Part 16 (1/2)

' Stop! Stop! ' The Doctor's bellow arrested them. ' The Doctor's bellow arrested them.

Ba.s.s spun about. So did the rest of the gang.

At the sight of the detested inventor, they gave chase.

Blundering through ferns, crunching on the thick carpet of fallen leaves, the Doctor decoyed them, helter-skelter, away from the Dell.

At least, that was the intention.

The mob split; a pincer movement that outflanked him.

Ile floundered every which way. Jeering, they made sport of him. All of them had had experience as beaters; putting up pheasant for the gentry. Now they had themselves a sitting duck!

In desperation, the Doctor appealed to reason.

Explained how he had rescued them.

They didn't contradict him.

They didn't listen. Relentlessly, the burly, hyped-up hunters closed in...

17.

More Macabre Memorials The trio reached the old mine working without mishap, but the uninviting darkness deterred Peri.

'That's far enough!' They halted. 'Now don't move!

Either of you!'

Peri's caution was not unwarranted: deviousness was the Master's forte. 'I believe an apology is in order, Miss Peri,' he said. 'I meant you no harm. My quarrel's with the Doctor, not you.'

Peri wasn't having that. 'What about Luke?'

'Luke?'

'Did you mean him no harm!'

'That was her her idea. Not mine.' Loyalty, for the Master, was a trivial concept. idea. Not mine.' Loyalty, for the Master, was a trivial concept.

'Stop grovelling! No-one's going to believe you've got a conscience,' commented the Rani.

'You can hear what she's like.' In apparent agitation, the Master fidgeted with his collar. 'It was her doing, Miss Peri. I didn't even know what she'd planned.' His gloved fingers sought the ribbon around his neck, from which a medallion was suspended.

Suspended by his tethered hands and feet, the Doctor had replaced the sheep's carcase on the pole!

His mission was a failure in every respect. To the accompaniment of victorious acclamations, his bearers were swaggering, once more, for the Dell.

'You must listen! Please! You're making a terrible mistake! I'm not your enemy!'

'Hear that, lads? Mister inventor says us're making mistake!' That was Tim Ba.s.s's reaction from the rear of the column.

Snorts of laughter greeted the remark. The shoulders of the two men hefting the pole rose and sank as they guffawed, making the Doctor's sagging frame swing even more painfully.

The medallion, too, was swinging.

'Put that away!' Peri jabbed the TCE menacingly. 'If you value your miserable life you'll do as I say!'

Crestfallen, the Master complied.

'The Doctor said you'd try to hypnotise me.'

An apoplexy of laughter convulsed the Rani. 'So that's what he whispered before he left!' The laughter changed to coughing. She tried to speak, but the spasm was unremitting. Blindly she fumbled for her pouch.

'Keep your hands where I can see them!' Peri wasn't standing any nonsense. She'd heard about the Master's powers, but the Rani's bag of tricks was unknown territory.

'Only getting a tablet.' Wheezes interrupted her explanation. 'A nervous affliction. Won't stop without a tablet.'

'She'll have a seizure.' The Master feigned concern. 'I've seen it happen before.' His solicitude appeared genuine.

Another hacking paroxysm.

'Oh, for pity's sake get the tablet. But carefully. No tricks!'

About to select a capsule, the Rani spluttered again, upsetting the pill box.

Bending as if to collect them, she used the distraction to break a capsule which she flicked into Peri's face!

Sparkling, iridescent particles were ejected, lac-quering her skin so she glowed like a pagan effigy.

Nauseated, swooning, Peri crumpled...

'I beg you! Don't go any further!'

Impervious to the Doctor's pleas, the column of bellicose aggressors stormed on.

'Turn back! You're walking into a trap!'