Chapter 4 (Heartbroken Lovers)
Holly was tucking into her slice of bacon when the door to the dining room opened and the Doctor came walking in dressed in a silk robe. Hazel was standing beside him and guided him towards the table.
“Doctor!” said Lilly. “Are you okay?”
He closed his eyes and put a hand to the back of his head. “Just a moment, Illithia, just a moment.”
“He never calls me Illithia,” hissed Lilly to Holly.
“You had a bit of a knock, sir,” said Hazel, pulling the chair out for the Doctor and helping him to sit down.
“Thank you, young lady,” said the Doctor.
“You’re welcome, sir.” She stood up, her hands in front of her. “Would you like anything to eat, sir?”
The Doctor smiled. “Some toast would be nice. Just toast and butter. And a cup of coffee.”
“As you wish, sir,” said Hazel. She bowed her head a little to the woman and then turned to go.
“You alright?” said Holly. “What happened?”
“I was stuck further down stream,” said the Doctor, rubbing his eyes. “Ran into an odd couple in the woods and then found my way here.”
“Told you he’d be alright,” said Holly, pointing her fork towards Lilly.
“I’m pleased you’re both safe as well,” said the Doctor. “Where are we exactly?”
“An orphanage,” said Holly, “but there doesn’t seem to be any kids here.”
“No kids? An orphanage with no kids? That’s like a farmyard with no farmyard animals,” said the Doctor, looking around the dining room. The ceiling was high and towards the far end was a huge, white fireplace. The walls were decorated in royal red with flowery gold patterns and there were various pictures and paintings adorning the walls.
“I asked the bloke in charge where the kids were,” said Lilly, “but he said they’d gone on holiday or something.”
The door opened and Hazel bustled back in with a trolley containing a plate of toast, block of butter and a steaming hot pot of coffee.
“Thank you, miss…?”
“Hazel,” she said politely.
“Thank you, Hazel,” said the Doctor.
There came the sound of a man clearing his throat at the doorway.
“If you’ll forgive me,” said Hazel, “the master will see you now.”
Hazel bustled away quickly as the man, William, walked into the dining room. He greeted both ladies with a courteous nod and then sat down at the dining table.
The Doctor looked up, smiled, looked back down at his hot and inviting coffee, and then quickly looked back up again, his eyes meeting William’s.
“Good morning,” said William. He extended his hand across the table. “My name is William Fieldgate. Welcome to Happerby Orphanage.”
“Nice to meet you,” said the Doctor, refusing to look away from the man, shaking his hand slowly.
William smiled. “And I’m afraid you have some explaining to do.”
“Explaining?” said the Doctor, still looking directly at William.
“About why you were trespassing on our grounds.”
“We…got lost,” he said quickly. “It’s 1908, yes?”
“Yes,” said William with a frown. “What an odd question.”
“Not 1902?”
“Doctor,” said Holly, “the gentleman’s hardly gonna get his years wrong.”
“No, probably not,” he said, still refusing to look away from William. “So it’s been six years for you.”
“I beg your pardon?” said William.
“Just thinking out aloud,” said the Doctor, managing a smile. “How long have you had this place?”
“Oh, not long,” he said, looking around. “I used to run a small orphanage near to here in a town called-”
“Thornsby,” said the Doctor, finishing his sentence.
“Good guess,” said William. “I took over this place. I used the money from the sale of my father‘s textile business. Bought it off a gentleman called Sydney Rook. Perhaps you’ve heard of him if you’re a doctor.”
“Where are all the children?” asked the Doctor.
“First things first,” said William. “Whom am I addressing?”
“Well, you’ve met my two friends, Holly and Lilly. My name is Dr. John Galloway. I’m Lilly’s uncle.”
The Doctor frowned. “Sydney Rook you say.” He’d heard that name somewhere before. “And who exactly is he?”
“A great man. A brilliant man.” William had wonder in his eyes. “He is an expert on time travel.”
“I beg your pardon?” said the Doctor.
“Oh, forgive me,” said William. “I forget that not everyone is as versed on these subjects as myself and Professor Rook.”
“You know about time travel?” said Lilly.
“Indeed I do, young lady,” said William. “A few years ago such wonders never would have even entered this small mind of mine, but then my life took a turn and my priorities changed.”
“We need to leave,” said the Doctor, getting up quickly.
“I haven’t finished my bacon,” said Holly, frowning at the Doctor’s abruptness.
“I’m sure Mr Fieldgate could provide you with a doggy bag,” said the Doctor. “I need to get my clothes from the maid.”
“Doctor, it’s rude to just walk away,” said Lilly.
William frowned. “Why do you call him doctor. He’s your uncle, isn’t he?”
“He likes us to call him doctor,” said Lilly, lying.
“A little strange,” said William, also getting up.
“Look,” said Holly, “Mr Fieldgate here has been very good to us. His staff took us in, fed us and kept us warm. We’re lucky he’s not calling the police on us.”
“Girls, we need to leave,” said the Doctor, heading out of the dining room.
William, Lilly and Holly all rushed after the Doctor. They found him in the entrance hall gazing up at the portrait of the woman they had seen earlier on.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” said William.
“Who is it?” asked the Doctor, worriedly.
“My love. I lost her six years ago this month.”
“I’m sorry,” said Holly, touching him on his arm.
“She was very special to me. We only knew each other for a short amount of time, but she filled my world with wonder. We were due to be married.”
“Lilly, go upstairs and get our gear,” said the Doctor, pointing towards the staircase.
“Yes, boss,” said Lilly, marching away with a huff.
“What was her name?” asked Holly, joining the Doctor to look up at the picture.
“Caroline,” said William. His eyes had glazed over. He was lost in his memories. “She was truly perfection.”
“Oh, grow up, William,” said the Doctor.
“Doctor!” gasped Holly.
“I think you should leave now,” said William, turning to face the Doctor, his face stony and stern. “How dare you come into our home and be so abrupt. You need to leave.”
“I intend to,” said the Doctor.
Lilly appeared at the top of the stairs, carrying their gear. She threw the Doctor’s clothes to him. “Don’t ask me to help again, uncle.”
“Thank you for your hospitality,” said the Doctor, “but we must be going now.”
“I’m sorry,” said Holly apologetically as the three of them made their towards the front door.
“I’d advise you not to set foot on my grounds again,” said William. “Mr Hunter’s dogs don’t like visitors. Next time I shall call the police.”
“Oh, great,” said Lilly. “See what you’ve done?”
The Doctor hurried out of the door and urged Lilly and Holly to follow him. They made their way towards the TARDIS, still concealed at the end of the garden behind some tall bushes.
“What was that all about?” said Holly.
“In a minute. In a minute,” said the Doctor, frustration in his voice as he tried to get into his trousers.
“No, now!” said Holly, stopping dead in her tracks. “I know you’re not from this planet and you often cock things up, but I’ve never seen you be so rude before. At least not to such a nice man as Mr Fieldgate.”
“I didn’t…mean to sound so rude,” said the Doctor, stopping as he pulled his trousers up and fastened them.
“Then why where you?” asked Lilly. “Usually that’s my job.”
“The poor bloke lost his fiancée,” said Holly. “How’d you like it? Have you never been in love?”
The Doctor’s eye twitched. “It’s not that.” He exclaimed and looked up to the sky. “It’s William. I’ve met him before.”
“What? You can’t have. He didn’t recognise you.”
“It’s because I’ve changed since then,” said the Doctor. “It was a while back. I had a friend - a travelling companion. She became stranded in 1902 and she fell in love with William.”
“Caroline?”
“Yep,” said the Doctor, removing his robe and getting into his yellow shirt. “She was stuck in the 1900’s for a year. She thought I’d abandoned her so instead made a life for herself in Thornsby Town.”
“And then she died?”
“No,” said the Doctor. “I had to go back and take her away from William. If I hadn’t it would have meant the death of a number of children at an orphanage they were running at the time. Her staying in that time had already had disastrous effects on the timeline. A whole different timeline splintered off from her. She couldn’t have stayed there. When I took her away it broke her heart.”
“Oh, Doctor…” said Holly, her hand to her forehead.
“It took her a very long time to get over it as well.”
“He seems alright though,” said Lilly. “It looks like he got over it. He seems quite chirpy actually.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of. That’s why we’re not going to venture too far.”
“So why are we sticking around again?” asked Lilly.
“Well there are no kids at the orphanage, which is strange in itself. Plus, the reason I was knocked out cold last night was because I was knocked out by some kind of…invisible force. I think it was one of the time bumps.”
“Coming from the house?”
“Yes. It knocked me clean out. Time Lords are more sensitive to these things. It was like a warning signal. A sign that something in time has been disturbed here.”
“So we go back and confront him,” said Holly, turning to the house.
“No,” said the Doctor. “We hide the TARDIS - he’s seen it before and I don’t want him to know it’s me - and we stay in the nearby village.”
Lilly shook her head. “But what could he be up to?”
“I don’t know,” said the Doctor, scratching his chin and staring at the ground, “but the name Professor Sydney Rook rings a bell from somewhere. There’s something odd going on, and oddness, professors and heartbroken lovers don’t make a good mix.”
To be continued...
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