Archive of Our Own

“Doctor!”

“Wha’s happening?!”

“I don’t know!!” The Doctor tried hard to steady himself against the TARDIS console as he tried to manipulate the controls. “It seems she’s pulling us somewhere.”

“Can ye no’ jist once try tae control her?!” Jamie asked in exasperation, clutching the console with one hand and holding onto Zoe with the other.

“I’m trying, Jamie!” the Doctor snapped back. “And for the record, I do control her. It’s just that …” He trailed off, blustering awkwardly. “... Well, sometimes she has a mind of her own.”

“Ye can say that agin,” the young Scot grumbled in reply.

“What could be causing it?” Zoe wondered aloud desperately. “Some sort of magnetic field that …”

She trailed off as the sharp, rightward pull of the ship suddenly eased. Within minutes it finally steadied and all became quiet, leaving the trio to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

“Now, what was tha’ all aboot?” Jamie asked. “Seemed as though she were havin’ some sorta fit.”

“I’m not sure,” the Doctor returned, his mouth flattening in a frustrated grimace. 

The column at the center of the console suddenly began moving up and down and then slowed to a stop, signifying they had landed.

The Doctor sighed. “Well, let’s see what we can see.” With the push of a button, he switched on the scanner. 

A wooded area consisting mainly of deciduous trees filled the screen.

Jamie snorted. “So much fer that beach planet o’ yours.” 

“Now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a beach on … wherever it is we’ve landed,” the Doctor countered. His gaze was back on the console as he flipped a couple of switches to check on the planet’s readings. 

His eyebrows lifted in slight surprise. “Oh. We’ve landed on Earth.”

Jamie and Zoe brightened somewhat as they shared a look.

“Mebbe it’s Scotland!” Jamie exclaimed. He walked quickly across the room and stepped outside as soon the Doctor had opened the doors. 

Zoe stepped out behind him, squinting in the mid-afternoon sunlight as she had a cursory look around.  “It’s not Scotland, Jamie,” she said primly. “This climate is rather mild.”

Jamie rounded on her, hands on his hips. “Hey, I’ll have ye know Scotland can be mild,” he challenged. “…  Sometimes.” He blushed faintly and then turned, walking ahead of her and the Doctor.

Throughout their walk, the Doctor smiled as he gazed appreciatively up at the surrounding foliage: a stunning mixture of warm oranges, yellows and browns. “Ah. A sure sign of autumn in the northern hemisphere.”

“Yes, that much is obvious, but where exactly are we in the northern hemisphere?” Zoe wondered.

“Well, I’m sure we will find out soon enough.” As if on cue, the woods soon cleared and a paved road appeared before them. 

“Oh, look, there’s a car,” Zoe said, pointing ahead.

“And it’s being driven on the right-hand side of the road,” the Doctor added. As it passed, he took special notice of its appearance. 

“It appears we’ve landed in America. The license plate mentioned the state of Missouri. And by the style of that automobile, I’d wager it’s approximately 1970.” 

“Wha’ business does the TARDIS have in droppin’ us here at this point in time?” Jamie asked.

“I’ve no idea, Jamie. Not yet.”

“Well, let’s walk a bit further so we can tell exactly where we are, eh?”

Without a word, the three continued walking down the road. “At least the weather is reasonable,” Zoe noted, glad she didn’t feel chilly in her shorts set.

Before long, a small brick building with a brown roof loomed into view on the side of the road. Next to it was a large sign that read, “Rest Area.” 

The Doctor smiled. “Ah, I believe we can find the information we need here.” He clambered up the small concrete staircase to the doors, his companions following. 

The inside consisted of a main room with two smaller doors at one end for toilets. The main area featured large maps on the wall, depicting the local area. On top of the counter were stacks of assorted pamphlets advertising local attractions such as shopping and sight-seeing. Jamie picked several up and briefly looked them over. 

Zoe approached the map the Doctor was studying and soon frowned. “I hope we find a town soon. I’m starting to get hungry.”

“Yes, I know what you mean, Zoe,” the Doctor said, his face flushing as his stomach growled loud enough for them to hear. The petite scientist caught Jamie covering his mouth to hide a snicker. 

“But look at that machine over there,” the Doctor continued. 

Turning, she found a large machine with the word “Candy” in large, dark letters on the front. A quick study of it revealed that it offered four different chocolate bars, along with a few other sweets. She snorted. “That’s hardly adequate sustenance.” 

“It’ll do for now,” he told her before inserting several coins into the large slot. Bending slightly, he pulled the knob for the ‘Milky Way’ chocolate bar. His smile of anticipation turned into a dismayed frown as the bar got stuck against the front of the machine.

“Oh, my giddy aunt,” he muttered. He lightly smacked the machine, expecting it would trigger the mechanism to drop the chocolate confection. 

Nothing happened. 

“Oh, you stupid machine!” the Doctor shouted, giving it a harder smack. He then winced in pain and stuck his fingers in his mouth.

Zoe shook her head. “Continuing to smack the machine won’t be enough to dislodge it. You’d need to apply just the right amount of force in the precise location.”

Jamie then walked up to them. "What’re ye gettin’ all hyte aboot?” he asked the Doctor.

“This–this stupid machine took my money and failed to deliver the chocolate it promised,” the Doctor griped. 

“It got stuck, eh?”

“Yes!”

“Leave it tae me.” The Highlander walked purposefully toward the machine. Reaching up, he grabbed it with both arms and, with a bit of struggle, lifted it slightly off the ground.”

“Careful, Jamie!” Zoe said.

“I know wha’ I’m doin’, lass,” Jamie grunted in reply under the weight of the machine. He gave it a good shake and then set it back down.

The three watched as the Doctor’s chocolate bar came out, along with two more behind it. Smiling in triumph, Jamie handed it to the Doctor, then handed the second one to Zoe and took the last one for himself.

Zoe tentatively regarded the bar Jamie held out to her. “I don’t know if I should take this,” she told him. “It’s almost like theft.”

Jamie scoffed. “Och, come on. Who’s gonna know?” 

The Doctor nodded. “Yes, it’s not as if we expected this machine to malfunction.” He then turned to the machine, offering it a glare. “In fact, it owes us.” 

Zoe rolled her eyes and tried to suppress a grin. Looking at the chocolate bar Jamie was still offering to her, she finally shrugged and accepted it. She was rather hungry …

His hunger sated for the time being, the Doctor gazed again at the map to pinpoint exactly where they were. “Hm. It’s at least five miles to the nearest town,” he said. “We’ve got a good walk ahead of us. I’d suggest we get a move on.”

Leaving the building, they began their trek further down the road. Another car soon approached: a light blue Mercury Monterey convertible. It slowed to a stop before them and the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. The young couple seated inside looked them over curiously. 

“Need a ride?” the man in the driver’s seat asked.

“What?” the Doctor raised his voice, finding it hard to hear him over the loud rock music …

“All right now

Baby it’s all right now …”

The woman next to him nodded at the radio and the man quickly turned the knob to lower it the volume. 

“Do you need a ride, man?” he repeated. “You look a little lost.”

“Oh, yes, we do, in fact,” the Doctor replied, fidgeting with his bowtie. “It’s rather a good thing you showed up. We’re new to the area and our, erm, mode of transportation only got us this far.”

“Are you looking to get into town?”

“Oh, yes, please,” Zoe replied.

“Hop in,” the young man directed, gesturing to the back seat. 

The three stared at him, then at the back of the car, the door of which was locked. They turned back to him, perplexed. Zoe then tried to hop over the door but was finding it difficult. Finally the young man sighed, turned slightly to push up the lock on the back door and gestured for them to open it. 

“Ah, thank you,” the Doctor said with an awkward nod as they took a seat.

A short drive later they had reached the center of the town, marked by a well-manicured lawn and a small gazebo. Framing it were a line of shops on one side and a residential block on the other. The Doctor rose up slightly in his seat and leaned over. “Thank you, this shall do,” he told the couple before opening the back door, climbing out and gesturing to his young friends to follow him.

With a final wave to the couple who’d graciously given them a lift, they began exploring their new surroundings. 

“Hey, look at all these neeps placed outside doors and in front of houses,” Jamie observed, pointing at several pumpkins. “Some of ‘em are painted or have faces carved into ‘em.”

Zoe nodded. “Yes, and look at the decorations.” There were various decorations in the shapes of witches, ghosts, black cats, and others in the windows of shops and homes. Some of the homes’ front yards even had fake headstones.

“Do you know what this means? It must be near Halloween!” the Doctor announced excitedly. He located a vending machine next to one of the shops with newspapers inside. The front page of the top paper revealed a date of October 30th, 1970. 

“Oh, look, Halloween is tomorrow!” he declared, clapping his hands together.   

Zoe nodded thoughtfully. “Mm, I’ve read a great deal about Halloween in the Wheel library’s folklore section.” She turned to the Highlander. “What about you, Jamie? Surely you had some Halloween related customs in Scotland.”

“Aye, it started as a Celtic festival called Samhain. ‘Course tha’ was celebrated among the pagan lot an’ we mainly celebrated it as the feast ‘All Hallows Eve’ in honor of the martyred saints. After sunset, the lasses would form a circle ‘round a fire an’ bake Hallowmas bannocks. They’d add sugar an’ spices like cinnamon to ‘em.”

“Oh, sounds splendid,” the Doctor remarked.

Jamie’s gaze turned nostalgic. “As wee laddies on Halloween night, we’d walk aroond in guises an’ carry neep lanterns with us tae protect ourselves from evil spirits.” He then turned to Zoe with a mischievous grin. “Ye neiver know wha’ can happen when the veil ‘tween our world and the ‘otherworld’ is so verra thin …” He wriggled his fingers menacingly at her.

“Well, come on, let’s have a look in these shops,” the Doctor interrupted, gesturing to the ‘General Store’ in front of them.

Having purchased several sandwiches and something to drink, the Doctor happily accepted some change from the friendly middle-aged man at the cashier.

“We are much obliged to you, sir.”

“Of course.” The man looked them over. “Are you all new to town?”

“Er, yes, you might say that,” Zoe spoke up. She briefly shared a look with her two friends. “We haven’t quite got ourselves situated anywhere yet.”

“Ah, well, may I make a suggestion? The ‘Grange Inn’ just at the end of the road is a fine place to stay.” He neared one of the windows behind him and pointed down the road.

“Oh, thank you for the recommendation,” the Doctor said. 

The shopkeeper nodded with a smile. 

“Oh, you might like to know about the Halloween party being held this evening at the Community Center,” the blonde-haired teenage boy who was earlier stocking shelves spoke up.

Jamie turned to him. “Eh?”

“It’s an annual event,” the shopkeeper explained as the young man handed them a flyer. “They host a lot of different activities: telling ghost stories, bobbing for apples, arts and crafts, and even prizes for the best costumes. It’s mainly for the kids, but it’s really fun for all ages.”

“Oh, yes, that sounds like great fun,” the Doctor told them before studying the flyer. “We’ll certainly give it some thought.”

“You won’t be disappointed,” the teenager encouraged with a smile. “It’s far out.”

“Far out from where?” Jamie asked, his nose scrunched up in confusion.

“Erm, we should be going,” the Doctor said hastily, leading his two young friends out the door. “Thank you again.”

Once they were back outside, the Doctor looked back at the flyer they were given. A child-like smile lit up his face. “Oh, there’s even a pumpkin-carving contest. I think we may be in for some spooky treats.”

Jamie groaned and turned to share a long-suffering look with Zoe. “Come on, let’s get over tae yon hotel,” he told her. 

Having checked into a suite-style room at the hotel, the Doctor and his friends were once again poking in the town’s shops. The Time Lord insisted on searching for costumes to wear to the Halloween festivities that evening, however he was unsure where to start. The TARDIS wardrobe had all manner of materials to use for costumes, but he wasn’t about to make the long trek back to the woods just for that. 

Asking another local for advice, they were directed to a Goodwill shop where costumes from theatrical performances that were no longer needed were donated. 

He himself had no trouble deciding on a costume: the Emmett Kelly clown “Weary Willie.” It didn’t even require much, just a hat and some makeup.  

“How about you, Zoe? What do you fancy dressing up as?”

The petite girl lifted her gaze in thought. “I’m not sure.” The Doctor directed her to a couple of  racks containing women’s costumes. Zoe’s eyes swept over the first visible offerings on the rack to the left and she quickly picked one up with a smile.

The Doctor’s expression was dubious. “A nurse? Are you sure that’s what you want? Perhaps something a little more imaginative …”

Zoe scowled as she checked the rack. “There’s not very much here that’s creative without sacrificing decency.” As if to prove her point, she showed off a Cleopatra costume that was a little too revealing for her tastes.

“Hey, tha’s no’ bad,” Jamie remarked with a rakish grin.

Zoe rolled her eyes and snorted. “Of course you would say that.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied it further. “I highly doubt it’s even historically accurate.” 

“Must ye souk the fun outta everythin’?”

Turning to him, she appeared stunned, even a bit hurt. “You really think I ‘suck the fun’ out of everything?”

Realizing he’d gone too far, Jamie gazed at her contritely. “No. Sorry, I shouldnae have said that.” He touched her shoulder.

Zoe’s indignant expression melted and, noticing Jamie’s hand lingering on her shoulder, a faint smile touched the corners of her mouth. “Thank you, Jamie.” She then leaned closer to him, lowering her voice. “I suppose we both can’t help being a little short-tempered —what with my frustration in wanting to know what pulled the TARDIS here, and the Doctor’s over-the-top insistence on partaking in this holiday.”

Jamie turned to find the Doctor had moved to the back of the shop, rooting through a bin of accessories. He grinned as he turned back to Zoe. “I know, lass. We’ll jist do the least bit possible tae keep him happy, eh?” 

The two shared a quiet laugh, which abruptly ended as the Doctor made a surprise appearance.

“Oh, I nearly forgot to look at the other costumes on this rack!” Zoe exclaimed as she headed for the second rack. She quickly rifled through them before finding one near the middle of the rack that caught her eye. It was a long, white dress with short puffy sleeves and a full, puffy, diaphanous calf-length skirt.

“Oh, lovely,” the Doctor remarked. “It reminds me of the wood nymph from La Sylphide, the romantic ballet. All you need is a pair of matching shoes and a garland of flowers about your head.”

Zoe smiled indulgently and then began to rummage through a nearby shelf of accessories.

The Doctor turned to Jamie. “Well, that’s two down, one to go. You probably won’t need anything, Jamie. With your kilt, sporran, ghillie shirt and dirk, people will think you’re already in costume.” 

Jamie bristled. “I’m no’ some wee nancy playin’ dress-up.” 

“It won’t be like that,” the Doctor said in an attempt to placate him. “No one will see it that way. We’re in a different place and time.” 

“So?” 

The Doctor sighed. 

“They’ll probably be impressed, Jamie,” Zoe said with an encouraging smile. “Maybe you could just add a little something to your clothes to embellish it — make you look like a tough warrior.” 

The young Scot took a moment to think and a grin soon spread across his face. “How aboot a severed heid?” he suggested enthusiastically.

“What??” the Doctor exclaimed, his eyebrows leaping into his scalp.

“Aye, ye can get a neep an’ paint it or carve it tae look like a face … Mebbe even add some blood tae it.” He grinned at Zoe, who turned away in disgust.

“I think that may be a little over the top,” the Doctor said. “Don’t forget there will be children about. We don’t wish to traumatize them.” His brow furrowed in thought. “Hm … how about Richard ‘Dick’ Turpin?”

“Eh? Who?!”

“Dick Turpin. He was a highwayman in England around your time. He stole horses and deer, among his other exploits.”

Jamie wrinkled his nose. “So, a sassenach an’ a thief. No, thank ye.”

“Oh, come on, Jamie,” Zoe cut in, rolling her eyes. “You’re just dressing up as him; you’re not following in his footsteps.”

“He was also something of a swashbuckler,” the Doctor continued.

Jamie’s expression brightened, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smirk. “Oh, aye?” He pondered the choice a brief moment. “Well, mebbe it’s no’ so bad.” He then turned to Zoe with a full grin, waggling his eyebrows. “An’ you can be ma damsel in distress.” 

Zoe tried hard to ignore the heat rising in her cheeks as she kept her expression emotionless. “I’ll stick with the wood nymph costume.”

Jamie’s grin was hastily wiped from his face. “Women,” he muttered as he walked away.

The Doctor smiled in satisfaction as he surveyed himself in the hotel room mirror. He’d just put the finishing touches on his “Weary Willie” clown makeup and had ‘distressed’ his own frock coat to make himself look more like a hobo. It worked quite well, if he said so himself.

He turned to find Zoe emerging from her room, all dressed in her Sylph costume: the white dress she’d found at the shop with a set of white ballet shoes, and a small garland of silk flowers adorning the top of her head.

“Oh, how lovely, Zoe,” he remarked. 

Two bright spots of pink appeared in her cheeks as she beamed. “Thank you, Doctor.” 

She appeared to say more when a certain Scotsman suddenly dashed out into the room.

“Ha HA!” Jamie exclaimed, brandishing his dirk. The young man wore a long brown coat over a similarly colored shirt and trousers, knee-high boots, and a black eye mask. A brown, tri-cornered hat with a feather sticking out of it sat atop his head.  

“Oh, Jamie! Very impressive.”

The Highlander smiled, puffing out his chest before sticking his dirk back in the sheath on his belt.

Zoe agreed. “This is what Dick Turpin looks like?”

A frown knitted Jamie’s brow. “I’m no’ Dick Turpin.” His proud smile was back. “I’m ‘The Muckle Thief.’”

“The what?” Zoe asked, tilting her head in confusion. 

Recognition colored the Doctor’s eyes. “Ah yes, I remember now. He was a Scottish highwayman around Jamie’s time, known for his imposing size and daring robberies.” 

“‘Imposing size’,” Zoe repeated. She turned back to Jamie, casting a skeptical eye upon him.

Jamie glared at her. “Hey! Ye’re the one who said I was jist dressing as ‘im, no’ becoming ‘im.”

Zoe conceded his point with a shrug. 

“Ye see, the Muckle Thief hid in the forests and caves,” Jamie began enthusiastically. “He evaded capture for months. I remember as a laddie hearin’ tales of him from Alexander McLaren’s tutor who came up from Edinburgh but heard of all the goings-on in Dundee. He once robbed an entire cart of grain—”

“Yes, very fascinating,” the Doctor interrupted. “We’d better get a move on or we’ll be late.” Nodding to Zoe, he swiftly headed out of the room.

Jamie gazed after him in disappointment before hurrying to catch up to him and Zoe.

The strains of spooky music greeted the trio as they made their way inside the Community Center. Fake cobwebs were strewn about corners of the dimly lit main room and tacky, papier mache decorations hung from the ceiling. Several signs indicated where different activities were being held.

“Oh, look, a trivia session with prizes,” the Doctor remarked, reading a sign pointing to a room that looked like an auditorium to their left. “It sounds like something you would be keen on, Zoe.”

Zoe’s brow furrowed as she studied it. “‘Halloween Films of the Past Four Decades’,” she read and then shrugged. “Nothing of interest to me.”

The Doctor frowned before turning toward the room. “Well, I think I’ll have a go. It could be great fun. I’m sure the two of you will find something else of interest. We’ll meet back here in one hour.”

Jamie and Zoe nodded but the Doctor had already scampered off to the trivia room. 

Jamie turned to Zoe. “Well, what do ye wanna do?” he asked with a shrug. 

The petite astrophysicist had a look at the other signs and frowned in thought. When she failed to answer, Jamie spoke up, “Hey, how aboot the games? Like ‘Body Parts’ an’ dookin’ fer apples.”

Zoe wrinkled her nose in disgust. “No thank you, I’d really like to avoid anything all to do with parts of anatomy. And what ‘for apples’?”

“Dookin’ fer apples.” He then had another look at the sign. “Oh, they call it ‘bobbin’ fer apples’ here. Daft colonists,” he muttered. His gaze was back on Zoe. “We played it in Scotland. We had tae grab apples with our teeth from a basin of water, with our hands tied behind our backs.”

“Ah,” she replied with a nod. “Not my cup of tea.”

“How aboot the pumpkin carvin’ contest?”

“I’m no good with a knife, though I’m sure you could probably do quite a job of it. Hm…” She suddenly spotted another sign. “‘Ghost Stories’...”

Jamie’s eyes lit up. “Hey, why don’ we do that? If it’s one thing we enjoyed back home, it was sharin’ grisly tales.” A mischievous grin spread across his face.

Zoe frowned. “I don’t know. Sounds rather boring to me.”

“Hey, now, ye’re no’ afraid, are ye?” Jamie teased.

The petite brunette straightened up, lifting her chin. “Of course not! It’s just rather cliche.”

“Er, Zoe, it’s Halloween,” he deadpanned.

“Not until tomorrow.”

Jamie rolled his eyes. “Alright then. It’s either ghost stories or trivia with the Doctor …”

Zoe sighed. “Oh, alright.”  

Jamie smiled softly and reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder. “If it gets too scary we can leave an’ do somethin’ else.”

“We won’t have to,” she shot back as she headed toward the room with him.

“... And so, to this day no one’s gone back to the house to see what’s really going on there.”

Zoe suppressed a shudder. The story this young couple had told seemed quite authentic, and, to be honest, she did feel a bit frightened at times. Jamie must have sensed it; at one point, he’d pulled her a bit closer to himself and rubbed her back in smooth, calming circles. 

And she didn’t feel the overwhelming need to hide her fear from him.

The last story of the night concluded, several people stood up and thanked their hosts for the session. Jamie held out a hand, helping Zoe to her feet. She turned back to the young man and woman who shared the story.

“Thank you for that. You’ve got a knack for storytelling. It sounded so authentic.”

“Aye, like it actually happened.”

The couple shared a bemused look before turning back to them. “It did happen.”

“Eh?”

“It’s all true. People have seen a ghostly woman or man in the second story window of that abandoned house. And no, they haven’t stuck around long enough to find out why it’s been happening.”

Zoe turned to Jamie in stunned surprise and found his expression matching hers. The details shared by the couple were amazing. Amazing enough that they wanted to see what was going on for themselves.

Leaving the room, they sought out the Doctor but he was nowhere to be found. Apparently the trivia session hadn’t yet ended. 

“Well, let’s see wha’ else we can do,” Jamie offered.

One costume contest—which Jamie ended up winning and couldn’t stop reminding Zoe of the fact, much to her annoyance— later, they returned and finally spotted their friend outside the auditorium.

“How was the trivia contest, Doctor?” Zoe asked.

“Oh, I didn’t do too badly,” he replied, a note of disappointment in his voice. “Some of the questions were more obscure than I’d expected. But it was rather enjoyable. What did the two of you do?”

“Well, we—”

“We entered the costume contest,” Jamie interrupted in a braggadocious way before tapping his index finger against his chest. “An’ I won!” 

“Oh, congratulations, Jamie. What did you win?”

“This!” he exclaimed, grabbing a plastic pumpkin with a jack o’lantern face by its handle and holding it up. “It’s fulla sweets!” He smirked at Zoe, who rolled her eyes and snorted.

“Och, come on, Zoe. Yer costume is still quite bonny. I’ll even let ye have some,” he said, nodding towards the sweets inside. 

“No thank you, Jamie. I’ve had enough sugar for one day.”

The Highlander shrugged. “Suit yerself.” He unwrapped a lemon drop before popping it in his mouth.

“So, what else did you do?” the Doctor asked.

“We stayed for the ghost story session,” Zoe volunteered. “A young man and woman told a story about an old, abandoned house where passers-by have seen a figure of a woman in the window over the years.”

“Aye!” Jamie added excitedly. “An’ it wasnae a story, it really happened!”

The Doctor eyed them skeptically.

“It’s true, Doctor!... Or, so they said.”

He frowned. “Hm. Well, it’s getting late. It’s about time we head back to our hotel.”

Suddenly remembering the details of the house’s location, Jamie neared the Doctor. “Can we no’ take a longer way back there? We can walk down the end o’ the road an’ then go ‘round and back.”

The Doctor blinked at them. “Why on earth would you want to do that?” 

Jamie turned desperately to Zoe. “Well, i-it’s a lovely night and we’d like to explore the area more,” she said. 

Their friend quirked an eyebrow. “I don’t know how you’re going to do much of that in the dark.”

The two sighed and shared another look. “We really should tell him,” Zoe said. 

“Doctor, we’d like tae see that house they were talkin’ aboot, tae see if all that stuff is real,” Jamie confessed.

The Doctor scoffed. “You’d like to go traipsing up to some old house because of some tall tales you heard in the wake of Halloween. It's a complete waste of time. It’s late, we should all get some sleep.”

He turned around and started to head back in the direction of the hotel, but his young friends wouldn’t budge.  

He gazed at them in frustration. “Very well. But I’m quite sure you won’t see anything.”

Their circuitous route finally deposited them in front of the house in question. It appeared at least one century old and seemed quite neglected, but otherwise unremarkable. He admitted the darkness did lend a creepiness to the imposing structure and he could understand how that might play with one’s imagination. But these sightings Jamie and Zoe told him about sounded like they were just that: products of imagination.  

“Interesting looking place, but I think it’s about time we head back,” he concluded, turning on his heel.

Zoe stuck her lower lip out in a pout as she heard the Doctor begin to walk away. She was about to join him when something in the direction of the house caught her eye. She froze, staring up at one of the second story windows. A mist suddenly coalesced and within seconds a woman’s face was visible. The phantom’s expression seemed almost desperate and her mouth moved, as if trying to communicate.

Zoe quickly nudged Jamie. “Look!” she hissed, pointing up toward the window.

Jamie’s gaze flew over to the direction she was indicating. At first he didn’t see anything but his eyes suddenly widened and his jaw nearly hit the pavement. He reached up to remove his eye mask, as if that would get him to see any better. 

Sharing a stunned look with Zoe, he grabbed her hand and they ran to catch up to their friend.

“Doctor!!” they shouted in unison. 

“We jist saw a face!” Jamie exclaimed, not even giving the Doctor a chance to react.

“What? Oh, come on, now, Jamie …” 

“In the second-story window!” Zoe added. Without a word, the two grabbed the Doctor’s arms and dragged him back to the pavement in front of the house.

“It was rieeeght there!” Jamie stabbed his index finger up at the spot where the face had appeared. 

They stared expectantly at it for several minutes, hoping to prove to the Doctor they weren’t seeing things.

“I don’t see anything.”

“Now, jist a moment. I’m sure it’ll come back …” 

Nothing appeared. They even waited a few more minutes for good measure, but all was perfectly still and dark.

“I still believe you both were just seeing things,” the Doctor told them once they were situated back in their hotel room.

“But we weren’t! It was there!” 

“The darkness can really play tricks on the mind. You should both know that,” he admonished them. “Now, don’t give it a second thought. Try to get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” He forced a little smile and then retired to his room.

Jamie huffed a breath that blew his fringe skyward as he shared a look of frustration with Zoe.

“Well, I suppose that’s it,” the petite scientist concluded with a shrug of resignation. “See you in the morning, Jamie.”

“Aye. An’ you,” he returned, heading for his room. 

Zoe lay in bed and tried whatever she could to make sleep come, but it never arrived. Her mind flew into overdrive and remained there, wondering what was behind that sighting at the old house. She was even starting to wonder if the Doctor was right, if it was only her mind playing tricks on her.

But Jamie had seen it, too! 

Heaving a sigh, she climbed out of bed and padded into Jamie’s room. Nearing him, she bent and softly nudged his shoulder.

“Jamie …”

The Highlander stirred and then stiffened. He sat up on his elbows and turned toward Zoe. “Eh? Wha’s the matter?” he asked, eyeing her blearily.

“I think we should go back to that house,” she said urgently, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jamie’s nose wrinkled as his face contorted in confusion. “What? Why?”

“I can’t stop thinking about it—that face we both saw. I need to get to the bottom of it. There’s the possibility it was staged, but I’d like to know for sure.”

“Zoe, ye’re daft. Go back tae sleep,” Jamie murmured before lying back down and turning away from her.

Zoe gazed at him in futility. “Fine,” she declared, her jaw set in a defiant glare.  “I’ll go there myself.” 

She turned to leave when Jamie immediately sat up, climbed out of bed and rushed over to her. “Oh, no, ye’re no’ goin’ over there alone.” 

She gazed expectantly at him, arms folded across her chest. 

“I’ll … go with ye,” he finally muttered begrudgingly.

Zoe offered him a pert smile. “Thank you, Jamie.”

The young Scot grumbled in reply as he sat to put on his boots. “The things I do for ye,” he muttered. However she could see a slight smile peeking out of the corners of his mouth, which made her smile in return. 

“Now, shh, let’s no’ wake the Doctor,” he whispered as they quietly made their way across the main room and outside. Jamie softly shut the door behind them and they were on their way.

Before long, the two were back in front of the abandoned house, their gazes fixed on the second story as they waited for something—anything—to appear. 

Zoe estimated they’d been standing there at least ten minutes before it became obvious this was most likely a fool’s errand. She sighed in frustration.

She then felt a tap on her shoulder. “Come on, Zoe, let’s go back,” Jamie urged.

“No, I have to get to the bottom of this.”

“Why?” 

She neglected to answer him as she suddenly felt something drawing her to the side of the house.

“Where’re ye goin’?!” Jamie exclaimed.

Zoe failed to answer; for a while, she felt as if she weren’t in control of her steps as she slowly approached the east side of the old structure. She located a short staircase leading up to the open door of an enclosed porch. 

Approaching the years-worn entrance, she felt a shiver travel down her spine. Her analytical mind tried to fight it; something about this wasn’t right. She wasn’t moving of her own volition. 

But she was being drawn almost like a magnet to enter the house.

“Zoe?” 

She barely heard Jamie’s voice behind her and deep down some small part of her was relieved he was there. She slowly ascended the three rickety steps up to the porch and entered through the door. Moonlight spilled in through the large windows, illuminating the area enough to see without tripping over anything. 

The inside of the house itself was even darker. Less moonlight spilled in through its windows and created large, unfamiliar shadows. If she stood and stared long enough, the shadows resembled human figures —heads, torsos, arms, legs … The “arms” and “legs” even swayed a bit, as if someone were performing an awkward, drunken dance.

At one point, the shadows froze, as if they had noticed her. They even appeared to grow larger and approach the window where she stood … 

She suddenly felt a hand grip her shoulder.

“Zoe!” 

The sudden hiss in her ear forced Zoe to wheel around and scream in Jamie’s face before sprinting past him out of the porch door and down the outside stairs.

Jamie shook his head. “Daft lassie,” he muttered. “If she was gonna jump oota her skin like tha’ she shouldnae have insisted on comin’ back here …”

He turned back to the main door leading to the inside of the house. “So there’s a few shadows. What could be so—”

The Highlander’s voice died in his throat as he suddenly came face-to-face with the image of an all-too-familiar beastie from his homeland. 

Unable to speak, he quickly sped around and made a mad dash outside, nearly knocking the open door off its hinges. 

As Jamie ran at breakneck speed away from the house, he smacked right into a familiar petite young woman.

“Zoe!” he panted, trying to get his breath. “Ye willnae believe what I jist saw in there!” 

Zoe laid a hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “Jamie, calm down. Get your breath,” she coaxed, though she was still reeling from her own earlier experience.

The Highlander took a few more gulps of air. “It was Nessie!”

“Wh-What?”’

“The large sea beastie from my home!” he insisted. “She was there—-right in front o’ me!”

“Nessie. The Loch Ness Monster. How is that even possible, Jamie? There’s no water nearby, and certainly not in that house where you saw it.”

“I know, but I’m tellin’ ye, I saw her!”

“I don’t know what you saw, Jamie, but there is no Nessie there. There can’t have been.” 

Noting how shaken he was, she realized she was being unreasonable. Hadn’t she herself just had a strange encounter? There was the faint possibility the light and shadows were playing tricks on her. 

But then there was that odd sensation of being pulled toward the house. She certainly couldn't explain that. 

“I’m sorry, Jamie. It’s obvious something strange is happening here. I felt as though it were pulling me towards it, and before you grabbed me I thought I saw dancing, human-shaped shadows …” She trailed off in a shiver.

“Come on, we’ve got tae tell the Doctor aboot this.”

“Ah,” the Doctor sighed, exiting his room and stretching his arms. “I slept like a ten-ton rock on the surface of Pioflaxis 9.”  

As he neared the table where his two friends sat, he frowned in concern as he noted their exhausted, worn expressions and slumped-over posture. Zoe was taking a long pull from a mug of coffee.

“Have either of you slept at all?” he asked. 

“No,” Jamie replied sourly. 

Zoe hesitated slightly before speaking. “We … went back to that old house.” 

The Doctor briefly appeared stunned before his face drew into a deep, displeased frown. “Why in heaven’s name did you do that?” he demanded. “Old, abandoned houses are filled with hazards: rusty nails, loose floorboards, falling debris … You could have been hurt!”

“We didnae go inside the house, Doctor.”

“No, we hadn’t got that far,” Zoe added. “Jamie scared me, and …" She paused, looking over at the Highlander.  “... Something scared Jamie.”

“Doctor, I saw Nessie!” Jamie exclaimed, eyes widened in fear. “From the window, inside the house!”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Aye, I am! She jist … filled up the whole room, or at least what I could see.”

“And before Jamie startled me, I thought I saw human-like shadows moving inside the room—”

The Doctor interrupted with a growl of frustration, clutching his hair with both hands. “I think the holiday itself is making you two mad.” He sighed. “Well, I suppose it’s no stranger than all the other sightings you said were reported there. Though I do worry the power of suggestion is having some effect on you.” 

His two young friends shared a frustrated look. “Doctor, that’s not all. I felt something pulling me towards that house as well, as if I couldn’t control the movement of my own legs,” Zoe continued, nervously worrying her bottom lip. Her eyes then widened in realization. “The TARDIS practically dragged us here. Is it possible the same forces are at work?”

“At the moment I believe anything’s possible, Zoe.” He frowned in thought. “Now that I think of it, there have been strange things going on here, and it all started with the TARDIS. I do think we should go back there tonight, perhaps once all the trick or treaters have settled in for the night.” 

 His friends stared at him, a bit taken aback at his quick about-face.  

Jamie suddenly appeared disquieted. “I dinnae think it’s a giud idea tae be messin’ aboot with things like tha’. ‘Specially after Zoe said she was drawn tae that part of yon house. What if somethin’ sinister is controllin’ it?”

“Jamie, I think you’re being a little hasty,” the Doctor gently admonished him. “We don’t know for certain what’s going on. We will examine the situation carefully and take as many precautions as we can. I’d suggest we start by collecting some information from the locals, including the ones who were telling you that story at the party. Might you know who they are?”

“Aye.” Jamie grabbed a slip of paper from the table with a list of the storytellers that night and pointed to the two names at the end.

“Alright, we’ll begin there.” The Doctor handed Zoe a pad and a pencil near the telephone. “You can record all the information we gather. Jamie, you stay back. With luck we shan't be very long.”

Jamie was happily munching on a couple of chocolates from his prize haul when a loud knock on the door interrupted. 

He cast a curious gaze at the door. Were the Doctor and Zoe already back? 

“Trick or Treat!”

The Scot opened the door and stared impassively at the two little boys standing before him, one dressed as a cowboy and the other as a skeleton.

“Well? Don’t you have any candy?” the skeleton asked. 

Recognition shone in Jamie’s eyes and he briefly headed for the table with the bag of sweets the Doctor had earlier purchased. He was back in front of the two boys, holding it and regarding them expectantly. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” the cowboy protested. “Give us some candy!”

Jamie shook his head. “Nae. Ye gotta earn it.”

“Huh?”

The Highlander shrugged. “Ye gotta sing for yer supper,” he said, indicating the candy.

His two friends had chosen this exact moment to return. “Jamie, what are you doing?” the Doctor asked. 

“Jist what I said. Where I’m from we had tae earn our treat by tellin’ a joke, reciting a poem or singin’ a song.”

The two boys shared a look and then broke into a slightly off-key song:

“Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat! If you don’t, I don’t care, I’ll pull down your underw—”

“Alright, alright, enough of that,” the Doctor interrupted, holding up a hand to stop them. He turned in irritation to Jamie. “Jamie, give them some sweets and let them be on their way.”

Jamie sighed and dug a handful of sweets out of the bag, handing them to the kids. The two stalked away from the door and just before shutting it the Doctor could hear them complaining about “that weird guy with the funny accent and girl’s skirt.” He sighed, glad Jamie hadn’t seemed to hear.

“So what have ye found?” he asked, taking a seat at the table with them.

The Doctor regarded him soberly. “It seems the sightings at this house have been going on for quite some time.”

Zoe scanned her notes. “Yes, about twenty years, give or take. People have seen a figure flickering in and out, or what looks like an actual solid person becoming transparent, sometimes fading away altogether after a few minutes or so. Others have seen only a torso or a disembodied floating head. And, in some cases, only a point of light floating round.”

“Yes, quite a variety of phenomena has been reported,” the Doctor added. “The more complete human figures have been seen in various styles of period dress, some from the past one hundred years and some much more recent.”

“Och, tha’s eerie.”

“Mm,” Zoe hummed, studying her notes once more. “Oh, there’s something else that piqued my interest: Someone told us that a group of people have been hunting for ghosts and holding seances inside the house over the years.”

Jamie’s eyes widened. “They played wi’ sorcery?? I’m tellin’ ye, Doctor, we shouldnae be messin’ with forces like this!” He raced to the small end table on which the telephone sat and opened the drawer.

“What are you doing?” Zoe called.

Jamie grabbed the phone book, flipped it open and scanned it. “I’m lookin’ for a church,” he muttered. “We need a priest …” 

The Doctor sighed. “Oh, Jamie, I shouldn’t think you have to go that far.”

Jamie eyed him seriously. “Nessie, the shadows, Zoe bein’ pulled towards the house … what else ciud be causin’ all that?”

“I highly doubt any so-called dark forces would cause a manifestation of a monster from Scottish folklore.”

“Then wha’ is causing it?!” 

“I don’t know!” the Doctor snapped back in frustration. “Alright, alright.  If anything gets out of hand, you can do as you wish.”

Jamie regarded him skeptically and at last sighed in resignation. “Aye.” 

Once darkness had fallen, they ventured back to the house. Jamie gazed warily up at the imposing structure. He’d tucked away a small arsenal inside his sporran against any possible threats and prayed he wouldn’t have to use it.

Several of the lower-level windows were boarded up. “Hm,” the Doctor said with a frown. “That one’s got a board missing. We’ll have to climb through.”

“Why don’t we just go back through the door over there?” Zoe asked, pointing to the one they’d used before.

“Nae on yer life! Tha’s the one ye were being pulled towards,” Jamie objected.

“You’re right,” Zoe conceded with a shiver. “I don’t think we’d be able to get inside the house that way, anyway. The inner door seemed locked.”

“Well, let’s do this,” the Doctor directed. The three approached the window in question at the front of the house, the Doctor taking the lead. Using his sonic screwdriver as a torch, he shone it inside and then crouched, trying his best not to bump his head on the top beam across the window as he climbed inside. 

Jamie and Zoe waited impatiently, Zoe hoping he was safe.

“It’s alright, you can come in now,” he coaxed them. Jamie helped Zoe crawl through and then followed her inside. 

Having a good look at the interior, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The large room they were in seemed like a parlor. Though it was mostly empty, any pieces of furniture were covered by large sheets. 

“I suggest we split up,” the Doctor said. He shone his sonic screwdriver up the staircase. “You two take this floor and I’ll go upstairs.” 

“I dinnae ken, Doctor. I think we should all stay taegether. I dinnae want ye gettin’ intae any trouble.” 

Shining his light back on them, the Doctor could easily make out the Highlander’s trepidation. “We’ll cover more ground that way,” he insisted. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright, but if ye so mich as whimper, we’re comin’ up after ye.”

The Time Lord sighed in resignation. “Very well. And if I hear a shout from either of you, I’ll come running.” With that, he left the room and ascended the staircase.

Jamie and Zoe shared a look before turning their attention to the rest of the room.

It was eerily quiet, filling Jamie with a sense of unease. “So,” he began awkwardly. “Is this where ye saw those shadow things?”

“Yes,” Zoe replied. “They looked like humans and started doing strange dances. At one point, it seemed they had noticed me and grew larger, as if they were approaching me.” She swallowed around the lump in her throat, trying to tamp down the fear that started rising in her chest. She wiped her sweaty palms on her jacket. “I’m wondering now if it was a trick of the light. Perhaps the moonlight shining through the other windows caused an illusion.”

She hoped that was the case. 

The subtle taps and creaking noises she started hearing didn’t fill her with confidence. She turned to Jamie.

“Did you hear that?”

“Aye, I did. Mebbe it was the Doctor.”

She appreciated his attempts to calm her fears. It could very well be the Doctor snooping around upstairs. “Th-that’s possible. Or it’s just an old house settling.”

“Aye, or mebbe even the wind movin’ through that window we climbed through.” 

Zoe simply nodded. That was also possible. But it was hard to keep her imagination from getting the better of her. Especially in the dark.

THUNK!

“Jamie!!!” Zoe shouted, clutching the Highlander around the waist.

“It’s okay, Zoe,” he said, though his own voice was shaking a bit with fear. “It’s jist … wha’ you said before.”

“DOCTOR?? Are you alright?!” She called. 

There was no answer.

Jamie looked worried. “We should find him. Come on.” He headed for the staircase.

But Zoe hadn’t moved.

He stared at her, tilting his head in confusion. “Zoe?”

Without a word, Zoe turned, moving toward the other end of the house. 

“Zoe, where’re ye goin’? Come back!"

She seemed to ignore him, her steps steady and purposeful. From what he could see, she appeared almost in a trance. 

“Zoe!” Jamie ran to grab her, but it felt as if some force were repelling him. An unseen wind whipped up and he tried desperately to walk against it. It whipped his hair back as he approached her closer and his steps grew more laborious. Panting, he pumped his legs with as much strength as he could muster. But whatever had this hold on Zoe seemed to be winning.

Finally he did the only thing he could think of doing: He silently prayed. 

The strange force gripping Zoe began to relax and he’d grabbed her arms, succeeding in turning her around and dragged her back into the other room. The unseen wind calmed and Zoe’s eyes cleared. She gazed at Jamie in curiosity. “What happened?”

Jamie took a moment to get his breath and pushed his hair back from his eyes. “Ye turned round an’ started headin’ for that other side of the house,” he told her worriedly. “It was as if somethin’ had a hold on ye.”

A frown of confusion knitted her brow. “I’m tellin’ ye, Zoe, there’s somethin’ dark here. Mebbe the same thing that pulled ye to tha—-” His jaw dropped as a certain realization struck him. “It’s the same place! Mebbe tha’s where they did all the black magic.”

Zoe seemed to ponder this but then shook her head, as if to clear it.

“Come on, we should find the Doctor …”

A bright light suddenly filled the room. The two stared in stunned surprise as it gathered into the figure of a woman. She was translucent and wore antiquated clothing, but her hands were missing. Most notably, she appeared frightened.

“Help us,” a quiet voice pleaded. 

Jamie and Zoe stood, staring and unable to move.

“Jamie? Zoe? Are you alright?” the Doctor called as he gingerly made his way down the stairs. He froze, stunned as he witnessed the ghostly image of a woman standing before his two companions. 

So it wasn’t their minds playing tricks on them after all! 

He slowly entered the room as he heard the woman speaking to them. He strained to hear her voice and at last approached closer.

“Wh-who are you?” Zoe finally worked up the nerve to ask. 

“We are Fyurlandia,” the voice answered. 

“Eh? What do ye mean ‘we’?”

“We are an alien race that traveled to your planet many, many seasons ago,” it replied. “Our craft was a scout ship. We landed here, hoping to study your planet and your people. But the flight capability of the ship was destroyed, and we became marooned. We were unable to contact our home planet for a rescue ship.”

“Oh, erm, I’m sorry to hear that,” the Doctor said awkwardly. “W-we would like to help if we can. Is this your true form? A humanoid one?”

“No. We took on this form in order to communicate our need for help. It comes from technology akin to what you would call a hologram.”

Zoe’s eyes gleamed in fascination. How she would love to study such a thing! Jamie seemed to notice, judging by the hint of a smile on his face.

“Unfortunately, our technology was damaged so the human-resembling proxy is as you see it: translucent, and, at most times, incomplete. It would seem many of your people are frightened by such forms. We’ve not had any success making contact with them—they run away.” 

“How do you manage to have such a variety of styles of appearance?” Zoe then asked. “I mean, in terms of clothing especially, based on the first-hand accounts we’ve collected.”

“Our technology contains an archive of period appropriate appearances. It also includes an archive of other alien races.” The specter briefly appeared chagrined. There have been times when we’ve made errors in our selection and brought up proxies of other aliens.”

The Doctor appeared fascinated while Jamie looked confused. “Not beasties from Earth?” the Scot asked.

“I’m unfamiliar with the question you are asking.”

“Earlier I thought I saw Nessie.”

“A sea monster from Scotland, where Jamie is from,” the Doctor clarified.

There was a slight pause. “Are you referring to the Skarasen?” 

“Eh?? The Skara-what?”

The Doctor frowned in thought but his brow suddenly smoothed and he turned away awkwardly.

“What’re they talkin’ aboot?? Wha’s a Skara-thing?” Jamie nearly demanded. 

“It’s not important right now, Jamie.”

“But—”

“Where is your craft?” the Doctor pressed.

“It is hidden, cloaked in an area of dense vegetation.”

“Dense vegetation,” Zoe repeated thoughtfully. Her eyes widened. “The wooded area where we landed!”

“Hm, yes, I think things are beginning to fall into place,” the Doctor mused. He turned back to the specter. “You see, I had trouble piloting our craft; it seemed something was pulling it towards that area. And we haven’t been able to figure out why.”

“We did send out a distress signal to any alien crafts which might hear. It sounds as though your ship came into contact with it.”

“Ah…”

“So what aboot the force that was pullin’ Zoe intae that part of the house?” Jamie suddenly demanded, pointing toward the far end of the building. “Was tha’ part of yer distress signal?”

The alien specter paused, its expression appearing grave. “No. There is another presence here. A very negative one.”

The Highlander’s eyes widened and his gaze flew over to the Doctor. “I tol’ ye!!” he exclaimed. 

The Time Lord held up a hand to calm him. “Is there something we can do to get you back to your planet?”

“We have the signal frequency to contact our people, but the communication mechanism of our ship was also damaged.”

The Doctor thought for a moment. “Oh! Well, I’m sure the mechanism for my own ship would work just fine. We could take you back there.”

“You would do this for us?”

“Of course! All we’ve got to do is leave this place.”

“That is impossible. This powerful negative presence is trapping us here.”

“Doctor, I know what this is. Lemme find a priest tae banish it.”

“Jamie, I really don’t think—”

“These people were practicin’ sorcery. Of course there’s somethin’ there!”

“Where are you going to find a priest??”

“Och,” the Highlander exclaimed in frustration. “I’ll try it m’self.” He approached the area where Zoe was earlier being pulled away. Reaching into his sporran, he pulled out a crucifix and began quickly reciting some words.

Zoe watched him intently. She couldn’t make out all he was saying, but it sounded like a clumsy form of Latin at first. He then fell back into the Scots Gaelic language of which she’d heard him utter a few words from time to time.

She suddenly wrinkled her nose as an overwhelming odor much like rotten eggs assaulted her nostrils. There was a loud screech that sounded like a bird of prey accompanying it. The Doctor himself looked completely gobsmacked. 

Jamie’s voice got louder as he continued to recite what was obviously a prayer, but the smell and the sound only got worse. He suddenly felt as if he were being pulled towards the wall.

“JAMIE!!” the Doctor and Zoe shouted in unison. They both grabbed him with all their strength to pull him away. 

Please, Zoe whispered to herself.

They finally succeeded in dragging him away and back into the area where they’d seen the specter. 

Jamie took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. “Doctor, I tried, but it … I need tae …”

“Go on, Jamie.”

Nodding, he quickly climbed out of the front window. Watching the young Scot race down the street, the Doctor puffed out his cheeks, heavily expelling a breath. Just when he thought he’d seen everything … 

Twenty minutes had passed when he returned with a clergyman … one who seemed quite hesitant. 

“I-I was only very recently ordained a priest,” he protested nervously. “I haven’t been authorized to perform exorcisms yet! And I believe I’d need the permission of the diocesan bishop—” 

Jamie regarded him in frustration. “Buck up, man, this is an emergency,” he pressed, making a stabbing gesture with his hand toward the area in question. “D’ye have a crucifix?”

“Yes.” 

“D’ye have holy water?”

“Yes …”

“Then we have all we need.”

The man hesitated a moment longer before finally meeting Jamie’s gaze and nodding. The Doctor stepped aside, allowing the priest to do what was needed to expel this malevolent presence. Taking Jamie with him, he approached the area of activity and got to work.

“We thank you for helping free us and ensuring our return home,” one of the aliens told the Doctor from the safety of their home planet. Once the unclean spirit had been expelled from the old house, they had reappeared and cloaked themselves as they joined the Doctor and his friends in their trek back to where their ship lay hidden. Once inside, they assumed their true form, which was a cross between an antelope and a rabbit. 

“Of course. And after all this business, perhaps things will be a lot safer for everyone.”

“You are welcome to stay and explore our planet for a while.”

The Doctor looked around in awe at his surroundings. It featured some quite unique flora and rock formations he’d be so keen on studying.

He shook his head. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m afraid we need to be going now. Perhaps another time.”

After saying his goodbyes, he stepped back inside the TARDIS where his companions were waiting.

“Ah! Well, I’m glad that’s all taken care of.”

“Aye,” Jamie said dryly. “‘Tis a Halloween I’ll neiver ferget.”

The Doctor nodded. “Credit to you for your quick thinking, Jamie.” His gaze dropped to his hands. “I admit there are some areas in which I am out of my element.” He gazed back up at Jamie in admiration. “But you have your faith, which really came through for us. Despite all my scientific knowledge, none of it would have made any difference here.”

Zoe was now smiling as she looked at him. “Yes, Jamie. I can’t thank you enough for doing what you did. As much as I operate in logic, it obviously wouldn’t have saved me from that force that was pulling me inside that house.” She wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

A faint blush spilled across his cheeks. “Och, go on wi’ ye both,” he said, an abashed smile spreading across his face.

It quickly faded.  “Jist dinnae get us landed in some den fulla witches somewhere,” he said dryly.

The Doctor frowned in apparent disappointment. “Oh, dear. Well, there go my plans for next Halloween ...”

Jamie fixed him with a wide-eyed glare. 

“Only a joke, I promise,” he insisted, holding up his hands in surrender before leaving the room. 

Jamie eyed his retreating form warily before returning his gaze to Zoe. The two shared a smile. 

"Happy Halloween, Jamie."

THE END