Mr Darcy and the Doctor had searched the kitchens at Netherfield Park until they'd found a large bottle of the acidic liquid. They left the house making their way to the stables. Mr Darcy looked confused, his acquaintance had not explained what was going on or the reason for his urgency. As they entered the building, the taller of the two men stopped the other firmly.
"Doctor, I must demand that you tell me what is happening." He ordered. The Doctor narrowed his eyes, before deciding to comply with the request.
"It's Evie. She's been kidnapped by aliens and they've taken her to their space ship. I can kill them with the vinegar… they don't get on well with acetic acid. But only if it comes to that; I don't like to kill. We need to hurry, though."
The man stared at him as though he'd gone mad. "Kidnapped? Aliens? Vinegar?"
"Don't just stand there repeating everything I say!" The Doctor ordered him with a sigh. "Come on!"
"Are we going on horseback?"
"Horseback?" The Doctor looked incredulous. He moved slightly to the left and clicked his fingers. A large blue box appeared as though from thin air. "No, we're going in this. The TARDIS."
"What is this, witchcraft?" Darcy demanded, recoiling.
"There's no such thing as witchcraft." The Doctor informed him, screwing up his features in amusement. Then he recalled his trip to Shakespearean London. "Well… not proper witchcraft like you're thinking of."
He ushered the shocked nineteenth century gentleman inside and moved to the controls. Behind him, Darcy stopped, looking as though he were about to have a heart attack. The Doctor had no time to comfort him, however, all his energy was focused on rescuing Evie.
x
Groggily the teenager tried to raise a hand to her face to rub her eyes which were heavy with sleep. Uncomfortably she wriggled, wondering why she couldn't, why her bed was so hard and her sheets so restrictive. As she gradually opened her eyes, she realised the reason. She wasn't in her bed at the farm. Neither was she in the beautiful bedroom at Netherfield Park. Evie was strapped to a metal table in the Slitheen spaceship; one thick, reinforced leather belt around her ankles, another around her waist and a third around the top of her body, binding her arms to her sides.
Noticing that she was awake, one of the giant green creatures moved over to her. It must have been at least eight feet tall and had massive arms, which ended in what looked like claws.
"Ah, Miss Jones." It said looking down at her. Evie writhed even more, trying to loosen the straps but it had no effect, other than to make the creature laugh at her discomfort. "You have something we want. Something we've been looking for, for a very long time."
"And what might that be?" The teenager hissed, keeping still as she realised she couldn't escape. There was no point wasting her energy; not yet, anyway.
"The GallifreyanRuby."
Evie looked confused. "The what?"
"The pendant that was on the necklace you were wearing last night." The creature snapped impatiently. "Where is it?"
"That wasn't a ruby. Are you colourblind?" Evie snapped. Then she remembered the deep red colour it had gone after Miss Bingley had touched it. "Anyway, it's just a necklace that my mum owned; nothing special or alien about it at all."
"Where is it?" The second creature had joined the first. Evidently neither of them believed her about the pendant.
"I don't have it." She told them with a grin. Her unflinching trust in the Doctor meant that she had no problem facing these aliens.
"I won't ask again." The smaller of the creatures, with the female voice, threatened. "Just tell us where it is."
The teenager smirked. "He's got it; the Doctor. And you'd better watch out because he'll be coming to get me."
"If he can find you." The male said, making both Slitheen laugh. Evie's confidence dropped a little at the words.
"He knows where we are… underneath the Church."
"Underneath the Church?" the female repeated, giggling. "We're not underneath the Church anymore, child. No… the Doctor will have to do better than that to find us."
"How can you not be underneath the Church anymore?" The girl asked in astonishment, a knot appearing in her stomach. She believed that the Doctor would find her, but how could he if he didn't know where she was?
"We moved." Was the simple answer she was given.
Evie was confused and not just a little bit anxious. "But how? This ship is huge! How could you move it and how could it stay hidden from everyone around. A massive great spaceship? Someone around here would notice it."
"The Doctor isn't the only one with technology." The female said, before walking away and leaving Evie to wonder what was going to happen to her now.
x
The two men exited the TARDIS in the Churchyard with very different expressions on their faces. The Doctor was grim and determined; the sonic screwdriver clutched tightly in one hand and the bottle of vinegar in the other. Mr Darcy just looked as though he was going to be sick.
Leading the way round the side of the Church, the Doctor aimed the screwdriver at the patch of ground, slightly darker than that surrounding it, that hid the staircase down to the underground chamber. The patch slid away, revealing the steps, and almost causing the Doctor's companion to collapse in shock.
"Pull yourself together man!" The Doctor ordered. "Or I'm sending you home. I've already got one damsel in distress; I don't need another one."
Nodding, Mr Darcy took several deep, steadying breaths before following the slightly shorter, skinnier man down the stairway. The Doctor was looking around astonished. He waved the screwdriver, which made an alarming whirring sound, around the cavernous space muttering about impossibilities. Mr Darcy thought that the man himself was an impossibility; an opinion that he wisely kept to himself.
"It was here!" The Doctor exclaimed, moving to the wall and laying his hands against it. The earth began to crumble at his touch and he moved away again almost instantly. The last thing they needed was for the whole thing to collapse. "How can they have gone? And why?"
x
"The Doctor won't give up." Evie assured the Slitheen as they went about their tasks, largely ignoring her. "He'll keep looking for me. Then you'll be sorry."
They ignored her, as they had been doing since the end of their conversation. It was almost as though they'd forgotten she was there. The girl had overheard their plans clearly; they were going to use her as a bargaining tool – either the Doctor handed over the jewel or they'd kill her.
They'd even discussed the reasons in front of her. Apparently they'd promised it to some rich dealer who'd already paid half the money up front. Hisk, the female, was worried because they'd spent it on kitting out their ship with the latest technologies available, so they couldn't even repay him if they failed to get the jewel. Korst, her husband, assured her they wouldn't need to as the Doctor could never bring himself to let one of his little 'pets' die.
Evie had been livid at being referred to as the Doctor's pet, but they'd taken no notice of her furious ranting. Instead she'd returned her attention to trying to loosen the straps keeping her tied to the cold metal table. If the Doctor couldn't find her, the teenager guessed that it was down to her to save herself.
"Now be good, darling." Hisk said, making Evie jump. She had something clutched in her hand. Horrified, the teenager's stomach lurched as she realised what it was.
It was a body suit.
Now Evie realised why she'd recognised the voice when she'd overheard their conversation outside the Assembly Rooms and why it had seemed so familiar all the time the Slitheen had been talking to her and each other. The body suit was Caroline Bingley.
With her breath catching in her throat and making her choke, the teenager couldn't do anything but watch with disgusted fascination as Hisk squeezed herself into the suit and closed the zip on her forehead. Once it was closed, the metal fastening vanished. Miss Bingley stood, smiling unpleasantly at her.
A man appeared, but Evie knew immediately that it was Korst in his own body suit; a slimy looking clergy man. Silently the teenager put two and two together. He had to be the Bennets' cousin, Mr Collins. Inwardly she groaned.
"Now," he said smarmily, "you stay here and behave yourself. We've got places to go and people to see."
"Don't get into any trouble!" Hisk/Miss Bingley said, linking her arm through Mr Collins' and pulling him out of sight. Unable to turn and watch them leaving, Evie could nevertheless hear them laughing until there was a hissing sound, a heavy clunk and everything went silent.