Chapter Seventy Nine
Namor and the children sat in the living room sipping their drinks while they chatted. Namor was impressed by all the children, even at seven years old all of them were well mannered and mature beyond their years. While they were talking, the Doctor and Alan entered the room and crossed over to Namid who was standing as she picked up her glass of Coke. The Doctor came up behind her and Alan got in front and both of them pressed into her.
"Hey!" Namid said, laughing along with the others.
"Lookie, Brother, we made a sandwich," the Doctor said.
"I know and she looks yummy enough to eat," Alan replied.
"Hey, quit that!" Namid said.
The Doctor took his index finger and drew circles on Namid's scalp.
"Who told you that you could have soft drinks?" he said to her as his finger went round and round the top of her head.
"Namor."
"Why didn't you tell him that you can't have soft drinks until you clean the entire TARDIS from top to bottom?" the Doctor asked as Alan snickered.
"I don't want to," Namid said.
"Brother, is I don't want to an acceptable answer?" the Doctor asked Alan.
"Nope," he replied.
The Doctor continued to spin his finger around Namid's scalp while she giggled.
"Guess what?" he finally said to her.
"What?'
"I need you to do something for me before we can go on to the funfair and circus."
"What?" she asked.
"I need you to come with us and speak to the police and tell them what happened at the funfair."
"Why won't Uncle Alan tell?"
"Because I wasn't awake for all of it. He wants to know what you saw," Alan said.
The Doctor snickered when he continued to spin his finger around while Alan poked her ribs repeatedly.
"Quit!" Namid said as they laughed.
"Okay, we'll quit but you have to come with us, yeah?"
Namid nodded. She finished off her Coke and sat the glass down on the table before taking her father's hand. The Doctor led her out the door while Alan spun around and stared at the other children.
"As for you, you go clean the TARDIS now!"
"No!" they said in unison.
Alan looked at Namor, feigning exasperation while the children giggled.
"Lack of discipline, that's what's wrong with the younger generation these days," he said to him.
After Namid told the police officers what she saw, the Doctor finished the paperwork and he and Alan delivered the unconscious Marian into their care. Then, the brothers got back inside the TARDIS.
"Well, sorry, circus has been cancelled," Alan said. "We need to go to the fifth moon of Plasmagoria to give blood. We consider it our civic duty. To the blood bank!"
"NO!" the children yelled in unison.
"But, civic duty and all that," Alan said as the adults laughed. "Don't you want to give blood to the plasmavores?"
"NO!"
"Okay then, sorry, Brother, it's the circus for us, I s'pose," Alan said.
"I s'pose," the Doctor said in a low voice as he trudged to his console.
"Daddy, you quit that, you like the circus," Sokanon said as she and the other children followed him.
"No, I don't," he said in the mopey voice, "circus bad."
They giggled as he pulled down on the lever. As the TARDIS took off, he slammed his butt down in the jump seat, folded his arms across his chest and moped as he stuck his bottom lip out. Tara laughed and came over to him.
"Aw, is the big baby being forced to do something he doesn't wanna do?" she said in a condescending voice.
The children laughed as the Doctor stared at her in shock and they laughed harder when she ran away the moment he slammed his hands together.
"WHAP! THAT'LL BE YOUR REAR END IN A MOMENT IF YOU DON'T GET OUTTA MY FACE!" he screamed. "There now, back to sulking."
The children laughed harder and sat down around him as the Doctor stared at the floor and pouted. Tara walked over and rested her arms on the top of his head while the children giggled.
"Um, I'm not an arm rest," the Doctor said, staring at the floor while everyone laughed.
"You're also not a sulker, now cheer up, Daddy," Tara said.
"Brothers, can you come and remove this person before I stick her on the outside of the TARDIS?" he said to Alan and Doc.
Alan looked at Doc and they walked over. Tara squealed when Alan hooked his arms under hers and Doc grabbed her legs.
"Thank you!" the Doctor said as they picked her up and carried her back to the ramp.
"Dex, help!" Tara cried as Doc pretended to fiddle with the door.
"Now wait a moment," Dex said coming after them while everyone laughed. "I have to protest. I'm quite fond of my sister."
"Yeah, me too," Sokanon said, running up to Alan and smacking him on the butt.
"RAWR!" Alan roared at her as Sokanon squealed and ran back to the Doctor's side. "And now, say goodbye because you're about to be consumed by the time winds and…"
The TARDIS landed and powered down.
"Crud, too late," Alan said as the TARDIS rumbled out laughter. "Oh well, we'll chuck her in the nearest ditch then. To the ditch!"
"No!"
Alan and Doc looked back at the Doctor.
"You can't open the door because I have to take us back into the vortex away from the merriment of the circus," he said, getting up.
Everyone laughed when the children blocked his way to the console.
"But…we have to go give blood," he said to the children.
"Come on, everyone, circus!" Chaska said.
"Wait! You must give blood!" the Doctor said as Sokanon grabbed her sister's hand and they ran to the ramp. "It's your civic duty! I can't let you have fun till you give at least 3 quarts!"
"Open the door!" Sokanon said to Doc.
"Yes, Brother, open the door so we can chuck this girl in a ditch!" Alan said.
"Clear some space for me," the Doctor said as he walked up to the front door.
He paused and looked at Tara who was still in their arms.
"Sucks to be you, eh?" he said.
"Daddy, if they throw me in a ditch, you're going in right on top of me," she said as Alan and Doc sniggered.
The Doctor let out an exaggerated yawn and scratched his side before he threw open the door. They were near the entrance on the funfair side.
"Nah, we don't want this. We need to go give blood."
He turned but the children were already out the door. The Doctor feigned anger and pointed to the interior.
"No, get back in here; you're going to give blood!"
The children giggled and ran even farther from the door. They stopped about ten feet away and stared at the Doctor who threw up his hands and sighed.
"Fine, have it your way then," he said as everyone stepped out with him.
Tara squealed as Doc and Alan carried her out.
"Ditch, ditch, where's a ditch?" Alan said as they looked around. "Mud puddle, dung heap, rubbish bin, where can we put her?"
"Daddy, stop them!" Tara yelled.
The Doctor bent over laughing as they ran around in a small circle while Dex followed behind them.
"Now really," Dex said in a posh accent. "I must protest, old chaps, I adore my sister and I don't want to see her soiled."
"Who are you s'posed to be, Prince Charles?" Alan said to Dex as they ran around in a circle.
Dex shrugged.
"I was just trying to be polite. But if that doesn't work…"
Alan gasped as Dex lunged forward and got him in a headlock.
"Please put down my sister," he said as everyone laughed.
"Gah! Put her down, Doc!" Alan gasped.
They put Tara down and Dex patted him on the head.
"Good show, old chap," he said with the posh accent before walking away with Tara.
Namor came up beside the Doctor.
"Is it always like this?" he asked.
"Pretty much, yeah," the Doctor said as Rain came up beside him and took his hand.
"It's a nut house when you travel with our family," she said to Namor. "You get used to it after awhile."
She bent over laughing and the Doctor gasped when Rose ran over and jumped on his back.
"Yes, and this man is the governor of the asylum," she said as she leapt back off him.
"Do that again and I'll throw you in a rubber room and throw away the key!" the Doctor said to Rose as she patted his cheek. "Now, where is the place where we purchase the tickets?"
"That's the problem we had yesterday!" Alan said, gesturing to the empty funfair. "You see anyone around, anywhere? They're all hiding. We were heading for the circus tent yesterday when Marian attacked us."
"Well, let's head that way then," the Doctor said.
As they headed towards the tent, the children looked around with glee at the empty rides and booths.
"How come no one's riding them?" Sokanon asked the Doctor.
"Probably isn't open yet. We'll have to find out what time it opens and use the TARDIS to jump ahead," the Doctor said to her.
After twenty minutes, they reached the huge yellow and blue striped circus tent. In front of them was a large opening in the tent, the flap of the canvas pulled back to the right side to let air and light in. The Doctor looked in and to his relief he found some workers setting up a mesh net over a high wire.
"Excuse me! Where do we buy tickets?" he yelled to them. "We can't find anyone else and we thought we'd ask you chaps."
"Around the back is a ticket booth," one of the workers said pointing behind him.
"Cheers, mate," the Doctor said as he stuck his head back out.
They went around the tent and saw a small white wooden ticket booth. The Doctor went up to the window in the booth and noticed a young woman was sitting in a wooden chair inside reading a magazine. The Doctor tapped on the window and she leapt to her feet.
"Sorry, can I help you?" she said.
"Yes, we need tickets for the circus and also, where can you buy tickets for the funfair?" the Doctor said.
"Here. You can buy both here," the woman said.
"Brilliant. We need both then."
"We have special bracelets for both the funfair and circus. The bracelets for the funfair will give you unlimited rides on the rides and the bracelets for the circus will let you come backstage before the show to meet the performers."
"We'll have the bracelets for both the circus and funfair then," the Doctor said eagerly.
He used his magic wallet to pay for the bracelets and then the woman directed them to come up to the ticket booth and stick their hands through the slit in the Perspex window. For each person, she put a red bracelet on their wrist for the funfair and a blue one for the circus.
"What time do they open?" Rain asked when she was finished.
"Funfair opens at 11 a.m. and goes till 2 in the morning. Circus starts at 8 p.m."
They thanked her and the Doctor checked his watch as they walked away.
"We only have to wait a half hour for the funfair to open. We can just walk back to the TARDIS. By the time we get there, It'll almost be time for it to open," he said.
"Race ya!" Alan said to Nelak.
The two of them took off running while Christopher and Chaska tried to catch up to them. The Doctor looked at Sokanon walking hand in hand with Namid and smiled at them as he took his wife's hand in his own. He grimaced and Rose yelled out when they saw Alan's foot hit a rock and he stumbled to the ground.
"Daddy!" Christopher said as he and Chaska ran to him and Nelak stopped and turned back.
"You alright, Clumsy?" Nelak asked as Alan got to his feet.
"Yeah, stupid rock," Alan said as he dusted the dirt off his trousers. "I'm fine. I'm fine, Chris," he added when Christopher came up to his side. "I've had worse than tripping over a rock."
"You need to open your eyes when you run, Thickface!" Sokanon said to Alan as she and Namid walked by. "It helps to keep the eyes open so you don't fall on your bum and…"
She squealed and let go of Namid as Alan chased her across the field. Namid stood still and threw her hands up in the air.
"Gee, thanks, Soki," she said as the Doctor chuckled and came up behind her with Rain.
"Lose your walking buddy?" he said as Alan caught up with Sokanon and tickled her unmercifully.
"She coulda said something," Namid said.
"Well, I think she was a bit busy trying not to get tickled," the Doctor said, taking her hand as Alan let up on her sister and ran away with Sokanon in hot pursuit.
The Doctor felt a tap on his shoulder and looked at Donna.
"Your family are nutters, why am I still sane?" she said.
"Um, because you're a nutter too?" the Doctor said as Rain giggled.
Donna thought that over and then nodded. She took Namid's other hand and they resumed walking with everyone else towards the TARDIS. As they did, they noticed other people coming out of the booths and out of a breezeblock building in the center of the fair. They walked towards the rides and began to prepare them for the day, setting up and testing them. The Doctor and his family reached the TARDIS and everyone hung around outside it, chatting and waiting for the fair to open. While they were doing that, Namid felt the Doctor in her ear.
"Come inside a moment, I need to talk to you," he whispered to her.
Namid took his hand and the Doctor took her inside.
"I've been thinking, Rainbow," he said as he sat with her on the jump seat. "I want to teach you and your sister and brother self defense so you can protect yourself and you won't feel so helpless in a situation. However, I have to consult with my TARDIS because obviously we'll have to make a specialized regimen for you."
"How will I see?" Namid asked.
"Well, we'll have to train you to compensate for that and before you say you can't do it, I knew an old Venusian aikido master who was blind and yet, he was able to defeat anyone who challenged him just by hearing and sensing what they were doing. You can do the same and then the next time something happens, either to you or to us you won't feel like you're useless. Because believe me, Rainbow, you're not. You're my little girl and I'm proud of ya!"
He gave her a sideways hug and sent love into her mind.
"Now, one more question before we go back out. When we attend the circus tonight and I show you what's happening. Do you want to see what's really going on or do you want my version of events?"
A wicked grin spread over his face when Namid giggled at that.
"I want your version, Daddy."
"Ooo, excellent choice, this'll be fun. Now see, my darling, there are advantages to being blind."
Namid nodded. The Doctor gave her another hug, kissed her head and got up. He took her hand and led her back towards the front door.