HOWLING HALLOW

Chapter Ten

"Let go of us!" Rose said while she and Rachel were shoved into the cage the child had occupied.

They looked around at the angry mob who were now taking apart the wooden barricade and surrounding them on all sides. The child's owner came up to the front and glared at the two women.

"Who are you?" the owner said.

"Let us go, we have rights!" Rose said to him.

"I have rights too," he bellowed.

The people grew silent and Rose and Rachel shrank back when he slammed his hand against the bars.

"I had property that was stolen from me and I think you and your friends had something to do with it since you seemed to have a problem with me owning the little beast!" he said to them. "Now what happened to my property and where is the tall, thin man?"

"I don't know and I don't know," Rose said. "I'm not answering questions while my sister and I are trapped in here."

The man looked at Rose and then at Rachel, noting that one woman was Caucasian and the other was Middle Eastern.

"Sister?" the man said to Rose.

Rose glanced at Rachel.

"Adopted sister, okay?" Rose said, annoyed. "Now...will you get us out of here?"

"Where are you friends? Where is that man?" the owner said.

"I don't know. We weren't related to them," Rose said, hoping she sounded convincing.

"What did you do with the child?" the man said.

"I didn't do anything with her. We ran when we heard the wolf howl," Rose said. "I have no idea who took your so-called property. Although I hope whoever did it is taken better care of her than you did."

She gave the man a defiant look when he glowered at her. She hoped that she was stalling for time and the Doctor was figuring out a way to get her and Rachel out of the cage. She glanced around but the crowd was so tightly packed around the cage that she couldn't tell if he was nearby or not. She hoped he was. But in the meantime, she hoped she and Rachel could keep the owner distracted.

"So, what do we do with these two then?" a man asked the owner.

The owner scratched his chin thoughtfully while he stared at his captives. Rose noticed a lustful look in his eyes while he looked his captives over.

"I think I'll keep em," he said.

"What? You can't do that!" Rachel said.

"We're human beings; you have no right to keep us!" Rose said.

"I have every right. I don't believe your cock and bull story about not being a part of all this. My property was stolen and you and your sister are going to work for me in return."

"You mean slaves?" Rachel said.

"Yup, duckie, I mean slaves," the man said, sneering.

"You can't do that!" Rose said.

"ANYONE HERE OBJECT TO ME ENSLAVING THESE TWO WOLF LOVERS?" the man yelled to the crowd.

Rose's blood chilled when no one said a word. The man chuckled.

"See. No one likes werewolves here except for you and your friends," he said. "All those werewolves have done is kill and destroy animals and make off with people. No one but you wants them to roam free."

"What about the others?" the ticket taker said to him.

"Well, they can start to work right away being bait for the others. Perhaps we can catch us some more slaves, eh?" the owner said to his friend, elbowing him.

"That wouldn't be a good idea, trust me," Rose said. "Believe me; you don't want to mess with the tall, thin man."

"Oh, so you admit you know him, eh?" the owner said. "Well, you and your…sister aren't going to see him ever again. You lot are going to my spaceship where you'll have nice comfy quarters…Ralf, Tekka, help me take them to the transmat!"

Rose and Rachel flattened themselves against the back of the cage but it wasn't only the two men but most of the villagers helped to drag them out. Rose glanced around for the Doctor but she still couldn't see any sign of him. She wondered if he was keeping back so no one would see him or perhaps he was keeping to the perimeter and sneaking his way to them when the time was right. He hoped he hadn't been caught by someone and was being held in another place.

They were led outside and Rose and Rachel looked around while they were being led to the large circus tent. Rose let out a sigh of relief when she saw the Doctor standing at the outskirts of the crowd, his eyes on them while he followed the crowd. They went into the tent and Rose and Rachel were held in place while the owner and Tekka ran to the other side and went out the other flap. While they were being held in place, the Doctor walked around the crowd and stopped when he could see them. He smiled and waved when Rose and Rachel looked his way and he put his hands in his trouser pockets and waited for the owner and Tekka to return. They came back in a few minutes later carrying a large silver disc between them. The disc was about two feet thick and had buttons and switches on the base encircling it. They laid the disc on the ground in front of Rose and Rachel and Rose struggled as they forced Rachel onto it. Tekka took a ray blaster out of his pocket and kept it aimed at her while Rachel stood on the disc. The owner pushed several buttons and there was a burst of light that made Rose close her eyes. When she opened them again, Rachel was gone.

"Now her!" the owner said, pointing to Rose.

Rose struggled as they tried to get her to stand on the disc but she stopped when the Doctor walked around the back and nodded at her. Rose allowed herself to step up onto the disc and when the men stepped back, the Doctor got up onto the disc behind her and put his arms around her. Rose stood with him and watched while the owner hit the same sequence of buttons. Then there was a flash of light and she closed her eyes as she felt her body falling apart into atoms.

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