PEARL
Chapter EIGHT
It was a sunny, windy early spring day. A breeze snatched the hat off my head and I snatched it right back, folded it up and tucked it into my breast pocket, which reminded me that I still had not shown that paper to my friends. Rather a large number of slightly overdressed children ranging, I'd say, from five to 13 were playing hopscotch on the sidewalk across the street, riding their trikes and bikes both on the sidewalks and in the streets, pushing each other around everywhere, clinging to the hand of a harried adult, or just walking alone. Actually, only one was walking alone, a skinny girl with huge glasses. She was the youngest child in view and I wondered why she was allowed to be out and about alone.
Nyssa and Tegan had already gone into Morley's so I went in as well, to find Tegan trying to explain to Nyssa what a pickle barrel was. There were more children at the counter, exchanging their grubby pennies for candy cigarettes, buttons of colored sugar stuck to ticker tape, peanut-shaped marshmallows, little wax bottles with syrup inside, long strings of licorice (which reminded me of something but I couldn't quite remember what), red hots and jawbreakers. From behind the counter, an elderly black gentleman with snow-white hair and an apron to match was sneaking a few extra candies to the kids who had the fewest pennies. I assumed this was Morley. There was an even more elderly white guy behind another counter set back a little on the other side of the shop, which was no bigger than a 1980s gas station convenience store, which this did not resemble. I heard a customer call out "Thanks, Sam," as she left, through the jingling door.
Nyssa was intrigued by the penny candy but none of us had so much as a penny on us. It occurred to me how rarely we needed any kind of currency in our travels. All over Earth it was a distinct disadvantage to be skint. Back in the TARDIS I did have a little treasure chest of sorts in one of the store rooms, and in that chest I kept, among other things, a piggy bank half full of Earth coins from various countries (and eras). One of the Roman coins could fetch a fortune at auction, or even in a pawn shop, as they were new when I acquired them. I had no intention of selling anything from my treasure chest but I thought I might dip into the piggy bank if I could find therein enough American coins, excluding half-cents of course. "Wait here," I called to my friends, and left the shop, whereupon I saw that the TARDIS we had left on the corner was attracting quite a bit of attention. A policeman was trying to break into it, and his nervous-looking partner had his Smith and Wesson pointed at the door.
"What in the world is that?" I asked no one in particular.
The nervous cop swung his revolver around toward me and I put my arms up and backed off. He lowered the gun right away and I put my arms back down. "Stand back, sir," he said unnecessarily.
"I was just curious," I shrugged, and bumped into Tegan and Nyssa as I turned to go back into Morley's. "Didn't I tell you to wait inside?"
"Why so grumpy?" Tegan was still holding her hand out, offering me a licorice shoestring. "Look what Mr. Morley gave me!"
I glanced at Nyssa, whose cheek was swollen. "'aw 'eaker," she explained.
"Wasn't that nice of him? This one is yours!" I took my gift without looking and thought, I am only trying to protect them. They must think me a terrible bully. I glanced back at the TARDIS and the two officers.
"Come on," I said, hastening past my companions, who hesitated only a moment before following me. Then I slowed down and assumed a casual pace, causing Nyssa to walk into me and Tegan to walk into Nyssa. We made it to the next corner without incident and we all looked up at the street signs to see where we were.
"Why," exclaimed Nyssa, "we're on Pearl Street!"
"Wow!" was all Tegan could say.
"That explains a lot," I said, not at all sure exactly what it explained. "Now, we have to figure out how to get back into the TARDIS, which is currently surrounded by the law." I thought I was exaggerating – two confused cops do not "surrounded" make – but when we had gone around the block we found the TARDIS had a police tape around it and four state troopers had taken over its surveillance. "Now what?"
Tegan and Nyssa decided that Tegan's short skirt might provoke the police unnecessarily so Nyssa approached one of the troopers and asked politely what the big blue box thing was. Was it a new kind of police station? It did say "Police" on it, after all.
"We're on top of it, Miss," said the oldest trooper.
The youngest trooper said to another, "I still say it's the strikers."
"Which ones?" asked the other.
"Does it matter?"
The silent policeman looked Nyssa up and down until she withdrew, and there we stood, behind the TARDIS with no way to get in.
From behind us came a commotion that drew not only our attention but that of the troopers. Two teens, one black, one white, were roaring at one another as they knocked each other about, landing only every third punch but putting on a fierce show nonetheless. The troopers came running, almost knocking us down, and the two pugilists split up and ran. The troopers split up too, to chase the kids, and the three of us hastened to the TARDIS door, stretching the police tape to slip in. When we got the door closed and stood laughing breathlessly around the console we noticed that someone else had slipped in too and was giggling along with us: the skinny little girl with the big glasses.
"Hello," I said, squatting down to look the little girl in the eye. "I'm the Doctor."
"I know," she said, still giggling. I sat back on my haunches and stared at her, thoroughly astonished. Well, I shouldn't have been, should I?
"Did you call me?" But Tegan's challenge was louder:
"Who are you?"
Nyssa's query was softer, and nearly simultaneous: " How did you call us?"
The little girl looked at each of us, and decided to answer Nyssa. "I don't know. I just did. And you came!"
The three of us blurted out our questions at once, as before:
"How old are you?" (from Tegan)
"What's your name?" (from me)
"Did you just think us here?" I told you, Nyssa is intuitive.
The little girl said "My name is Carly Kahn, I am six and a half and this is the first time I ever thought someone here." We just stared. "I try to think people here all the time. This is the first time it ever worked."
"How come you thought us here, Carly?" I asked. "Do you need our help with something?"
"Tell me it's not homework," said Tegan.
"She's only six," I reminded her.
"And a half," Carly corrected me.
"And a half." I thought she didn't even look six yet, but I am out of my depth judging ages anyway. I measure mine in centuries.
"I have piano lessons twice a week and I am in the second grade and I do have homework but today is Saturday. I did my homework last night. I can do my homework by myself. It's easy."
"Carly," I said, softly and slowly, "what do you need our help with?"
"I don't want to die."
Now we were all on the floor, eye to eye with Carly. "Are you ill?" I asked. She shook her head. "Is someone hurting you?" Again, she shook her head, no, but her eyes had narrowed. "Are you sure?"
"Well," she admitted, "Glennie, but he just gives me noogies." Tegan explained "noogies" to Nyssa sotto voce and I asked her to repeat it, as I was not familiar with the term; she demonstrated on my head and I winced. Carly laughed. "Yeah, but Glennie hits me really hard."
"No need to demonstrate further," I advised Tegan. "Carly, why do you think you're going to die?"
"Gwen says I'm going to die."
"Who is Gwen?"
"She's my best friend. She has red hair." Carly was looking around the console room, as if for the first time. "This place is nifty!"
"Carly, I have to go get something. I'll be right back." I was thinking of my piggy bank.
"Me too," said Nyssa, disappearing into the TARDIS proper.
"Tegan will stay here with you. Honest, we'll be right back."