,' explained Angela.

'I thought you'd want rainwater,' said Martha, trying not to think about Barney.

'No, the water comes from underground springs,' Sadie said. 'Or at least it should. One of the things we still have to check is whether the well really has gone dry.'

'You said something yesterday about seismic movement,' the Doctor said.

'That's right. It makes the most sense.'

The Doctor shrugged. 'The best thing would be to go down and have a look.'

'Well, yes, obviously,' Angela agreed. 'But we can't do that we're not fixed up for that kind of project yet.'

'Why not? You're getting a new windla.s.s fitted. Once the rope's in place someone could be lowered right down into the well.' The Doctor looked expectantly at them.

'You mean actually go down? One of us?'

'Well, I was thinking of me, actually.'

Angela and Sadie looked at one another. 'Do you mean that?'

He grinned and nodded.

'That would be marvellous,' said Angela, genuinely moved. 'We can't do it, after all. Too long in the tooth for that kind of lark or that's what Sadie thinks anyway.'

'And I'm always right,' smiled Sadie.

The Doctor grinned. 'Then it looks like you're stuck with me.'

'Are you qualified?' asked Sadie. 'There are health and safety issues, after all. We don't want to be liable for anything.'

The Doctor produced the ID wallet containing his psychic paper.

'Ah! So you're from the Council's Heritage Department, eh?' said Angela, peering at it suspiciously. The Doctor flipped it shut and slid it back into his inside pocket without saying anything. 'I thought you were tourists.'

'Well, you know. . . ' the Doctor replied, and rubbed the side of his long nose with a finger in the universal gesture for 'Don't tell anyone'. The accompanying twinkle in his big, dark eyes did the trick, and Angela nodded immediately. 'Oh, yes, of course. Right-ho. Mum's the word!'

Martha bit her lip to stop herself smiling too broadly.

Ben and Duncan had got to work straight after breakfast. Moving to the head of the tunnel they quickly and expertly set up the lights and started to dig. Duncan took the lead with the pickaxe while Ben ferried the loose earth away in the wheelbarrow.

Nigel was impatient. They were so close. He stood behind them and watched, smoking cigarettes with trembling fingers. He couldn't hold them properly because of the gloves. That had prompted a question from Duncan: 'What's with the black gloves, Nigel? You look like a criminal mastermind this morning.'