THREE

 “Of course!” The Doctor leapt to his feet again, wildly excited. “Why didn’t I think of that!” It wasn’t the reaction I was expecting but that was fairly normal, most of the time you could never be certain how the Doctor would react in any given situation.

 Maybe it was a weight off the Doctor’s mind that it was something that had been invited on board the TARDIS and not something that had broken through the time machine’s defences. I removed my hands from my face and stared up, half in expectation and hope that the Doctor would find a way out of this nightmare we had landed ourselves in. The Doctor continued on, lost in his rambling deductions.

 “Why didn’t I think of that? Hah! Cause my brain matter now resembles the consistency of a big wet cake crumbling away…” The Doctor raised an eyebrow quizzically and began to pace. “That would explain why Hilton was acting so strangely… He knew we would be in the city of Birmingham on that precise date and time. And though he was under the influence of something else, it was still the man you knew. And whatever it was, it was feeding on all his very worst flaws, the insecurities of the man, his arrogance, his envy at the life you now have Anna and his regret for letting you go, the woman he still loves. But the knowledge that time could be changed that was the driving force that was controlling his actions.” The Doctor glanced up at me.

 Remembering Mike’s letter in my pocket, I looked away blushing with guilt that I had kept this information from the Doctor.

 “How did you know?”

 You see that was the problem when you travelled with the Doctor, you lived life at such a breathless pace there sometimes wasn’t time to talk of events and mysterious occurrences that troubled you. It’s such an adrenalin rush to save planets and to save your own world that you kind of forget the little niggles at the back of your mind, the series of coincidences and random events that as it transpires turn out to be connected…

 “Oh just a hunch…” The Doctor replied enigmatically.

 “It’s when I turned my back Doctor, you know after Mike and I dived inside the TARDIS to escape being eaten up by Smokey, I was watching you and my dad on the monitor to make sure you had got away and when I turned to check on Mike… He was acting very strangely…” I strained to piece everything together, the horror gradually unfolding. “He was crouched down by one of the coral struts and appeared to be staring down into the depths…That’s when he must have dropped…” The shock of it made me catch my breath, a wave of nausea rose up through my stomach. “I should have asked him what he was doing… I could have stopped him. But I thought he was in shock and then he seemed like his normal “charming” self afterwards. I don’t understand. Why him?” The tears welled up in my eyes, Mike Hilton and I were no longer together but he was still connected to me and in my mind that made me feel responsible.

The Doctor put an arm around me.  

 “Anna Bailey, I’m glad you didn’t try to stop Hilton because whoever it was who was controlling him, you don’t know what harm they might have done to you and they could have used your former boyfriend to have hurt you. Besides there was a lot going on, we had enough on our plates with having to deal with the Galanties and… Your Mum.” The Doctor added mischievously, then gazing upwards in mild contemplation. “Mind you Caroline was right about Mike Hilton being nothing but trouble. You really do know how to pick ‘em Anna. ” 

 “Okay Doctor…” I frowned, at times he was as critical as my mum. “I suppose you’re right Doctor, there was a lot going on at the time and it could have been dangerous…” I snuffled, not entirely convinced as I wiped my eyes with the back of hand. “But I just don’t understand, how did Mike get caught up in all this?”

 “No I don’t understand either.” The Doctor replied darkly. “But I would like to find out. And if my slightly fraying Time Lord senses are still to be relied upon, there is a very dangerous and powerful force at work here. Something ancient, manipulating time…Watching and waiting, finding an opening in events and then seizing their chance…” The Doctor looked up to see if I was still following him, I was hanging on his every word. “Who knows, right from the moment we met Anna…I wonder…” The Doctor began on another train of thought then abruptly stopped and finished sullenly. “Someone’s been playing the “long game” with us Anna.” The Doctor patted me on the back and strolled away. For the first time he really took in his surroundings, speaking in an animated tone. “Oh is that Brighton pier…You know I’ve been here before.” I hadn’t noticed the distant pier along the shoreline until the Doctor pointed it out, at least we were on Earth but in what time? But the Doctor was about to answer my question as he licked his finger and held it aloft, in mid-air. “I should say around late nineteenth century, mid to late eighteen eighties.”

 I shook my head and allowed myself a smile of admiration, how does the Doctor do that? The Doctor turned back to me with whiplash speed, his mood completely altered from seconds ago. He drew closer to me in conspiratorial tone and whispered into my burning ear.

 “And whatever attacked and stole my TARDIS, it’s here in this seaside town right at this very moment… It wasn’t a coincidence that we ended up here.” The Doctor winced, doubling up with pain.

 “Doctor!” I placed my arm around him to steady him, painfully aware that my first aid skills would be little good to the Time Lord’s physiology.

 “It’s alright she’s here as well, I know she’s here…Somewhere.” The Doctor frowned and then didn‘t look so sure. “But with the old girl… It can get a bit complicated.”

 “So the TARDIS is here with us in Brighton?”

 But then the Doctor closed his eyes as though the weight of the Universe had suddenly crashed down upon him. I had to remember how fragile the Doctor was, I glanced around hoping to see the blue box then realized how stupid that was as the TARDIS had been taken and could be anywhere in town. The search wasn’t going to be that straight forward, the TARDIS could be in the same place but not necessarily the same time…                     

 “Doctor…Can the sonic screwdriver help us find her?” I had completely forgotten about the Doctor’s brilliant and invaluable tool and I think the Doctor had as well to judge how hastily he scrambled into his pocket and pulled the device out.

 I held my breath with anticipation as the sonic screwdriver began buzzing, the Doctor opened his eyes and stared intensely at the screwdriver for a few seconds but then he shook his head warily and sighed irritably to himself.

 “Why didn’t I think of using my sonic screwdriver before? I’m a wreck Anna… A complete and utter wreck.”

 “But has it worked?” I interrupted, in an agony of anticipation.

 “No… They’re shielding the TARDIS from me…Or it’s just an echo and she hasn’t arrived here yet. ” The Doctor grimaced, his jaw tightly clenched.

 “Let’s get you off this beach, somewhere a bit more sheltered and with less sand.”

 I placed a steadying arm around the Doctor but his mind had begun to wander again. Or as I optimistically hoped that his mind was otherwise engaged and actively searching for the TARDIS. I checked my pockets to make sure I had everything with me, a bit of Victorian coinage would have come in handy but money had never been an issue before. I sighed as my hands found that incriminating letter, my camera and mobile phone, not much use to me now. I felt inside my jacket pocket and my hand closed around something soft and springy…I felt another jolt of surprise, I still had my piece of the TARDIS. After everything I had been through, nearly getting sucked out into space, almost pulled through a portal into another Universe and falling through the time vortex, it was still upon my person as though it was super glued to my body and at that precise moment pressed against my thudding heart. But then I felt the strangest sensation as my fingers closed around it, I could have sworn it moved as though it was alive…I was just about to remove it from my pocket and show the Doctor…When I heard voices and turned round and saw a rather substantial crowd of people, definitely Victorians and locals who perhaps earned their living from the seaside town, in fact there appeared to be someone who was taking their donkeys for a walk. I shivered, a definite chill in the air it didn’t feel like the height of the summer season. The strangers were staring at us with growing curiosity, a young, curly headed boy in a sailor’s suit, weaved through the crowds and stared at us with wide eyed fascination. The Doctor’s eyes snapped open again as he gripped my hand, the sweat trickling down his brow and his eyes shining as though he had a fever.

 “Now just remember… Zoe…Tegan… I mean Peri…” I shook my head, the Doctor’s mind was unravelling fast, the Doctor breathed in deeply and concentrated. “There have been so many of you… No sorry, Anna! Now just remember no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.” The Doctor winkedat me and nudged me in the ribs, I truly believed he had lost his mind.

 But then again I had to ask because I needed to know whether the Doctor (in his own unique way) was telling me something significant.

 “Doctor what’s with the Monty Python reference?” I smiled tentatively, his behaviour even more erratic from the first time I met him and he was suffering from concussion.

 The Doctor frowned impatiently and bellowed.

 “Spanish Inquisition?! Don’t you remember it’s what we decided on our code for danger.”

 “No Doctor, it wasn’t with me, since when did we have a code word for danger?” I corrected him firmly but compassionately, wondering whether he had used a code word with any of his former companions.

 I was shocked to discover I actually felt jealous for the first time, that I was the latest in a long line of companions and he couldn’t distinguish me from the others. But I knew the Doctor couldn’t help it, I blushed with shame at my irrational thoughts.

 “We haven’t oh…” The Doctor sighed vaguely and then shrugged with mild disappointment. “Well maybe we should start.” Then the Doctor turned his full attention back to me, his eyes blazing with determination. Just for that fleeting moment he seemed like his old self. “Just remember nothing is what it seems, trust no one and nothing you see from now on… Including ourselves. We have to be on guard, no where’s safe. We could be walking straight into a trap. You got that?” And as though to steady his nerves, the Doctor took a deep breath and swayed unsteadily on his feet. He planted his hands upon my upper arms as though I was an anchor, steadying him to this world. “And thank you Anna Bailey for putting up with me. I wouldn’t want anyone else with me… I trust you with my life.” The Doctor smiled gratefully, his eyes full of genuine warmth, unable to hide his vulnerability.

 To those who would listen, I had always said out loud that I trust the Doctor with my life and now he had returned the compliment and said it back to me. I felt a lump in my throat as though I might start crying, the petty jealousy from moments ago forgotten. I swallowed hard, straightened my shoulders back and pulled myself together. I had to be strong for the Doctor, I was glad he wasn’t alone and I was here for him. Even though I felt somewhat out of my depth and frightened with everything that was happening to my friend, his moods unpredictable and changing with each breath he took. The Doctor peered intently at the crowds as though seeing them for the first time.

 “Have you noticed how that boy keeps staring at us, like he knows us… Either that or he’s extremely nosey.” The Doctor pulled a face as he struggled to arrange his thoughts into coherent actions.

 “Doctor, I think it’s time we were leaving…”

 But the Doctor wasn’t listening to me. Instead the Doctor lifted his chin and stared back hard at the crowd and singled the boy out by pointing with an unsettling degree of menace at him, but then as though a switch had been flicked, a strained smile broke out upon the Doctor’s twitching face as he nodded to the boy and tried to beckon the young lad over towards us.

 “Doctor? What are you playing at?” I snapped, confused that he had picked this child out from the crowd, mind you now I look back there was something rather singular about the way that boy was staring at us.

 The boy in the sailor suit let out of gasp of fear as he tore through the restless crowds and began to run up the steps towards the promenade.

 “Follow that boy !” The Doctor shouted, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me along with him. The crowd drew closer as though to block our way, some of them looked rather angry. “Oh I think we’ve drawn attention to ourselves.” The Doctor gulped and smiled sheepishly at me. “We’ve drawn attention!” My indignant thoughts rang out but I quickly shunted myself back into the moment, we had to get out of here.

 “Well nothing new there then.” I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes at the Doctor. “Have you still got your psychic paper?”

 The Doctor obligingly placed it into my hands but before he got the chance to ask me, I moved forward, buttoning up my jacket and cleared my throat, deepening my voice into what I believed was my most gruff and masculine tones as I shouted out to the crowd, holding up my paper.

 “Police! Special branch, ladies and gentleman let us pass. Thank you very much for your cooperation.”

 I pushed my bobbed hair behind my ears, stamping with impatient authority as I glanced down at the boots tucked into my jeans, feeling like a Shakespearean heroine in a very poorly improvised disguise as a young man. But I looked up and stared directly into the eyes of the scariest looking men in the crowd, as the Doctor once told me if you find yourself somewhere in your planet’s past always act like you own the place and much to my surprise it actually worked as the crowd meekly parted and let us through.

 “Nice one Anna Bailey!” The Doctor grinned, bounding up the steps to the promenade. I followed in hot pursuit, glad to be on the move.