（外文电子版资料）069 - Doctor Who and the Visitation.pdf

DOCTOR WHO THE VISITATION Eric Saward Based on the BBC television serial by Eric Saward by arrangement with the British Broadcasting Corporation Chapter One It was a warm summer evening. The rays of the setting sun bathed the old manor house in subtle shades of red and gold. Evening stars appeared as the light continued to fade. From a high branch, a sleepy owl watched a fox break cover and silently pad towards the west wing of the manor house. Night was awakening. Small furry animals with bright, shiny eyes scurried through the undergrowth in search of food. A grass snake, warm and refreshed from a day spent lying in the sun, tentatively flexed his body and explored the air with a series of short, sharp, flicking movements of his highly sensitive tongue. The owl, now fully awake, stared fixedly, saucer-eyed, at a shadow below. Suddenly he launched himself into space, and on silent wings, talons extended, sped towards a tiny harvest mouse. A moment later, the birds hooked beak was tearing at his supper. It was the first kill of the evening. With her day book before her on the window seat of her bedroom, Elizabeth watched the fox as he trotted by below. Smiling, she picked up her quill, dipped it into her pewter ink pot and recorded the sighting in her best copperplate handwriting. She then replenished her quill, and, at the bottom of the entry, set its creaking, scratchy nib to uncoil, in black ink, the date: 5th August 1666. Blotting the sheet carefully, she closed the day book, rose, picked up the candle and crossed to the door. With long skirts carefully controlled, Elizabeth started to negotiate the steep, narrow stairs from her bedroom. As she descended she heard the distant bark of the fox. Hoping to catch a last glimpse, she paused at the stairways tiny lancet window and peered out. But the only moving thing visible was what appeared to be a ball of light slowly crossing the sky. Elizabeth stared at the object, puzzled by its s