"I've brought you your dinner and the "Times"." "Tell your master that the Reverend Ernest Matthews has arrived." "Well?" "This house is Gabriel Chase, is it not?" "Yes, sir, but I understood you were not arriving until this evening." "My patience has already been tried by the interminable journey from Oxford." "Professor, 30-second penalty." "Get on with it." "All part of the initiative test." "You're still a lousy parker." " Hey, playtime." " Well?" "It's a laboratory." "Oh, no, could be a nursery... but the kids would have to be pretty advanced...and creepy." "Be concise!" " It's well safe, Professor." " Oh, very succinct" " It must be Earth." " You tell me." "This equipment's prehistoric." "I like the toys, though." "Oh, those things are pretty sick!" "I can't stand dead things." "Must be Victorian." "It's a surprise." "It's all right, my dears." "Don't worry." "Our day is done." "We shan't stay here a moment longer." "And heaven help anyone who's still here after dark." "This isn't a haunted house, is it?" "I told you I have a thing about haunted houses." " Did you tell me that?" " Yes!" "How many have you been in?" "One was enough." "Never again." "I think you should go and greet our guests, my dear." "We used to go to museums on school trips." "It was always "Don't touch, don't wander off, don't give the school a bad name"." " We still did it, though." " The front door's this way." "Hello." "What's your name?" "You got stuffed, and it wasn't even Christmas." " Ace." " See you later." " What do you make of that?" " Don't know." "Whose initials are RFC?" " It's your initiative test." " So I'm asking the questions." " When was the Royal Flying Corp invented?" " The name wasn't thought up until...1912." "I can get you a badge." "Ask me another." "Then, who's RFC?" " I'm only looking." " Looking's one thing." "It's radioactive." " Very slightly." " Is it safe?" " There is no safe level." " What about RFC?" "Well, let's hope he abandoned it before he came to any harm..." "Zulu assegai." "Quite lethal." " Where did you find it?" " Here." "Don't touch it." "This is Ace, and I'm the Doctor." "I'm a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society." " So am I." " Is it your snuffbox?" " Young lady, you're barely dressed." " Who's undressed?" "My friend comes from a less civilised clime." " You want me to wrap up in a curtain?" " Be quiet, noble savage." "I'm sure you've seen far grislier sights than Ace's ankle." " He can't see my ankle." " Your boots, then." " You're a big game hunter?" " I am, but I've seen nothing like the atrocities rumoured about this house." "Is this the surprise?" "I'm not impressed." " I'm grateful to find an ally." " You are?" " You have given me proof." " The snuffbox." " Don't touch it!" " This is my first substantial evidence." "I came to find Redvers Fenn-Cooper, one of our finest explorers." " RFC." " I just knew he was in this house." "I must find him and save him from the clutches of that blackguard Josiah Samuel Smith." "Are you aware that I've been ringing for attention since before six o'clock?" "I demand to see your master immediately." "This insolence has gone far enough." "If I leave now, madam, Mr Smith will regret the consequences." "The condemnation of the Royal Society can be ruinous." " So be it." " Reverend Matthews, forgive us for keeping you waiting." " I am Mr Smith's ward." " You are Gwendoline, are you not?" "Yes, sir." "My guardian was concerned that you'd been kept waiting." "He'll join us shortly." "Josiah Smith invited Redvers here." "Redvers is his sternest opponent and..." " One of the finest explorers in the Empire." " He hasn't been seen since." "Perhaps he got lost on the way." "Henry Stanley found Dr Livingstone." "I shall find Redvers Fenn-Cooper." "Damn tsetse flies." " How long was he living here?" " Can we go?" " It gives me the creeps." " I thought it might." "He's a headcase." "The house is a morgue." "Everything dead." "Very good, sir, I understand." "I shall be with you shortly." "Poor silent brute." "Not silent now." "Redvers had some stories." "Pygmies led him blindfold for three whole days through uncharted jungle." "They took him to a swamp full of giant lizards like giant dinosaurs." "You know, young Conan Doyle just laughed at him." "Ha!" "There's doctors for you." "Is that a Chinese fowling piece?" " I must find Redvers!" " Tell me what else you found." " Nothing." " Describe it." "It's all right." "I'm a doctor." "Yes, there was..." "light." " A bright light?" " Burning in the heart of the interior." "It burnt through my eyes into my mind." "It had...blazing, radiant wings!" "Doctor!" "When Redvers was in the Congo, he faced a herd of stampeding buffalo head on." "He raised his gun and with one single bullet..." "Ah, there you are, old chap." "Redvers, I found you." "What have they done to you?" "You look like a ghost." "Is it really him?" "His mind's snapped." "He's seen something too big to handle, some light." " We'd better get some help." " It'll blow our cover." "All right, all right." " Mr Fenn-Cooper." " How do you do?" "I'm the Doctor." "This is..." " We've been worried about you." " Poor old Redvers." "Poor chap." "Come along." " We don't want him hurt." " No!" "Not the interior!" "Not back into the interior!" " You don't have to twist his arm!" " A most unfortunate mishap, sir." "I trust you are not hurt?" "The gentleman has fits of distracting behaviour and must be confined." " She didn't have to hurt him." " Ace and I..." "Mr Smith asks if you'd join our other guest in the drawing room." "Is this an asylum with patients in charge?" "It could be Bedlam." "Thank you, er...?" " Nimrod, sir." " Nimrod." "Thank you, Nimrod." "We would be...delighted." "Uncle Josiah is a good man and a great naturalist, too." "You'll see." "Ah, so you finally condescend to meet me." "I am grateful for your hospitality." "How do you do?" "Nice of you to come." " Good grief!" " Oh, this is my friend Ace." "I see that the stories about you are true." "You have no shred of decency, even parading your shameless wantons in front of your guests." " Does he mean me?" " I have it." "This is some experiment related to your mumbo-jumbo theories." "Perhaps she'll evolve into a young lady." " Who are you calling young lady, bog-brain?" " Quiet, Eliza." " Be a good girl." "I'm making small talk." " If I might explain..." "Nimrod, yes." "There's tea in the pot if you'd get a couple of cups." "Thank you." "The fang of a cave bear!" "A totem of great power." "Yes." "Thank you, Nimrod." "Sir, I think Mr Matthews is confused." "He'll be completely bewildered when I'm finished." " I'll help." " Ace can't go to dinner dressed like this." " Who says?" " Do you have any apparel she may borrow?" "Gladly, Professor." "Come, Alice, you can borrow a dress of mine." "It's Ace, actually." "Thanks, anyway." " Now, sir..." " Yes, let me guess." "My theories and heresies outrage you, I ignore letters, and you don't like my tie." "You are a worse scoundrel than Darwin." "Light!" "Ah, Josiah Samuel Smith, I take it." "Dust to dust." " I'm the Doctor and this is..." " Reverend Ernest Matthews, dean of Mortarhouse College, Oxford." "Your servant, sirs." "Welcome to Gabriel Chase." "Josiah Smith." "Now perhaps you'll account for your theories." " Fascinating moths." " I recently made a study of these moths." "Even in a single species, there can be a wide variation from countryside to town." "I'm certain they're adapting to survive the smoke with which industry's tainting the land." "Darwinian claptrap." "Come on!" "Something's happened." " Wait." "I can't wear this." " Of course you can." " Mrs Pritchard, what's happening?" " The door is jammed." "Here, let me try." " OK, stand back." " That's no way for a...gentleman to behave." " I'm no gentleman." " Well!" "This is a metamorphosis." "It was Ace's idea." "Nimrod, the door." "Stay back." "Cover your eyes!" "I'm sorry, Doctor." " Redvers, what did you see?" " Poor Redvers." "He was so frightened, his hair went completely white." " He went quite mad." " We must leave, Doctor!" " He may need help!" " What's happening?" " This way, please!" " Ow!" " I want to see him." " Out of the question." " He will be taken care of." " I bet." "What was that light?" " He was so scared of it." " Doctor, I can assure you" "Mr Fenn-Cooper will come to no harm." "Only the madman may see the path clearly through the tangled forest." "You have the wisdom of the greatest elders of my tribe." "Nimrod, you have duties to perform." "Sir." " He's a Neanderthal, isn't he?" " Yes." "Finest example I've seen since the Stone Age." "Did that hurt?" "Good." "I still don't know where this place is." "I am still waiting for an explanation of your blasphemous theories." "What theories?" "Darwin's theories." "They turned 19th-century science on its head." "Is there a lecture?" " Sermon." " Do we take notes?" "Mr Smith disputes man's rightful dominion over the forces of nature." "I hope you like calves' brains, Doctor." "Instead, he maintains that mankind should adapt to serve nature or become extinct." "Well, sir..." "Oh!" "Pray excuse me, sir." "Infernal telephonic machines." "Let's order a takeaway." "Anyone fancy a curry?" "I know a restaurant in the Khyber Pass." "Nimrod!" "What's going on?" "I told you not to ring me now!" "Nimrod?" "Are you there?" "I escaped." " It's learned to speak!" " Having trouble with your connections?" " Perhaps I can help." " Doctor!" "On the other hand, I have an emergency of my own." "Excuse me." "Time to emerge." "Mrs Pritchard, a problem has arisen." "Ask Ernest Matthews to join me in here." "Very good, sir." "Then no one is to disturb us." "Doctor!" "Doctor, I want to talk to you!" "Ace!" "What's the matter?" "Face-Ache Matthews in there says this house is Gabriel Chase." " So?" " It was derelict last time I saw it in 1983." "You tricked me!" "This is Perivale!" "Ace!" "Ace." "It's true, isn't it?" "This is the house I told you about." "You were 13, you climbed over the wall for a dare." " That's your surprise, isn't it?" " Remind me what it was that you sensed when you entered this deserted house." " An aura of intense evil?" " Don't you have things you hate?" "I can't stand burnt toast." "I loathe bus stations - terrible places, full of lost luggage and lost souls." "I said I never wanted to come back here." "Then there's unrequited love, and tyranny, and cruelty." "Too right." " We all have our own terrors to face." " I face mine on my own terms." " Don't you want to know what happened?" " No!" "You've learned something you didn't recognise when you were 13." " Like what?" " The nature of the horror that you sensed." "It's alien." "Ernest, pray sit down." "I'm afraid that something unforeseen awaits my attention." "I have to ask you to indulge me further." "Having come so far, I have no intention of leaving until I've gained full satisfaction." "Then we're in accord." "Mrs Pritchard, see to it that the dean's time passes as quickly as possible." "Very good, sir." "That's the way to the zoo" "That's the way to the zoo" "The monkey house is nearly full, but there's room enough for you" "Take a bus to Regent's Park" "Make haste before it shuts" "Next Monday, I will come and bring you such a lot of nuts" "Come back to dinner, Ace." "When I lived in Perivale, me and my best mate, we dossed around together." "We'd out-dare each other on things - skiving off, stupid things." "Then they burnt out Manesha's flat." "White kids firebombed it." "I didn't care any more." "I think you cared a lot, Ace." "That's when I came over the walls of the house...this house." "I was so mad, and I needed to get away." "It was empty, all overgrown and falling down." "No one came here." "But when I got inside, it was even worse." "I didn't know then." "It was horrible!" " Tell me what you saw." " Doctor." " Tell me, Ace!" " Excuse me!" "I must speak with you." " I need your help, Doctor." " Yes." "It can't be easy being so far away from home, struggling to adapt to an alien environment." " I'm as human as you are." " Yes." "I'm afflicted with an enemy... a vile and base creature pitted against me." "It's waiting for me now." "I believe that you can assist me in defeating it." "I'm not interested in money." " How much?" " £5,000 to rid me of the evil brute." "That's what I call Victorian value." "But I'm still not interested in money." "There's a new scent in the dark." "There's...warm and pulsing, racing bloodI" "RatkinI" "RatkinI" "RatkinI"