Doctor Who_ The Adventures of Henrietta Street - Lawrence Miles [132]
Scarlette’s auction wasn’t the only celebration held that night. Other ‘parties’ were more low-key, however. just after midnight, as the day of the wedding officially began, the Doctor left the mysterious ‘white room’ for the first time in over a month.
Naturally, he still couldn’t walk. It was Fitz who helped him out of his sick-bed. From somewhere in the pleasure-gardens of the TARDIS, Fitz recovered a ‘contraption’ (as Scarlette’s journal later calls it), very much suggesting a modern wheelchair. Fitz pushed the Doctor all the way into the town, through the deserted streets and towards the harbour. There, he parked the Doctor on one of the stone fortifications which had originally been built to defend against privateer attacks from the sea. He then found a chair for himself, so that he and the Doctor could face each other while still being able to glance at the ocean below.
They drank together, there in the early hours of the morning. It was a quiet sort of bachelor party, but perhaps one that befitted the Doctor. Fitz produced a bottle of champagne, probably supplied by either Who or Scarlette, and the Doctor at least had the strength to lift the glass to his lips himself. Fitz later told Scarlette that although the Doctor’s speech was slurred and (at times) confused, he was nonetheless able to continue a conversation.
‘He understands, you know,’ the Doctor allegedly said at some point. Fitz asked exactly what he meant by that.
‘Oh, the nature of things,’ the Doctor went on. ‘A universe without elementals. I know more than he does, but he belongs here far more than I do. No wonder she left.’ (Note that ‘elementals’ is the word Scarlette records, and it may not be the term the Doctor actually used.)
Was this all senseless, delirium-inspired babble? Or was the Doctor talking about Sabbath? Fitz obviously didn’t want to discuss the matter further. Between them they finished the bottle of champagne, and spent some time looking out across the darkened harbour below. There was a strong wind blowing that night, so it must have brought the smell of salt and timber up to the stone wall. It’s easy to imagine the Doctor staring out to sea, just as Scarlette had done at Brighton, searching for any sign of a metal ship somewhere off the shore.
It would have been at around this time that Scarlette was seen on the edge of the forest, worse for wear after her experiences with the local ale. She and Lisa-Beth certainly left the tavern together. Scarlette was talking loudly, insisting that he wouldn’t allow the wedding to take place, that thanks to him the jungle was closing in around them and the enemy was drawing closer… though Lisa-Beth admits that she didn’t know whether Scarlette meant Sabbath, or the King of Beasts. However, she knew an opportunity when she saw one. It was now, while Scarlette was inebriated, that she finally said something she’d been meaning to say for some time. She told Scarlette, in no uncertain terms, that it was definitely over. The House was gone, and Lisa-Beth’s job description didn’t generally involve the destruction of monsters. She announced that although she intended to stay for the wedding, neither she nor ‘either of the other women’ could be expected to carry on in this fashion, Indeed, Lisa-Beth went even further than that. She implied she was sick of the tantra altogether, sick of the responsibilities it had brought her. She had, after all, only started out in this profession for the money. Significantly, it had been some months since she’d last painted her trademark red diamond on her forehead.
Scarlette didn’t even stop walking as Lisa-Beth said her piece. She kept on towards the edge of the forest, taking staggering but nonetheless majestic steps, not even looking back at her companion. And all she said was: ‘Well, I know that.’
Shortly thereafter, Lisa-Beth left Scarlette to head back to the TARDIS alone. She had business