Three Land Rover Discoveries were parked outside Pembroke House, each with a horsebox attached. Mary, Bess and Kate were leading Margaret, Kat and Kate's horse Joan to the boxes. One of the Land Rovers was to be driven by Mary and remain with them. Anne and Edward would drive the other two and bring them back. The Baker Street Irregulars would be staying nearby, and the girls would take the occasional trip to a local pub in their vehicle. Whilst their new mobiles would allow regular contact to take place, it never hurt to have a backup plan, as Dan put it. Edward, a distinguished soldier in his day, could see the logic.

"Stay safe, all of you," Jane de Lisle said, embracing them. "I want Robert to know his godmothers as living and not ghosts. Guildford and I don't want to lose any of you, not after…"

"I still can't believe that you asked me," Mary admitted. "After all, I did send you both to the block.

"Thank you for being so forgiving, both of you," she added, kissing first Jane and then Guildford on the cheek, before kissing Robert on the forehead. I would love to be a mother myself one day. Hopefully, I shall choose a better husband than Philip of Spain this time…

As they said their farewells to the Rochfords, a distinctive wheezing and groaning sound was heard. The familiar police box form appeared. Bess gave a delighted squeal as the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, before rushing up to kiss her spouse. "I missed you too, Bessie!" the Doctor said, after their kiss had finally ended.

"Now, I received a message from UNIT to visit you all. You were given some brand new toys courtesy of MI6, I understand?" She produced her sonic screwdriver and activated it, before running it over Bess's smartwatch. "Please pass me your mobile, Bessie. I'll need your sisters' watches and mobiles too.

"Your mobiles and the watches' emergency homing devices can now reach the TARDIS, even in the Time Vortex." The Doctor entered her number into their phones. "There! You can call me anytime, for assistance or a chat."

"Thank you, Doctor," Mary said, embracing her sister-in-law. Kate did the same, before Bess pulled her spouse in for another prolonged kiss.

"Stay safe, my darling Bessie! I'll come once I hear the alarm, I promise."

"You stay safe too, my love!"

After the Doctor had left in the TARDIS, Mary looked back at her home before climbing into the driving seat of her Land Rover. We shall be back home with our loved ones before we know it.

The entrance to Creepy Vines, in Mary's opinion at least, didn't live up to the name. She was expecting rackety old gates, not modern ones polished to a shine. Once inside, the vines were well-tended and the drive neat and tidy.

After Mary stopped the car for Bess to pop into the modern open plan office to collect the keys and the three horses had been stabled, they drove up to a quiet small cottage. Whilst refurbished, it was clearly an old farm labourers' cottage from Regency or Early Victorian times.

"See you all next weekend," Edward said, embracing the girls. "Goodbye, Ned," Bess replied. "Look after our Mamas for us…"

"Your mothers are forces of nature, Bess. They don't need defending by me or anybody else.

"Call us and, should you need us, we'll be right there!"

Anne and Catalina kissed their daughters farewell. "Ring or text us as often as you can, mis queridas hijas."

"We will, Mama," Mary promised. "Look after her and yourself, Mum. I'll do the same for Bessie and Kate, I promise."

"I know you will, Mary," Anne replied. "Remember, though, to let them look after you too!

"'Lina and I love you all very much."

Once all the food and drink were packed into the thoroughly modernised kitchen, Edward, Anne, and Catalina left in their Land Rovers, each with a horsebox still attached. Mary, Elizabeth and Kate still had the one Land Rover for trips out, but just the one horsebox.

Elizabeth pulled her powder compact from out of her handbag, opened it and pressed the central stud on the lid. The mirror surround emitted a green light, indicating that the room was not being bugged. A quick walk through the cottage confirmed that the place was clean of electronic surveillance.

Mary rang Dan's mobile. "We are arrived safely, and the cottage is not being monitored."

"That's great, Mary! What are your plans for the afternoon?"

"We plan to take the horses for a ride and then have a swim before dinner. The first allows us to get our bearings and the second to meet our fellow holiday makers and some of the staff. After that, we can use these wonderful microwave oven contraptions to reheat a stew that Jane de Lisle cooked for us.

"Our cooks would have loved these machines in the royal kitchens! I cannot imagine that you could roast a dolphin in one, though!

"The two Janes are the only ones of us who have really taken to cookery. According to Jane Rochford, being new mums gives them added incentive to learn the art. Not having servants is something we still haven't got used to in some ways yet."

"I'm not a great chef, but I can cook well enough. Jeff is better than me, and better than Liz for that matter! Our Women's Libber is much too feminist to regard cooking as women's work! Not that Jeff nor I do either, of course."

The three Pembroke Girls walked down to the stables. All three were in checked shirts, riding jackets, jodhpurs, riding helmets and riding boots with spurs.

A tall thin man with a gloomy expression was mucking out the stables. "You must be the new guests," he observed in a raspy baritone that reminded the Pembrokes of a certain Gotham City-based vigilante that Rex had introduced them to. "Those horses are well looked after."

"Thank you. I am Mary Pembroke, and these are my sisters Bess and Kate. Our horses are Margaret, Kat, and Joan. They are much-loved members of the family, and we treat them as such."

"I am Mr Pennington, the Head Groom of the Estate. If you have any issues with your horses' stabling, please let me know. We take pride ourselves on offering good customer service here.

"Now, I assume that you mean to take these fantastic beasts out for a ride? I'll see you around."

Kate had opened her mobile's protective case, taking care not to attract Pennington's attention to the small bug she had slipped out of a hidden compartment in the leather. The devices could last for up to a fortnight, were made of largely translucent materials and could not be detected by almost all common bug detectors. She affixed the adhesive material at the back to a pole, after Bess, apparently touching up her mascara, had nodded to show that the bug detector was indicating a lack of bugs or CCTV other than one in the courtyard that Kate was out of sight of.

Mary led her sisters in guiding their horses out of the stables and into the courtyard. On the opposite side of the courtyard was a small shop and a restaurant, whilst to the north was the main farmhouse. It had been the estate of a minor aristocratic family, until the death duties on the property had grown considerably higher than the family hobbies of cards, horses, hounds and mistresses would allow them to afford. The south side had an arched gateway leading to the driveway either up to the cottages, swimming pools, gymnasium and laundrette, or down to the parkland and the gates to the road.

Mounting their horses, the girls set them off on a light jog trot to the parkland. This was several acres of formal parkland, on the other side of which was the vineyard. The late Spring air was bracing with a strong breeze blowing up from the Downs of Hampshire and Sussex. Forty miles from the edge of Greater London, there was none of the noise and pollution of urban living, merely the distant whiff of horse and cow manure fertilising crops in a neighbouring wheat farm.

Bess opened her handbag and removed her mobile. Activating the special functions apps, she saw the Dawson's Vineyard was a couple of miles down a dusty sideroad from where they were. In the ground were signs of tyre tracks. It would be worth a ride or two around the time the skeleton appears each day…

After a gallop through the fields, the horses trotted back to the courtyard. The Pembrokes dismounted and led their steeds back to the stables. They then walked back to the cottage, where they showered and changed for their swim.

A short walk from their cottage was an outdoor heated swimming pool. With schools yet to break up for half-term, it was quiet, with a handful of young men and women in their early twenties gathered in and around the pool. The Pembrokes selected three neighbouring sun loungers, removed their bathrobes and sandals and entered the water. Mary and Bess had chosen sporty one-piece swimsuits and even Kate was in a significantly more conservative bikini than she would wear at Pembroke House.

One young man was in the pool. He swam over to the Pembrokes. "You must be the guests we saw arrive half an hour after we did.

"The five of us are housemates attending the London School of Economics. With exams over, we came here for a week before heading home for summer."

"We are three sisters," Kate said, "of independent means. We are here for a week of exploring the area on horseback or Land Rover. My name is Kate Pembroke, and these are Mary and Bess."

"It is good to meet you, Miss Pembroke. I am Alistair Caddick, and my friends are Dean Gough, Adam Giles, Claire White and Donna Cork."

"Likewise," Kate replied, with a smile that could win the heart of a king (and had). "None of this Miss Pembroke stuff though. It would get confusing with the three of us! Just call me Kate!" She giggled, which had Mary and Bess rolling their eyes. Kate is flirting again! Well, young Mr Caddick is easy on the eye, so I can't blame her, Mary thought.

"In which case, I am Ali, and my friends answer to their forenames. Hopefully, we shall see a lot of each other."

"I am sure that we shall."

After a few more laps of the pool, the Pembrokes climbed out and dried themselves. Mary and Bess were not surprised to see their new friend Ali casting many an appreciative glance at Kate's shapely figure. The girls sunbathed for twenty minutes or so, before putting their robes and sandals back on. They walked back to the cottage to shower and reheat the stew for dinner.

Seated at the dining table, in jeans and t-shirts, the three sisters discussed the day. "Well, we need to ride out tomorrow morning," Bess said. "If the people here are responsible for the faked haunting, there must be somebody making the trip to Dawson's Vineyard each day.

"In the meantime, we must call Pembroke House. What are our mothers up to tonight?"

"Apparently, they are on a double date with the Milligans at The Alchemists Arms," Mary replied. "They shall be back late. Even so, we must thank Jane for this lovely stew."

The Alchemists Arms on the outskirts of New York would look derelict to any passing no-maj. Three taps on the gate with a wand or stave, however, would reveal an establishment that had been fully and tastefully refurbished (by Gomez Addams, no less, who had bought the place at a minimal price). It is now a private members club for trusted mages and certain no-majs, empowered or otherwise, as well as the headquarters of the Secret Circle, a wizard taskforce that Stephen Strange had founded. For a small annual subscription, invited members get access to a top-end restaurant, two themed bars for casual dining (one patterned after an American diner and the other after an old-fashioned British and Irish pub), four libraries, a games room, a ballroom, indoor and outdoor heated swimming pools, extensive gardens, a putting green and a quidditch pitch. There are even rooms and suites available for overnight stays and a main conference room for Secret Circle general council meetings. Other than modest charges for food, drinks and overnight stays, there are no extra payments due.

Anne Pembroke, the latest addition to the general council, was snuggled up to her beloved Catalina in a cosy nook in the pub. Rex and Louise were seated opposite. Jean and Linda were babysitting Harriet at the old Dana House in Oak Falls. The Milligans, as adoptive parents of a lively nine-year-old girl, were happy to get a night out with friends. An evening of fine food and drink followed was just what Anna and Catalina needed too, with their daughters on their first assignment.

A tall pretty redhead walked up to them. "My pretties!"

"Zelena!" Rex called, as he and Louise stood up and pulled Zelena Mills into a three-way embrace.

"It is good to see you both too! Where is my little flying monkey?"

"Harriet is back at the Dana House, being spoiled rotten by her Aunties Jean and Linda! Take the portal from Storybrooke tomorrow with Robyn and see her. Where is Robyn, by the way?"

"She is at Regina's, Louise, being looked after by, err, the other Robyn and Alice. With my daughter-in-law pregnant, they wanted to babysit young Robyn for the practice. It was good of Henry to be the donor, even if it does make me both the biological great-aunt and the adoptive grandmother.

"Hi, Anne, Catalina. How are your three girls doing?"

"They are on their first adventure, exploit, mission or whatever the correct term is," Anne said, aiming a mock glare at Rex and Louise. "These two danger addicts have corrupted them thoroughly! Why they are chasing dancing and laughing skeletons instead of staying safe at home…?"

"…Asks the mother who vowed to defend the planet from magical threats even at the cost of her own life?! I distinctly remember seconding Harry Potter's proposal of you for Secret Circle general council membership…"

"Zelena has a point, mi amor…"

"Don't you start, 'Lina darling!" The way Anne's lips responded to Catalina's kiss, however, showed that her protest was half-hearted.

"Ah, thank you, my good woman. This fish and chips meal is far better tasting that a dove stuffed in a pheasant stuffed in a peacock all baked in a pie ever was! My compliments to the chef!"

"Rex darling, why is it that our reborn Tudor friends talking about sixteenth-century banqueting menu options always makes me queasy? No offence to either of you, but…"

"None taken, mi amigo."

Early the following morning, Mary, Bess and Kate took their horses near to the dirt track to Dawson's Vineyard. Mary rang Dan on her mobile. "We are in position, Dan. You can send us that scout now."

"Scout?! As in boy scout, or…? Do you mean the drone, by any chance?!"

"A drone is a flying electronic scout, is it not, Dan Robinson?! As such, I stand by my description…"

"Fair enough, Lady Mary Pembroke. I failed to make allowances for it being less than ten months since the three of you were ghosts of Tudor queens. You have adjusted to this current age so well that it is easy to forget that fact sometimes.

"Mickey, launch the drone please! Thank you.

"The adaptive camouflage and radar-cloaking devices are activated, Mary, but you should be able to see it via the radial thermal imaging app. Hopefully, we can get a pattern of where any convoys from Creepy Vines come from. You can get a chance to snoop around the Big House at the dinner party for holiday-makers tomorrow evening and the vineyard at the open day on Tuesday, for further evidence.

"The drone should be with you soon. Good luck!"

Bess nodded at her sisters. "My mobile's thermal imaging is picking up the drone. Kate, access your app for the video feed from it please."

"The – what is the strange modern parlance? – live feed is coming through, Bessie. A – truck from the vineyard here is going up the track towards Mr Dawson's establishment.

"That truck is stopping near to where the skeleton is seen, and it is about the right time. I can see the strange and dread apparition appearing! From what I can see, there is nothing to show how the truck and its driver and passengers could be causing it to happen.

"The spectre has gone, and the truck started driving off immediately afterwards. Nothing otherwise suspicious to report."

"Thank you, Kate," Mary said. She rang Dan again. "Hi, Dan! …Did you get the feed from the drone too?.. You did. Good! …We are driving into the village this afternoon… It is a date! See you there! Bye!

"Dan and his friends will be meeting us at the pub at three o'clock this afternoon. Let us get back to the cottage for a shower and swim before lunch, sisters."

Bess rolled her eyes. A date, sister dear? Why, I do believe that Dan Robinson has you smitten…