Violets are Blue

Violets are Blue

It all happened in a flurry. There was screaming and shouting, and people ran towards the doors to try and get out. Lord Scott was surrounded by the dark energy streaming in to the house with what sounded like high pitched wails, of fear and pain, and grew and grew. His body became one huge shadow, and the shadows of everything else in the room disappeared, joining him.

"Oh my god! What's happening?!" cried a maid,

"It's the end of the world!" spluttered another.

They struggled and cried, screaming, shouting, and kicking their neighbours as they clawed at doors, windows, anything that might give them sweet relief as the demonic animal in front of them edged towards them. The only people behind him were Josephine, her legs failing to work as she knelt dumbly on the floor, and Ruby, who was just not uncurling herself from the ball she had thrown herself into to break the fall.

"Doctor! Do something! Open the door!" demanded Martha urgently.

"Ruby! Josephine! Are you ok?!" called the Doctor.

The girl stiffly looked up, and nodded through the smoky haze. Jane and Lucy were valiantly trying to get everyone to calm down, hugging some close to tears, arguing with people thinking irrationally that God's wrath had fallen upon them. Lord Scott, as was, laughed, and held out his hands. Phantom ropes wrapped around people's throats and they choked and gasped, trying to struggle free.

"Move!" hollered the Doctor.

He barged through arms and shoulders and legs to the door. He reset his sonic screwdriver, and held it up to the lock. It opened with a click and everyone tumbled through in mass hysteria. Josephine was still too stunned to move. As tendrils came towards her and Ruby, the girl grabbed her hand, yanking her to her feet.

"Get a move on!" she demanded, "Ma'm." she added, remembering to be polite.

The pair of them started running over to the others, only Martha and the Doctor were waiting outside the door for them, when Lord Scott suddenly turned 180 degrees, and faced them. Ruby panicked as Josephine shrieked, and shoved her past the monster just as he moved towards them.

"You've given me enough grief girl." snarled the shadow-beast.

Ruby squeaked as she ducked a swipe from him, batting away vainly at shadows. Kit twittered and chirruped in panic, before ducking to hide in Martha's jacket. The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver, but it didn't make any difference. It wasn't a living being now, as such. Ruby noticed this, and took a deep breath. She scrambled to her feet, and then shot forward, barrelling through Lord Scott, who howled in pain. It was like moving through mud, she felt like she was falling as icy coldness surrounded her. A warm hand grabbed her own, and The Doctor yanked her the rest of the way, whilst Martha tended to Josephine.

"You little witch!" growled Scott, "Just you wait til I get my hands on you!"

She was pushed through the door as The Doctor left it behind them. But they knew it wouldn't work well. Ribbons of shadows and blackness were wavering from every nook and cranny in the house as Lord Scott made about reforming himself, although Ruby's effect on him seemed to have made him smaller, but they just ran.

"Doctor! We can't fight something that's not there!" cried Martha.

"I know that."

"Izzy!"

Jane hurried forwards, and grabbed a startled Ruby's arm. The second she did, there was something like a static shock, and she yelped, as the locket, as if magnetised, wrenched itself over to Ruby, who caught it neatly in her spare hand. Behind her, something suddenly materialised, taking even The Doctor by surprise.

"Um, hello."

Ruby, realising something was going on, and turned around. Her jaw dropped open as she came face to face with herself. She blinked, trying to see if she was imagining it, but it was the same girl who's broken her out of the spell of the Scehele, she was sure.

"Amber?" she whispered.

The gold silhouette of herself shook her head, she was like a drawing, just an outline, and the lines burned as brightly as a candle. "I'm not Amber. I'm Isobel, Isobel Ramsay."

"I…Izzy?" Jane and Lucy, who had rejoined them, stared at her in disbelief.

"Who are you?!" questioned Martha.

"Where have you been?!" added Ruby.

"Lord Scott. He killed my physical body. My current one, at the time."

"Current?" Ruby looked slightly pale, and clung on to Kit, who had suddenly appeared in the hustle.

"He killed you?!" exclaimed Jane, watery eyed, "You're a ghost?"

"Um, no…not as such." If possible, the golden girl looked sheepish.

"Riovaus!" cried The Doctor, "You're a Riovaus!"

Isobel's face lit up as she realised he would be able to explain things a lot better than she would. The Riovaus were like guardian angels, he began, patrolling the solar systems and keeping order, by acting as mediators, or body guards. They're few in number, and largely ethereal, but every now and then, when something very pressing comes up, they could take on physical form.

"Which is what I did." nodded Isobel, "The Scehele have always been our enemies. They're negative versions of ourselves."

"Demons?" breathed Lucy, clutching Jane's hand.

"If you take that perspective, yes." agreed the Doctor, "Riovaus are Angels and Scehele are Demons."

Ruby kept silent. Finally, she didn't have to pretend to be somebody else. Filled with relief, she whipped out her bandana, tying it securely around her head, so there would be no mixing up her and Isobel. It was the same way she'd let people differentiate between her and Amber, back home. What they still didn't have however, was a solution to the Scott problem. Isobel's presence was temporarily keeping him at bay, but she was nowhere near as large or powered up as him.

"What's this then?" asked Ruby, holding up the necklace.

Isobel looked delighted, "It's a key!" she said happily,

"To…what?" pressed her mirror image.

"I don't know just yet. Therein lies the problem." Isobel said sadly, "I don't have a physical form, and I can't have one again for another hundred years. So I can't touch or use it even if we knew what it did."

"We're screwed." stated Martha plainly.

As if in agreement, they heard the distinct sound of a door shattering, and they looked around them to find that shadows were reaching out towards them again. Isobel's presence was wearing off, so they just moved very slowly, but were still trying to attack. The group took their cue and fled, Isobel drifted in front of them, seeming to know just where they should be going. They flew up flight after flight of stairs, panting and aching, it was more difficult for Jane, Lucy, Josephine and Ruby, all who had skirts tangling around their ankles. Josephine tripped and fell, but The Doctor caught her arm and kept a hold of it as they kept going up.

"I don't think I can cope going much higher." Ruby gulped.

Isobel turned to face her, "You're afraid of heights?" Ruby nodded. "Oh no…" Isobel looked crestfallen.

"Oh no?!" squeaked Ruby, panic rising in her throat, "I don't like the sound of that oh no! Take it back please!" her heart was starting to race even harder. "With a cherry on top?!"

Her legs started to go like jelly, and her skin was clammy with terror. She would have stopped right there and melted, but Martha grabbed her hand and looked straight into the frightened girl's eyes.

"Ruby. You've been captured by pigs, turned dragons on their masters, dealt with cliffs and wolves, and kept your cool when confronted with things most people have never imagined, let alone seen, not even let out a peep, and you're seventeen years old. You know there's much more than that to come, and still you're here. What's a staircase to that?" Ruby was speechless, "I'll keep a hold of you, ok? Trust me."

Ruby stared at her, had they just had a moment? Then, slowly she nodded. The splintering of another door behind them caused all of them to turn backwards. Isobel floated in front of them, panicking.

"We have to go!" she cried urgently.

The party set off again, and they realised what Isobel's oh no had been about. The staircase became a spiral as they ran through an arch, and it was icy cold, the windows were open slats in the tower. It was narrow, slippery, and high. They all clung to each other for support, both physical and moral, and eventually came to a creaky old wooden door, with iron studs. Isobel flew straight through it, and Jane was about to, before Lucy pulled her back, they were corporeal. The girl laughed sheepishly, and with a click, the door swung open.

"Wow." muttered Martha.

"Isobel, you're a genius!" congratulated The Doctor.

He had deliberately stayed quiet when it came to Ruby, sensing that it was a moment for her and Martha to connect more. But now, he was back in full swing, as they looked around the room. Two fireplaces, candlesticks in the centre, candelabras on the wall. No furniture, except a single chest of drawers, and a rug. Getting the idea, Lucy, Jane and Josephine all hurried around, lighting every candle and lamp they could get their hands on, it was a maid's prerogative to always have matches handy, and lucky for the group, there were two of them present.

"Forgive my ignorance, I think the sanity and logic that I left somewhere back at the bottom of the stairs is taking its time returning, but, I still don't get it." Ruby did genuinely look blank.

"The Scehele are essentially shadows. Bad-tempered, powerful, grumpy shadows, but shadows none the less." explained The Doctor. "The more light there is in a room, the weaker their hold. Back in the rest of the house the light is limited, for a certain mood I suspect. Here, well, see for yourself."

See she did. Everywhere there were candles burning, sending out scattering and patterns of light into every corner of the room. It was so bright; she could clearly make out everybody's features, down to the details on their clothes. She knew it wouldn't last forever, but it would give them time enough to think. There was complete silence, and it was Jane who broke it, much to everyone's surprise.

"Everyone's thinking it, I'm just saying it. Now what?" she looked to The Doctor.

He had already swiped the locket out of Ruby's hand, and was examining it with his sonic screwdriver. Everyone was nervously scattered around, waiting for him to save the day, like he always did, but even he was stumped this time. He growled in frustration, and shoved the locket back into Ruby's hand.

"That thing is what's going to help us. But we can't get into it! Isobel, can you think of any way of overwriting the lock or something?"

Isobel shook her head, "No, not as such…"

"But?" pressed The Doctor.

"I need a physical form to open it."

"This is what we're lacking." Ruby sighed.

The whole party fell silent again, pacing around, and lost in their own thoughts. Isobel and Jane retreated to a quiet corner, and although the tone was lowered, they all knew it would be best to stay out of the way. Inwardly Ruby was battling with herself. She had been delighted when she thought Isobel was Amber. She missed her family. Martha was thinking about something else entirely, and looked up at the Doctor.

"What about Arthur?" she asked.

"What about him?" queried the Doctor, as everyone turned to listen to her.
"If Isobel was supposed to be his daughter, was he another Riovaus?" she questioned.

Isobel had suddenly appeared next to her, making all of them jump a mile. She gave an apologetic shrug and then shook her head, sighing.

"No, Arthur was just a man. The sweetest, kindest man I've ever met. He was so lonely, that I got the Council to attach me to him when I took on physical form. He found me as a five year old girl, and adopted me." she looked at Martha, "The pictures you saw, they were fabricated. The emotion wasn't though. I suppose he was kind of a father to me…"

"What happened to him?" ventured Lucy, hesitantly.

"The Scehele happened to him." Isobel looked suitably mournful, "When they did that, my contract was up. I was bound to him by my physical form. When that bond was broken, so was my physical form."

Josephine had been silent for a long time, after their initial sprint. It was too much for her to understand and take on. This whole, meeting of things beyond human understanding, had been happening all around her, right in front of her, for twelve years, and she had been too wrapped up in her own life to notice it. What did that say about her? She had never been like that before her husband died. There were so many questions she wanted answered.

"Why here, why now?" she suddenly blurted, angry tears blurring her vision. "Why is all this happening in this house?"

Everyone exchanged glances, from Martha to Lucy to Ruby to the Doctor. Nobody had an answer to give her. The Doctor was inwardly dreading the same thing was happening here that had happened in 1913. Martha knew his fears, but not a single other person did. They were the two that had been there, not everyone else.

"The Scehele saw an opportunity." Isobel shrugged, "If they could establish control here, they would be able to influence everything. They couldn't resist."

"So they came because I was vulnerable?" answered Josephine dumbly.

"And we just made everything worse." realised Ruby.

Who could really resist the pull of a Time Lord, a time traveller, and a girl with alien DNA? The power in them alone could be enough to destroy a planet, and then some. Martha, The Doctor and Ruby looked at each other. They'd gone and done it again. Everywhere they went, trouble just seemed to attach itself to them. Ruby had learnt this already, and she hadn't been with The Doctor half as long as Martha had.

"Come on now!" declared Isobel brightly, "We can't help anyone by just sitting here lamenting," she said pointedly, "We need a plan. Your girl gave the Scehele a blow they weren't expecting, but it won't keep them down for long."

It was just what they all needed. They could see now, why Isobel had made such an impression on the household. She lit up the room, figuratively as well as metaphorically. The Doctor turned to Isobel, and put his glasses on, a signal that he meant business.

"Isobel, can you contact your Council at all? To say you need a form, because of an emergency?"

Isobel shook her head, "No. I stayed around here too long, and they exiled me. I can't get back until this mess is sorted out."

"Could you use someone else's form?"

"Possession?" Isobel raised an eyebrow, "It's generally frowned upon."

"I didn't ask that, I asked if you could do it."

The gold girl nodded, "I could, theoretically. But it would take someone extraordinary, to cope with two lives sharing the same body. It drives most people to insanity."

"Well, what about me?" he suggested, "I've shared my body with an angry sun before, and survived."

"Just barely!" protested Martha.

"Because I had you there to help." he pointed out. "Besides, an angry sun, compared to a benevolent, highly intelligent life form?"

Jane's mouth dropped open, and Lucy was stunned to silence. Josephine stood protectively by both of them. This talk was all madness, they couldn't possibly mean all three of them were from beyond existence? They must all be crazy, to talk about such things like it happened every day. Seeing Ruby as the safest option, they all turned to her for reassurance. She shrugged apologetically, they were deadly serious. They had gone through far more things than she had. She still had a hard time believing she spent her time travelling around time and space with people who were still complete strangers to her.

"Don't worry." She said kindly, confidently, "They always save the day. He saved my whole family. Trust me, ok?"

They didn't have much of an option. They had no other answers, and it wasn't just Ruby that noticed the darkness closing in on them. Martha was stubbornly against the idea, it had terrified her when The Doctor had been possessed, she didn't much want a repeat, but she knew they had no choice. She was waved back to join the others, and Lucy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, as Jane clung to Ruby, who had Josephine's arm linked in hers.

"This might hurt…" warned Isobel.
"Better get it over and done with then."

Isobel sighed, then floated up, and stared at the Doctor for a moment, before ploughing into him. The light was so bright the audience had to cover their eyes, and The Doctor cried out as he flew backwards with the impact, landing on the floor at the women's feet. Martha and Ruby ran over to help him sit up. Kit put in a brief appearance, nudging him, before retreating back to Martha's jacket. Ruby was white as a sheet, and Martha was shaking.

"Doctor? Are you ok?" asked Martha.

"Isobel? Can you hear us?" added Ruby.

The Doctor breathed out painfully, sitting on the floor, a companion at either side of him. It was a very strange sensation. It was like he had suddenly been dragged out into a tropical island it was so hot, and he could hear thoughts and feel emotions that didn't belong to him.

"Ouch." He said finally, "Yes, I'm fine. Isobel?"

Bearable.

No-one else could hear her, as she was speaking mind to mind with her host. When he realised this, he nodded on her behalf, and held out his hand. Ruby was about to hand over the locket, when the door imploded behind him. The girl's shrieked in fear as a human-sized spiky shadow suddenly put in an appearance. It had a gash of light down its left collar bone, a scar left by Ruby it would seem, as its faceless attention focused on her.

"What did you do?!" he half howled, and half demanded.

He lunged at her, and she scurried backwards, until the Doctor stood in front of her. The demon hissed as he touched this peculiar hybrid. The Doctor grinned triumphantly, despite the voices in his head suddenly getting louder, each time the demon tried to get at him. He could barely hear himself think.

"Get out of here!" he demanded, "I'll keep him away and catch up with you."

"We can't just leave you here!" protested Ruby.

"Do what I tell you!"

"How do we even get out of here?!"

The others had already found the answer. Outside one of the windows was a wooden trellis, trailing with ivy. It was sturdy enough for them to use as a ladder. Ruby wasn't having any of it. The staircase had been bad enough. A sheer drop down a tower, into darkness, that was freezing cold? Not a chance. Josephine, Jane and Lucy had already smashed the glass and were carefully making their way down. Martha was waiting for Ruby.

"Ruby! Come on! We need all of us to sort this problem out!" she called.

"No way. Not if hell freezes over and it's the only thing between me and certain death."

The roaring and hissing as The Doctor fought off the Scehele made sure that the scenario she had just described, was exactly what was going on now. Martha knew it too. But she knew Ruby would never act if it was simply to save herself. She disliked what she was thinking, but she could see no other way of making her move.

"What if it's the only thing between certain death, and five other people? You still going to stand around there doing nothing?!"

She knew she was being over harsh to a petrified girl. But she was scared, and frustrated, and she could see The Doctor was struggling. It did the trick however. Ruby turned away from her, too angry to even look at her, and vaulted out of the window. Martha was a split second behind her.

The air felt like pin pricks over every inch of her skin as she cautiously positioned herself to move down, and down, she couldn't see a thing. She heard what sounded like screams of the dying, so nightmarish, and terrible. She was convinced the wind was deliberately trying to pluck her off the trellis. The only reason she didn't stop dead was because she could feel Martha directly above her. What she didn't notice was that every spot she touched, suddenly sprang back to life, leaving a trail of strong, healthy grips for Martha to hold on to. It was like a streak of colour and paint, a single, if wobbly line of green on a black canvas. Yet as soon as its purpose was done, it shrivelled again. Her foot touched something solid. The ground? Not being able to see the drop had stopped her being so worried about it.

"Ruby, Martha? Are you ok?" came Jane's hushed whisper.

Suddenly a dim light stretched across the entire garden. It was like the darkness in the middle of the night, you could just make out different shades of grey. Jane and Lucy were holding up lit matches, and Ruby realised that they were the far side of the house, where she hadn't been before. It was like a large patio, but dead weeds clung to every surface, the pavement was cracked, everything from the nearby oak tree to each individual blade of grass was drained of colour, like it was ill.

"Oh my life…" gasped Martha, "What happened?"

"Every bit of life has been drained out of everything," stated Lucy, worried.

The utter silence was suddenly broken. Shadows leapt up from every surface, desperately aiming for the light, like one solid stream of black. They didn't even know where they were going as they ran. It was on their tail, like a line of gunpowder that had been lit, and it seemed to gain on them. They ran, and tripped, and fell, the matches went out, but they were still being chased by what seemed to them like a trail of death, and destruction. Inanimate, but alive. They kept going, each one relying on the presence of the others to let them know they weren't lost.

"Over there! That's their house!" cried Martha. "We should be safe in there!"

"But what about your Doctor, and Isobel?" asked Jane plaintively.

Martha didn't have an answer for her. They barrelled into the tumbledown, much-loved home, and the trail stopped following them. They were protected by something. They lit what lights they could, and Jane stoked a fire. The roaring and screaming picked up again, as everything aimed for another target. Ruby's heart froze as she realised it must be The Doctor, and icy fear trickled down Martha's body.

A haggard shape came limping into the room, it was the Doctor, he looked pale, and half crazed. His clothes, hair and face were mussed and streaked with mud and blood, and his eyes, there was something manic behind them, fighting to get to the surface. Martha ran over to him, and he pulled away from her, panting.

"I'm fine. I can handle it."

Martha saw he was sweating and clammy, "You're burning up!"

"I said I'm FINE!!" he snapped, startling Martha into backing away from him.

The others did too, but not Ruby. Ruby stayed right where she was. The Doctor was drowning. He could feel the death of every living thing in the area surrounding them, feel and hear, just like she had done. He stumbled forwards, and she caught him, supporting him. He looked at her, only half-aware. In his minds eye, the shapes of Jane, Lucy, Martha and Josephine were warping, turning into monsters, but Ruby had never been so clear. She was struggling to hold the weight of a fully grown man, and her heart was still racing from the trial of climbing to the floor, but there was something unshakable in her.

He could take in what he'd missed before, her fervent love for her family and friends, having to keep her sister in line whilst being in her shadow, her thrill and fear at travelling throughout time and space, the bond she shared with Kit, who was like a friend and a child to her, her respect for Martha's calmness and intelligence, and understanding why she had resorted to blackmail, as well as the envy at her having seen so much more. Her delight at creating music, her hopes for the future, even her scent, roses. Standing out most of all though, was her faith in him.

"Ruby…?"

As he focused on her, the monsters started to recede, and Martha dared approach him, she had seen Ruby struggling, and was now supporting him too. He'd missed so much about her as well. Her thirst for new experiences, her confidence and sense of humour, the sisterly over protectiveness of Ruby, he dreams of helping and healing people, her intelligence, and how she loved him, but never said it. Her memories of what they had been through together, merging with those of her family, her own envy, at the protectiveness of him in regards to Ruby.

"Sorry…" he said to Martha.

She just smiled and shook her head, then Ruby handed over the locket. It blazed for a moment, but when The Doctor tried to open it, he couldn't. The reality sunk everyone's heart's like a stone. A glimmer of gold emerged, and Isobel reformed above him, then The Doctor collapsed in the arms of his faithful companions. Panic rose in Ruby's throat, she hadn't seen something get the best of him before.

"Now what do we do Martha?" she asked.

"We'll think of something."

Together they manoeuvred The Doctor onto the chair, covering him up with one of Isobel's patchwork quilts. The girl stood above him and sighed, it had been at the very least a long shot in the first place. It still didn't stop all of them feeling disappointed and hopeless though. Kit settled herself on The Doctor's stomach, her presence had been scarce, because she was frightened, and she was still a baby. But now she had somebody that needed looking after, and looking after people was something she enjoyed.

"So, anyone got a cunning plan?" declared Isobel.

"Will the Doctor be ok?" asked Ruby lamely.

"Just fine. He's simply exhausted." She looked at him, "He's been carrying his burden around for so long, it's caught up with him."

"How very… human of him." Josephine blinked, startled.

"Yea. He's really something else." there was a touch of pride in Martha's voice.

But the fact of the matter was, their plan had failed, and the only person who might be able to get them out of trouble was currently unconscious by the fire. Unbeknownst to them however, there was already something going on in his mind. He was in a sort of dream, but it seemed real. He looked around him, and saw nothing but blackness, and silence. He called out, but nobody answered him. Something like this had never happened before. Then, out of the blue, a purple blot appeared in front of him, Kit. She chirruped and twittered, like she was trying to talk to him, but he didn't understand her. There was something different about Kit though, she was bathed in a sort of gold light.

Then images swam in front of his eyes. The first thing he saw took him aback. It was Rose, she had her back to him, and was looking over her shoulder, with a mischievous smile. She turned around, and morphed into Martha, laughing at something, and moving towards him. She set off at a run, and transformed into Ruby, who ran straight passed him.

He tried to call out to her, all three of them, but he was cut off by something darting passed him, a dark red bolt, so fast it caused a sharp wind either side of it, and it was heading in the same direction as his three companions. This was no dream, it was a message. It had never been so clearly put to him that trouble was brewing, the message said danger, but he had no idea where it came from.

"Well, that was surreal." he muttered.

He didn't realise he had said it out loud, until his eyes flickered open, and he was face to face with a furry purple alien snuggled up on his chest. He turned his head as he heard murmuring, it was the women, but they had their backs to him, and didn't realise he was awake. He closed his eyes again, to try and listen to what they were saying. It seemed to be a hushed argument, so as not to wake him.

"We can't stay here forever." pointed out Lucy sharply.

"As far as we know, Scott might only have stopped to bring about something bigger. I doubt he'll let us go that easily." backed up Martha.

"What you're suggesting is madness!" cried Josephine, "Trying to get back to the house, after all the effort it took to get here?"

"Everything out there is dying!" exclaimed Jane, "Who's to say we won't just shrivel up with it all the second our feet touch the ground?!"

"We didn't coming here did we?" Martha.

"Doesn't mean we won't going back!" rebuked Jane.

"If we can find out where he's getting this power from, maybe we can cut it off at the source!" announced Lucy.

"What do you think, Ruby?" That was Josephine.

The Doctor didn't see it, but Ruby's face blanched as four pairs of eyes turned on her. She wished Isobel was here, to help her out, but she was busy patrolling the house and grounds. She had been valiantly trying to get everyone to calm down, never one for confrontation. Ironic really, that the youngest member of the group was the most sensible one.

"I think, you should all cool off, for a start. Arguing is not going to get us anywhere, all we've got is each other." suggested the girl reasonably. "We've pretty much deduced that the only possible way to stop Scott, is using Isobel's key. We just need to work out how to use it."

"Your friend had more chance than any of us, and he didn't help us at all."

"Hey!" snapped Martha, "He did his best, I didn't see you offering to step up to the plate!"

"He was part of the problem in the first place." The woman huffed.

"Need I point out, that the initial target was you, my lady." answered Lucy.

"Well, she could hardly help that." protested Jane.

"No more than the Doctor could help what happened to him." countered Martha.

Ruby sighed and flopped down on a nearby stool as the four of them started arguing once more. This was giving her a headache. Truthfully, she had wanted to defend The Doctor too, but she knew it would just rub people up the wrong way, she was nowhere near as confident as Martha. She caught sight of Kit, looking at her from her perch on The Doctor. She suddenly sat bolt upright, an idea forming in her head. She smiled, and scooted over, scooping up the surprised animal. The Doctor suddenly realised what she meant to do, as she assessed her route to the door, avoiding the discontent.

"Ruby Arduino! Don't you dare!" he hollered, startling everybody as he instantly shot up.

But it was too late, she offered him a small apologetic smile, before barrelling between Jane and Martha and legging it out of the door, into the darkness. A blast of cold air blew through the hut before the door snapped shut again. The four women stared after her, open-mouthed, and The Doctor ran to the door frame, trying to see where she had gone.

"Is the girl crazy?!" cried Josephine.

"What on earth is she doing?!" stuttered Lucy.

Martha realised as The Doctor, irked, turned back to face them, thunderous. She paled. "Oh no…she wouldn't…"

"I think you'll find she would," murmured her friend.

It was an off the cuff idea, but she couldn't think of any other solution, and the four squabbling hens and the unconscious Time Lord back at the hut hadn't given any other suggestions. She ran through the bitter cold, and shivered as she felt like icy fingers were reaching out to her, trying to touch her, grabbing her ankles and any part of her they could. They were desperate to be saved. She clung on to Kit for dear life, following her instincts to lead her to Isobel.

The Doctor is going to be furious with me…

She had a feeling though, he already was. Oh well, that was for another time. Right now, she just had to get to Isobel. She already shared DNA with one alien and managed to cope just fine, and as a result of that she seemed absorb a little bit of everyone she touched. Right now for example, she was borrowing from Martha's courage, and The Doctor's half brilliant, half crazy solutions.

"How could all of you let a teenage girl out into that by herself?!" roared The Doctor. "Didn't you think, Martha, that she would try and pull off something like this?"

Martha hated being scorned by the Doctor, so just stayed quiet. She knew he would calm down when they found her, and she could hardly be expected to know Ruby as well as he seemed to. He grabbed his coat, from the arm of the chair, and put it on, bustling outside.

"Martha, with me. The rest of you stay here!" he ordered.

The Doctor knew exactly where he was going. Martha didn't have a clue, so just followed him. She did notice that she could almost make out footprints on the ground, but it must have been her eyes playing tricks on her. She turned to The Doctor.

"I'm sorry Doctor…" she said hesitantly, "I didn't think…"

"Neither did I." he sighed, "I think she's been around us too long."

Martha smiled slightly at that, he was probably right. She was just as worried about the girl herself, but she was reasonably certain that she could handle the situation, and so much more, come to think of it.

When Ruby found Isobel, they were back in the music room. She saw the flashing of light through the window, and somehow remembered how to get back there. She clutched the locket in her hand, and Kit was clinging to her for dear life as she shouldered the door open, falling through it, and landing behind Isobel, who was busy trying to keep Scott confined to this room. She looked tired, and Ruby wondered how she had managed to get the Scehele back here, it must have taken some doing.

"Ruby!" squeaked Isobel, "What are you thinking? Get out of here!"

"No! I was looking for you! Use me! I can be your host!" she explained breathlessly.

"A Time Lord couldn't handle it. No offence, but I don't think a teenage human will fair much better."

"You don't understand, I'm already kind of an open book. Kit, she's a Vegrandis. I've been looking after her."

The Scehele took a running dive for Ruby, who fell backwards, startled, but he reflected off a kind of net that Isobel was keeping up. Isobel kept looking between him, and the girl, kneeling on the floor, terrified, but not running. She realised she didn't have a choice, and sighed.

"The second I possess you, this net will fall. You need to be fast. Understand me?"

Ruby nodded. "OK, three, two…ONE!"

It happened so quickly Ruby was completely disorientated, she could suddenly hear Isobel's thoughts, as the Scehele broke free. What she didn't realise was that if a Riovaus could borrow her, so could a Scehele. She was like a door, wedged open with a brick. She screamed and cowered as it came at her, full tilt. There was a rush of movement in front of her, a brownish blur, and a hand on her shoulder.

"Ruby!" it was Martha's voice.

She opened her eyes, and looked up. The Doctor had intercepted Scott, grimacing and gritting his teeth as the think tried to scrape and slash away at him to possess him. Ruby was shaking, and Martha clutched her shoulder as much for her own reassurance as Ruby's. She got to her feet.

"Isobel?"

I'm here.

The sensation caught up with her, like flood water, she could hear and feel both of the Doctor's hearts, and Martha's pounding with fear. She could hear Martha's frantic pleas for him to be ok, and the Doctor forcing back Scott, and the reassuring warmth that kept it all in check, was something small, purple, and furry.

Hurry up! Open it! He won't be able to stand that for much longer!

She fumbled to get the locket out from around her neck, she was so hurried she almost dropped it as she frantically searched for the catch. She ran her hands along the whole surface, and found a tiny indent. She grabbed hold of it, and pulled, it stuck, and her heart started racing as she thought it wasn't going to work. She could feel the Doctor losing his grip, and then it suddenly flew into the air and sprung open.

Duck!

Ruby did as she was told, grabbing Martha's hand, and the back of The Doctor's coat, pulling him away from Scott, and both of them to the floor by her, as something like a firework burst out of the locket. She watched, clutching Martha's hand with The Doctor's arm around her and Kit peering up from her lap.

They ducked again as the stream of heat and fire got bigger, and blew a huge hole, straight through the ceiling and roof, before exploding in a huge ball of colour, that filled up the whole sky, spreading out like a quilt, and laying gently on everything. Stars appeared in the sky, the garden came back to life. The house lit up, and Scott howled in rage and pain. Colour came back to the walls around them, and the floor they were crouched on.

The anguished cries that had been ringing in Ruby, and incidentally, the Doctor's, ears, died down. It was suddenly all quiet as the Scehele started shrivelling. What could have been eyes, glared at Ruby.

"Don't you think I'm done with you girl!"

Then he exploded, shattering into black shards, that disappeared as soon as they hit the air. There was a quick flash, like a camera. The four of them blinked and looked around. Isobel suddenly shimmered into view, above their heads. She was smiling at them, the picture of health.

"You could be a family." she winked.

They looked around each other, suddenly realising they were all still clinging to the others, and with that, Isobel was gone, in a wisp of gold mist.

"All still alive?" asked Martha, breaking the silence.

"Just about." came the Doctor's cheerful reply.

"I'll get back to you on that," winced Ruby.

The Doctor stood up, walking over to pick up the locket as it clattered to the floor. Martha and Ruby were still recovering, plonked squarely on the floor. Neither of them felt like their legs could support them if they tried standing up. The Doctor was slowly walking around the room, investigating everything that Lord Scott had touched. Ruby dropped her head, staring at her hands, flat on the floor in front of her, and Kit nudged her stomach with a little cheep. She had suddenly gone quiet.

"Ruby?" asked Martha.

Ruby looked up, and, much to Martha's astonishment, tears were trickling down her face, she hurriedly wiped them away with a sleeve. "Ruby, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

"Isobel…"

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be fine." assured Martha.

Ruby shook her head, "No, that's not what I mean."

"Care to enlighten me?" she teased, gently.

"I thought she was Amber. I thought Isobel, was Amber. When I saw her…" her voice broke, "I miss my family, Martha."

Martha looked crestfallen as Ruby buried her head in her shoulder. Unsure of what to do, she wrapped her arms around the girl, just letting her cry. She looked up at the Doctor, who's face was all seriousness. He was glad she couldn't hear his thoughts any more, because right now, he was thinking exactly the same thing as Martha. They saw Ruby for what she was. A frightened young girl, torn away from her home and family, into danger and the unknown, and they had done it to her.

They were interrupted by the arrival of Lucy, Jane and Josephine. Ruby had luckily managed to pull herself together, she hated crying in public. It was bad enough that she had to face Martha and the Doctor after they'd seen her vulnerable. The three hurried over to them, Jane flew into Ruby's arms, clinging to her, Josephine and Lucy looked equally guilty.

"Are you all ok?" ventured Lucy, "We saw the explosion and found you. No-one hurt?"

"We're all fine Lucy." said the Doctor with a smile.

"No harm done." agree Martha.

Jane started bawling into Ruby's front, and the hesitant Ruby gingerly patted her back, in a 'there, there' kind of gesture, clueless as to what to do exactly.

"I'm so sorry Ruby!" sniffled Jane, "I should have gone with you! But I was scared, I was just a coward!"

"Nothing wrong with being a coward on occasion." stated The Doctor.

"Isobel…?" whispered Josephine.

"She's back home, she was fine." guaranteed Ruby. "Nothing to worry about."

"I'm glad." Josephine gave a watery smile.

Martha and Ruby got to their feet, and Kit flew excitedly around the heads of their three friends. The Doctor wandered across the room, and looked out of the window. The moon cast a bright silver light in the sky, so clear you could see by it. He saw the gardens, bright and blooming, beautifully kept, and he smiled to think he even helped a little. He heard the excited, relieved, chatter of the five people behind them, as they fussed and petted Kit. But he couldn't shake that…dream? Vision? Whatever it was. He stared into his own eyes, not thinking for a second the danger he had been warned about was passed. There was something after his companions, and he didn't know what. Maybe if he could get to the root of it, by finding whoever was trying to talk to him…

"Doctor?"

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Ruby. As he saw her ripped skirt, now about knee length, smudged cheeks, mussed up hair, and inquisitive eyes, he couldn't help feeling a rush of what could only be described as fatherly pride. He smiled at her and walked over.

"You ok? You looked zoned." smirked Martha.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just tired." He answered.

"Time Lords get tired?!"

Martha was teasing him, and he just smiled at her. Ruby was fiddling with something, in the seam of her dress. They all gave her a funny look, when she whipped out a tiny blue bag, and held it out. She tipped it, and of all things, a handful of seeds dropped out.

"What on earth?" Josephine hid a smile. Possession, aliens, shadows, and now this remarkable girl was worried about gardening.

"These were with the tools." explained Ruby, holding out a handful of apple seeds. "I heard somewhere that there's a one in ten chance of an apple seed sprouting, don't know if it's right or not. But there's ten seeds here." She carried on, "So if I plant all of them, we should get, something." She shrugged.

Martha looked at her in disbelief, "What, now?"

"As good a time as any."

"But it's the middle of the night!"

"Yes, and?"

Jane laughed, "You sound just like Isobel. I say we do it. It can be a way of seeing off the shadows."

The other didn't have the heart to protest, and they all looked at each other, before unanimously deciding to head for the garden. Ruby put the seeds back in the bag, and handed it over for Kit to hold, so she could be included.

They picked through the dark, and found a little patch that Isobel seemed to have been planning, right back at the main gate. It was neatly cleared away, either side, behind the roses, but with plenty of room. After a few weeds being pulled, and the ground being watered, only Josephine thought to bring a watering can, Jane and Ruby planted all of the seeds, in a neat circle, evenly spaced. Lucy had brought out some lanterns, and they were settled on every clear surface, giving the garden a warm glow. The nightmare was finally over.

After saying their goodbyes, The Doctor, Martha, Ruby and Kit, retreated to the TARDIS. Ruby couldn't stop yawning, and Martha was half asleep herself. Kit had fallen asleep in her mistress' arms, but The Doctor seemed perfectly fine. Martha leaned against the console, and Ruby sat on the step leading to it, fighting to stop her eyes from closing. She couldn't keep herself from thinking about Josephine, Lucy, Jane and Isobel. They were from a generation long before hers, but they were her friends. Martha saw the thoughtful look on her face, and perched beside her.

"I find not thinking about it stops the migraines." she grinned

"I'll try that then." Ruby returned the gesture.

They had reached some kind of understanding, it would seem. They still sparred for The Doctor's attention, but it was good natured. Credit where credit was due. They were fast asleep, using each other as pillows, as The Doctor set the co-ordinates for their next location. He laughed slightly, they were so human. Kit perched on his shoulder, snuggling into the crook of his neck, and dozed off.

"There's more to you than meets the eye my little friend, isn't there?" the Doctor muttered to himself.

The Tardis engines whirring didn't even serve as an alarm clock for his two exhausted companions, but as they were travelling, The Doctor kept a watchful eye on them. No way would anyone hurt them whilst he was around. They landed with a thud, which startled both girls to attention. Ruby still looked half asleep.

"What? Where are we?" yawned Martha. "You might have given us some warning."

"I did. Clearly you didn't hear me." The Doctor gave her that usual cheeky smile of his. "Even so, I needed to make a little detour, thought you might like to come along."

"You make us sound like children." Ruby covered her mouth as she yawned again.

"Compared to me, you are." The Doctor shrugged.

"Oh please, don't go there. I'm too tired." groaned Martha.

"Come on, look sharp."

The Doctor bounded to the doors, and pushed them open. Ruby and Martha winced as blazing sunlight assaulted their eyes. They stepped out, and seemed to be in some kind of car park. How, interesting. They did not look too impressed Martha was about to make some sarky comment, but The Doctor hushed her as a group of people walked passed. He joined on to the back of them, and motioned for the others to follow his lead. Well, they could hardly not. Realisation suddenly hit Ruby as she looked up. They were at Josephine Lawrence's house. But instead of looking bright and new and freshly painted, it had a noble, antiquated air about it, and it seemed far more friendly.

"Are we…" ventured Ruby, "…Following a tour guide?"

"Yessum." The Doctor beamed at her. "Shh!"

This was surreal. Just an hour or so ago, they had been walking these grounds, in the 19th Century. The group was all tourists, from every part of the world, many with large cameras. The three friends just neatly fitted in, well, with Kit keeping still, disguised as some kind of soft toy. They walked through the entrance, only hearing the tail end of what the Tour Guide was saying.

"Mrs Lawrence, Josephine, left all her worldly belonging to her daughters, Lucy and Jane. This house, and these artefacts have been passed down through the generations ever since. Most of it is still here, although some pieces are on loan at other museums. To the right, you will see the family Lawrence."

Automatically, The Doctor, Martha and Ruby turned to the right, and Ruby's jaw dropped. Above them, large as life, was a big oil painting, of the three people she had spent yesterday with, all beaming in front of the grand piano, in the music room. That wasn't all though, in the corner of the window, easily mistaken for light glinting off the surface, was a smiling girl, peaking above the pane. She stared for a while, before Martha grabbed her arm, and dragged her away to where the party were retreating.

"The Lawrence Mansion's most prized possession however, is the acres of garden, constantly kept up by a team of highly skilled gardeners. In particular, the orchard, which supplies shops all over the locality and beyond. Situated by the original main gate. It has been fondly named, by the family themselves, as 'Isobel's Orchard'." The woman paused for effect. "For those of you who enjoy a little legend. Rumour has it that the original gardener's daughter, Isobel, was murdered by a local noble, Lord Scott, who mysteriously disappeared himself, six months later. On the day that he vanished, the servants in the house all claimed that Isobel's ghost came back again to finish her work, because the orchard had not been planted at the time of her disappearance. Since then, she is said to come back every ten years, to check the upkeep of her garden, and to show them all how it's done."

They stopped again, and people gasped and muttered at what they saw. Ruby managed to weave her way to the front, and stopped dead. Either side of them, sheltering beautifully blooming roses, was a wall of tall, proud, beautifully blooming apple trees. Ten of them.