Time Out of Mind Part 5

Ok folks, here is the gripping part 5:




Part 5 : Further into Terror



The 5th Doctor stared at the 11th Doctor and smiled:

"Hi. I'm you, you're me and this is Tegan if you remember. Now thats out of the way I suggest you all come with me as there's been another killing." Kyle was confused:

"Ere am I missin' summat 'ere?" The 11th Doctor stood up and spun on his heels:

"Oh I think this is what is known as a timeline paradox situation. Most unsusual since the Time Lords no longer exist." The 5th Doctor nodded:

"Exactly. Something or some force or other tried to hijack the TARDIS and divert it off course. However I realised that if I fed the dimension interface compatalator lead into the directional bypass circuit I could reverse the directional flow of the hijacking app and follow it back to its source. Which turned out to be here. Well somewhere in the Lancashire area." Clara was puzzled and turned to the 11th Doctor:

"Whats he on about?"

"What am I on about you mean. He is me in an earlier and less attractive form. No time to explain now. Come on."

The Doctor, Clara, Tegan and Kyle followed the 5th Doctor outside. Bill Smith watched them leave and then went into the back room where the telephone was and dialed a number:

"Hello. Sorry to bother you Lord. They have just left the pub with another stranger and a girl ..... "



Meanwhile, within the strange, unearthly castle, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 9th and 10th Doctors were all souting at each other and bickering while Jamie and Jo looked on in powerless frustration. Suddenly a piercing scream ripped through the eerie building. The Doctors stopped shouting:

"That sounded like a girl in distress" the 2nd Doctor exclaimed.

Well don't just stand there Doctors, come on!" Jamie shouted as he and Jo headed off in the direction of the scream.

"You know, young Jamie has a point. We'd better follow them" the 3rd Doctor said, taking charge. They strode off after the companions and turning a corner saw the First Doctor, Barbara, Ian and Susan being manhandled by a group of muscular men dressed in loincloths and carrying taser-like weapons. The men had green-tinged skin and strange eyes, like those of a cat. One of them twisted Susan's arm round her back and she screamed again:

"Ahhhhhhhheeeehhhhh, do something grandfather!"

The alien pulled her hair back and tried to shove the taser-gun into her mouth. The 10th and 9th Doctors ran forward and pulled the alien off while Jamie punched another one that had thrown Ian to the floor and was kicking him.

"Well done my boy" the first Doctor exclaimed as the 4th Doctor flung his scarf around an alien and pulled it to the ground. However, suddenly there was the sound of many marching feet and a hoard of further aliens appeared, dressed on loincloths and leather boots. They shot the Doctors with tasers and they fell to the floor in agony from the electric charges.



The 5th & 11th Doctors, Clara, Tegan and Kyle stared at the corpse of Evie Hanney that was tied to the oak tree in front of them. Its eyes had been gouged out and it was disembowled. A pentagram had been carved on its forehead. On the side of the tree was pinned a note on which, "Mawkin Tower will be avenged". Tegan ran away crying:

"Its... horrible. Who would do something like that." The fifth Doctor went after her:

"Brave heart Tegan. I'm going to put a stop to whoever is doing this". The others heard a car approaching, then someone arguing with the police who were guarding the scene. Then they saw a familiar figure approaching:

"Ere its Ben!" Kyle exclaimed as Ben Chatham, accompanied by Katie Ryan, approached. The 11th Doctor grinned broadly:

"Benjamin Chatham! How are you my friend!" Ben looked at the ground:

"Awful Doctor. My life is in one of its constant low ebbs. However helping out on this case might provide some much needed distraction from the sea of melancholy on which I sail." The 11th Doctor put his arms around Ben and gave him a hug:

"Come on Ben, its ok. Its great to see you again."

"Thanks Doctor, I needed that. Is there anywhere we can go to talk properly?"

"Well there's nothing more we can do here. I suggest we return to 'The Black Witch' pub for a pint and a conflab" the Doctor replied.



Back at 'The Black Witch', Ben took out his new £5500 Ipad and consulted his notes:

"From the information that Kyle provided about the first murder I was able to acertain that whoever was behind it was drawing a connection with the Pendle Witch Trial of 1612. Therefore I've carried out some rudimentary research. It all started in March 1612 when a pedlar named John Law was travelling down a lane in Pendle forest. He met with a teenage girl named Alison Device who asked him to let her buy some pins. The pedlar basically told her where to go and carried on walking and the aggrieved Alison shouted a curse at him. Suddenly he stumbled and fell, showing all the signs that we now associate with a stroke. He was carted off to a nearby pub and when his son, Abraham Law, arrived he accused Alison of witchcraft and called the authorities in."

"Whats all this got to do with an 'Old Demdike" or a "Mawkin Tower"?" Kyle asked.

"Old Demdike was the nickname of Alison Device's grandmother. She, her daughter Elizabeth Device, known as 'Squinting Lizzie", and Alison all lived together in a run down cottage nicknamed rudely as 'Mawkin Tower' as mawkin is an old English term for a slut. Anyway, the whole lot of them were arrested for witchcraft including a strange boy James Device, Alison's brother, who was claimed to have carried out murders. The whole lot of them were hanged as witches due to evidence given by a younger child, little Jennet Device." Clara frowned:

"What a family! Especially the little madam who grassed on her own mother and siblings". Ben carried on:

"Actually they were probably all innocent. Victims of superstition. During the investigation all manner of other suspects were roped into it, including an old woman called 'Old Chattox' and a woman called Alice Nutter. They were hanged as well."

Kyle looked puzzled:

"So what are you thinkin' Ben? That there really are witches an' stuff active still in Lancashire an' out for revenge for these 'angins? Seems a bit far fetched to me."

"Quite Kyle quite. Clearly there must be more to it than that."

Katie Ryan added another layer of lipstick, while Sebastian the cat sat on her lap, eyeing the proceedings with detached bemusement.

Bill Smith approached their table:

"Are you lot orderin' any drinks?"

"An absinthe for myself and a gin and tonic for Katie here please" Ben replied. Smith frowned:

"We don't sell any poofy drinks like that in 'ere. This is Lancashire not bloody London. What do you want, beer or whiskey?"

"I don't like your choice of phraseology" Ben replied tersely. Smith shook his head:

"Then sling your hook." Clara intervened:

"Look Smith. We have reason to believe that you are a satanist. Its about time you told us about your activites and whether or not you know anything about these murders."

Smith reacted with fury. He ran behind his bar and pulled out a baseball bat:

"Right, get outa my bloody pub. Now. Yorra bunch a southern nosey bleeders." He swung the bat at the 11th Doctor, who just managed to duck in time. Katie Ryan jabbed her high heel into his shin and he winced with pain while Kyle decked him with a right hook.

"Hey, your 11th self's companions certainly know how to handle themselves" Tegan observed to the 5th Doctor.

"I suggest we use this opportunity to have a good look round this place" the 11th Doctor observed.

Katie poured Sebastian a saucer of whiskey while Kyle, Ben and the Doctors went upstairs. The upstairs landing smelt of damp and mould. Ben opened the door nearest to the stairs and there lay Mary Smith, sprawled across a bed:

"Well hello. Who have we here. What a nice looking boy you are. Come in and let me show you a good time" Ben slammed the door.

"I presume that is the landlord's wife. She has just propositioned me." Clara smiled:

"Well don't let us stop you if you want to take her up on the offer." Ben was annoyed:

"I have no desire to sleep with an obese middle aged nymphomaniac wife of a satanist publican. I was brought up in Wiltshire".

Meanwhile Kyle was down the other end of the landing and opened a door at the far end. He saw that the room was decked in pentagrams and inverted crucifixes. In the centre was an altar with a large, golden goblet filled with what looked like blood. He was about to leave the room when a strange glow appeared in the far corner. It grew bigger and bigger until a face began to emerge within it. It was the face of a man with oriental features and a long black moustache.........



.............to be continued.