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If Victoria look out her window and focused only on the rooftops, she could pretend she was in her own time. The rooftops of some buildings were old, some even older than her. The antennas on some of them ruined the illusion, but she could brush them away, if she focused hard enough.
She spent her days after schoolwork looking out her open window, alternating between thinking about home, thinking about the Doctor, and trying to forget it all. None of these memories won out, in the end – they all came back to her, in spurts, in random moments, in her dreams.
A soft knock came at her door. The sun was setting, blue hour casting shadows and purple light, the smell of the North Sea filling her room. “Come in,” she said, turning to the door.
“Dinner is ready, Victoria,” Mrs. Harris said. She had a warm, soft smile on her face. She picked up Victoria’s crumbled school clothes and folded them up, setting them on the chair by her door.
“Yes, Mrs. Harris.” She shut her window and followed her down the stairs, counting her steps as she went down.
“Did you have a good day at school?” Mrs. Harris asked, sitting next to her husband. Mr. Harris smiled at Victoria. She nodded and sat at her place.
“It was all right, I suppose. I’m not used to going to a school, actually. My father would tutor me at home.” Victoria tried to eat as much of Mrs. Harris’ cooking as she could, but found it hard to eat sometimes; food didn’t hold much interest for her any more.
“Was your father a good teacher?” Mr. Harris asked.
“Oh yes. He made sure I was proficient in all the subjects, especially the sciences.” She remembered how animated he became when she correctly hypothesized an outcome, hugging her and dancing around the laboratory.
She picked at the mash on her plate, and kept her eyes down, staring at the tablecloth. The Harrises chatted about their day, the goings-on in town, what was going to be on the television later that night. Victoria speared her peas and carrots again and again, wondering if she could make them entirely full of holes.
“May I be excused?” she asked, interrupting the Harrises’ conversation. They exchanged wary glances.
“Are you sure, Victoria? You’ve hardly touched your food, and you’re looking a little peaked,” Mrs. Harris said.
“I’m sure; I had some sweets after school, so I’m not very hungry,” she lied. She hated being evasive with her new parents, but felt like anything verging on the truth would alienate them.
“Very well,” Mr. Harris said. “We’ll be up later with a cuppa for you at bedtime.”
Victoria nodded and pushed away from the table. She had been subsisting mostly on the tea and biscuits they brought up at night. The tea warmed her all over and reminded her of home, of the Doctor.
The electric lights of the houses across the street from her bedroom window hurt her eyes sometimes. She stopped looking outside at night, the bright white light too artificial for even her imagination to explain away. She pulled the curtains closed and curled into her bed, staring at the ceiling. At least ceilings were the same blank canvas, no matter where you went.
Victoria wasn’t certain if she liked television or not. The Doctor had monitors in the TARDIS, but they were used for observation, rather than entertainment. He played a program for her and Jamie one time, and they both found it eerie.
The Harrises, much like any other Britons at the time, enjoyed it. They would watch it some nights, Mrs. Harris knitting at the same time, and Mr. Harris smoking a pipe as well. Victoria would sit next to Mrs. Harris, sometime staring at the screen, sometimes staring through it.
“What would you like to do in the evenings, Victoria?” Mrs. Harris asked, her needles clacking quietly together.
“I would read or do my needlepoint. Sometimes my father would join me, but usually he stayed in his laboratory. The Doctor taught me chess; I wasn’t as good as him, though.” She was able to beat Jamie on occasion. He would skulk around the TARDIS for the rest of the night, and Victoria almost felt sorry for him.
“Have you thought of joining any clubs or organizations at school? They might make your evenings a little more exciting,” Mr. Harris suggested.
“Maybe,” she sighed. Her classmates usually gave her a wide berth at school. Some of them called her a ‘weirdo,’ but they usually held off after they realized her stare wasn’t dreamy or empty, but sad.
“My friend, Mrs. Laurence, has a daughter about your age in the Cosmopolitan Club. Maybe you would like it; they meet every week and talk about different countries and world events. Maybe that would be like your travels with the Doctor,” Mrs. Harris said, setting her knitting down in her lap.
“Oh, sure,” Victoria said. In truth, Victoria wasn’t sure she ever wanted to travel again, or leave England. Anything more than their town seemed like a great chasm to cross, a new environment to get acclimated to again, with no familiarity to rely on.
She stood up. “I think I’ll go to my room and finish my reading for class this week. Good night.”
Mrs. Harris bit her lip and frowned. “Are you sure, Victoria? It is very early in the evening to retire.”
“I’m certain. Goodnight, Mrs. Harris, Goodnight Mr. Harris.”
“Goodnight, Victoria,” they replied in unison. She heard them whisper as she climbed the stairs to her room, almost inaudible, except for one small exchange:
“What if she never grows used to this, Maggie? What if she’s always this sad?”
“I don’t know, Frank, but there’s only one thing we can do: help and love her.”
Victoria was in the middle of a particularly nasty maths problem when there was a knock on her door. She put down her pen and pushed back her schoolbooks. “Come in.”
Mr. Harris slowly opened the door and waved. “Hello, Victoria. May I sit?” He asked, gesturing to her bed. She nodded, turning towards him. “How was school today?”
“All right,” she said, automatically. Mr. Harris gave a weak smile.
“Victoria, Mrs. Harris and I have been worried about how you’re adjusting to your new life. You seem pretty listless.” His voice was soft. Victoria didn’t know much about Mr. Harris, beyond his work and his family. He seemed to be a kind man, like her father, but not as adoring.
“It is very different…I spent so much time traveling with the Doctor, I never really stopped to think much,” she said, twisting her hands in her lap. Now all she seemed to do was think: about the 19th century, about her parents, about Jamie and the Doctor. The Doctor had told her to make them small in her mind’s eye, to make it easier, but now they seemed like ever-present giants, looming everywhere.
“Is there anything we could do to help? Anyone you met previously with the Doctor that we might contact?”
Victoria searched her mind, trying to place their adventures in time. One of them was in the present day, but which one…
“Oh,” she said. “There was someone…The Colonel…”
Mr. Harris tilted his head. “The Colonel?”
“Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart. We helped him one time, me, Jamie and the Doctor. I’m not quite certain how to find him or how he would help…” she had thought about the Colonel once or twice in passing, but he seemed so distant and secretive, she never thought to ask him for help.
“Do you remember what organization he was with? Was he part of the military?”
“No…something called UNIT, I think…”
Mr. Harris stroked his mustache. “I think I know that organization. I’ll talk to some of my colleagues at work and see if they know more. Maybe he can send us some information or resources. Do you think that might help?”
“It wouldn’t hurt,” Victoria shrugged. She felt a small bit of warmth in her chest, something like hope.
The front door bell buzzed, making everyone jolt in their seats. It was past dinnertime, and Victoria and the Harrises were in their parlor, settling in for the night. Mr. Harris stood up and answered the door.
“I don’t remember anyone saying they would be visiting tonight,” Mrs. Harris mumbled, setting down her knitting. Victoria leaned forward and looked towards the front hallway. The sound of heels on the parquet hallway echoed.
“Hello!” A young woman greeted. She was in her early twenties and extremely fashionable, with long, fringed blonde hair, heavily-lined eyes, and a sweeping, belted plaid coat. Victoria looked to the Harrises and found them as equally confused as her.
“This is Polly Wright. She says that Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart sent her,” Mr. Harris explained, looking to Victoria for an answer. Victoria shrugged. Polly was as much a stranger to her as she was to them.
“Yes, I used to travel with the Doctor! The Colonel got in contact with me and said you needed my help. I thought I’d stop by and see you myself,” she said, going to Victoria.
“Polly…did you used to travel with Jamie?” Victoria asked. Jamie would mention a couple that used to travel with him and the Doctor, two young Londoners who taught him to dance modern dances that he then taught Victoria.
“Yes! My boyfriend Ben and I were there when Jamie first came aboard. How is he?” She smiled, like a pure burst of sunshine.
“He’s quite all right, although he was very sad to see me leave,” Victoria said. Polly nodded.
“Yes, that’s our Jamie, very stubborn but very loving.” She pulled the hat off her head and curled it into her pocket.
“Please, sit down, Miss Wright,” Mr. Harris offered.
“Oh please, call me Polly,” she smiled, sitting next to Victoria. Her floral perfume enveloped her.
“Would you like a cup of tea or a sandwich, Polly? I imagine you had quite the journey,” Mrs. Harris asked, getting to her feet.
“Tea would be lovely,” she said. She took off her gloves and squeezed Victoria’s hand, her fingers cold but perfectly manicured. The Harrises left the parlor for their kitchen, exchanging smiles. “Now, tell me, how are things since you left the Doctor? The Colonel said that you are having a hard time adjusting to life after the fact.” She turned towards Victoria, tilting her head down and searching her face.
“It has been rather hard,” Victoria sighed. “I don’t know if the Colonel told you, but I’m…I’m not of this time. I’m a hundred years out of time. My father and mother died, and I had no one else to turn to but the Doctor, until the Harrises took me in.”
“Oh, no, he didn’t. I’m so sorry, dear,” Polly said, pulling Victoria close. “You must feel like a complete fish out of water.”
“It was easier when I was traveling with the Doctor…everything was out of time. Now it’s in order and I’m not,” she said, swallowing back tears. Mrs. Harris came in and left a tea tray on the table, before returning to the kitchen.
“It’s hard living life in order after the Doctor. I can’t say I know exactly how you’re feeling, but I do know how strange it is to be standing still in time when everything used to move around,” Polly said, taking her tea. “But you know, you aren’t alone here. And it’s not just me and Ben. There’s lots of us!”
“Oh?” She knew about Polly and Ben from Jamie, and sometimes the Doctor would mention his family, like his granddaughter, but she didn’t know that he traveled with anyone else.
“Oh yes! Ben and I met another girl, a little older than you, named Dodo. She was with the Doctor before we joined him. And there’s this couple - they’re much older than us, though – named Ian and Barbara who said they were the first ones to travel with him.” She took a bit of biscuit and dusted the crumbs off her fingers.
“I didn’t realize so many people traveled with him already,” Victoria said. She took a cup of tea and a sandwich from the tea tray and ate.
“We get together every week at a pub and just talk, sometimes about him, most of the time just our lives, now.”
“Oh, that sounds lovely.” Victoria felt the flicker of hope burning again in her chest.
“Would you like to come? It’s in London, so it would be a little bit of a trip for you, but you don’t have to come every week. Whenever you can is fine.”
“Oh…it’s all the way in London?” Victoria hadn’t gone to London since she stayed in the twentieth century. She was afraid of going back and seeing what was once so familiar look like a facsimile.
“If it’s too far away for you, you can always call me and we can chat. I am usually busy on the weekends, but Mondays I’m all free.”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly – that would be so expensive for you, Polly,” Victoria protested. Polly waved her hands.
“Absolutely not. It’s my gift to you, to welcome you here.”
Victoria stared at the inside of her tea cup. It was all so much at once – feeling like the only person in the world who felt the way she did, to meeting someone who knew, even the tiniest bit, how she felt. She loosened her shoulders and felt her muscles relax. “I’ll talk with Mr. and Mrs. Harris and see. I’m sure they won’t mind, call or visit.”
“Wonderful! We meet on Thursdays at dinner time at the Hearth and Flame. I’ll give you the address. Now,” Polly said, setting her tea aside. “Tell me, how are Jamie and the Doctor getting along nowadays?”
“I’ll be up the street at station, if you need anything, Victoria,” Mrs. Harris said. They stood outside the Hearth and Flame, a dusky drizzle setting in. Victoria stuffed her hands in her coat pockets and pulled it closer to her. She wasn’t sure if it was nerves or the weather that caused her to shiver. “Thank you, Mrs. Harris,” she said.
Mrs. Harris pulled her into a hug. “I’m sure they’ll be lovely, if Polly was any indication,” she whispered. She pulled away and walked down the street, waving goodbye. Victoria turned around and steeled herself. Polly said everyone would be here tonight, sitting in a corner table. She stood up tall and walked inside.
The pub was dark but warmly lit, a light din of murmurs filling the air. Victoria looked around, trying to find Polly.
“Victoria!”
She turned to her right and saw Polly waving, rushing up to her. She threw her arms around her and squeezed her tight. “Oh, I’m so happy you could come! You’re going to love them all, I promise. Ian and Barbara are so fun, and Dodo’s a dear. Come on.” She took Victoria by the hand and led her to a round table filled with people.
“Hello everyone, this is Victoria Waterfield. She stopped traveling with the Doctor a few months ago, and she reached out to me to find out more about our little group,” Polly introduced. Victoria smiled, twisting her hands together.
“Hello, Victoria!” they greeted, smiling at her. She felt her body go warm all over. She sat down next to Polly and took off her coat.
“Tell me, did you have the honor of being asked aboard, or did he revert to his old ways and kidnap you?” the older man asked. Victoria’s eyes widened.
“Oh Ian, don’t scare the poor girl. The Doctor seems to have mellowed, according to Ben and Polly,” the woman next to him chided. “Tell us all about your time with the Doctor, Victoria. We love hearing new stories.”
Victoria smiled and looked around, her friends eagerly waiting her answer. She saw something in their eyes she hadn’t seen since she said goodbye to Jamie: recognition. She leaned forward and told them everything.