Episode 10: A Study in the Straw Part 3

The Doctor ran forward and grabbed thin air. At that moment, a crow pierced the window pane.

“Run!” the Doctor shouted.
“What do you think we’re doing?” Conner asked.

Together, the Doctor, Conner and Joan ran into the kitchen. The crow zoomed in afterwards. It pecked at Conner, cutting his skin. The Doctor pulled Joan aside.

“Wait!” Conner cried “the Scarecrows don’t know that they’ve captured Georgia! That’s all they want! If we tell them, they’ll stop hurting us. We can rescue Georgia later!”

Conner ran upstairs. The crow zoomed after him. The Doctor and Joan removed the barricade. They ran outside.

“Stop!” the Doctor ordered “you have Georgia! Leave us alone!”

A voice rang out between the Scarecrows, and one Scarecrow held up what looked like a radio. It was a communicator.

“Oh I don’t think so Doctor,” the voice said “I’ll leave you alone once I have you.”
“What?” the Doctor asked.
“Once I have you Doctor, I get paid,” the voice said “so I’ll let your girlfriend go if you trade places.”
“She’s not my girlfriend, honestly,” the Doctor said “but I’ll gladly switch places to save her.”
“Don’t plan any tricks Doctor,” the voice warned.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” the Doctor mused.
“And you’d better hurry, something is changing inside Georgia,” the voice said.
“What have you done to her?” the Doctor demanded.
“She’s just drugged, for now. But she is growing into something, a tree I think.”

The Doctor looked appalled. He followed the Scarecrows to wherever they were taking him, leaving Joan stood alone outside her cottage.

Conner, meanwhile, had the crow trapped in a drawer.

“That’ll be a nasty shock when Joan goes to bed,” Conner grinned.

He ran down the stairs, noting the silence. The Doctor and Joan had succeeded! Conner opened the door of the cottage, and stepped outside. Joan was stood alone.

“What happened?” Conner asked.
“The Doctor’s gone to save Georgia, by switching places,” Joan replied “that awful man made him.”
“What man?” Conner asked.
“Didn’t you hear a man speaking? He wants the Doctor,” Joan replied.

Conner shook his head and led her into the house. They sat at the kitchen table in silence for a long moment.

The Doctor was being led to the ship, with an arm being held by a Scarecrow. He saw a massive pile of straw and hay, and with a click of Scarecrow fingers, a door slid open, hidden in the straw.

“Wow!” the Doctor cried as he was led into the spaceship “it’s a door within straw! Ha! That rhymes! I’m a poet and I didn’t know it. Actually, that’s what old Billy Wordsworth used to tell me…”

In silence, he was led inside a large cavern.

“Is it, is it bigger on the inside?” the Doctor gaped.
“Stolen technology,” the voice informed.
“There seems to be a lot of that going around lately… First the Slitheen and the Magnet Warriors, then the Plague Carriers, now this! Unbelievable…” the Doctor said with a mock shocked expression.

The Doctor broke free of the Scarecrows, and ran over to a metal table, which Georgia was lying on. She had leaves in her hair. It wasn’t long before she started growing bark.

Conner and Joan sat around the table.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a cuppa would you?” Conner asked.
“A what?” Joan asked.
“A cup of tea,” Conner told her.
“Ah,” Joan said quietly “I’ll put one on.”
“Thanks.”

Joan stood up, and made the tea. Conner stood up too, and began to help her.

“It’s OK, I’m fine,” Joan said “it’s my job.”
“What? Tea making isn’t just a job for women- I can do it too- I have hands,” Conner said “you know, where I come from, there isn’t all this fuss about women doing the housework. You don’t have to do it. You need something else to keep you going- some sort of drive in life, like a job or something.”
“A job?” Joan asked “I suppose you mean sowing or knitting.”
“No,” Conner said “anything you want to do. Anything at all.”
“Anything?” Joan asked.
“Yeah.”
“Thank you,” Joan said “I’ll try.”

Conner smiled.

The Doctor stepped away from Georgia, as a branch whipped out from her arm.

“How fast is the growth rate?” the Doctor asked, astounded.
“Fast enough,” the voice said.
“You’ve got me, let her go, and cure her. Please…” the Doctor begged.
“I can let her go,” the voice said “but nothing can cure her now.”
“But… Surely something must be able to?” the Doctor asked “if you let me…”
“Be quiet,” the voice snapped “don’t you think you’ve caused enough trouble with your companions?”
“Wha- What do you mean?” the Doctor asked, now shaking with shock.
“First you let Conner die, then Georgia is infected with the tree spores? You are pathetic, Time Lord,” the voice mused.
“But I… I didn’t…” the Doctor stuttered.
“Take him away!” the voice ordered.

The Doctor was dragged off to the cells, with a desperate look on his face.

Joan and Conner are sat quietly around the table.

“Tell me what happened, Joan. Before…”
“The Doctor- he came to our village,” Joan said, tears racking her throat “he came and they killed.”
“Who?” Conner asked.
“The family. The family of Blood.”

Georgia opened her eyes. She was lying face down on soft earth. She sat up, and removed a twig from her hair. Surprisingly, it hurt more than she expected it to. She felt the top of her head. Her hand reached leaf, and Georgia screamed.

The Doctor slumped against the wall of the cell. Tears ran down his cheek. He’d brought all this on his friends. The voice wasn’t just right about Conner and Georgia, it had happened to Rose and Donna too. He suddenly felt a hot rush of anger enter his blood stream. He drank the water that was placed beside him, and began to formulate a plan in his massive brain.

The voice belonged to the body of a man. He was sat on a chair, watching a monitor of the Doctor’s cell.

“He drank it!” the voice scoffed “he actually drank the drink!”

He span around in his chair, briefly showing deep brown eyes.

“Of course, I’m on my own; I suppose I look silly talking to myself now.”

Georgia ran and ran and ran. She ran through forest, over field and between houses, until she reached Joan Redfern’s house, sobbing.

“And then,” Joan sobbed “he killed the Headmaster!”

Joan and Conner jumped in surprise at the hammering on the door. Joan went to answer it. She screamed, as Georgia stumbled inside the house.

“Georgia!” Conner cried, standing up at the sight of her.
“I know!” Georgia cried, her eyes brimming with tears “I don’t wanna be a tree!”
“I’m sure the Doctor’ll fix it-” Conner began.
“The Doctor’s locked up!” Georgia bawled.
“Then we’ll have to do it ourselves.”

Georgia slumped down into a seat. Joan and Conner leant over the table. They meant business.

The Doctor recoiled in pain. He felt something coarse through him. He yelled; it felt as if his body was on fire. Something was transforming him. He knew it was the voice, the man who called all the shots. He wanted to hurt the voice, kill its owner, and rip his head off… No! The Doctor had to fight it. Suddenly his anger overcame him, until he wanted to hurt Joan for making him feel guilty, and Conner and Georgia for- he didn’t know what for.

Conner stood up.

“So that’s decided,” he said “we’ll do it now don’t you think?”
“What about later tonight? We could do it under cover of darkness. That way, the village won’t be awake and out and about- it’ll put them in danger,” Georgia reasoned, her face now being covered in thick bark.
“I think we should do it now- the Doctor might be in trouble,” Joan said.

Conner agreed. So it was agreed- they would save the Doctor now. Little did they realise they were saving him from himself.

The Doctor stood up. He walked over to the door and ripped it off its hinges. A Scarecrow was standing outside on guard, so the Doctor swung the door at it. He walked off down the corridor, with a glint in his eyes.

An alarm whistled in the man with the voice’s room. He saw the Doctor stalk up the corridor outside his office on the monitor.

“Seal the doors!” the voice ordered “activate projection number one!”

The Doctor pulled his Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket. He scanned the area. Then he ripped a hole in a side of the spaceship, and walked outside. The man with the voice was standing there, his face covered in shadow so that the Doctor could not identify him. The Doctor ran at him- but the projection vanished, and the hole in the spaceship sealed itself. The Doctor was dangerous- and now he headed for Joan Redfern’s house, with a murderous grin on his face.

Joan and Conner pulled Georgia out of her seat, and together they left the house. They ran over to the nearest edge of the forest, to avoid being seen by anyone in the village. Georgia now had gained several arms that were turning into branches.

The Doctor walked past the Cartwright’s old house, and headed for Joan’s house. He clenched his fists, waiting for the kill.

To be continued…