Chapter Three:

~Of the Tardis and curiosity ~

"Excuse me!" Exclaimed Mary. "I'm not going to let you just drag me around!"

"Actually, darling, it seems he's dragging all of us around." Right after dinner the Doctor made up some excuse and whisked off, dragging Clara, Mary, Matthew, Sybil, and Tom with him.

"I'm taking you to the Tardis." He finally said, once they had all gathered around the old box.

"Tardis?" Asked Tom.

"Yes. It stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. My granddaughter came up with it actually. Susan, her name was."

"Doctor! I'd love to hear this story but we really do need to get moving." Sighed Clara.

"Well, come on in then." He opened the doors and in they all went. Sybil couldn't believe her eyes. What seemed to be a small box opened up into a cavernous room. She closed her eyes and opened them again, just to see if she was dreaming. Her face split into an enormous grin.

"It's amazing!" She said. "It's bigger on the inside!" Even Mary was shocked.

"It's wonderful!" Mary exclaimed. Matthew laughed,

"How does it fit?" He asked.

"Time Lord technology."

"Very specific." Matthew rolled his eyes before realizing what he'd just done. He had just rolled his eyes after making a snide remark, Mary really was rubbing off on him.

"What does it do?" Asked Tom, who had already begun to look at the Control Panel.

"It travels through time and space." The Doctor said simply. "Anywhere and everywhere." Though he wouldn't admit it, he did rather enjoy this bit.

"It's a bit like a car, isn't it?" Tom said, inspecting the buttons closely as the others began to wander around in awe.

"Alright, goodbye!" Said the Doctor, trying to herd the group out of the Tardis.

"Where you you think you're taking them?" Asked Clara, "I'm sure they'd all love to stay." She smiled. Sybil smiled back,

"We'd love to help. That is of course, if you don't mind." She said, looking hopefully at the Doctor. He stared, steely eyed at the group before finally sighing in defeat.

"Fine." He sighed, "But only because Clara wants you to stay. Now! Where should we go?"

"Doctor," Said Clara, pulling him out of hearing range. "Shouldn't we stay here and watch for the ghost? Or do you think it's like that time in the 1970s where it wasn't really a ghost?"

"No, I think this is a real ghost… what do you think about searching the castle and asking everyone if they've seen it?" He asked.

"A domestic approach? I never thought I'd get that from you." Clara laughed. She turned back to their new friends, "What do you say about a tour of Downton Abbey?" Asked Clara.

"But, everyone will be asleep! It's practically midnight after all." Said Mary.

"Perfect time for ghost catching!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"Where do you want to go, anyway?" Asked Tom.

"We want to meet everyone and question them about the ghost." Said the Doctor. Matthew chuckled,

"I hate to break it to you but everyone's going to think you're mad!"

"Yes, well I am, aren't I? A mad man with a box, Amelia called me."

"You can talk to them if you want but I doubt they'll give you very helpful answers." Matthew said. "Now I'm going to bed. Care to join?" He asked Mary.

"Ah, yes, about that… I'm afraid your bedroom is off-limits right now…" Said the Doctor. Mary rose her eyebrows,

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean that the ghost seems to like it there and for everyone's safety I think it's best if you two slept here tonight."

"Can we stay as well?" Asked Sybil, excitedly.

"I don't see why not." Said Clara, smiling.

"I don't understand. You can't just tell me that I can't sleep in my own room and then tell me that I have to sleep in a box!" Mary exclaimed, annoyed. This day was already a lot to handle, for everyone, and she most certainly was not sleeping on the floor of a box, even if it was magical.

"Oh, don't worry. We've plenty of beds, I do believe we even have an entire room that's covered with beds! You never know what you'll find in the Tardis." Said the Doctor fondly, stroking the Control Panel. Mary sighed in defeat,

"Can I at least change?" She asked.

"No! Off limits remember?"

"You expect me to sleep in my clothes?" She said, getting more irritated by the second.

"Yes, I do actually. But that's the least of your problems. Clara, do you mind showing our guests to some empty rooms?"

"If the Tardis lets me." Said Clara, sighing dejectedly around the room.

"Oh, Clara, you must be nicer to her!"

"And how am I supposed to be nice to an inanimate object?"

"Stroke her, talk nicely to her, treat her like a person."

"I'm not stroking the Tardis." Clara led the group into one of the hallways, pointing out doors as she went. Finally she reached the corridor she was looking for. "Aha! The companions hallway. There's a room in this hallway for every companion the Doctor has ever had. Here's mine," She pointed to a navy blue door. Then she scanned the hallway, looking for some empty rooms, finally she saw two, wedged between Rose Tyler and Martha Jones.

"How has he had so many companions?" Asked Tom, scanning the long hallway.

"He's very old." She replied. "Now, these are your rooms," she gestured to the empty rooms, "I'll be right across the hall if you need anything." Mary and Matthew walked into their room and were met with a plain grey bed with grey walls.

"Well, this is certainly cheerful." Said Matthew, looking around. Suddenly, the walls began to change into a dark forest green and the whole room started to morph to look like their room at home. "Did you do that?" He asked Mary.

"No…" She grinned at him, "This box really is magical." Meanwhile, in the room next door, Tom and Sybil only just discovered that the room transformed. Sybil ran over to the bed and ran a section of the sheets through her fingers,

"It's exactly the same!" She exclaimed, going over to the bureau and inspecting a frilled lamp.

"Won't everyone be looking for you all?" Asked Tom.

"No, they're probably all asleep. Plus, even if they were, they'd be looking for you too." Tom laughed,

"Your father doesn't care about where I am."

"Oh, Tom, I'm sure he will someday." Tom shrugged at Sybil's words.

"Sleep?" He asked her, gesturing to the perfect replica of their bed.

"I think I'm too excited to sleep."

~Meanwhile at Downton~

Edith lay awake in her bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering where her siblings had run off to. She saw them running through the grounds with that Doctor man. She brushed those thoughts aside and instead focused on Michael Gregson, who she had met only once a few days ago. He had offered her a column on his magazine, which her father didn't want her to take but Matthew was trying to convince him otherwise. She closed her eyes and sighed, her mind wandering back to her sisters and brother-in-laws before she felt an ice cold blast of wind on her back…

~Back to the Tardis~

Mary rolled over in her bed, facing Matthew who appeared to be sound asleep.

"Darling, are you awake?" She whispered. He opened one eye and brushed off the golden hair that had flopped over his face.

"Yes, I don't think I could sleep if I tried." He whispered back, staring into her eyes.

"Is it because you're not tired or because you're wearing a suit?" She asked, pursing her lips and gesturing to her own evening gown.

"A bit of both I suppose." He laughed.

"I wonder if Edith is okay…" Mary said, groping around for Matthews hand under the blankets.

"That's rather uncharacteristic." He said, laughing softly and gently grasping her hand.

"Can I not care for my sisters well being? She is practically alone on that side of the Abbey now." Said Mary defensively.

"I'm not saying you can't care for her, because I'm sure deep down you do, I'm just saying that you usually don't seem to care all that much. Or at least, you don't voice those concerns." He said gently.

"Mmm. I've noticed that I'm a lot more sentimental at night." She muttered.

"Yes, well, being tired makes you say things you wouldn't normally say." Said Matthew.

"You're very insightful tonight." Mary laughed. Matthew closed the gap between them and pressed his lips against hers.

"Goodnight, Mary."

GET READY FOR SOME GHOST ACTION NEXT CHAPTER. That didn't really need to be announced in all caps did it...