TURLOUGH'S TALE
Chapter Ten
Tegan is awake as well, and apparently so is Alexandra the Minor, as she is absent. The blanket on which she slept is folded up neatly; perhaps that is her habit or perhaps it means she doesn't intend to return, or perhaps… both. Tegan is unhappy. "Doctor," she says, "how long must we stay here? When you said 'chill' I didn't know you meant it quite so literally. I don't think it's snowing any harder now than when we walked here, and I can't even believe we did that. Can't we grit our teeth and walk back?"
"Nope," grins the Doctor. "We'll be staying a bit longer, I think."
"Why?" Tegan's frustration is palpable. I know why but of course I say nothing, just sip the hot tea and reach for the savory biscuits. "And where did you get eggs, Doctor?" He grins again. Tegan tucks in, still disgruntled but apparently hungry as well.
"I'd like to know that too," I offer. I'm suddenly ravenous and I devour my portion. The Doctor is sitting crosslegged on his blanket, licking his plate.
"The whites were frozen," explains the Doctor. "It's safe."
"But Doctor," asks Tegan, "are we safe? I mean, I don't believe in ghosts, but…."
"Tegan, I promise you, almost anything you can think of and whole bunches of things we can't even begin to imagine do exist and are real, but if it looks like a ghost, walks like a ghost, smells like a ghost, it's something, for sure, but not a ghost."
"Doctor," says Tegan, in a small voice, "I don't care what we call it. I care whether it can hurt us." After a moment she adds, "And I care whether we can hurt it."
"I've never seen your violent side," I say. She glared at me. I was getting used to that.
"I meant, can we avoid hurting it. Turlough, you're just…." She stops, exasperated. "I'm going to go powder my nose."
I am not sure where she intends to perform her euphemism but I realize with a shock that this is the first time I've been alone with the Doctor and able to speak freely. "Doctor, why are you so keen for us to tell ghost stories? You obviously don't have one to tell, and you know I can't tell the one I have. What are you playing at?" I have never spoken to the Doctor in this manner before, but I am at my wits' end.
The Doctor seems surprised. "It was just a way to pass the time."
"I don't believe you." Now the Doctor seems not just surprised but shocked.
"Turlough, if you don't believe me, what do you imagine my purpose is? Do you think I am trying to trick you in some way? Why would I do that?"
"Because I tried to kill you?"
"Oh, that. Turlough, Turlough, Turlough." I wait for him to say more but he just rises to take our empty plates – and where did he get plates, anyway? – back to what remains of the kitchen. Tegan is not the only exasperated party here. I sit fuming and then I remember something horrific that supersedes all of that: I still have the Black Guardian's crystal. We're hiding from him and I am carrying in my pocket what for my tormentor must amount to great, big red arrow pointing directly to me! We might as well be in the TARDIS. As long as I carry the crystal, the Black Guardian can find me.
Do I dare tell the Doctor about this? Do I dare to keep this information from him? Should I try to convince the Black Guardian that my mission is on track? Should I make that a reality?