Looking around, he saw several more stalls, all covered in items, which to the Doctor appeared completely useless. Since he was sure that the people would be just as clever as Merrick and offer him objects in exchange for information, he decided to look around for an alternative source. His eyes landed on the well, around which a large group of people stood, all taking their turns to draw water. It appeared to be mostly women in the queue, and the Doctor was sure he could charm a few into telling him a few things. Fixing a winning smile to his face, he started towards the beginning of the queue.
Setting down his package on the ground beside the well, he looked towards one of the younger women and flashed her a smile. Her face remained stoic but her eyes betrayed her interest. She was a sturdy girl, with broad shoulders and a rather large bosom. Standing up straight, so that her hair caught the light, she placed a hand on her hip and said,
"Well, what do you want, stranger?" Encouraged by this the Doctor smoothed his hair and said,
"Well, I was just wondering if I could ask you a few things about this place, since I'm new here." He supposed being a traveller in these parts was about as exotic as some people got in their whole lives. He would make the most of this. The interest dimmed in her eyes, apparently she was looking for a better offer than conversation, but it didn't stop her coming around the well to talk to him.
"Go on then," she said, putting her full bucket on the ground, making the water slosh a little, "What do you want to know?" He considered how to delicately phrase his questions, so as not to drive her off.
"Well, um, the mountain?" She raised an eyebrow, clearly not impressed by this beginning,
"What about it?" she asked.
"Um, are the rock falls a common thing? Only it seems stupid to keep so many people living near such a volatile area." Still unimpressed, the girl blew some wisps of hair out of her eyes,
"Oh yeah, happen at least four times a week. Keeps that little bitch on her toes anyway," her voice turned bitter towards the end of her sentence, "But since the rocks never get close to the town, we've got no reason to move."
"Four times a week? That is rather a lot. Have there always been rock falls in this area then?" The Doctor continued, trying to ignore his growing anger at the people's displeasure for Andy.
"My mother says there weren't any when she was a child. They only started not that long ago," she leaned into him here, "I reckon it was a curse. That scrawny bitch turns up here and suddenly she's finally got something useful to be doing, even if it puts us honest folk in danger." Still supressing his anger, the Doctor replied,
"So the rock falls started when Andy arrived?"
"No, when she got here, she was a tiny baby. Old Matros came into town one day, carrying a baby cot and settled down here. Still remember that day, myself. Was about five years old. I see this old man, trudging through the town, with this little cot in his hand and little gurgles coming out from it. Everyone loved her at first, even helped Matros put up his house. Everyone assumed she was his daughter, but when she started doing her freaky stuff, well, we figured she was no daughter of his."
"So people weren't afraid of her at first?" The Doctor was surprised at this, the way Andy told it, it seemed the people had always hated her.
"Well, no. She was ordinary at first. Well, I suppose there was always something wrong with her. She used to play in the woods all day and came back telling these stupid stories about how she talked to trees or some shit like that. Everybody laughed at her, thought she was a bit loony. Then she wouldn't go anywhere near the Mayor's house. She just stopped going in. Always burst into tears any time she had to," The Doctor grimaced as he remembered the events that had made Andy so terrified of that house, "Then the really weird stuff started happening. A couple of the cows got out and everyone was frantic looking for them. Then she walks out of the trees holding them by the legs. Said she'd found them wandering down to the stream, cause the pool in the field was getting low," here a malignant smile twisted the girl's face, "She got a hiding that night, the like I've never seen. Ran away that night and stayed in the woods. Eventually came back, grubby and crying."
"Why did she get beaten for helping?" the Doctor was so angry he was nearly snarling, but he kept his composure around her, "Surely she was helping you."
"Them cows were going for slaughter, we could've lost good meat if she'd let them go!"
"But she didn't. She brought them back."
"Yeah, well she took too long about it. And besides, she'd done something to them as well. They were all calm like, they just wandered after her, like she'd hypnotised them or something. And then she started scaring people too. She always knew if the crops were going to fail, or if the flower beds needed more water, or where a wandering kid had gone. That's not right. I personally thought she was some kind of witch. The kids started getting afraid of her. But it all came to a head one summer, nearly ten years ago now.
My little sister and her friends were playing hide and seek, and for some reason they let her play. Well, she runs off, and they look for her, must have been for hours, but they couldn't find her. Eventually she comes back at night, all scraped up and crying, saying her pinkie finger hurts. Matros bandaged it up and told her to not go running off anywhere again. She said that she was afraid. That there was something out there that had called to her. And it might be coming for her," as she said this, the girl put her right hand to her left shoulder and then seemed to brush off her shoulder. The Doctor took this as a superstitious tick, something to make bad luck go away. Intrigued now, he asked,
"What sort of thing?" She stared at him in horror,
"Something we never mention. Don't even write its name. It comes and finds you no matter where you are." And with that she picked up her bucket and began walking away quickly.
"Wait," he called. She looked back over her shoulder, "You never told me, when did the rock-falls start?" Looking puzzled as to why he wanted to know this, she answered,
"About nine or ten years ago," and then bustled off without a backwards glance.
The Doctor considered this new information. It definitely corresponded with Andy's estimate that she had been out in the woods now for nearly nine years. He'd have to ask her what happened during that summer. Now that he thought about it, he remembered that she made a passing remark about it, 'does being asked to play hide-and-seek once count?' So had something happened to Andy? And then shortly afterwards, the rock-falls began? The Doctor had travelled to more places and times than he cared to mention but in all that time he had come to firmly believe that there was no such thing as coincidence.