Part 4 (1/2)

'Corporal!' barked the Sergeant. One of the bigger of the soldiers shuffled forward and saluted. 'You accompany this gentleman' he indicated Grey'and the prisoners to Inverness. I'll wait here for Lieutenant Ffinch.'

'Where's that you're taking us?' asked Ben, looking anxiously at the Doctor. He realised the danger of being separated too far from the TARDIS, their one hope of getting back to his own time.

'To Inverness,' said Grey, 'to start with. Then perhaps a sea voyage. Say... three thousand miles?' He smiled at them: a slow, sinister smile.

'Three thousand miles?' said Ben. The soldiers formed a group around the Doctor, Ben and Jamie and, lifting the wounded Laird between two of them, set off across the moor. The Sergeant refilled his pipe and sat down in front of the cottage, waiting for his officer's return.

5.

Polly and Kirsty Polly, walking barefoot and carrying her thin shoes in her hand, stumbled after Kirsty, the fleet-footed Highland la.s.s.

Kirsty was leading her through another part of the moor towards higher ground. Around them were tall outcrops of rock, some as large as a house with great splits and fissures big enough to hide a man. Kirsty made for one, and when Polly looked up from rubbing her leg, scratched for the twentieth time that day, her companion had disappeared.

But she had no time to panic before Kirsty suddenly emerged from a slender fissure of rock. 'Whist,' she called.

'Do you want to draw them over here?' Polly came over curiously.

'Oh,' she said, 'we're miles ahead of them now. They'll never catch up with us. What have you found?'

'It's a cave,' said Kirsty, 'I'll show you.' She led Polly through the rock fissure, sliding agilely around a slight bend, and Polly, to her astonishment, found herself in a large cave worn from the interior of the rock by a small stream. In one corner, away from the fissure which ran up twenty feet and showed a thin strip of grey sky, there were blankets and a rough cot, and several old chests.

'You don't mean to say you live here,' exclaimed Polly, turning to Kirsty.

Kirsty turned angrily on the other girl. 'You think we live in caves?'

'I'm sorry,' muttered Polly.

'Nay,' said Kirsty. 'My clan use it as a hide-out after cattle raids.'

'Cattle raids?' said Polly. 'You mean, you steal people's cattle?'

Kirsty, startled, stood back. 'Och, no! What do you take us for? We're no thieves. We only steal from those who take from us... like the McGregor clan.' Kirsty walked forward and opened the nearest of the small wooden chests.

'We keep our food in here.' She looked in it hungrily, and rummaged among some old parchments, then brought up something that to Polly looked suspiciously like a large, hard dog biscuit. 'Och,' said Kirsty, 'we've only one wee biscuit left. The men must have got here before us.'

Polly looked suspiciously down at the biscuit. 'When was it left here?'

'About three months past,' said Kirsty, and started gnawing hungrily on a corner of the biscuit. Then, remembering her manners, she offered it to the stranger.

Polly wrinkled her nose in disgust and shook her head.

'Ugh,' she said, 'dog biscuits!'

Kirsty looked up, annoyed. 'Biscuits are no bait for dogs,' she said, and set to work on it.

'Well, not for me,' said Polly, 'please go ahead. I don't want to lose my fillings.'

Kirsty looked blankly up at her.

'Oh, teeth, you know... fillings, teeth. Never mind, I'm not hungry. We must make a plan. We saw them being marched away; now, where would they be taking them?'

Kirsty burst into tears. 'To Inverness gaol. They'll never leave that place alive.'

Polly looked down at the dishevelled, weeping girl, annoyed. 'Oh don't be such a wet. We must get them out.

Have you any money?'

Kirsty looked up, shaking her head. 'For what do we need money?'

'For food, of course,' Polly returned. 'That biscuit won't last us long, and we need something to bribe the guards with. What have we got to sell then?' Polly looked down at her bracelet, which was of twisted silver. She shook it.

'This won't fetch much, but it's a start, anyway.'

'Why would you help us?' said Kirsty. 'You are English, you're not one of us.'

'They've got my friends, too, remember,' Polly rejoined.

She s.h.i.+vered. The air in the cave was chill and damp. 'And I must get myself some proper clothes to wear.'

'Aye,' said Kirsty curiously, her tears forgotten. 'Why do you wear the short skirts of a bairn? Ye're a grown woman sure.'

Polly looked down at her mini-skirt and the torn and laddered tights. 'Well,' said Polly, 'you see... Oh, it'll take too long to explain.' She looked over at Kirsty and spotted a large ring on the girl's middle finger. 'Ah,' she said, 'that ring, it's gold.'

Kirsty immediately covered the ring with her other hand and turned away.

'Oh come on,' said Polly crossly, 'can't I even look at it?

You'll have to trust me, you know.'

Kirsty shook her head. 'It's no mine, it's my father's.'

'Well let's see anyway.'

Kirsty reluctantly stretched her hand out and Polly examined the ring. 'Oh, it's a gorgeous seal. We should get a lot for that.'

Kirsty s.n.a.t.c.hed her hand back and looked up, frightened. 'We're no selling it.'

Polly stared back at her in disbelief. 'Not even to save your father's life?'

'No.' Kirsty shook her head firmly. 'He'd no thank me.'