The Unquiet Dead- Part 3
The Historian and the Doctor followed Dickens out of the living room and Rose went with the maid to the pantry. They peered through the door, seeing him fiddle around with a coffin, almost like he was looking for something.
"Checking for strings?" she called from the door as the Timelords smiled slightly.
He jumped around to them. " Wires, perhaps. There must be some mechanism behind this fraud."
The Doctor unfolded him arms and sauntered towards him. "Oh, come on, Charles. All right. She shouldn't have told you to shut up. I'm sorry. But you've got one of the best minds in the world. You saw those gas creatures."
" I cannot accept that."
The Historian groaned and said "And what does the human body do when it decomposes? It breaks down and produces gas. Perfect home for these gas things. They can slip inside and use it as a vehicle, just like your driver and his coach."
Dickens shook his hear. "Stop it. Can it be that I have the world entirely wrong?"
The Doctor sighed. "Not wrong. There's just more to learn."
"I've always railed against the fantasists. Oh, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, revelled in them, but that's exactly what they were, illusions. The real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that. Injustices, the great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good. Now you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack-o'-lanterns. In which case, have I wasted my brief span here, Doctor? Has it all been for nothing?"
***** *****
The Historian and the Doctor got him out of the coffin room and headed to the Pantry to find Rose... and they heard the maid talking to her.
"You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half naked, for shame. And the noise, and the metal boxes racing past, and the birds in the sky, no, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying. And you, you've flown so far. Further than anyone. The things you've seen. The darkness, the big bad wolf. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss."
Rose shook her head. "It's all right."
"I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it."
The Doctor stepped inside. "But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?"
"All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head."
" You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key." He gasped. "Historian, we've found it-"
Thr maid looked between them all. "I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts."
The Historian grinned and looked to the Doctor. "Oh yes." He grinned.
She turned to the maid. "Well, that should help. You can show us what to do."
" What to do where, miss?"
"We're going to have a seance."
***** *****
They all gathered around a circle table together in the living room. "This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in Bute Town. Come, we must all join hands."
Dickens shook his head. "I can't take part in this."
The Doctor grinned. " Humbug? Come on, open mind."
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The Historian
Fanfiction*SEQUEL NOW OUT* Thought to have perished in the Great Time War, The Historian now resides on Earth with her closest friend, Henry, whom she rescued from being hung for a crime that was actually committed by an alien in 1602. The Historian and The D...
