‘This isn’t funny, Alan. We never had any kids.’
‘But she’s about that high.’ He indicated how tall Maria was. ‘She’s got dark hair, like me, and she’s beautiful.’
‘Are you getting some sort of kick out of this?’ asked Chrissie, forcefully. ‘There is no Maria! This is cruel! Now stop it!’ She paused. ‘Maybe if there had been,’ she said, with a note of what sounded to Alan like regret, ‘we wouldn’t have split up. But it’s too late for that now.’
Alan realised he was never going to get through to her. She really believed that their daughter didn’t exist. But what had happened? Why wouldn’t she acknowledge Maria’s existence? He looked down at the silver box, which he still held tightly in his sweaty hand. Then suddenly, like a light being turned on in the darkness, the truth hit him. ‘It’s this box!’ he announced, triumphantly.
‘Oh, you’re full of nonsense, you are,’ sighed Chrissie. ‘Right, I’m going to Andrea’s birthday party. Are you coming or not? Although, as she’s real flesh and blood, she’s probably not your type.’
But Alan wasn’t listening. He was already rushing out of the room, up the stairs and into Maria’s bedroom. What greeted him there didn’t surprise him at all.
The room that only minutes before had been his daughter’s, now lay virtually empty. It was merely a storage space, occupied by the odds and ends that didn’t fit into the other rooms. No bed, no desk, no curtains, no wardrobe filled with brightly coloured clothes. No trace of Maria at all. It was as if she had never existed.
‘You should make this into a utility room,’ said Chrissie, entering and glancing about. ‘I know I keep saying that but — ’
‘This was her bedroom,’ interrupted Alan.
‘Stop it!’
‘She said she was protected. Something protected her.’ Alan held up the box, studying it carefully from every angle. ‘What if this protected her?’
‘If we’ve got a daughter then where is she? Look!’ said Chrissie, picking up a photo album that was lying on top of a box. She flicked through it, stopped on a particular page, and held it out so Alan could see. ‘This is the day you moved in. Andrea came to help. I took the photo. You and her, and me. No one called Maria.’
Alan stared in disbelief at the photograph. It was the same one he’d showed his daughter earlier that day to prove Andrea existed. However, this time, there was only himself and Andrea moving boxes — no Maria.
‘Maria was telling the truth,’ he accidentally said out loud. All the time she’d claimed not to remember Andrea — perhaps she wasn’t crazy. Maybe to Maria she didn’t exist.
This is why we broke up!’ snorted Chrissie. ‘People used to say, “But he’s gorgeous — why didn’t it work out?” Well, this just brings it all flooding back.’
But Alan wasn’t listening. He was thinking back over everything his daughter had said. ‘What if there’s meant to be a Maria? And someone else… a woman called Sarah Jane Smith…’
In the land of limbo, Maria watched Sarah Jane’s face fill with sadness as she recalled what had happened all those years ago.
‘Andrea Yates… oh, I could never forget.’ Her friend took a long, weary breath. ‘When I was thirteen, we were on a school trip. We went onto the pier. She fell and there was nothing I could do.’ She paused ‘I always thought — that could have been me…’
‘But she’s alive,’ explained Maria. ‘It’s like she’s always been alive.’
‘Really?’ Sarah Jane’s eyes widened. What sort of woman is she?’
‘Bit full-on, likes to party,’ replied Maria.
Sarah Jane smiled. ‘That sounds like Andrea.’ She paused. ‘And what was I like — when I was a teenager?’
‘It was weird,’ admitted Maria. ‘Although you looked so different, I knew deep down that it was the same person. Something about your eyes and the way you moved your mouth and held your arms. It was bizarre.’
‘I was such a timid little thing back then,’ said Sarah Jane, with a wistful sigh. ‘Andrea was always bossing me about, and I ended up following her. I didn’t really know what I wanted from life. I knew I had to do something important, something that mattered, I just didn’t know what.’ She threw her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. ‘It was only when I met the Doctor that the pieces of the jigsaw finally slotted into place. He was so amazing, I wanted to follow in his footsteps.’
‘And you did,’ Maria reassured her. ‘You’ve done amazing things — just like him.’ She smiled at her friend. ‘You’re my Doctor.’
Sarah Jane put her arms around Maria and pulled her into a tight embrace. ‘I’m not anyone’s anything,’ she said, sadly, after finally breaking away ‘I don’t even exist any more.’
‘So, in the parallel world, you died, and she lived?’
‘It’s not a parallel world. If only. It’s our timeline, and it’s been changed.’
Maria was finding it hard to grasp. She’d thought this was merely another version of events running alongside reality. But it seemed these strange new happenings had actually replaced reality. ‘But without you that meteor must still be on its way.’ Maria started to panic. ‘It’s going to smash into Earth!’
‘And if I’m not there, that means the end of the world.’
Maria stared at Sarah Jane, terrified at the thought of what might be happening on Earth at any moment. But how could they get back there and stop it?
‘I was the only one that knew about the changes,’ she said. ‘I got protected, somehow, by that box.’
‘The box — of course!’ Sarah Jane smiled. ‘The Verron soothsayer must have known this was going to happen. Do you remember what I told you he said? “Give it to the person you trust the most.” It linked us somehow. I could sense you searching for me. I called out to you.’
‘But I dropped it. I lost it,’ admitted Maria, guiltily. ‘That little alien thing came along and I ran.’ She paused. ‘Did he do all this?’
‘No,’ said Sarah Jane, shaking her head. ‘That alien, he’s called a Graske. There was some Graske activity on Earth a couple of years back, but this isn’t their style at all.’
‘What do you mean?’ Maria asked, confused. ‘This is much more powerful. Some other creature must be using the Graske — as a slave.’
‘Sarah Jane…’ A sinister,''disembodied voice filled the air.
Who’s that?’ Maria span round to see who it was, but there was no one there.
The voice called her friend again.
‘I’m being summoned,’ said Sarah Jane, ominously. ‘Maria, you stay here.’
‘Don’t leave me on my own!’ It was bad enough being trapped in this endless whiteness, this nothingness, but being without Sarah Jane sent shivers down Maria’s spine.
‘Oh, I’ll come back, I promise. I’ll never leave you, Maria. Never. Have you got that?’ She hugged Maria reassuringly. ‘Just wait.’
‘Okay,’ nodded Maria. ‘I’ll wait.’ She tried to sound brave, but inside she was terrified at the thought of being left all alone in this vast, empty wasteland at the edges of Time.
‘Sarah Jane…’ the voice called again.
Maria watched sadly as her friend walked off into the distance, then disappeared completely, blotted out by the whiteness.
Chapter Eight
The birthday party
Outside number thirteen Bannerman Road, Andrea stood welcoming the guests as they arrived for her birthday party Her hair was beautifully styled, her face was made-up and she wore an elegant black outfit. In one hand she held a glass of champagne.
‘Thank you so much for coming,’ she cooed to a guest, and kissed her warmly on both cheeks.
‘Thank you for inviting us,’ smiled the woman, and headed inside the house.
‘It wouldn’t be the same without you,’ Andrea called after her. ‘Go and find yourself a drink.’
An elderly couple approached.
‘Hello, Joan,’ said Andrea, to the woman. ‘How are you, l
ove? Go and find a drink.’ She turned to the man. ‘Hello, Den. Lovely to see you.’ Andrea followed her guests inside and closed the front door.
Just then, Alan and Chrissie turned into the driveway.
‘Have you settled down?’ asked Chrissie, ‘I hope you’re not going to embarrass me. I love Andrea’s parties.’
But Alan’s attention was distracted. He was staring at Clyde, whose skateboard came skidding to a halt nearby. ‘Hey, Clyde!’ he called.
Clyde squinted back, confused. It seemed to Alan as if the lad didn’t recognise him, yet they knew one another well.
‘Er… hello?’ said Clyde, tentatively.
‘Have you come to see Maria?’ Alan asked.
‘Sorry, don’t know any Maria’s.’
‘Then why are you here?’
Chrissie gave her ex-husband a dig in the ribs with her elbow. ‘Don’t be so rude,’ she hissed through clenched teeth.
Andrea’s birthday,’ replied Clyde. ‘My mum’s at work so she sent me round with a card. Is there a problem?’
Alan pressed on, determined to make Clyde remember. ‘We bumped into you in the park yesterday evening…’
‘Alan!’ Chrissie said. ‘Leave the boy alone!’
‘Please!’ appealed Alan, ignoring her. ‘You must remember.’
‘I was skateboarding yesterday, but on my own.’ Clyde frowned at him. ‘You’re a bit weird,’ he said, and quickly sidled past them and up to the front door, glancing back nervously as he went.
‘Look at yourself!’ urged Chrissie. ‘Harassing strangers in the street! Are you going crazy?’ She moved off.
‘I think I’m the only sane one,’ said Alan, to himself.
Sarah Jane appeared out of the mist. ‘I take it this is your domain?’ she said to the cloaked figure before her. ‘Who are you?’
‘Nobody,’ he replied, in a gravely voice. ‘I am nothing.’
‘Any chance you could be a bit less cryptic?’
‘It’s hard for me to make you understand. Ephemeral minds are so limited. Behold!’
Sarah Jane stared as the creature pulled back its black hood. She gasped. There was no face, no features, just a puckered mouth containing razor-sharp teeth. It was like nothing she had ever seen before.
‘As you can see, I have no self. I exist only to bring disorder. That is my purpose.’ He paused. ‘I am the Trickster.’
‘But why bring disorder?’ asked Sarah Jane.
‘Chaos is my blood and air and food.’ The Trickster pointed a bony finger at her. ‘You are the key to that chaos. I have been waiting, searching through time for just the right person, at just the right moment. I took you to aid the coming of darkness.’
Sarah Jane felt her anger rising. She didn’t see why she and her friends had to suffer because of the Trickster’s need for chaos. ‘Where’s Luke?’ she demanded. ‘Where is my son?’
‘The Bane never came to Earth in the timeline I have created,’ he explained. ‘Luke Smith never existed.’
So if the aliens who made her son had not visited the planet, thought Sarah Jane, then Luke had never been created.
‘But people who don’t exist end up here, don’t they? In this nowhere land. So where is he?’ Sarah Jane was itching to do something, to have her revenge on this evil creature. But she was powerless. She clenched her fists tightly and bit her lip. ‘I demand to see my son!’
‘He is lost, in the forgotten places,’ breathed the Trickster, in his hoarse whisper. ‘Even further out than you.’
‘If I don’t exist, and neither do Luke, Maria and the Bane, what about the Slitheen and the Gorgon and the Patriarchs of the Tin Vagabond? I stopped them all from taking over Earth. What happened to them?’
‘I turned them all away. All I needed was the meteor.’
‘Why?’ she asked. ‘What’s so special about that?’
‘Those other species, they invade for profit, power, revenge. But the meteor is pure chaos. The destruction of Earth, for no reason at all, just blind chance.’ The Trickster chuckled dryly as he spoke, as if relishing every word. ‘This is food for me.’
‘You’ll destroy all life on Earth and you don’t even care?’ cried Sarah Jane.
‘I care about you.’ He paused. ‘You are so wonderful. Your life was so important. And I found the right moment to snuff it out. With the help of Andrea Yates, of course.’
‘Andrea was my friend.’
‘She wished to save her own life. I could only remove you with her consent.’
Sarah Jane felt the painful stab of betrayal cut through her body. Why would her friend have been so disloyal to her? She couldn’t really have left her to die so that she could live? ‘Andrea agreed to it?’ she asked, nervously.
‘I must go now. Events are moving towards their end.’
‘No!’ yelled Sarah Jane. ‘Don’t go!’
‘I will return,’ echoed the Trickster, ‘when Earth is no more. Then I will explore your potential further. In particular your memories of this… Doctor.’
‘You leave him alone!’
‘I can use you to find him. Imagine if the Doctor had never existed. What chaos there would be across the stars!’
‘Don’t you dare!’ shouted Sarah Jane, shaking with rage. The Doctor had been her friend and travelling companion for many years. She’d loved him and treasured the memories of the times and places they’d shared. She wasn’t letting the Trickster get his chaos-making hands on him. ‘Don’t you dare!’ she repeated, this time through gritted teeth. But the Trickster had already disappeared into the endless whiteness of limbo.
The living room at number thirteen was crowded with guests chatting to one another, sipping wine and helping themselves to plates of sandwiches and sausage rolls. Sunlight streamed in through the front windows, lending the room a bright and happy air.
‘Oh, that’s lovely,’ said Andrea, as she opened the birthday card Clyde had handed to her. ‘Thank your mum for me. I’m sorry she couldn’t make it.’ Clyde smiled shyly and shuffled from one foot to the other. ‘Right… I guess I’ll be off then.’
‘No, no, stick around,’ protested the hostess, and she reached for a plate piled high with slices of sponge cake. ‘Here — have one of these.’
Clyde’s eyes lit up. ‘Okay, no complaints from me.’ He took two pieces of cake and shovelled them into his mouth.
Andrea smiled at the lad before her attention was diverted, and she waltzed over to the door, still carrying the plate of cake. ‘Well, look who’s here! Hello, love!’ she exclaimed, giving Chrissie a welcoming kiss. Then she spotted Alan. ‘More gorgeous every day,’ she said, planting a kiss of his cheek. ‘If only I was a few years younger!’
‘You can have him,’ laughed Chrissie, with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Andrea stared at Alan. ‘What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?’ she teased.
He stared back, a little coldly, Andrea thought. ‘You could say that,’ he eventually replied.
Andrea couldn’t understand why he was so distant. Had she done something to offend him? Maybe he and Chrissie had had a row? But the thought vanished when she noticed Clyde leaning over the stereo. ‘Don’t put on that modern stuff. Let it play.’
Pumping out of the machine was an old Sixties song.
‘But this is ancient,’ complained Clyde, and he shuffled through the CDs in her small collection.
‘Not to me it isn’t. It’s like yesterday,’ said Andrea, feeling the same sad, nostalgic twinge she always felt on her birthday. ‘Oh, the Sixties, that was my time.’ She sighed. ‘I was just a kid back then…’
Maria and Sarah Jane were together once again in limbo. Maria was so happy that her friend had kept her word and had come back. Even if they were to be trapped forever in this strange, timeless place, at least they had one another.
‘So the meteor’s still coming?’ asked Maria, sadly.
Sarah Jane nodded.
‘And we can’t do anything?’
&n
bsp; ‘There must be something. There’s always something.’
‘Maybe my dad…’ She trailed off when she saw the look on her friend’s face.
‘What can he do?’ sighed Sarah Jane. ‘He didn’t even remember me.’ She paused. ‘And now you’ve been taken out of time, he won’t remember you either.’
Maria closed her eyes. To be lost was sad. But to be forgotten — that was horrible.
Alan stood alone at the edge of the party, wondering what to do next. He felt for the strange silver box, which he’d slipped in to his pocket. He made sure no one was looking then took it out and eyed it curiously. He was certain this strange little object held the key to everything.
‘You what?’ Clyde scoffed into his mobile, distracting Alan from his thoughts. ‘Danny, are you serious? All right, I’ll check it out. Bye.’
Clyde snapped his phone shut, ran over to the stereo, and turned off the music.
‘Oh, Clyde, don’t change the CD again,’ moaned Andrea.
‘Its my mate, Danny,’ he said. ‘He reckons there’s something big on the news. Can we turn on the telly?’
‘You kids and your TV,’ scoffed Andrea. ‘This is meant to be a party.’
‘It won’t take a minute,’ Clyde assured her, and he grabbed the remote control and switched on the television.
‘The huge meteor, which was sighted at 2.15pm, is heading towards Earth at a colossal speed,’ announced the newsreader. ‘Scientists are stressing that the situation is being closely monitored and there is no need for panic…’
‘That’s what Danny said!’ exclaimed Clyde. ‘There’s this huge rock heading for Earth. Like in Armageddon.’
The party guests started to chatter uneasily amongst themselves, their voices low and urgent.
Alan felt his heart leap in his chest, and he swallowed hard. ‘A meteor?’ he murmured. ‘Then it’s all true.’
‘Is it going to hit us?’ asked Chrissie.
‘Danny said it’ll fly past, no worries,’ reassured Clyde.
‘Well, nothing’s going to spoil my birthday!’ said Andrea, firmly. ‘We need more glasses.’
[Sarah Jane Adventures 05] - Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane Page 5