Doctor Who_ History 101 - Mags L. Halliday [27]
Now the Doctor looked at her, smiling that big ‘I’m very glad you asked me that, Jeremy’ grin and she just knew he’d been waiting for her to ask. Which meant he had an answer ready and she was about to be told at length.
‘Anomalies. As we saw in Paris, incongruities in the way events are reported or disseminated are revealed when we compare the TARDIS’s record with the perceived version outside.’
‘How do we...?’
‘How do we know the TARDIS version is right? We don’t. However what I’m interested in for now is finding these moments of divergence, tracing them back and seeing what has caused the different perceptions. I’m working on interfacing the TARDIS with external information sources and then running a comparative check.’
Anji finished her coffee and put the mug on the top of the time rotor. ‘So how long will this take?’
‘A couple of days, I expect. Be out of here in no time.’
* * *
As it was the end of November, it should have been cold in the streets and Anji had pulled her heavy tweed coat on over her silk blouse and woollen skirt. Back in 2001, this type of clothing had been another fashion craze and half of London had been tottering about in pencil skirts and kitten heels. Anji had preferred simple modern tailoring then, and now she was forced to wear this stuff she was more convinced than ever that it was not sensible. And, due to unforeseen circumstances, she was sweating. The press of the crowds in the streets, hemming her in at all sides, made her far too hot.
She had come out to go to the Hotel Continental: the Doctor had suggested they book rooms. Spain was a suspicious country in 1936 and they would be better off leaving a public trail so no one wondered about them. The quiet side streets had been busier than usual but when Anji turned into the main thoroughfare of the Divisional she had stopped in her tracks for a moment. The entire avenue was a solid mass of people, shoulder to shoulder, walking slowly. Huge banners were being carried, the bearers often twenty feet from each other. Red or black flags were held high. Chants would susurrate down the rows of people, the noise blurring as each section of the crowd took up the phrase a beat out of synch so Anji couldn’t make them out clearly. It was a mob. A mob of grievers and mourners, she had realised, spotting Durruti’s name on one of the banners. So, with the elbow skills born of several years trying to reach the bar in busy City pubs, she had confidently set into the crowd, planning to push her way through and walk on to Las Rambles. And had been carried along for at least five blocks. And was now sweating in her nice period silk blouse.
Anji was pushing sideways, trying not to have her heels stepped on by the crowd pushing forward behind her. She wanted out of this crush, out of the press of strangers. She wanted space to breathe, to move her arms freely, to walk at her own pace. To be back in control of where she was going. Not dragged along in the wake of others. She realised she was breathing faster and shallower than usual, increasing her rising feeling of claustrophobia. It would be all right if she could wriggle her way through to the edge... she felt a hand on her forearm and turned her head quickly, trying to pull free of the restraint. After a moment, she recognised the person holding on to her. She fitted the dark wavy hair, thick brows and the upward turn at the corners of the mouth to a face in her memory.
‘Eleana?’
Anji suddenly felt like there was a few more millimetres of air between her and the back of the man before her. Having someone she knew with her made the crowd seem less overpowering.
‘Salut, Anji. I am glad you have joined with us to bury Durruti.’
Anji realised Eleana had been crying. Her eyes were puffed a little, shiny pink with wiped away tears and her voice was thick with mucus. So, best to be politic and not mention that she was only stuck in the mob because she’d been unable to get out of it. ‘I didn’t realise there was such strength of feeling about him,’ she hazarded.
Eleana nodded.
‘He was our