first_in_time | Zagreus Sits Inside Your Head (for Splendid

Barbara looked out at the view as Ian put the last of their things in the car. From the front door of the little Bed and Breakfast, she could see beautiful rolling hills for miles. The last of the morning was being chased away as the sun rose higher in the sky, thawing everything out. Even the cows seemed more active on one particular hill.

"I wish we could stay for a little longer," she sighed to Ian, turning her back on it all so that it might be easier to leave. Her arms folded, one hand still held on to the key they were yet to return. "I don't suppose your car has a secret time traveling device so we can spend an extra few weeks here?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

first_in_time

"Thank heavens. I can't imagine that Audrey would have been pleased by that." Barbara paused a moment as she realised something: "Audrey's my mother now. And Robert is my father."

From:

splendid_roman

He glanced over at her. "They'll certainly see it that way." He couldn't think of Joan as anything more than Barbara's mother though. "But they loved you before we got married. anyway."

From:

first_in_time

"It's not that. The realisation hit me rather suddenly. It's a good realisation, I love your parents, too. I hope they still love us after we've talked to them." Barbara didn't think that Robert would mind so much, neither would Tom. Probably. But Audrey and Alice were so determined to see Ian married in some kind of elaborate wedding...she began to wonder if eloping was such a good idea after all.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian's mother and sister's excitement and attempts to plan their wedding was partly what had driven them to elope in the first place. "They'll get over it," he said confidently. There was just a question of how long it would take.

"Alice might sulk for a while, but not long enough to give up the free babysitting." He grinned to show he wasn't entirely serious about that reason.

From:

first_in_time

"At least now that Katy has gotten used to me, we can do it together, or have her for sleepovers when Alice needs a weekend to herself." And Barbara had promised that to her already. She vaguely hopes that she wouldn't spend that time with Gregory. The very thought of him made her skin crawl.

"Maybe we should stop for dinner somewhere and face everyone tomorrow?"

From:

splendid_roman

He smiled, liking the idea of having Katy over for longer and there being two of them to look after her.

"That's a good idea. It'll be nice to have another night to ourselves."

From:

first_in_time

Barbara sighed happily to herself and listened to the radio for a moment. Then asked: "where do you think we should go? Somewhere before the boarder or somewhere closer to the flat?"

From:

splendid_roman

It would be nice to stop somewhere in Scotland, but he said, "Closer to home. Going back on the road after dinner will be easier when we know we're nearly there."

From:

first_in_time

"Hmm. True enough," Barbara replied and turned to face him in her seat. She knew that it was wrong to distract te driver so she didn't lean in and kiss him or play with the hair at the top of his neck, but she did say: "I wonder what I've done to deserve such an intelligent husband."

From:

splendid_roman

"The same thing I did to deserve such an intelligent wife." He smiled broadly. Even with the anticipation of their mother's reactions he couldn't be upset that they'd eloped, he was just glad to be married to Barbara.

At which point there was a scraping sound and the car became hard to manoeuvre. Ian frowned. "I think we've got a flat tyre." Fortunately there was a lay-by not far away, so Ian stopped the car there, so they could get out and look.

From:

first_in_time

"Could we have run over something?" Barbara asked as Ian slowed down, "at least there's a spare I suppose."

From:

splendid_roman

"Perhaps." He hadn't noticed anything, but it could be a slow puncture.

Once they were stationary he got out of the car and walked around it, looking at the wheels. The passenger side one was most definitely flat. At least it was on the passenger side and he wouldn't have to change the tyre in the middle of the road.

When we went back in the car to turn the engine off he said, "That one's flat," and pointed to where it was. "I don't know why, but it'll be easier to find the whole once it's off."

He got out again and went off to the boot to get the jack and the spare tyre.

From:

first_in_time

"Is there anything I could do to help?" Barbara asked as she stepped out of the car.

At least they'd stopped at a nice spot, with a forrest on one side and more farmland on the other. They were most certainly going to hacd to come back.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian thought about it while he put the jack under the car and the spare wheel nearby. "Not really." While it would be nice to have her help he couldn't think of anything useful she could do. "It's a one man job really."

From:

first_in_time

"Right," Barbara said and turned on the spot before sitting back down on her seat facing out of the car so that she might still talk with Ian.

"Looks like we definitely won't have time to visit our parents today," she told Ian, glancing at her watch.

From:

splendid_roman

"I'm really upset about that." He paused in his work to look up at her and grin. "There'll be plenty of time for that tomorrow anyway. I'd like one more day of it being just us."

From:

first_in_time

She laughed at his grin. "If we don't do it tomorrow, we may not have another chance for an entire week, and as mich as we might want to we can't put it off forever."

Barbara was watching Ian work. She liked watching him work on things like that; practical things he could do with his hands. There was always a kind of calm that came over him, no matter the situation. She like it. But something broke the spell, like a shimmer in the air and Barbara looked up.

"What's that?" she asked, even though it was behind Ian and he wasn't paying any attention. She stood and took a few steps toward the forest.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian knew she was right and perhaps it was better to get it over and done with.

"What's what?" He glanced behind him, but couldn't see anything and returned to the tyre changing.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara didn't answer. She took a few more steps to the line of the trees and hovered next to an old pine for a moment. Her had traced across the bumpy, scratchy bark as she looked into the depths of the little forest. There was something in there, although she could see it but she could feel it, and that was something else.

With little further thought, Barbara stepped around the tree and toward the gloom of the forest. Something was happening and she wanted to know what.

From:

splendid_roman

It was only when Ian had finished and picked up the old tyre to inspect it before putting it in the boot that he realised Barbara had gone. "Barbara!" he called out, looking around, but there was no sign of her.

She hadn't said anything about going anywhere - or if she had Ian hadn't heard her. Maybe she had gone to look at whatever she'd seen. He sighed and put everything away and locked the car before going off into the forest in search of her.

From:

first_in_time

He didn't have to search long because somewhere ahead of him came a scream that was distinctly Barbara's.

From:

splendid_roman

"Barbara?" he called out, worried now and the fear for her spurred him on to run towards where he'd heard that scream.

From:

first_in_time

There was a strange kind of pull, like an elastic band tightening before springing Ian forward. There was that feeling in the back of one's head, as though they were in the TARDIS while it was in flight.

In the muddle of a clearing, Barbara kneeled on the ground with her back toward Ian, facing a giant Cheshire cat. It peered down ar her Iron a bored fashion from a tree that bent slightly under its weight. Its long tail swished lazily from side to side, flicking some of the smaller branches.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian's brain registered that there was a cat and it was bigger than usual, but once he'd seen that there were no threats to Barbara he ran over to her and knelt beside her, putting one hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?" he asked, his expression full of concern for her.

"I'm afraid I rather surprised her."

Ian looked around for the source of the voice, not thinking for one minute that it could be the cat.

From:

first_in_time

"Yes, fine," she panted. Dirty paw prints lightly dusted one shoulder of her dress from where the cat had used her to jump from one tree to R. The weight had made her fall to her knees.

It appeared that nothing else was going to jump out at her, and Barbara stood up with the help of Ian. "Is the car fixed? Can we go home?"

"Oh, there's no getting out so easily," the cat purred at them.