The most curious thing about the Shop of Curiosities was that it held no stock. Once through the door all you found was a series of dark rooms containing a few sticks of old furniture and a couple of well-worn antique rugs.
The lone member of staff sat behind an old-fashioned desk discussing history with my friend VJ’s daughter. I wondered what she could be explaining to someone who already held a first class degree in the subject from Oxford.
Way over the limit, I weaved a wobbly route in a big saloon car along a single track road next to the sea cliffs in North Yorkshire. How I got away with this, I will never know.
Although long-divorced, P and G put on a cheery show when they brought their two children to the party. I’d met the little boy before, but was unsure as to the parentage of the girl named Chloë. I wondered whether she was a half sister of the son that P and G shared?
My ponderings over how Chloë fitted into the family were interrupted by J’s rude remark “Oh, an ugly child!” I prayed that nobody heard this dreadful insult. As a distraction I asked the little boy to show me his outstanding school report and tell me all about his sporting achievements.
We caught the new CalMac service that travelled to the Outer Hebrides via Hexham. It was a very special boat that could cover both land and sea.
I very much enjoyed riding along beside the dolphins, even though trying to photograph them with my new camera was an impossibility.
I also got very excited when the route took in the B family seat in the far north of Scotland, and passed the filming of a historical drama and a garden fête at Elmwood just off Darlington Road in Stockton-on-Tees. (It also has to be said that Darlington Road looked much neater than Edinburgh’s Leith Walk these days.)
Even though we’d over-provisioned on white wine and not bought enough red, our party was still going reasonably well. From the sitting room (where most of the guests were gathered) I walked into the kitchen to see if the shower was free. I really needed to wash my hair.
It didn’t take long to shoo away the kitchen guests so that I could take my shower in peace. Just one very quiet international student stood absorbed at the sink as I stepped out of my clothes and grabbed a towel. She clearly hadn’t spotted that I was undressing.
Then as I climbed into the shower cubicle I noticed that someone had been watching me. It was J! I’d been in love with him from the first moment we met. This was an opportunity too good to miss. It appeared that he had a desperate need to wash his hair too…
The rumours were true. David Tennant was back as Dr Who – and I was his assistant! He grabbed my hand for the latest adventure: The ghost bus.
Once aboard the bus in question, the title of the episode became obvious. As the characters boarded and took their seats their bodies evaporated. All that was left were their “empty” clothes.
The Doctor and I called “Don’t sit down!” from our position standing at the back of the bus. This was the only way that we could think of to keep as many humans alive as possible before setting out to solve the mystery of the ghost bus.
See David Tennant elsewhere on Dreamaticus in The Doctor will NOT be with Belle shortly.
It was as if nothing could spoil our fun on this gloriously sunny day – until we realised that it was impossible to drive across to Holy Island by car when the tide was in. SL made a weak attempt to crest the waves before I persuaded her that it really was time to turn back. We passed DT and JLW on our return and advised them to do the same.
Meanwhile I wondered whether I would get into trouble for neglecting a PhD student in favour of a quest for aftershave?
Dreamaticus 