Evie's TARDIS Diary: Stuck
Mair had given up her bed for me the night before and gone to share with Eurwen and Tesni. It was softer than I'd expected as I lay down on it, but it still felt wrong. It wasn't my bed on the TARDIS and it wasn't my bunk in Stormcage. It smelt of the little girl who was bringing up her brothers and sisters virtually on her own.
After a couple of hours staring at the dark ceiling, I slipped out of bed and went down the narrow, spiral staircase and into the living room. The embers of the fire were still glowing gently in the fireplace and I was grateful that it wasn't cold because I had no idea how to get it going again.
Curling up in a chair in front of it, I thought back over what the children had told me about the monsters. They called them large, winged beasts who swooped down and devoured their victims before they could run away. I hadn't ever heard or seen such beasts before, unless they were some kind of Pteranodon, but from the descriptions and the drawings the younger children had done me, I didn't think they were.
There was a pitter-patter of small feet on the staircase and I jumped slightly, almost having forgotten where I was. My thoughts were shattered as a small, blonde head appeared in my line of vision and a child climbed into my lap.
"Err…" I muttered, leaning backwards to work out who had just invaded my personal space. "Why aren't you in bed, Alis?"
"Couldn't sleep." The little girl said with a shrug.
"Fair enough." I agreed, mirroring the movement of her shoulders. It seemed like a good excuse. It was the same one as I had, anyway. "So… what d'you normally do when you can't sleep?" Alis just shrugged again, burying her head into my shoulder. "Well, when I can't sleep my M… my Mum tells me stories. Or she used to, when I was little, like you are."
"Can you tell me a story?" Alis asked, blinking up at me with her big blue eyes. I'd been worried at the mention of Mum, but apparently she either hadn't noticed or hadn't been bothered.
"I suppose so…" I agreed slowly, thinking. Then I started to tell her about the time the Doctor had taken Mum and I to New New New York and we'd been caught in a snow storm. Before I'd reached the end of the story Alis was asleep so I carried her carefully back up the stairs and laid her in her bed, beside Bron's. The dark haired little girl was fast asleep, although I heard her muttering something 'Mama' in her sleep.
The next night Alis begged me for another bedtime story and she and Bron listened eagerly, until they fell asleep mid-way through my tale about my encounter with the Frog People on Huxil. The night after that, Iolyn and Gwil appeared in the girls' room for a story as well and soon I was telling them all a story every night, before having to carry most of them back to bed.
Before I knew it, I'd been with the children for a whole two weeks. The domesticity of it was almost painful. I wasn't used to being in situations like this. With Mum and the Doctor I had practically no responsibility, but here I couldn't help feeling as though I was in charge of the nine children.
I have never cooked a meal before in my life. Never. But now I had no choice other than to cook for all ten of us. Mair and Eurwen showed me the basics; what was suitable to eat and what wasn't. After my first attempt at a meal – some kind of bread with a vegetable stew – was widely considered a success… although the girls sighed at the amount of washing up I'd generated. After that I'd spent the mornings helping with their lessons, introduced them to sandwiches for their lunch and spent the afternoons doing various tasks around the house before cooking dinner and putting the children to bed.
It was exhausting.
Most nights I fell asleep in the chair in front of the fire, not even bothering to climb the stairs and collapse on the bed. My dreams were plagued with monsters, the Doctor and the little blue box. If they didn't find me soon I was convinced I was going to turn into a normal person… I was going to actually start liking this kind of life.
"Evie?" Mair called in a quiet voice, skipping down the last couple of steps and perching on the arm of the chair. I stretched and rubbed my eyes, waking myself up.
"What's up, sweetie?" I asked, shifting slightly so she could slide off the arm and onto my lap.
"You know that man you told us about? The Doctor?"
"Mmmm…."
"Is he actually coming?" She looked at me with such wide-eyed innocence that I couldn't stop myself pressing a kiss to her temple and sighing. She'd taught me so much that I mostly completely forgot that she was only nine.
"Of course he is, sweetheart." I promised. "He always comes when I call. Always. But… sometimes it takes him a while. His timing isn't always brilliant."
The girl wasn't totally reassured. "But what if the monsters come back before the Doctor comes?"
"Don't you worry yourself about the monsters." I ordered her sternly. "If any of them turn up I'll deal with them, alright."
"Alright…" She said with a small smile, hugging me before slipping off my lap and heading back to her bedroom. "Night, Mama…"
"Night." I called softly, before realising what she'd called me. Then I closed my eyes and sighed. I was really hoping they wouldn't get too attached and that the Doctor would turn up before I had to deal with any monsters.
x-x
"Gwil, Haydn!" I shouted leaning through the doorway of the house what must have been months later, Tesni clutching my leg. "Come on! I'm not going to tell you again!"
"What, Mama?" Gwil called back, looking at me innocently. His red hair was all ruffled and there was a smudge of dirt across his nose and cheek. Beside him Haydn was hardly any cleaner.
Taking a breath I shook my head. "Inside! Bedwyr has already started setting the table for dinner and I asked you to help him. So scoot! Wash your hands and faces first though, please."
The boys pushed past me and I ruffled their hair fondly as they went; they'd grown up so much. I'd given up trying to stop them calling me Mama after about a week and was used to it now. It had been so long since I'd arrived here that I'd lost track of time. I'd given up trying to keep track after a couple of months. Something seemed to be supressing my memories of life before. But I didn't mind, everything was comfortable and safe and we were happy.
"Mama, the table's set." Bedwyr called from inside and I smiled at him broadly.
"Good boy. Pop and get the others would you, sweetie. I think Mair took Alis and Bron to the river and Eurwen took Iolyn to the herb patch with her." I called, putting Tesni into the high chair I'd cobbled together and ignoring her squirming and whining as she held out her hands to be picked up again. Singing quietly to her, I served the dinner. My cooking had improved significantly with practice and I'd even managed to make pies; vegetable, of course. There was no meat.
A cry came from the crib in the corner and I rushed over to pick up the baby. We'd come across her on the edge of the settlement a month or so ago. At first I'd thought she was dead. There was no way she couldn't be. There was no one else around and she was so small. As soon as I'd scooped her off the ground, however, she'd stirred and opened her eyes, gazing at me. After that there was no question; I suddenly had ten children to look after.
"Shhh, Haf, Mama's here…" I crooned to the baby, rocking her gently as I returned to the kitchen and continued dishing up the children's dinner. When the plates were all on the table, with Tesni stabbing happily at her dinner, I started feeding Haf.
"Mama… they're home!" Tesni announced. I shot her a quick smile.
"Wash your hands and come and sit down, sweethearts." I called, looking down again as I heard the tell-tale sounds of the children returning. "Mair, do me a favour and tie Tesni's bib on tighter, would you?"
"Mama! Look what we found!" Alis and Bron chorused excitedly.
"I'll look now, darlings." I called, still not moving my gaze from Haf. "Let me just finish feeding the baby and I'll come. Eat your dinner, before it goes cold."
"But, Mama!" Iolyn joined in. "You have to see!"
With a deep, tired sigh, I turned around, expecting to be presented with a bunch of wild flowers or another book they'd rescued from the library of even perhaps a fish they'd caught in the river. What greeted me instead was a pair of familiar faces. My mouth dropped open. I'd almost completely forgotten the faces that were beaming at me over the past months.
"M-Mum?" I muttered, unsurely. "Doctor?"
"Evie!" Mum almost screeched, running headlong at me. Then she stopped abruptly, seeing the young child in my arms. "What…?"
"Mama? Is this the Doctor you told as about all that time ago?" Eurwen asked, tilting her head to one side. The children seemed fascinated by the tall, skinny man. They boys were almost hanging off his clothes in excitement.
"Sit down and eat your dinner." I said in a controlled voice. They instantly did as they were told. "Mair… can you…" I held out the baby and the oldest girl took her and the bottle and moved away to sit at the bench at the table.
"Evie, what's going on?" Mum asked in total confusion. "Who are all these children?"
"Kids, I'm just popping outside for a minute." I told them with a reassuring smile. There was a chorus of 'OK, Mama' as they concentrated on eating. As I was ushering the adults outside so we could talk properly Haf began grizzling in Mair's arms and I sighed and scooped her up, smiling at the older girl.
Mum sat down heavily on a pile of chopped wood, staring up at me in shock as I looked back at her blankly. "So, what's been going on?"
A/N: Pronounciation guide update… :)
Haf - Harv