Chapter 9 (Scars in Time)
“Barricade the doors, landlord,” said the Doctor as he burst through the entrance to Gallows Inn and put the time device on one of the tables.
“I can’t do that, sir,” said the landlord, shaking his head and looking worried.
The doors burst open again and Rook, William, Norman and the Wragby’s all entered.
“Here for backup, Reg?” said Norman.
“No, you old fool,” growled Reginald. “I just want to go home.”
“Stay back,” said the Doctor, holding a hand out and gesturing for the woman to move to the back of the pub.
“That is my property, Doctor,” said Rook, stepping forward a little.
“Made with my property,” said the Doctor, tapping the device. “It can’t be allowed to be used. William has already decided not to go back for Caroline.”
Rook looked at William. “Listen to me, man, this is what we’ve worked for. This was our destiny. You need to be reunited with your good lady.”
“She wouldn’t want me to do this. To meddle with time.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” said the Doctor.
“All this is just nonsense,” growled Reginald, pushing in front of the rest of them. “I want to go back to the vortex. I need to go back.”
The Doctor looked at Eleanor and Reginald and then nodded. “For you two, I agree. You need to be off this world, but I will come and find you.”
“You will never find us,” said Reginald.
“We’ll see,” said the Doctor. “Go.”
The Doctor flicked a switch on the device an a bright, white bream of light erupted from the lens-like end. It stopped about six metres away from the device and a crack appeared in the air, expanding to a oval big enough to fit a person.
Reginald stepped forward.
“Reg?” said Norman, confused as to where his friend was going.
“Farewell, Hunter,” said Reginald. He glanced at the Doctor, gave him a dark grin and then stepped into the oval of light, disappearing inside it.
Eleanor walked past Holly and Lilly and smiled at the both of them. She placed a hand each on their chests and closed her eyes. “You two need to sort yourselves out. You’re good for each other.” She smiled and then turned to go. She walked past the Doctor, winked at him and then stepped towards the oval.
“Wait a minute!” said Holly. “The TARDIS key! We need it back!”
“I beg your pardon?” said the Doctor.
Eleanor turned and held out the key. “I think I’ll hold onto it for now.” She grinned and then slowly walked backwards into the light, disappearing from view.
“No!” said Holly running to the light.
The Doctor held her back and quickly flicked the switch. The beam disappearing, the oval of light closing up.
“Doctor, she has my TARDIS key,” said Holly.
“We’ll talk about that later,” said the Doctor. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing her again.”
“What about these two?” said Lilly, nodding towards a dishevelled looking William and a furious-looking Rook.
“Well, William?” said the Doctor.
He shook his head “I just feel so….empty.”
“You can’t give up,” said Rook, turning to face William. “You’re pathetic.”
“Step down, Professor Rook,” said Norman.
Rook went into his jacket pocket and pulled out a revolver.
“Put it down, Rook,” said William.
“No,” said Rook, shaking his head. “This is my time machine. I’m going to find the future and you’re not going to stop me.”
He waved the gun at the Doctor, motioning for him to move away from the device. He flicked the switch and once again the beam of light erupted from the lens.
“Don’t do this, Rook,” said the Doctor. “You don’t know what you’ll find out there.”
William dived for him, but Rook shot at William, hitting him in the arm. William grabbed his arm in agony and staggered towards Rook. Rook tried to get another shot in, but Norman grabbed him from behind and twisted his arm back. Instead Rook fired but missed William totally, instead hitting the machine which fizzed and popped with electricity.
“No!” growled Rook as William staggered backwards, still holding his arm. He was losing a lot of blood.
Before anybody could do anything else the machine exploded. The explosion was only minor, but it disrupted the beam of light, which flickered and fluctuated. William shielded his eyes against the light as the beam expanded and caught William in it.
“William!” shouted the Doctor. He tried to reach William, but he held his arm out to stop the Doctor.
“Look after the orphanage. You and Hazel,” he gasped. And then, in a flash of light, he was sucked backwards into the oval of light before the light finally closed.
The machine was dead.
William was gone.
Holly and Lilly were sat facing each other across a table. Lilly was idly scratching at the soft, wooden surface of the table with a hair-grip.
“I’m sorry,” said Holly.
“For?” replied Lilly, not meeting her gaze.
“For giving the TARDIS up so easily.” She looked down at the hair-grip, as Lilly began to gouge out something. “I really am sorry.”
“We’ll get it back,” smiled Lilly. “And thank you.”
“For what?” said Holly.
“For caring for me.”
Holly looked down at what Lilly was carving. “You’ll get yourself into trouble,” she said.
“Always,” smiled Lilly.
She finished carving and blew the wood-dust away before getting up from the table. Holly looked down at what she had carved:
“Holly + Lilly”
Holly looked up at her and frowned.
Lilly smiled and nodded slowly at her. “Come on, Dangerfield.”
Holly smiled. She wasn’t sure where this was heading, but she was sure that it felt right. She took one more look at the carved words, and then walked towards the exit of Gallows Inn.
The Doctor was stood with Norman by the now-visible TARDIS when Holly and Lilly wandered back up to them.
“I was beginning to think you two weren’t coming back,” said the Doctor. “And what did you do with your TARDIS key?”
“She had no choice,” said Lilly. “Eleanor said she’d kill Holly if she didn’t give her the TARDIS key.”
“Hmmm,” said the Doctor.
Norman cleared his throat. “Look, Doctor, I don’t claim to understand all of what’s going on here, but it’s safe to assume that Mr Fieldgate isn’t coming back, yes?”
“Unfortunately not,” said the Doctor, “but you must continued to run this orphanage.”
“Of course,” said Norman. “And I’m sure Rook won’t be getting out any time soon. But what about the Wragby’s? What was all that about?”
“There are some things you were never meant to know about, Mr Hunter,” said the Doctor. He turned back to the TARDIS and put his own key in the lock and opened the door.
“But how do we explain Mr Fieldgate’s disappearance?”
“I’ll deal with it. Same with the Wragby’s, although I’m not sure they’ll be missed as much as William.”
The Doctor held open the door for the Holly and Lilly. “Ladies.”
Holly smiled at Norman. “Thanks for saving us, Mr Hunter.”
“You’re welcome, miss,” said Norman, taking his cap off and nodding to them as they entered the TARDIS.
“I shall miss him,” said Norman, his voice a little cracked.
“He was a good man,” said the Doctor. He shook Norman’s hand and then went inside the TARDIS. A few moments later there was a gust of wind and the TARDIS dematerialised from Happerby Orphanage for good.
A little while later the Doctor was hunched over the console, furiously typing away at something on a keyboard.
“You okay, Doctor?” said Holly.
“I’m fine,” he said. “You?”
“I’m good. I’m okay.”
“Excellent,” he said, standing up, satisfied with what he’d written.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I’m writing history.” He showed her the screen. It looked like a document and at the top was a picture of William Fieldgate. “I told Caroline that William lived a happy life looking after kids at an orphanage. Well, we now know that it didn’t happen, but who’s to say it didn’t?”
“You’re writing a fake biography for him?” said Holly.
“That’s correct,” he said. “This will be the biography that my past self reads and tells Caroline that he lived happily ever after.”
“God. Time…”
“I know,” said the Doctor. He smiled sadly. “I don’t think I could ever tell her the truth now.”
“No,” said Holly, shaking her head. “Sometimes it’s best not to know.”
Some time later…
The TARDIS was perched unsteadily on top of a small hill of rocks, which in turn was sat on an asteroid. Around the asteroid was the swirling, maelstrom of colours that made up the space/time vortex.
The Doctor exited the box and walked over to the woman - Eleanor - who was sat on the rock, watching the colours fold and peel in and out of each other.
“Hello, stranger,” said Eleanor. She smiled at him. “I met your old self. He looked a lot older. Shouldn’t he look younger? You Time Lords!”
“He’s a little further in my past than you think,” said the Doctor.
“I can’t believe you knew all along what was going to happen.”
“I only just remembered.” The Doctor held out his hand. “My key.”
Eleanor rolled her eyes and gave it back to him. And then she smiled again. “Where’s Mrs and Mrs?”
“Sleeping.” He looked around him. “Where’s your father?”
“Oh, he exited the vortex before you turned it off. He’s somewhere out there. Probably looking for a victim.”
“I’m sorry you got trapped in that dimension.”
“Hmmm. When you switched it off the first time I ended up in the 1940’s. I managed to slip back in though and that’s when I woke up in that other dimension. Still, we’re all sorted now, aren’t we?”
“Obviously.”
“So, are you going to finish the hunt?” she said, looking at him inquisitively.
“No,” said the Doctor. “Not this time. But you just watch yourself out here. You and your father. You give me any problems and you’re gone.”
“Yes, sir,” said Eleanor, giving a mock salute. She looked back at the TARDIS and then cracked her knuckles. “There is one other thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ve sensed a disturbance in the vortex.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your friend, William. He entered the corridor, didn’t he? Before it broke up?”
“No. He was killed. The beam expanded and he was caught in it.”
“Hmmm,” said Eleanor. “I don’t think so.”
“But how can he still be alive?” The Doctor started to get concerned.
“I don’t know, sweetheart, but he’s out there somewhere.”
“In the vortex?!”
“No, but out there…in space and time…somewhere…”
The Doctor had parked the TARDIS around the corner from the street. He didn’t want to be spotted. Caroline wouldn’t recognise him now and he’d said his goodbyes a long time ago. He had fully intended on not interfering or being involved in her life any more.
But he had to be certain.
He walked up to the door of her house. She wouldn’t know him. It would be fine. He’d just be a weird stranger to her now.
He knocked on the door.
A few seconds later it opened, but it wasn’t Caroline who was standing there. Instead it was a woman with red hair and freckles. She smiled at him.
“Is Caroline in?” he asked, trying to peer past the woman.
“Caroline? You mean Parker-Fieldgate? No, she moved out a few weeks ago. Are you a friend?”
“No. Yes. I mean…I used to be. Does she have a forwarding address?”
“No,” said the woman. “She just upped and left one day. Took the entire family with her.”
“What?”
“What’s your name, mate?” she asked, folding her arms, distrustful of him.
“The Doctor.”
“Smith?”
“There abouts.”
The woman smiled. “I have a letter for you. She left it in my care and said that if a man called Doctor Smith ever came looking then whoever was living here should give it to him. Hold on a moment.”
She disappeared back inside the house. The Doctor looked around the street. Where had she gone? Why would she have just vanished?
The woman returned with the letter. The Doctor thanked her and said goodbye and then opened up the letter. Inside was a black and white photograph, and on that photograph, to his amazement, was Caroline and William. Caroline was in a long, flowing wedding dress and William in a suit - his arm in a sling. Between them was a smiling toddler. Next to William was his other, past companion, Danny, with a blonde-haired woman. They were holding hands.
The Doctor shook his head in disbelief. He unfolded the paper and read the letter:
Dear Doctor,
If you’re reading this then it means that you’ve come looking for me. William told me everything that had happened. How he tried to get back to me and how you tried to stop him. I don’t blame you for that. It was a dangerous move by him, but he still found his way to us. I don’t know how he did it, but he found me again.
So where am I?
I won’t tell. Not because I don’t want you to know, but because I know you will have a sense of duty and try and put things right. But not this time. I am making this choice. Even Danny is happy. You recognise the girl, don’t you?
“Lisa,” said the Doctor, touching the photograph. This was a friend that Danny had lost in the altered timeline.
But how was she even alive and well with him? That timeline had been erased.
I won’t explain how we did it, because it’ll just create another mystery for you to solve. And you won’t find the rest of the family or friends either. We are living somewhere were nothing can ever find or hurt us again.
And don’t worry, history will remain intact. I will ensure that that happens.
So turn around, Doctor, and go back to your box. Say goodbye. Live your life.
Live. YOUR. Life.
All my love forever, Caroline
The Doctor folded up the letter and photograph and put it in his blazer pocket. He stood there for a moment. None of it made any sense. Where had she gone? He sighed. Wherever she was, she wouldn’t want to be found.
Reluctantly, he turned around and headed back to his box. Back to his TARDIS. In the end it didn’t matter. They were together again. They were happy.
That was all that mattered.
He closed his eyes and felt time moving past him. It confused him, but it felt ok. It felt right.
He was going to go and live his life.
Live. HIS. Life.
He took one last look around the street and then went home.
The End
No comments:
Post a Comment