Doctor Who_ The Stone Rose - Jacqueline Rayner [66]
* * *
Rose helped the Doctor carry the statue into the control room. It glowed like green jade in the light from the central column.
‘It doesn’t look half bad in here, don’t you think?
Sort of goes with the decor.’
‘I think one Rose per TARDIS is quite enough,’ said the Doctor, who was now bent over the console. ‘Some might say too much.’
She pouted.
‘Anyway, you know it can’t stay here. We’ve got to find it a new home.’
* * *
The TARDIS landed and Rose stepped out nervously. But she knew where they were at once. ‘We’re back at the villa!’ she said as the Doctor joined her.
‘Yup,’ he said. ‘Thought you might fancy a Roman holiday.’
She glared at him.
‘Or maybe not. Come on. Job to do.’
A slave spotted them and ran into the villa. Seconds later, Gracilis and Marcia ran out, followed by a boy Rose had never seen before – at least not like this. But she knew who he was.
‘You must be Optatus,’ she said, grinning at him.
He nodded shyly. ‘And you are Rose. I must thank you for all you have done for me.’
She tried to look modest. ‘Oh, it was nothing really.’
Marcia swept her up in a hug.’. You say it is nothing! What you and the Doctor have done for us can never be repaid! Oh, I feared for your safety‐we have not seen you since… since…’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ said Rose hastily, realising that their last GENIE‐orchestrated meeting would be – at least, she hoped it would be – a bit of a blur.
But Marcia was still frowning. ‘You – and the slave Vanessa…’
‘Ah!’ The Doctor put an arm round Gracilis’s shoulder. ‘Now, I wanted to have a word with you about her.’
‘Indeed?’ said Gracilis.
‘Indeed indeed. The thing is, I know she belongs to you.’
Rose snorted, and the Doctor threw her a look.
‘I know she belongs to you. But she isn’t coming back.’
Gracilis opened his mouth to speak, but the Doctor shushed him.
‘I know you paid a lot of money for her. But look at it this way. You bought her to help get your son back – and you’ve got your son back. You don’t need any more slaves. You’ve just taken on another couple of dozen. And… I’d like to give you something in exchange for her freedom. If I could just borrow a bit of muscle…’
With the aid of some slaves, the Doctor brought the Fortuna statue out of the TARDIS and it was carried over to Gracilis.
‘I thought you might have a spare spot for this,’ the Doctor said. ‘After all, you’re missing a statue now…’
So the stone Rose was taken to the little grove just outside the villa entrance.
‘Careful!’ called Gracilis, as the statue knocked hard against a wall during an awkward turn.
‘Is it OK?’ asked Rose.
‘Oh, yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘Well, maybe there’s a slight crack. Just at the wrist.’ And he grinned.
* * *
The Doctor and Rose sat in the grove. The sun sparkled across the pond, throwing glitterball reflections across the white marble of the statue. The Doctor petted a peacock, which made a mewing noise like a cat. He mewed back at it.
They’d been sitting alone for a while when Gracilis joined them again. He begged their pardon, but he wanted to ask them something.
‘That girl, Vanessa,’ he said. ‘She was a true reader of the stars, wasn’t she?’
Rose wasn’t sure what to say, but the Doctor nodded. ‘I suppose you could say that.’
Gracilis was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he continued, ‘I think she was sent by the gods to aid us. And I think you too were sent by the gods.’
Rose laughed. ‘No, really, we weren’t. Honest.’
‘In that case,’ Gracilis said, looking at the statue, ‘you must be gods yourselves.’
‘No, we’re not!’ Rose began, but Gracilis had risen and was moving off.
‘I will honour you all my life,’ he said.
‘Gracilis!’ Rose had suddenly thought of something.
He stopped and turned back. ‘Yes, my lady?’
‘Just – no sacrifices, OK?’
Gracilis smiled and bowed.
Rose took a last look at her statue as they stood up, ready to head back to the TARDIS and places new.
* * *
Almost 1,900 years later, a