THE MASTER, THE DOCTOR AND THE WOLF

Chapter Thirty

Sheila stood outside the TARDIS with Clara and Susan waiting for the Doctor to emerge from it. The three of them were wearing heavy coats lined with a shiny alien material that the Doctor promised would hold in the heat far better than anything on Earth. All of them were wearing hats, scarves and mittens but that didn't stop the wind from hitting Sheila's face and it made her gasp as it nearly took her breath away. Despite the warm coat and clothes, she was miserable and she longed to go back inside the magic box where at least it was warm and dry.

The Doctor finally came outside and Sheila was shocked to see him dressed in only a blue coat with no hat, gloves or anything else.

"Grandfather, don't you think you should dress more warmly?" Susan asked.

"I'll be fine, Susan. The cold doesn't affect me that much. Now, have you spotted the other TARDIS yet?"

"Not yet," Clara said. "We seem to be in the middle of nowhere."

She swept her arm around at the vast snowy landscape. There were a few dead, snow covered trees scattered around and some snowy hills but nothing else for miles beside them and the TARDIS. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a peculiar looking set of goggles that resembled night vision goggles. The goggles had a long leather strap and the Doctor slid that over his head and put the goggles down over his eyes.

"What's that?" Clara said, pointing to the goggles when the Doctor looked her way.

"Very high powered binoculars. I can see further than conventional ones," the Doctor said as he slowly turned in a circle to scan his surroundings. "I can see a couple of creatures that resembled polar bears off to the west," he said, stopping and pointing.

Everyone turned to look at where he was pointing but no one could see anything through the swirling snow.

"How far away are these bears?" Sheila asked.

"Perhaps five miles," the Doctor mused after a moment's calculation.

"Well unless the bear is wearing a rocket pack, I suppose we're safe from it," Clara said to her friends.

The Doctor completed his scan and shook his head.

"Don't see it," he said, pushing the binoculars up onto his forehead.

"So when you said you wanted to land far away from it, you meant it," Sheila said.

"I didn't mean to land this far away from it," the Doctor said annoyed. "Perhaps we should go back inside and try again."

"Yes, maybe we should and warm up a bit," Sheila said, wiping wet snow off her cheeks.

"You sound like you're giving in already," the Doctor teased her.

"Well, I don't know if you lot travel frequently in your magic box but I haven't and it's cold out here. Why would that Valeyard bloke even come here?"

"I suspect he's luring us into a trap. I'm sure he knows we followed him. He's not stupid," the Doctor said.

"So he might come to us?" Susan asked.

"Dunno, child. But If this is a trap, we won't be alone for long, I'm sure of it."

As if he heard, the other TARDIS suddenly appeared thirty feet away. The Doctor walked up to the front, urging everyone to get behind him as the TARDIS fell silent. The Doctor waited for the door to open and when it did, his jaw nearly dropped to the ground when Sarah Jane came outside with the the Valeyard. Both of them were bundled up in heavy coats, scarves, hats and gloves. Sarah Jane frowned when she saw the other occupants of the TARDIS standing before her.

"Doctor, who is this?" Sarah Jane said to the Valeyard as she pointed to them.

"Sarah, get away from him now!" the Doctor growled as he tromped through the snow towards her.

"That, I believe, is another Doctor," the Valeyard said calmly as he gestured towards the Doctor. "We better leave then in case something happens to our timelines. Come along, Sarah."

"No, Sarah, don't!" the Doctor yelled as he reached her. "He's not who he says he is. He's not really me."

"Oh and here we go again," the Valeyard said, feigning exasperation as he rolled his eyes. "That whole I'm the better Doctor malarkey. Just ignore him, Sarah. We'll find a nice beach somewhere."

"Sarah, listen, I am telling you the truth," the Doctor said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "He may look like me but he's an evil nutter and he isn't taking you on holiday. Come with me."

"Pardon me," the Valeyard said, stepping up to him. "She's with me. You have your own companions now."

He ducked and staggered back when the Doctor tried to punch him and the Doctor did the same when the Valeyard tried to deck him.

"Come on, Sarah, this is the evil nutter," the Valeyard said, pointing at the Doctor.

He could tell Sarah Jane was torn between leaving with the Valeyard and trying to believe him.

"Sarah, please, I wouldn't lie to you," the Doctor implored as he put his hands on Sarah Jane's arms. "Get away from…"

He trailed off when he noticed the Valeyard was heading into the TARDIS and he loosened his grip on Sarah Jane's arms.

"Doctor?" Sarah Jane said when they heard the TARDIS starting up.

"No, it's an imposter, Sarah, believe me. I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said to her. "Just come with us and we'll take you back home."

By now, the TARDIS had faded away, leaving them all alone. Sarah Jane glanced at the spot where the TARDIS had been before she looked at the Doctor and nodded.

"Okay, I believe you," she said to him. "Just get me out of here."

"Gladly. Come on, you lot, let's leave and…"

Again, he trailed off when they heard the wheezing sound and to everyone's horror, the Valeyard's TARDIS materialized around the Doctor and Sarah Jane until it was completely solid. They were about to go towards it when the door opened and the Valeyard stuck his head out.

"Toodles," he said to them.

He slammed the door and the three women yelled for him to stop as the TARDIS dematerialized and vanished.

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