Clara and the Doctor were marching down the corridor again. Clara had
discovered that she seemed to be spending a lot of her time with the Doctor
in corridors and darkened rooms. Right now they were heading back to her
ward to speak to Tom. The Doctor was striding along at a pretty pace, the
coattails of his knee-length frock coat flapping behind him.
"It is essential that we get that boy out of here as soon as possible, once he is safe from the firing squad then we can concentrate our attention on dealing with the gristle grub" said the Doctor.
"But where can we hide him?" asked Clara gasped as she tried to keep up.
The Doctor bit on his lip before he answered.
"Let's just say I have a knack for making things disappear".
They were nearing the ward when they heard a voice. The voice was weak and was obviously suffering.
"Help, help me please" cried the voice.
Clara and the Doctor broke into a run and headed straight for the ward. Sure enough the ward was the source of the voice. Ned lay hanging half out of the bed with his broken leg caught in the rails of the bed head. He was upside down and face up. His face was red and he had an obvious yellow stain around the crotch of his pyjamas.
The Doctor stood looking at the man whose arms were now outstretched and trying to get their attention. Clara meanwhile was franticly searching the ward. The Doctor noticed her agitation.
"Clara, have you lost something".
Clara looked back at the Doctor, her dazed expression almost made him laugh but he managed to suppress it into just an amused grimace.
"He.he's gone" she said.
"Help" cried Ned.
"Who's gone?" asked the Doctor.
"Tom" said Clara as she moved over to one of the empty beds.
"He was sleeping here".
"Please help me," cried Ned again.
"Well he can't just have vanished," said the Doctor.
"Where could he have gone?"
"Owwy ow ow, my leg" said Ned before he began to cry quite loudly.
"I don't know, he was quite delirious and there is no way he could move under his own steam, he was in too much pain" said Clara.
The Doctor stood rubbing his chin as though pondering a great mystery. His eyes began to wander around the room looking for any evidence for where Tom might have gone. It was at this moment that Ned had a bright idea. He took a deep breath, sucked in his tears and yelled.
"I know where he is"
The Doctor and Clara looked at Ned as though they were noticing him for the first time. Looking almost choreographed the two of them stepped towards Ned and crossed their arms.
"Well?" they said.
"It was the Captain. He came and took him away. Said he wanted to get it all over and done with"
"Get what over and done with?" asked the Doctor.
"The Court Martial, they've got the firing squad and everything ready"
"What?" cried the Doctor and Clara at the top of their voices.
"Then he dragged him off and left me here on my own, then I needed the bed pan and there was no-one here and I tried to get out of bed but I fell and got my foot caught and I couldn't not get up and then I could not wait any longer and I wet myself and now my back and leg hurt and I'm all sore underneath" Ned finally stopped for breath.
When he did stop he noticed the Doctor and Clara were already running fast out of the ward.
"Help, don't leave me again" he screamed before bursting into tears again.
"What are we gong to do?" asked Clara as she followed close behind the Doctor.
"Well, the guard on the door said they left about an hour ago. Now if I know Captain Harvey he would want to make a spectacle of this. So I would presume the court martial and execution will be a rather rushed event in front of the other men" said the Doctor over his shoulder.
"You mean he's taken him back to the front line?" asked Clara.
"That's my guess. Now how long do you think it will take him to get to the trenches?"
"From here, about forty minutes" replied Clara.
"So knowing the Captain he would want to put on a show but he would also want it to be swift and decisive. So let's assume it would take him about half an hour to get through all the essential niceties of the trial and get down to the business of the execution itself".
"Well that only gives us ten minutes and it will take us forty to get there" Clara said.
The Doctor turned to look at Clara but she was no longer beside him. He looked back and saw her standing still further back down the corridor. She looked at him as a tear began to run down her cheek.
"There's no hope then" she whispered under her breath.
"There's always hope," said the Doctor as he pushed open the door into his office.
When Clara finally turned into the Doctors office she saw him franticly rummaging around in one of the draws of his desk.
"Come on Clara, there's still time"
"Time for what, time to radio a message about giant flesh eating worms?" said Clara as she leant despondently against the doorframe.
"That would go down well" she continued.
The Doctor grinned as he drew something out of the draw. He waved it triumphantly.
"Got it," he said.
"Got what?" she asked looking at the object in his hand.
"The key"
"The key to what?"
The Doctor strode confidently across the room and pulled apart the red curtains that he had been standing in front of when she had first entered his office all those hours ago.
"This" he said.
Clara looked at the Police Box, unsure both why a medical Doctor would have a Police Box in his Office and how he had managed to get it through the door. After deciding that it was pointless trying to find answers to either of those questions Clara turned her attention to the question in hand.
"And how may I ask do you expect that to help Tom, are you going to ring Scotland Yard and ask the to nip over from London to investigate".
The sarcasm in Clara's voice even surprised her but she was beginning to get angry. It was the Doctor's arrogance that had made him overlook the obvious need to look into Tom's case and now he was taking her on a tour of his obscure Police memorabilia collection. All the while every second Tom got closer to a firing squad.
The Doctor did not seem to have noticed her tone of voice and was now opening the door of the box. He looked back at Clara and moved slowly towards her. Gently he took her hand and led her toward the open door of the box.
"Come on Clara, we've got work to do".
With that he pulled her after him into the box.
The trench was empty and only the moon, sitting calmly in the black sky, reflected in the brown water that ran along the ground. Rats began to scuttle away as though they could sense the immanent arrival of something powerful. The air began to vibrate and a blue mist began to form in the centre of the trench like a mini twister picking up and hurling around any small piece of debris lying around the trench.
Slowly a large blue shape began to solidify in the mist. Meanwhile an echoing noise like the tearing of the very fabric of time and space itself began to echo through the trench. Then silence.
The universe took a moment to decide that a London police box now stood in the middle of a trench near the front line of the Great War. It was nearly a minute before the door of the police box opened.
Clara jumped out of the doors of the police box like a lobster out of a cooking pot. Her flushed and startled face turned to look aback at the box before she took in her surroundings.
The Doctor followed shortly after her and calmly locked the door behind him before moving over to Clara and putting his arm around her like a mother hen.
"What is that thing, how did we get here, where are we?"
The Doctor put his finger to his pursed lips to indicate that she should be quiet.
"Don't worry about it, I'll explain later" he said.
Clara tore herself away from him.
"Don't patronise me, I am not some little child and that is not some conjuring trick to be explained away" she said angrily as she pointed at the police box.
The Doctor was just about to puff himself up and respond when shouting interrupted their bickering.
"Ready, Aim."
To be continued.
"It is essential that we get that boy out of here as soon as possible, once he is safe from the firing squad then we can concentrate our attention on dealing with the gristle grub" said the Doctor.
"But where can we hide him?" asked Clara gasped as she tried to keep up.
The Doctor bit on his lip before he answered.
"Let's just say I have a knack for making things disappear".
They were nearing the ward when they heard a voice. The voice was weak and was obviously suffering.
"Help, help me please" cried the voice.
Clara and the Doctor broke into a run and headed straight for the ward. Sure enough the ward was the source of the voice. Ned lay hanging half out of the bed with his broken leg caught in the rails of the bed head. He was upside down and face up. His face was red and he had an obvious yellow stain around the crotch of his pyjamas.
The Doctor stood looking at the man whose arms were now outstretched and trying to get their attention. Clara meanwhile was franticly searching the ward. The Doctor noticed her agitation.
"Clara, have you lost something".
Clara looked back at the Doctor, her dazed expression almost made him laugh but he managed to suppress it into just an amused grimace.
"He.he's gone" she said.
"Help" cried Ned.
"Who's gone?" asked the Doctor.
"Tom" said Clara as she moved over to one of the empty beds.
"He was sleeping here".
"Please help me," cried Ned again.
"Well he can't just have vanished," said the Doctor.
"Where could he have gone?"
"Owwy ow ow, my leg" said Ned before he began to cry quite loudly.
"I don't know, he was quite delirious and there is no way he could move under his own steam, he was in too much pain" said Clara.
The Doctor stood rubbing his chin as though pondering a great mystery. His eyes began to wander around the room looking for any evidence for where Tom might have gone. It was at this moment that Ned had a bright idea. He took a deep breath, sucked in his tears and yelled.
"I know where he is"
The Doctor and Clara looked at Ned as though they were noticing him for the first time. Looking almost choreographed the two of them stepped towards Ned and crossed their arms.
"Well?" they said.
"It was the Captain. He came and took him away. Said he wanted to get it all over and done with"
"Get what over and done with?" asked the Doctor.
"The Court Martial, they've got the firing squad and everything ready"
"What?" cried the Doctor and Clara at the top of their voices.
"Then he dragged him off and left me here on my own, then I needed the bed pan and there was no-one here and I tried to get out of bed but I fell and got my foot caught and I couldn't not get up and then I could not wait any longer and I wet myself and now my back and leg hurt and I'm all sore underneath" Ned finally stopped for breath.
When he did stop he noticed the Doctor and Clara were already running fast out of the ward.
"Help, don't leave me again" he screamed before bursting into tears again.
"What are we gong to do?" asked Clara as she followed close behind the Doctor.
"Well, the guard on the door said they left about an hour ago. Now if I know Captain Harvey he would want to make a spectacle of this. So I would presume the court martial and execution will be a rather rushed event in front of the other men" said the Doctor over his shoulder.
"You mean he's taken him back to the front line?" asked Clara.
"That's my guess. Now how long do you think it will take him to get to the trenches?"
"From here, about forty minutes" replied Clara.
"So knowing the Captain he would want to put on a show but he would also want it to be swift and decisive. So let's assume it would take him about half an hour to get through all the essential niceties of the trial and get down to the business of the execution itself".
"Well that only gives us ten minutes and it will take us forty to get there" Clara said.
The Doctor turned to look at Clara but she was no longer beside him. He looked back and saw her standing still further back down the corridor. She looked at him as a tear began to run down her cheek.
"There's no hope then" she whispered under her breath.
"There's always hope," said the Doctor as he pushed open the door into his office.
When Clara finally turned into the Doctors office she saw him franticly rummaging around in one of the draws of his desk.
"Come on Clara, there's still time"
"Time for what, time to radio a message about giant flesh eating worms?" said Clara as she leant despondently against the doorframe.
"That would go down well" she continued.
The Doctor grinned as he drew something out of the draw. He waved it triumphantly.
"Got it," he said.
"Got what?" she asked looking at the object in his hand.
"The key"
"The key to what?"
The Doctor strode confidently across the room and pulled apart the red curtains that he had been standing in front of when she had first entered his office all those hours ago.
"This" he said.
Clara looked at the Police Box, unsure both why a medical Doctor would have a Police Box in his Office and how he had managed to get it through the door. After deciding that it was pointless trying to find answers to either of those questions Clara turned her attention to the question in hand.
"And how may I ask do you expect that to help Tom, are you going to ring Scotland Yard and ask the to nip over from London to investigate".
The sarcasm in Clara's voice even surprised her but she was beginning to get angry. It was the Doctor's arrogance that had made him overlook the obvious need to look into Tom's case and now he was taking her on a tour of his obscure Police memorabilia collection. All the while every second Tom got closer to a firing squad.
The Doctor did not seem to have noticed her tone of voice and was now opening the door of the box. He looked back at Clara and moved slowly towards her. Gently he took her hand and led her toward the open door of the box.
"Come on Clara, we've got work to do".
With that he pulled her after him into the box.
The trench was empty and only the moon, sitting calmly in the black sky, reflected in the brown water that ran along the ground. Rats began to scuttle away as though they could sense the immanent arrival of something powerful. The air began to vibrate and a blue mist began to form in the centre of the trench like a mini twister picking up and hurling around any small piece of debris lying around the trench.
Slowly a large blue shape began to solidify in the mist. Meanwhile an echoing noise like the tearing of the very fabric of time and space itself began to echo through the trench. Then silence.
The universe took a moment to decide that a London police box now stood in the middle of a trench near the front line of the Great War. It was nearly a minute before the door of the police box opened.
Clara jumped out of the doors of the police box like a lobster out of a cooking pot. Her flushed and startled face turned to look aback at the box before she took in her surroundings.
The Doctor followed shortly after her and calmly locked the door behind him before moving over to Clara and putting his arm around her like a mother hen.
"What is that thing, how did we get here, where are we?"
The Doctor put his finger to his pursed lips to indicate that she should be quiet.
"Don't worry about it, I'll explain later" he said.
Clara tore herself away from him.
"Don't patronise me, I am not some little child and that is not some conjuring trick to be explained away" she said angrily as she pointed at the police box.
The Doctor was just about to puff himself up and respond when shouting interrupted their bickering.
"Ready, Aim."
To be continued.