| The Doctor quickly took in the fact that he'd materialized on the front
porch of a mobile home, and that in stepping out of the TARDIS, he'd nearly
stepped into the open front door. The young woman was gaping at him. She
really didn't look much like Betty at all, superficially, but something
subtle in her face convinced him they were related. Her sister, probably,
he concluded. Not a parallel-universe analog, but a genetic sibling.
"Omigod! Ohmigod!" She sounded nearly hysterical with surprise and delight, and the words tumbled wildly over one another, fighting to get out of her mouth. "It is you! It's really you! I knew it! I knew it! I told Betty, I told her, 'Never say your life is boring, because next thing you know, some guy shows up in a police box and whisks you away across the universe,' and she said 'I only wish,' but it's true, here you *are*! Oh. My. *God*!" He was rather disconcerted by all this. "Er, yes," he said. "Quite. Do you suppose I could come in?" "Oh, yes. Sorry! I'm sorry!" she moved out of the way and let him through the door, shutting it behind him. The cats came over and began sniffing his feet with intensely dedicated interest. He reached down and petted one absently. "I assume this is Betty's house?" It looked like the kind of place Betty would live in: a room full of books with a large framed photograph of the Earth on one wall. "You've come for her, haven't you?" She giggled. "Mom's gonna be pissed. She told Betty she wasn't allowed to leave the planet without permission." She stopped (amazingly), a thought apparently occuring to her. "Unless she's alredy been travelling with you? That'd explain why she wasn't here when I came to visit. She's supposed be be home right now." The Doctor suddenly found an opportunity to get a word in edgewise, and, strangely, found himself with no idea what to say. Perhaps a simple explanation would be best, if he could figure out how to make one. "Yes, well, you see..." But he was interrupted when the phone rang. She jumped in when he paused, ignoring the telephone. "I'm surprised it's you, though. I mean, I would have been expecting the guy with the scarf." She looked embarrassed suddenly. "Oh, not that there's anything wrong with *you*!" "Aren't you going to answer the telephone?" he said hopefully. "Nah. Her answering machine will get it. Hey, do you..." But just then
the answering machine kicked in.
|
