TURLOUGH'S TALE

Chapter Twelve

The first thing Tegan asks me once our charges are warm, the Doctor asleep and Alexandra still unconscious but breathing normally, is "What's with the knife?"

"What?"

"You had a knife on you and the Doctor knew you did. What's with that? Why do you carry a knife?"

"I don't. I found it."

"I don't believe you."

"Ask the Doctor, when he's recovered. He'll show it to you. It has someone else's initials on it."

"That doesn't prove anything."

I throw my hands up. "I don't know what you want me to say. I don't usually carry a knife. I found this one, cleaned it up and put it in my pocket. The Doctor saw me take it out and try to figure out the initials. Q.R. Kind of unusual."

Tegan has no answer to this, so she stretches without standing up, checks on Alexandra, rubs the Doctor's hands to bring some color back into them, sighs and settles back onto her blankets. "We'll go stir crazy, you know. We can't go out. Look what happens when we go out! And he won't take us back. Any idea why?" I shake my head. "You two have cooked something up. You and your ghost stories!"

"It wasn't my idea!"

"We don't even have any books. If we did, they'd probably be about how to built igloos and eat snow." At this I laugh, and at least she doesn't glare at me. "A deck of cards wouldn't be so bad, either. I wish we'd brought the chess set from the TARDIS. Or a record player! We could dance."

I am astonished. "You'd dance with me?"

She rolls her eyes. "Turlough, I can dance perfectly well without you." After a moment she asks, "Can you even dance?" I shake my head. "Figures."

Suddenly the Doctor sits up, his face still red and white – well, more pink than red at this point – and says, "I'm not sleepy at all. I'm just cold. Is Alexandra all right?" We assure him that she is. "If you really want to dance, I can sing for you."

I start to say, "No, that's okay, Doctor…" but before I can get all of that out, Tegan jumps to her feet (she and Alexandra can stand in the tent and not collapse it; the Doctor and I have to stand up carefully and hunch over a bit, but neither of us is standing just now) and says,

"Yes, please, Doctor! Anything!"

The Doctor begins to sing a lively song whose lyrics I forget except for the ridiculous assertion, under the circumstances, that it's "too darned hot." Tegan dances pretty energetically, the Doctor sings, still sitting up and watching Tegan, and I watch, look away, watch some more. I can't sing; I can't dance. I can draw but I have no more brought my sketchbook than Tegan has brought the chess set. When the Doctor finishes singing, Tegan applauds so I do too, and our applause awakens Alexandra. Tegan bounces over to her side, I scoot over too, and the Doctor, pulling all his blankets around him, crawls over to join us; the tent isn't all that large, after all. Alexandra tries to sit up and, not wanting to be totally useless, I help her.

"Thank you," says the Doctor. "You saved my life."

"Any time," whispers Alexandra, barely smiling. "I think you saved mine, too."

Tegan brings her some hot tea (on Trion it would be mead) and Alexandra sits all the way up, leaning against me, to drink it. "Doctor," says Tegan, "we have to get out of here." The Doctor is silent.

"I agree," I say, and the Doctor keeps his silence but looks at me in some startlement, his mouth opening, then closing as his eyes narrow in… in what? Disappointment? Disapproval? Suspicion, maybe? It's about time, isn't it? Yes, Doctor, save yourself before it's too late. You've tried your best but I am still obligated to kill you, and I can't promise I won't.