Magic of the Angels

Jacqueline Rayner

1 3 5 7 9 1 0 8 6 4 2

Published in 2012 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing

A Random House Group Company

Copyright ©Jacqueline Farrow 2012

Jacqueline Rayner has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this

Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Doctor Who is a BBC Wales production for BBC One.

Executive producers: Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner

BBC, DOCTOR WHO and TARDIS (word marks, logos and devices)

are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used

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Weeping Angels created by Steven Moffat

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Magic of the Angels

Chapter One

Amy Pond looked at the plastic bowler hat with

a Union Jack pattern. 'You're not really going to

wear that, are you?' she asked the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled and raised the hat

politely. 'Yes. It's cool. So is my T-shirt.'

He was wearing a white T-shirt with the

slogan My companion went to London and

all I got was this lousy T-shirt.

Amy rolled her eyes. 'I can't believe you got

them to print that for you!'

'At least he didn't buy the T-shirt that said I'm

with stupid!,' said Amy's husband, Rory. 'I

know he would have made me walk next to him

while he was wearing it.'

'Of course I wouldn't,' said the Doctor. 'I

don't think you're stupid at all. Now, come

on, stupid, we're missing the tour!'

The three friends were on the upper deck of

an open-top red London bus. The sun was

beating down, but the Doctor still wore a

tweed jacket over his T-shirt. He was sitting

at the front next to the tour guide. Amy and

Rory sat on the seat behind them.

The tour guide, whose name was Janet, was

trying to talk about London landmarks. The

Doctor was joining in, but his efforts just

seemed to get on Janet's nerves.

'On your left you can see the Tower of

London,' Janet began. 'Building started in the

year 1066.'

'I've been locked up in there five or six

times,' said the Doctor. He pointed towards the

castle. 'If you squint, you can see my room. It's

that window there.'

Janet's microphone picked up the Doctor's

words. The other tourists laughed, but Janet

ignored him.

'There's also a top secret base below the

tower,' said the Doctor.

Amy tapped him on the shoulder before he

could say any more. 'If it's top secret, perhaps

you shouldn't mention it,' she said.

The Doctor nodded. 'Good point.' He mimed

pulling a zip across his mouth.

He kept quiet until they'd crossed the river

and were passing the Globe theatre. 'That's

where I fought some witch monsters,' he said.

'In the old theatre, I mean, not this new one.

The old one was just a little bit to the left. Of

course, Shakespeare helped me fight the

witches. Good old Shakespeare, he was a lovely

man. His breath smelt a bit, but that's not his

fault. There was no toothpaste back then.'

Everyone on the bus apart from Janet began

to giggle. Amy put on large sunglasses and held

her hand over her mouth. It didn't hide the fact

that she was laughing.

'The London Eye was opened in the year

2000,' Janet tried a bit later. The bus was going

along the South Bank.

'Oh yes,' said the Doctor. 'And then the

Nestenes used it as part of their plan to conquer

Earth. You must remember that. There were

shop-window dummies coming to life.'

It was when the Doctor told the tourists about

a pig flying a spaceship into Big Ben that Janet

snapped.

The bus stopped. The other tourists booed as

the Doctor was led off by the driver. Amy and

Rory followed. Amy was laughing, but Rory

was holding up a hand to hide his face. 'I've

never been thrown off a bus before,' he said.

The Doctor looked puzzled. 'I was only

trying to make things a bit more fun.'

Amy tucked her hand through the Doctor's

arm and led him towards an ice-cream van.

'Never mind. We can still do the tourist thing

like you wanted. We'll just have to walk

instead.'

They sat on the bank of the river eating ice-

cream cones. Boats sailed along the water in

front of them. Children laughed and couples

held hands. 'Mmm,' said Amy, licking a blob of

melting ice cream off the side of her cornet.

'This is perfect.'

'Better than fighting monsters,' Rory added as

he ate the last bite of ice cream. Then he

frowned as he spotted a poster on a wall nearby.

'But it's not quite perfect.'

The Doctor and Amy turned round to see

what he was looking at.

'MISSING since May the sixth. Katie

Henley.'

The photo showed a pretty blonde girl. She

didn't seem much younger than Amy.

It wasn't the first 'MISSING' poster they'd

seen that day. Most of them also showed young

men or women, boys or girls.

The Doctor walked over and put up a hand to

touch the face in the picture. 'So much sadness,'

he said softly. 'The sadness that made her leave

home. The sadness of those left behind.'

Amy joined him. She reached out her hand to

touch his. 'We can't solve every problem,' she

said gently.

'We should be able to!' The Doctor sounded

fierce. 'What's the point of doing what we do if

we can't help everyone?'

'I used to think that too, sometimes,' said

Rory. 'I used to wonder why I became a nurse.

There were so many people I just couldn't help.

In the end I had to accept that helping some

people was better than helping no one.'

'Wise old Rory,' said Amy, smiling. She

linked an arm through his. 'My boys. My boys

who help people.' She linked her other arm

through the Doctor's. 'Come on. We're on

holiday, remember.' The three of them walked

off arm in arm. 'What do you want to do now?'

she asked the Doctor. 'We've been to St Paul's...'

'And we got thrown out of the Whispering

Gallery for shouting,' said Rory.

'They wouldn't let us in to Buckingham

Palace to have tea with the Queen,' said Amy.

The Doctor frowned and pulled a crumpled

paper bag out of his jacket pocket. 'I'd even

brought doughnuts!' he said. 'Her Majesty loves

doughnuts.'

'We were thrown out of Madame Tussaud's

when the Doctor drew on the waxwork of Guy

Fawkes,' said Rory.

'Well, they'd got his moustache wrong,' said

the Doctor. 'Guy was very proud of his

moustache.'

'Now we've been chucked off the open-top

bus tour,' said Amy. 'There can't be many more

things to be thrown out of.'

They were walking along the river as they

talked. The Doctor absent-mindedly took a

doughnut out of the paper bag and bit into it.

Jam squirted all down his chin.

Rory spotted another poster. This one did not

show a missing girl. It was an advert for a

show. 'We've not got thrown out of a theatre

yet,' he pointed out.

'Great idea!' cried the Doctor. 'I love a show.'

He looked at the poster too. 'Sammy Star,

Master of Magic. Lovely!'

'Sammy Star? He sounds like he should be

doing children's parties, not West End shows,'

Amy said.

'Nonsense, it'll be great,' the Doctor told her.

'I love a good magic trick.' He wiped his chin

with a hankie, looking puzzled. 'In fact, I seem

to have made jam magically appear on my

face.'

Rory and Amy looked at each other and

laughed. Still with a puzzled frown on his face,

the Doctor took another doughnut out of the

bag and started to eat it. Rory and Amy laughed

even more.

They crossed the river and wandered through

the streets. Rory and Amy both spotted several

more 'MISSING' notices. Neither of them

pointed out the posters to the Doctor.

They came to Trafalgar Square, and stopped

to look at Nelson's Column. The Doctor patted

the head of one of the huge bronze lions

guarding the base. He pointed out the statues

that stood on plinths at three corners of the

square. The fourth corner also had a plinth, but

it was empty. 'They didn't have enough money

for the last statue,' he told Amy and Rory.

'I'd heard they were showing works of art on

it instead,' said Amy. 'Something new every

year or two.'

The Doctor nodded. 'That's right. I think

they're now looking for something that can stay

on it for good.' He bit into his third doughnut.

'Right. Let's see about getting tickets for the

Sammy Star show!'

Chapter Two

They were sitting in the front row of the stalls.

Any minute now, the lights would go out and

the show would begin.

Amy flicked through a programme. 'Hey, it

says here Sammy Star used to do children's

parties,' she told the others. 'I know I said he

sounded like he did, but that's weird. He must

be pretty good to go from that to the West End.'

'He was on one of those TV talent contests,'

Rory told her. 'It said so on the poster. Britain's

Got Magic, something like that.'

'Oh yeah.' Amy turned a page. 'Got all about

it here. Hang on, though, he didn't win it. "He

was laughed off the programme," it says, "but

he had the last laugh. Sammy Star now has a

sell-out West End show. He has won great

acclaim for the Graveyard Ghosts trick that

forms the finale of his act." Wow. The boy's

done good.'

Rory frowned. 'If this show is a sell-out, how

come we got the best seats in the house?'

The Doctor looked slightly sheepish. 'Oh, I

booked our tickets weeks ago. At least, that's

what they told me at the box office just now. So

I'd better make sure I do it. Remind me to pop

back in time and buy them later, will you? The

universe might collapse if I don't.' As if to

distract them, he quickly added, 'Anyone like a

doughnut?' He put his hand in his pocket and

found only an empty paper bag. 'Someone's

nicked my doughnuts!'

Amy leant across and wiped a splodge of jam

off his face. 'You already ate them, you

doughnut!'

The theatre was almost full now. The only

empty seats were in the row behind the Doctor,

Rory and Amy.

'That's odd,' said the Doctor. He looked over

his shoulder at the empty row. 'If they booked

seats that good you'd think they'd be keen to see

the show. Yet they haven't even turned up.'

'Ooh, this might be them,' said Amy, also

looking behind them. A party of elderly people

was coming down the aisle. They were led by a

middle-aged woman in a navy blue blazer with

gold buttons. She ushered her group into the

empty row, telling them to 'Hurry up! Hurry

up!' much too loudly.

Just as the last of the party sat down, the

lights went out. Amy heard someone behind her

draw in their breath sharply.

'Don't worry, Mrs Hooper, it's just the show

starting,' said a cheerful voice.

Amy thought the voice belonged to the blazer

woman. She wondered why so many people

thought being old was the same as being stupid.

The curtain was raised. A spotlight shone

onto the stage. A figure stood in the middle of

it, head bowed. It wore a black top hat and was

wrapped in a cloak.

There was a rumble of drums. A voice from

above said, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, please

welcome Mr Sammy Star!' The drums crashed

more loudly and another, brighter, spotlight

followed a man swinging down from above. As

he reached the cloaked figure, the swinging

man kicked out. The cloak crumpled into a

heap and the audience gasped.

The top hat rolled away as Sammy Star

landed on the stage. He scooped up the hat and

pulled a large white rabbit out of it. Then he

placed the hat on his head.

Everyone clapped as he took a bow.

'Very nice,' said the Doctor, raising his voice

so Amy could hear him over the applause. 'Of

course, he had a second hat with a rabbit in it

waiting ready for him. That's why the stage was

only lit by spotlights, so we wouldn't spot the

hats being swapped.'

Amy glared at him. 'Don't spoil it!' she

hissed.

Amy could have saved her breath. For each

of Sammy Star's tricks, the Doctor announced

how it was done. He wasn't trying to show off,

Amy knew that. Working out the tricks was just

the bit of the show he enjoyed the most.

It was a shame Sammy Star didn't seem to

enjoy it as much. At first he was clearly trying

to ignore the Doctor. Later he started to twitch

and glare at the front row. Amy was quite

relieved when it came to the interval.

'Having fun?' she asked the Doctor as they

sat in their seats at the front.

He nodded happily. 'Oh yes. Although...' A

frown crossed his face and he stood up. 'Back

in a minute. I just want to check out a few

things.'

Amy and Rory sat for a few moments just

holding hands. 'You don't think something's

wrong, do you?' Amy said after a while.

'Nah,' said Rory although he looked worried.

'Just because we've never had a holiday without

monsters or crashing spaceships before...'

'Well, no monsters so far, and we've been

here almost a day!' said Amy.

'Monster!' The shaky voice came from the

row behind. It was a word that Amy and Rory

couldn't ignore. They both spun round.

The speaker was a member of the elderly

party. She looked to be in her eighties, and tears

were trickling down her cheeks.

Amy knelt up on her seat and reached over

the back to hold the old lady's hand. 'Hey, don't

cry,' she said gently. 'What's the matter?'

'Monster,' the woman repeated through her

sobs.

'Lost,' said the elderly lady in the next seat.

Amy turned her gaze on her. She was also

crying. 'So very lost. So lost we were never

found.'

The woman in the blazer stood up. 'Just

ignore them,' she said to Amy. 'Mrs Hooper!

Mrs Collins! Be quiet now! You're getting on

this nice young girl's nerves.'

'Oh no,' Amy replied. ' They're not getting on

my nerves.' She didn't like to hear people being

spoken to so rudely, when they'd done nothing

to deserve it.

'Well, you're very. kind to say so,' the woman

said. 'She's very kind to say you're not annoying

her!' she told the two old ladies loudly. They

were so keen to come,' she went on, turning

back to Amy. The second they saw the poster

it's been Sammy Star, Sammy Star, day and

night. Now then, Miss Leake, I said to myself,

here's an idea! Wouldn't it be a lovely treat,

taking them to see his show! But they've done

nothing except make a fuss since we got here.

Monsters indeed. Why, they don't know the

meaning of the word!'

'Did you live through the war, Mrs Collins?'

Rory asked softly.

'VE Day...' she whispered back.

He nodded. 'She might have a better idea of

monsters than you think, then,' he told the

woman in the blazer, Miss Leake.

'Everyone all right?' asked the Doctor as he

returned.

'I'm a bit worried, Doctor,' Amy began, but

Miss Leake interrupted her.

'Nothing to worry about at all!' she said. 'We

were just being silly, weren't we, Mrs Collins

and Mrs Hooper?'

'Well, you might have been being silly, I'm

not so sure about them,' muttered Amy under

her breath.

The theatre lights dimmed again. The Doctor

made his way back to his seat. Amy still felt

concerned about the two old ladies, but wasn't

sure what to do. She decided she would tell the

Doctor all about it after the show.

The curtain rose for the second half. The

Doctor didn't talk over the magic this time. He

seemed troubled.

Finally it was time for the big showpiece,

Graveyard Ghosts. Mist swirled across the

stage, which was now covered with gravestones

and statues. Amy shivered to see one that

looked like a stone angel. 'Makes me think of

you know what,' she said to the Doctor under

her breath.

Tall trees twisted at the sides of the stage. A

girl poked her head out from behind a tree, then

crept out to the middle of the stage. She was

young and pretty and dressed in a Victorian-

style white nightgown. Long, dark hair curled

down her back. Suddenly a pale, bony hand

thrust through the turf of a grave.

In the second row of the stalls, Mrs Collins

and Mrs Hooper screamed and screamed and

screamed.

Chapter Three

The old ladies wouldn't stop screaming. The

show kept going, but there were nervous looks

from the people on stage.

Miss Leake was trying to get the two

screaming women to be quiet. Rory went to

join her, and helped lead Mrs Collins and Mrs

Hooper up the centre aisle. Amy was going to

help, but noticed that the Doctor was sitting

still. His eyes hadn't left the stage.

'Shouldn't we see what's wrong?' she asked.

He shook his head, although his eyes didn't

move. 'Rory will cope. Rory will be perfect. I

need to see this show. I need to see it right to

the end.'

Amy was torn. Go with Rory or stay with the

Doctor? She dithered for a second, then sat

back down. The Doctor was right. Rory would

be fine on his own. He was great with old

people. It sounded like the real action would be

here.

On stage, Sammy Star emerged from his

grave, dressed as a skeletal monster. The mist

cleared. The Doctor and Amy watched as the

monster crept up behind the young girl.

She shrieked and tried to run, but sharp

spikes shot through the stage floor in front of

her. She backed away, but spikes sprang up

behind. The 'monster' began to pluck apples

from a twisted tree and throw them. They stuck,

proving the sharpness of the spikes.

More and more spikes herded the girl

towards the base of the tallest tree. She began to

climb. The bark of the tree fell away, revealing

a spiral walkway. Sammy Star scooped up an

armful of daggers and moved underneath.

The girl was running now. Sammy Star thrust

his daggers up through the walkway, each just

missing the girl's feet. Following her, behind

and below, he rammed home dagger after

dagger. The blades stuck there, pointing

upwards, a dangerous, glittering path.

The girl reached the top of the walkway.

There seemed to be no escape for her. Sammy

Star was still climbing up behind, weaving his

way through the dagger points. Below, the

spikes gleamed.

Finally the girl could go no further. She

turned round and there was the monster, facing

her. He held up a hand and opened it to reveal

an apple. The girl tried backing away, but there

was nowhere to go. Sammy Star threw the

apple...

The apple hit the girl. With a scream she

toppled backwards, falling towards the spikes.

Amy gasped. Everyone in the audience

gasped, except the Doctor.

The very instant the girl began to fall, there

came a blinding flash of light from the stage.

Amy blinked her eyes. When her vision

cleared, she could see that the girl had gone. In

the centre of the spiral, amid the spikes, stood

the angel statue.

The crowd began to applaud loudly. There

were even some cheers and whistles.

Amy didn't clap or cheer. Neither did the

Doctor.

'The angel moved...' Amy whispered.

'Oh yes,' replied the Doctor grimly. 'The

angel moved.'

'So it's...'

'It's a Weeping Angel,' said the Doctor. 'A

stone-cold killer. A lonely assassin.'

As the applause died away, the lights on the

stage faded. There was only one spotlight, and

it was on the Weeping Angel.

'We have to keep looking at it...' said Amy

under her breath, scared. 'If we stop looking at

it, it'll move. It'll get more people.'

The curtain fell.

Amy jumped up, thankful she was in the

front row. She ran to the stage and clambered

onto it. The audience murmured, wondering if

this was part of the act. She scrambled under

the curtain.

Two men were carrying the Angel off stage.

'Hey!' Amy called after them.

'Who are you?' said a voice. Amy spun

around. Sammy Star had come back onto the

stage. He was no longer in his graveyard outfit

and was now wearing a purple suit. 'Look, I'll

sign your programme if you wait at the stage

door, but get out of here now, OK? Time for me

to take a bow.'

'I'm not a fan!' Amy told him. 'I'm trying to

save people's lives! Do you know what that

statue is?'

The Doctor pushed through the curtain. 'Oh,

I'm quite sure he doesn't,' he said. 'He only

knows what it can do. He's just using it.'

Sammy Star stared at them for a moment.

The look on his face scared Amy, it was so

fierce.

'No one is going to ruin this for me,' he

snarled. 'No one. Do you hear me? This is my

moment.' He turned to the side of the stage and

beckoned. Two burly men appeared. 'Throw

them out!' he hissed. 'Make sure they don't set

foot in this theatre again.'

'Time to go!' said the Doctor. He took Amy

by the hand and pulled her to the edge of the

stage. They ducked under the curtain, jumped

down and ran up the centre aisle. The security

men were close behind them.

As the audience began to applaud Sammy

Star's curtain call, the Doctor and Amy made it

to the exit. They raced through the foyer, nearly

knocking over a lady selling It's Magic! T-

shirts. 'Oooh,' said the Doctor, pausing for a

second.

'You don't need another T-shirt!' Amy yelled,

dragging him to the doors.

The security men didn't chase them once they

were out of the theatre. They just stood in the

doorway looking fierce.

'Yeah, and stay out!' the Doctor shouted at

them, waving his fist in the air. 'Oh, hang on,

might not have got that quite right...'

The summer sun was low in the sky now.

Amy and the Doctor walked to Trafalgar

Square and sat at the base of Nelson's Column.

'Weeping Angels can. send people back in

time,' Amy said to the Doctor. 'So when the

falling girl vanished, she must have been

zapped into the past.'

The Doctor nodded. 'Oh yes, it's all been very

carefully planned. A Weeping Angel can't move

if anyone's looking at it. The audience can see it

the whole time. Even if they're not looking

straight at it, it's in everyone's field of vision. In

the corner of their eye. Until the very end. The

light flashing so brightly dazzles them all. The

Angel is free and can move. The nearest target

is the falling girl. It touches her and sends her

into the past. Yum yum, nice bit of time energy

for the Angel, and a nice trick for Sammy Star.

All the people applaud.'

'There's one thing I don't get, though,' said

Amy. 'How does he bring her back? How does

he do the trick night after night?'

The Doctor didn't answer. He got up and

walked over to a lamp post. A poster had been

stuck to the black metal and he pulled it off. He

came back and handed it to Amy without a

word.

'HAVE YOU SEEN THIS GIRL?' she read.

'Kylie Duncan, nineteen. Long dark hair and

green eyes. Last seen wearing blue jeans and a

red T-shirt.' She looked up at the Doctor,

puzzled.

'Have you seen this girl?' he echoed. 'Last

seen wearing a long white nightie.'

Amy's mouth fell open as she stared at the

photo on the poster. That's her! That's the girl

we've just seen vanish!'

'People are worried,' said the Doctor.

'Worried enough to report her missing. I expect

Kylie Duncan's mum is crying herself to sleep

every night. She doesn't know she'll never see

her little girl again. No one from this time will

ever see her again.'

He jumped up and began to walk around the

edge of the square. There were posters every

few metres. 'Molly Crane. Brittany Hughes.

Amber Reynolds. Lauren Peters,' he read as he

ripped them all down. 'Each of these girls has a

mum waiting at home. None of those mums

will ever see their daughters again.' Amy had

rarely heard him sound so angry. 'Sammy Star

doesn't bring his assistants back from the past.

He doesn't have to. There are hundreds of girls

out here, friendless and helpless. They come to

London looking for a new start. Of course

they'll jump at the chance to get into showbiz!'

'Oh no,' whispered Amy. 'You mean... it's a

new girl every night? Every show someone else

gets sent back in time? But it's sold out for

months and months!'

'Then the theatre will have to give everyone

their money back,' said the Doctor grimly.

'Tonight was Sammy Star's last show. His last

show ever.'

Chapter Four

Rory helped walk Mrs Collins and Mrs Hooper

back to their minibus. He had an arm round Mrs

Collins and could feel her shaking. Miss Leake

was leading Mrs Hooper.

Miss Leake was in charge of Golden Years

Home for the Elderly. She told Rory this, and a

lot of other things that didn't interest him, as

they walked to the car park. She also kept being

cheerful at the old ladies. 'Now, don't let's be

sillies!' she said. 'It was just a silly old magic

trick, nothing to be scared of. Fancy being

scared of ghosties and ghoulies at your age,

Mrs Collins and Mrs Hooper!'

'Monster...' muttered Mrs Hooper.

'It wasn't a real monster, it was just a young

lad. Like this lad here!' Miss Leake said,

waving a hand at Rory. 'You're not scared of

him, now, are you?'

Rory thought that Sammy Star must be at

least fifteen years older than him. He didn't

mention it, though. It was hard to get a word in

edgeways when Miss Leake was talking.

'Lost,' said Mrs Collins. 'So lost.'

'You're not lost, Mrs Collins! We're in

London – LONDON,' said Miss Leake loudly.

'Now you just need to get on the bus and we'll

take you home. I said, we'll take you BACK

HOME. Back to lovely Golden Years for a cup

of cocoa then beddy-byes.'

Miss Leake unlocked the minibus and Rory

helped the two ladies up the steps. 'Now I'm

going to ask this young man to be very kind,'

said Miss Leake to her charges. 'I'm going to

ask him to stay here with you while I go back

for the others. I hope they've not got up to

mischief while I've been gone!'

She turned to Rory and gave him a would-be

winning smile. 'Now, you don't mind waiting,

do you? I won't be long. I can't leave my girls

alone, though!'

Rory nodded. 'That's fine.'

'There, do you hear that? He says it's fine. It's

FINE. You don't have to worry, because he's a

nurse,' Miss Leake said, with a little giggle in

her voice. 'Oh, they love a male nurse, do my

old dears! Maybe you should be the one to

worry!'

Rory forced a smile onto his face. 'I'm sure

we'll be OK.'

Miss Leake went off, still giggling a little to

herself. Rory shut the door of the minibus, and

sat down on a seat. Mrs Collins and Mrs

Hooper were in the seat behind, and he

swivelled round to talk to them. 'Are you all

right?' he asked.

They nodded slowly. The tears had stopped

falling now, but both old ladies still looked sad.

They had a haunted look, Rory thought, as if

they were thinking of a past tragedy.

They all sat in silence for a while. The two

women were holding hands tightly, clinging to

each other for comfort.

'What was it, Mrs Collins?' Rory asked softly

after a while. 'What's the matter? What scared

you?'

'Kylie,' she said.

Rory just gazed at her in surprise. It seemed a

very odd thing to be scared of.

'Kylie,' she repeated. 'My name. Call me

Kylie. Not Mrs Collins.'

'Amber,' said Mrs Hooper. 'I'm Amber. I'm

not mad.'

'Of course you're not,' said Rory. 'Who says

you are?'

'We have to be careful,' said Mrs Hooper. She

didn't seem to be talking to Rory, her eyes were

looking far away. 'We mustn't tell the truth.

They'll think we're mad.'

'We'll get locked up if we tell the truth,'

added Mrs Collins.

'Is something bad going on?' Rory asked,

worried now. 'Is something bad going on at the

Golden Years home?'

To his relief, Mrs Hooper shook her head.

'Not there,' she said. 'A long time ago. A very

long time ago.'

Mrs Collins nodded fiercely. 'A very long

time ago,' she agreed. 'Today. A very long time

ago today.'

Rory had thought he was getting somewhere,

but that answer made no sense at all.

'It was VE Day,' said Mrs Hooper. 'Victory in

Europe. I didn't know what that meant, then.

We didn't do it at school.'

'They asked me why I was in my nightie,'

said Mrs Collins. 'Why I was walking around in

a daze.'

Mrs Hooper almost smiled. 'I was dazed too.

They said there was a girl like me, a girl who

was confused. They wondered if we knew each

other. That's how we met. We've stuck together

ever since.' She squeezed her friend's hand.

'They said it must have been a bomb,' said

Mrs Collins. 'A bomb must have come down

and hurt our heads. That's why we didn't know

what had happened.'

Mrs Hooper nodded. They said they'd

thought the last Doodlebug had fallen months

ago. People were upset to think there'd been

more bombs. They said it would be the last one,

though. There was peace in Europe at last. We

knew it wasn't a bomb, but we didn't know

what had really happened. So we went along

with it.' She paused. 'We knew there must have

been other girls, but we didn't look for them. It's

not the sort of thing you can ask people.'

'They made us join their party,' said Mrs

Collins. 'It was the biggest party I'd ever seen.

Right there in Trafalgar Square. They were all

so happy. We danced and danced and danced.

We were so scared and so lost, but we danced.'

'I danced with a soldier,' said Mrs Hooper.

'His name was Albert. It was a summer's day

like this when we got married...' Tears began to

fall from her eyes again, and she began to sing.

'It may be an hour, it may be a week...'

Mrs Collins lifted her voice and joined in. ' It

may be fifty years... '

Rory felt tears pricking at his eyes too. The

two old ladies were so sad, yet so dignified.

The moment was broken. The door to the

minibus clunked open, and Miss Leake began

helping elderly people up the steps. 'Everything

all right?' she called to Rory, but didn't wait for

an answer. 'I'm sure you've been fine, even with

that cheeky pair! Mrs Collins and Mrs Hooper

are so naughty sometimes. They do play such

jokes. Why, the other day they tried to tell me

they were born in 1993! 1893 more like, I said,

didn't I, Mrs Hooper? But you will have your

little joke.' She didn't seem to care or even

notice that Mrs Hooper ignored her.

When the old people were seated, Rory got

up and walked down the bus to the door. 'Bye

then,' he said to Miss Leake.

'Goodbye, and thank you so much,' she

replied, sitting herself down in the driver's seat.

'Oh! By the way! You know those friends you

were with? That nice red-haired girl and the

young man in the plastic bowler hat?' Rory

nodded. 'Well, they got thrown out of the

theatre! Awful, isn't it? So I wouldn't go back

there looking for them if I were you.'

Rory sighed and shut the bus door behind

him. Amy and the Doctor had been thrown out

of yet another place. Lucky he still had his

mobile phone. He kept it with him out of habit.

At least in England around his own time it

should work.

As he moved away from the minibus, he

could hear the whole busload of elderly people

joining in the song. ' It may be an hour, it may

be a week, it may be fifty years. But I know we

will find loving hearts still entwined, on the day

we meet again. '

The wartime song always made him think of

Amy. He'd waited nearly 2,000 years for her.

Fifty years was nothing compared to that. The

song told the truth, though. Even after all that

time, their love had still been strong.

Rory smiled.

Chapter Five

They met in Trafalgar Square.

'There was a VE Day party here,' Rory told

the Doctor and Amy as he sat down beside

them. He was still thinking of the two old

ladies, Mrs Collins and Mrs Hooper.

The Doctor nodded. 'Eighth of May, 1945.

Thousands gathered here. Churchill made a

speech and they played it over loudspeakers.'

'Good old Winston,' said Amy. 'What?' she

cried as Rory gave her a look. 'I can namedrop

too! It's not just the Doctor who's been

everywhere and met everyone.'

'I wasn't at the VE Day party,' the Doctor

pointed out. 'I just heard about it from other

people.' He sighed. 'One happy day. One great

big happy day for them all. Then real life got

them again. Japan was still fighting the war.

Everyone had lost loved ones. Homes had been

bombed. There were no bananas.'

'They were there,' said Rory. 'Those two old

ladies. They were at the Trafalgar Square party

on VE Day. Strange to think of it, really. More

than sixty-five years ago. They'd just have been

teenagers, and they were dancing right here.

Maybe on this very spot.' He smiled. 'Poor old

dears. I couldn't really follow what they were

saying. I tell you what was weird, though. They

were called Kylie and Amber. You don't think

of old people being called Kylie or Amber, do

you?'

'Hang on,' said Amy, looking shocked.

'Doctor...'

The Doctor stiffened. For a moment he didn't

say a word, then started leafing through the pile

of posters beside him. He picked out the one he

had shown Amy earlier, and another of a blonde

girl. He held them up so Rory could see them.

MISSING: KYLIE DUNCAN. MISSING:

AMBER REYNOLDS.

Rory frowned. He took the poster of Amber

Reynolds and stared at it. 'I don't understand...'

'That's because you missed the end of the

show,' said Amy. 'We've got a lot to tell you.

Sammy Star is using a Weeping Angel in his

act. It's sending girls back into the past.'

'I think you've just found out where in the

past they're ending up,' the Doctor told Rory.

'One minute they're in a West End theatre in the

twenty-first century...'

'... and the next they're in 1945. At a party in

Trafalgar Square,' finished Rory. 'Oh no.' He

jumped up. 'We've got to go and rescue them!

We know where they are and when they are, so

we can go in the TARDIS!'

The Doctor shook his head. 'We also know

they stay there, in that time. They grow old.'

'We could get them back to their own time!'

Rory cried.

'They get back to their own time,' said the

Doctor. 'They just take the long route. It takes

them about sixty-seven years.' He shook his

head again. 'I'm sorry, Rory. We can't change

that.' He stood up. 'But we can make sure it

doesn't happen to anyone else. Come on, Ponds,

we're going back to the theatre. We've got less

than twenty-four hours to stop Sammy Star.'

*

The sign above the theatre was still lit up. The

words Sammy Star's Magic Show! shone out.

'The city never sleeps!' the Doctor said. He

rattled the theatre doors. They were locked. 'It

seems the people who work here do sleep,

though. Never mind.' He pulled the sonic

screwdriver out of his pocket. 'I have a key.'

The foyer looked haunted in the gloom, more

haunted than the stage graveyard. They crept

across it in silence and went through a door

marked NO ENTRANCE.

'I know the way,' the Doctor whispered. 'I

went for a snoop around during the interval. I

had a feeling something was wrong. My

seventh sense.'

'Don't you mean sixth sense?' asked Rory.

'No,' said the Doctor. 'I already have six well-

used senses. This was my just as well-used but

often ignored Finding Evil sense. Of course all

my senses are finely honed - ooof.'

He broke off as he walked straight into a

large security guard.

'What are you doing here?' growled the

guard.

The Doctor fumbled in his pocket and

brought out his psychic paper. 'I've come to

inspect the magic,' he said, holding out the open

wallet. The guard peered at the blank paper,

seeing only what the Doctor wanted him to see.

'Says here you're with the Magic Oval,' he

said.

'Ah yes,' said the Doctor as he brushed

himself down. 'It's like the Magic Circle, only...

stretched. We inspect tricks at night so no one

else finds out how they're done. If you could

just escort us to Sammy Star's prop store, we'll

get on with our checks.'

He made to walk past the guard, but the burly

man put out an arm to stop him. 'Does Mr Star

know about this? He never said you were

coming.'

The Doctor tutted. 'Well, of course he doesn't

know. It wouldn't be a random secret magic

check at night if he knew about it. You've heard

of secret shoppers? They buy things in shops

and then report back on the service.'

The guard nodded his head.

'Well, we're secret magic-checkers. We check

the tricks then report back to the Magic Oval.'

Amy held her breath. For a moment it looked

like the guard might let them through.

'Well...' he said. Then he paused. 'Hey,

haven't I seen you before?'

The Doctor looked puzzled. 'I don't think so.

I've just got one of those faces.'

'Yes I have!' The man frowned. 'I threw you

out of here an hour ago. I noticed your plastic

bowler hat at the time.'

'Lots of people wear these!' the Doctor said.

'They're cool.'

'No they don't,' muttered Amy under her

breath. 'And no they're not.'

'Yeah, but I also noticed your funny T-shirt

and that you had a red-headed girl with you,'

said the man. 'Come on, you're not fooling me.

You're trying to nick something so you can

cheat in the contest tomorrow. Well, you're out

of luck. Out you go!'

*

'And stay out!' the Doctor yelled as he landed

on the pavement for the second time that

evening.

'I already have "theatre" on my list of places

we've been thrown out of,' Amy complained.

'We could at least have found somewhere new.'

'Well, look on the bright side,' said the

Doctor. 'At least we were thrown out before we

got to the guard dogs. They looked fierce.'

Amy blinked. 'There were guard dogs?'

'Just a couple. I saw them when I was

scouting around during the interval. Oh, and a

lot of padlocks. Sammy Star really doesn't want

people going through his props.'

'So what do we do now?' asked Rory.

The Doctor didn't answer at once. He looked

deep in thought. 'We've got to find a way of

getting into the prop store,' he said after a

moment.

The others nodded.

'We need to do it before the next show. The

Angel mustn't get any more girls.'

They nodded again.

'Did anyone else hear that guard mention a

contest?'

Amy and Rory nodded again. 'I don't know

what he was talking about, though,' said Amy.

The Doctor jumped up. 'One way to find out!'

He went back over to the theatre. The guard

could still be seen in the foyer, his shadow on

the window. The Doctor found a letterbox in the

main door, and knelt down to it. 'Excuse me!'

he called through the letterbox. 'What contest

were you talking about just then?'

A few seconds later a flyer plopped out onto

the pavement from the other side of the

letterbox. The Doctor picked it up. 'Thank you!'

he called.

He rejoined Amy and Rory. 'Aha!' he said.

'What do you think about this, then?'

Amy took the flyer from him and read it.

'Have you got what it takes? If you think

you're as good as Sammy Star, come to the

Britain's Got Magic try-outs. Show your tricks

to TV judges Austin Hart, Daisy Mead and Bill

Evans. With special guest judge, Sammy Star.'

'So?' said Rory. 'It's a thing for daft people

who want to get on telly.'

'Yes,' agreed the Doctor. 'The thing is,

though, the try-outs are tomorrow, and they're

at this theatre.'

'Right!' Amy got it. 'You mean you're going

to enter?'

'Not quite,' said the Doctor. 'I mean, we're

going to enter. Just call us daft people who want

to get on telly. We're just going to rescue a few

damsels in distress at the same time.'

Chapter Six

The Doctor, Rory and Amy were making

plans.

'We have to go to the try-outs in disguise,' the

Doctor said. 'Sammy Star might spot us. So

might that guard, if he's around. Even if I take

my cool hat off.'

'I'd suggest taking your cool hat off anyway,'

said Amy. 'You know, just in case.'

'I've seen those programmes on TV,' said

Rory. 'People queue up for hours to get in. We'll

have to get there really early in the morning.'

'No, well have to get there really early in the

morning,' the Doctor told him.

Rory looked puzzled. 'Er, that's what I said.'

'No,' the Doctor told him. 'You said "we"

meaning you, me and Amy. I said "we"

meaning just me and Amy. I've got another job

for you, Rory.'

He told the others what he had in mind. Rory

would go to the Golden Years Home for the

Elderly. There he'd talk to Kylie Collins and

Amber Hooper and find out all they knew about

Sammy Star. Meanwhile, he and Amy would

disguise themselves and go to the theatre. Once

inside, they'd find out where the Weeping Angel

was being kept.

'What do we do when we find it?' Amy

asked.

'Good question,' said the Doctor. 'Great

question, in fact.' He stopped.

'So what's the answer to my great question?'

said Amy.

The Doctor looked slightly sheepish. 'Well,

I'm sure I'll have worked out something by

then. We'll have a whole day to sort it out. Rory,

make sure you're back by the evening for the

show.'

'Right,' said Rory. 'You can count on me.'

'Good,' said the Doctor. 'Because I have a

feeling we're going to need all the help we can

get.'

*

The next morning, Rory caught a tube then a

train and made his way to the Golden Years

Home for the Elderly.

He hadn't been keen on Miss Leake, but was

quite glad when she opened the door. At least

she knew who he was.

'I was, er, just passing,' he said stiffly. He

didn't like telling even little white lies. 'So I

thought I'd pop in and see how Mrs Collins and

Mrs Hooper are today.'

Miss Leake beamed at him. 'Oh, it's the nice

young man from last night! Well now, aren't

you sweet? Come on through, they'll be so

thrilled!'

She led him into a large room. High-backed

chairs were all around the edge, each with a

tiny table next to it. Every chair held an elderly

person, and every table held a cup of tea. A TV

set blared in one corner, but no one was

watching it. They were all staring ahead at

nothing. Although the sun shone brightly, the

French windows onto the garden remained

firmly shut.

'Mrs Hooper! Mrs Collins! I've brought a

visitor for you!' shouted Miss Leake. 'Isn't that

nice? They're very pleased to see you,' she

added to Rory, although they hadn't even

looked at him.

'Er, I'll be OK from here,' Rory said, hoping

to get rid of her. To his relief, she just patted his

hand and left the room.

He went over to the two elderly ladies, who

were sitting next to each other. Not seeing any

spare seats, Rory moved an empty cup and sat

on the table between them. Then he stood up

again. This is silly,' he said. 'Let's go into the

garden.'

Mrs Hooper and Mrs Collins looked as

though he'd suggested bunking off school. For a

second, he saw the cheeky schoolgirls they'd

been once. Of course, if the Doctor was right,

these old ladies had been schoolgirls only a few

months ago.

Rory opened the French windows and helped

the two ladies over the step into the garden.

They all sat down on a little bench by a rose

bed.

'It's lovely out here,' said Rory. 'You ought to

come outside more. Not just sit indoors.'

'There's no point,' said Mrs Hooper dully.

Mrs Collins raised her face to the sun. 'It

makes me think of being young,' she said.

'What happened when you were young?'

asked Rory softly. 'Can you tell me?'

She shut her eyes, letting the sun play on her

eyelids. 'We got lost,' she said.

'Lost,' Mrs Hooper echoed. 'We were so lost.'

'That's what I want you to tell me about,' said

Rory. 'I want to hear about the time you were

lost. It was Sammy Star, wasn't it? It was him

who sent you back in time.'

There was silence. Rory didn't want to rush

them, but after a few seconds asked again. 'Was

it Sammy Star who sent you back in time?'

Mrs Hooper gave a loud gulp. Rory looked at

her, and found to his horror that she was crying.

Both old ladies were crying, huge, choking

sobs. 'Please don't cry!' he said helplessly.

Mrs Collins smiled. In fact, Rory could now

see that they were both smiling through the

tears. He was surprised. 'You're not upset?' he

asked.

'It was real, then...' Mrs Collins whispered. 'It

really happened.'

'We're not mad!' said Mrs Hooper. 'We were

never mad!'

'Of course you're not mad,' said Rory. 'If you

knew some of the things I'd seen... No, you're

really not mad. It really happened, all of it.'

'We had to forget,' Mrs Hooper went on. 'We

could never talk about it. It felt like it was a

dream from long ago.'

'You saw Sammy Star, though,' said Rory.

'Miss Leake said you saw the poster and kept

talking about him. You knew who he was, didn't

you?'

'He was just part of a dream. Someone we

might have seen long ago. Then the dream

came true.'

Rory leant forward. 'Please will you try to

think back? It could really help.'

'So long ago.' Mrs Hooper shook her head. 'It

was so long ago. We had to forget...'

It was long ago for them, Rory knew, but it

was happening right now too. Somehow he had

to get them to recall the past. It might save

some other girl from going through the same

thing.

He had a sudden thought. The MISSING

poster of Amber Reynolds. He didn't think he'd

given it back to the Doctor. Had he folded it up

and put it in his pocket? Yes! There it was. He

pulled out the poster and unfolded it. Then he

handed the paper to Mrs Hooper.

'Amber Reynolds,' he said. 'Was that you?'

She put out a nervous hand but stopped,

seeming too scared to touch the picture.

'Reynolds,' she whispered. 'That was my name

before I married Albert.'

'Think back,' said Rory softly. 'Think back to

who you were then. To what happened to you.'

Mrs Hooper wiped her tears away. Then,

after taking a deep breath, she spoke. 'It was

Max.'

Rory was puzzled. He'd not heard of a Max.

Was this Max in league with Sammy Star?

'What did Max do?' he asked.

She smiled. 'Oh, he was so lovely. He would

run up and give me a great big lick when I

came home from school.'

'Oh, Max was your dog!' said Rory in relief

as he figured it out.

'I loved him so much. He was my only friend.

Dad hit me. Mum let him. Max cared, though.

He loved me as much as I loved him. Then...'

'Yes?' Rory asked, as she paused.

'Then my dad sold him. That was the thing

that made me run away. He was my dog and my

friend, and my dad sold him. A stranger came to

the door and offered him loads of money for

Max, and my dad said yes.'

'That's awful,' said Rory.

She nodded. 'I thought I could earn lots of

money in London. Then I could find the

stranger somehow and buy Max back. Instead I

got... lost. I never saw Max again. I hope he

was happy.' Tears ran down her cheeks again

and this time she didn't brush them away.

Rory gave her a few moments with her long-

ago grief. Then he asked, 'What happened then?

What went on when you got to London?'

She didn't answer. 'Please,' he tried again. 'I

have to know. The Doctor's counting on me to

find out.'

'The Doctor?' said Mrs Hooper at last. 'I think

I met a doctor. Back then. Back in the dream.'

'No,' said Rory. 'This isn't a doctor - it's the

Doctor. Not someone you see when you're ill.'

'I thought he was mad,' she said, not taking

any notice. 'Him and the red-haired girl. Both

of them, mad.' She sighed. 'They were the last

people I saw before I was lost.'

Rory didn't like the sound of that at all. A

mad doctor and a mad red-headed girl. That just

had to be the Doctor and Amy. That meant that

the young Amber Reynolds was still out there

somewhere. She hadn't been sent back in time

yet.

Whatever the Doctor was up to, it seemed as

though his plan was doomed to fail.

Miss Leake came out into the garden. She

had a folded magazine under one arm and was

carrying a cup. 'I wondered where you were!'

she said. 'All of you out here, now mind you

don't catch the sun.' She handed the cup to

Rory. 'I just knew you'd like a nice cup of tea.'

Rory thanked her, even though he didn't want

a cup of tea

'See, they're fine this morning after a good

night's sleep,' Miss Leake carried on. She didn't

seem to mind that the people she was talking

about were in front of her. Waving the

magazine at the two women, she said, 'Look,

that nice Sammy Star's going to be on TV

soon!' She turned back to Rory. 'They'll enjoy

that. It'll make up for all the silly upset at the

show yesterday.'

Rory didn't agree, but he nodded. He wanted

her to leave so he could find out more from Mrs

Hooper. Then, as she tucked the magazine back

under her arm, he noticed a photo on the open

page. It showed Sammy Star in front of a

gravestone, holding an apple. 'Could I just have

a look at that, please?' he asked, taking it from

her before she could answer.

He read the first few lines. 'Oh no,' he said.

'Now we're really in trouble.'

Chapter Seven

The Doctor had rooted through the TARDIS

wardrobe for costumes. He was now wearing a

frilly white shirt with ruffles, and a long floppy

black bow-tie. He'd swapped his tweed jacket

for a velvet one. Over the top he wore a black

cape with red satin lining and arm-hole slits.

'Do I look like a magician?' he asked Amy as he

posed in front of a mirror.

'Very magic,' she said. 'The trousers are a bit

long, though.'

'Well, I was quite a lot taller when I last wore

this outfit,' he said. 'Now come on, try yours

on.'

Amy held up the sparkly silver one-piece

catsuit. 'I think it's a bit small for me,' she said.

'Nonsense! You'll just have to show your

ankles,' the Doctor told her. 'It's perfect for Amy

Pond, the magician's helper.'

Amy went behind a screen and began to

change. 'Yeah, why do I have to be the helper?'

she said. 'Why can't I do the magic?'

'All right,' said the Doctor, rather to her

surprise. 'You do the magic then.' He paused.

'How many magic tricks do you know?'

Amy popped her head round the screen.

'None,' she said, 'as you're well aware. How

many tricks do you know?'

The Doctor produced a large bunch of silk

flowers from up one sleeve and handed it to her.

'Loads!'

'OK,' she said in a mock-grumpy voice. 'You

win. You do the magic.' She emerged from

behind the screen and did a twirl.

The Doctor picked up a dark wig and

plonked it on her head. 'There. Perfect.'

'Should we come up with a plan?' Amy asked

the Doctor. 'Are we just going to go on stage

and make it up as we go along?'

'Making things up as we go along is what I

do best,' said the Doctor. 'Oh, all right, we'll

plan ahead. Just this once.' He searched through

a pile of stuff and came up with a large carpet

bag. 'OK, let's collect up all the things we need.

Chains, sack, handcuffs, large wooden box...'

It took about half an hour, but in the end they

found all the things the Doctor wanted. 'They'll

never fit in that bag,' Amy said, looking at the

man-size wooden cabinet. The Doctor told her

that the bag was bigger on the inside than the

outside, and pushed the things in one by one.

Once all the items were inside, even the

cabinet, he shut the clasp of the carpet bag with

a loud snap.

'I'm glad I got this back from Mary Poppins,'

he said. 'Shall we go?'

'Hang on,' said Amy,' I don't suppose you've

got another bag like that, have you? Handbag-

sized. You know what it's like, lipstick, hankie,

sunglasses, keys and then there's no room for

the kitchen sink.'

The Doctor delved into the heap of things

again, then handed her a tiny shoulder bag.

'Ooh, silver to match,' she said. She put her

sunglasses and sun lotion into the bag. Then the

Doctor's bunch of silk flowers, and a silk scarf.

Then she tried to fit in a hat stand but couldn't

manage it. 'Oh well, you can't have it all,' she

said with a shrug.

'Ready now?' asked the Doctor, pretending to

look at a watch.

Amy grinned. 'Yes, I'm ready!'

'Well, then, come along, Pond - let's make

magic!'

*

The queue was already halfway round Trafalgar

Square when the Doctor and Amy arrived.

People of all shapes, sizes and ages were

waiting to get in. Some were dressed in normal

clothes. Some wore top hats or spangly outfits.

One wore a tiger costume.

They joined the end of the line. In front of

them, a man in glasses was working on card

tricks. Next to him, a girl was trying to keep

hold of a squirming rabbit.

'What's your act, then, mate?' asked a man

with a top hat on his head.

'I escape,' said the Doctor.

The man sniffed. 'Been at it long?'

'Hmm.' The Doctor thought about it for a

second. 'About a thousand years. Give or take a

century or so. Escape, capture, escape, capture,

pretty much the story of my lives.'

'Yeah, I know what you mean, mate,' the top-

hatted man agreed.

By the time the theatre opened its doors, the

end of the queue was out of sight. 'I hope we're

not out here too long,' Amy said, popping on

her sunglasses. 'I'm cooking like a Christmas

turkey in tinfoil in this silver get-up. The wig's

making my head sweat, too.'

'Thanks for sharing that,' said the Doctor.

Amy wrinkled her nose at him.

People started to go into the theatre through

one door. After about ten minutes, the first

people left again by another door. They all

looked upset. The man in the tiger suit was

crying.

'Get a life!' Amy whispered to the Doctor.

'Crying because you don't get on a TV show,

that's pretty sad.'

'Be kind,' said the Doctor. 'Some people don't

know there's a whole universe out there.'

'Well, they should try finding out,' said Amy.

It was some time before the Doctor and Amy

got to the doors of the theatre. A guard was

standing outside, stopping people getting in

before they were wanted. To Amy's relief, it

wasn't the guard they'd met the night before.

She wasn't sure their disguises were really good

enough to fool anyone. People tended not to

forget the Doctor.

After a few more minutes, the guard waved

them into the foyer.

A man with a clipboard came up to them. He

handed them a piece of card with a number on

it. 'You will be shown into the theatre. When

your number is called you will go on the stage.

The judges and Sammy Star will be sitting in

the front row. You may begin when they tell

you to. Your act should take no more than three

minutes. The judges may stop you and ask you

to leave at any point. Got that?'

'Yes, sir!' said Amy, giving him a salute. 'Has

he been taking lessons from the Daleks?' she

whispered to the Doctor.

They had to sign a form. Amy spotted that

the Doctor had signed it 'Fred Astaire', so she

signed it 'Ginger Rogers'. The man didn't seem

to notice. He ushered them in to the main

theatre and went to tell the rules to the next

person.

A short, stocky girl in top hat and tails was

on the stage. 'Just one more trick,' she pleaded,

taking her hat off her head and pulling some

flags out of it.

'Thank you, we've seen quite enough,'

someone said from the stalls. 'That's a No from

me.'

Amy peered into the seats. She'd seen the

three judges on TV before. That voice belonged

to Austin Hart, a tall, smug-looking man

covered in fake tan. Next to him was Bill Evans

who was short, bald and Welsh. The only

woman in the line-up was Daisy Mead, a model

who'd married a pop star.

'Enough for a life time,' said Bill Evans.

'Don't give up the day job, love. No from me.'

Daisy Mead drawled, 'I don't want to be

cruel, right? It was just dreadful though. Really

bad.'

'So that's a hat-trick of "No"s for your hat

trick,' sniggered Austin Hart. 'Sammy? Do you

have any comments to add?'

'Learning magic is hard work,' said Sammy

Star. 'It's also lonely.' The girl on stage nodded.

'For some people it's worth it. For you, it isn't.

You're awful.'

The girl burst into tears. She put the hat back

on her head, flags hanging over her ears.

Amy turned to the Doctor. 'That's really

mean. Do they have to be so nasty? So her

magic's not great. What have they done with

their lives?'

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. 'For some

people, being mean to others is the point of

their lives. They're the ones you should be

feeling sorry for. It must be worse than being a

Cyberman.'

As the girl shuffled off the stage, a voice

called 'Number thirty-seven, please.'

'Ooh, that's us!' said the Doctor. He nudged

Amy, and led her onto the stage.

'Name?' asked Austin Hart.

'I'm Doctor Daring,' said the Doctor giving

them a wave, 'and this is the Amazing Amy, my

lovely helper.' Amy smiled and did a twirl.

'What's your act?'

The Doctor bowed. 'I am an escape artist. In

fact, I am the best escape artist you will ever

see.'

All four of the judges started laughing.

The Doctor turned to Amy. 'You know, I

think they might be laughing at us, rather than

laughing with us. That's not very nice.'

'Well, let's give them something to laugh

about,' said Amy, opening the carpet bag. She

pulled out the chains with a flourish and began

to wind them around the Doctor. Next out of the

bag came three huge padlocks. She displayed

them to the watchers, then linked them through

the chains. One by one, she snapped them shut.

The Doctor wriggled his fingers, showing he

was held firm by the chains. Amy faced him

and raised her eyebrows. He gave a slight nod.

That was their signal to show the bonds were

loose enough for him. He had to seem trapped,

but still be able to reach his sonic screwdriver.

So far things were going as planned. Amy

pulled a sack out of the bag and placed it over

the Doctor's head. He gave her a wink before

the cloth covered his face. She then produced a

large wooden cabinet from the bag. Although

such a big box could never have fitted in a bag

of that size, no one clapped. Amy almost

laughed. The judges thought an alien wonder

was just a cheap trick! They really were

clueless.

Getting the box into the right place was the

most crucial part of the Doctor's plan. He'd told

Amy just where it had to be placed on the stage.

She had to be careful while looking careless.

The watchers mustn't guess that she was putting

the cabinet on top of a trapdoor.

Certain it was in the right place, Amy stepped

away from the box. She tapped it hard on all

sides to show it was solid. Then she ushered the

bound Doctor into it. Using handcuffs, she

fixed him to metal rings inside the box. When it

was clear that the Doctor was helpless, she shut

the door on him.

For Amy, the next few minutes would be

tricky. All eyes were on her, and she had to

keep it that way. The Doctor needed all the time

she could buy him.

'Trapped in this box!' she cried. 'How will he

escape his bonds?'

The seconds ticked past slowly as she danced

around the cabinet. Whenever she was behind

it, out of sight of the judges, she rattled a piece

of chain. That would make people think the

Doctor was trying to escape inside the box.

At last someone called out, Three minutes are

up.'

'Just a bit longer!' she called back. She put

her ear to the box, acting as if she could hear a

voice from inside. 'He's nearly free!'

'Do us a favour, love!' said Bill Evans.

'You're wasting our time.'

'Well spotted. That's the point,' muttered Amy

to herself.

'You're going to have to let him out now,' said

Austin, sounding bored.

'I am, like, so asleep already,' said Daisy

Mead.

Amy smiled and pretended to try the door.

'It's stuck!' she said. 'Hold on, give me a

moment.' She made a show of pulling the

handle. 'No, really stuck. Sorry!'

'Hang on a minute,' came an angry voice. 'I

know that accent.' Sammy Star jumped up from

his seat and stormed onto the stage. Amy

ducked round behind the box. She was able to

waste quite a few more seconds as Sammy Star

chased her round and round.

The judges cheered from the stalls. 'This is

the best thing we've seen yet!' called Austin

Hart.

It couldn't go on for ever, of course. Sammy

Star caught up with Amy and grabbed hold of

her wig. 'Aha! I thought so!' he cried as her

long red hair tumbled out. The Scottish redhead

from last night! She's a spy,' he told the judges.

'She's trying to ruin my act, her and this Doctor

Daring friend of hers.'

'Yeah, but he's, like, stuck in that box, yeah?'

said Daisy Mead. 'So he's not doing anything, is

he?'

Sammy Star hissed through his teeth. He

shoved Amy out of the way and opened the

box.

It was empty.

'Oh, sorry, did we say this was an escape act?

It's really a disappearing act,' said Amy. She

grinned. 'Our mistake.'

Chapter Eight

As soon as Amy shut the door of the box, the

Doctor set to work. He'd hidden the sonic

screwdriver up his sleeve, and now he shook it

down into his hand. Amy had been careful to

leave the chains loose enough to allow him to

do that.

A couple of quick buzzes from the

screwdriver made the chains and padlocks fall

away, followed by the handcuffs. The Doctor

pulled the sack off his head and knelt down.

He'd watched Sammy Star's act closely.

Sammy had appeared from a 'grave' as if by

magic. The Doctor had worked out that there

must be a trapdoor in the stage. He'd told Amy

to put the cabinet over that exact spot. Now he

opened the trapdoor and climbed down.

There was just enough space to stand up

under the stage. He shut the trapdoor behind

him, then looked around. A dim light showed a

door to one side. The Doctor went through it

and found himself in the heart of the theatre.

There were no guards or dogs as no intruder

was supposed to get this far in. This was the

place he'd been searching for, Sammy Star's

prop store.

There was a keypad by the storeroom door. A

sequence of numbers would be needed to

unlock it.

Just as he was about to attack the lock with

the sonic screwdriver, he heard movement.

There was someone inside the room. It couldn't

be Sammy Star, as he was still upstairs in the

theatre. The Doctor shrugged and knocked on

the door. It seemed the easiest way.

'Who is it?' a girl's voice called from inside

the room.

'It's me,' the Doctor called back. He'd noticed

before that people often accepted that without

asking who 'me' was.

Sure enough, the door was opened from

inside. A girl stood there. She had long black

hair and wore a white Victorian-style

nightdress. The Doctor did a double-take, but a

second look showed it wasn't Kylie Duncan.

She was in the past now, the Doctor knew. It

must be that Sammy Star chose girls who

looked alike. That way people wouldn't notice it

was a new girl every night.

'Hello?' said the girl.

'Hello, I'm the Doctor,' replied the Doctor

cheerfully. He shut the door behind him and

was inside the room before she knew what had

happened.

He looked around with interest. A cage in a

corner held a large, sad white rabbit with floppy

ears. Plastic gravestones leant against the walls.

There was a full-length mirror on a stand.

Chains and ropes dangled from hooks. A dozen

costumes hung from a rail.

Next to the rabbit's cage was a tall box. It

was about the same size and shape as the one

he'd been locked in. He smiled, thinking of

Amy still dancing around on the stage.

As the girl watched, confused, he ran the

sonic screwdriver across the box. 'Hmm,' he

said, glancing at a reading. 'Lead-lined.'

'No one's allowed to touch that box!' the girl

cried. 'That's why the door was locked!'

'Well, yes, he would have told you that,' said

the Doctor. 'Wouldn't want anything to happen

to you before tonight, would he?'

'What do you mean?'

The Doctor stared straight at her. 'We're

going to have a little talk in a minute. Then

you're going to leave. You're in danger here.'

'I was in danger out there, Doctor Whoever-

you-are,' she said. 'It's not much fun being on

the streets. This bloke's offering me a good job,

good money, a chance of being on the telly.'

'Where you'll end up, there isn't any telly!'

the Doctor told her. 'They stopped broadcasts

during the war and it doesn't begin again until

1946. Even then it's pretty much only Muffin

the Mule and the News!'

'You're mad,' the girl said.

'Yes, yes, yes,' said the Doctor. 'Now, are you

going to help me steal this box or not?'

She stared at him. 'Not, of course!' She

turned away. 'I'm going to get Mr Star.'

He darted across the room to get to the door

first. 'Please don't,' he said, barring her way. 'I'll

explain.' He took a deep breath.

The door burst open, nearly hitting the

Doctor, and Sammy Star charged in. 'I knew it!'

he said. 'I knew I'd find you here!' He turned to

the girl. 'Go and wait in the theatre while I deal

with this spy.'

'I'm not a spy,' said the Doctor as the girl

hurried out. 'I'm a concerned citizen. Concerned

that you've got a deadly alien monster inside

that box, and you keep letting it loose.'

'I don't care if it's deadly,' said Sammy Star. 'I

don't care if it's alien and I don't care if it's a

monster. All I care is that it's bringing me fame

and fortune. I'm not going to let you spoil that

for me.'

The Doctor boggled. 'You're really putting

fame and fortune above the lives of all these

young girls?'

'Yes.' The magician strode towards him.

'They're nothing. They're worthless. The scum

of the gutter. They have no place, no use. They

have no home.'

'I have no home,' said the Doctor quietly.

'Having no home doesn't make you a lesser

person.' He turned and pointed at the leadlined

box. 'Doing this sort of thing is what makes you

a lesser person.'

The Doctor shouldn't have turned his back.

Sammy Star grabbed a coil of rope off a hook

and jumped on him. The Doctor fought back,

but he'd been taken by surprise. His arms were

pinned to his sides, and Sammy Star tied him to

a chair.

'No one's going to get in my way,' the man

said. 'I don't know how this thing works, but I

know that it does work.' He unlocked the

padlock on the lead-lined box and nudged the

door open. 'I'll say goodbye now.' He backed

out of the room and the Doctor heard the sound

of a beep as the door locked itself.

He'd dropped the sonic screwdriver during

the struggle. It took just a fraction of a second

for him to look down to see where it had

landed. By the time he looked up again, the

Weeping Angel was out of the box.

'Oh dear,' the Doctor murmured to himself.

'This is slightly awkward.'

*

Amy was carried out of the theatre by a security

guard.

'Wow,' said a girl who was dressed as a court

jester. 'I thought it was bad when they came out

crying.'

Amy wasn't surprised to be thrown out. It

was getting to be a habit. She only hoped that

the ruse had bought the Doctor enough time. He

would have had a couple of minutes' head start,

at least. As long as he was able to find the

Angel, that was the main thing. They had a

good few hours yet to work out how to deal

with it. Of course, she also had to work out a

way of getting back into the theatre. At least she

had a while to sort that out too.

She went and sat by one of the bronze lions

in Trafalgar Square while she thought things

through.

Amy wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting

there when she heard a vehicle screech to a halt.

A minibus had stopped on one of the roads at

the edge of Trafalgar Square. To her huge

surprise, she saw Rory jump out of its door. To

her even greater surprise, two old ladies

hobbled after him, walking sticks in hands.

They appeared to be the two old women who'd

sat behind them in the theatre the night before.

'Hey! Hey! Over here!' Amy called out.

Rory heard and swerved towards her. 'Nice

outfit,' he began.

'Yes, yes, yes,' said Amy. 'I look like I'm from

the space year 3000, I know. What are you

doing here? I think you're going to get a

parking ticket, by the way.'

'I found out something. I thought the Doctor

ought to know as soon as possible,'

Rory said. The two ladies joined them. 'Amy,

this is Kylie Duncan and Amber Reynolds, as

was. Now Mrs Collins and Mrs Hooper.'

'Hello, we met last night,' said Amy. 'It's very

nice to see you.'

Mrs Hooper peered at her. 'You tied me up.'

'Er, no,' Amy said. 'I'm pretty sure you're

thinking of someone else there.' She quickly

turned to Rory. 'What is it that the Doctor needs

to know?'

'Oh, right. Yes.' Rory frowned. 'OK. This is

what it is. We were talking in the garden, and

Miss Leake came out. She's the warden of the

Golden Years home. Anyway, she had a

magazine. I didn't realise what it meant at first.'

'What what meant?' Amy was almost

shouting. 'Come on, come on!'

'There was an interview with Sammy Star. It

said he's being filmed this afternoon, while

those talent-show judges are here. He's being

filmed doing the Graveyard Ghost act, then it's

being shown on TV later. We thought we had

hours, but the Angel could be let loose any time

now. We've got to tell the Doctor before it sends

some other poor girl back into the past!'

Amy stared at him in horror. 'It's much worse

than that,' she said.

Pictures from a long time ago flashed into

her mind. She'd been locked in a room. A

recording of a Weeping Angel had started to

come to life before her eyes.

'The image of an Angel itself becomes an

Angel,' she whispered, hardly daring to say the

words out loud. 'So if a Weeping Angel is

filmed and shown on TV...'

She couldn't carry on. The thought was just

too scary. A Weeping Angel would appear in

front of each TV set that was showing Sammy

Star's act. Millions of Weeping Angels coming

to life all over the country. Perhaps all over the

world.

Chapter Nine

The Doctor was struggling. He was struggling

to get out of his bonds and he was struggling

not to blink. He knew his eyes had flickered

once or twice already. In those tiny moments,

the Angel had advanced. It was halfway across

the room now.

The big mirror on its stand was at the other

end of the room. The Doctor could see himself

in it out of the corner of his eye. He looked

helpless, and that was making him angry. He

struggled even harder.

'I wouldn't bother zapping me if I were you,'

he told the Angel. 'You feed on the energy of

the time I would have had in the future. Well,

I'm still going to have it. I'm not human, you

see. I'll just live out a few decades and then pop

right through that door.' He paused for a

second, hoping to hear the door open. It didn't

happen. Of course, he couldn't turn up and

rescue himself before he'd been sent back in

time. If that happened, he wouldn't have got

sent back in time after all and so couldn't rescue

himself. It was confusing, even for a Time

Lord.

'I'm almost looking forward to it,' the Doctor

said. 'Bit of a break. Chance to catch up with a

few old friends as I go through the years.

Winston Churchill. Agatha Christie. The

Beatles.'

He knew the Angel was stone at that

moment, but could've sworn it glared at him.

There were footsteps outside the door. Could

this be it? Was the future him about to walk into

the room? Meeting himself was always odd.

Beep beep beep beep. That was the correct

sequence of numbers being entered onto the

keypad. The door opened...

'Hey, what's this?' said a gruff voice. In the

mirror, the Doctor saw a thickset man in blue

overalls. It didn't take him long to decide it

wasn't himself - not even in a new body.

A second man came in. 'Star said that Angel

statue might be out of its box,' he said. 'He

didn't say anything about a bloke tied to a chair,

did he, Ted?'

'Yes, hello,' said the Doctor, not taking his

eyes off the Angel. 'Speaking as the bloke tied

to the chair, could you untie me please?'

The first man, Ted, laughed. 'Not likely!

Star's always saying we're not to touch a thing

in here unless he tells us to. You'll be one of his

magic friends trying out a trick.'

If the Doctor could have turned his head, he

would have given the man a hard stare. He had

to be content with glaring at the mirror instead.

'I'm not one of Sammy Star's magic friends. I'm

not even one of his non-magic friends. You

have to believe me that we're all in great

danger. Please let me go.'

Ted laughed again. 'Nah, it's all a trick, isn't

it? Come on, Larry. Let's get the statue back in

its box.'

'No!' the Doctor almost screamed at them.

'Don't go near that thing! It's a monster!'

Larry nodded. 'You're right, it's not very

pretty. Dunno how he gets it to move around

like that. There again, if I knew his secrets, I'd

be the one about to go on telly.'

'Telly?' cried the Doctor. 'What telly? Who's

going on telly? DON'T BLOCK MY VIEW!'

Ted had moved in between the Doctor and

the Angel. To the Doctor's relief, either Ted or

Larry had still got their eyes on it. It remained a

statue.

The two men picked up the Angel and carried

it back into its lead-lined box. The door closed

on it. The Doctor thought he heard a movement

inside at the very instant it was hidden from

view.

'Got to get it on stage,' Larry told the Doctor.

'Mr Star's graveyard trick's going to be on telly.

The film crew's already setting up upstairs.

Good luck with your trick, mate.'

'I'm not doing a trick!' the Doctor told them.

'I'm tied to this chair so I can't stop Sammy Star

doing a very bad thing. A very bad thing

indeed. I can't really explain it to you because

you won't believe me. You just have to trust me.

Let me go now!'

'Ha ha, good one, mate,' said Ted. 'Come

along, Larry.' They carried the box out of the

door, and shut it behind them.

The Doctor was left to struggle with his

bonds again. He knew as well as Amy did what

would happen if the Angel was shown on TV.

It could be the end of the world.

*

'We have to warn the Doctor,' said Amy.

'There's got to be a way of getting back inside

the theatre.'

Rory nodded. 'There is. I'm just going to

walk in.'

'Er, yeah, right!' said Amy. 'I don't think that's

going to work.'

'Why not?' Rory was sure of himself for

once. 'Only one guard saw me, and he didn't

really look at me. I don't stand out like you. You

know, tall, pretty, red hair,' he said in a hurry as

Amy frowned at him. 'Not to mention dressed

in a one-piece silver catsuit. It's a look people

notice. They won't look at me twice. I'm going

to say Mrs Collins or Mrs Hooper left a bag

under a seat last night and can I go and get it.'

'We'll come with you,' said Mrs Collins.

'They'll believe you then.'

Amy turned to her. 'Are you sure? It might be

dangerous.'

The old woman smiled. 'For the past few

years I've barely known my own name, dear.

Today I feel young again. If I can help stop

Sammy Star, I'm going to.'

Mrs Hooper didn't say anything. She was

staring at Amy. 'It was you,' she said.

'Er, no, it wasn't,' said Amy. 'Really.' She

quickly turned back to Rory. 'Every second

could count. You've got to get in there and find

the Doctor.'

'Right.' Rory and the two old ladies headed

off for the theatre.

Amy watched as they spoke to the man at the

door. To her relief, they were let in. It wasn't in

Amy's nature to stand around waiting for other

people to do the work. She knew she couldn't

get into the theatre by the front door. That didn't

mean she couldn't find some other way in.

She thought back to the time she'd climbed

onto the stage. Sammy Star had thought she

wanted him to sign her programme. He'd told

her to wait at the stage door. Perhaps it would

be easier to get in there.

She made her way to the back of the theatre.

There were no neon signs or grand entrances

here, just dustbins and pigeons. Even the sun

stayed out of the gloomy alley.

Amy grinned despite the gloom. She'd

spotted something that made her very happy. A

lorry was parked beside the alley. Men were

lifting down heavy cameras and lights and

carrying them to the stage door. It was the TV

crew.

She waited until the last man was out of the

lorry, then jumped inside. Someone had left a

denim jacket lying around, and she put it on. It

didn't hide all of her silver catsuit, but might

fool someone at a quick glance. There was a

handheld camera on the floor. She picked it up.

Carried on her shoulder, it hid her face. Then,

trying to look very sure of herself, she walked

straight through the stage door.

'Down there on the left,' a voice called. She

thought she'd better do as it said. To her

surprise, she found herself near the side of the

stage. The Graveyard Ghost set was already in

place. Sammy Star and the other judges were

still sitting at the front of the stalls. Amy

hurried towards the back of the hall in case they

turned and saw her. The cameras and lights

were being set up nearby.

At the back of the theatre sat a girl. A girl

with long black hair, dressed in a white nightie.

All of a sudden, Amy knew what she had to do.

There was no sign of the Doctor or Rory. This

could all be up to her.

The denim jacket had a pass clipped to a

pocket. It read CREW. Amy went over to the

girl and waved the pass in front of her nose.

'Excuse me, you're needed in make-up. Can you

come with me, please?'

The girl followed Amy out of a side exit.

Above the door was an arrow pointing to

LADIES.

'Just in here,' Amy said, at the end of the

passage.

'The dressing rooms are downstairs,' said the

girl, puzzled.

'Not today. They've taken over the ladies'

loos,' said Amy, and shoved her inside. 'Come

on, come on, let's have that nightie off you.'

'You what?' said the girl.

'Costume check,' said Amy. The girl didn't

look convinced, but took it off. She was now

dressed only in T-shirt and leggings.

'I'll have the wig too, please,' Amy said. She

plucked it off the girl's head, revealing blonde

hair underneath. 'Bet it feels better without it.

Wigs really make your head sweaty, don't they?'

The blonde girl frowned. 'Are you really with

Wardrobe? I'm going to go and check with

Sammy.'

She tried to get to the door, but Amy held her

fast. Amy realised she had a scarf in her

shoulder bag. On her first attempt she pulled

out the bunch of silk flowers, but she searched

further and found the scarf. She whipped it out

and tied the struggling girl's hands to a pipe.

There was a hankie in her borrowed jacket's

pocket, and she used it as a gag.

'I'm sorry,' she said. 'Really I am. Believe me,

though, this is a lot better than what Sammy

Star had planned for you.' Then she grinned.

'You know what? This reminds me of one of the

first times I met the Doctor. I handcuffed him to

a pipe. Hang on a minute. Have we met before?'

For a moment, Amy had thought the blonde

girl looked familiar. The girl just glared at her,

though, and didn't answer.

Amy put on the nightie and wig. Once

dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror.

'Perfect,' she said. 'All ready to be scared by the

Graveyard Ghosts.'

Except tonight, Amy told herself, it would be

the ghosts' turn to be scared.

Chapter Ten

Rory and the two old ladies went through the

door marked NO ENTRANCE. There were no

guards to be seen, but as they crept further in

Rory heard a dog bark.

'Uh-oh,' he said. 'I thought the Doctor was

joking when he said about guard dogs.'

Mrs Hooper's face lit up. 'It's all right,' she

said. 'It's nothing to worry about.'

'Er, if you say so,' said Rory, not at all sure

that she was right.

Round a corner, there were the dogs. Two big

German Shepherds. To Rory's surprise, they

stopped barking as Mrs Hooper went up to

them. They even started to lick her outstretched

hand.

'This is Brandy and this is Lady,' she said. 'I

made friends with them. I was missing Max so

much.'

'Oh!' All of a sudden Rory figured it out. 'You

made friends with them when you were in the

theatre before. When you were young. To the

dogs, I guess you still smell like the same

person!'

Mrs Hooper didn't want to leave the dogs, but

they had to go on. Rory stopped a bit further

along. 'Did you hear something?' he asked. He

listened again. Yes, there it was. A voice was

calling. It was the Doctor's voice!

'Don't worry, Doctor, we'll get you out!' Rory

shouted back as he reached the door. Then he

stopped. 'The door's locked,' he called to the

Doctor.

'Yes, I know that,' the Doctor's voice came

back.

'Do you know the code that opens it?' asked

Rory. 'There's a keypad here.'

'No,' came the Doctor's reply. 'Come on,

come on, Rory! A four digit number, there are

only ten thousand possible ones. Get those

fingers working!'

'Er, OK,' said Rory. He touched the keypad.

0000. Nothing. 0001. Nothing. 0002. Nothing.

'This might take a little time,' he said.

A wrinkled hand reached out and pushed his

hand aside. A wrinkled finger punched in the

numbers 2906. The door clicked open.

'The 29th of June,' said Mrs Collins. 'My

birthday. I noticed that the code was my

birthday. It's all coming back to me now. Being

here again.'

Inside the room, Rory began to untie the

Doctor. Mrs Collins and Mrs Hooper were

looking past him. As if in a dream, they walked

towards the mirror. Mrs Collins reached out a

hand and touched her image. The image's

fingers met hers.

'So old,' she said in wonder. 'We got so old. I

was young when I was in this room before.

Young and pretty. Scared but so full of hope.'

Mrs Hooper nodded. 'My hair was long and

golden. I didn't like hiding it with a wig, but he

said I had to. This room... I was waiting in this

room. Waiting to go on the stage. They were

going to film it. I was going to be famous. Then

a mad man came in and spoilt it all. That man

there.' She pointed at the Doctor. 'It all

happened in my dream. The red-haired girl was

in my dream too. She stole my clothes and took

my place. I was so angry. Then suddenly I was

so lost.'

Rory and the Doctor listened with horror.

'That was you!' said the Doctor. 'The girl I met

here, today, that was you!'

That wasn't the bit Rory latched on to. 'The

red-haired girl took your place?' he said.

'Doctor, it's Amy! She's taking part in Sammy

Star's act!'

The Doctor threw off the last of his bonds

and jumped up. 'She's up there with a Weeping

Angel!'

*

The Weeping Angel was on stage. Two men had

taken it out of a large box and put it in its place.

Sammy Star had walked past Amy as she stood

in the wings, watching. 'I'm off to get changed,'

he'd said. 'You know what you've got to do?'

She had nodded, keeping the dark hair of the

wig over her face as much as she could. He

didn't seem to notice she wasn't the same girl.

Well, with a new girl each day, he probably

couldn't keep track.

'Good,' he'd said. 'Nothing must go wrong

today. I am about to get my revenge.'

That hadn't sounded good. Amy knew now

more than ever that she had to foil his plans

somehow. Her idea was simple. She'd go along

with the act as much as she could. The only

thing was, she would never take her eye off the

Weeping Angel. Not for a single second.

A short while later, a voice called 'Action!'

Mist came out of a dry-ice machine and crept

across the stage.

Amy had seen the show, so she knew what

she had to do. She copied Kylie Duncan's

movements as closely as she could.

Sammy Star, dressed as the Graveyard Ghost,

emerged from his grave. Amy didn't have to

pretend to be scared. There was a mad look in

his eyes that was very, very scary. She darted

away from him, and spikes sprang up near her

feet. She was being herded towards the tall tree

that would become a walkway.

It felt real. It was real. The person chasing

her might not be a ghost, but he wanted to hurt

her.

Sammy Star was throwing apples as Amy

reached the tallest tree. Its bark fell away as she

began to climb. Amy had never been scared of

heights, but this walkway felt really high right

now. She paused for a moment, dizzy, and

Sammy Star's dagger nearly went through her

foot.

Up and up she climbed. Somehow she kept

her eyes on the Weeping Angel below.

She was aware of a noise from down in the

theatre. Someone was shouting. It might have

been the Doctor, but it seemed so far away.

Higher and higher, until she could go no

further. This was it. This was the end. Sammy

Star was behind her. He was going to throw the

apple that would knock her down. Any moment

now would come the blinding flash.

With one hand, Amy reached into her bag

and pulled out her pair of sunglasses.

She put on the sunglasses. The other hand

reached out and caught the apple. She wobbled,

but didn't fall. There was a blinding flash...

Amy, with her dark glasses on, kept looking

down at the Angel.

*

The Doctor and Rory burst in, Mrs Collins and

Mrs Hooper behind them. Amy was poised on

the top of the walkway. 'Keep looking at the

Angel!' the Doctor yelled, although he knew it

was useless. He ran towards the stage as fast as

he could. If he was close enough to the Angel,

maybe he'd still see it through the flash. At least

he'd be offering himself as a victim rather than

Amy.

He couldn't run fast enough. He couldn't get

there in time. Sammy Star raised his hand to

throw the apple. There was a blinding flash...

When the Doctor stopped blinking, he saw

that the Angel hadn't moved. Amy, still at the

top of the walkway, was staring at it through

her sunglasses.

'Yes! Oh, good girl, Pond!' he yelled. 'Now

come on down. Mind the spikes. Tell you what,'

he called to a man in the wings, 'just get rid of

the spikes, will you?'

The spikes slid back down, and the Doctor

climbed up. Scattered apples rolled off the stage

behind him. He looked up at Sammy Star, still

near the top of the walkway. The magician

didn't even move as Amy made her way past

him.

'Time to retire, I think,' said the Doctor.

Sammy shook his head. 'Not yet. Oh, not yet.

I've barely even started.'

'She locked me in the loos!' A blonde girl ran

onto the stage. The girl the Doctor had met

before, the one he now knew was Amber

Reynolds. 'Oi, you, what do you think you were

playing at?' Amber yelled at Amy. 'I'd have

been there all day if someone hadn't found me.'

'Stop!' the Doctor yelled. The girl was getting

close to the Angel. 'Stay away from that!'

'Nooooooo! ' It was like the night before all

over again. The screaming of an elderly lady in

the stalls. Everyone turned to look at her.

The Doctor couldn't help it. His eyes flicked

away too, just for an instant.

When he looked back, the Angel had moved.

The blonde girl was gone.

Chapter Eleven

The cameras were still rolling as the judges

jumped to their feet. 'We were promised a show

to astound us,' said Austin Hart with a sneer.

This is hardly such a show.'

'It's just, like, really dumb,' said Daisy Mead.

'Yawn-arama.'

Amy, now down on the stage, was again

amazed. A girl had just been blasted into the

past, but these judges thought it was nothing.

Just because they'd been looking away when it

happened.

Sammy Star called down to the judges from

the top of the walkway. 'Oh, I'm going to give

you a show,' he said. 'I'm going to give you a

show you'll never forget. You'll be sorry for the

way you laughed at me. Let's see if you're still

laughing when the Angel gets you.'

The Doctor looked up. 'You don't want to do

that,' he warned.

'Oh yes I do,' ranted Sammy. 'They're rude

and they laugh at people and it hurts so much. I

wanted what they've got! I wanted to be

famous! When I found the Angel, I knew just

what I had to do. I could get everything I

wanted. Fame, and revenge. Austin Hart, Daisy

Mead and Bill Evans being zapped into

nothing? I'll be on every news channel in the

world.'

'Get out of here!' shouted the Doctor. But no

one moved. 'I'm talking to all of you! Every

person in this theatre! Leave now!' There was a

second's silence, and then people began running

to the doors. The judges, the film crew, the

stagehands. Only Rory, Amy and the two old

ladies stayed still.

'No!' screamed Sammy Star. He was still at

the top of the walkway, and was holding

something in his hand. A wire trailed from it.

Amy felt suddenly cold. It was the control for

the pyrotechnics. She watched helplessly as the

Doctor ran towards the walkway. But Sammy

hit the button before the Doctor could reach it.

There was a second blinding flash.

'Amy!' shouted the Doctor.

Amy was still wearing her dark glasses. But

even so, she was taken by surprise. By the time

she was able to focus on the Angel, it had

moved.

It was right next to her. Amy gasped in

horror. She was trapped at the very edge of the

stage. The Angel was now blocking her only

escape.

Amy had nowhere to go. 'Oh help oh help oh

help,' she muttered, backing away.

Rory ran towards the stage. Mrs Collins and

Mrs Hooper followed him as fast as they could.

Then there was another flash. Amy blinked.

Suddenly the Angel was poised over her, its

fangs bared, its hands clawing for her.

Amy was almost bent backwards to avoid its

deadly touch. Somehow she managed to creep

back just a little further. But now she was out of

room. The next time she so much as blinked,

the Angel would get her.

'Amy, look out!' Rory cried.

It was too late. Amy had moved too close to

the edge of the stage. She wobbled... Then, with

a cry of despair, she fell.

As she fell, a lot of things happened at once.

Something green flew past Amy. There was

another blinding flash. There was a scream...

Amy picked herself up. She was shaking

with fear. The Angel had moved again, and

there was no trace of Sammy Star.

'What happened?' Amy asked in a trembling

voice.

Rory gently put his arms around her. 'An

apple,' he said. 'Someone threw an apple. Just

as Sammy Star set off that firework, or

whatever it was. I think I saw the apple hit him,

but then I was blinded. We all were.'

'So he fell off, and the Angel got him,' said

Amy. 'I tumbled off the stage, so the Angel

went for the next nearest target. It was used to

catching people falling off that walkway.' She

looked at the Weeping Angel, now standing

beneath the walkway. It was stone again. 'Who

threw the apple?'

The Doctor came down the stairs at the side

of the stage backwards. 'I'm not going to take

my eyes off that Angel,' he said. 'I think I can

tell you the answer without looking, though.

You didn't expect to see yourself on stage, did

you, Mrs Hooper? To see the dreadful moment

when young Amber Reynolds got lost.'

'Lost,' came Mrs Hooper's shaky voice. 'I was

so very lost.'

Amy had her eyes fixed on the Angel too, but

she could hear that Mrs Hooper was crying.

'I was there, on stage,' said Mrs Hooper. 'All

of a sudden, it didn't seem like a dream any

more. It was real.'

'That was you!' Amy cried. 'The girl who

vanished. The girl who I tied up. That was you!

Oh. Right. You'd already told me that, before it

happened. No wonder she looked familiar. I'd

seen her face on the MISSING poster. Your

face, I guess I should say.'

Rory rested his hand on Mrs Hooper's arm. 'It

must have been a shock to see yourself like

that,' he said.

'Yes, my dear. It was a big shock, waking up

from the dream. But I am awake now. You

know, I wouldn't change things. I met my

Albert back then, I had my lovely girls. As I

woke up, though, all I could think of was Max.

That was the moment when he stole Max from

me. That was the moment I lost Max for ever.'

Amy hadn't thought much of Amber

Reynolds the girl. Not that she'd spent a lot of

time getting to know her. She thought she liked

Amber Hooper the adult, though.

Rory coughed. 'Er, Doctor?'

'Yes?'

'Are we going to have to stay here for ever? I

just wondered.' Rory took Amy's hand and

squeezed it. 'Sammy Star might have gone, but

the Angel's still here.'

'We could go and find that box,' Amy said.

'The one Sammy Star locked it in.'

The Doctor shook his head. That wouldn't

keep it trapped for long. It was only so placid

because it was getting fed every night. Let it

miss a few meals and it'd soon find a way out of

the box.'

'Er, Doctor,' said Rory again. 'I don't know if

this is a good time to mention it, but I think the

cameras are still on.'

'Oh well,' said Amy, 'I suppose it might be

fun to see yourself on TV.

'I don't think so,' Rory began, then stopped,

his mouth hanging open.

'What is it?' Amy asked.

'See yourself,' he said. 'See yourself! Doctor!

What if the Angel saw itself in a mirror? It

would be looking at itself for ever!'

'Yes!' yelled Amy, jumping up and down. 'Go

Rory!'

The Doctor didn't seem so sure. 'I don't

know,' he said. 'It might work. It all depends if

eye contact is the main factor or just the state of

being watched. Then there's the risk of

something getting between the Angel and the

mirror. Not to mention what might happen if it

goes dark, or if the mirror gets broken...'

'Oh,' said Rory. 'I thought it was a good idea.

Sorry.'

'It is a good idea!' Amy cried.

'No,' said the Doctor. 'I've just explained that

—'

Amy cut across him. 'The image of an Angel

becomes an Angel,' she said.

'Yes!' Now it was the Doctor yelling. 'That's

it! Rory, I won't let anyone ever call you stupid

again. Quick, there's a large mirror down in the

prop room. Take Amy and bring it up here. Go

on, now, chop chop. Amber and Kylie here will

keep watch with me. As long as we don't all

blink at once we'll be OK.'

Amy and Rory hurried away, leaving the

Doctor and the two old ladies staring at the

Weeping Angel. Now the theatre was empty

they had no problems getting to the prop store.

Even the dogs had gone.

'Right,' said the Doctor as they arrived with

the mirror. 'We have to put it in just the right

place. We want the Angel almost nose to nose

with its image.'

The mirror was placed in front of the

Weeping Angel, and they all breathed a sigh of

relief.

The Doctor made a round of the cameras,

zapping each with his sonic screwdriver. 'All

the recordings destroyed,' he said. 'The film

crew won't be happy, but I think it's better than

letting the world end.'

'Yes, I think so,' said Amy with a grin.

'Now I'm just popping out for a while,' said

the Doctor. 'Keep an eye on that Angel for me,

will you? I'll meet you in Trafalgar Square in an

hour.'

'Where are you going?' asked Amy, but the

Doctor was already out of the door.

*

They waited, and watched. It was creepy. Amy

was glad she had Rory's hand to hold. Not that

she was going to tell him that.

An image flickered on the far side of the

mirror, and Amy shivered. It got more and more

solid, a ghost in reverse, until there were two

Angels in the room.

'Phew!' said Rory. 'It worked.'

Amy nudged him. 'I think I've spotted a flaw

in our plan.'

Another image had begun to shimmer into

life.

'The mirror's between them! The Doctor was

worried about someone walking in front of it,

he didn't think where the new Angel would go!

The image of the first Angel's still in the mirror,

it's going to keep making new ones! They need

to be looking at each other.'

She was still speaking as Rory leapt onto the

stage. He pushed the mirror out of the way. It

fell to the floor and shattered.

'Seven years' bad luck,' said Amy.

Rory grinned. 'Oh, I don't think so.'

The new image had gone. Amy looked at the

two solid Weeping Angels, now almost nose to

nose. They would be looking at each other,

frozen solid, for ever.

Rory looked at his wife. 'I think,' he said,

'that I'm going to keep on being very lucky

indeed.'

Epilogue

Amy and Rory and the two old ladies left the

Angels and went off to meet the Doctor.

The queue of magic acts had been cleared

away from the theatre, but Trafalgar Square was

crowded. People were gathered around the

Fourth Plinth.

'Just in there,' Amy heard the Doctor say to a

couple of men. 'Make sure they keep facing

each other.'

'What's going on?' she asked as they joined

him.

He smiled. 'Oh, I think I've found something

to put on the Fourth Plinth. A statue of two

angels facing each other. I call it Monument to

the Missing. I just had to pop back a few weeks

and call in some favours. By the way, while I

was there I booked our theatre tickets. Oh yes,

and something else.' He beckoned to Mrs

Hooper. 'Amber, I've got someone who wants to

see you.'

Mrs Hooper started hobbling over to the

Doctor. Then she saw what he was talking

about. She dropped her walking stick and ran

like the teenager she'd been only hours before.

'Max! Oh, Max!'

The little tan and white Jack Russell leapt

into her arms.

'Where did he come from?' asked Amy.

The Doctor tried and failed to look modest.

'Oh, well, I just found Max's vet record, put the

code for his ID chip into the sonic and tracked

him down. I swapped him for a wodge of cash,

and here we are!'

'Nice one!' said Amy. 'By the way, any idea

what happened to Sammy Star?'

'No,' said the Doctor. 'Which is very good.

All he wanted was fame and fortune. I think if

he became very famous or very rich in the past,

I'd have heard of him. I haven't heard of him.

So he didn't. That might be punishment

enough.' He frowned. 'Well, maybe not quite

enough. I'm just hoping that all the girls he

tricked found good lives back in the past like

Amber Reynolds did.'

Amy gave a big, tired sigh. 'Time to go?'

The Doctor nodded. 'The Angels will be safe

here. Trafalgar Square. It's never empty and it's

never dark. Even if something goes wrong,

they'll always be observed.' He strode off.

'Come on, Ponds! Back to the TARDIS!'

Amy and Rory stood for a moment, watching

the Angels being lifted into place.

'Mrs Hooper told me about losing Max,' said

Rory after a minute. 'A stranger came to the

door and bought him off her dad. That's what

made her run away.'

Amy's eyes widened. 'The Doctor said he

went back in time - oh no! He did it! He made

her run away! Should we tell her? Should we

tell him?'

'No,' said Rory. 'You heard what she said. She

wouldn't change it. She had a dreadful life here,

before she ran away. Back in the past, she met

her Albert. Had her girls.' He bent down and

kissed her. 'You can put up with anything, if it

means you get to be with the people you love.'

In the middle of the square, Mrs Hooper and

Mrs Collins started to dance. For a moment,

Amy saw them as they had been, two lost

teenage girls. Amber Reynolds and Kylie

Duncan, dancing at the VE Day party in 1945.

Max ran around the women's ankles, barking

happily.

Holding hands, Amy and Rory walked off

after the Doctor.

As they went, they heard the two old ladies'

voices lifted in song.

' It may be an hour, it may be a week, it may

be fifty years. But I know we will find loving

hearts still entwined, on the day we meet

again...'

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Quick Reads are brilliantly written short new books by

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Quick Reads

Doctor Who: I Am a Dalek

Gareth Roberts

BBC Books

Equipped with space suits, golf clubs and a flag, the

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Apol o-mission style. But the TARDIS has other plans,

landing them instead in a vil age on the south coast of

England; a picture-postcard sort of place where nothing

much happens... until now.

Archaeologists have dug up a Roman mosaic, dating

from the year 70 AD. It shows scenes from ancient

myths, bunches of grapes – and a Dalek. A few days

later a young woman, rushing to get to work, is knocked

over and kileld by a bus. Then she comes back to life.

It's not long before all hell breaks loose, and the Doctor

and Rose must use all their courage and cunning

against an alien enemy – and a not-quite-alien

accomplice – who are intent on destroying humanity.

Featuring the Doctor and Rose as played by David

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Terrance Dicks

BBC Books

A deadly night attack on an army base. Vehicles are

destroyed, soldiers kil ed. The attackers vanish as

swiftly as they came, taking highly advanced equipment

with them.

Metal figures attack a shopping mal . But why do they

only want a new games console from an ordinary

electronics shop? An obscure government ministry is

blown up – but, in the wreckage, no trace is found of

the secret, state-of-the-art decoding equipment.

When the TARDIS returns the Doctor and Martha to

Earth from a distant galaxy, they try to piece together

the mystery. But someone – or something – is waiting

for them. An old enemy stalks the night, men no longer

made from flesh...

Featuring the Doctor and Martha as played by David

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Doctor Who: Revenge of the Judoon

Terrance Dicks

BBC Books

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Martha to Balmoral

in 1902. Here they meet Captain Harry Carruthers –

friend of the new king, Edward VII. Together they head

for the castle to see the king – only to find that Balmoral

Castle has gone, leaving just a hole in the ground. The

Doctor realises it is the work of the Judoon – a race of

ruthless space police.

While Martha and Carruthers seek answers in London,

the Doctor finds himself in what should be the most

deserted place on Earth – and he is not alone.

Featuring the Doctor and Martha as played by David

Tennant and Freema Agyeman in the hit series from

BBC Television.

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Every time the lights go out, someone dies...

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hoping to be chosen for the forthcoming Globe Games.

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The Doctor discovers that the students have been

hushing up unexplained deaths.

Teaming up with a young swimmer cal ed Emma, the

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As the Sontarans begin their own lethal version of the

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what is real y going on. But the Doctor is captured and

forced to take part in the Sontaran Games. Can even a

Time Lord survive this deadly contest?

Featuring the Doctor as played by David Tennant in the

acclaimed hit series from BBC Television.

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Justin Richards

BBC Books

Can eating a bag of crisps real y make you more

clever? The company that makes the crisps says so,

and they seem to be right.

But the Doctor is worried. Who would want to make

people more brainy? And why?

With just his sonic screwdriver and a supermarket

trol ey ful of crisps, the Doctor sets out to find the truth.

The answer is scary – the Kril itanes are back on Earth,

and everyone is at risk!

Last time they took over a school. This time they have

hijacked the internet. Whatever they are up to, it's big

and it's nasty.

Only the Doctor can stop them – if he isn't already too

late...

Featuring the Doctor as played by David Tennant in the

acclaimed hit series from BBC Television.

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Document Outline

Magic of the Angels