The squire managed his vineyard there and was as a true a
friend as any. With Katherine at his side, Remy was maturing into a fine
nobleman.
The Vicomte frowned, a shadow passing over his face as he
thought over recent events. It wasn’t like Remy to act like this at all. There
had never been an angry word between them in the past.
A sudden and urgent knocking on the study door shook the
Vicomte from his thoughts as Henri entered and bowed respectfully. 'Sir,
you must come at once,' he said, barely containing obvious excitement. 'Your nephew has arrived!'
~~~
The Doctor led the other riders at a gallop as they returned
to Chateau de Gallois. Behind him on his grey stallion rode Jack, and next to
Jack rode a very worried Katherine on a dappled grey mare. Katherine had spent
much of her life around horses and could easily keep up with them. Lavallier’s
two remaining troops had been persuaded to accompany them out of loyalty to
their deceased captain and rode grimly side by side at the rear of the group.
It had taken longer than expected to get their horses from
Katherine’s estate. Katherine had also insisted, much to the Doctor’s
frustration, that they make the dead soldiers at least decent before they left.
The long journey from Dabarre to the chateau also meant that
it was just getting dark as they approached the valley that led down to the
magnificent building. Jack rode up closer to the Doctor. 'Any idea how to
stop these things Doctor?' he asked quietly.
The Doctor bit his lip in thought. He needed to harness and
focus the energy correctly. 'The Carrionites use language the way humans
use mathematics; to construct, to model behaviour and so on. If I get the words
right I just may be able…' He paused and looked at Jack, a worried
expression on his face. 'It’s a chance anyway!'
The riders galloped up to the main entrance of the Vicomte’s
chateau and dismounted as quickly as possible. Lavallier’s two troops gathered
the horses and pulled them to the stables as the Doctor, Jack and Katherine
approached the main entrance.
The Doctor was delighted as the familiar figure of Henri,
opened the large wooden doors. Henri smiled as he recognised the Doctor and
stood back to let them enter the large hallway. 'Ah monsieur,' he
said respectfully, 'you were successful! You have returned the Vicomte’s
nephew to him!'
The Doctor was on his guard immediately. 'What do you
mean Henri?' he asked urgently, a dreadful suspicion crossing his mind.
Henri looked slightly confused at the Doctor’s tone. 'The Vicomte’s nephew Remy arrived earlier this afternoon with three
maidservants. They are in the library with the Vicomte now.'
~~~
The Doctor started running quickly through the hallway
towards the library. 'Come on,' he shouted, 'it could be too
late!'
Jack and Katherine exchanged a worried look before dashing
after him.
The Doctor skidded to a halt as he entered the library, Jack
and Katherine just behind him. Katherine screamed at the terrifying scene
inside the room. The Vicomte de Gallois floated helpless and twisted in the
air, suspended by the Carrionite’s power as the three hags cackled and laughed
around him. Standing besides them, his face twisted into a demonic leer,
although his eyes were still glazed and unfocussed, was her beloved husband
Remy.
Katherine started to run into the room screaming for her
husband, but Jack grabbed her arm and held her back. 'No, it’s not how it
looks!' he shouted.
Morgwyn turned to face the Doctor, her pointed teeth showing
in a terrible smile. 'You’re too late Doctor!' she laughed. 'We
have the Vicomte! With him under our power we can complete our plans!'
The other two Carrionites hissed and cackled with glee,
their clawed hands twitching in anticipation.
The Doctor put his hands into his coat pockets. 'Oh
really,' he said nonchalantly. 'You mean use the summer ball, on the
eve of the solstice, to generate sufficient psychic energy?'
Morgwyn’s smile faltered. 'How would you know what we
want?' she hissed.
The Doctor sauntered towards her. 'Oh, just guessing –
but it was fairly easy to work out. But what do you want all that psychic
energy for anyway?'
Morgwyn evil smile returned. 'This place is cursed
Doctor. Millennia ago, a portal to our dimension was sealed here by the
Eternals.'
The Doctor frowned, realisation dawning. 'Ah, and with
all the psychic energy you can open it up again?'
Morgwyn nodded and advanced towards the Doctor. 'Exactly. An open portal to our dimension is much better than the crack
that we four managed to escape through. With the portal open, the Carrionite
race can swarm through and devour this planet!' She raised her clawed
hands and licked her lips. 'But first I want my revenge! You killed my
sister Doctor; now it is time for you to die!'
The Doctor shook his head. 'Oh I don’t think so ….Carrionite!' He shouted the name of the alien race into Morgwyn’s face as
he produced the fallen Carrionite’s crystal that he had picked up at
Katherine’s chateau. Morgwyn shrank back, fear on her ugly face as the Doctor
shouted an incantation. 'Hag, I banish thee from this place; Thy gate is
closed, upon your face. From Rexel you came and now you return; stay here now and
I watch you burn!' As he yelled the final words, the Doctor threw the
crystal to the floor where it shattered into thousands of tiny fragments.
The Doctor shook his head but grinned. 'No, not really
- there was a huge amount of psychic energy here already, and that crystal
could focus a lot of it for me. I told you, the Carionite’s science is based on
words. Get the right words and you can fool them into believing you can do what
you say you can do!' He smiled. 'I didn’t kill them, they just
thought I could banish then – so that’s what happened; belief is a strong
concept!' He took a deep breath his eyes distant. 'Where they were
banished to though…'
A smiling Vicomte de Gallois strode up to them and embraced
the Doctor and Jack, planting a kiss on their cheeks. 'My friends, how can
I ever thank you?' Jack grinned and winked at the Doctor.
A sob from Katherine halted their bonhomie. 'He’s
dead!' she cried, holding Remy’s head in her hands. 'They murdered
him!'
The Doctor crossed the library to kneel next to her. 'I’m sorry,' he whispered, taking her hands in his. 'He was
their puppet. I imagine he died instantly when they found him.' Katherine’s face crumpled and the Doctor held her to him as she wept.
~~~
Early the next morning, the Doctor and Jack stood next to the
TARDIS. The Doctor had woken Jack after only a few hours sleep and had insisted
that they leave before, as the Doctor had put it, ‘things got messy’. The sun
was now just rising over the horizon and it was going to be a glorious summer’s
day.
'Want a lift?' the Doctor asked nonchalantly as he
turned the key in the lock and opened the TARDIS door.
Jack looked closely at the teleport bracelet on his arm and
shook it a little ruefully. 'Yeah, I’m not sure where this thing would
take me anyway!' He looked to the horizon, his eyes avoiding the Doctor’s. 'And I don’t trust the Time Agency either – they could send me anywhere!'
The Doctor gave a small smile. He used to think like that
about his own people. But that was before…
The sound of a horse approaching shook the Doctor from his
thoughts. Katherine rode a dappled grey mare that galloped towards them. She
expertly reined the horse to a halt and jumped down, giving the TARDIS an odd
look as she walked towards the Doctor and Jack.
'I’ve been looking for you everywhere – the Vicomte has
too!' she gasped. 'I had to ask Henri where you were, and he said you
were leaving!'
The Doctor nodded and smiled. 'We are. Goodbye
Katherine.'
'But where are your horses?' she asked in
amazement. 'And what’s this old blue box doing here?'
Jack laughed at the Doctor’s indignant expression. 'Want to take a look inside?' Jack said mischievously, holding the door
open for Katherine as she peered inside.
'Jack!' warned the Doctor, but it was too late,
Katherine had entered the ship and both of them heard a gasp of shock.
'Looks like you’ve got two new passengers Doctor,' grinned Jack.
The Doctor sighed and frowned. He hadn’t wanted company, not
after Rose had been torn from him so recently. But he had grown quite fond of
the brave young French woman. He smiled as he thought back to the end of his
previous adventure and a conversation in the snow. Perhaps it was just what
Donna had meant!
written by
SIMON COGAN
copyright 2010
artwork by
COLIN JOHN
copyright 2010