VIII
Being a bully

Eighteenth Century
Streets of Manchester
1775

When hiding in the Tardis for a while, no one can ever tell how much time has passed. It is never clear if it is day time or in the middle of the night. Sometimes weeks will pass by outside the Tardis but inside it might only feel as if only a day has gone by. But neither Rose nor April are aware of how much time has passed until one day Rose leaves the Tardis to go for a walk. The trees are of an auburn colour and the leaves covers the cobbled streets. Only a day has gone. It is still autumn.

Rose tries to keep herself preoccupied by making plans on what it is she needs to do to get back to the Doctor. She has another conversation with him through the DVD, informing him of April's return and her deteriorating mental state. The Doctor is concerned but is absolutely positive that April will come back round one day.

Every time Rose sees April sitting quietly by herself, looking into the far distance, Rose is not so certain that she will be right again. Everything makes April jump and she has not slept since she first woke up. Nor does she say anything to Rose to help enlighten her. Even if Rose does try to talk to her and ask how she is feeling, April only replies with silence.

April knows that all Rose is concerned about is getting the Doctor back. But April also knows that the Doctor is smart enough to get himself and Terry out of their mess. They are stuck somewhere. The Doctor probably screwed up once more and dragged Terry along the ride with him. It reminds April of the time when the Doctor thought that teaming up with the Daleks while on the parallel world was a good idea. This only caused more danger for everyone else. Once again April feels as if she and Rose are in his debt once again.

Rose knows that in the meantime, she has to reunite with Horace Bellingham and the two children. Although she has been trying to put it off.

"I'm going for a walk." Rose tells April as she stands in the console room, wrapping a red scarf around her neck. She digs her hands in her coat pocket and looks over to April who is sitting in the chair, watching her. "I won't be long. I'll bring some food back too." Rose hesitates for a moment before she leaves the Tardis.

Feeling the cold air brush against her cheeks as she stands outside the Tardis calms Rose down and brings her back to reality. She marches through the streets towards the street Horace lives. She passes many people out on the cobbled roads and they nod and smile in her direction as they pass. Despite the fact that there is a huge wardrobe located somewhere in the Tardis that is filled with many different eighteenth century outfits to choose from, Rose wants to remain wearing her own clothes. She is ready to run if needs be and she doesn't want a heavy weighted dress to pull her down. She thinks that wearing one of the Doctor's other long coats in a dark colour will do to cover up her nakedness that is so often complained about here.

Rose's eyes water slightly at the wind blowing directly in her face, but the sun that hangs high in the air warms her. She reaches the street where Horace lives in no time, but it takes her a very slow walk to remember what house it is. Rose takes a lucky guess, seeing as all the houses down the street are identical, including their front doors, and knocks loudly on the wooden door. She doesn't have to wait long before a man opens the door with a large beaming smile. His smile only widens with pleasure as he recognises Rose.

"Ah hello, you have returned!" He muses gleefully.

"Uhm yes I have," Rose says as she tucks her hair behind her ear, feeling a little uncomfortable in the man's presence. "May I come in? I wish to see Horace."

"Yes of course, of course, come in, my dear!" The man steps to the side to allow Rose to enter. "He might be asleep. He rarely leaves his bedroom and when he does he tells us he's thinking," The man sighs. "Poor Horace. He must be so devastated about the tragic loss of his family. His only two children keep themselves hidden in the attack upstairs."

"They're his children?" Rose asks as she tries to remember their family portrait in the newspaper.

"Yes, Penny and Phillip Bellingham. Sweet children but I know they are up to mischief. Tea?"

Rose shakes her head no.

"Okay, well I will be in the kitchen if you need me." The man forces a smile that does not seem genuine, before turning away and disappearing through the doorway.

Rose slowly walks through the narrow hallway, avoiding the stairs at all cost. When she reaches his bedroom door, she lifts her fist to knock but then realises that the door has been left open ajar. Without further ado she pushes it open a little and pokes her head round.

"Horace Bellingham?" She calls softly.

Horace is sitting uncomfortably on the pile of blankets in the corner of the room. His back rests up against the stone wall and he is reading a hardback book. He does not not look up from his book.

"Come on in." He says dully.

Rose studies Horace for a moment before stepping into the cold, damp room and closing the door behind her. The door clicks shut and then there is silence.

She turns to look at Horace but he is still looking down at his book, reading the words on the page. Rose walks across the small room and makes herself comfortable on the blankets next to Horace. She sits just like he is with her back up against the stone wall but her legs stretched out in front of her, one crossed over the other. She looks directly ahead at the portrait of the Bellingham family that hangs up on the wall opposite them in a gold frame. She then recognises Penny and Phillip at the front of the portrait.

Rose glances down at Horace's book. He is reading Latin.

"Now I want you to be completely honest with me because we are in danger and I need to know as much as possible to get this straight," Rose says flatly. "What did you tell the Doctor last time he came?"

There is a long pause as Horace slowly lifts his head, looking up. "Oh you mean Doctor Smith and his companion, Tiffany Jenner?"

"Yes whatever, tell me what you said to them. I need to know."

"Why is it so important to you that you have to bully me about it?"

"Because they are my friends and the weeping angels have taken them. The weeping angels have my friends and there is nothing I can do unless you help me out. So please have some humanity and stop messing around!"

Horace sighs heavily and closes the book before putting it down beside him. "I only informed them about the Devil. He has taken over the city and God is no longer with us."

Rose looks at Horace hard but he continues to look straight across. "I know. The vicar at one of churches told me."

"Who? Nathaniel?" Horace chuckles darkly. "Of course he would. He is the one being punished by the Devil."

Rose pauses for a long moment. "There must've been something else you had said because my friend was not the same when we first walked into this house."

Horace tilts his head backwards, resting it against the wall as he looks up at the mouldy ceiling. "I told him how you can summon the Devil from the sound of time."

Rose says nothing and lets him continue.

"We summoned the Devil and stopped the beating before He came."

"How does time have a sound? It's just a concept."

"You sound just like him." Horace mutters under his breath.

Rose pushes away from the wall and turns to face Horace. "So you put my friend into a fearful state and just before he could explain anything, the angels took him."

"The angels took him," Horace repeats. "It sounds like a hymn."

"Would you stop trying to make this out to be a practical joke?" Rose shouts.

Horace lets out another sigh before he turns his head to look at Rose for the first time. "Why are you here in the city? You are not a northern girl."

"We're here because of your family," Rose pauses again but Horace continues to look at her. "My friend was intrigued about the sudden disappearance of your family after they died. But then Nathaniel showed us their graves in his church graveyard. A church no one ever goes to. So then our attention suddenly turned to this story about the Devil. And now the angels have taken my friends and I want to bring them back," Rose takes in a deep breath. "The angels are not weeping because of the loss of God, Horace. They're weeping because they can't stand to look at each other. And now I'm here to bully you because you know far more than you're letting on. Now help me."

Horace looks at Rose accusingly for a long time before looking back over to his family portrait. "My son, Phillip, claims that he has seen the Devil and I know he has because I hear the Devil walking above my head if I do summon him," Horace frowns. "But Phillip seems to think that our family is cursed. He believed that it was not a natural cause that my family suffered from tuberculosis."

"And do you believe him?"

"I am afraid I do," Horace replies in a quiet voice. "There are hundreds of spirits roaming the streets of Manchester and the Devil can only manipulate them to haunt us."

"I met your children the last time I was here," Rose says. "Phillip said, not as himself, but he said that the Devil will possess."

"My son claims that the Devil talks to him in his dreams. Apparently He talks to him through the walls. He tells me that the Devil is looking for one to possess. The one that holds time in the palm of his hands," Horace shakes his hand. "We cannot figure out who this person could be but we hope it never happens. Once you are possessed by the Devil there is no going back."

Rose instantly knows that the one the Devil wants to possess is the Doctor but she says nothing upon the matter. "Look there is a way to rid the Devil from this city and I know how."

Horace snorts. "What are you going to do, madam? Throw a bible at him?"

Rose feels a little amused by his comment but at the same time is fed up with his attitude. "No, we're going to destroy the weeping angels and that will help in returning my friends."

"Well I wish you the best of luck."

Rose looks across at the family portrait.

Horace uncomfortably shifts on the spot. "Your main problem is people's religious beliefs. The more people believe in the rise of the Devil, the harder it will be for you to get rid of Him. I am sure that if He can travel through walls, you might be able to see Him through a mirror. He will bring back ghosts of your past. That is what he has done to me. He killed my family." Horace's last words are bitter.

There is a long pause of silence. Laughter from the other families living in the same house can be heard from the other end.

"What do you want to do?" Rose asks.

"I want to get out."

"What about your children? They'll need their father in times like this."

"They will need someone far stronger than me," He pauses. "There is a ship leaving for Liverpool to import cotton."

"Horace you can't leave!"

"Of course not, they would catch me," He then sighs heavily.

"I hope that you'll find it in your heart, sir, to accept me as a friend."

Horace considers Rose's request for a while. "Indeed. You seem trustworthy enough."

"I will help you as much as I can."

"Would you mind leaving me?"

Rose pauses for a moment. "Of course," She eventually says. "Thank you." Rose stands up with a little hesitation and slowly makes her way across the room, hoping that Horace will say one last thing to finish off their meeting.

"I am sorry," Horace calls when she reaches the door. "I never asked for your name."

Rose holds onto the door and turns to look at Horace with a forced smile. "Jackie Orman." She lies. Even then she still cannot trust anyone. There was too much risk for her to announce her real name.

Horace half smiles weakly. "Well, Jackie, along with your plan to destroy our angels, I want you to research into Heat Miles. Do not come back until you find out."

Rose looks bewildered for a long time but then nods, making a mental note to herself. She then leaves the room when Horace closes his eyes.

The hallway to the house is cold and damp like Horace's bedroom and this time around the laughter in the house seems eerie and haunting. Rose slowly makes her way down the hallway but stops at the side of the stairs where she notices the two children on the stairs. They are sitting side by side, Phillip on a couple of steps lower than Penny. They both hold onto the wooden banister and look at Rose cautiously between the gaps.

"It's fine," She says quietly to them. "Look after your father. Everything will be perfectly okay." Rose turns to leave but Phillip calls out to her.

"Thank you, Miss Tyler." His voice is so sweet and innocent yet hearing him call her name sends shivers down Rose's spine. She has not even told the children her name.

Rose looks over her shoulder at them.

"Well it is your name, is it not?" Penny says harshly as she shuffles on the step.