The mill seemed to wait for them. It was an old flour mill, powered by the wheel which the stream current had formerly made turn. At that time, the current had had to be stronger; the small flow rate of water which remained would not have been enough for the task. What remained of the wheel was broken in two and was stuck in the ice. The stone building remained, but windows were broken, the door was beaten by the wind and the roof was broken.
- It reminds me the story of a haunted mill, Cynthia whispered. There was a mill in the area. Not a millers stays for long in that mill. They all ran away. The last was a young married whose wife disappeared without a trace. He left the mill and no one dare to work in that mill.
- It could be this mill.
- I don't think. Legend says it was razed to the ground.
- Well! It has grown back.
After this foolish remark, the doctor walked to the mill. Cynthia followed him.
- It growned back. Are kidding me?
The doctor did not answer, he took a funny pen from his pocket and pointed it at the mill. The object started buzzing.
- What are you doing?
- I try to see if the sound of my sonicscrewdriver is going to make it react.
Cynthia began thinking that this doctor perhaps needed a doctor, the type which treat what takes place between both ears. Then, he asked her :
- Cynthia, come and see.
She approached, he handed her the box. It was so hot, she almost drop it.
- I think it's time to say "you are burning." Now look at this spiral enclosed in a triangle on the lid.
- I have the feeling of having seen it before somewhere.
- It may have been reproduced in different locations. Look.
He pointed to a ledge above the door. Something was engraved in the molding, but it was almost erased. She approached. It was the same symbol: the spiral in the triangle.
- It would help if you coud remember where you saw it.
- I can't remember. It would help me if you could you explain to me how a mill can grow.
- It's simple, in fact, this is not a mill, but a lifeform.
At this time, a low growl, from the mill, seemed to answer the doctor. He grabbed Cynthia's hand.
- RUN!
Cynthia had no other choice than following the doctor who was holding her hand firmly. She heard behind a mighty roar and a landslide noise. In the hurry, she dropped the box.
The Doctor and Cynthia were thrown to the ground by an explosion. Cynthia had felt the heat of the explosion. She rose unsteadily, she glanced towards the doctor who also fell. She turned to the mill, expecting to see the smoking ruins, her shredded car and debris everywhere.
There was nothing. Her car was intact , parked in front of the foundations of the vanished mill. There was no trace of the mill, even the broken wheel had vanished.
She wondered how the doctor would explained this disappearance fearing something excentric again. She turned to him. Without saying a word, he walked over to the foundations of the old mill. She followed him. He stooped examined what was left and proclaimed.
- I did not expecting that.
- Where's the mill?
- Where's the box?
Cynthia felt embarrassed when she realized she had lost it. She was so clumsy! The doctor understood.
- That explains a lot. The creature who had assumed the form of the mill wanted the box, not us. If you had not dropped it, we would have been killed in the blast.
- But where's the box? Where is the mill?
- They left together. And of course, it was not a mill. Look at the foundations.
She took a few steps. There was only the basement of the mill, surrounded by eroded stone foundations. The cellar was half filled with scree and snow. A tree grew in the middle of the enclosure.
- You see? There was no mill here since a long time. What we saw was an illusion. Something else was waiting for us and it stole the box.
- But where?
- Good question.
He pulled out a strange object from his pocket that was reminiscent of a heap of microchips patched together. The object emitted a series of "bip" the doctor studied carefully.
- There is a quantum signature, he fled in time.
- You mean time travel? It is impossible to travel trought time.
- Do you want to bet?
He seemed serious. Cynthia preferred not to argue, in less than one hour she had seen more impossible things than ... ever. So if all of this were possible, why not time travel.
- I think I can determine at what time he went, but it will difficult to catch him. We must go Tardis. Can you bring me near the place we met?