Caroline, William, Hazel and Mr and Mrs Fieldgate were all gathered in the drawing room of their huge house. Caroline looked across to William. His black eye was only just starting to fade.
He looked at her and smiled weakly. “How’s Jim’s broken arm?”
“Not bad,” she said. “He’s still complaining about the sling though.”
William nodded. “Does he-?”
“Still come into the pub? Yes he does.”
“And does he-?”
“Still threaten to break your arm in return? Yes he does.”
“Ah,” said William, looking away and nodding glumly.
“But don’t worry,” grinned Caroline, “I’ll protect you.”
“I don’t need protecting,” said William, looking a little daft and uncomfortable. “I just want what’s best for you.”
“It’s very sweet,” said Caroline, patting his arm, “but I think I’m old enough to look after myself and make the right decisions.”
William smiled at her, but still looked concerned. He was about to speak again when his father cleared his throat and the room fell silent.
“Thank you all for coming today, especially you, Miss Parker.” He smiled at Caroline, his dark eyes twinkling. “You may wonder what this is all about. A little over four months ago you came into our lives, and in that time we have become very fond of you.”
Caroline blushed slightly. It was true that over the past few months she had been treat as nothing less than a family member. They were a kind family and they never questioned why she was here. She recalled an encounter with Agatha - Mrs Fieldgate - in the lounge a few months ago. Agatha had told her that she was able to tell a good person when she saw them and Caroline was certainly a good person. She knew she had her reasons for being there, but it was her business, and when she felt she was ready to tell somebody about it, then one of them - if not all of them - would be there for her.
This cheered Caroline. It made her feel warm and wanted and, scarily, she was beginning to feel as though she was settling into this lifestyle. The job at the pub, the luxurious lifestyle at the Fieldgate house. And then there was William. He was an incredibly sweet man, a few years older than her, but he made her feel like a real lady. Something she hadn’t felt for a long time. Coming from 2012 with all it’s modern ways of looking at things, it was very rare that she would feel like a ‘proper lady’. And she knew he clearly liked her. But she wasn’t ready to make any rash decisions yet. She hadn’t yet given up hope of the Doctor and Danny coming to find her and she didn’t want to break his heart if that ever happened.
And she also thought of what was to come - in 13 years would come the Great War and William, she felt sure, would be called up to the conflict. She couldn’t go through that sort of heartache. What was the point in starting something that would sure to end in disaster?
It was Mrs Fieldgate’s turn to clear her throat and she held up a piece of paper which had a sketch of a warehouse on the bank of the river.
“Is that West Dock Road?” asked William.
“It is indeed, William,” said the thin, grey-haired lady. “Your father and I purchased it this morning.”
“What for?” scoffed William. “It’s just a warehouse.”
“If you’ll kindly give your mother a moment, she may be able to tell you,” scolded his father.
Caroline felt a little sorry for William, who sunk into his chair looking uncomfortable.
“It has come to myself and Arthur’s attention of the problems surrounding this town. There are little children living on the streets without parents or a home to go to. In short they are dying. Their young lives are being cut short.”
Arthur leaned forward. “We got where we where today through being shrewd in business. But it doesn’t seem right to hoard all of this wealth whilst there are those in need.”
Agatha nodded, her head turned to her husband.
“So,” continued Arthur, “we have purchased this warehouse and intend to turn it into a riverside orphanage.”
“An orphanage?” piped up William again.
“That’s correct. And we would like you and Miss Parker here to run it.”
Caroline looked at the two older people sat across the drawing room from her. These two were the real deal. Rich, wealthy business people who wanted to put back into the community.
“But what about my job at the factory?”
“You can still continue with that, but I want two people I can trust to run this home. This town needs this orphanage. It’s children need it.”
Caroline simply continued to stare at the two of them. They made her smile. They made her belong here. And for just a moment she forgot all about the Doctor and Danny.
October, 1987
Not much had happened to further the Doctor’s plan of getting back to 1901 in the weeks that had gone by, and so Danny had taken to doing some investigating himself.
He hadn’t found out much about what had burnt Riverside Orphanage down, other than that the fire had started from somewhere deep inside the building. There had been no evidence of gas leaks or something being set alight. The building had simply burst into flames.
So Danny now found himself in the town hall, sifting through the records, hoping to find a little more information.
He had been led down there by a young woman with glasses and bushy hair. She had shown him the records room which consisted on rows and rows and rows (and rows!) of filing cabinets.
“What exactly are you looking for?” asked the woman.
“Sorry, what was your name?” asked Danny.
“Christie. How is that relevant?”
“I just like to be on first name terms,” smiled Danny, telling her the honest truth.
“And you are?”
“Danny. Danny Lennon. No relation to John.”
Danny grinned. Christie didn’t.
“So what are you looking for?” she asked, walking into the records room, her hands behind her back and her eyes flitting over all of the filing cabinets.
“I’m looking for information about Riverside Orphanage.”
Christie frowned, remembering something. “Did that used to be on Baxtergate - formally West Dock Road - where the monument is now?”
“That’s right,” said Danny, hopefully. “Do you know about it.”
Christie turned to face him. “Only what I’ve learnt from local history. That there was a fire there and the place burnt down, killing a few of the kids, bless their souls.”
“Is there any information on it in here? Who ran the place? Who worked there.”
“Oh, it’ll all be here,” said Christie, spinning around and surveying the room. “But it’ll take you a long time to go through it all and even then you might not find what you’re looking for.”
“I have to try though,” said Danny, distantly.
“You have to try? Why is it so important?”
Danny was about to say and then stopped himself. “You’d never believe me.”
And so Danny spent the next three hours searching through the files and sifting through information until he finally found what he was looking for. A file on Riverside Orphanage. Built into a disused warehouse in the early part of 1901, it was owned by Arthur and Agatha Fieldgate, who ran a very profitable family business.
The manager was their son, William Fieldgate, and…and his wife Caroline Fieldgate (nee Parker).
Danny grabbed the pieces of the document, shuffled them back into the file, tucked it into his jacket and then hastily made for the exit, bustling past the reception and a startled Christie on his way.
He eventually got back to the White Hart and ran upstairs to the Doctor’s room where he found him with the remains of the escape pod strewn all over the bed, the bed sheets black with oil and some kind of translucent, blue fluid dripping all over the place
“Ah, welcome back, Danny. How do you like it?”
Danny stood there, mouth partly open, ready to say something.
“I think I’m finally getting somewhere. If I can get the power cells of this thing working, I might just be able to transmit a message back to Caroline.”
“Doctor, I don’t know if we can go back to Caroline,” said Danny, worriedly.
“What do you mean?” The Doctor looked up from his collection of screwdrivers.
“I found out some more information,” he replied, pulling the file from under his jacket and handing it to the Doctor.
“I told you not to go searching. It could effect what we do.”
“Just read it,” snapped Danny.
The Doctor dropped what he was doing and quickly looked through the various documents. He sat there reading quietly for what seemed like an age. And then he simply sat there in silence.
“Doctor?” said Danny.
“Oh, Danny,” said the Doctor, an air of trepidation in his voice, “it seems Caroline has gotten herself involved in more ways than one.”
“I know,” said Danny, pointing to the file. “She went and got married!”
“Not just that,” said the Doctor, carefully putting the documents back into the file. “You didn’t read past the bit with her marrying, did you?”
“What do you mean?” frowned Danny.
“It seems that Caroline also had a child.”
“What?!” spluttered Danny, sitting down on the bed, unsure of whether to feel shocked, heartbroken, confused or all three.
“She had a child called Sarah. Sarah married and then had a son called Danny.”
Danny’s eyes were wide and he could have sworn he had made a very audible ‘gulp’ sound.
The Doctor spotted Danny’s fear. “Oh, no, no, no,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. You’re getting your dates and years messed up. This Danny was born in 1928.”
Danny felt himself sink into the bed, relieved.
The Doctor continued. “When Sarah married, her married name was Chapman. Their son was called Danny Chapman…who then went on to have a child of his own - Lisa Chapman.”
“Who?” asked Danny, his brain not working correctly.
“Think, Danny, think!”
“Lisa!” spluttered Danny.
“The very Lisa who is downstairs, right now, serving pints of Carling Black Label to men with mullets and ponytails.”
“So…”
“So,” said the Doctor, putting the file on the bedside cabinet, “if we don’t rescue Caroline, history will play out as we have discovered. There will be a fire, the children will die, and eventually Lisa will be born - Caroline’s Great Granddaughter.”
“And if we do go and rescue her…?” Danny already knew the answer.
“Then the timeline is put right, there is never a fire at the orphanage - but Lisa is never born. This version of 1987 will cease to exist.”
No comments:
Post a Comment