Through the night, Clara slept peacefully. Although her dreams were of bats, spiders and goblins, they were as harmless as dreams of sugar plums on Christmas Eve. Waking up the next morning to a darkened room, it took Clara a few minutes to remember where she was. Drowsily, she sat up, and dressed. Tossing her large red nightshirt to the floor, she pulled on some dark green overalls and the shirt she wore the day before. Her shoes today were a pair of black laced boots. Pulling her hair up into the style she wore everyday (three ponytails on the top of her head); she trotted down the stairs into the kitchen. There was nothing there but a note.

To Clara,

Sally is out of town for the day. I'll be around town somewhere, most likely in the Town Hall. Just leave the house and turn right. Be sure to watch for Lock, Shock and Barrel- they may be as old as you but they are still as tricky as they were when they were little.

Love Jack.

Smiling, Clara folded up the note and left it in her pocket. Jack and Sally were really kind people, especially to take her in on such short notice. They were much different from her parents... they couldn't even let Jack know that she was going. As Clara left the house, a peculiar feeling gurgled in her heart. As if something big was about to happen, but she didn't know what. After nearly killing herself missing the first step past the front door, she decided it was probably the chill startling her. Closing the rickety gate behind her, she turned right... and was smacked into by a gangly person, taller than she. Clara stood up angrily and brushed herself off, not looking at the other person.

"You should watch where you're going; you could 'ave kill... me...?" she trailed off.

The boy was beautiful. Not girly beautiful, but masculine, though not enough to say 'handsome'. His hair was a little longish, wild, and black, standing up on end like hers. He was about a head taller than her, with dark chocolate brown eyes. By his left eye were stitches leading in two directions; up to the top left corner of his face, and to his left temple. He wore dark clothing; a dark grey jacket over black trousers. He seemed too beautiful to be a Halloween creature, but too ugly to be accepted into another society. Strangely enough, looking at him reminded her of Sally. She scratched her head.

"Um, maybe not kill me... I am already dead." she corrected herself, blushing. The boy nodded grimly, going on his way, very briskly.

Jack sat on the edge of the stage in the Town Hall, moving his hand in a semi-circular shape, eyes closed and smiling, to the beat of the musician's new tune. It was quick, and lively, much more... jolly than anything they had ever previously come up with. Jack clicked his tongue at the use of Christmas vocabulary, opening his eyes. In his past life, Jack loved swing and jive tunes, and the only thing that prevented him from dancing to this one was that he had no partner. At was at this moment when Clara stuck her head in the door, looking around nervously. The saxophone player waved to the girl, who smiled back courteously. Puzzled, Jack motioned for his niece to enter the room.

"Jack? Can I ask you something?" Clara started. Even though it had only been a few minutes, the boys stare was something she could not get off her mind. Jack nodded.

"You know everyone in town right?" she continued hopefully. Jack nodded again.

"Do you know a boy who's a bit taller than me with stitches on his face and wrists? Kinda like Sally but has black hair like mine and white skin?" she asked, cringing at her lack of descriptive words. Jack frowned in thought. After a moment, he brightened.

"You could be talking about Benjamin, Clara! If that's who I think you're talking about. He's one of the more recent creations of the Doctor's... he was designed to be like a son for the old man. He is the only one I can think of who reminds people of Sally." he explained thoughtfully. Clara shrugged, hoping Jack was right. Sitting down, she stared out the window intently. A face appeared at the window. It was the boy from before.

"Is that him, Jack?" she asked, not removing her gaze from the window. Jack gave a glance, and nodded. Clara smiled to the boy, hoping he would smile back. However, Benjamin disappeared from view. Clara sat there, confused.