The Doctor helps a young 19th century woman, Emily, explore a previously undisturbed passageway in her newly inherited house that she has wondered about for years. It doesn't appear on the master plans of the house. With no one to turn to, and having had feelings of dread build up inside her about it far too long, she advertises for a "brave soul" to accompany her exploring it. Where it leads will terrify them both.
Help wanted: One brave soul. If interested, come to 147 Parkplace Road to inquire.
The Doctor looked at the simple advertisement with curious bafflement. This was so strange, maybe it was just what he been looking for. Maybe it was she needed someone to take care of a spider or ground squirrel loose in the attic, or something ridiculous like that. But maybe, just maybe, it was something interesting. There was only one way to find out. He decided to check it out.
The Doctor walked up the muddy path, which had just received a fresh downpour of rain. The sky had not yet fully cleared up, and threatened to revert to it's showers.
He tapped the brass cat knocker on the door and waited a moment, curiously trying to peer up into one of the dirty occluded windows. He snapped his head back when suddenly the door clicked as a key clanked around in it, and slowly opened, revealing the pale face of a girl around 17, maybe 18, her face framed by inky black hair.
"What do you want?" she asked quietly.
The Doctor held up the advertisement sheepishly.
"Oh, yes. I'm terribly sorry about that. Please, do come in. " her nose looked somewhat red, as if she had recently been crying. "I'm Emily, but I'm really not feeling like myself today. It's a combination of this horrible dust, and a bit of loneliness. My aunt just died. She was my only living relative, and I was - well, I was her lone heir. " she said gesturing around at the large house with a hint of a sad smile playing at her lips.
"I'm so sorry to hear that. It must be very hard to be alone in here. I have something that could bust up this dust quite quickly, if you like."
She smiled tiredly "Thank you, but the dust is the least of my worries right now."
"Your advertisement was rather vague. What do you need a brave soul for?"
"Are you brave?" she asked out of the blue, taking the Doctor off guard.
"I came, didn't I? "
"That doesn't answer my question"
"Are you?" the Doctor asked, shooting her question back at her
"I want to be"
"Ditto"
"So perhaps we can be brave between the both of us."
"What is this terrifying thing that you can't face alone?"
"A door. I won't sell the house until I know what's behind it."
"Can't you just open it then?"
"I've always had this feeling of dread about it. I suppose it stems back to when I first discovered it while playing here as a girl. It was hidden behind a wardrobe that I had squeezed behind in an effort to hid from my aunt. When I asked her about it, she grew quiet and forbade me from ever going into that room ever again. It's been locked ever since, but of course now I have the key." She said rather pleased. "The strange way she acted about it has always made me feel like there must be something dreadful behind it. "
"It could be that she was just concerned for your safety. It must have some practical reason for being there. it could have been for accessing some utility. Do you have the master plans for the house? Surely that would include it."
"I do, but they don't show anything there."
"So you need someone's hand to hold. Is that it?"
"Yes." she confessed.
"Alright." he said holding out his hand.
"I know this must sound silly." she said suddenly growing embarrassed.
"Not at all. We all need help facing some sort of fearsome thing, at some time. Yours is just unknown. And you want to confront it. There's nothing wrong with that."
"If there was anyone else, I wouldn't had advertised for a stranger. I know it must seem strange, but you have to understand, I've been alone for a very long time, really. I was orphaned at a young age, and my aunt was an invalid in her latter years. There's no one else. And -and, I just can't bear to face it by myself, in this big empty house." tears grew in her eyes as she said this.
"I understand" the Doctor said kindly, offering his hand again. She took it this time, still a bit uncertain.
"It's this way" She led the Doctor through the main room, and left down a long narrow hall. Finally they reached an old door on the left side of the hall, and she slowly removed ring of brass skeleton keys out of her dress pocket. "Here we are" she said glancing up at the Doctor. He took this opportunity to get a better look at her. She had black hair running down her back, and large mournful grey eyes, with just a hint of violet at play in them. She reminded him a bit of his granddaughter, Susan, with her delicate ethereal quality. Only she was a bit paler.
"Can you open it, or should -" The Doctor started, not unkindly.
"I'll do it" she said firmly, but her hand shook a bit as she rummaged the key in the lock. Finally it opened with a creak, and they stepped into the dusty and dimly lit room. It was scattered with an eclectic collection of discarded furniture, and white sheer curtains hung from the windows. On the right side of the room the Doctor saw the wardrobe that she had spoken of, which had been moved close up against the wall.
"Let's move this out of the way. No angry aunts to scold us" the Doctor said with a silly grin as he walked over and strained to move the heavy piece of furniture. Emily helped him and they soon had it scooted out of the way. It was a small rectangular wooden door, just tall enough, perhaps, for a single person to fit through. In its lower left side was a small hole for a key. The Doctor looked at Emily. "Are you ready?"
Emily took a deep breath and tried to concert herself. She had been looking down this whole time. That familiar feeling of dread that had come over her whenever she had approached the room was washing over her again full force. She felt a bit overwhelmed by it, but obsessed with finally knowing what lay behind it. All these years, that feeling of curiosity over the whole matter had nagged at her just as strongly, maybe more so. And at the same time she felt silly. Silly for being afraid of a door that probably contained nothing of importance. She looked up at the grey haired man who so patiently waited for her to answer, and felt grateful to have someone with her, waiting in such a kind manner. She mustn't let him down.
"Do you want me to do it?" The Doctor asked finally. "I could peek in and then tell you what's there. Probably nothing."
"No, no I'm sorry - uh, I'm sorry, I never asked your name."
"Doctor"
She gave him a puzzled look but went on. "Yes, I'm sorry Doctor, but I need to do this myself."
"Of course. And don't worry, I'm right here." he said as he squeezed her hand.
Hand shaking, she removed another key from her pocket which was separate from the rest, and much smaller. " I think it's this one. I found it hidden in a cranny somewhere." She slowly inserted it into the lock and felt it click into place as she turned it. Adrenaline suddenly rushing in anticipation, she gave a quick glance to the Doctor and then swiftly pulled open the door.
Inside was a long, dark, narrow, and grimy passageway. At the very end it looked like it might slope, or possibly even drop off somewhere.
"Well there you have it. A strange tunnel. Who knows what it's for."
"But we have to see what's in it don't we? Look, it goes on, but then what? "
"Well,now that you've seen that there aren't any spring-heeled jacks inside, I'm sure you can manage to shimmy in and take a peek for yourself." the Doctor said, really just not wanting to get his favorite red velvet jacket dirty. At the same time, he was a little disappointed that something interesting hadn't jumped out at them that he could puzzle over. "I'm sorry, Em, but I really must be going" He turned to leave.
"Please Doctor, stay with me" she pleaded looking up at him with her pale face and great grey eyes full of both fear and longing.
How could he refuse a face like that? Nodding at her, he removed his jacket, revealing his waistcoat and white dress shirt beneath. He draped it over a nearby chair and crawled into the tunnel. Emily followed behind him. At the end of the brick tunnel it didn't drop off, but instead made a sharp downwards curve, almost like a slide. Looking back at Emily he spoke to her "There's something unexpected. Shall we go on?"
"Alright." Emily nodded.
"Fine then. Stay brave and follow me. Who knows what's down here." he padded down the slide, and found himself at the bottom of yet another, slightly wider, passageway.
"What could this be for? What if it's a family treasure?" she asked excitedly.
"Wouldn't that be wonderful" the Doctor replied.
It was pitch black at the bottom of the curved slope, and a light suddenly warmly radiated from behind him. Emily had lit a candle.
"Always prepared" she smiled at him.
He smiled back. So, what should we do now? Is your curiosity satisfied, or shall we keep exploring? It's a lot more than I expected."
"Yes, let's keep going around that turn. If it's a dead end we can turn back." Suddenly she spotted a few worn metal candle holders poking out the side of the passage wall, and she stuck the candle into one. "I brought a few candles. Here, you take a few, and a match. Between the two of us we'll get this lit. Who knows, it might even make a nice reading cove." she said shoving several enthusiastically into his hands.
The Doctor looked over to her at this. She sure was eccentric once she got over her fear. And apparently, she liked to read in strange, secluded places; he liked her, he decided.
"Come on, let's finish exploring first." she said crawling ahead of him. The Doctor followed, and soon they had made their way turning and winding through several passages, until they came to one that abruptly stopped and went up. Emily shone a light up into the dark, and they saw a metal door.