Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who
Chapter 5
Maddie awoke the following morning feeling refreshed. Yet another dreamless night had passed. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Sunlight streamed in through the thin curtains and Maddie stood up to stretch. The radiance reflected off her mirror and danced across the floor, illuminating her trunk. What did one do at a school? Certainly the family would not be placed in a classroom with the students here. No, that couldn't be right. The boys practically had the week off. Silly idea, she thought with a smile.
Recovering, Maddie returned to her trunk and dressed in a simple blue dress. She laced up her boots and sat on the floor. Glancing at the clock and deciding she had time before breakfast, she pulled her dolls from the luggage and examined them. The scarecrow never seemed as scary in broad daylight as it did when it was attacking in the middle of the night. The siz might have also had something to do with it.
Now that she had a quiet moment to think, without a psychiatrist at her elbow, being in a great hurry or having her parents fuss over her. Maddie realized even further jut how silly her fears were. Logic was clearly against it. Scarecrows couldn't come alive and, even if they could, they were only cloth and hay. They didn't have muscle. But, despite all these logics comfortingly playing through her head, the darkest corner of Maddie's thoughts, the corner where she had hidden all her fear, nagged at her.
A heavy knock on her door brought Maddie from her internal battle and she quickly and frantically stowed the dolls in her trunk. She slammed the lid closed, standing up in the process and running to the door to unlock and open it. She peeked around the wood to see Tom. She sighed in relief and opened the door further. It made her both happy and sad that it wasn't Michael.
"I'm going into town," he said with a smile. "You want to come with?"
"Town sounds lovely," Maddie replied, opening the door fully. "When?"
"Twenty minutes."
"I'll be ready." Maddie shut the door and brushed her hair, tying it half back with a ribbon. Maddie stopped short, freezing when her hands had reached her sides. She had nearly forgotten Tom's cruelty. Did she want to spend the day with him when she knew how he treated people?
"I could always corner and reprimand him," Maddie muttered
In twenty minutes, Maddie was waiting in the parlor. Her parents slipped into the front entryway. When they saw her, they halted.
"You're up?" her mother asked in surprise.
"Yes," Maddie replied, suspicious. "Where are you going?"
"Your father has urgent business in Bristol," she answered. "We only found out last night."
"Can't I come with?" Maddie inquired. He stomach churned at the thought of being left here alone, in the care of her brother towards whom she now had less than friendly feelings for.
"We promised Tom that he could spend time with you," Maddie's father said quickly and he started to drag his wife down the stair and out the door. "We'll see you soon."
Maddie watched hopelessly as her parents entered the automobile and their trunks were reloaded into the back.
Michael stuck a pencil in his mouth, contemplating his arithmetic studies. He could have sword the problems had made sense to him the day before, but they were just a jumble of numbers, now.
Trevor ran in at that moment, a roll half stuffed in his face. He reached under his bed and dragged out a box from which he extracted a tie and a pocket handkerchief.
"What are you doing?" Michael asked, wanting to sound mean, but not really caring what Trevor was up to.
"Artillery practice," Trevor panted without looking up.
"I thought we didn't have school this week."
"It's not really school. You're expected in about an hour."
Once Trevor was out of the room, Michael threw his pen on the desk and leaned his head back, until it was at a terribly uncomfortable angle. He glared at the ceiling. Bullying Trevor had lost its fun. Now what?
Geoffrey sat in Professor Grant's chair, feet resting on the desk. He needed a way to get the details of Maddie's fear, and the only way her could conceive doing that would be to catch her when she was asleep. How to do that without causing a row?
"Do you have any input, Grant?" Geoffrey asked the dazed teacher. "You're a professor. You ought to know something."
"I have a key," Grant said in a monotone voice. "Have… key… have… key…"
"A key!" Geoffrey sat up, placing his feet on the floor and leaning forward. "Maybe you're not an idiot after all. Give it to me."
The old man held out a key and Geoffrey snatched it from him. It would work on the windows, not the door, but who cared. It was a way in. He stood up and started pacing. He would have to wait until late tonight, and he'd have to come up with an excuse.
What would be logical? Wine? Yes. Cakes? Yes. That would mean he'd have to go into town today, use some of his precious pocket money, but it would be worth it.
Maddie followed Tom as he strolled down the street. It had been a half-hour walk to the town, and Maddie had yet to find a way to bring up yesterday's incident.
It was a quieter day and there was a good autumn breeze picking up leaves. Soft carnival music reached them from the other side of town and the two headed toward it, passing an ice cream parlor, a barber shop, a blue box, and a general store.
"Wait a minute." Maddie stopped Tom, backing up to stare at the Police Public Call Box. "This is the third one I've seen. Has Scotland Yard started something new?"
Tom stepped up to the double doors and shook them.
"Locked," he stated, dusting his hands on his trousers. "Let's go. After some more walking, they reached the striped fence of the carnival.
"I'm not so sure I want to go in there now," Maddie said in a hoarse whisper. Unbidden flashes of scarecrows reaching out to her were dancing across her mind. She reached down and took Tom's hand. Her heart was pounding, though she couldn't see anything past the first few innocent booths.
"We don't have to," Tom said comfortingly in her ear. "If it makes you uncomfortable, we can go home."
"But that's the point of the fair," said a high, nasal voice. Maddie spun around and shrieked. There was a scarecrow and it had moved. It stood up and strode toward them. The illogical part of Maddie's mind began whispering to her about how it was going to get her and make her one of them. He head began to spin and her knees buckled.
"Maddie!" Tom caught Maddie as she fell and supported her. He glared at the scarecrow who leered back. "Take off that mask."
The scarecrow pulled the sack from its head to reveal an old man with a bristly mustache and an eye patch. His nose twitched as he gazed at the pair.
"You idiot!" Tom shouted at the man. "Let's go home, Maddie," he said softly to Maddie as he helped her to her feet and aided her in turning around. Maddie clung to her brother's arm, sighing in relief. Scarecrows couldn't walk by themselves. Despite the fright, Maddie began to laugh. She had been ridiculous.
"No, I think I want to go in," Maddie protested, tugging on Tom's arm. "It might be fun."
"But they'll have more scarecrows," Tom warned. "And who knows what else."
"I'll know that the scarecrows are fake," Maddie laughed. "Besides, Doctor Creevins told me that the best way to keep my fears at bay is to face them and laugh at them. Let's go in." Maddie didn't really want to go, but she didn't want everyone to fuss either.
"Alright," Tom said hesitantly. "How much to get in?" he asked the man at the entrance, who was pulling on his scarecrow mask.
"For you," he grunted, settling back onto a number of hay bales, "it could be free. Head on in, no charge."
Tom tipped his hat to the man and he entered with Maddie. The eerie music washed over them as they entered. There was a foul smell of burning popcorn and animal refuse and Maddie inched closer to Tom.
Bearded women and eight-foot-tall men beckoned to passersby and clowns jumped out in front of others from obscure corners. Dancers on stilts, wearing vibrant orange, purple and red costumes, wobbled among the crowd. Tom cut through the throng and the burst through the flaps of a tent. It was a magic show. Maddie collapsed on one of the benches in the back row as they watched a bald man with a thick black mustache and a midnight blue cape dotted with stars and moons make his assistant disappear, float in the air and turn into a cat.
Once the clumps of people had thinned outside, Tom led Maddie from the tent and they continued through the fair. Maddie tripped and turned to try and rejoin Tom, but he was gone. She was alone amid a crushing mass of people. She fought her way to the edge of the mass and cowered at the corner of a tent. Tom was gone and the masks that had once looked silly now took on a satanic appearance. The clowns that made everyone else laugh appeared unnerving to Maddie.
She closed her eyes, calming herself. When Maddie opened them, a circular blue light accompanied by a shrill sound blinded her.
"Ow!" she exclaimed, throwing up a hand to cover her eyes.
"She's not the one," a familiar voice sighed. The noise stopped, and Maddie dropped her arm to see Doctor John Smith and Miss Noble looking down at a silver tube.
"Doctor, you don't just go and sonic people," Miss Noble said, bobbing her head from side to side and looking towards heaven. She turned her gaze back to Maddie. "Sorry, Dear. The Doctor goes all Martian on people. Don't be bothered by us.
"Donna," Doctor Smith said, nodding to the left while still looking at the cylinder.
"Have a nice day," Donna added, following Doctor Smith around the corner. Unable to help herself, Maddie followed, lingering just out of sight.
"I can't believe it wasn't her," Doctor Smith grumbled, stowing the tube in his pocket and pivoting slowly as he looked heavenward. "I thought for sure since she always turned up just after the T.A.R.D.I.S. landed, it might be her emitting the signal."
"Maybe the sonic's lost its touch," Miss Noble interjected. "Or maybe the T.A.R.D.I.S. is just getting old."
"Nah. That can't be it." Doctor Smith picked up his long tan coat, sliding his arms into the sleeves. "But why that girl's timeline, unless…" he stopped and sprinted down the alley.
"Doctor?" Miss Noble exclaimed. "Doctor!" She sprinted after him, panting.
"Are you alright, Miss?" someone asked from a few feet away. There was something familiar about that voice. It sounded similar to how it had sounded nine years ago, albeit a little older. Maddie looked around. A young man with thick black hair stood behind her. His nose was the same, but his eyebrows were bushier. He was a lot taller, but that was to be expected. Maddie decided to make sure it was him. Could it be, though?
"Ernie, is that you?" she asked carefully and quietly.
"Madeline?"
"I told you to call me Maddie." She began to laugh. Ernest hurriedly helped her to her feet. "I don't even remember how many times." He held out a hand, but she ignored it, puliing him into a hug. "Oh, I've missed you."
"Whoa. Hallo." Ernest tugged away, smiling awkwardly. "I've missed you too."
"Nine years."
"Maddie!" Tom ran toward them and pulled Maddie into an embrace. "Where were you?"
"We got separated and I just stayed here," Maddie soothed. She didn't enjoy people fussing over her, so she wasn't going to share many details. Shooting a look to Ernest to tell him to remain quiet, she continued, "But look who I found. It's Ernie."
"Ernest Crate." Tom extended his hand coldly. "It's been a long time. I believe last time I saw you was right before you made sure my sister had to go through seven years of psychiatric therapy."
"Stop it, Tom!" Maddie berated, seeing Ernest's eyes widen guiltily. "I've forgiven him, and it happened to me. You can forgive him too."
"You may not remember it, but I can still hear you screaming in my head." Tom put an arm around Maddie and tried to turn her around.
Maddie yanked her arm from Tom's grip and rounded on him. "Don't talk to me about how to treat people. I saw last night. I talked to the maid." Maddie turned to Ernest. "Ernie," she said sweetly, "you will always be my best friend. I forgive you entirely."
With that, Maddie turned tail and marched through the carnival, Tom following behind her bewildered. They went home in tense silence.
"Doctor," Donna panted, catching up to the Doctor as he unlocked the T.A.R.D.I.S. and slipped inside. "What is going on?"
"We were following the signal, but must have locked onto her timeline," the Doctor replied, putting the screwdriver into a hole in the console. Images flashed across the T.A.R.D.I.S. screen, some of the numbers blocked by yellow sticky notes with strange symbols. "Maybe she's not the traveler, but the energy source."
"Energy source?"
"Travelling through the Time Vortex that unprotected would have forced the Traveler to take on another energy source," the Doctor explained, pumping a lever until the T.A.R.D.I.S. hummed to life and shook. "Something has been feeding off that girl's fear. The epinephrine count was skewed. If we can trace where all that lost epinephrine has gone, we'll find our Traveler."
"Epinephrine?" Donna asked, stumbling as the T.A.R.D.I.S. jostled. "Speak English."
"Epinephrine is the chemical humans put off when they're scared or angry. Some organisms can feed off of it. Hold tight!"
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I wrote this in hopes that
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