You know what, what the heck. It's Christmas, so here's the rest...
He headed towards the market place. The stalls were still set up from yesterday, but the denizens were about as enthusiastic as if they were walking to the gallows. The sky was a horrible grey, overcast with a slight hint of rain. The Doctor looked around the little town with ill-concealed frustration. If it hadn't been for Andy, and the mystery she presented him with, he would have been out of here and flying off among the stars in seconds. But there was a mystery here, even in this grey unassuming place, and so he had to do his utmost to figure it all out.
He went back to the stall he had briefly stopped at before, looking around for someone to talk to. He spotted Merrick standing by the stall on his right. He considered the boy, and how much use he would get from any knowledge Merrick offered. As Andy had said, she was a pariah here, and the children of the town would be told to steer well clear of her. Yet, children were remarkably intelligent, and often picked up on the little subtleties that parents often missed. With that in mind, he glanced around, checking that his parents weren't around and called to Merrick. The boy looked up in surprise, and then a little smile crossed his face,
"Good morning, Mr Doctor. Would you like to buy something?"
"I told you before, Doctor is fine, Merrick," he said, walking over to the stall. Small fluffy balls, of different sizes and shapes, filled small baskets placed all over the stall. Leaning down and picking a small green one up, he sniffed it. It appeared to be some kind of fruit, as it had a tangy smell to it.
"That one's three kuras, Doctor," Merrick cheerfully informed him, "Why is it only Doctor then? Don't you have another name?" The Doctor smiled at the boy's inquisitive nature. He had made the right decision coming to talk to him.
"Yes I do, but it's secret," he smiled as he put the fruit back down, "I don't think I'll buy this one, Merrick, but I do have some questions I'd like to ask you."
"But you've touched it, Doctor!" The boy exclaimed, "I can't sell that one, now that you've touched it." The Doctor smiled at the boy's already well formed selling instincts.
"Alright, I'll buy three of these if you tell me what you know."
"Of course, Doctor," Merrick reached underneath the stall and pulled out a small bag, picking up three of the little furry green fruits, "What do you want to know?"
"It's about the girl, the one you said was an outcast, Andy." By the time he had reached the word 'outcast' Merrick's face had closed down. He frowned at the paper bag, as he stuck a little plaster over the fold to stop it opening. The Doctor waited, knowing that Merrick was most likely worried he would say something that his mother would give him into trouble for later.
"I'm not supposed to talk to her. Mummy says she's devil-possessed. That she talks with evil spirits in the woods and they'll come and eat me if I'm bad. She lives in a hole under the ground like an animal, but the devil keeps her warm at night. Daddy said that she probably in…entick…entices the evil spirits to come to her by dancing in the forests…" here he looked around and then leaned in to the Doctor, to whisper, "without her clothes on," he straightened and placed the bag on the stall, his face a little red, "but I don't think she does, because why would evil spirits want to look at a girl," and here he almost stuck out his tongue.
The Doctor, who had gone rigid with anger, would have laughed at this, as he suddenly realised that Merrick was still at that age where girls were avoided, because they weren't fast enough, or strong enough, or in fact simply because they were girls. But he was still processing everything that Merrick had said. Finally he said,
"Is that what your parents say, Merrick?" The boy nodded, looking around nervously for his mother, before continuing,
"After the rock falls Daddy always mutters something, and then goes in the house to make an offering to the nice spirits. He says he's trying to ward her away. Mummy carves wooden figures when the snow comes; she gives them horrible mouths and scary eyes. She says that keeps the devil girl away from our house." The Doctor, still angry at these people's backwards ways of dealing with Andy, decided to take a different point of view,
"What do you think about her, Merrick?" hoping for that childish point of view that saw everything in black and white. Merrick was silent for a few minutes, apparently giving it a good deal of thought,
"She's scary," he finally said, "She can lift rocks and none of the rest of us can do that. She always knows when the crops are going to fail, or where one of the cows has gone when it's escaped, and nobody should know that. She's always angry when she's here, and she always shouts at everybody. I don't think she likes us." Can you blame her, the Doctor thought, all she ever does is help you and you carve scary faces in wood to keep her away.
"But Merrick, she's all alone as well. She doesn't have a family. She doesn't have any friends. She's very lonely and sad, really." Merrick bit his lip, apparently he'd never thought of it that way before. The Doctor waited a few more minutes, then Merrick said,
"She does look sad sometimes, I suppose. But she could be a bit nicer. Then people would talk to her more." No they wouldn't. They'd still jeer and hate her, only more so if she opened herself up to it. Instead of the point of view he'd wanted, he'd gotten a childish solution. Nevertheless he thanked Merrick for the fruit, paid for them and began to turn away. Then he remembered something Andy had said and turned back,
"By the way, do you know where I could find Matros?"
"Of course, Doctor, his house is the small dirty one on the left path, near the trees," and with a final smile, Merrick turned back to his stall.
He may not have the answers he wanted yet, but it was a start, so the Doctor turned and began walking further into the village.