Monsters In The Sky
Chapter 1:
The Doctor was just making a note of the console readouts on a small yellow post-it note, when a movement behind him attracted his attention.
"Doctor…" Donna started, in a voice he recognised only too well! He turned towards her, still resting one elbow on the console in front of him. She was standing by the door to the Tardis living quarters, with a large striped hexagonal cardboard box swinging gently from her arm.
"Now look – I've told you – there is NO 'Planet of the Hats'….. not as such, anyway…..!" he said in a slightly exasperated tone, straightening up and removing his glasses in order to focus on her face more clearly.
"Yeah, yeah …. I get that, Doctor! It's just…. We've been rushing around, saving the Universe quite a lot recently – and I fancied a few hours of getting properly dressed up and going out somewhere -just for fun! How about it Doctor?... Please?"
"So, what were you thinking of then? Barcelona – I've still never made it there – could be a hoot?"
"And have you making that stupid dog joke all day long? No thank you, Doctor! How about somewhere on Earth – posh, summertime, tea on the veranda, nothing more exciting than a vol-au-vent?"
"I thought you liked it …. the adventure, new worlds, all of that!" He sounded put out.
"You know I love it, travelling with you! But today I just fancy 'safe'. Quiet and safe. Just for a few hours – recharge our batteries!"
She had her head on one side, hatbox still swinging, and that pleading smile he found so hard to refuse! He sat on the edge of the console, and stared upwards as he contemplated the options. Past? Present? Future?
"I know!" he cried after a few moments. "Prince Charles suggested I pop by to watch a polo match next time I was passing! That the sort of thing you were thinking of?"
"Wh…. Prince Charles?...Actual Might–Be-King-One-Day Prince Charles? When? When did he say that – or are you winding me up?"
The Doctor turned back to the console, stuck his post-it on the side of the monitor, and began to twist handles, and pump levers. "It was after Christmas that time. Remember? Titanic? Buckingham Palace? So- do you want to take him up on his kind offer?"
"What are we waiting for?"
She grinned at him, before disappearing back into the living quarters to get changed.
Vwooorp…..! vwooorp ….! Vwooorp…!
The Tardis materialised beside a stony track between two fields. The sun was beating down as The Doctor leaped out of the door. He looked around, smiling broadly, before calling over his shoulder,
"The sun's shining! C'mon!"
As he stepped into the lane, the Tardis door opened wider to reveal Donna, looking magnificent in a toffee coloured linen dress and matching jacket, and a large cream broad brimmed hat.
"Will I do, Doctor?" she asked.
"Mmm" he said absently, "can you walk in those shoes –we seem to be a bit further away than I'd planned"
It was no use expecting The Doctor to notice sartorial details, she thought. Then out loud
" How far away are we? And from where exactly?"
He seemed to be scanning their surroundings –first looking up and down the deserted lane, and then out to the horizon in all directions.
"Well, the geography looks right- those are the Sussex Downs. We're heading for the polo match at Cowdrey Park." he explained, flashing her his brilliant smile. "It's a big event –shouldn't have any difficulties getting in!"
He pulled a small brass gadget out of his pocket, twiddled a couple of dials, screwed his eyes up to look at the sun, checked the dials again, then looked to his right, up the track.
"We seem to be a little further South than I thought – better get a move on, or we'll miss the start!"
They headed up the track side by side. There was no noise around them save for the occasional bird, or a sheep on the hillside calling out. Donna was about to start asking the Doctor about how to behave if she came face to face with HRH himself, when they both became aware of some sort of wagon trundling down the track towards them. It was pulled by a stocky brown horse, and driven by an elderly man in a linen shirt, and some sort of knee length woollen trousers. As the wagon drew level with them, they jumped up on to the verge to give it plenty of room.
"Good afternoon!" called out The Doctor.
The man nodded politely to them, and The Doctor continued,
"Are we heading in the right direction for Cowdrey? And how far away are we?"
" Yerss" nodded the driver, "Bout five miles, I reckon!" "Thank you!" responded The Doctor, and raised his hand in salutation as the wagon rumbled past.
Donna stood where she was.
"Five miles? We should go back to the Tardis and use it to get there! I'd turn up looking like a crumpled rag if I walked five miles in this heat!"
The Doctor conceded the point and they turned and retraced their steps back down the track.
After a few minutes, both began to look a little thoughtful, and as they reached a bend in the track they both stopped.
"I don't remember this bend, and I'm sure that tree was in the distance when we came out of the door!" Donna spoke, voicing both their concerns.
The Doctor stood, deep in thought, with furrowed brow, for a moment or two, before again fishing out his gadget. He twiddled the dials, looked up and down the track, checked the position of the sun, and then looked once more at the dials in front of him.
"We've passed her – or at least we've walked past where we left her!" he said at last.
Donna looked up and down the track too.
"We can't have" she said, "It wasn't hidden by anything – it was right on the edge of the track!"
"Then where is it now?" he asked thoughtfully.
They retraced their steps until they had reached the place where the wagon had passed them. As they stood there, coming to terms with the fact that the Tardis had unaccountably vanished, Donna realised she was staring at something bright orange lying in the middle of the track.
A satsuma.
The Doctor followed Donna's gaze, then leaned forward and picked up the satsuma.
"Must have fallen out of that chap's packed lunch," he mused, tossing it up in the air a couple of times, before stowing it in his pocket. "Useful thing, a Satsuma!" he murmured, then sighed.
"So what do we do now?" asked Donna.
"Keep walking, see what happens?" he offered.
Donna rolled her eyes, but set off with him along the track.
The field they were now passing contained a small orchard, with branches heavy with apples. The Doctor suddenly stopped still, and Donna noticed a puzzled look on his face. She followed the direction of his stare, and saw a woman between the trees. She had a large wicker basket almost full of apples, and seemed to be supervising a small boy who was up a ladder, collecting more of the swollen fruit.
She became aware of their presence, and turned towards them. It was then that Donna realised why the Doctor was puzzled. It was her clothing. She looked for all the world as if she had stepped out of a medieval painting. She wore a long woollen skirt and tight bodice, over a linen shirt. Her head was swathed in linen cloth with a large straw hat perched on the top.
She approached them as they stood staring in the lane.
"Good Sir, My Lady, can I assist you in any way?" she asked politely, with a hint of a small curtsey.
"Er…. Where exactly are we? And…. I know this is going to sound strange - but what year is this?" The Doctor enquired.
The woman looked at him oddly for a moment before answering, "This is the farm of my husband Robert Sandon in the parish of Singleton, and the year…..it be the year of our Lord 1599."
" Right," he said, nodding as if he had suspected as much. "We were travelling towards Cowdrey, and left our….carriage, whilst…. strolling in the lane, and when we returned it had…gone! I don't suppose you have seen anything….a blue box…perhaps on the back of a cart?"
She shook her head slowly. "The only soul I've seen in the lane today was old John Carter in his wagon – everyone else is in the fields getting the last of the corn in!"
The woman studied them for a moment before saying, "If it would please you -you seem hot and tired -would you come to our home, where I can offer you refreshment, and send for my husband? He may know what is to be done about your carriage and your missing box."
Donna, realising that she was indeed very thirsty, and that her feet were aching, prodded The Doctor in the ribs, and accepted the invitation with a smile.
The woman called to the small boy, sending him off to search out his father in the fields, and The Doctor helped her to carry the now full basket of apples up the lane to a flint and red brick farmhouse just above a curve in the road.
They entered through a central door. Immediately facing them was a red brick wall, with doors to either side. Donna soon realised that the brick wall was the side of a huge central chimney, with what looked like a kitchen to one side, and a chamber to the other. It was into this room that the woman, who had given her name as Rachel, ushered them, before scurrying to the kitchen to prepare some food and drink.
Once they were alone, Donna turned on The Doctor "1599?...Do you actually know how to fly that thing? And what has happened to the Tardis? Cucumber sandwiches I wanted – a peaceful afternoon! You've done it again!"
He sat in a large carved wooden armchair, resting his head against its back.
"Hmmm….," he said " We seem to be more or less in the right location, just four hundred or so years out! There was a strange…wobble as we landed," he continued "I put it down to turbulence at the time, but….."
They were interrupted by the simultaneous return of Rachel with some ale and spiced biscuits, and the appearance of a large man, whom they took to be Robert, the owner of the farm. He held out his hand to the Doctor, and nodded to Donna.
"My son has explained to me the unfortunate circumstances in which you find yourselves – you must accept our hospitality until something more acceptable can be found" With that, he put down the things which he had been carrying on a long wooden table at the side of the room. The Doctor, who was about to answer him, stopped in his tracks, looking in puzzlement at Robert's goods. Donna followed his gaze over the black leather bottle, and the…bunch of bananas!
The Doctor got to his feet, put on his glasses, and went over to the fruit. He turned them over and peered closely at the small green and blue sticker on one of the bananas. 'Fair Trade' it announced. The Doctor looked up, and stared thoughtfully into the distance, his frown deepening.