Free Silhouette by Justin Richards Page B

a moment.
    ‘Is it done?’ he asked.
    The shadow shook its head.
    Angrily, Milton lifted his cane and jabbed it into the seat, shattering the shadow into tiny fragments of darkness that shimmered and faded to nothing. He took a deep breath, then rapped his cane twice on the roof of the carriage.
    In the driver’s seat, a woman wrapped in a scarlet cloak lifted the reins and encouraged the horses into motion. The hood of her cloak was pulled up over her head, so that her face was nothing but shadows.

Chapter
10
    Returning from his perambulation, the Doctor was disappointed to find the Shadowplay tent still seemed to be deserted and closed up. The board outside still advised that the next performance would be in the afternoon, but failed to give a specific time. If he continued to wait for Silhouette to return, he could be here for a while.
    ‘You’d think she’d need to do some setting up,’ he said, to no one in particular. ‘And surely she’s got to make a living.’ But maybe, he thought as he looked round to check he was unobserved, the Shadowplay was not the woman’s most important or lucrative occupation. Whatever the case, she wasn’t here now, and there was no one watching.
    So the Doctor undid the ties that held the tent door closed, folded back the heavy cloth, and slipped inside.
    It was surprisingly dark in the tent. But the fabric needed to be heavy and thick, the Doctor realised, tokeep out any extraneous light. The darker it was, the better the shadow puppets would show up against the illuminated backdrop. He took his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket, and switched it on, navigating through the tent by its glow.
    The place seemed much bigger without an audience, its edges cast into darkness. The low benches did nothing to break up the space. But the Doctor was more interested in the area behind the screen. There was a narrow space between the limelight that cast the glow and the screen itself. Sufficient for the puppeteers to stand – there had to be more than just the woman, the Doctor reasoned. At one point in the show there had been several figures, birds, the sun, clouds, and a dragon. Unless she had a few extra limbs she kept concealed beneath her cloak. It was possible, but on balance, he doubted that was the case.
    Behind the lights was an opening in the tent wall. Beyond, was another area like a second smaller tent appended to the main one. This was more like it, the Doctor decided as he entered. Some light filtered through beneath the fabric of the walls, but he still needed the glow from the sonic screwdriver to see well enough.
    The puppets were laid out on a long trestle table covered with a red cloth. Shapes cut from card. White against the scarlet. He was reminded of the young woman’s pale face framed by the red hood of hercloak. The Doctor picked up one of the figures – an old man, complete with ragged beard. It was cleverly done. A character portrayed entirely by its outline. No detail, no texture – just the shape itself.
    He was putting it carefully back with its fellows when a thought occurred to him. He picked it up again, examining the edges of the shape. Curious … He moved along the table, examining each of the puppet shapes in turn. That couldn’t be right. These must be just templates, shapes from which the actual puppets were cut.
    In which case, where were the puppets themselves? He looked round but there were not many places they could be. A small cupboard turned out to be home to blank card, paper, and chalk for the board outside. He lifted the edge of the cloth and peered under the table, shining the sonic screwdriver along, to reveal just the wooden boards laid on the bare ground beneath. His frown deepened. He was missing something obvious. Unless, of course, he wasn’t …
    Maybe she had taken the puppets with her. Or they were stored somewhere else. Except, he had walked all round the tent earlier and there was nowhere else. Plus it wasn’t just