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'You saw it do that?'

'No, but the one in there,' she pointed to the control and monitoring suite, swallowed itself and they were the same.'

Excuse me,' Barry interrupted. Can I ask you something?'

'Ask away.' The Doctor proffered the bag. 'I may not know the answer though. It's an area in which I have very little practical experience. My theory's not really up to scratch either.'

'It probably isn't a good time to ask this,' Barry said and took a green jelly baby from the bag.

'I was looking for a green one,' the Doctor said.

'Sorry.' Barry gave him back the jelly baby and took a different colour.

'So what was your question?'

Barry hesitated then said, 'Can I take it you're not considering the withdrawal of my funding?'

By the time they reached the entrance to the old graveyard Chloe couldn't remember why she had agreed to do this. How had she let herself be persuaded? How could she possibly have thought it was any sort of a good idea? It must have been the shock and depression over Joan. That and the lager. But then alcohol was a depressant anyway wasn't it.

Whatever the reason or lack of it, here she was stumbling about in the dark again.

It was another pitch-black night, as every miserable night seemed to be.

There was a chilly wind blowing, as there always seemed to be after it got to be pitch-black. She had never liked the cold and the dark and now, after that hysterical fugue or whatever it was she had suffered in the wood, she was beginning to hate them with a serious vengeance. She looked at the sky. Was it cloudy? She couldn't really tell. She looked in vain for the moon. 'What time does the moon rise?' she asked. 'Does anyone know?'

The cemetery entrance gates were heavy wrought-iron and they were set into high curving walls of ancient, red-brown brick topped off with thick slabs of monumental sandstone. 'Not sure there is a moon tonight,' Ralph said. 'Or it may already have set.'

The gates were closed and securely chained and locked.

'I hope not,' Chloe said, wondering if she could simply say she had changed her mind, and then leave. It was a longish way back on an unlit road though, and she didn't fancy walking it alone.

What difference does it make?'Josh said.

'It'd be nice to see what we were doing,' Meg complained.

Tommy said, 'I can't see my hand in front of me.'

Josh shone the torch across the gates. 'Don't worry about what's in front of you,' he said.

His voice took on a sepulchral tone. 'It's what's behind you. That's where the threat comes from. Hooo.' He made a soft, ghostly wailing noise and put the torch under his chin so that his face was turned into a grotesque mask.

Chloe shuddered. 'Don't do that.'

'Bit nervous are we?' Josh teased. 'Afraid of the dark?' He gave a ghoulish laugh and rattled the chain on the gates.

I said don't do that. I don't like it, OK?' Why did idiots like him think that scaring you was sexy? she thought. Why did they imagine it made them attractive? It was a sort of bullying, that was all it was.

'You'd think I was bullying you or something,' Josh said. 'Don't be such a wimp .You know you love it really.' He shone the torch back on to the padlock. 'Would you look at the size of that thing? The size of that thing, nudge, nudge, ooer missus.' He rattled the padlock and tugged at the chain. 'Tell you what though, they really don't want any of the dear departed to get out of here do they?'

'Why don't we do that?' Ralph said.

Do what?'Josh asked.

'Get out of here? This is a tacky idea.'

'You're no fun, Ralph, no fun at all,' Josh remarked, handing Chloe the torch. 'Point it there will you.' He guided her hand so that the light was directed at the side of the gate where the hinge was embedded in the wall.

'If you've changed your mind you can simply leave, you know. It's a longish walk back in the dark, but I don't suppose that's a problem for you is it?'

It was happening to her again, Chloe thought. The others were reading her mind in some way. Or was it yet another coincidence?