The next day, Clara woke up in her bed. She sat up and stretched her arms, smiling and looked at the frozen heart beside her bed, and she smiled wider. The Professor was really something. She got up and got dressed in her maroon dress and left, carrying a black bag. She walked down the tavern where she walked and found the owner, who was sitting outside. She looked around the area. No snow. "Look at that. The snow must have thawed in the night," Clara said to the owner.

The owner looked around too. "I'm begging you, Clara. I'm on my knees," he said. "Elsie is back this afternoon. And I was only helping. I've got my work to get back to." "What work? Why won't you ever tell us?"

"You'd never believe me," Clara said, as she waved goodbye and entered a carriage, pulling the blinds down as she began to change her clothes – from her old, battered maroon red dress to a dark blue, rather posh outfit. The carriage stopped outside a large manor, and Clara exited it and made her way over to Alice, the maid. "Alice, how smart you look today," she said, in a rather posh accent that complimented her clothes.

"The governess should enter by the back door unless accompanied by the children," Alice said, as she stifled a laugh.

"And how are the children? Excited about tomorrow?"

"Francisca, same as ever. Digby says he missed you every day. Captain Latimer wants to see you."

"Of course," Clara said, as she started to walk into the house, then stopped and turned around. "Every day?"

"Twice on Saturdays."

"That's better," Clara said, smiling and winking faintly, before walking down to Captain Latimer's office.


Clara walked into the study and approached the desk, where Captain Latimer was. "Captain Latimer," she greeted.

"Ah. Miss Montague, you're back," Captain Latimer said.

"In time for Christmas. Apologies for my brief absence. Family illness is so unpredictable. You wanted to see me?"

"Francisca has been having nightmares." "Young girls often do."

"Every night this week, she says. Won't tell me about them."

"Perhaps if you asked her in the right way … there's no one she'd rather tell." "Children are … not …

really my area of expertise."

"They are, however, your children."

"You have, if I may say, a remarkable amount of wisdom in these matters, for one so beautiful, Miss Montague..." Captain Latimer said, then tried to correct himself. "Young, I mean."

Clara stared at him. Normally, she wouldn't have minded this, but that was before she met the Professor and had been given the frozen heart representing his love for her. She didn't want to let them down. "I'll see to the children now."


A pair of children, a boy and a girl, played chase on the snow-covered grass in their manor's yard. When they spotted Clara, they ran over to her and greeted her.

"Miss Montague! " The girl known as Francisca exclaimed.

"Miss Montague, you're back!" The boy known as Digby exclaimed.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Clara said, stopping them and reminding them to behave like proper children. "Good morning, Miss Montague," both the children said as Clara shook their hands.

"Good morning, Francisca. Good morning, Digby. Christmas Eve is the most exciting day, don't you think? Now, what have you two been up to while I've been away?" Clara asked.

"I did seven drawings, and we saw a dead cow," Digby said. "Well, how exciting."

"Do your secret voice."

Clara looked around to see if they were alone, then said, in her normal voice, "'Allo, mates."


Moments later, Clara and Francisca were sitting on a bench in the yard, talking about the nightmares that Francisca had had lately, while Digby was walking about. "They're not exactly nightmares. Just dreams," Francisca explained.

"About our old governess. The one who died. She's haunting Frannie from beyond the grave," Digby said, who was within earshot.

"Haven't you spoken to your father about this?" Clara asked. "You can't talk about things like that to Daddy," Francisca said. "You could try."

"Do you want to see where she died?" Digby asked.

The three then went around to the front of the house to the pond, which was the only thing that was still hard-frozen. "She fell in there, and then it froze. She was under the ice for days and days. I hated her. She was cross all the time. In Frannie's dream, she's still down there, waiting to come back," Digby explained.

Clara knelt and touched the frozen pond. "Everything else has thawed, but this pond is still

frozen..." This made Clara remember what the Doctor said to her earlier - "The snow is feeding off your thoughts. The more you think about the snowmen, the more they appear." - Clara spoke up again and asked Francisca, "Frannie, this is important. You dream about her. What do you dream?"

"She's cross with me. She says I've been bad, and she's going to come out of the pond and punish me," Francisca said.

"When?"

"She said she'd come back for Christmas. Tonight."

"I think Frannie's gone mad, don't you? I think she needs a doctor."


Clara then decided to visit the Doctor and the Professor after hearing what Francisca and Digby had told her. She made an excuse to go to London and went over to the park where the ladder was. Where she last saw the Doctor and the Professor. "Doctor! Professor!" She called out, hoping that they would hear her.

But, it wasn't the Professor and the Doctor that heard her. It was just passers-by, all wondering who or what she was yelling at. Was she mad?

"Doctor! Professor!? She called out again as she began to jump for the ladder that was just there a few nights ago.

She did attract the attention of Jenny, the wife of Madame Vastra – who approached her. She tapped Clara on the shoulder. "Now then, that's enough noise. We don't want to attract attention, do we?" She asked.

"I'm looking for the Doctor. And his son Do you know about them? The Doctor and the Professor?"

Jenny tilted her head. "Doctor Who, though?"