Doctor Who Fan Fiction ❯ Dr Who - What If ❯ Human Nature ( Chapter 10 )

`Well, bye everyone. Maybe I'll see you again some time.' Rose said to the group of people they had met, befriended, and saved from an alien version of Jack from the film "A Nightmare Before Christmas". She doubted she would see them again, but it was always nice to live in hope. That was what life with the Doctor was like. Meet people, share extraordinary times, move on.

 

`Wait up, Doctor,' she shouted, jogging after his gangly silhouette. And although she wanted to, she didn't look back. Not once, which turned out to be a good thing as it happened.

 

She fell in step next to him, and he grabbed her hand urgently, quickening his step. 'Rose, do you trust me?'

 

She frowned. 'Well yeah, of course,' she replied.

 

'We have to get to the TARDIS right now. Don't look behind you because we are being followed.'

 

'Followed?' Rose said, about to do that very human thing of turning to look.

 

'Don't turn around,' the Doctor hissed. 'If they see your face, we're done for. When I said we're being followed, what I meant to say was, we're being hunted.'

 

They reached the TARDIS at a run, and the key entered the lock with unerring accuracy. He twisted the key, and with a reassuring click, the door swung open; just as a bolt of green energy exploded on the unopened door.

 

'Get down!' he shouted, and a bolt of green energy passed over their heads and hit the console. He slammed the door shut, and they climbed up off the floor.

 

'Did they see you?' he asked her urgently, holding her shoulders.

 

'I don't know!' she replied, almost crying.

 

'Did they see you?'

 

'I don't know, I was too busy runnin'!'

 

'Rose, it's important, did they see your face?'

 

She'd had her back to who ever it was who was chasing them. 'No, they couldn't have!'

 

He ran around the console and started up the time rotor. 'Off we go!'

 

Rose came and stood by him as he watched the time rotor pump up and down. A warning beep alerted him to a message on the monitor in Gallifreyan script.

 

'Arrrghhh!' He grabbed the monitor and read the warning. 'They're following us.'

 

'How can they do that?' Rose asked as he went back to the controls. 'You've got a time machine.'

 

'Stolen technology, they've got a Time Agent's vortex manipulator. They can follow us wherever we go . . . right across the universe.' He ran his fingers through his hair, looking into the distance. 'They're never going to stop.'

 

He held the back of his neck, deep in thought. 'Unless . . . I'll have to do it . . .'

 

He turned to Rose and gave her an intense look that went right into her soul. 'Rose, you trust me don't you?'

 

'Of course I do,' she said without hesitation.

 

'Because it all depends on you,' he said, as he rummaged under the console.

 

'What does, what am I supposed to do?'

 

He came from under the console, holding a fob watch. 'Take this watch, 'cos my life depends on it. The watch, Rose, this watch is me.'

 

She took the watch and nodded 'Right, okay, gotcha.' The Doctor ran around the console. 'No, hold on, haven't got a clue,' she said, running after him.

 

'Those creatures are hunters. They can sniff out anyone, and me being a Time Lord, well, I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space.'

 

'Hah! And the good news is?'

 

'They can smell me, they haven't seen me. And their life span'll be running out, so we hide. Wait for them to die.'

 

'But they can track us down.'

 

He stopped working the console, and looked at her. 'That's why I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Time Lord. I'm going to become human.' He looked up to the domed ceiling, and watched a headset descend. 'Never thought I'd use this. All the times I've wondered.'

 

'What does it do?'

 

'Chameleon Arch . . . rewrites my biology. Literally changes every single cell in my body. I've set it to human.'

 

He put the fob watch into a receptacle on the front of the headset. 'Now, the TARDIS will take care of everything. Invent a life story for me, find me a setting, and integrate me.' He turned to look at her standing behind him. 'Can't do the same for you, you'll just have to improvise. I should have just enough residual awareness to let you in.'

 

Rose remembered when every cell had changed in his body before. 'But, hold on. If you're goin' to rewrite every single cell, isn't it gonna hurt?'

 

'Oh, yeah, it hurts.'

 

The Doctor was standing at the console, studying the monitor. 'Ah, right, the TARDIS is heading for the early twentieth century. Oh, brilliant, I'm going to be a teacher in a boarding school.'

 

'What about me?' Rose asked him.

 

'Er, we need to think of something that'll keep you close enough to keep an eye on me . . . What about my personal housemaid?'

 

'Are you havin' a laugh? If I'm gonna be anythin' I'm gonna be your wife,' she said defiantly.

 

'What?'

 

'Queen Elizabeth the First said so,' she said with a cheeky smile.

 

He groaned in resignation. 'I suppose I have no choice, do I?' he said. 'Why don't you go along to the wardrobe, and find some period clothing.'

 

She made her way out of the console room, and the Doctor operated the recorder on the monitor. 'This working?' he asked himself, tapping the screen. 'Rose, before I change, here's a list of instructions for when I'm human. One, don't let me hurt anyone. We can't have that, but you know what humans are like. Two, don't worry about the TARDIS. I'll put it on emergency power so they can't detect it, just let it hide away. Four, no, wait a minute, three, no getting involved in big historical events. Four, you . . . Don't let me abandon you. And five . . .'

 

In the wardrobe, she chose a long tweed skirt with a white blouse, a long, cream coloured woollen coat, and tweed hat. Putting them over her arm, she made her way back to the console room, where she could hear the Doctor talking in the distance.

 

'And twenty three, if anything goes wrong, if they find us, Rose, then you know what to do. Open the watch, everything I am is kept safe in there. Now, I've put a perception filter on it so the human me won't think anything of it. To him, it's just a watch. But don't open it unless you have to. Because once it's open, then the Family will be able to find me. It's all down to you, Rose. Your choice . . . Oh . . . and thank you.' Rose entered the room, and dropped the clothes on the jump seat.

 

'Oh, there you are . . . you found something to wear then,' he said with a forced smile. 'I've recorded a help file for you, for when I'm . . . well . . . not me. These are the controls here.'

 

He proceeded to show her how to access the messages, and then she had a go herself. 'Right then, time to do it,' he said reluctantly. He gave Rose a long hug, and a kiss, before putting on the headset. He smiled weakly at her before the process started, and he started screaming in agony.

 

 

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John Smith was lying in bed in an old-fashioned wood panelled room, with his wife Rose by his side. An old grandfather clock was ticking away, marking the passage of time. He could hear voices in the corridor outside. He looked lovingly at his sleeping wife and smiled. How lucky was he to have a wife as beautiful and amazing as her?

 

She stirred and her eyes flickered open, her expression puzzled at first, as though she didn't know where she was, and then a contented smile spread across her face. `Good mornin' my love.'

 

`Good morn-ING my darling,' he replied, emphasizing the “G” that she was so fond of dropping off the end of her words.

 

She reached up and stroked his face as she kissed his cheek. `Sorry. It's an old habit.'

 

`I was only teasing,' he said as he swung his legs out of the bed. `It's part of your personality, and I find it delightful.' He stood up, and started to put on his tartan dressing gown over his blue, striped pyjamas.

 

There was a knock at the door. `Come in,' he called.

 

Their housemaid Jenny entered, carrying a breakfast tray and turned her back when she saw he wasn't fully dressed.

 

`Pardon me, Mister Smith. You're not dressed yet. I can come back later.'

 

Rose giggled as he tied the cord on the dressing gown. `No, it's all right, it's all right. Put it down.'

 

Jenny put the tray down on a table by the leather settee and drew the curtains, letting the morning light into the room.

 

Rose could see her husband was a bit distracted. `Are you alright Love? You seem a bit muddled this mornin'. Did you have another one of those dreams?'

 

`Er, yes. It was another one of those extraordinary dreams.'

 

`What about, sir?' Jenny asked, and then realised she was being a bit familiar with the school master. `Er, if you don't mind me asking sir.'

 

`No, not at all. I dream I'm this adventurer. This daredevil, a madman. The Doctor, I'm called. And last night I dreamt that you Rose were there, as my companion.'

 

`Me?' Rose said, trying to sound surprised.

 

`A teacher and his wife, sir? That sounds like a good start.'

 

`I'm a man from another world, though.'

 

Rose realised that his memories were bleeding through. `Well it can't be true Darlin', because there's no such thing,' she said, trying to make him give up his train of thought.

 

He walked over to the mantelpiece and picked up an ornate pocket watch. `This thing. The watch is . . .' He stopped and looked into the distance, before putting the watch back down. Rose breathed a sigh of relief.

 

`Ah, it's funny how dreams slip away. But I do remember one thing; it all took place in the future. In the Year of Our Lord two thousand and seven.'

 

`I can prove that wrong for you, sir,' Jenny said, picking up the paper from the tray. `Here's the morning paper. It's Monday, November 10th, 1913, and you're completely human, sir. As human as they come.'

 

`I'll vouch for that,' Rose said with a saucy smile.

 

`Mmm, that's me. Completely human.'

 

Jenny smiled at Mr and Mrs Smith. They were such a lovely couple. `I'll leave you to your breakfasts then.'

 

`Yes, thank you Jenny.' He picked up the tray and took it over to the bed, where he put it on Rose's lap. He plumped up the pillows behind her, before sitting on the bed himself.

 

`How is the fever this morning?' he asked her, as he poured the tea into the porcelain cup.

 

`Oh, it's fine thank you. I'm gettin' stronger every day.'

 

Rose had realised when they arrived at FarringhamBoarding School, that she may have made a fundamental error in insisting on being his wife. They would be expected to share a bed, which she was fine with. She enjoyed having a hug and a cuddle with the Doctor in front of the TV in the living room in the TARDIS.

 

There was something else that married couples did which she wouldn't mind doing with the Doctor one day. At the moment though, he was John Smith, and doing that sort of thing would be taking advantage of the man she loved. She felt as though it would be like she was being unfaithful to him.

 

Fortunately, the TARDIS cover story meant that they had arrived from India, where John had been teaching at the University of Calcutta. Rose was able to convince John that they had left Calcutta when she had contracted malaria, and she was convalescing in England. This meant that she wouldn't be expected to consummate their pretend marriage.

 

He bit into his toast and smiled at her. `That's good news. I knew this fresh, country air would do you good.'

 

She finished spreading marmalade on her toast and took a bite. `You have been so kind and patient with me. I don't deserve a husband like you.'

 

`Nonsense! It's me who should be grateful for having a beautiful wife who would put up with an ungainly oaf like me.'

 

Rose laughed and looked at the clock. `And with no sense of time,' she added. `One of us has a history class to teach, and it isn't me.'

 

`Ohhhh, I've done it again,' he said, finishing his toast and slurping his tea. `You are such a wonderful distraction.' He rushed to wash and brush his teeth in the hand basin, before getting dressed, snogging his wife, and hurrying out of the door carrying an armful of books.

 

Later that morning, after teaching his first class, John was walking along an upper corridor, carrying his armful of books, when he met a neat woman in a starched nurses uniform.

 

`Oh, good morning, Mr. Smith,' she said pleasantly.

 

He dropped some of the books. `There we go.'

 

`Let me help you,' Matron offered.

 

`No, no, I've got it, no. Er, how best to retrieve? Tell you what. If you could take these.' He held out the remaining books for her to hold so that he could pick up the fallen ones.

 

`Good.'

 

`No harm done,' he agreed.

 

`How is Mrs. Smith this morning?'

 

`Oh, much improved thank you. It won't be long before she's back to her usual, vibrant self.'

 

`How long has it been now, a couple of months? It must have been a severe attack, your wife is lucky to have survived.'

 

`She may be petite, but she is from strong stock. Her mother was a strong and fierce woman. Why I remember her displeasure once whilst I was courting Rose; she gave me such a slap on my cheek that I swear when the light is right you can still see the mark.'

 

The Matron laughed, a pleasant, bubbly laugh. `You must have redeemed yourself though to have been allowed to marry her daughter.'

 

`Yes, it took a good many years to convince her that I loved Rose more than anything else in the universe.'

 

`I appear to be holding your books,' Matron noticed.

 

`Yes, so you are. Sorry, sorry. Just let me . . .' He tried awkwardly to take the books from her.

 

`No, why don't I take half?'

 

`Ah, brilliant idea. Brilliant. Perfect. Division of labour.'

 

`We make quite a team.'

 

`Don't we just.'

 

`So, these books. Were they being taken in any particular direction?'

 

`Yes. This way.' He led the way down a smaller corridor. `I always say, Matron, give the boys a good head of steam, they'll soon wear themselves out.'

 

`Truth be told, when it's just you and me, I'd much rather you call me Nurse Redfern. Matron sounds rather well, matronly.'

 

`Ah. Nurse Redfern it is then.'

 

`Though we've known each other all of two months, you could even say Joan.'

 

`Joan?'

 

`That's my name.'

 

`Well, obviously.'

 

`And it's John, isn't it?'

 

`Yes, yes, it is, yes. And Rose, my wife's name is Rose. But of course you know that, I've mentioned her many times, haven't I?' he rambled on.

 

They reached a notice board at the top of a flight of stairs.

 

`Have you seen this, John? The annual dance at the village hall tomorrow. Do you think Rose will be well enough to go? It's nothing formal, but rather fun by all accounts.'

 

`I hadn't thought about it, but I'm sure it would do her the power of good. We've always enjoyed dancing . . . I think.'

 

`It's been ages since I've been to a dance, only no one's asked me.'

 

`Really? I find that hard to believe. An attractive woman like you,' he said and then became embarrassed when he realised what he'd said. `Well, I should imagine that you'd be, er, I mean, I never thought you'd be one for. I mean, there's no reason why you shouldn't. If you do, you may not . . .' He started backing away from the conversation.

 

`The stairs,' she warned him.

 

`What about the stairs?'

 

`They're right behind you.'

 

He disappeared in a flurry of books and papers.

 

Back in his study, Joan was tending to the back of John's head, and he kept flinching.

 

`Stop it. I get boys causing less fuss than this.'

 

`Because it hurts,' he complained as the door flew open and Rose hurried in.

 

`Is he all right?' she asked Matron. `Are you all right?' she asked John. `I was, er . . . takin' the air in the grounds, when some boys told me you'd fallen down the stairs.'

 

`No, it was just a tumble, that's all,' he told his concerned wife.

 

`It's just a minor contusion to the back of the head, Mrs. Smith.'

 

`I was just telling Nurse Redfern, Joan, about those dreams. They are quite remarkable tales. I keep imagining that I'm someone else, and that I'm hiding.'

 

`Hiding? In what way?' Joan asked.

 

`They're almost every night. This is going to sound silly.'

 

`Tell me.'

 

`I dream, quite often, that I have two hearts.'

 

`Well, then. I can be the judge of that. Let's find out.' She put her stethoscope on his chest and listened.

 

`I can confirm the diagnosis. Just one heart, singular.'

 

`I have er, I have written down some of these dreams in the form of fiction. I know Rose found the stories entertaining, but she is rather biased. I don't suppose they would be of any interest to anyone else.'

 

`I'd be very interested.'

 

`Well, I've never actually shown it to anyone else,' he said as he handed Joan the handwritten book.

 

`A Journal of Impossible Things,' she read.

 

`The title was Rose's idea.'

 

Joan started leafing through the pages of inky scrawl and pictures. `Just look at these creatures,' she said in admiration as she looked at the drawing of a Dalek. `Such imagination.'

 

`It's become quite a hobby, hasn't it dear,' he said to Rose.

 

She saw the Moxx of Balhoon, Autons labelled as plastic men, one of the Pompadour clockwork robots. `It's wonderful. And this sketch of your wife is so full of emotion.'

 

`Ah yes, Rose is such an inspiration to me.'

 

Joan continues to thumb through the pages, seeing Cybermen and the TARDIS, labelled “magic box”.

 

`Ah, that's the box. The blue box. It's always there. Like a, like a magic carpet. This funny little box that transports me to far away places.'

 

Rose was starting to get concerned. What if the aliens hunting them heard these stories or saw his journal.

 

`Like a doorway?' Joan said.

 

`Mmm,' he agreed, as Joan looked at sketches of his previous incarnations. `I sometimes think how magical life would be if stories like this were true.'

 

`If only.'

 

`It's just a dream.'

 

She closed the book at a drawing of the pocket watch.

 

As Joan left, Rose hurried after her. `Nurse Redfern, Joan? That book.'

 

`Oh, Mrs. Smith, Rose. I'll look after it. Don't worry. He did say I could read it.'

 

`But it's silly, that's all. Just stories.'

 

`Who is he, Rose? That husband of yours.'

 

`I'm sorry?'

 

`It's like he's left the kettle on. Like he knows he has something to get back to, but he can't remember what.'

 

`That's just him. His head's all over the place, always thinkin' of several things at once.'

 

 

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John and Rose Smith were walking along the lane from the village, back towards the school. He thought that an evening constitutional in the cool air would be good for her condition. They were both wearing their long coats, scarves, and hats, and walking arm in arm.

 

`Nurse Redfern says that young Jenkins is much better. '

 

`Oh that's good news. I know you were gettin' concerned that he might be comin' down with the flu or somethin'.'

 

`Yes, but she thinks it's a combination of a cold and homesickness. Apparently he's a lot more chipper since he received a letter from home . . .'

 

`Did you see that?' Rose interrupted, seeing a greenish light in the starlit sky.

 

`See what?'

 

Rose thought it was probably best not to stimulate the Doctor's memories that were hiding inside John. `Er, nothin'. Just a shootin' star.'

 

`You should make a wish.'

 

She hugged his arm and smiled as she gazed into his eyes. `I've already got everythin' I could wish for.'

 

He leaned down and kissed her lovingly on the lips.

 

`Evening sir, ma'am,' Jenny said from a table in front of the local pub.

 

`Evening Jenny,' said John.

 

`Hiya,' Rose said, giving her a wave. `Enjoyin' a pint?'

 

`Yes ma'am. Just the one before bedtime.'

 

Joan came hurrying down the lane, obviously distressed. `Did you see that? There was something in the woods. This light. There, there. Look in the sky.'

 

They saw a light cross the sky. `Oh, that's beautiful,' said Jenny.

 

`All gone.' John said. `Commonly known as a meteorite. It's just rocks falling to the ground, that's all.'

 

`It came down in the woods,' she told them. She'd seen a beam of green light searching the ground in Cooper's Field.

 

`No, no, no. No, they always look close, when actually they're miles off. Nothing left but a cinder. Now, I should escort you back to the school. Ladies?'

 

`No, I'm fine, thanks,' Jenny said.

 

`Then we shall bid you goodnight.' He held his elbows out for Rose and Joan, and they set off down the lane towards the school.

 

The next morning, while John was teaching, Rose went for her usual pretend constitutional to improve her malaria. Today though, she was heading down the lane to an old stone barn. Inside the barn, she felt the familiar warm hum of the TARDIS.

 

`Hello Old Girl,' she said as she let herself in. She went up to the monitor on the console and started the help file. She listened and searched, but couldn't find anything about meteors or shooting stars.

 

“And twenty three. If anything goes wrong, if they find us, Rose, then you know what to do. Open the watch. Everything I am is kept safe in there. Now, I've put a perception filter on it so the human me won't think anything of it. To him, it's just a watch. But don't open it unless you have to. Because once it's open, then the Family will be able to find me. It's all down to you, Rose. Your choice. Oh, and thank you,” he said on the screen.

 

`I wish you'd come back,' she said quietly to the man on the screen. Although she was enjoying all the kisses and cuddling and being married, it wasn't HIM. John Smith was the same gentle, brave, caring man that the Doctor was, but there was something missing, that spark that gave him the edge over every other man in the universe.

 

Rose was sitting in John's study, having returned from the TARDIS with no answer as to what she should do about the lights in the sky. She was looking out of the window, waiting for John to return from his class, when there was a knock at the door.

 

`Come in.'

 

Jenny entered carrying a tray with tea and cake on it.

 

`Oh hello Jenny. Is it that time already?' Jenny just stood there and sniffed deeply. `Are you all right?'

 

Jenny continued to stand still, and looked down at Rose. `I must have a cold coming on.'

 

Rose had seen enough weird things on her travels to know when something wasn't right. And right now, she was looking at someone whose behaviour was just plain weird.

 

`Are you gonna put the tray down?' Rose asked her.

 

Jenny gave a smile that looked as though it was a new experience for her. `Of course ma'am.' She put the tray on the table by the leather settee. `Will there be anything else ma'am?'

 

Rose thought about that, and decided to test how weird things were. `Not for now thank you, but maybe later you could put a nice bit of gravy in the pot. And some mutton. Or sardines and jam?'

 

`That sounds nice ma'am. I'll see to it.'

 

`Er, thank you Jenny.'

 

Rose waited nervously for John to return from his class, and stood up as she heard the door open. `They've found us.'

 

`Sorry?'

 

She made her way over to the fireplace as she spoke. `They've found us, and I've seen them. They look like people, like us, like normal. I'm sorry, but you've got to open the watch. Where is it?'

 

She searched the mantelpiece. `Oh, my God. Where's it gone? Where's the watch?'

 

`What are you talking about darling?'

 

`You had a watch. A fob watch. Right there.'

 

`Did I? I don't remember.'

 

`You must do. It was in your journal, you drew it.'

 

He rubbed his chin. `Oh yes. Do I have a watch like that then?'

 

`Oh, my God, Doctor, we're hidin' from aliens, and they've got Jenny and they've possessed her or copied her or somethin', and you've got to tell me, where's the watch?'

 

`Oh, I see. Rose, your fever has returned. Matron said you could have a relapse at any time.' He gently held her shoulders and talked calmly. `You are suffering from delirium. Your mind is mixing up my stories with reality.'

`Oh you complete . . . I have not got malaria. I never have had malaria. This is not you. This is nineteen thirteen.'

 

`Good. This is nineteen thirteen,' he agreed. That was a good sign.

 

`I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but I've got to snap you out of this.' She grabbed his face and she kissed him hard. She poured all her love and feeling into that kiss. It was the most erotic kiss she had ever shared with anyone, even Jay Selby, Jimmy Stone, or Mickey Smith.

 

`Oh, I say! I don't think it would be appropriate for me to take advantage whilst you are delirious like this.'

 

`Wake up! You're comin' back to the TARDIS with me.' She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the door.

 

He pulled her up short. `Rose, I think you should be in bed resting. I'll call Nurse Redfern and see if she has a remedy.'

 

She looked at him flabbergasted. `Oooooh,' she exclaimed and hurried out of the room.

 

Rose ran out of the building and bumped into one of the pupils, Timothy Latimer. `Oh, sorry!'

 

Latimer had a vision of her wearing a purple hoodie, blue denim jeans and white trainers, running across Westminster Bridge with a man in a leather jacket and sticky out ears, similar to his own. That Rose turned to look at him and said “Sorry”, before continuing to run towards a big Ferris wheel.

 

`Mrs. Smith?' he called out in confusion.

 

Rose in the present looked back. `Not now, Tim. Busy!'

 

Rose let herself into the TARDIS and hurriedly started searching the Doctor's pockets for the watch. That was not an easy task, his pockets were huge! And what he kept in them was mind boggling.

 

She found his sonic screwdriver, which she put in her coat pocket. There was a purple, plastic wallet, given to him by that strange young woman called Sally Sparrow, a penlight, a pipe, and a notebook with codes for the TARDIS, Everlasting matches, a handkerchief, and . . . what was that? A pocket watch!

 

`Yes!' she said in triumph and pulled it out of the pocket. Her initial excitement turned to disappointment, as she realised it was just a gold pocket watch.

 

She continued to sort through an ornamental dagger from the Crusades, a key to a Dalek spacecraft, a magnifying glass, a pocket knife, and a magnet. Other pockets revealed a variety of items such as a clockwork mouse, his digital opera glasses, and a bag of jelly babies that were as fresh as the day he'd bought them. She distractedly wondered if he could keep an ice cube frozen in these pockets, as they seemed to be outside of time as well as space.

 

Defeated, she leaned against the console and gazed at the green glow of the Time Rotor. `Where is it old girl, eh? Where has he put that watch?'

 

She stroked the glowing column and had a sudden vision of Timothy Latimer standing on WestminsterBridge, looking up in wonder at the London Eye.

 

`Timothy?'

 

He turned to look at her, a guilty look on his face. `Sorry ma'am. I didn't mean to . . . it just called to me.'

 

She took her hand off the column, and the vision had gone. `Blimey, where did that come from.'

 

Had she have been a Time Lord, she would have known that it was the TARDIS talking to the Bad Wolf inside her, telling her who had the watch.

 

She returned to their room in the school, and was immediately enveloped in a loving embrace. `Oh Rose, you're back. I was so worried. I've had the boys searching the grounds for you.' He held her by her shoulders and smiled. `You're quite popular amongst the young men you know.'

 

“I bet I am!” she thought and laughed. `I'm sorry my love. I don't know what came over me. It must have been a relapse like you said. The cold night air seems to have cleared my head though.'

 

He hugged her again. `That's marvellous. Now, let's get you to bed to rest.'

 

`Bed? I seem to remember you invitin' me to the village dance. And Nurse Redfern is expectin' a dance with you as no one has invited her.' She also wanted to get him away from the school and the Family of Blood.

 

`Dancing? Do you think that is wise after what happened earlier?'

 

`Oh I'm fine . . . really. A bit of entertainment will lift my spirits. And I'll be sittin' down quite a bit while you dance with Joan.'

 

`Well, if you're sure?'

 

`It'll be just what the Doctor ordered.'

 

John had Rose and Joan on each arm as they approached the village hall. They didn't notice Latimer watching them from around the corner.

 

`Spare a penny for the veterans of the Crimea, sir?' an old soldier said who was standing by the door.

 

`Yes, of course,' John said, rummaging in his pockets. `There you are.' They went inside, and the old soldier checked the coins in his bowl, not noticing Latimer sneak inside after them.

 

`Ladies and gentlemen. Please take your partners for a waltz,' Mr. Chambers, the Master of Ceremonies announced as the village band started playing.

 

Rose held out her hand. `Do you have the moves Mr. Smith? Would you care to show them to me?'

 

John grinned and took her hand. `Do you know Mrs. Smith, I think I rather would. Do you mind Joan?'

 

`Not at all. You should have the first dance with your wife,' Joan said with a smile.

 

They started waltzing around the hall, and Rose flinched as they bumped into another couple. She was on the look out for anyone who seemed to be acting strangely or appeared out of place.

 

`Sorry,' John said to the couple as they waltzed past.

 

`Mr. Smith? Mrs. Smith? No one home,' Son of Mine Baines said as he entered the Smith's room.

`Mrs. Smith was definitely hiding something. A secret around this Mr. Smith and the dreams he has,' Mother of Mine Jenny told him.

 

`We both scented him, though. He was plain and simple human.'

 

`Maybe he knows something. Where is he?'

 

Son of Mine Baines and Mother of Mine Jenny started searching the Smith's little library when Father of Mine Clark walked in with a flyer for the dance.

 

`I think this might help,' Father of Mine Clark announced.

 

`That makes it easy, Son of Mine. Because Daughter of Mine's already there,' said Mother of Mine Jenny.

 

`We've been invited to the dance,' Son of Mine Baines said with an evil smile.