It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Five Gold Rings

The Doctor was confused every regeneration, without fail a... gift... appeared somewhere in The TARDIS. The last time it had been four blackbirds. They seemed to have somewhat augmented lifespans because The Doctor could still hear them in the cloister room sometimes. The time before that it had been three French hens. They too seemed to possess atypical longevity and occasionally cropped up, always together. The time before that a pair of long lived turtledoves. The first had been a partridge perched in a pear tree. The pear tree was growing nicely in the gardens. The partridge had the unfortunate luck of being caught (and eaten) by a hungry Jamie some years later. This time it was a small box containing five simple gold rings with a note, written in Circular Galefreyan

'I thought you could use these biodampners. P.S: like your new face.'

The Doctor looked at the note as if it had done him some grave injustice. While he was doing this Tegan found him.

"Your face will get stuck that way if you're not careful Doc. What have you got there?"

"They're biodampners."

"What do they do, dampen biorythyms?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Well done Tegan."

"Nyssa's rubbing off on me."

"What the two of you do in your own time is none of my concern."

"Doc!"

"Come now Tegan."

"Well, why are you looking at them like they just slapped your grandmother?"

"I keep getting these gifts. Mostly birds. Every time I regenerate. I can't forte lives of me work out who keeps leaving them."

"What kind of birds?"

"Those blackbirds in the cloister room were the last ones. Before that was three of the French hens in the chicken coup."

"We have a chicken coup in this thing?"

"Where did you think we got our fresh eggs from?"

"Point. What else?"

"A pair of turtledoves the time before that. Time before that it was that big old pear tree. It did have a partridge in it when I got it but Jamie caught and ate it."

"Doctor," Tegan said, "You're an idiot."

"No I'm not. I'll have you know that-"

"Someone's sending you The Twelve Days of Christmas. Who it is I couldn't tell you but: five gold rings, four colly (meaning black) birds, three French hens, two turtledoves and a partridge in a pair tree. As to who it is sending them, I haven't the foggiest."

"I'm impressed."

"I do know stuff Doctor."