Part 16 (1/2)

'What are you doing?' asked Martha.

Gaskin nodded at the stone. 'I'm going to take that d.a.m.ned thing outside and blast it to Kingdom Come.'

'What? Are you sure?'

'Absolutely. It's caused nothing but trouble. I don't want it in my house for a moment longer.' Gaskin moved to pick it up and then, at the last second, hesitated. 'Is it safe to touch?'

'I have no idea,' Martha said. 'It was all right before. But since the Doctor did what he did. . . ' she glanced at his unconscious form and shrugged. 'I'm not so sure.'

'Why don't you get something to pick it up with?' suggested Sadie.

'Like tongs, you mean?'

'A shovel or a dustpan would do.'

'Good idea,' Angela found a dustpan behind the door and went to hand it to Gaskin, but he was already holding the shotgun. 'Oh.'

'Here, I'll do it,' offered Sadie.

'No, no; it's all right,' Angela said. 'I can manage it.' 'Wait a minute,' Martha said, getting to her feet. 'Do you think this is the right thing to do?'

'I'm not having it here any longer,' Gaskin insisted.

'No, but. . . shooting it? That can't be the answer.'

'Can you think of anything else?'

Martha looked at the Doctor again. 'Well, er, no. . . '

'Then we get rid of it permanently.'

'But you don't know what will happen. It may not be possible to destroy it like that.'

'No harm in trying.'

'But what if something happens? What if it opens up again like it did before?'

Gaskin shrugged. 'Let it try! This is a 12-gauge, my dear. Double-barrelled. At close range it could lop off the branch of a tree. I don't think it'll have any trouble with. . . with whatever that is.'

Angela moved in with the dustpan.

'I really think we should wait,' Martha said.

Angela put the pan down next to the brain, the edge just beneath it so that she could pick it up cleanly. 'I need something to push it on with, I think.'

'Here's the brush,' said Sadie, coming over.

'Just wait!' Martha said.

'Carry on,' said Gaskin firmly.

Sadie brought the brush alongside the brain. She only had to push it along the table and it would roll into the dustpan. She hesitated.

'Are you sure it's safe?'

'No!' said Martha.

'Just do it,' said Gaskin.

' Marmalade Marmalade!' yelled the Doctor suddenly.

Everyone jumped.

'Doctor!' screeched Martha.

'Great Scott!' said Gaskin. 'I nearly gave it both barrels!'

The Doctor had sat bolt upright. His hair and eyes were both wild.

'Thick cut!' he shouted, holding a hand out towards Gaskin. Suddenly he was on his feet taking the shotgun out of Gaskin's hands. Gaskin stared stupidly at him. The Doctor pa.s.sed the gun to Martha. 'The most perfect marmalade I've ever tasted,' he announced.

Sadie smiled happily. 'Oh, thank you! I call it my Thick-Cut Tawny.'

'Loved it!'

'I know. You ate the whole jar in one go.'

'Doctor!' Martha said, relieved to see the Doctor well again but also rather irritated. She put the heavy shotgun down carefully on top of a chest of drawers. 'What happened to you?'

'Telekinetic shock,' the Doctor said, stretching as if he'd just woken from a long, relaxing sleep. 'Numbed every synapse in my head, and believe me, that's a lot of synapses.' He began running on the spot.

'Now what are you doing?'

'Getting my heart rates back to normal.' He speeded up. 'Oh yes!

Now we're cooking!' He slowed to a stop and then began to touch his toes. 'One, two, three, four. . . '

'It's OK,' Martha a.s.sured them all. Gaskin, Angela and Sadie were all staring at the Doctor as if they had preferred it when he was lying unconscious on the kitchen floor.

'Are you sure he's all right?' asked Gaskin.

'. . . ten, eleven, twelve. . . '

'Doctor,' said Martha through gritted teeth.

He stopped where he was, bent double, his fingers touching the tips of his trainers. He looked up at her from his knees. 'What?'

'We have a situation here.'