The package arrived six months later.
The rest of the household might have forgotten their strange visitor, but Sara never had. The moment she saw that the package was from the Doctor, she tore it open, and examined the object inside.
It was a small, golden fob watch, carved with intricate designs and astronomical symbols. It looked exactly the way the Doctor had described it, all those months ago. Sara remembered the way his eyes had gone so far away and sad, when she'd said she didn't have one. Looking at the watch in her hands, she knew she had been right. She had never had a watch like this.
Sara turned it over in her hands, but the watch didn't seem to be ticking. She opened it, examining its face and inner workings in minute detail. It appeared to have never really been functional in the first place. What a curious thing! Who would build a watch that was meant to be broken? Sara closed it again, and held it very tightly. For some reason, she felt quite sad when she held it.
She showed it to Uncle Tom, and he recognized it immediately. "I don't know how I could have forgotten," he told her. "It was your mother's. Your father carried it around with him, everywhere, after she died. He resolved never to show you, although I don't know why. Said he had an awfully good reason for it, but if he did, he never told me. I do remember he had it, back in India, when we were digging in those mines. Whenever he was lonely, your father would open it. He'd sit there for hours, holding it up to his ear and just listening."
"What was he listening for?" asked Sara.
"He said it was your mother's voice," said Uncle Tom. "He told me that just after your mother died, he'd opened it, and he was certain he heard her speaking to him. He could almost swear she was still alive in there, although his conviction faded over the years."
"Do you think it's a magic watch?" asked Sara.
"If it ever was," said Uncle Tom, "the magic's all gone now. It was gone by the time I met poor Ralph again. He listened for that voice so many times, but it never spoke to him." He gave her a reassuring smile. "But who knows, little Sara? Perhaps you can bring the magic back."
Sara smiled. "Yes," she said. "Perhaps I can."
