When that Wednesday finally arrived, things had actually started going quite well for once. Throughout the beginning of the day, Rose did not hear a single thought from anyone's mind other than her own. Her mummy didn't wake up feeling tired and nervous, and she had been smiling as she prepared breakfast. While driving her to school, she willingly put on the radio station that played all of Rose's favorite music, and when the time came for Rose to get out of the car, she went along with her, although she still wore the sunglasses and refused to talk to anyone. While in class, no one made fun of her at all, and she managed to get a gold star from Miss Bryan for being able to write all of the first ten letters of the alphabet, and during recess, a group of older kids let her and Mickey play football with them. All of this seemed slightly strange to Rose, but since she was so young, she didn't have any doubts about what this could mean. Instead, she just enjoyed the fact that nothing was going wrong, and assumed that her time with Sarah Jane Smith would be just the same.
When the green car did arrive that afternoon, it almost seemed to be the way Rose had anticipated. Sarah let them in the car and greeted them in the same cheerful manner as she had before. However, as soon as Rose set foot in the car, it was as if a part of her had been snapped awake, and she started hearing the thoughts of everyone that was outside:
What will it take for Tommy to settle down and just listen to his teacher for once? I have enough to deal with during the day, so what would make them think I have time for any damn conference?
And as usual, the bloody man of the house can't come along with me. I feel like a single parent sometimes, only they don't have to put up with bloody excuses and complaints every single night. Perhaps mum was right about Fred after all.
No, I can't get a computer for the kids right now. I can barely afford a bag of crisps for lunch!
I love how these children are all such angels. If they ever got a good look at the people I have to deal with every day at work, they would never want to grow up, I guarantee it!
And then:
Try not to listen to them, Rose. I hear things like this all the time, and it's almost always meaningless. If you don't pay attention to them, the voices start to fade away, and then it's all over.
It was Sarah. She had not taken her eyes off the road that whole time, and yet she managed to send a clear message to Rose. At that moment, her ability to this was a big surprise to her. How was it possible to willingly communicate with someone while doing something that seemed to required so much attention, such as driving a car?
And in just a couple of seconds, all those voices were automatically gone. It helped that they were driving away from the crowd of parents, but since this was the city, there were always people close by, and it would have been really easy to detect their thoughts. She had directed her mind towards something else, and as a result, her attention had drifted away from all those voices. It seemed so easy.
See, dear? That's all it takes.
So far, not much was being said out loud, and Mickey, who was usually very talkative, was getting impatient. After a while passed without Rose or Sarah saying a single word, he said, " So, it's been getting a bit colder lately, don't you all think so?"
It really was. The temperature had dropped ten degrees within the past three days, and all the kids at school were upset because they had to wear their school sweaters during recess. However, since they saw the weather as very predictable, they had been prepared for this change.
Sarah laughed rather nervously. "You're learning the rules of small talk so fast, Mickey. Yes, it is a cool day, but autumn always brings us beautiful days during September. October and November are almost always gloomy."
Rose noticed that she seemed to be forcing herself to speak. There was so much on her mind, so staying focused on such a random subject for the sake of "small talk" with Mickey was difficult. She noticed that this happened very often with her mummy when they had unexpected visitors. It was considered rude to remain silent, so the first thing that usually came to people's minds were the weather, just because everyone was aware of it, and as a result, the unwanted conversation got a simple starting point. She didn't like this, but it seemed like an unwritten rule.
At first, all the sights outside were typical: old apartment buildings, a lot of restaurants and shops where only those who lived close by or were on their way to work attended, large groups of kids in alleys listening to music with one of those big radios and talking very quickly and loudly, and several mothers walking around with their young children. Her mummy once said that a lot of these women didn't have cars or enough money for the bus or train, so they had to walk everywhere, usually along with their kids. It was all part of the poor side of London, and half of the kids from school came from here.
But within fifteen minutes, all these sights changed. The traffic decreased, and there were less people walking around. It was a small neighborhood which was separated from the more overcrowded parts of the city. The few shops and restaurants included a cafe, a French restaurant called Chantal's, a dress shop, and a video store. Besides that, all you could see was the large park and all the nice houses, which stood in neat rows and were nearly all the color white. The few people who were outside were just as neat, wearing either suits or dresses, along with hats, high heels, boots, and expensive jewelry. The majority of them took no notice of the car or Sarah and the kids, and one man actually glared when the car passed by.
However, there was one exception to this neighborhood's near perfect and snobbishly posh image. Next to one of the houses stood a middle- aged woman with long, straight blonde hair with a purple flower tied around the top and who wore one of those funny shirts with the tongue sticking out, which Rose's mummy said was the symbol for a popular old band called the Rolling Stones, a blue miniskirt, and sandals (she didn't seem to be bothered by the cool temperature), as well as about four gold necklaces, long hoop earrings, and a nose ring. She had a cigarette in her mouth, and was holding a shopping bag. As soon as she saw the car, she took the cigarette out of her mouth and waved as eagerly as a child.
"Hey there, Sarah! Hi Mickey!" she shouted out.
Sarah smiled and waved back, but she didn't say anything. Mickey, on the other hand, got all excited, and he opened the window and shouted just as loudly, "Hi, Violet! I've got a friend over today, and I think she'll want to meet you guys."
"Of course she can come, mate. Tom and I are always glad to invite you guys and any of your friends in, unlike all the other bloody bores that live around here."
"Violet, don't talk like that in front of the kids," Sarah said.
"Oh, shut up, Sarah. Kids get exposed to all sorts of crap nowadays, so what's wrong with them hearing adults cuss?"
Some of the neighbors that were outside shook their heads, and the angry man from before said, "Why don't you go in and pollute your own house instead of having us all breathe in that nicotine and risk getting cancer?"
"Get lost, mate, and then you won't have to worry about it!"
This neighborhood would be a lot better without that obnoxious slut and her joke of a husband or that nosy bitch with her tabloids and hunts for E.T., Rose heard the man thinking. She frowned, and suddenly he tripped through a crack in the sidewalk, dropping his newspapers but managing to land on his knees. Violet laughed and exclaimed, "Serves you right, you old bastard!"and then threw her cigarette in his direction before going back inside.
Sarah immediately drove away from the scene. "And that, Rose, was Violet Marsh. She's got quite a character, as does her husband and three kids. They have their own rock band, and do whatever it is that pleases them. Our other guest was Gregory Jordan, CEO of Jordan & Goldberg Finances, who isn't very fond of either of us."
"Violet was in school with Sarah," Mickey said.
"Yes, and back then, she hated me. But an incident at university brought us together."
"Could I visit them?" Rose asked.
"Not today. There are other things we must do."
At that moment, they parked in front of a small blue house with a balcony. Next to the mailbox was a sign that read: Est. 1874. Upon entry, Rose noticed that everything looked really nice, yet simple. Besides the large grandfather clock and some of the portraits, everything else looked like something that could be seen in a regular home. In the living room, there was a small television and an old computer, along with two large cream colored shelves full of books, records, video cassettes, and lots of old newspapers. The walls were full of pictures: some black and white, and others in color, and several of them showed three young dark-haired girls who had their arms together and were smiling, looking like the children whom appeared in the old TV shows that her mummy liked watching, with a large painted portrait of them in the living room.
"That's me and my sisters, Rebecca and Lucy. The portrait was made by my grandmother," Sarah explained.
"It's so beautiful," Rose responded. Her attention was then focused on a colored photo of a young woman whom she was almost certain was Sarah. In it, she was laughing and wearing a white blouse with flower designs and a long red skirt, and she had her arm around a brown- haired man who wore a black polo shirt and blue jeans, looking just as cheerful as Sarah did.
"That's me and an old friend of mine," Sarah said in a voice that seemed more hesitant, almost the same as she was in the car. She paused for a moment before going on. "His name was Harry Sullivan." As she said that, her eyes looked rather sad, and Rose wondered why.
They then walked into the dining room, where there was a plate of cold- cut sandwiches and cupcakes, along with a pitcher of lemonade. At the sight of the food, Mickey immediately opened up a cupboard and got three plates and cups. "Wait till you try all the stuff that Sarah makes. It's better anything you can get at a restaurant." But Rose's attention was on the robotic toy that was around the table. Upon a closer look, she noticed that it was shaped like a dog, and it quickly went up to her. When they were at a closer distance, a robotic voice came out of the toy dog, saying, Pleasure to meet you, mistress.
Mickey laughed. "That's K9. He's a robotic dog that helps Sarah solve cases, kind of like Scooby Doo, as Violet Marsh likes to call him. He likes it when we have company, but almost the neighbors hate him because he's always getting into their lawns and trying to send them messages."
Rose put her hand around K9's head, thinking that everything seemed very interesting so far.
After they had eaten, Sarah said, "Mickey, go outside with K9. I want to speak with Rose alone."
"How long will it take?"
"I don't know, but just stay in the backyard. Don't go visit the Marshes, and make sure that K9 stays away from the neighbors. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sarah," Mickey responded, and within a minute, he and K9 were gone.
When they were alone, Rose noticed that Sarah appeared to look older whenever she got serious or sad. With her blue long-sleeved shirt and dark jeans, she looked a little like some of those anxious older mothers she saw at the school who were always worrying about their children or complaining about their husbands, but there was something different about her as well. The seemingly happy little girl and cheerful young woman in the photos seemed to reflect this as well. This was a woman who had learned more about how the world works than most adults ever would, and who had experienced some very dark moments which Rose couldn't even attempt to guess.
"I think you already know the reason I wanted to see you," Sarah finally said to her.
"Yes," Rose responded with a nod.
"You heard all those messages I send you very clearly, is that correct?" she asked.
"Yes; I was able to read your mind."
"All right. You seem to understand the situation well enough. We both appear to have very similar powers, but I know that there's more that you're able to see and do."
"That's right," Rose said.
"Now, are you sure that you're comfortable with anything I might have you do?" Sarah asked with some concern.
"I think I am."
"Well then, I'm going to have you try to do certain tasks and answer some questions, but we'll work through it very slowly. If anything goes wrong, we'll stop. Is that okay with you, dear?"
"Yes, Sarah. I'll do the best I can."
"All right, then let's begin."
