Crow Boy by Philip Caveney Page A

she’ll be right as rain and the plague will be gone. I guarantee it.’ He gestured at the metal implements beside the smoking brazier. ‘There’s no need for any of that, honestly.’
    â€˜I’d say that’s for me to decide,’ said The Doctor. He slid the blister pack back into its box and threw it almost contemptuously onto the table-top. Then he walked back to the foot of the bed and gestured to his assistants. ‘We will continue with the treatment,’ he told them. He propped his cane against the end of the bed and held out one hand. Joshua stepped forward and placed an evil-looking scalpel into it. Alison gave a little gasp of terror.
    â€˜Don’t fret, my dear,’ whispered The Doctor. ‘A simple cut to release the purulence and then a wee tap with the hot poker and we’ll be done . . .’
    â€˜No!’ said Tom. He stepped forward to bar The Doctor’s path. ‘No, please, give me another day or so and she’ll be as right as rain. I promise.’
    The Doctor stared down at him, his eyes glittering dangerously behind the black mask. He seemed to be considering his next course of action. For a moment, Tom feared that he would lift the scalpel and plunge it into his chest.
    â€˜You impudent pup!’ he hissed. ‘You dare to challenge me, the leading expert in my field?’
    â€˜O . . . only because I’ve worked with an expert too,’ Tom assured him. ‘In Manchester.’
    â€˜Expert? What expert?’
    â€˜It was er . . . Doctor . . . Wikepedia,’ stammered Tom. ‘Yes, he’s the talk of the city. Any question you ask him, he knows the answer. He’s brilliant. I’ve worked with him many times. He gave me the pills. He said to me, if I saw anybody with the plague up in Edinburgh, I was to use them.’
    There was a long silence, broken only by the sound of a coal cracking in the brazier. Tom looked and saw that deep in the heart of the coals, the head of the poker was glowing bright red. He tried not to think of it making contact with Alison’s neck.
    The Doctor took a deep breath and then he spoke. ‘You are a . . . headstrong boy,’ he said. ‘One might say, a foolish boy. If you’re wrong, this girl’s fate will be on your head. However . . . since time is tight and there are other cases waiting . . . ones who might accept the wisdom of an expert in this sickness . . . we shall give you the benefit of the doubt.’ He waved a hand at his assistants. ‘Out,’ he said. ‘We go on to the next case.’
    The two men looked disappointed but they hurried to obey him. Joshua pulled the poker from the fire and thrust it into a bucket of water. There was a loud hiss as the heat was abruptly quenched. The other man snatched up the smoking brazier and carried it out of the room. Finally, with visible reluctance, Joshua took the scalpel from The Doctor’s hand and returned it to its pouch. He followed his companion.
    â€˜I’ll return tomorrow,’ said The Doctor. ‘You can be sure of that. And if there’s no marked improvement, the girl will be given the prescribed treatment. No arguments. Do you understand?’
    Tom nodded, and with that, The Doctor grabbed his cane from the end of the bed and swept out of the room. A moment later, the sound of his heavy boots went thudding down the stairs.
    Tom let out a sigh of relief and even Alison managed a pale and weary smile. ‘Thank you, Tom,’ she murmured. ‘I don’t know what would have happened if he’d touched me with that poker.’
    Tom turned back to face her, realising that the encounter had coaxed a sweat of fear out of him. He lifted an arm and wiped his forehead on the sleeve of his blazer.
    â€˜Don’t thank me,’ he told her. ‘Just get better by tomorrow.’
    And he went out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Eleven

    There was nowhere to go and