by Cavan Scott
‘Oh, you’re no fun!’
He swerved, sending the van into a spin. Velma’s backend made contact with a giant’s leg. The resulting bellow was deafening, even through the sonic cone, but the Doctor sped on, driving away from the stones.
‘Where are you going? She’s back that way.’
‘You told me to concentrate!’
He yanked the wheel to the left, the van slipping in the mud as it came around in a circle. The Fae scattered out of the way and, for a horrible moment, Schofield thought he was going to slam straight into one of the stones itself.
Instead, he pulled to the right, scraping the side of the van against the monolith.
‘Charlotte’s not going to like that,’ he said.
‘I don’t think she cares any more.’
The old woman who used to be Charlotte Sadler was whirling like a dervish in the middle of the arena.
The Doctor pulled on the handbrake, sending the van into a sharp spin. The back lurched around, piling into the golden harp. The multi-limbed harpist dived out of the way as the gilded instrument disappeared beneath Velma’s wheels, the music lost in a sickening crunch.
Charlotte dropped like a sack of clothes where she danced.
The van veered out of control, the Doctor struggling to prevent it from going into a roll. Schofield closed her eyes, convinced that they were going to run straight over Charlotte’s motionless body.
They jolted to a halt.
‘Move!’ barked the Doctor, trying to shove her out of the way.
‘You have a door,’ she complained.
‘It doesn’t work.’
Neither did the passenger door. The lock was stuck fast. Scofield put her foot to it, once … twice … and it sprang open. She scrambled from the seat, the Doctor jumping out after her.
The van hadn’t hit Charlotte, but she still wasn’t moving. Schofield dropped down beside her, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but weak, which came as no surprise now that Schofield could see her up close. The face beneath the beanie hat was haggard, the skin so thin that it was almost transparent.
Charlotte groaned, her eyes flickering. She began to convulse, going into a seizure. It had to be the heightened colours and sounds of the Invisible. On the way back to the van, the Doctor had explained that the Fae would have used their warped science to keep Charlotte alive while she danced for so many years. Now she was free of the music, she was no longer protected. Her senses were under attack and, in her weakened condition, she was going into shock.
There was only one thing to do. Schofield pulled the sonic sunglasses from her eyes, gasping as she experienced the Invisible without the benefit of their defences.
She pushed the glasses onto Charlotte’s face. The effect was instantaneous. Her body stopped shaking, her arms and legs going limp, even as Schofield felt like she was on fire.
‘Stop,’ she heard a voice shouting nearby. The Doctor. She turned, fighting the urge to throw up, her vision hazy, like looking through a prism.
He was standing between them and the approaching Fae, arms stretched out wide as if he could hold the Boggarts and the fairies and the giants and goodness knew what else back by himself.
‘If you touch them,’ he yelled, ‘you will never get what you want.’
‘And what do we want?’ asked a voice like nails against a blackboard.
Schofield’s heart was racing too fast. Her chest felt like it was caught in a vice, the pressure increasing with each passing second.
‘The Lost,’ the Doctor continued. ‘I know where to find them. At least I think I do. That’s who you’re looking for, isn’t it? That’s why you brought Charlotte here, why you brought us.’
‘The Lost,’ came a cry, dozens of voices at once. ‘Where is the Lost?’
‘Back in our world, back in the Visible. But I can help you. I can find them, but you must let us go. Send us back, and I will return the Lost, I promise.’
‘Why should we trust your word?’
‘Because it’s all I have left. And it’s all that matters. I will trust you, if you trust me.’
‘And send you back?’
‘Yes.’
‘What if we want you to dance for us?’
‘Oh, I can dance. I can dance for a long, long time. Longer than Charlotte ever could. Longer than the Constable. But if you make me dance, you’ll never see the Lost again. Send me back, and you’ll have them here with you, where they belong. Tit for tat.’
‘Tit for tat?’
‘That’s the way things are done around here, isn’t it?’
Schofield felt like her brain was trying to crawl out of her skull. She remembered what Marter had said when he had reappeared.
‘The colours. The colours.’
How many years had he survived like this, every cell of his body on fire? She wanted to pull the glasses back from Charlotte. She was an old woman now. She’d lived her life, albeit one trapped in a nightmare. Schofield was still young. She had a family, a child. Perhaps, if she took the glasses back, she would survive this. She would see them again.
But she had taken an oath.
I do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that I will well and truly serve the Queen in the office of constable …
‘What’s it to be?’ the Doctor asked the assembled throng.
…with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, upholding fundamental human rights …
‘Do we have a deal?’
… and according equal respect to all people …
‘Why won’t you answer?’
… I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserve and prevent … preserve and prevent …
She couldn’t remember any more. The words just wouldn’t come. She barely knew her name, or why she was holding a dying woman in her arms. And as for the voice shouting at the monsters … She knew she recognised it, but she didn’t know who it was, couldn’t make out what it was saying.
‘The deal is made,’ declared a different voice, a voice that sounded like it shouldn’t exist. ‘Tit for tat. We will send you back.’
The man’s voice laughed, calling back to her. ‘Did you hear that, Jane? They’re sending us back. You’re going home, just like I—’
And then she heard no more.
Chapter 32
SPLINK
‘You need to go home!’ Bill told Masie and Noah as she helped Hilary carry Sammy towards the end of Bugs Close.
‘We all need to go home,’ Hilary insisted. ‘Sammy needs help.’
‘Help …’ Sammy echoed her mother’s words, her arms thrown around both their shoulders. ‘Need help. Please help.’
‘We’re coming with you,’ Masie insisted, walking behind, her brother’s hand in hers.
Bill could understand it. If her mum came back, she wouldn’t let her out of her sight either.
‘But where are we going?’ Hilary asked.
‘Trapped,’ Sammy wheezed as if that explained everything. ‘Show you.’
They reached the end of the street. Night was falling and lights were clicking on in windows, cars sweeping down Brownie Hill.
Bill turned to Sammy. The woman’s head was hanging down, her matted hair a curtain in front of her face. Perhaps Hilary was right. Perhaps this was a wild goose chase and Sammy should be back home in bed, or in the back of an ambulance.
All she knew was that the Doctor would keep going.
‘Where now, Sammy?’ she said. ‘Where are you taking us?’
‘Trapped.’
‘Yeah, you said. But where?’
Sammy’s head came up, her eyes snapping open to shine like beacons across the road. ‘So alone.’
‘Sammy love,’ Hilary please. ‘Please don’t. Someone will see.’
‘See where I am …’
‘Yeah, and that you’re shining like one of those freaks.’
‘Nan!’ said Masie.
‘Well, she is,’ Hilary insisted. ‘We don’t wan
t her carted off to the funny farm!’
‘No, Masie doesn’t mean that,’ Noah cut in to point over the road. ‘Look where Mum’s looking!’
Bill followed Sammy’s gaze. The lights from her eyes were reflecting on the walls of Harold Marter’s house.
‘The building site?’ Bill asked her. ‘Is that where you want us to go?’
‘Find me,’ Sammy slurred, her head dropping forward again, the lights cutting off.
‘Let’s go,’ said Noah, letting go of his sister’s hand and stepping into the road.
‘Wait,’ yelled Masie, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back. ‘There’s a car coming. What’s Mum told you about running out?’
They waited patiently as a blue car speed down the Brownie Hill, its headlamps as bright as the light that had streamed from Sammy’s eyes. Bill could see that the driver was on his mobile, stupid idiot. If Noah had run out, he would never have stopped in time.
Her theory was put to the test as the driver slammed on his brakes. The car slew to a halt, stopping just before it could plough into the man who had appeared in the middle of the road.
And not just any man.
‘Doctor!’ Bill shouted out. ‘Where did you come from?’
It was a question the startled driver wanted answered too. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ he yelled, hanging out of his window. ‘Jumping in front of a car like that – I could have killed you!’
The Doctor ignored him, whirling around as if looking for something. ‘No, no, no, no!’ he yelled. ‘You were supposed to send us all back. All three of us!’
The driver blared his horn. ‘Get out of the road, you idiot!’
‘You’re right,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘I am an idiot! “Send me back you’ll have them.” That’s what I said. Not send us back, but me. They agreed to the deal I’d set.’
‘I’ll set you in a minute,’ the driver said, opening his door.
The Doctor noticed Sammy for the first time, and stumbled out of the road. ‘You found her! Well done!’
Behind him, the driver decided he’d wasted enough time on the Doctor and, slamming his door, raced off.
‘How did you do that?’ Masie asked as the Doctor joined them on the pavement. ‘How did you just appear?’
‘Magic,’ the Doctor replied turning his attention to Sammy. ‘And this must be Sammy.’
‘Doctor, I think she’s linked to the Shining Man,’ Bill explained. ‘She’s talking for him.’ She looked down, noticing the sheen of the Doctor’s jacket for the first time. ‘What happened to your clothes?’
‘Long story,’ the Doctor said, crouching down so he could see Sammy face to face. ‘So you’re speaking for the Shining Man, then? Tell me, what does he have to say?’
She opened her eyes, the Doctor flinching in the sudden glare. ‘Help me,’ she groaned. ‘Trapped.’
‘She’s got lights in her eyes,’ Noah told the Doctor, in case he hadn’t noticed.
‘Thanks for the tip.’ He stood, looking at Bill. ‘Where are you taking her?’
Bill nodded in the direction of the new-build. ‘She wants to go over there.’
He clapped his hands together. ‘I thought as much. Then why are we standing around?’ He turned and bounded forward, only to stop dead when a taxi sped past, sounding its horn.
‘Doctor,’ Noah shouted, grabbing his sleeve. ‘Don’t just run into the road.’
The Doctor flashed him a grateful smile. ‘Quite right, Noah. SPLINK and all that.’
‘You what?’
A look of confusion crossed the Doctor’s face. ‘No. I never understood it either. Bring back the Green Cross Code Man, that’s what I say.’
Grabbing Noah’s hand, he ran across the road, Bill and the others following. Sammy seemed to be walking better, not dragging her feet as much. Perhaps she thought that the Doctor could help. Bill hoped so too, although there was something she wanted to know.
‘What did you mean?’ she asked him after they’d all made it safely across.
‘Hmmm?’
‘About all three being sent back.’
The Doctor looked troubled. ‘PC Schofield and Charlotte are still in the Invisible.’
‘Still? Is that where you were?’
The Doctor nodded. ‘Lovely place, or at least it would be if everything wasn’t trying to kill you.’ He turned his attention back to Sammy. ‘But you want to get back there, don’t you? You want to go home.’
‘She was home,’ Hilary snapped, ‘until we dragged her out here.’ She glared angrily at Bill. ‘I should never have listened to you.’
‘Not your daughter,’ the Doctor told her, not taking his eyes off Sammy. ‘But the Shining Man, or as I like to call him, the Lost. That is who’s talking to us, isn’t it?’
‘Home,’ Sammy moaned.
The Doctor squeezed her shoulder. ‘We’ll get you there. I made a deal, and I’m a man of my word, even if it gets me killed from time to time.’ He pointed towards the building site. ‘Are you back there, in the house?’
‘Below,’ she said, looking up at the Doctor. This time he didn’t blink, but stared straight into the light.
‘Show me,’ he said, taking Sammy from Bill. He swept her up into his arms, Sammy’s hands linking around his neck as she let herself be carried across the walkway into the house.
‘Should we be going in here?’ Masie asked.
‘The place looks deserted,’ the Doctor told her. ‘And I’m not surprised.’
‘Why?’ Bill asked as Sammy directed them through to the back garden. ‘What happened?’
‘A touch of the poltergeists,’ he replied, ‘or the Boggarts to be more precise.’ He nodded towards the outhouse at the bottom of the muddy plot. ‘You’re in there, aren’t you?’
Sammy’s eyes were burning brighter than ever, light streaming from her mouth and ears. ‘Trapped,’ she wailed. ‘So alone.’
‘And you have been for a long time,’ the Doctor said, carrying her through the open door towards the pool.
Sammy looked down into the pit, the light from her eyes picking out a spot on the chipped tiles.
‘And the eyes have it,’ the Doctor said, indicating for Bill to take Sammy from him. He lowered her down so Bill could support her and then squeezed back out of the outhouse into the garden.
‘Doctor?’ Bill shouted after him.
‘Wait there!’ came the response as he made for a pile of tools. He rifled through the workmen’s equipment, finding what he was looking for.
Hilary stepped aside, looking more than a little alarmed, when he returned to the swimming pool brandishing a large pickaxe.
‘That’s it Sammy,’ he said, making for the shallow end and skipping down the steps into the empty pool.
‘What are you going to do with that?’ Bill asked.
‘Do you like fairy stories?’ he said, making for the spots of light on the floor.
‘I prefer sci-fi,’ Bill admitted.
The Doctor tested the weight of the tool in his hands. ‘You would.’
‘I like them,’ Noah said.
‘Then I shall tell you one of my own.’
‘Are you sure this is the right time?’ Hilary asked.
‘Just let him,’ Bill said. She’d known the Doctor long enough to know when he was showboating.
‘Once upon a time,’ he said, lifting the pickaxe high above his head, ‘there was a little girl …’
And, with that, the Doctor started to dig.
Chapter 33
A Fairy Story
The pickaxe bit into the tiles with a short, sharp clang. The Doctor lifted it back up, continuing with his story.
‘The girl had a favourite tree and, whenever she could, she used to scramble up into its branches and hide away from the world.’
Clang. Again, he struck the floor. The tiles cracked.
‘What she didn’t know was that there was something buried beneath the tree.’
Clang. He was through the
tiles now, kicking them out of the way to reveal smooth concrete.
‘It was a Boggart who had been caught and trapped hundreds of years before …’
‘By the Fairy Finder!’ Bill cut in, realising where he was going with this.
The Doctor shot her a look. ‘Whose story is this?’
‘Sorry.’
‘Where was I?’
‘The Boggart was trapped,’ Masie reminded him.
‘Ah yes …’
Clang. Now, the Doctor went to work on the concrete.
‘Bound in iron, the Boggart was cast into a deep hole …’
Clang. Plumes of dust accompanied every strike.
‘A tree planted on the spot. As it grew, the roots stretched down into the ground …’
Clang. Cracks started to appear in the concrete.
‘Wrapping themselves around the Boggart, making sure it could never escape. Now, it’s hard to kill a member of the Fair Folk …’
Clang. The concrete around the Doctor’s feet now resembled a jigsaw.
‘Some would say it’s impossible. Instead, the Boggart fell asleep …’
‘Like a hedgehog?’ Noah asked.
The Doctor stopped digging and looked at the boy. ‘What?’
‘Hedgehogs hibernate for winter.’
The Doctor considered this. ‘That they do. Good point.’
Noah beamed.
‘Instead, the Boggart hibernated …’
Clang. The Doctor finished loosening the concrete. He threw the pickaxe aside and started prising great chunks out of the ground. Bill let Hilary take Sammy’s weight and rushed down into the pool.
‘So what happened to the Boggart?’ she asked, dropping to her knees to help.
‘It was forgotten,’ the Doctor said, lugging lump after lump of concrete out of the hole. ‘The tree grew large, and the Boggart slept. But the tree’s roots sucked up a little of its magic, keeping the tree alive long past its sell-by date, long enough for the little girl to climb into its branches centuries later. The magic flowed into her. It didn’t do her any harm – and thankfully it didn’t give her any superpowers. The world’s had enough of that kind of thing recently. In time she grew up and had children of her own.’ He glanced up at Sammy. ‘A daughter called Masie and a son called Noah.’