Doctor Who_ Rip Tide - Louise Cooper [36]
'Ohhhhw!' It came out as a growl, and she stopped walking and glared into the middle distance. If Barry was going to act like a guard dog, she'd just have to use a bit of subtlety. All right — breaking and entering wasn't exactly subtle, but there was a saying, wasn't there: needs must when the devil drives. Barry would be going back to his work as a delivery driver in a few minutes. And Nina knew just how to open that
loose catch on the flat's kitchen window.
She found the pendant in the bottom drawer of Steve's chest. The sense of relief was enormous; she had begun to fear that it wasn't in the room, that he was wearing it and never took it off, which would have made things extremely complicated. But here it was, complete with copper setting and loop of chain.
She had a moment's frisson as she reached to pick it up, wondering if it were safe to touch it with her bare hands. But a few seconds surely couldn't hurt – slipping it into her shoulder-bag, she haphazardly shoved the rest of the drawer's contents back into place, shut the drawer and got out and away as quickly as she could.
The Doctor was waiting at the cottage, and as he opened the door to her she said triumphantly, 'Got it!'
'Wonderful! 'To her surprise and delight he hugged her and gave her a smacking kiss – only on the forehead, but it was a kiss nonetheless. 'I'll get working on it right away!'
'What are you going to do?' she asked.
'Some experiments that I hope will tell me where this – and thus Ruth – comes from.' He smiled. 'You wouldn't understand them, and you'd find them very boring, so there's no point in your staying. Come back later – say, seven-thirty?'
'Oh.' Nina felt herself deflating; she did not want to go, and this casual dismissal pricked the bubble of her fancies. 'All right,' she said. 'I suppose so.'
The Doctor showed no sign that he had noticed her reluctance, or the grudging tone in which she spoke. He was already heading towards the sitting room and the TARDIS, and seemed to expect her to let herself out. Nina swallowed the disappointment as best she could, and trailed disconsolately from the house.
Nina was supposed to do at least some studying at home today, but in her keyed-up state that was out of the question. She drooped around the house until her mother said tartly that if she wasn't going to do school work she'd better do something useful like clean her room, unless she thought the fairies were going to do it for her. That brought a sharp response from Nina, but before it could turn into yet another row she grabbed her coat and stamped out, saying she would be back 'When I feel like it!'
It was only six o'clock; far too early to go to the Doctor's cottage. Nonetheless Nina walked there and hung around outside the gate for a while, hoping that the Doctor might emerge. He didn't. There were no lights in the house, and the curtains were closed again; this time without any chinks. At last, frustrated, Nina gave up and went to the beach.
Yesterday's rain was gone but the wind was 'blowing a hooley' as the lifeboat crew termed it, and the sea was a mass of enormous waves, piling in one after another. The lifeguards had packed up for the evening, leaving their red flag flying as a warning that the tide was dangerous, but a few local surfers, who knew the conditions, were braving it. Nina sat on the quay wall near the beached fishing boats and watched for a while, half wishing she had brought her own board. But even the strongest and most experienced surfers were giving up now and hauling themselves shorewards, breathless and bruised