Whether he was a real policeman or not, the Doctor made good use of the walk out of the woods and back across the playing fields. He quizzed Hilary about her daughter’s disappearance; how she had slipped out when the kids were in bed and didn’t return. Bill chipped in with questions of her own, discovering that Hilary had been staying with her grandchildren ever since their Mum had vanished, and that the police’s door-to-door inquiries had been next to useless.
‘Don’t you know all this, though?’ Hilary said, as she bundled Masie through the gate that led onto Brownie Hill.
‘Oh, you know what it’s like,’ the Doctor said quickly, sharing a secret smile with Bill. ‘The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand’s doing.’
‘Typical,’ Hilary clucked. ‘Just like the council. That’s how monstrosities like that thing happen.’
She jabbed a finger at the building site beside the playing field. Charlotte couldn’t see what was wrong with it herself. The house looked like every new build she’d ever seen; a bit on the large side, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Bill seemed to agree. ‘Looks OK to me,’ she told the old woman. ‘Going to be impressive when it’s finished.’
‘If it’s finished,’ Hilary replied. ‘Can’t believe they got planning permission. There was nothing wrong with the house that was already there.’
‘It was falling down!’ Masie said.
‘They could have done it up,’ Hilary argued, obviously not one to let someone else have the last word. ‘At least it had character, not like that eyesore. And the garden …’ Her voice became wistful. ‘Sammy loved that garden. Mr Cragside used to let her climb the big tree he had out the back.’ She closed the gate behind Charlotte. ‘They’ve pulled that down too. Nothing short of vandalism, if you ask me.’
Charlotte had a feeling that Hilary Walsh would let you know her opinion whether you asked her or not.
Bill at least still seemed interested as Hilary guided them across Brownie Hill and into Bugs Close. ‘You’ve lived here a long time, then?’
‘All my life,’ she replied, leading them towards a small semi-detached house halfway down the road. A blue Fiat Punto was parked on the paved drive, a row of evergreen shrubs and bushes leading up to the front door. ‘This was my place before I moved into the flat. Sammy bought it from me and Ern.’
‘Keep it in the family,’ the Doctor said, carrying Noah up the path. ‘I like that. I had a family home once.’
Hilary looked at him quizzically as she unlocked the door. ‘What happened to it?’
‘Moved on. Didn’t like the neighbours.’ He hefted the boy in his arms. ‘Where shall I put this?’
Hilary held the door open for him. ‘You better take him straight up to his room.’
‘Gladly,’ the Doctor said. ‘Can my squad come too?’
Bill and Charlotte had already stepped into the cosy hallway.
‘Doesn’t look like I have much choice. I suppose you’ll be wanting a cup of tea?’
‘If it’s no bother,’ the Doctor said, grinning as he kicked the door shut for her.
‘Well, it is late …’
‘We’ll just stop for one, then. Seven sugars for me, Bill’s sweet enough already. Masie, can you show me to Noah’s room?’
The girl led him upstairs, Bill following.
Hilary looked at Charlotte with thinly disguised disapproval. ‘And what about you, Cryptogirl?’
‘I could murder a coffee,’ she replied, flashing Hilary her most charming smile. ‘Ta!’
She skipped up the stairs to join the others, who were standing in a typical boy’s room. There were gaming posters on the wall, action figures crammed into storage boxes and Lego scattered on the floor like a booby-trap just waiting to be stepped on. A desk sat beneath the window in the corner, piled high with comics and magazines, the accompanying chair heaped with crumpled clothes.
The Doctor planted Noah on the bed. ‘Nice duvet,’ he commented, before helping the lad remove the welly boot from his damaged ankle. The Doctor probed the offending joint before prescribing a course of daydreaming and ice cream. ‘You’ll be right as rain in no time.’
He spotted a book beside the bed. ‘The Goblins of Neverness,’ he said, picking it up. ‘I haven’t read this in years.’
‘It’s Mum’s,’ Noah told him. ‘She lets me look at it. She’s had it since she was a little girl.’
‘She likes fairy stories?’
Noah nodded. ‘Nan says she always has. I do too.’
The Doctor put the book on the bed and surveyed the messy room. ‘Tell me about this dream that wasn’t a dream.’
‘Mum was standing over there,’ Noah said, pointing to the window.
‘Covered in leaves and dirt.’ The Doctor moved over to the window. ‘Which is why you went down to the woods.’
‘Noah said she needed our help,’ Masie told him.
‘And then a Shining Man took her,’ Noah said. ‘Pulling her down into the floor.’
The Doctor pointed at Masie. ‘But you didn’t see any of this?’
She shook her head. ‘No, but I saw the footprint.’
‘And the leaf,’ Noah reminded her.
The Doctor grinned. ‘A footprint. I love a footprint. Especially a spooky one. It was over here?’ He crouched down and ran his fingers over the carpet.
Charlotte peered over his shoulder. ‘There’s nothing there.’
‘But there was,’ Masie insisted, pulling away from Bill. Even Noah jumped from the bed and limped over, but Charlotte was right. The carpet was in dire need of a vacuum, but there were no footprints in sight.
‘It was there,’ Masie said, her hands balling into fists by her side. ‘It really was. We didn’t imagine it.’
‘No one said you did,’ the Doctor said, sniffing the ends of his fingers before producing his blue and silver gadget again.
‘What is that?’ Charlotte asked.
‘The sonic screwdriver,’ said Bill as the Doctor ran it over the carpet. ‘And before you ask, I don’t know what it does either.’
‘It helps. Unlike some people,’ the Doctor said, returning the screwdriver to his pocket. ‘Most of the time, anyway.’
‘But not today?’ Bill asked.
The Doctor didn’t answer. Instead, he bent over and licked the carpet like a cat lapping cream.
‘Now what are you doing?’ a voice barked from the door. It was Hilary, carrying a tray loaded with steaming mugs.
The Doctor rolled his tongue around his mouth. ‘Twenty per cent wool, eighty per cent polypropylene, and a dash of pan-dimensional energy. Interesting.’ He jumped to his feet, facing the increasingly outraged grandmother. ‘Hilary, you’re about to tell us we should leave.’
‘I am.’
‘Quite right too,’ he agreed, walking briskly from the room, only stopping to pluck a mug of tea from the tray.
Hilary stared after him in amazement as he trotted down the stairs, taking an appreciative sip. ‘Of all the cheek …’ she began as Bill and Charlotte made their excuses and chased after the Doctor.
‘I think I like him,’ Charlotte as she closed the front door behind them.
‘He has that effect on people,’ Bill said, looking up at Hilary’s scowling face at the window. ‘Ninety-nine per cent of the time.’
‘That much?’ the Doctor said, waiting for them on the pavement, tea still in hand.
‘So now what?’ Charlotte asked as they joined him.
‘Now,’ he replied, looking her straight in the eye, ‘you tell me everything there is to know about the Shining Men.’