Clarence (Chapter 8)

Chapter 8 (If You're Happy and You Know It)

Owen was sat in the corner of the metal room, Elliot sat on his knee as they both eyed up Clarence cautiously. The clown entered from another doorway in the room and was carrying a brown sack. He began to hand out bananas, apples and oranges from the sack to each of the people.

Owen turned to a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair. “What’s he doing, Jane?”

“He’s been doing it since I first arrived,” said Jane.

“Does he do anything?”

Jane shook her head. “No. A few times a day he comes in with that sack and hands out the fruit and then disappears again.”

“You were one of the first to go missing,” said Owen.

Jane nodded. “I know. I was out chopping wood in the yard when he grabbed me. I didn’t have time to do anything. There was a flash and I ended up here. Then the others came.”

“We all thought you were dead,” said Owen. He noticed Elliot’s scared face and squeezed his arm gently. “I thought I’d lost Elliot.”

“I’m sorry for going back to get my ball, dad,” said Elliot.

“Hey, that doesn’t matter now. All that matters is us trying to work a way out of this.”

Clarence arrived at Owen and handed out a banana and orange.

“Thanks,” said Owen, taking the fruit. He looked down at the banana. “Wait a minute, Sidney has been complaining of fruit going missing from his stall at the market.”

“It’ll be this chap then,” said Jane, gratefully taking an apple.

“Where are we?” said Owen to Clarence.

Clarence looked down at him. “Safe.”

“Yes, we guessed that,” said Owen, “but where exactly is safe. We’re obviously not dead.”

Clarence shook his head.

“Believe me we’ve tried asking him,” said Jane. “But something’s broken in him. It’s like he can’t say anything else. He can’t communicate properly.”

Owen sighed and rested his head against the metal wall. “Wherever we are is some kind of building. The only metal building on Heliatos isn’t even a building.”

“You mean the colony ship?” said Jane.

“That’s right, but I’ve been up there just recently. Clarence was hanging out there, but the whole place was lifeless.”

“The rest of us had started to come up with a plan though,” said Jane, shifting a little closer to Owen.

“Go on.”

“We were going to try and rush him when he goes through that other doorway. See what’s beyond it.”

“It sounds dangerous.”

“Not necessarily,” said Jane. “All he’s done so far is try and protect us from whatever he thinks we need protecting from. I don’t think he’ll hurt us, but he’s not going to let us through that doorway either.”

“It’s risky.”

“What other option do we have? We need to get out of here and back to our families.”

Owen couldn’t deny that. He thought of his wife and daughter back at home. He wanted nothing more than to get Elliot back to them now and make his family whole and happy again. While he was gone Heather and Kat would assume he was dead. The grief would be unbearable.

“Okay,” said Owen, watching Clarence disappear out the door. “Next time he comes in, we rush him and then break through. Then maybe we’ll get some answers.”




The Doctor, Holly, Lilly and Ringo had been escorted from the ring to a caravan outside. Gordon had been instructed by Joe to tie them up and a couple of clowns were standing guard outside the door.

“What’s the plan then?” said Lilly, trying to escape her bonds.

“I’m afraid I don’t have one just yet,” said the Doctor, frowning. But he wasn’t frowning at her. He was frowning at himself. “I can’t believe how stupid I was to get us stuck in this situation.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Ringo glumly from the corner. “If I’d had been a bit braver and stood up for our opinions we might not have found ourselves here now. And Carlotta may have not been murdered.”

Holly rubbed Ringo on his back and smiled sadly. “It wasn’t your fault, you know?”

“No,” said Ringo, his frown looking more angrier than the Doctors. “It was Uncle Joe’s fault. He’s the problem here.”

“So he needs to die, yeah?” said Lilly. “That way the circus and this planet is free?”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, “but I can’t advocate just killing someone, no matter what he’s done.”

“He’s a murderer,” said Lilly.

“But I’m not going to walk in there with a gun and kill him.”

“I’ll do it,” said Ringo.

“No you won’t,” said the Doctor quickly. “Nobody is murdering anyone. Not today.”

Outside the caravan around the back, Gordon listened intently to the conversation. His eyes narrowed as he heard the Doctor’s words. They were plotting something, and he had to make sure he dealt with it quickly.




Jane was sat beside the door listening intently to any sign of someone the other side. The rest of the kidnapped Braxshinians remained quiet.

Owen held Elliot close to him and rubbed his shoulder.

“Dad, I’m scared,” said the boy.

“I know you are,” he said, soothingly, “but I don’t think Clarence is going to hurt us. I think he’s been helping us.”

“Then why lock us away like this.”

Owen sighed. “Something has gone wrong. In his head.” He pointed towards his temple. “It’s like he’s been brain damaged and he can’t find any other way to communicate.”

“Then why can’t we just ask him to let us go?”

“Because I think that all he can do is keep us safe. He hasn’t got any long-term plans.”

Their conversation was interrupted with Jane tapping the metallic floor with her wedding ring. Her eyes were wide and when Owen looked at her she nodded quickly and then slid away from the door.

The door opened and Clarence entered with a tray of glasses filled with water.

Owen got up and stepped a little closer to the clown. Elliott hung onto the bottom of his tunic, but Jane guided him away from his father.

“Safe,” said Clarence, offering the tray.

“Safe,” said Owen.

And with lightening speed Owen flung his arms up and knocked the tray out of Clarence’s hands. The glasses tumbled to the floor, smashing and splashing water everywhere. Clarence was taken aback and all he could do was look down at the broken glasses sadly.

“NOW!” shouted Jane.

The dozen or so people got to their feet and rushed Clarence. He was knocked to the side as they pushed past him and headed for the door.

“SAFE!” shouted Clarence as he scrambled out of their way.

Jane grabbed Elliott’s hand and ran past the flailing Clarence as he tried to get back to his feet. Owen ushered them through the door and, once everyone was through, turned and looked back at the clown.

“Safe,” said Clarence. He almost sounded sad.

“Thank you,” said Owen, “but we deserve our freedom as well.”

Owen turned and chased after the others. They were in a narrow corridor that seemed to curve around. Wherever they were was circular. He eventually reached another open door and skidded to a halt as he ran into the liberated crowd. But they were standing stock-still looking at something.

“What is it?” said Owen.

“Come and see,” said Jane, her voice full of fear.

Owen joined his new found friend and son at their side and then turned to face what they were looking at. He let out a gasp. What he was looking at was a glass window set into the corridor. But on the other side of the window was something he had never seen. Nobody on the colony world had ever seen it.

On the other side of the window was an blanket of stars set on a inky-black sky and hanging in space just below them was the beautiful, green-blue world of Heliatos.

Somehow they were in space.

Clarence entered the second room and they turned to look at him. He nodded at them slowly. “Safe.”

Owen continued to stare down at his home far below.




In the town centre about two dozen people were doing their daily shops at the market stalls. Sgt. Poulton walked around the perimeter of the market, his hands behind his back. He looked from person to person, smiled to himself and shook his head. That Doctor fellow had told him to make sure everyone was off the street and safely stowed in their houses.

He had tried. He really had, but nobody wanted to stay inside. In fact a number of the younger ones had become rather aggressive. In the end he had given in and taken to patrolling the market to make sure this Clarence fellow didn’t turn up again.

He didn’t want to be a policeman.

He had never wanted to be a policeman.

“That’s mine,” he heard a voice say.

He turned his head to the right. Benjamin Stables was standing with a large turnip clutched in his hands. Standing opposite him was a man with long, dark hair - Gary Falstow. Gary looked particularly angry with Benjamin.

“I saw it first,” said Gary, reaching out for the turnip.

“I asked Mr Phillips to put it aside,” said Benjamin, brushing his auburn fringe out of his eyes. “Didn’t I, Wayne?”

The man behind the stall with the shaved, greying hair looked perplexed and held his hands out. “Well…”

“He didn’t put it aside for you though,” said Gary. “Now give it here.”

“Please, gentleman,” said Wayne.

“Shut up, Wayne,” said Gary. “It’s mine.”

“I was going to put it away for Ben,” said Wayne.

“But you didn’t. You could say that about anything I want.” Gary reached for the turnip. “It’s mine.”

Benjamin stepped back and clutched the turnip tighter. “It’s mine.”

“Now, now, gentleman,” said Poulton, deciding to make his way towards the disagreement. “I’m sure you can find another turnip, Gary.”

“I want that one,” said Gary, his eyes burning with fury.

“It’s just a turnip,” said Wayne from behind his collection of oranges and apple.

“It’s my turnip!” growled Benjamin.

“I want it!” shouted Gary. He was now drawing a crowd of onlookers.

“Fine!” said Ben. “Then you have it!” With one movement he brought the turnip up over his head and then smashed it right over Gary’s head.

He stumbled backwards, his mouth open in shock, and then the fury took over him again. He balled up his fists, growled, and then launched himself at Benjamin, knocking him straight to the ground.

“No,” said Poulton, trying to pull Gary off the helpless Benjamin.

“Get off!” yelled Gary, pushing the policeman off him and knocking him to the ground as well.

Poulton watched on in horror as Gary started to beat Benjamin to a pulp and the crowd of onlookers began to chant and cheer and shout.

And all Poulton could think was how much he didn’t want to be a policeman - the only policeman - on this planet…




The Doctor was staring at the light bulb that swung limply from a cobwebbed covered wire. He was whistling quietly to himself as he watched it gently sway.

Holly was sat with her knees drawn up to her chin and looked glum. She felt sad and she felt like giving up. She had never felt this way before. Even back on the Rock when she was stuck in that cell she still always had an idea that she might get out. And then there was always Lilly there to cheer her up. The chirpy, opportunistic voice in the gloom.

But now even Lilly was glummer than she’d ever seen her before. Lilly was picking at her shoe lace. She picked the plastic tag away and was now pulling at the frayed ends.

Holly shuffled herself over to Lilly. “You alright?”

“Uncle Joe needs to die.”

“Sounds like a bad film,” said Holly, trying to lighten the mood. But there was no way of lighting this mood.

“It’s the effect of Uncle Joe,” said the Doctor from the other end of the trailer.

“I don’t understand,” said Holly. “The circus has been here for months. Why’s it taken so long?”

“Because,” said Lilly, “the circus stopped doing shows.”

“That’s right,” said Ringo. “Usually we arrive for a week or so, do a show every night and then leave the planet. Soon after the planet descends into chaos. But Clarence disappeared after the first night and so we stopped doing the shows.”

“It’s the shows that bring out the emotions,” said the Doctor. “The excitement. The fun. The joy!” He smiled and then looked crestfallen again. “Each night brings out those emotions, which Uncle Joe then absorbs.”

“There’s not been much joy on this planet,” said Ringo, “so it’s taken longer.”

“But how come it doesn’t effect you?” said Holly, nodding towards Ringo.

Ringo pushed his ear lobe to the side to reveal a micro-circuit board attached to his skin. “It’s an inhibitor. It stops Joe from taking out emotions. He created it himself. He still needs us to perform the shows.”

“So you really are just prisoners?”

“That’s right,” said Ringo. “We can feel sadness, but not enough for us to descend into warlike emotions.”

“Hmmm,” said the Doctor, stroking his chin in an almost comical way.

“Hmmm?” said Holly.

“I have a plan,” said the Doctor.

Before the Doctor could respond, the door was flung open. The sunlight from outside streamed into the trailer blinding them momentarily. Standing there was Gordon, flanked by two clowns who were pointing their gun-fingers at the Doctor and his friends.

“What do you want?” said Holly, worriedly.

“To finish this,” said Gordon, emotionless.

To be concluded...