Part 21 (1/2)

'No,' the Doctor admitted. Then he jabbed his finger towards Nepath. 'But I'll tell you again, whatever you've been promised, she can never come back. Not ever. It may look like your sister, it may even sound like your sister. But it will never be her. Whoever or whatever is returned to you, Patience Nepath will still be dead.' He turned back to the cabinet. 'Whoever is to blame, this is how she will remain.'

He reached out and tapped his forefinger on the gla.s.s. 'For ever.'

s...o...b..ld thought it was an effect of the gla.s.s moving slightly as the Doctor tapped on it. The grotesque, contorted shape within the cabinet seemed to move slightly. But then the Doctor froze, staring at the charred figure within. He too had seen something.

And Nepath was suddenly laughing. He threw his head back and bellowed with laughter that echoed round the room.

The blackened husk raised a skeletal arm, dark bone fingers stretching out in a bizarre parody of the Doctor's gesture, reaching for the gla.s.s. Then the whole figure seemed to lurch forwards, falling towards the front of the cabinet.

The gla.s.s exploded outwards, showering ice*like shards and splinters across the Doctor and Nepath. s...o...b..ld felt blood on his cheek where a sharp fragment caught him. Clumsily, with jerky movements, the hideous stick*like figure lurched out of the broken cabinet towards them.

Chapter Seventeen.

Moving Mountains The figure stood for a moment in the middle of the sea of broken gla.s.s. It tottered on its spindly, brittle legs.

Seeing what was about to happen, Nepath reached out. But he was too late. The fragile legs shattered under the weight of the body and the figure crashed to the ground. Bone fractured and exploded as it hit the floor, a ma.s.s of broken black amongst the s.h.i.+ning splinters of gla.s.s. The upper torso and the remains of the head remained intact, as if emerging through a hole in the floor. With a creaking of bone rubbing on bone, the head slowly turned towards the shape of Betty s...o...b..ld.

Betty was already s.h.i.+mmering, blurring, changing. s...o...b..ld gave an involuntary gasp as he watched. He knew it was not really her, but even so it was a shock to see his daughter's form again disappearing from him. In a moment she was a featureless blank of a figure. Like an unfinished sculpture the form and shape but none of the detail. He swallowed drily.

The faceless woman stepped into the mess of shattered bone and gla.s.s. At once she seemed to become liquid. Her whole pale form clouded over with a dark crust, and the molten rock inside flowed out in a puddle over the floor.

The Doctor leaped aside as the hot magma rolled towards his feet. But already it was flowing back inwards, drawn up into the charred and broken remains of Patience Nepath.

s...o...b..ld watched in horror as the fragile blackened corpse began to fill out. The liquid flowed into it, making the whole body glow with fire and life. The thin arms fleshed out; the sunken parchment features of the face puffed outwards. Slowly, painfully, the figure was getting to its feet, standing on legs that had been broken fragments of bone and now seemed to be restored to flesh and blood.

She was a tall girl, as tall as s...o...b..ld. Blond hair erupted from her pale head, framing her youthful face. She looked about eighteen as she smiled at them, her eyes tight shut. Her chest heaved suddenly, a spasm of movement as she drew her first breath.

Then she opened her eyes, and s...o...b..ld could see the firelight that danced within them. At that moment he knew really knew that whatever the consequences, he had made the right decision.

The guns were set up across the main street. There was room for three of them. The other three were positioned at the sides of the road further back to cover a retreat if it became necessary.

A gust of wind blew dust and ash into Wilson's face as he waited. The gun crews were crouched in position. The weapons were loaded and ready to fire. The runners from the edge of the town kept him informed of the progress of the creatures of fire as they approached. It would not be long now.

So far there had not been too many deaths reported. But unless they could slow the advance of the creatures, the more densely populated area of Middletown would become a graveyard. A crematorium. The evacuation was in full progress, but it was slow work to persuade people to leave their homes at the point of a bayonet if necessary. There was a dearth of suitable transport, and more had not yet arrived from Ambleton, though it was promised, along with reinforcements. The soldier Wilson had sent had returned with the personal a.s.surances of Sir William Grant more troops would come.

But for the moment, Wilson and his men were on their own.

Just as he rea.s.sured himself that whatever happened now, things could scarcely get worse, there was an unearthly percussive crack in the distance. Beneath Wilson's feet, the ground heaved, throwing grey dust back into the air. Even before it had settled, it was joined by more. A lump of glowing rock shot past Wilson's head, exploding into flames as it hit the building behind him.

The sky glowed an angry red, the lines of smoke tracing across through the mist of dust and ash as more rocks were hurled upwards from the fissure. In seconds the air was alive with the firestorm.

'At last,' Nepath breathed. 'At last we are together again.'

His sister reached out her hand and brushed his cheek. 'For ever,' she said. Her voice was soft, innocent.

The Doctor shook his head, shuffled his feet and sighed loudly. 'I suppose it's too much to hope that you'll give my advice careful and close consideration?'

Nepath's face was a mask of emotion as he drew her to him, held her close, buried his face in her hair.

'That's what I thought,' the Doctor said. 'Still.' he said to s...o...b..ld, 'actions speak louder than words.'

'Meaning?' s...o...b..ld asked.

'Meaning it's time we were leaving.' He strode over to the door and flung it open.

Nepath's laughter was barely audible above the sound of the crackling flames that immediately leapt up in the doorway. A formless burning ma.s.s oozed into the room and the Doctor jumped back.

'I'd forgotten about that,' he said. 'Any suggestions?' he asked s...o...b..ld.

'Yes, Doctor,' Nepath said. 'Die.'

The Doctor seemed to consider this. He nodded thoughtfully, biting his bottom lip. He raised his hand towards Nepath in a gesture that suggested he would answer him in a moment, then took s...o...b..ld by the arm and led him across the room away from the rolling fire.

'There do seem to be few alternatives available to us,' s...o...b..ld admitted. He looked from the fire to Nepath and his sister standing in front of the shattered remains of the cabinet, then turned to see the Doctor's reaction.

The Doctor was looking across the room, away from the fire. Towards the heavy curtains that were closed over the window. 'Jump,' he said in a loud, clear voice.

Even so, s...o...b..ld was not sure he had heard correctly. 'I beg your pardon?'

But the Doctor was gone. He was running across the room at full tilt. Seeming to sense his intentions, the fire leaped after him, a ball of orange flame trailing black smoke in its wake. s...o...b..ld hesitated only a split second, then he was racing after the Doctor, desperate to keep ahead of the flames.

The Doctor leaped first, taking off several feet in front of the curtain, throwing his arms up in front of his face, turning slightly sideways, legs still working. He crashed into the heavy curtain, forcing it into the window behind, cras.h.i.+ng through.

s...o...b..ld was already in the air, flinging himself after the Doctor when it occurred to him that he was jumping through an upper storey window. And he had no idea what was beneath it. The billowing curtain rushed towards him, and he barely caught sight of the Doctor clinging to it as he swung back. s...o...b..ld grabbed at the other curtain as the one bearing the Doctor began to tear, to rip, to fall.

The Doctor disappeared from sight with a wave of the arm that might have been intentional. His weight was tearing the curtain slowly along a seam, unravelling it, lowering him gently towards the ground.

In the same moment that s...o...b..ld marvelled at the audacity and inventiveness of the Doctor's escape, he felt his own curtain move. He glanced up, and saw that it was not tearing slowly like the Doctor's. The material was ripping from the curtain rings, sending them rattling on the pole as it tore down.

He gave a cry of surprise and fright as he was pitched headlong towards the ground, still holding the curtain. Then the fire exploded out of the broken window frame above him, catching the end of the material as it was whipped free. The curtain burst into flames.

He let go. It fell away from him, blazing, and they both plunged towards the ground.

The Doctor was waiting for him ten feet below, arms outstretched in an attempt to catch him, or at least break his fall. They met in a sudden whirling maelstrom of arms and legs. The Doctor dropped him, of course, but on to the bundled, burning curtain which was itself cus.h.i.+oned on a pile of ash.

'I'm relieved that you aren't a large person,' the Doctor remarked as they both staggered to their feet.

s...o...b..ld was bruised, singed and frightened, but he was alive and all his bones seemed to have survived the impact. He looked back at the window above them. The fire seemed to have disappeared, but as he watched, Nepath's face appeared, looking down at them.

'Time to go?' s...o...b..ld suggested.

'Time to go,' the Doctor agreed.