Doctor Who: Ultimate Treasure (22 page)

he promised, pulling out a cord and strap from his pocket.

There was a rumbling growl from the bushes a few yards away.

Peri had heard lions making similar noises in Africa, except this sound was far deeper, suggesting a creature of even greater bulk. Gribbs froze, and for a moment their eyes met in shared alarm. She saw his hand slowly slide down to the butt of his holstered pistol.

There came a crash and swish of branches and a thud of heavy feet. Gribbs yelled as he half rose, drawing his gun. Peri had a blurred impression of a large body passing right over her and knocking Gribbs off his feet. There was a boney thud as he hit the ground and a double thump of the creature's feet setting down after him. Then there was silence, except for breath being drawn into huge lungs.

Peri lay where she was, too frightened to look round after Gribbs, knowing she hadn't got the strength to run far and suspecting it would be useless to try in any case. Perhaps the creature would be satisfied with Gribbs, she thought selfishly. It would only be what he deserved after all. But there was no sound of her former jailer being torn limb from limb. Instead the great footfalls got louder. Then the creature loomed over her.

She'd never seen anything like it in her life.

A white, barley-sugar-twisted horn that would have graced any unicorn rose from its forehead. Its snout was as long a horse's head, but it was no herbivore as the long canines protruding from its upper jaw suggested. Its eyes were large, deep and intelligent. They looked out at her from what at first she took to be a contoured, metallic blue mask, except that she could see no straps or other means of attachment. Its neck was also armoured with overlapping metal bands and was equine in length, but more heavily muscled and covered with thick reddish fur.

The great head dipped towards her, the large nostrils flared.

She closed her eyes in alarm. There was a snuffling and a sensation as though a vacuum cleaner hose were being run over her body. It was sniffing her! Cautiously she opened her eyes again, just as a long wet pink tongue emerged from the fearsome jaws and licked her neck and cheek in a friendly fashion.

She squirmed away, breaking into a hysterical peal of relieved laughter. Stop it - that tickles!'

The beast lifted its head and regarded her with patient interest.

Slowly she got to her feet. With half an eye she noticed that Gribbs lay crumpled against the base of a tree some yards away.

She thought she could see him breathing, but evidently he was not going to be playing any active part in proceedings for some time to come.

The beast was even more impressive seen in its entirety. If it had been a horse she would have said it stood maybe twenty-six hands high at the shoulder. Of course its broad three-clawed paws on furry white-stocking-marked legs were not at all horselike in articulation, nor was its long heavy tail, which ended in a cluster of wicked spikes. The rest of its body was covered in more of the red hair and armoured plates, but she could still see no sign of any fastenings. It was almost as though they grew out of its body like some partial exoskeleton. Perhaps that sort of thing was quite common on Gelsandor. Yet natural evolution alone could hardly have explained what could only be a saddle that grew out of the beast's back, complete with integral side flaps and pocketed stirrups.

'Well, you're quite something aren't you, Red? Who do you belong to then?'

The beast tossed its head but made no other response. Now she began to think furiously. It had to be a domestic animal that had got loose, but somehow she couldn't see Shalvis and those other robed monk types owning something so magnificent.

Perhaps it belonged to some group of locals they had not yet encountered, who might be less involved with the quest. And if it could be hidden, it might be encouraged to take her back to them. They would be bound to be grateful and might give her shelter. At least it would get her well away from Gribbs.

As she pondered, DAVE #4 circled in to get a closer shot of her new acquaintance.

'Aw, haven't you seen enough yet?' she said irritably.

With remarkable speed for something of its bulk, 'Red' twisted sideways and lashed out with one huge paw. There was a crunch of plastic and a dying crackle of sparks, and DAVE #4 lay crumpled on the ground.

'I think we're going to be friends,' Peri said with an approving smile.

She wished she had a sugar lump to offer it, but settled for cautiously patting the animal's massive flanks and talking in friendly tones. Its dense coat was soft and warm. She looked up at the saddle. How to mount an animal this size? There was no one to give her a leg-up, nor a convenient mounting block.

Soundlessly the stirrup flap in front of her extended like a long flat tongue until it hung at a convenient height for her to step into. There was even a bar lying across the flap at about shoulder level which she could use to steady herself.

'You're full of tricks, aren't you, Red?' She took a deep breath and stepped into the stirrup.

The flap contracted smoothly, lifting her upward. There was a hoop mounted on the pommel and she grasped it quickly as the bar disappeared under the saddle, threw her leg across, and she was seated. The right stirrup pocket contracted until she could slip her foot into it. A contoured plate that had been lying flat behind the saddle now rose to provide a backrest. It was almost like sitting in a high chair. She cautiously patted the furry back again.

'That's a good boy.' Only then did she realise Red's harness included no reins. Now, how I am I supposed to -'

But the great beast was already moving forward through the trees at a steady padding trot.

It was evening when Thorrin's party finally left the wetlands.

They felt the ever-threatening lassitude lift from them, only to be replaced by a new sensation of expectant anxiety. Myra had half hoped there would be some neutral ground they could rest on, but the transition occurred over the course of a few paces.

Clearly it was not intended they should have any respite.

Ahead was the edge of the forest. The trees were blackened, twisted and leafless - wooden skeletons with innumerable long, bare, twiggy fingers. Trailing from them were streamers of dry, grey moss. A little way inside the forest dark winged creatures flitted over the treetops, just too far away for those on the ground to make out their exact natures.

'Arden was never thus,' Falstaff observed nervously. 'But by my troth, is it not a theatrical setting? The Bard would have approved such gloom for his Scottish play, but Falstaff is no strolling mummer. I would find another path...'

'Oh no,' said Myra firmly. 'We're relying on you to keep our spirits up with more of those heroic stories of yours.'

But she could hardly blame him. The place reeked of a formless dread. It had to be contrived, yet knowing so made it no less real.

'Do we have to start now?' said Arnella. 'At least let's wait here overnight.'

It was a sensible idea. It would take an effort to press on in full daylight, but Myra thought even Thorrin and the Marquis would hesitate to push ahead with the evening drawing in. She wondered about Qwaid's party. Unless they got some extraordinary help from the Doctor, she didn't believe they'd have the guts to do it. Perhaps she should just wait along the edge of the forest for them, then there'd be no need to -

She came to herself with a start. She'd been trying to find an excuse not to go on. The forest was already affecting her.

'What we need is a good fire to cheer us up,' Rosscarrino said with slightly forced heartiness.

'An excellent suggestion,' Thorrin agreed. 'A really big fire.' He strode forward to the nearest of the trees and pulled at the moss.

It crackled at his touch. He kicked at a dead branch lying on the ground, then licked his finger and held it up in the air. 'Plenty of firewood. We shall start it here.'

'But Professor,' Brockwell said anxiously. 'you might set light to the tree.'

'Exactly!' said Thorrin, with a calculating gleam in his eyes.

'And with any luck a sizeable portion of the forest with it, if it's all as dry as this. There is a slight breeze in the right direction which should help.'

'But you can't,' exclaimed Arnella.

'Why not? This is no time for half measures, and it's evidently good for nothing else. As Sir John pointed out, it is clearly a contrivance of the natives. And since they have proven themselves quite ruthless when it comes to setting their traps and hazards so far, they can expect nothing less in return. Let us see how frightening they can make a field of ashes. If they think they can intimidate Alex Thorrin so easily, they can think again!'

Gribbs stirred and slowly sat up, resting his back against the tree. The wood was filling with gloom around him as the shadows of evening lengthened.

He was aware of a terrible pounding in his head, and a dull ache along his back where he had hit the tree. Feeling sick, he looked around for the red beast that had knocked him down, but, thankfully, there was no sign of it. Unfortunately, neither was there any sign of the girl.

What would Qwaid say when he found out he'd lost her again?

Then inspiration, brought on by his own splitting headache, struck. As soon as his mind had cleared a little, he called up Qwaid.

'I found the girl,' he said brightly, 'only she took a knock on the head when she landed and she's still out cold.'

'Are you sure she's all right?' cut in the Doctor's anxious tones.

'Sure,' said Gribbs easily. 'I've seen these things before. She'll come to in her own time.'

'OK,' said Qwaid, coming back on the line, 'but as soon as she does, you check the
Falcon
, right?'

'I'll do that, Qwaid. Just you leave it to me. How are you doing?

Been staying awake?'

'What do you think? At least we're nearly clear of this muck.

There's a line of trees ahead. Maybe another wood...' Drorgon's voice spoke out in the background. 'Qwaid. See that? Looks like a fire...'

'Yeah, it is. We'll take a closer look. Call you again.'

Gribbs broke the connection with a sigh of relief. He'd bought himself some time. Now all he had to do was really find the girl -

and keep an eye open for that creature as well. He struggled to his feet and drew his pistol. It wouldn't catch him by surprise again. The sudden awful possibility occurred to him that the creature might have eaten her. How would he explain that to Qwaid?

Peri was having the ride of her life. Red was bounding through the trees on a curious but effective loping run, forcing her to hold on tightly to the pommel hoop and duck overhead branches.

Gradually the forest opened up and in the failing light she now saw they were moving along a familiar, well-marked pathway.

Were they headed for the pyramid after all?

They passed a couple of the robed locals. Peri expected some sort of reaction, but they merely stepped politely aside to let them by, then continued on their way.

Through the trees to one side she saw a large metallic dumbbell form resting on widespread strutted legs. A spacecraft.

She was back in the landing grounds. And then in the glade before her was the TARDIS.

Red padded to a stop beside the ersatz police box and waited expectantly.

'Now how did you know where to bring me?' Peri asked him.

'Did you scent my trail from the other day, somehow? Well it was a nice try but I haven't got a key, so...'

Then she saw that the TARDIS's door was ajar.

Thorrin stood back and admired his handiwork. Tree after tree was catching as the fire began to eat its way into the dead forest.

Wood popped and dry grass and moss crackled and hissed, sending clouds of sparks into the air. The others shaded their races from the heat, but Thorrin seemed positively to bask in Its intensity. The first of the trees toppled and shattered, showering a cloud of sparks and blazing fragments across the ground. Myra saw Brockwell take Thorrin's arm protectively.

'You'd better step back a little, Professor. It's not safe standing so close.' Another tree collapsed, setting small tongues of flame flickering across the matted tangles of dry grass that fringed the forest edge.

'We had best retire to the mud fields,' said Falstaff, mopping his brow. 'We must resist their soul-sapping doldrums while this conflagration burns itself out.'

With Brockwell half dragging Thorrin, they turned their backs on the blazing trees.

The tiny fires that had been smouldering about them seemed to suddenly burn brighter. Before they could take half a dozen steps they had flowed and merged into two arms of flame that crackled out from the forest through the grass and met with a roar, encircling them in a wall of fire.

Peri ran though the TARDIS shouting out the Doctor's name. But the twisting corridors only echoed to the sounds of her own words. She'd hoped that somehow he had managed to return to the craft, but evidently it was empty and, oddly, though she felt reassured to be within its dimensionally folded walls again, it seemed somehow less welcoming than it had been. But then what had the door been doing open? She was sure she'd seen the Doctor close and lock it when they'd set off.

Well at least she could shut herself away in here from Gribbs.

But for how long? Having set out on a treasure hunt the thought of cowering away inside the TARDIS didn't feel right. Besides, what about the Doctor? Those crooks would hardly just let him go when they learnt she'd escaped. She had to try to do what she could for him. And perhaps now she had a better chance, if she could count on her new friend to help. For some reason Red seemed to have taken a liking to her and showed no inclination to return to wherever he came from. Now might be a good time to reinforce that bond.

She dialled up a heaped assortment of synthetic meat bars from the food machine, found a large bowl and filled it with water, and took it outside. Red was still sitting in a half crouch, patiently waiting where she had left him. She made a great fuss of him while she opened a few bars and let him sniff at them. He consumed each one, then the rest as fast as she could feed them to him, wrappers and all. Afterwards he drank deeply from the water bowl and then lay down protectively in front of the TARDIS's door, like some monstrous guard dog.