He broke off as he walked straight into a large security guard.
‘What are you doing here?’ growled the guard.
The Doctor fumbled in his pocket and brought out his psychic paper. ‘I’ve come to inspect the magic,’ he said, holding out the open wallet. The guard peered at the blank paper, seeing only what the Doctor wanted him to see.
‘Says here you’re with the Magic Oval,’ he said.
‘Ah yes,’ said the Doctor as he brushed himself down. ‘It’s like the Magic Circle, only... stretched. We inspect tricks at night so no one else finds out how they’re done. If you could just escort us to Sammy Star’s prop store, we’ll get on with our checks.’
He made to walk past the guard, but the burly man put out an arm to stop him. ‘Does Mr Star know about this? He never said you were coming.’
The Doctor tutted. ‘Well, of course he doesn’t know. It wouldn’t be a random secret magic check at night if he knew about it. You’ve heard of secret shoppers? They buy things in shops and then report back on the service.’
The guard nodded his head.
‘Well, we’re secret magic-checkers. We check the tricks then report back to the Magic Oval.’
Amy held her breath. For a moment it looked like the guard might let them through.
‘Well...’ he said. Then he paused. ‘Hey, haven’t I seen you before?’
The Doctor looked puzzled. ‘I don’t think so. I’ve just got one of those faces.’
‘Yes I have!’ The man frowned. ‘I threw you out of here an hour ago. I noticed your plastic bowler hat at the time.’
‘Lots of people wear these!’ the Doctor said. ‘They’re cool.’
‘No they don’t,’ muttered Amy under her breath. ‘And no they’re not.’
‘Yeah, but I also noticed your funny T-shirt and that you had a red-headed girl with you,’ said the man. ‘Come on, you’re not fooling me. You’re trying to nick something so you can cheat in the contest tomorrow. Well, you’re out of luck. Out you go!’
‘And stay out!’ the Doctor yelled as he landed on the pavement for the second time that evening.
‘I already have “theatre” on my list of places we’ve been thrown out of,’ Amy complained. ‘We could at least have found somewhere new.’
‘Well, look on the bright side,’ said the Doctor. ‘At least we were thrown out before we got to the guard dogs. They looked fierce.’
Amy blinked. ‘There were guard dogs?’
‘Just a couple. I saw them when I was scouting around during the interval. Oh, and a lot of padlocks. Sammy Star really doesn’t want people going through his props.’
‘So what do we do now?’ asked Rory.
The Doctor didn’t answer at once. He looked deep in thought. ‘We’ve got to find a way of getting into the prop store,’ he said after a moment.
The others nodded.
‘We need to do it before the next show. The Angel mustn’t get any more girls.’
They nodded again.
‘Did anyone else hear that guard mention a contest?’
Amy and Rory nodded again. ‘I don’t know what he was talking about, though,’ said Amy.
The Doctor jumped up. ‘One way to find out!’ He went back over to the theatre. The guard could still be seen in the foyer, his shadow on the window. The Doctor found a letterbox in the main door, and knelt down to it. ‘Excuse me!’ he called through the letterbox. ‘What contest were you talking about just then?’
A few seconds later a flyer plopped out onto the pavement from the other side of the letterbox. The Doctor picked it up. ‘Thank you!’ he called.
He rejoined Amy and Rory. ‘Aha!’ he said. ‘What do you think about this, then?’
Amy took the flyer from him and read it.
‘Have you got what it takes? If you think you’re as good as Sammy Star, come to the Britain’s Got Magic try-outs. Show your tricks to TV judges Austin Hart, Daisy Mead and Bill Evans. With special guest judge, Sammy Star.’
‘So?’ said Rory. ‘It’s a thing for daft people who want to get on telly.’
‘Yes,’ agreed the Doctor. ‘The thing is, though, the try-outs are tomorrow, and they’re at this theatre.’
‘Right!’ Amy got it. ‘You mean you’re going to enter?’
‘Not quite,’ said the Doctor. ‘I mean, we’re going to enter. Just call us daft people who want to get on telly. We’re just going to rescue a few damsels in distress at the same time.’
* * *
Chapter Six
THE DOCTOR, RORY and Amy were making plans.
‘We have to go to the try-outs in disguise,’ the Doctor said. ‘Sammy Star might spot us. So might that guard, if he’s around. Even if I take my cool hat off.’
‘I’d suggest taking your cool hat off anyway,’ said Amy. ‘You know, just in case.’
‘I’ve seen those programmes on TV,’ said Rory. ‘People queue up for hours to get in. We’ll have to get there really early in the morning.’
‘No, we’ll have to get there really early in the morning,’ the Doctor told him.
Rory looked puzzled. ‘Er, that’s what I said.’
‘No,’ the Doctor told him. ‘You said “we” meaning you, me and Amy. I said “we” meaning just me and Amy. I’ve got another job for you, Rory.’
He told the others what he had in mind. Rory would go to the Golden Years Home for the Elderly. There he’d talk to Kylie Collins and Amber Hooper and find out all they knew about Sammy Star. Meanwhile, he and Amy would disguise themselves and go to the theatre. Once inside, they’d find out where the Weeping Angel was being kept.
‘What do we do when we find it?’ Amy asked.
‘Good question,’ said the Doctor. ‘Great question, in fact.’ He stopped.
‘So what’s the answer to my great question?’ said Amy.
The Doctor looked slightly sheepish. ‘Well, I’m sure I’ll have worked out something by then. We’ll have a whole day to sort it out. Rory, make sure you’re back by the evening for the show.’
‘Right,’ said Rory. ‘You can count on me.’
‘Good,’ said the Doctor. ‘Because I have a feeling we’re going to need all the help we can get.’
The next morning, Rory caught a tube then a train and made his way to the Golden Years Home for the Elderly.
He hadn’t been keen on Miss Leake, but was quite glad when she opened the door. At least she knew who he was.
‘I was, er, just passing,’ he said stiffly. He didn’t like telling even little white lies. ‘So I thought I’d pop in and see how Mrs Collins and Mrs Hooper are today.’
Miss Leake beamed at him. ‘Oh, it’s the nice young man from last night! Well now, aren’t you sweet? Come on through, they’ll be so thrilled!’
She led him into a large room. High-backed chairs were all around the edge, each with a tiny table next to it. Every chair held an elderly person, and every table held a cup of tea. A TV set blared in one corner, but no one was watching it. They were all staring ahead at nothing. Although the sun shone brightly, the French windows onto the garden remained firmly shut.
‘Mrs Hooper! Mrs Collins! I’ve brought a visitor for you!’ shouted Miss Leake. ‘Isn’t that nice? They’re very pleased to see you,’ she added to Rory, although they hadn’t even looked at him.
‘Er, I’ll be OK from here,’ Rory said, hoping to get rid of her. To his relief, she just patted his hand and left the room.
He went over to the two elderly ladies, who were sitting next to each other. Not seeing any spare seats, Rory moved an empty cup and sat on the table between them. Then he stood up again. ‘This is silly,’ he said. ‘Let’s go into the garden.’
Mrs Hooper and Mrs Collins looked as though he’d suggested bunking off school. For a second, he saw the cheeky schoolgirls they’d been once. Of course, if the Doctor was right, these old ladies had been schoolgirls only a few months ago.
Rory opened the French windows and helped the two lad
ies over the step into the garden. They all sat down on a little bench by a rose bed.
‘It’s lovely out here,’ said Rory. ‘You ought to come outside more. Not just sit indoors.’
‘There’s no point,’ said Mrs Hooper dully.
Mrs Collins raised her face to the sun. ‘It makes me think of being young,’ she said.
‘What happened when you were young?’ asked Rory softly. ‘Can you tell me?’
She shut her eyes, letting the sun play on her eyelids. ‘We got lost,’ she said.
‘Lost,’ Mrs Hooper echoed. ‘We were so lost.’
‘That’s what I want you to tell me about,’ said Rory. ‘I want to hear about the time you were lost. It was Sammy Star, wasn’t it? It was him who sent you back in time.’
There was silence. Rory didn’t want to rush them, but after a few seconds asked again. ‘Was it Sammy Star who sent you back in time?’
Mrs Hooper gave a loud gulp. Rory looked at her, and found to his horror that she was crying. Both old ladies were crying, huge, choking sobs. ‘Please don’t cry!’ he said helplessly.
Mrs Collins smiled. In fact, Rory could now see that they were both smiling through the tears. He was surprised. ‘You’re not upset?’ he asked.
‘It was real, then...’ Mrs Collins whispered. ‘It really happened.’
‘We’re not mad!’ said Mrs Hooper. ‘We were never mad!’
‘Of course you’re not mad,’ said Rory. ‘If you knew some of the things I’d seen... No, you’re really not mad. It really happened, all of it.’
‘We had to forget,’ Mrs Hooper went on. ‘We could never talk about it. It felt like it was a dream from long ago.’
‘You saw Sammy Star, though,’ said Rory. ‘Miss Leake said you saw the poster and kept talking about him. You knew who he was, didn’t you?’
‘He was just part of a dream. Someone we might have seen long ago. Then the dream came true.’
Rory leant forward. ‘Please will you try to think back? It could really help.’
‘So long ago.’ Mrs Hooper shook her head. ‘It was so long ago. We had to forget...’
It was long ago for them, Rory knew, but it was happening right now too. Somehow he had to get them to recall the past. It might save some other girl from going through the same thing.
He had a sudden thought. The MISSING poster of Amber Reynolds. He didn’t think he’d given it back to the Doctor. Had he folded it up and put it in his pocket? Yes! There it was. He pulled out the poster and unfolded it. Then he handed the paper to Mrs Hooper.
‘Amber Reynolds,’ he said. ‘Was that you?’
She put out a nervous hand but stopped, seeming too scared to touch the picture. ‘Reynolds,’ she whispered. ‘That was my name before I married Albert.’
‘Think back,’ said Rory softly. ‘Think back to who you were then. To what happened to you.’
Mrs Hooper wiped her tears away. Then, after taking a deep breath, she spoke. ‘It was Max.’
Rory was puzzled. He’d not heard of a Max. Was this Max in league with Sammy Star? ‘What did Max do?’ he asked.
She smiled. ‘Oh, he was so lovely. He would run up and give me a great big lick when I came home from school.’
‘Oh, Max was your dog!’ said Rory in relief as he figured it out.
‘I loved him so much. He was my only friend. Dad hit me. Mum let him. Max cared, though. He loved me as much as I loved him. Then...’
‘Yes?’ Rory asked, as she paused.
‘Then my dad sold him. That was the thing that made me run away. He was my dog and my friend, and my dad sold him. A stranger came to the door and offered him loads of money for Max, and my dad said yes.’
‘That’s awful,’ said Rory.
She nodded. ‘I thought I could earn lots of money in London. Then I could find the stranger somehow and buy Max back. Instead I got... lost. I never saw Max again. I hope he was happy.’ Tears ran down her cheeks again and this time she didn’t brush them away.
Rory gave her a few moments with her long-ago grief. Then he asked, ‘What happened then? What went on when you got to London?’ She didn’t answer. ‘Please,’ he tried again. ‘I have to know. The Doctor’s counting on me to find out.’
‘The Doctor?’ said Mrs Hooper at last. ‘I think I met a doctor. Back then. Back in the dream.’
‘No,’ said Rory. ‘This isn’t a doctor – it’s the Doctor. Not someone you see when you’re ill.’
‘I thought he was mad,’ she said, not taking any notice. ‘Him and the red-haired girl. Both of them, mad.’ She sighed. ‘They were the last people I saw before I was lost.’
Rory didn’t like the sound of that at all. A mad doctor and a mad red-headed girl. That just had to be the Doctor and Amy. That meant that the young Amber Reynolds was still out there somewhere. She hadn’t been sent back in time yet.
Whatever the Doctor was up to, it seemed as though his plan was doomed to fail.
Miss Leake came out into the garden. She had a folded magazine under one arm and was carrying a cup. ‘I wondered where you were!’ she said. ‘All of you out here, now mind you don’t catch the sun.’ She handed the cup to Rory. ‘I just knew you’d like a nice cup of tea.’
Rory thanked her, even though he didn’t want a cup of tea
‘See, they’re fine this morning after a good night’s sleep,’ Miss Leake carried on. She didn’t seem to mind that the people she was talking about were in front of her. Waving the magazine at the two women, she said, ‘Look, that nice Sammy Star’s going to be on TV soon!’ She turned back to Rory. ‘They’ll enjoy that. It’ll make up for all the silly upset at the show yesterday.’
Rory didn’t agree, but he nodded. He wanted her to leave so he could find out more from Mrs Hooper. Then, as she tucked the magazine back under her arm, he noticed a photo on the open page. It showed Sammy Star in front of a gravestone, holding an apple. ‘Could I just have a look at that, please?’ he asked, taking it from her before she could answer.
He read the first few lines. ‘Oh no,’ he said. ‘Now we’re really in trouble.’
* * *
Chapter Seven
THE DOCTOR HAD rooted through the TARDIS wardrobe for costumes. He was now wearing a frilly white shirt with ruffles, and a long floppy black bow-tie. He’d swapped his tweed jacket for a velvet one. Over the top he wore a black cape with red satin lining and arm-hole slits. ‘Do I look like a magician?’ he asked Amy as he posed in front of a mirror.
‘Very magic,’ she said. ‘The trousers are a bit long, though.’
‘Well, I was quite a lot taller when I last wore this outfit,’ he said. ‘Now come on, try yours on.’
Amy held up the sparkly silver one-piece catsuit. ‘I think it’s a bit small for me,’ she said.
‘Nonsense! You’ll just have to show your ankles,’ the Doctor told her. ‘It’s perfect for Amy Pond, the magician’s helper.’
Amy went behind a screen and began to change. ‘Yeah, why do I have to be the helper?’ she said. ‘Why can’t I do the magic?’
‘All right,’ said the Doctor, rather to her surprise. ‘You do the magic then.’ He paused. ‘How many magic tricks do you know?’
Amy popped her head round the screen. ‘None,’ she said, ‘as you’re well aware. How many tricks do you know?’
The Doctor produced a large bunch of silk flowers from up one sleeve and handed it to her. ‘Loads!’
‘OK,’ she said in a mock-grumpy voice. ‘You win. You do the magic.’ She emerged from behind the screen and did a twirl.
The Doctor picked up a dark wig and plonked it on her head. ‘There. Perfect.’
‘Should we come up with a plan?’ Amy asked the Doctor. ‘Are we just going to go on stage and make it up as we go along?’
‘Making things up as we go along is what I do best,’ said the Doctor. ‘Oh, all right, we’ll plan ahead. Just this once.’ He searched through a pile of stuff and came up with a large carpet bag. ‘OK, let’s
collect up all the things we need. Chains, sack, handcuffs, large wooden box...’
It took about half an hour, but in the end they found all the things the Doctor wanted. ‘They’ll never fit in that bag,’ Amy said, looking at the man-size wooden cabinet. The Doctor told her that the bag was bigger on the inside than the outside, and pushed the things in one by one. Once all the items were inside, even the cabinet, he shut the clasp of the carpet bag with a loud snap.
‘I’m glad I got this back from Mary Poppins,’ he said. ‘Shall we go?’
‘Hang on,’ said Amy, ‘I don’t suppose you’ve got another bag like that, have you? Handbag-sized. You know what it’s like, lipstick, hankie, sunglasses, keys and then there’s no room for the kitchen sink.’
The Doctor delved into the heap of things again, then handed her a tiny shoulder bag.
‘Ooh, silver to match,’ she said. She put her sunglasses and sun lotion into the bag. Then the Doctor’s bunch of silk flowers, and a silk scarf. Then she tried to fit in a hat stand but couldn’t manage it. ‘Oh well, you can’t have it all,’ she said with a shrug.
‘Ready now?’ asked the Doctor, pretending to look at a watch.
Amy grinned. ‘Yes, I’m ready!’
‘Well, then, come along, Pond – let’s make magic!’
The queue was already halfway round Trafalgar Square when the Doctor and Amy arrived. People of all shapes, sizes and ages were waiting to get in. Some were dressed in normal clothes. Some wore top hats or spangly outfits. One wore a tiger costume.
They joined the end of the line. In front of them, a man in glasses was working on card tricks. Next to him, a girl was trying to keep hold of a squirming rabbit.
‘What’s your act, then, mate?’ asked a man with a top hat on his head.
‘I escape,’ said the Doctor.
The man sniffed. ‘Been at it long?’
‘Hmm.’ The Doctor thought about it for a second. ‘About a thousand years. Give or take a century or so. Escape, capture, escape, capture, pretty much the story of my lives.’
Doctor Who: Magic of the Angels Page 3