It was not, admittedly, how Barbara had planned out the evening, to find herself trapped inside a police box that wasn't, with a man who spoke in riddles and a girl who didn't even know where to begin.
Only a hours ago Barbara had spent her lunch time dwelling on how to solve the mysterious Susan Forman, a 15 year old girl who didn't know how many shillings were in a pound, mistakenly under the impression that Britain was using the decimal system. She didn't sound like a Yank, she didn't act like one either, not that Barbara really knew, but more or less besides her moments of complete understanding beyond what could ever be expected and the few incidents showing a lack of everyday knowledge, Susan was normal.
Barbara, caught herself, Susan was not normal, she was a genius, there was no denying it, 'casual' discussions with other members of staff had allowed Barbara to ascertain that Susan's exceptional knowledge was not restricted to history, but her knowledge of science, maths and literature were all above and beyond her peers. Despite this and her willingness to always speak up in class Barbara always had the feeling that Susan knew more than she was willing to or comfortable to share. She would ask the strangest questions, before adding to the discussions and making corrections, as though the events in modern times could change her mind to keep talking or smile and write it down in her notebook and say "nevermind, that's for later then".
The strangest thing however was her manner of speaking whenever timing was involved, she spoke of yesterday as though it were tomorrow and years to come as though they'd passed, she had no doubt about the possibilities of the future, it were as though she'd read the final chapter of the book and decided it was worth starting in the middle. But that was Mrs Liddlestone's, the literature teacher, comments when Barbara had so subtly raised the topic of the new student in the staffroom.
Going to her house on a flimsy pretence had been a rash idea, but finding out that the address was just a yard, no house at all, only steeled her determination to find out what was really going on and why was Susan so concerned about anyone meeting her grandfather?
It didn't take much imagination to determine who she would persuade into accompanying her on this mad idea, Ian Chesterton the science teacher seemed to share a curiosity in Susan, not to mention he always seemed glad enough to spend lunchtimes, chatting to her over the other teachers, Barbara allowed herself a small smile for that thought.
Convincing Ian to join her in pursuit of the truth behind Susan was as expected no challenge, though there was the faint suspicion her was humouring her more for her company than to really find out what was going on. But Barbara chose to ignore that, her motives, she told herself, stemmed purely out of concern for Susan.
The journey to 76 Totters Lane was uneventful, but staring and waiting, Barbara couldn't help but wish that maybe, just maybe there would be a perfectly normal explanation. Ian suggested she could be meeting a boy and what a wonderfully normal teenage thing to do, except this was Susan's address and even if what she was doing here was completely normal, it still didn't explain why this was her address.
"Is something bothering you Barbara?" asked Ian jovially, she could see the excitement in his eyes, they both knew that Susan should be arriving soon.
"I'm just worried, just the feeling that we're about to interfere in something that is best left alone".
He was thinking and about to reply, but then Susan arrived and the thought was forgotten. They had waited momentarily for Susan to enter the warehouse before following her, bumbling through the doors to find it filled with the most bizarre collection of objects, but there was one that stood out, the Police Box.
They were drawn to it, its soft vibration, it felt alive.
But then someone was coming, they hid quickly, to see a man they could only identify as Susan's grandfather. He went straight to the Police Box drawing a key on a chain out of his pocket, casually flipping his scarf out of the way, his dressing was eccentric, unlike every other grandfather Barbara had ever known. He was a doctor Susan had told Barbara, but his name she never said, he was dr who?