Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner Read Free Book Online Page B

even be providing him with tea and biscuits. ‘Have you got far to go, do you think?’ she said. ‘Before you get to the end of the game, I mean.’
    â€˜I’m not going to get to the end of the game,’ he said, surprising her.
    â€˜What, is it too tricky?’ She couldn’t believe that was the case.
    He laughed. ‘As if!’ Then he continued more seriously, ‘We reckon I got further than any other player in a shorter time, right?’
    â€˜Right.’ She nodded.
    â€˜And we reckon that’s why they took Mickey. Probably because they thought he was their great hope, the only person likely to get to the end of the game. If what they’re saying is true, they only need one person to get to the centre of this place, one person to activate their disruptor. Then that’s it, game over. I do that, they’ll have no need to come looking for me, they’ll have achieved their purpose.’ He gave her a meaningful look. ‘And they’ll have no need for Mickey any more, either.’
    She understood, and shivered a little. ‘Yeah, I get it.’
    â€˜So I’m just going to beat my previous score, and then I’m going to stop. And then they’ll come and get me. And –’ he broke off for a moment to jab at the controller – ‘that’s probably going to be any minute now.’
    The Doctor’s fingers flickered over the buttons, and then stopped. He gave a loud sigh, and placed the controller down on the table. ‘There. One hundred points higher. Should get their attention.’
    She felt like a bundle of nerves. Knowing a giant porcupine might appear out of thin air any second wasn’t a relaxing thought. ‘And what do we do when we get there?’ she asked. ‘What’s the plan?’
    â€˜Ah,’ he said. ‘Probably should have checked you were up for it, really. You are up for it, aren’t you? Dangerous, and all that.’
    â€˜Up for what?’ He could be frustrating sometimes. ‘But of course I am. You know I am. Always.’
    He grinned. ‘Yeah, I know that. Well, you’d better get behind this chair then.’
    She glared at him. ‘If you think I’m hiding while you run off into goodness knows what . . .’
    â€˜No, no, no,’ he said hastily. ‘Just, if they see both of us, they’ll capture both of us, right? So they have to just see me, then there’s one of us free to let the other out. Grab my ankle, then the teleportation field should take you as well. They won’t be expecting someone else the other end. With any luck you’ll be able to crawl away before they notice you.’
    She was aghast. ‘That’s the brilliant plan?’
    He held out his hands. ‘It’ll work! Those thick necks they’ve got, they won’t be able to look down properly. You’ll be way out of their field of vision.’
    She wasn’t convinced, but knew she probably couldn’t come up with a better plan in time. ‘Couldn’t you be the one hiding?’ she asked as a last resort.
    â€˜I’m over six foot!’ he said. ‘Catch me fitting behind this.’ He patted the chair. ‘And the shame of it! Hiding behind a chair from a monster? Me?’
    Rose raised her eyebrows at him, but got up anyway, and crawled into the gap between the seat and the wall. The Doctor arranged a throw so it was more or less covering her. ‘Oh, gross!’ she called out. ‘No one’s hoovered back here since the Dark Ages.’ A second later: ‘I’ve just found a biscuit.’ A second later: ‘I’ve just found a pound coin.’ A second later, worriedly: ‘I don’t know what I’ve just found, but I’ve put my elbow right in it . . .’
    And a second later, she could smell something. A tang in the air, as if she’d just been spritzed with lemon juice. Her