For a split second, Tegan struggled furiously in the stranger's grip, then the hands released her and she spun round to see a familiar redhead standing behind her, laughing so hard that he could hardly breathe.
"Turlough!" He grinned impishly at her, still chuckling.
"Calm down, Tegan. I've always wanted to do that. Anyway, what were you so afraid of? It's not as if there's anything dangerous here. And your reaction was priceless!" He appeared about to go into another paroxysm of laughter, so Tegan grabbed his arm furiously.
"That's all you know! You should have known better than to think he could go- well- anywhere without some kind of trouble turning up." At Tegan's mention of the Doctor, Turlough glanced over her shoulder for the first time, blinked hard and turned back to her.
"There's- there's two of him!"
"And that's the least of our troubles," she replied grimly. "Come on; let's catch them up. I'll explain on the way." Together, they scrambled after the Doctor and the vet.
It was easy to track the Sheppa's flight due to the bloodstains on the ground, which became increasingly frequent as they climbed the hill, even though the ground was too hard for paw-prints. All four of the trackers were becoming ever more concerned for the creature, especially Tristan, who knew how much blood an average collie could lose before bleeding out, and how little his own expertise and experience in such matters was. He only hoped this Doctor knew as much as he professed to. They were approaching a road now, and he could hear a car up ahead. The rattling, grinding noise of its engine sounded oddly familiar, and, as the car rounded the nearest bend, he realised he would know that ancient Austin anywhere, and waved his arm.
"James!" His colleague waved back cheerfully, then, seeing the urgency in Tristan's face, stamped on the brakes. The car, not wholly enjoying the steep climb up the hill, wheezed to a grateful halt, and James Herriot peered out of the window.
"Triss? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be down at Skeldale…?" His voice tailed off as he saw the three people standing behind the young man. He looked from Tristan to the Doctor and back again, pleadingly.
"Am I seeing double or have I just accidentally stepped into Siegfried's worst nightmare?"
"I'm sure my brother would only be too delighted to have two of me," huffed Tristan, "But as it happens, neither. This is the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough. I'll explain everything when there's time, but first, James, we rather urgently need your help. Where are you off to?"
"Jack Hampson's place, but it isn't urgent. What's the emergency?"
"I'll explain on the way. Hopefully we won't be too late. Bring what you can for a gun-shot wound in a dog." James jumped out of his car, grabbed what equipment he could carry from the boot and joined the others.
Tristan had barely finished explaining when the Doctor suddenly froze, holding up his hand for the others to do likewise. They were up on the fells now, almost knee-deep in sweet-smelling heather, and, as they moved slowly and quietly forward at his signal, all five were able to see the shape of a large dog, crouching fearfully in the heather. It lifted its head and looked at them warily, tried to stand, winced visibly and flopped back down, evidently in a huge amount of pain. It lifted its lip in a weary show of aggression, revealing a row of sharp, bright teeth.
"Get back!" hissed the Doctor. A safe distance away, he turned to the two vets. "Did you see how it was hurt?"
"A deep, fresh wound going right into the right hind leg; another in his side; and an old cut, not very well healed and more recently opened up, along the ribcage" replied James. "If we're going to save him, we'll have to operate to remove that bullet from his leg."
"Have you got the necessary?"
"I have the instruments, yes, but I'll need to go back to the car for some of them. And I wouldn't want to use anaesthetic without knowing a bit more about the species."
"Yes, completely right." The Doctor turned to Tegan and Turlough. "Do you two think you could find your way back to the TARDIS from here? Good. I want you to go to the sickbay, get as much disinfectant and as many clean sheets as you can carry between you, and there should also be a bottle of this." He dived into his pockets for a piece of paper and a pencil, scribbled something on the paper and handed it to Tegan. "Bring that here, too. Be as quick as you can." Recognising his urgency, both of them nodded and set off back towards the road without a word. He turned to James. "I've sent them for some anaesthetic suitable for the Sheppa. I know a little about the species, but I wouldn't want to perform the operation myself. I do have a medical degree but, well, it's a little less up-to-date than yours, and wouldn't be much help with a creature like this. His physiognomy is very similar to that of a normal dog, so do you think you could cope?"
"I can try." James attempted to look optimistic. "I'll just go and fetch the rest of my instruments." He hurried away down the hill. The Doctor turned to Tristan.
"Now all we have to do is to get near him. I'll try talking to him in his own language, see if he still has any vestige of intelligence. But be ready to get back if I say; he's very dangerous and he doesn't know what he's doing." Slowly, he crept through the heather towards the terrified Sheppa, keeping his eyes down, movements small and gentle and quietly making very strange noises, which Tristan assumed were the creature's own language. For a moment, it appeared to be working, as the big dog looked up at the Time Lord with what appeared to be a glimmer of intelligence in his eyes, then, suddenly, it gave a howl of rage and pain, and the Doctor gasped and yelled "Get back!" in a strangled voice, limped towards Tristan as if suddenly crippled by pain, and collapsed into the heather.