HOWLING HALLOW

Chapter Nine

After a half hour, the Doctor decided to get up. He figured by now the the chaos had died down and he was curious to see what the reaction would be. He had an idea about how to go undercover and observe but he needed to go to his lab first. He rose up but Rose was still resting on his paw and she opened her eyes and looked at her as did Rachel who was lying with her head on his back.

Where do you think you're going? Rose thought to him.

Doing a bit of spying, you and Rachel wanna come? he thought back.

Rose and Rachel glanced at each other and rose to their feet. They followed the Doctor to the door and when he got up on his hind feet and opened it, they noticed new clothes waiting for them across the corridor.

TARDIS thinks of everything as usual, the Doctor thought.

He, Rose and Rachel went into the corridor. The moment the Doctor closed the door, they changed back to their normal bodies. The Doctor took off the pelt and got dressed with the others. Then he put the pelt back into his trouser pocket and beckoned for Rose and Rachel to follow him. They walked to the lab and the Doctor told Rose and Rachel to wait at the metal table in the center of the room while he looked for what he needed. He rummaged through some cabinets while Rose and Rachel pulled up metal chairs to the table and sat down.

"What I'm going to do is construct something called a perception filter," he said, over his shoulder. "It will let us pass among the people and listen without them being aware of our presence."

"How will that work?" Rachel said.

"Well, wait a tic and let me finish getting what I need and I'll explain the basis concept while I assemble it."

He finished getting what he needed and took everything back to the table. While he worked on making three perception filters, he told them about the science behind them and what they needed to do.

"No talking or drawing attention to yourself when you're out there. We're just going to go out there and see if they hold any sort of meeting or hear any sort of gossip about what we just did," the Doctor said while he worked. "I want to know if they have more lycans or if our little friend is the only one."

He finished with his work and passed the keys out to Rose and Rachel. They put them on and the Doctor slipped his on after telling the TARDIS to look after their guests. Whent they went outside, they noticed that the mayhem had calmed down. the Doctor shut the door and the three of them hurried across the field towards a gathering of people near the big circus tent. Several of them had flaming torches and they heard angry voices urging everyone to hunt the werewolves down and exterminate them for good. The Doctor, Rose and Rachel stood at the back of the group and listened to them. The owner of the child was in the center of the group fielding questions and complaints from the angry mob.

"It wasn't my fault, I thought the child was secure," the man was saying to the crowd.

"Well, evidently not since now its on the loose," a woman near the front said. "Why didn't you stay and guard it?"

"Because I didn't want to get bit by the other werewolf," the man said to her. "I value my life, same as you."

"We need to form a search party and search for the little beast!" a man yelled. "And anyone who might be helping her escape."

"Yes, we need to find accomplices!" another woman said. "Is there anyone who helped that fleabag to escape?"

The Doctor smirked when everyone loudly denied helping the child to escape. Then the smirk fell off his face when the vendor who sold him the pelt came forward.

"There was a man who brought a wolf pelt from me and was inquiring about protection against werewolves earlier in the day."

Everyone fell silent while the child's owner did a double take.

"What? Who?" the man said.

When the vendor described him, the Doctor winced when recognition dawned on the man's face.

"Yes, I saw him with several people. They saw the child and were accusing me of abuse just before all this happened. They were the last ones to see the child in the cage."

"Where are they? We need to find the man and question him!" the vendor yelled.

Rose felt momentary panic when the crowd yelled for everyone to find them and began to turn and look for them. The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder and she relaxed when people looked straight through her.

"Find that man and his friends! We need to question then!" the child's owner yelled.

The crowd became louder and more agitated and the Doctor tapped Rose and Rachel on the shoulders and beckoned to them to go back to the TARDIS with him. He hurried back to the TARDIS but by the time Rose and Rachel turned, the crowd was already moving around them and they were hemmed in. Rose gasped when someone accidentally bumped into her and she lost her balance and slammed into a man's back. The man spun around and to Rose's horror, he looked right at her with shock on his face.

"Hey! This is one of them!" the man screamed.

Rose tried to run but several hands grabbed her arms. Rachel growled and tried to push at them despite Rose's pleas for her to run but they grabbed her too. Rachel looked back over her shoulder as they were leading her and Rose away and saw the Doctor standing beyond the crowd, not moving while he watched.

"I'll be back for you and Rose," he mouthed to her.

Rachel nodded and grunted when she was shoved forward with Rose while the crowd forced them to go towads the small tent.

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