Chapter 4 (Super Mario Brothers (and Princess Toadstool))
Day 12
It hadn’t taken much persuading to get Arnold to put on a fundraiser for the Scouts, but it had taken quite a bit of arm twisting for him to get it arranged in such a short time.
Holly had managed it, however, with the Doctor, Lilly and her putting up posters and canvassing the area, making sure everyone knew about the fundraiser that was to take place in Crestfall Park in the centre of the estate.
Arnold had queried why Holly was so eager to help set up a fundraiser. Holly had told him a distortion of the truth - it was for her grandfather, who had been a Scout leader many years ago. That bit was the truth at least.
For a split second Holly’s thoughts flitted back to her home life. In 1992 her grandparents were alive and well and she was just a little girl. It would be so easy to hop on a train and visit them, but she knew it’d be futile. How could she even consider that, she thought to herself? They’d not have a clue who she was anyway.
She buried the thoughts away and the preparations had begun. The night before the fundraiser the Doctor had gone to the TARDIS to get some equipment whilst Holly had found Lilly sat out in the back garden. It was a particularly warm and humid night and Lilly was trying to cool down in the night air.
“Not used to the heat, eh?” said Holly, grabbing herself a glass of wine and joining Lilly outside.
“You mean with Scotland being so cold?” said Lilly with a wry smile.
Holly smiled in reply to her. “Do you miss it? At all?”
“No,” said Lilly blankly. “Nothing about that life I miss.”
Holly sighed. “I’m sorry you had such a rough time.”
Lilly turned to Holly. “All I remember since being a little girl was living in fear. I never knew what bad people were gonna come round to the house. I never knew if my so-called dad were going to fight or get drunk or be arrested. The whole family were criminals.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t pity me, Dangerfield,” said Lilly. “I’m better off now.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know,” said Lilly. She turned away. “You couldn’t possibly imagine what’s going through my head.”
“Then why don’t you tell me,” said Holly, pleadingly.
Lilly exhaled deeply. “I don’t talk about my past because I don’t want to. It’s not who I am. The person I used to be ceased to exist the day that the Doctor took me away.”
“But it’s the past that makes you.”
“You don’t think I don’t know that?” she said. She pointed to her temple. “I know what I’m like. I know it’s screwed with my head. But there’s something else in there. Something different. Just cos you have a shitty childhood, it doesn’t make you insane.”
“You’re not insane-”
“Aren’t I?” said Lilly, edging a little closer to Holly, cutting her off. “I always buried that side of myself when I was little. I knew it was in there like a bull trying to break through, but it’s there. Every single day I try and think of different ways to ruin my life.”
“But why would you think that?” said Holly. “You have such a fantastic life with the Doctor.”
“Because always there at the back of my mind is the darkness.” Lilly looked angry. Her face was contorted into such fury that Holly felt terrified. And then her face fell and crumpled into a quivering mess, the tears pouring from her eyes. “Help me,” she said.
Holly reached out and put her arms around here. “Come here,” she said, pulling her in.
Lilly buried her head on Holly’s chest and sobbed. “How can I make myself better?”
“Only you can answer that, Lilly,” said Holly, stroking her hair, “but if you ever need to talk - and I mean ever - I’m here for you.”
Lilly looked up at her and smiled. “You have such pretty eyes.”
Holly frowned.
“I’ve been awful to you.”
Holly smiled. “Yes you have.” And then she winked.
Lilly laughed and then drew her knees up, Holly’s arm still around her. “It’s a beautiful night.”
“Yes it is,” said Holly.
“Busy day ahead tomorrow,” said Lilly.
Holly nodded. “A busy day ahead.” And all of a sudden Holly felt guilty for reading that diary.
The Doctor locked up the TARDIS and hefted the large rucksack onto his shoulder. He had been back to the TARDIS to collect some equipment that he felt he may need for the following days festivities. He had landed the TARDIS behind some bushes near to the motorway and so far it hadn’t been discovered.
He was about to turn and head back to the house when something grabbed him from behind and pushed him to the ground, face-first.
He tuned around quickly and looked up. He couldn’t make out the figures features, but it was tall and slender and only partially illuminated by the orange street lights.
“Careful,” said the Doctor, brushing dry mud off his coat, “I’ll make sure you pay for the dry cleaning.”
“You have to leave,” said the figure, its voice high-pitched with a light rasping sound.
“You have to reveal yourself,” said the Doctor. “Or rather the person you’ve disguised yourself as.”
“Why are you so concerned?”
“Because you are obviously hiding from something. That’s putting this entire planet in danger. I’m not here to hurt you, but you need to get off this planet.”
“You are an alien too,” said the figure. “You are a Time Lord.”
“That’s right,” said the Doctor, getting to his feet, but making sure he was out of reach of the figures thin arms. “I am a Time Lord.”
“Then you must leave.”
“I am a protector of this world,” said the Doctor. “I might not always like it, but I am.”
“Your people are dangerous. Even more so since their return.”
“I’m well aware of that,” said the Doctor, “but you shouldn’t tar me with the same brush.”
“And neither should you judge my species.”
“I don’t even know your species. What are they?”
The alien laughed. “I can’t tell you that, Doctor. If I did you’d find a way to reveal the truth.”
“Then why confront me now? Why not stay in hiding?”
“Because this is a friendly warning. If you do not cease with this investigation worse things will happen.”
“Don’t threaten me, sir,” said the Doctor.
“Then don’t make me threaten you.” The figure backed away into the shadows. “This is your first warning.”
The Doctor waited for a few moments and then ran into the bushes behind the TARDIS, but it was too dark and the alien was nowhere to be seen. The Doctor sighed, closed his eyes and then began the trip back to the house. He couldn’t just turn away from this now, but they had to be ready.
Day 13
The following day was greeted with warm, August sunshine. Holly was busy hanging the washing out on the line. She shielded her eyes against the sun and felt the scorching hot rays on her face. It was only 8.30am, but already it was hot. They were due for a scorcher.
Holly chuckled to herself as she finished pegging the last of the clothes on the line. She had inadvertently joined the Doctor and Lilly and had gone travelling into space, yet now here she was doing normal, every day things.
Holly walked back into the kitchen and shut the door. When she entered the living room she was greeted by the most bizarre site she had seen so far,
The Doctor was stood in red overalls with a blue shirt, a fake moustache and a red cap with an “M” on the front of it.
“What…?” was all the Holly could managed.
The door opened from the bottom of the stairs and Lilly walked in dressed in a similar costume but in green and blue, with a similar moustache.
“What…?” Holly repeated.
“It’s fancy dress, remember?” said the Doctor, holding his arms out and smiling.
“Since when?” said Holly, frowning and putting the empty washing basket on the table.
“Since Arnold told you,” said Lilly.
“Yeah, but that was for the stall holders,” said Holly.
“We are having a stall,” said the Doctor.
“Wait a minute,” said Holly, shaking her head and sitting down, “have I missed a few very important pages in this story or something?”
“I mentioned to Arnold the other day that we’d love to run a stall.”
Lilly nodded. “We’re doing the cake stall. Arnold’s wife’s baked us up a load.” Lilly turned to the Doctor and whacked him on the arm. “Why didn’t you tell her.”
“I’m sorry,” said the Doctor. “I assumed you had.”
Holly shook her head. “Good that we’re all communicating with this.” Holly suddenly had a thought. “Hang on. You two are going as the Mario Brothers, yes?”
The Doctor and Lilly nodded in unison.
“Then what about…?”
Lilly grinned, ran outside and then came back in with a bright pink dress and gold, plastic crown.
“Oh no.”
“You’re Princess Toadstool,” she smiled, handing the dress over to her.
“Or Princes Peach, depending on where you played the game and in what era,” said the Doctor, holding up a finger.
“Oh, god,” said Holly, holding up the dress and looking worried.
“You’ll be fine,” said Lilly.
“I’ve never been one for Cosplay,” said Holly.
“Mario and Luigi will be proud,” said the Doctor, stuffing a pillow down his overalls.
“Don’t be daft,” said Holly. “It’s not like they’re real.”
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. “You try jumping up and bashing in blocks with your head and then tell me it’s not real.” He laughed and walked away.
Holly looked dumbfounded. “What?”
Lilly smiled. “Go try your dress on, Princess.”
Holly raised her eyebrows, smiled and then went upstairs.
A few hours later the three of them were stood in the park. The centre of the park was a large, open area surrounded by trees and bushes. All of the stalls had been arranged into a half-moon around the area and a large bouncy castle was set out in the centre.
It was noon and already the park was beginning to fill up with visitors. Old men and women, young couples and children…a good number of the residents were already there.
Lilly was sat on a put-up chair with her legs crossed biting into one of Patricia Jefferson’s fairy cakes. With every bite she looked down at it with desire in her eyes.
“I feel like a right numpty,” said Holly, standing there in the blazing sunshine in her pink dress and golden crown. Lilly had also managed to find her a bushy, brown wig.
“Nonsense,” said Lilly, “you like stunning.”
“Steady on,” said Holly, “you’ll make Mario jealous.”
The Doctor was standing trying to describe the delights of sweet ball bearings to a young child and his mother.
Lilly laughed. “I’m sorry, Mario, but your Princess is in another castle.”
Holly laughed.
“I used to escape the house back in Edinburgh and see my friend, Craig. He used to have all the Mario games and I’d play them for hours and hours. I went to bed dreaming of being in the Mushroom Kingdom and having a better life.”
“Running away from man-eating plants and walking mushrooms was a better life for you?” said Holly.
“Better than what I went through,” said Lilly sadly.
“Afternoon all,” came Arnold’s jolly voice as he walked up, arm in arm, with his wife. “How are my wife’s cakes selling.”
“Oh, like hot cakes,” smiled the Doctor, jogging over and then readjusting the cushion in the front of his overalls.
“Good,” said Mrs Jefferson, a broad smile on her chubby face.
Arnold took off his panama hat and fanned himself with it. “Phew! It’s a warm one today.”
“Yeah, I’m sweating here, Doctor,” said Lilly, finishing her cake and going for another.
The Doctor batted her hand away gently. “No more, Lilly.”
“Glad they’re a success,” said Mrs Jefferson.
“Well, we’ll leave you to it,” said Arnold, giving them a wave and heading off towards the Scout stall.
A couple of hours passed and the park was nearly chock-a-block full. The Doctor was eyeing each and every one of them with interest.
“Right,” he said, finally, “you two man the stall. I’m off to put the next part of the plan in motion.”
“Which is?” said Holly, frowning.
The Doctor lifted up a heavy rucksack and shook it. “In here are four devices. I’m going to place them at each corner of the park, high in the trees, and then activate them.”
“And what’ll it do?” said Holly.
“Yeah, don’t you think you should have told us all about this?” said Lilly.
“I didn’t have time,” said the Doctor, impatiently. “When it activates, if our alien is in this park it will cause him to reveal himself whether he likes it or not.”
“Okay,” said Holly slowly. “Won’t that cause a panic if the alien suddenly appears?”
“Yes,” said the Doctor, “but we’ll have him at last!”
To be continued...
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