Chapter Three
Age 9, The Man with the fez
I was playing on the swings in the park near my house when I met the doctor again. I was trying to swing as high as I could when a man with a fez came too close to the swings. My right foot knocked the fez off his head. He bent down to grab his hat from the ground. I panicked and dug my feet into the dirt. I jerked forward and out of the swing. I landed on the man and he fell into the dirt.
"Oi," the man exclaimed. His voice muffled by the dirt.
"I'm sorry," I apologized as I tried to get up.
"Doctor, this is not the time to be fooling around," A woman said. "We're supposed to be finding your friend."
"Doctor?" I asked as I slid off the man's back.
He turned around to face me. He spat the dirt from his mouth onto the ground. He, then, picked up his fez and placed it firmly on his head. He smiled brightly at me.
"Martha," he exclaimed with his arms stretched out towards me. "Look, Pond, it's Martha."
"Martha?" the woman, Pond. "You mean the friend you were looking for? She's just a kid. What kind of danger could she get into?"
"Danger?" I asked with a frown. "What kind of danger?"
"Danger? No danger," the doctor said leaping to his feet. He held out his hand to me. I took it and he helped me up.
I looked up and stared into his eyes. I was a bit surprised. I could still tell he was the same man I met twice before, but his eyes were green not blue. They were older and sadder. He was so much older than the last time I saw him. I could also see fear and worry in his eyes.
"You're lying," I said in the most grown-up voice I could manage.
The Doctor's bright smile wavered a bit.
"You've always been so clever," he said.
"Doctor?" Pond asked.
"Oh," the Doctor exclaimed and turned to the woman. I studied her. Pond had long red hair. She was very pretty. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She looked impatient.
"Pond, this is Martha Jones," the Doctor said. "Martha, this is Amelia Pond."
When the Doctor said my name, Pond, Amelia relaxed. Her face lit up and it was as if something clicked. She stared at me for a moment.
"Wow," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. You're so much younger than the last time I saw you."
I frowned. I wondered what she meant.
"Ignore what my companion just said," the Doctor said before turning to Amelia.
"She doesn't know about the traveling," he said.
Amelia rolled her eyes but I could see she was going to change the subject.
"What are we protecting Martha from?" she asked.
"It's not a what, but a who," the Doctor answered. He then turned to me.
"Martha, have you seen a strange woman wandering around the park lately?"
I nodded and looked around. A woman about my coloring stood beside a dark car. She was watching us. The Doctor and Amelia stared at the woman.
"What does she want?" Amelia asked.
"A daughter," the Doctor answered seriously. "She wants Martha. Today's the day she will take her."
"I thought we weren't allowed to change established events," Amelia said.
"This is an established event," the Doctor said. "We're here to keep Martha company."
"Right, prevent the woman from snatching Martha, time doesn't change, got it?" Amelia said.
I watched the duo glare at the woman. It was like they were daring her to try and kidnap me. I watched the woman become agitated. She was losing patience.
Suddenly, a PC approached the woman. I watched as she struggled and argued. Another PC came and the woman was arrested.
"Well, that's done," the Doctor said. He straightened his bowtie. "Come on girls. There's still one thing to do."
"What's that?" Amelia asked.
"Walk Martha home," the Doctor answered.
The pair walked me home. Luckily, my father and not my mother was home. The Doctor told my father the truth. He said he and Amelia were walking by the park and stopped a woman from taking me. This was how I learned that the Doctor who had called the police to take the woman and I wondered when he had done so. There were so many mysteries surrounding the man. Like his constantly changing appearance, how he knew me, and how he always seemed to be able to be when and where I needed him to be. The answers I did not get until years later.
They left after my father gave his thanks.
I did not see the Doctor again for three years.
END OF CH. 3