Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker (4 page)

'Hey,' said Steven. 'Not yet you
haven't. I haven't had a go.'

Dodo looked up. 'The Doctor was trying
to warn us about something Steven.'

'There's nothing to be afraid of,'
Steven countered. 'I can do it. Now, let's see. Rope, swing across,
five stepping-stones, and up and onto the plank, across the plank and
then down and into the tube. It's a piece of cake,' he said and
turned to Dodo. 'Just as long as you guide me. After all, if he can
do it, I can. Now remember the signals and make sure you get them
right.'

Dodo frowned at him. She didn't like it
when Steven treated her like a child, as if she wasn't responsible.
She was a good deal more responsible than he was most of the time,
she thought. Steven went for things with the single-mindedness of a
bull - he was a good-hearted fellow and would do anything for
anybody, but he also caused trouble by, as the Doctor put it, bashing
in before considering the situation carefully enough.

'All right, don't forget,' said Dodo.
'One buzz for right, two for left, four to start, and three to stop,'
she illustrated her words by giving a demonstration with the buttons
as she talked.

'Good girl,' said Steven a little
patronisingly. He left the booth and walked out onto the floor. Clara
followed him and tied the blindfold round his head.

'Can you see anything?' she asked.

Steven tried to look around but the
blindfold was tied very tightly. All he could see was blackness. 'Not
a thing,' he said. He felt round for the end of the rope and grasped
it. 'Right,' he said. 'I'm ready!'

Clara went back to the booth and closed
the door. She turned to Dodo. 'Start him off,' she said. Dodo pressed
her finger on the buzzer and gave four loud, long buzzes.

Steven grasped the rope and then,
testing it with both arms, he prepared to swing. To her horror, Dodo
saw Joey walk over to the first stepping-stone and, while pretending
to make sure it was safe, move it about a foot to the right.

'Look what he's doing! Cheat, cheat!'
she shouted. 'Steven look out!'

Clara tittered. 'He can't hear you.'
Dodo ran to the door of the booth and tried it. 'And the door is
self-locking.' Dodo looked around desperately and ran back to the
control panel. She buzzed three times.

Out on the floor, Steven, just about to
swing across, almost overbalanced as he heard the buzzers. He
recovered just in time and shouted, 'Dodo what are you doing? You
nearly made me fall that time!' There was no answer from Dodo so he
once more grasped the rope and launched off to swing across the sharp
pointed spikes. Lowering his feet on the other side where he expected
to find the stone - he found nothing! - and swung back again like
some jungle creature. He lowered his feet to safety at the starting
point.

'What have you done?' he said angrily.
'It must be you, you wretched clown!' For answer, Joey only honked at
him. Then Dodo buzzed once.

Steven thought for a moment. 'Now,
let's see: one buzz means go to the right. Well, let's try.' He
grasped hold of the rope, flexed his muscles, pulled himself up and
swung again in a large arc right across the waiting pinnacle of steel
below.

This time, as he swung more to the
right, he extended a leg and just found the edge of the
stepping-stone. Quickly, with the agility of a born athlete, Steven
released the rope and landed a little unsteadily onto the
stepping-stone. 'Phew, that was close.' Once more, behind him, Joey
honked on the horn.

'Yeah,' said Steven. 'You'll honk from
the other side of your mouth once I get this blindfold off.' He
started to gingerly stretch his leg out, feeling for the next
stepping-stone.

Once more Joey, pretending to be
nonchalant, kicked another of the stepping-stones out of the way.

Steven, having memorised the position
of the stepping-stones, commenced his obstacle race, and stepped onto
the second stepping-stone. 'Good,' he said. 'Now, the next one is,
let me see, turn left.'

Dodo's buzzer began to sound: one, two,
three. 'Oh no,' he said, 'what now?' This time, Dodo buzzed just
once. 'To the right again?' said Steven. Joey honked in the
background. 'You just wait,' he said. Steven extended his foot but
couldn't find the stepping-stone. He tried once more, almost
overbalancing, and finally found the step.

Again, Dodo buzzed just once. Steven
repeated a step to the right and the final one to the left. He felt
for the steps leading up to the plank, found them, and sat down on
the lower step, wiping his brow.

Dodo was angry. 'I don't see how we
will have a chance at winning when you cheat all the time,' she said
to Clara.

Clara tittered. 'Cheat? No, we don't
cheat. A few harmless variations makes it more fun, don't you think?'
Clara reached over and removed a hard-boiled egg from Dodo's ear.
'Perhaps you need something to eat?' she said. 'Here.'

Dodo flung it down on the floor in
disgust. The egg bounced back off the floor and hit her square in the
forehead. Clara burst out in a gale of giggles. Dodo stamped her
foot, infuriated. 'I don't think I like clowns anymore,' she said and
turned back, wiping her brow, to watch Steven's progress. Perhaps he
was doing better than she.

Through the glass booth she could see
that Steven had climbed up to the top of the steps. Then she saw that
Joey was leaning against the further set of steps and manicuring his
nails with a gigantic nail file.

'What's he doing?' Dodo said, no longer
trusting the slightest gesture of the clowns.

'Isn't it obvious?' she said, not
waiting for a reply. 'He's manicuring his nails. And it's about time
too.'

Steven reached the top of the steps
and, stretching forth a leg, cautiously felt for the plank. He tested
it carefully, feeling it give under his weight. Then, bringing his
other foot up, started to edge along it towards the other end. As he
inched forward leaving the safety of the first set of steps, he began
to regain his old confidence. He stepped out a little more
vigorously.

Beep! went the loud honk of Joey's
horn. Steven swayed to and fro on the narrow plank, desperately
fighting for his balance. Gradually, he righted himself. 'What on
earth was that?' he called. Again he heard Joey honking his horn.
'Not you again!' he cried. 'I warn you!'

Joey reached down to press the top
button on his tunic. A low vulgar raspberry sound came out. Steven,
furious, swayed again - nearly falling off, and he began swinging his
arms back to keep his balance. He stopped and pulled himself
together, remembering that he had to keep entirely cool. If he
allowed the clowns to get under his skin, he would be doing exactly
what they wanted. He shook his head. 'Games with clowns!' he said.

Steven reached the end of the ladder
and Dodo, watching through the glass booth, saw Joey comically mime
his anxiety not to get squished in case Steven fell off the ladder.
This time, Dodo did not laugh. The game was no longer funny.

Steven jumped onto the top step, turned
around and walked quickly down to the bottom. 'There,' he said.

'Oh dear,' said Dodo, 'Steven's far too
big to squeeze through that narrow tube.'

'Well, Joey did,' Clara sniffed.

'Oh, him,' said Dodo contemptuously.
'He's not real anyway, I'm quite sure of that. But what happens if
Steven gets stuck half-way through?'

'Then,' said Clara with a smirk, 'we'll
simply tie off both ends of the tube and make a large Steven
sausage.' Clara began to laugh hysterically at her own joke, but Dodo
merely frowned with distaste.

'I don't think that's very funny at all
and, come to think of it, I don't think you 're very funny,' she
said, turning her back on the clown.

Steven was trying to get his broad
shoulders into the tube. After numerous attempts, he decided to go
through on his back.

Relieved to see Steven enter the tube,
Dodo rested her brow against the cool glass of the control booth and
closed her eyes. Now it seemed that Steven would complete the course
and they would succeed in getting the TARDIS back.

When Dodo opened her eyes, she gave a
little scream. Down on the floor, Steven's body could be seen
wriggling its way through the tube. Above him, Joey stood with a
sword upraised as if to cut the tube and Steven in two. He raised the
sword. Dodo held her breath. Then, he paused, scratched his nose,
brought it down and started eating the blade. The sword was made of
silver-coated chocolate.

Dodo smiled in relief. However, the
respite was brief. She saw Joey sieze the tube and start to drag it
around in a large U, so that it came out at the same place were
Steven had entered.

Dodo turned to Clara indignantly. 'Look
what he's done,' she said. 'It's not fair.' She pressed the button
violently.

But Clara only laughed and clapped her
hands like a small child: 'He'll go back to the start line.'

'That's not the way to play games,'
said Dodo. 'Let me out of here.' She seized Clara by the front of her
costume and shook her. Clara immediately went as limp as a rag doll.
'Open the door at once!'

Clara looked up at her, her head
flopping from side to side, laughing. 'I can't.'

'Oh,' said Dodo in exasperation.
'You're just a doll.' She pushed Clara aside and went back to the
control panel. 'I shall never laugh at a clown again,' she said.

Meanwhile, Steven finally pulled
himself out of the other end of the tube. He straightened up and felt
for the home square as he had seen Joey do. Instead, his hands
encountered the step ladder. 'Oh no!' Steven exclaimed. He reached
up, tore off the blindfold and examined the tube. It had been bent
almost entirely back along its length like a horseshoe. Steven
realised he had been wasting his time and effort only to come out
where he had started. He was livid. He turned on Joey who backed away
hastily.

At the same moment, Clara -burst out of
the booth, followed by Dodo. 'We've won,' said Clara. 'We've won!'
Joey started jumping up and down, making every possible noise with
his various bells and horns.

Dodo shouted over their clowns' noise.
'You cheated! Steven completed the course!'

Clara shook her head stubbornly. 'We've
won. Now you'll never find your TARDIS.'

'No!' said Steven stubbornly. 'It's a
draw. We'll have another round with him in the booth this time.'
Clara held up Joey's hand. 'The winner!' she cried.

Dodo looked around, picked up Joey's
discarded blindfold from the home square and held it up to the light.
'Steven,' she cried, 'look at this. You can see right through it.
It's not a real blindfold at all.' They turned round on the clowns
who backed away looking somewhat crestfallen.

Steven held up his own blindfold
alongside Joey's to compare them, and then turned to the clown. 'No wonder you shot around that course. Now
you try it with a real blindfold.' Joey backed away, no longer in a
joking mood. Looking as tragic as his face, he began to honk his
horn.

Watching them, Dodo suddenly became
aware that the Toyroom was becoming darker. The mood was changing
from the bright, light hearted clowning to a more sombre, serious
note. Joey turned away as if to run, but Steven grabbed his arm.

'Not so fast, laughing boy. Here, Dodo,
put the blindfold on him.' As Steven watched Dodo put the blindfold
on Joey, Clara stood like a statue, silently watching.

Steven turned to her. 'All right,' he
said. 'You'd better go into the booth and guide him.'

Clara, no longer smiling, turned slowly
around like an automaton and went into the booth. 'Right,' said
Steven. 'Now we'll play the Toymaker's litde game, but fairly, this
time. Go on. It's your turn.'

Dodo grabbed Joey's hand and led him to
the starting point. She waved over to the booth and Clara gave four
buzzes. Joey stood, his shoulders hunched, looking old and haggard.

'Go on,' said Steven. Again Clara gave
the four buzzes.

Dodo clutched Steven's arm and looked
up at him with big anxious eyes. 'Steven, I'm afraid. Have you
noticed he's not trying to be funny anymore?'

Steven looked around the room and
nodded, as Joey swung across and landed on the first stepping stone,
then, carefully, step by step, made his way across them to the foot
of the step ladder.

'It seems to be getting darker in
here,' said Dodo. 'And' - she shivered slightly - 'there's a draught
blowing from somewhere.'

They watched Joey climb up to the top
of the steps and set his foot, a little uncertainly, on the first
plank. This time he moved stiffly across like an old man, his
shoulders hunched, feeling very carefully, a step at a time.

Suddenly the plank began to sway
violently. Joey held up his hands in terror as if he was going to
fall.

'Steven,' Dodo called. 'You'd better
stop him. He'll fall.' She started to move forward but Steven stopped
her.

'We can't stop him,' he replied. 'It's
us or them, remember.' He shouted across the studio. 'Don't stop now,
go on!'

Joey steadied himself and commenced
moving across the plank. His steps were getting slower and slower.
Inside the booth, Clara started pressing the buzzer again and again.

'She'll throw him off,' said Dodo
anxiously. 'Why doesn't she stop that?' Steven shrugged and they both
watched, their eyes glued to Joey's every move. The cacophony of
buzzing grew louder and louder and the clown began swaying on the
plank. 'I can't look,' said Dodo. She covered her eyes with her hands
and turned away.

Slowly, Joey toppled sideways and fell
down. At the exact same moment, the buzzer started buzzing
continuously. As Steven and Dodo looked at the control booth, they
saw that Clara had fallen forward and was slumped over the control
button,

Abruptly the lights dimmed and went
out. At the far end of the room, one of the walls lighted up and
there was the TARDIS.