Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker (7 page)

There was a slow whirring noise and a
blade, protruding from the back of the chair, sliced the doll neatly
in half which flopped over onto the floor.

Dodo screamed. 'It's horrible,' she
said. 'The Toymaker must be mad! Do you really think he wants to kill
us?'

Steven indicated the two dolls: 'What
do you think?'

'But what do we do now?' asked Dodo.

'We go and get another doll. We've got
to get out of this place!' said Steven.

'But we can't go in there,' said Dodo.

'Why?' asked Steven.

'If we go in there and open the
cupboard, they'll find out about the three extra dolls!'

Inside the throne room, the now
headless doll was still shaking furiously in chair number seven. The
Queen turned to the King. 'Henry,' she said, 'Will you turn that
thing off?'

The King made a half ineffectual motion
towards the throne. 'I don't think I can get near enough, m'dear,' he
said. Suddenly the chair stopped shaking and the doll was released,
bits and pieces falling onto the floor.

'I wish you'd stop these silly games,'
said a voice behind them. They turned to see Cyril.

The King smiled at him. 'There's a nice
chair for you over there,' he said. He pointed to number four.

Cyril looked up appalled and shrunk
back clutching the Queen's dress. 'Did you hear him, mother?'

'Henry!' said the Queen indignantly.

Cyril sidled round behind her. 'Oh
nothing,' said the King. 'A harmless joke, m'dear. Well, let's try
the other doll, shall we?'

The King turned, picked up the
remaining doll, carried it over to chair number four, hesitated and
then flung it on the chair. As they watched, the doll and chair
slowly faded away to nothing. 'Well,' said the Queen. 'That leaves us
chairs number five and number six. What do you suggest we do now?'

The King thought for a moment. 'Perhaps
we'd better see how the young people are making out in their room.'

'They obviously haven't found it yet,'
said the Queen. 'We would have had a visit from the Toymaker if they
had. He would have been very cross.'

'Yes,' said the King thinking. He
tapped his brow. 'You know what we need - we need two more dolls. He
looked regretfully at Cyril, now unconcernedly tucking into a banana
he had discovered in one of his pockets. Then, turning back to the
Queen with a sudden inspiration, he said, 'I know - the fool!'

The Queen looked at him with disdain.
'How can you think of entertainment at a time like this?' Then she
followed his gaze to the remaining chair. 'Oh,' she said. 'I see. Of
course, the fool!'

The King nodded meaningfully.
'Precisely, m'dear,' he said. He offered his arm to the Queen and
they turned to leave for the other room. Cyril stopped eating the
banana, glanced back fearfully at the chairs and the broken dolls,
then scuttled after them.

Meanwile, Steven was lying partly under
chair number two. As Dodo watched, he put a tentative hand up towards
it. 'No!' she screamed at him. 'Steven, be careful!'

Steven crawled out from under. 'You
can't tell anything by looking at it,' he said. 'We'll just have to
get those other two dolls.'

'Shush,' said Dodo, 'the King and Queen
are coming.'

Steven nodded. 'Good. I'll try to
distract them. I'll hold them here while you slip along to the other
room and try the other chair. That will eliminate that room
completely and then it will be one of these two chairs.'

The King and Queen entered. 'Ah,' said
the King breezily. 'We've been having a great time trying out our
thrones.'

'Yes,' said the Queen to Dodo. 'Why
don't you try one of those chairs, child?'

Dodo put her tongue out at her. 'Why
don't you?'

'Oh,' the Queen exclaimed and turned
her back on Dodo.

Steven turned to the King. 'So you've
had no luck either? Well, if you're out of dolls too,' Steven winked
quickly at Dodo who turned and ran down the passage between the two
rooms, 'it looks rather like stalemate.'

'Ah, not quite, m'boy', said the King.
'We still have another card to play.' He laughed slightly. 'If you'll
pardon the expression.' The King turned and looked down at the
sleeping Joker, then stirred him with his foot.

The Joker stirred sleepily and slowly
clambered up to his feet. 'What's black and white and read all over?'
he said.

Steven looked puzzled for a moment. 'I
don't know,' he said. 'A newspaper,' said the Joker.

'Oh, I didn't wake you up for a joke,
m'boy,' said the King. 'Anyway, I've heard all your riddles before.
No, we just want your advice this time, don't we m'dear?' he said to
the Queen.

The Queen looked her most haughty.
'What!' she said. 'Advice from a fool?'

The King cocked his eyebrow at her. 'To
pick our new throne, m'dear. Eh, what?' he said. 'Now, for instance'
- he turned to the Joker - 'what would you say to this fine throne
here?' The King took the Joker's arm
and led him over to chair number two.
Steven grasped what the King was after and ran forward, blocking
their way to the throne.

'Uh, uh,' Steven said. 'Not in this
chair.' The Joker looked confusedly from the King to Steven wondering
what the fuss was about, when Dodo ran into the room. 'Steven,' she
said. 'The cupboard with the other three dolls, it's locked! I can't
open it.'

Steven turned back. 'You must be able
to, it was open before.'

The Queen turned, outraged. 'What?'
she said. 'Three more dolls?'

The King raised his finger and waggled
it. 'And you were keeping them from us? Naughty.'

'Cheats,' said the Queen in her deepest
voice.

'You can talk,' said Steven. 'After
what you were about to do to that poor fellow.' Steven pointed to the
Joker.

'Eh?' said the Joker. 'What's that?'

'Nothing, my dear old chap,' said the
King, calming him. 'Come with us. We won't leave you in such
company.'

'No, certainly not,' said the Queen. 'I
abhor cheats. Come, Cyril.' The King and Queen swept out of the room.
Cyril put his tongue out at Steven and Dodo and ran after them. The
Joker hesitated, lost in some train of thought and walked after them
muttering, 'Poor fellow? Poor fellow?' to himself.

As soon as the Hearts had left the
room, Steven turned angrily back to Dodo. 'Now you've done it. Handed
the game to them on a platter. If the right chair is not in this
room, we've lost the game.'

Dodo folded her arms obstinately. 'I
don't see that,' she said. 'Anyway, we'll win fairly.'

'Look,' said Steven explaining. 'They
have two chairs left, right? They'll get the Joker to sit on one. If
that's not the right chair, then the other must be the winner.'
Steven gave Dodo a long look of disgust, then turned away from her
and crossed his arms.

Feeling guilty, Dodo ran up to him, but
he just turned away. Almost in tears at having ruined their chances,
Dodo turned back towards the chairs. Then, coming to a sudden
resolution, she walked over to chair number two and started to lower
herself upon it.

In the Toymaker's study, the Toymaker
was leaning back watching the hand of the Doctor playing the trilogic
game. 'You see,' he said. 'It's quite easy when you try and don't let
yourself be distracted by your friends. You've been moving along
quite satisfactorily.' The Toymaker pointed over at the tally
register. It now recorded 690 moves. 'It's especially commendable
since Dodo has chosen to sit in the wrong chair.'

The Doctor's hand paused and remained
stiffly in the air as if the owner was looking over at the screen.

'Yes,' said the Toymaker. 'The freezing
chair.'

Back in the throne room, Dodo, sitting
on throne number two, let out a shriek. Steven whipped around. 'Dodo,
what are you doing?' he said. Steven rushed across to her only to be
met by some kind of invisible wall set around the throne.

' Steven,' said Dodo, her teeth
chattering. 'I'm cold all the way through.'

'Stand up,' said Steven urgently. 'I
can't get through to you. There's some sort of barrier here.'

'Help me,' said Dodo plaintively. 'I'm
freezing. I can't move.'

'Stand up,' said Steven.

Dodo shook her head. 'I can't! I
can't!'

'You must,' said Steven. 'There's some
kind of wall around you. You must try.'

'I think I'm turning to ice, Steven,'
she said.

'Fight the cold, fight it! You must get
out of that chair. Fight it, Dodo. Now! Together - One -' Steven
extended his hand. This time the barrier seemed to part as their
combined wills dissipated it. Steven's hand gripped Dodo's.
Immediately he felt an intense cold penetrating his hand and arm.

Dodo shook her head. 'It's no use,
Steven. It will freeze you as well. Let go!'

'No,' said Steven. 'We must meet it
together. Quick now - one pull!'

For one moment it seemed as though the
Toymaker's deadly chair was going to win. Then, as Steven and Dodo
exerted their last ounce of will and determination, they countered
the influence of the chair. With one great rush, Dodo was ripped out
of the chair and fell on top of Steven as they tumbled over together.

'Oh,' said Dodo, 'thank you.' Her teeth
were chattering. 'Thank you, you did it.'

Steven, gasping for breath and rubbing
his frozen hand, shook his head. 'No, Dodo. We did it together. It
was our combined wills. It shows what can happen if we act together.
We can beat this wicked man.'

'But, Steven,' said Dodo, rubbing back
the circulation into her body, 'we've lost, don't you see? They've
probably found the lucky chair by now and with it, the TARDIS.'

The King and Queen were standing by
chairs five and six with the Joker. Behind them, Cyril was squatting
on the ground eating another banana.

The King turned to the Joker. 'Now, my
good fellow,' he said, 'we would be very glad of your honest opinion.
Which of these two is the better throne for me.'

The Joker gazed from the King to the
Queen a little suspiciously. He hadn't forgotten the remark about his
being a poor fellow. Then he looked over at the chairs. 'Well,' he
said, 'That one isn't too bad.' He pointed to number six.

The King looked over at it and
inspected it through his monocle. 'Number six, eh? Good, good, but
there's only one way to really test a chair, isn't there? You can't
tell much by just looking.'

The Joker looked suspiciously over at
the pieces of broken doll on chair number one. 'Poor fellow,' he
muttered to himself. 'What did he mean?'

'Come on, Fool,' said the Queen
impatiently. 'We haven't got all day.'

The Joker tried to manage a smile and
waved his jester's wand. 'Wouldn't you rather have a riddle?' he
said. 'When is a door not a door?'

'Eh?' said the King and then laughed.
'He's got us there, m'dear.'

'Everyone knows that!' chimed in Cyril,
his mouth full of banana. 'When it's ajar.'

'Faugh! That's not even funny,' said
the Queen. 'Are you going to sit in the chair or not?' She was
becoming more and more impatient with the Joker.

'Oh, all right,' agreed the Joker. He
shuffled unwillingly over to the chair and began to lower himself.
Just then, Cyril gave a stifled giggle.

The Joker raised himself again and
looked over suspiciously. 'What's he laughing at?' he said.

The Queen turned warningly to Cyril.
'You're not laughing, are you?'

Cyril, still coping with a mouthful of
banana, shook his head and then spluttered, unable to contain his
guffaw.

The Joker wearily raised his eyes. 'And
they call me a fool,' he said.

'Come now,' said the King. 'Sit down,
my dear fellow.'

But the Joker had had enough and moved
away. 'Not on your life, sire,' he said. He backed away to the
passage. 'A joke is a joke, but this is too much. I'm giving notice,
you'll have to try out your own chairs.' He raised his jester's wand
in a final slightly rude gesture, and left.

After he had gone, the King and Queen
looked after him astonished. Then the King turned around to Cyril and
raised his hand. Cyril scrambled to his feet. 'After him,' said the
King. Cyril scurried out the door and the King turned back to the
Queen: 'Your son, m'dear.'

'More yours,' said the Queen. 'Anyway,
what do we do now?'

'Nothing else for it,' said the King.
'You'll have to try, m'dear.'

The Queen drew herself up to her full
height and looked at him majestically. 'I?' she said.

'Oh,' said the King a little hastily,
'one of us, I mean. We'll have to draw matches.' He brought out a box
of matches and opened it up. 'Whoever gets the short match sits in
the chair,' he said.

The Queen shook her head firmly. 'I
don't trust your matches,' she said. She felt in the pocket of her
gown and brought out a coin. 'We'll have to toss for it.' She spun it
up in the air. 'Heads,' she said.

The King nodded and waggled his finger.
'You forget, m'dear. I know that coin - it's got two heads.'

The Queen shrugged her shoulders
impatiently and put the coin away. 'Then, she said, 'we'll both sit
on the chair together. So if we go ...'

'We go together, my love,' said the
King.

In the first touch of real feeling
displayed by the couple, the King offered the Queen his arm. They
walked over to chair number six and slowly sat down.

Almost at once, the chair collapsed
entangling and imprisoning the King and Queen in the wreckage, just
as Steven and Dodo entered.

'Oh, the poor things,' said Dodo.
'Quick, Steven we must get them out of there.'

'Right,' said Steven. 'But not just
now.' He pointed over at chair number five. 'Look,' he said.

Dodo caught on quickly. 'You mean?'

'That must be the one,' said Steven. He
walked over to it and without hesitating, sat down. The room
darkened and a light came on from the
cupboard that wouldn't open. It now began to slide out as they
watched until finally it stood almost clear of the wall - an
unmistakable police box. But was it the real TARDIS?