Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror (14 page)

'I think you should tell your whole
story,'Jules suggested.

Ian took a deep breath. 'Well, as far
as I could gather, this man Webster - he was English - had been sent
over here to instruct James Stirling to return to England. Stirling
is ... well, he is some kind of spy. Webster and I ended up in the
same cell in the Conciergerie and he was dying ... He begged me to
contact Stirling for him. I asked Webster how I could find Stirling,
but he was already so weak that he could hardly speak ... All he
said was that I should look for Jules Renan at the sign of Le Chien
Gris.'

A long silence followed the
Englishman's strange tale.

'I see,' Jean murmured, glancing at
Jules. 'Webster was right, Le Chien Gris is an inn we frequent.'

'Did Webster know Stirling?' asked
Jules.

Ian shrugged. 'I suppose he must have.'

Jules paced around the room. 'If
Stirling is a spy he must be able to move around freely to do his job
successfully ... That would require an alias ... a completely new
identity.'

'Which perhaps Webster did not know,'
Ian added. 'So Webster was counting on being able to recognise
Stirling.'

Jules sighed and sipped his wine. 'It
is a good theory, Ian.'

'But why did he give me your name?' Ian
wondered.

Jules laughed. 'People like your
Webster have contacted me before. The English are using me as a
contact in case they need help.'

'But it is not going to help me find
Stirling ... ' Ian said despondently.

Jean had been scowling at the
Englishman for the past few minutes. 'I'm not sure if I like the idea
of being used by the English like this,' he protested, his blue eyes
blazing. 'You shouldn't either, Jules! We are at war. They are our
enemies and here we are, helping their spies!' he shouted angrily.

Jules calmly refilled Jean's glass.
'England is at war with the revolutionary tyranny, Jean, and so are
we,' he reminded his impetuous friend. 'When the tyranny ends so will
the war.'

Jean bit his lip and fell silent.

Ian looked utterly dejected. 'The
likelihood of finding Stirling seems hopeless,' he admitted.

Jules strode over and gripped his
shoulder resolutely. 'We will try!' he promised. 'You have a few days
yet.'

Ian looked blank.

Jean is leaving to search for the
fourth member of your group,'Jules revealed. 'Susan's grandfather.'

Ian rose, his face alive with hope
again. 'You know where he is?'

'No, but Jean will start at the
farmhouse where you were arrested and follow the trail.'

'I will find him,' Jean vowed, draining
his glass.

'Meanwhile, we shall search for your
James Stirling,' Jules declared, patting Ian gently on the back.

Jean embraced Jules. 'You'll hear from
me in three days at the latest,' he promised.

Jules kissed him on both cheeks. 'Take
care, Jean.'

'Yes, good luck, Jean,' said Ian,
shaking hands. 'And thank you.'

With a fearless wave Jean departed.

Jules poured more wine to help ease the
tension. 'If anybody can find Susan's grandfather Jean can,' he said.

'And what about James Stirling?'

Jules sat down next to Ian. -There is
someone who springs to mind,' he said. 'Leon Colbert. We have shared
many escapades. Leon moves in a wide circle
and knows many people ... Perhaps he is James Stirling!'

Ian drank to try and dull the pain in
his head even more. 'Can you introduce us?' he asked earnestly.

'Very easily. Leon is coming here
tomorrow, bringing a physician to examine Susan.'

Ian managed a smile of relief and hope.
'That's worth a toast!' he cried, clinking glasses with Jules.

Just then Barbara came in looking very
tired and tense with worry. She went straight over to Ian. 'It's
Susan ..." she murmured. 'She seems to be getting worse ... '

At dawn the Doctor rose in the still,
quiet Conciergerie. He put on his cloak and his line plumed hat,
picked up his stick and his papers, and cautiously made his way along
the narrow passages to the vault. The early sun was streaming
gloriously through the cell windows and the air seemed much less
oppressive than it had the previous day. The Doctor slowed as he
reached the alcove. The besozzled gaoler was lying across his table
snoring like a rhinoceros. Satisfying himself that the fellow was
oblivious of his surroundings, the Doctor started to run towards the
steps leading to the courtyard. He had almost reached them when
somebody loomed out of the shadows and barred his way.

'Good morning, Citizen Representative
of Pontoise . . , ' boomed Lemaitre's voice. 'I trust you slept
well?'

The Doctor stopped in his tracks, his
plumes quivering with frustration. He smiled sourly at Lemaitre.
'Thank you. I did not!' he snapped. 'The bed was hard and the fleas .
. . Well, delicacy forbids ... '

'I am so sorry,' Lemaitre said humbly.

'I daresay you are. But if I catch the
plague, apologies are unlikely to have much effect,' retorted the
Doctor.

Stirring, the gaoler dragged his head
off the table and stared woozily at them. Then he staggered to his
feet and gathered up the pile of dirty plates. 'I'd better feed the
pigs ... ' he grumbled, bowing to them and shuffling away.

'Poor pigs!' the Doctor muttered
scornfully.

Lemaitre took his arm. 'Come, Citizen,
we'll have breakfast,' he proposed pleasantly. 'You'll need something inside you. I've an idea that today
will be quite eventful ... '

As the daylight pierced the cracks in
the shutters, Ian Chesterton lay asleep on the sofa wrapped in a
blanket. Jules Renan was sitting at the table studying maps and
documents. Although he had not slept all night, he looked fresh and
alert. All at once an urgent banging on the front door woke Ian with
a start. Signalling to him to keep quiet, Jules drew his pistol and
ran across to the window.

After a nerve-racking pause, Danielle
tapped at the door and came in. 'A message from Leon: the physician
refuses to come here,' she reported.

Ian sat up abruptly. 'But we've got to
do something for Susan,'he insisted.

Jules nodded. 'Yes, we must take Susan
to the physician.'

'I will arrange a carriage for them,'
Danielle murmured, leaving the room.

Ian scrambled to his feet, wincing at
the lingering pain in his head.

'You must remain here,' Jules informed
him firmly. 'It will be less suspicious if the women go alone.
Barbara can go with Susan. It is not far.'

Ian looked very unhappy with the plan.
'I don't like to lose sight of them so soon after finding them again,
Jules,' he objected.

'Please, you must trust me,'Jules said.
Besides, we have to arrange your meeting with Leon Colbert.'

Ian wandered restlessly around the
room. 'When can I see him?'

Jules smiled. 'With luck, it will all
be over today and you can all leave France together.:

Ian sighed helplessly and shrugged.
'All right, Jules. If you are sure it is safe ... '

Jules patted his arm. 'I will go and
fetch Susan and Barbara.'

Left alone, Ian started biting his
nails nervously as he stared into the sunlit street. The return of
daylight made him feel exposed. 'Let's hope we can trust the
physician ... ' he murmured.

An hour later Barbara and Susan arrived
at the physician's scruffy little garret in Montmartre. By now the
sun was well up and although all Paris was bathed in hot brightness,
the garret was dark and damp. All kinds of barbaric surgical
instruments were hanging around the mouldy walls and bottles of
sludgy medicines filled the worm-eaten shelves. Susan sat on a stool
gazing in dread at the bald little man with his cracked spectacles
and his grubby apron as he walked round and round his patient rubbing
his hands together. She was shivering and her skin looked like
plaster.

'Yes, my dear, you appear to be
suffering from a feverish chill. It's nothing very serious ... '
the physician told her, in a voice like creaking hinges.

Barbara, who hovered anxiously nearby,
murmured 'Thank goodness,' and instantly regretted her lapse into
English.

The physician scowled at her and then
peered more closely at Susan's chalky, perspiring face. 'I'm rather
surprised by the young lady's condition,' he rasped. 'Any idea how
you came to catch it?'

Susan shrugged miserably, flinching
from his foul breath. 'I have done nothing unusual,' she replied,
choosing her French words very carefully.

The smelly little man turned to
Barbara. 'Has she been eating properly?' he inquired slyly.

Barbara forced a grin. 'She eats like a
horse.'

Darting out talon-like fingers, the
physician seized Susan's hands and turned them over. 'Your hands, my
dear! They are badly blistered ... ' he commented suspiciously.

'Yes, I know,' mumbled Susan. 'I've
been ... gardening a lot.'

Barbara hurriedly hid her own blistered
hands behind her back. 'Can you help her please, Doctor?' she asked.
'We know you are busy and ... '

'Yes, I can treat'her,' grated the
physician, rubbing his leathery hands together. 'It's a simple matter
of bloodletting. Unfortunately I shall have to fetch some leeches . .
. You have called rather early in the day.'

Susan turned to Barbara with a look of
horror. 'I was intending to go out first thing for them anyway the seedy little quack went on, smiling
fawningly at them. 'You are welcome to wait here.'

Barbara went over and put her arm
comfortingly around Susan. 'Perhaps it would be better if we called
back later,' she suggested.

The physician scuttled to the door.
'No! You must wait here!' he croaked, as if afraid of something. 'By
all means make yourselves at home ... ' he scurried out and slammed
the door hard.

Susan shuddered. 'I don't like him,
Barbara, or the idea of having leeches stuck all over me,' she said
weakly.

Barbara nodded. 'Anyway, I had the
feeling he suspected us.' She helped Susan to her feet. 'Come on,
Susan, let's get out of here.'

They waited a few minutes to give the
physician time to leave the neighbourhood and then hurried to the
door. Barbara turned the handle this way and that, but the door would
not budge. They were caught once more, like animals in a trap.

They waited in the stifling, smelly
garret for what seemed like hours and hours. There was nothing that
looked safe to drink and only the slightest of fresh breezes blew in
through the tiny window.

From time to time Barbara picked up the
stool and tried to break down the stout wooden door, but it was
useless. 'That door's even stronger than it looks ... she gasped,
collapsing onto the stool in despair after her umpteenth attempt at
escape.

Suddenly they heard the stamping of
boots up the narrow, winding stairs from the street. Barbara ran
across to listen at the door, while Susan sat shivering in a
threadbare armchair.

'If I'm wrong there won't be any
repercussions, will there?' Barbara heard the physician's voice
whining outside the door.

'Don't you worry, Citizen,' replied a
hearty, gruff character. 'You'll probably pick up a nice little
reward.'

Barbara backed away to comfort Susan as
the door was unlocked and flung open. They found themselves staring
at half a dozen muskets wielded by guards from the prison in their
long narrow trousers, motley tunics and floppy nightcap hats.

'Like rabbits in a burrow!' leered the
sergeant-in-command, striding in and grabbing his captives. 'Citizen
Lemaitre wilt be pleased.'

Ian Chesterton had been pacing round
and round the dining table in feverish agitation, from time to time
going to the window to peer into the glaringly sunlit street. But
there was still no sign of Barbara and Susan, and he was beginning to
fear that they would never see the Doctor again. Eventually he heard
the front door open and close. Hurrying to investigate, he bumped
into Jules in the doorway.

'Jules, Susan and Barbara have still
not returned,' he said, his usually placid features creased with
anxiety.

Jules waved his hands reassuringly. 'It
is not unusual to be kept waiting at the physician's these days,' he
replied.

Ian went back to the window,
unconvinced. 'Something must have gone wrong, Jules,' he insisted.

Jules clasped his arm. 'They will be
quite safe. Now, listen: I have arranged a meeting for you with Leon
Colbert,' he said, smiling.

But Ian moved away again. 'Colbert can
wait. I am more concerned about the two girls.'

Jules sighed and raised his arms in
resignation. 'If it will make you feel any happier I will go and
collect Barbara and Susan myself,' he offered. 'But if you really
want to meet Colbert you will have to hurry. He moves around all the
time. This may be your only chance.'

Ian thought for a moment. His head was
still very tender and the heat was growing as oppressive as it had
been the previous day. He was feeling pretty grim. 'Jules, you
promise me you will go straight to the physician's?' he pleaded.

'I promise.'

Reluctantly Ian nodded his agreement.

'I explained some of your story to
Leon,' Jules revealed. 'You must go alone. Leon is waiting at a
disused church.'

Ian looked very disappointed. 'Then he
is not James Stirling?'

'No,' said Jules, sitting down at the
table and taking pen, ink and paper from the drawer. 'I will draw you
a map. You must not waste any more time.'

Once again Susan and Barbara stood in
the airless dank bowels of the Concietgerie flanked by their escort
of soldiers, while the grinning gaoler swaggered up and down in front
of them bursting with satisfaction.

'So, you thought you could escape!' he
sneered, gloating at each in turn as he passed. 'We're not such
nincompoops as you took us for, sweet ladies.'