Thanks to Dr Azaria, Funky In Fishnet, Joshwales, Elionwy and anyone who is reading this.

Chapter 3

Safe?

"Betty... What can I say..? It's... amazing!"

Rose stared at the cake. It was a three foot wide heart covered in white icing with 'Rose & Mickey' written in florid pink lettering. Around the edges were purple roses and in the centre was a blue sugar platform, also in the form of a heart, with two plastic figures on the top.

Rose studied the figures closely. "Um... Isn't that...?"

"Mama and Papa Smurf," said Betty. "They were the best I could get," she added defensively.

Rose bit her lip, struggling to suppress laughter.

"It's gorgeous, Betty love," Rose's mum quickly put in. "What do we owe you?"

"Oh, I don't want any money for it. Being there on the big day is all I ask."

They both gave Betty a kiss. She held open the door as Rose and Jackie heaved the silver tray bearing the cake into the corridor and hurried down towards their flat. As they got near, they noticed the door was ajar.

"Mickey's not in, is he?" Jackie asked.

"Shouldn't be – he said he was sorting his suit out for tomorrow."

They stopped outside the open door and looked at each other. Cautiously they edged in. The sight that met their eyes made them both freeze. The door of the hall cupboard had been ripped off its hinges and coats lay strewn at their feet. Rose, feeling her end of the tray sag as Jackie put a hand to her mouth, just managed to lower the cake to floor before it met an untimely end.

"Oh my God!" Jackie ran towards her bedroom. Dazed, Rose wandered into the kitchen. Every drawer had been pulled out. The smashed remains of china lay in a heap with the strewn cutlery and broken wood from the units.

"Bloody Hell!" Jackie ran in, her eyes wild, waving a pile of £20 notes. "Bloody Hell, it's still here!"

"What?" Rose leaned against the wall and put a hand to her head.

"The money!" Jackie cried. "I left three hundred bloody pounds for the caterers loose on my dressing-table, and it's still here! And the diamond brooch that Nan gave me is still in the jewellery box. It's all there! I couldn't believe my eyes!"

Eyes. Remember my eyes, Rose.

Rose had a sudden vision of the Doctor's eyes. Eyes that she had looked into just a week ago. She leapt to the kitchen door, pushed past her mother and ran to her room. The wardrobe doors were wide open; clothes and shoes lay scattered. Desperately Rose scrabbled through the detritus. Jackie came to the doorway and watched.

"What is it, Rose? What are you looking for?"

Frantically Rose picked up a black stiletto shoe. She turned it upside down and shook it.

"Where is it? The other one, I've got to find it..."

Rose carried on scrabbling through the mess. Jackie stared at her. "But Rose, love, you hate those shoes. Don't you remember? I bought you them for your eighteenth birthday. You said that they killed your feet and made you feel like a tart. You've never worn them...They've always been at the back of the wardrobe..."

"Where's the bloody shoe?" Rose sank to her knees, tears welling in her eyes. Jackie picked her way through the debris and put her arm round her.

"Nothing's that bad love. I know it's not the best thing to happen just before your big day, but look on the bright side. We've not lost any money, and we're both safe and sound."

Safe!

Rose buried her face in her mother's shoulder and cried.

She knew she should have made better arrangements.

She knew she could have kept the crystal safe, if she had only taken the trouble.