Doctor Who_ Byzantium! - Keith Topping [22]
Ì'll be sorry to go,' Ian said. Barbara nodded in agreement.
She picked up a clay ornament that she had bought in the market the day before. It was a simple, homemade representation of a Greek woman carrying water. Just think,'
Barbara noted, ìf I buried this where it wouldn't be found and then came back in two thousand years and dug it up, I'd be rich.'
`Not to mention, of course, home,' Ian added, helpfully.
'What is it, anyway?'
‘A Greek urn,' replied Barbara. 'And if you say, "What's a Greek earn? Ten drachmas a week", I'll give you such a thumping…’ she threatened.
`Wouldn't dream of it,' replied Ian with a broad grin.
'Besides, everybody seems to get paid in Roman currency.
Quadrans and dupondius and denarit. I've only seen a couple of Greek and Jewish coins since we've been here. And none of them look anything like half-a-crown, or a threepenny piece.'
`This place is so magical,’ Barbara continued, changing the subject away from the often upsetting thoughts of London and 1963. 'Just seeing everyday life for these people, the practical, ordinary things that you'd never find in any history book. That's always the true revelation for me.' She paused and looked out of the window of their first-storey room to the sun rising above of the dome of the synagogue. On the roof was a single figure, stark and silhouetted against the shimmering early morning light. The man was chanting in Hebrew, calling his people to prayer.
`How can you not be affected by something like that?'
Barbara asked, pointing to the man 'Isn't it amazing?'
`He's certainly got a good head for heights!' noted Ian sarcastically.
At breakfast they ate the last of their food and talked excitedly about where they might end up next. It had been a happy and relaxing week; a stimulating experience for Barbara and, much to her own surprise, for Vicki, and a nice, quiet holiday for Ian. As for the Doctor... well, who knew?
However, today, even he was ready to admit that he was glad that they had come to Byzantium, though his reply to a question from Barbara about whether they should announce their departure to the several people whom they had come to know locally during their time in the city was a firm negative.
`Goodbyes will not be necessary,’ he noted, bringing the subject to a close. 'They get in the way of just.... going.
Chesterton and myself shall buy some food while you can take young Vicki to visit that temple to Jupiter for one last look.'
`Sounds like a plan,' noted Ian, standing hurriedly and tripping over his own feet.
Òh, do stop larking about like a child, Chesterton,' the Doctor groaned.
`Don't I get any say in where we go?' asked Vicki, before cracking into a broad smile. 'Only joking. I'd love to have another look at that temple.' She found herself looking at three scowling faces. `What?'
Barbara pointedly ignored her. 'Highlight of the visit?' she asked the Doctor.
There was a long pause. `Discovering,' replied the Doctor at last, `that things are never quite as bad as you expect them to be.'
Ian and the Doctor walked the short distance to the market to buy bread for the journey back to the TARDIS which, they expected, would take them most of the day. The fresh and crisp early morning was beginning to give way to the sultry and oppressive heat of the day as the Doctor again confessed that his misgivings about the Romans and their ways had largely proved unfounded. Ian was amused that the Doctor could actually admit to being wrong.
Ì have been wrong before, my boy,' the Doctor said, wounded by his companion finding humour in his shortcomings. 'Not often, it's true, but occasionally... It is not a sin to admit that you have made a mistake.'
`No, indeed,' Ian replied, trying to hide the smirk on his face. 'It's just that it is something you so rarely see. From you.'
They arrived at the bread