Cairde i mBosca
By
A. Rhea King

Chapter 1

With a whir and other electronic sounds, the TARDIS materialized in a grove of trees near a road. A farmhouse and horse stables could be seen at the top of a hill. In the distance a dairy farm could be seen, and beyond it the pastures and hay fields were filled with tents and a flow of people.

The door formed with trees blocking both sides. Clara opened the door and stared at the trees for a moment.

"Doctor," she said crossly, "we have a problem."

The eleventh Doctor appeared next to her. Then he looked crossly up at the doorframe.

"You couldn't have warned me?" he asked the TARDIS.

There was no response.

"She's been doing this a lot lately," Clara pointed out to him.

"She's just being cranky, although I can't figure why. Shut the door," he told Clara. "We'll try parking again."

The two disappeared back inside. The TARDIS disappeared, and then reappeared in a new spot in the grove. Clara opened the door, and then stepped out into the sunlight. The Doctor followed her out carrying a backpack. He handed it to her.

"Where are we? What's this for?"

"1969, Woodstock starts in…" He glanced at the sun. "two hours. That's our tent. We'd better go find a good place to pitch a tent."

"A tent?" she asked dubiously.

"Of course a tent!" He walked off, telling her. "Everyone loves tents."

"I don't care for them, actually."

"You'll love my tent."

"Bigger on the inside?"

"Not really."

The two walked away debating the likelihood of Clara enjoying a tent, leaving the TARDIS alone in a grove of trees near a road. The day wore on and night began to sink in. The valley echoed with the music and a mass of people. The setting sun had just lit the sky on fire when footsteps approached.

A young woman, who was not much older than Clara, walked into the grove and circled the TARDIS once. She stopped, looking at the front, and then smiled.

"Hello there," she said to it. Her voice had an Irish accent that living in America had toned down some. She laid her hand on the wood and ran it down the painted surface. She smiled as she pulled her coat tighter around her.

"This is quite unexpected," she told the blue box with a smile, "but I guess, considering what you are, it's not unheard of, is it? My great grandmother told me stories of a blue Police Box that once took her some places far away, with a man called The Doctor. Well, she was never sure he was a man, he looked like one was all. They had an adventure, the two of them, and then she came home and never saw him or you again." The woman leaned in, as if telling the TARDIS a secret. "I always thought she was a little daft because of those stories, but then here you are, sitting in the middle of New York, nearest a music fair. The paper news says it's going to be historic but it is just a music festival."

The woman turned away, looking off toward the dairy farm and the soon-to-be historic music festival. "They're predicting rain during this. The whole lot will be lucky not to catch their death of pneumonia, they will." She looked sidelong at the TARDIS. "Is your Doctor Who down there with someone?" She smiled, patting the blue wood. "Well, I'd best be going. Supper won't make itself."

The woman walked away. She crossed the road and started up the hill toward the farmhouse. Darkness closed in around the TARDIS. The music was almost drowned out by crickets. Night creatures flew, creeped, or walked past. It was a lonely place for any sentient being, but lonely was normal for the TARDIS.

-#-

Morning dawned and shortly after noon the woman came down the hillside with wide steps. She was carrying a knapsack in one hand and a transistor radio from her other wrist. She smiled at the TARDIS when she could see it through the trees.

"I brought you some music," she told it. She spotted a log nearby and sat down. She switched on the radio, tuned into a station, and sat it next to her feet. She dug out an apple and a small piece of wrapped cheese, and began eating.

"My grandmother said you were able to understand things – but she never did see any proof of that, it's just what the Doctor said." She slid off the log and sat down on the ground so she could recline against it. "She never really talked about where they went; just that she saw years of wonderful things, and it was only a matter of minutes here. I wonder what that's like."

"Have you ever seen the end of the universe?" someone asked.

The woman looked over her knees at the hologram of Clara. She slowly moved to sit up.

"Who are you?"

"The TARDIS Graphic Interface."

"Oh. Well, that's unique, isn't it?"

"There are more advance systems in other cultures."

The woman smiled. "Are there? I take that comment back then. I'm Sara. What do I call you?"

"TARDIS."

"Aye. I should have guessed. And to answer your question, no, I've never seen that. Has anyone?"

"Yes."

"You're Doctor?"

"Yes. And others."

"Mm. Does it make a sound, the edge of the universe? Or is that a silly question just a human would ask?"

"It does make a sound, yes."

Sara smiled. She grabbed her radio. "Can you show me the sound? Can you make it come out of here?"

TARDIS looked at the radio, then Sara. "It is something to be experienced."

She disappeared followed by the door opening.

Sara stared at the open door for several minutes, debating. She stood up, grabbed her knapsack and radio, and walked inside. She started to walk slowly around the control room, looking at everything and touching nothing.

"My grandmother said you have a pool."

The hologram of Clara appeared. "I do."

Sara turned, grinning. "And how many bedrooms and loos?"

"As many as I need. I am infinite."

"Really?" Sara looked over the controls. "What does it feel like to be infinite?"

When TARDIS didn't answer, Sara leaned to the side so she could see the hologram around the center console. TARDIS stared at her. Sara walked up to her.

"Do you not know?"

"I do not have any words you could understand to describe it," TARDIS answered.

Sara smiled. "That's a problem of a different color, isn't it?" Sara walked over to a set of stairs and sat down.

"You were going to let me hear the end of the universe, remember?"

The door closed. The two stared at each other.

"Does that mean you're mad at me?" Sara asked.

"Look outside. However, don't step off. Gravity is different here. I could not save you if you were to fall."

Sara walked over to the door and opened it. Her breath was stolen away. They sat near what looked like a rip across the sky. Bright lights of every color Sara knew, and colors she had never seen before, mixed and bled into blackness. On one side of the rip were stars as far as the eye could see. On the other was a black so deep that no light could ever shine inside of it. As breathtaking as that sight was, it wasn't what stole Sara's breath. It was the sound. It was low, almost inaudible, something she imagined angels must sing.

"This is…" Sara smiled, leaning against the door.

She looked at TARDIS when she joined her. It took her a moment to realize—

"Oh! Let me get that door for you," Sara said.

She opened the second door and the two stood in the doorway with the end and beginning of space laid out before them.

"There are no words for this, are there?" Sara asked.

"None."

Sara leaned back against the wall. "If you had to pick your favorite place in the entire universe, anywhere in time, what would it be?" TARDIS began to respond but Sara held up a finger. "Nye. Don't tell me, show me."

TARDIS stared at her. "My favorite place is the beginning of time and space, in the seconds after it has begun. But I would be late returning for the Doctor and his companion if I show this to you."

"I thought you could travel through time."

"Time is much slower there and even I am affected by this. If I were to try altering this effect, it would cause irreparable damage to all time lines."

"Ah. I don't understand most of what you said, but I do understand irreparable damage. Best we not fiddle with it then." Sara smiled. "How about something else. Maybe a place with flowers I've never seen before?"

The TARDIS stared at her. "Close the doors, Sara."

Sara did. She walked back to the stairs and sat down. "So where are we off to now?"

TARDIS turned to her. "I will show you my favorite place in time and history."

"We're going to the beginning of space and time?"

"Yes."

"But you just said that—"

"They are safe at Woodstock, and I believe I can make it shortly after they return to my original location. They will simply have to wait." The hologram disappeared.

Sara fell back against the stairs when the TARDIS jerked. She smiled.

"Alright, but you might be asking for trouble if you get back late."

TARDIS smiled a little. "Then I get in trouble."

The two shared an impish smile.

-#-

The Doctor and Clara trudged up the road. They were both muddy and soaked.

"I didn't know the tent would leak if I touched it while it was raining," he told her.

She shot him a dark look. "I told you it would. You ignored me."

"It was an accident."

They turned off the road, heading toward the grove of trees.

"I just want dry clothes and a shower."

He smiled. "You have to admit this was a good idea otherwise."

She almost smiled. "Yes it was."

The two entered the grove and walked through them. The Doctor stopped suddenly, looking around him. He whipped out his sonic screwdriver, waved it around the area, looked at it, waived it around again.

"What's wrong, Doctor?"

"The TARDIS is gone."

"No. It's just further in the trees."

"No. It was right here. I left her right here. She's gone!"

"Did you reset everything again?"

"No. I left her right here, Clara."

Clara sat down on a log and pushed back her muddy, wet hair. "Great. Now I'm stuck in 1969, wet, muddy, hungry, and tired. Our next adventure had better be to someplace tropical and warm."

"The TARDIS is gone, Clara! There will be no next adventure without it!"

He suddenly jumped back. Clara got to her feet, joining him. They watched the TARDIS reappear before them. When it finished, neither moved. Clara finally snuck a look at the Doctor's face. He stared at the machine as if it was going to bite him.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked.

"Sort of, but—," Clara answered.

"Not you. Sh," he told her.

With apprehensive steps, he walked toward the TARDIS. "Did I do something wrong?"

The door opened. He heard someone talking inside. He glanced at Clara, then back to the TARDIS.

The Doctor walked in, following the voice. He found a girl sitting on the stairs; she was the person talking. She was plain looking. Her dark auburn hair that looked more brown than reddish. It was cropped at the bottom of her neck. She had typical hazel eyes, an average mouth. She was a tall, thin girl, with long legs, hands, and fingers, probably even a few inches taller than The Doctor when she stood. She was average in appearance and gangly – not ugly, just… simple, plain, tall.

She smiled at him, continuing to talk. "So there I am," she told the air, "this waif of a girl holding on for dear life to the mane of this wild pony."

"Who are you talking to?" Doctor Who asked her.

The girl motioned him to wait.

He glanced behind him. Clara stood at a safe distance, staring suspiciously at the stranger. The Doctor turned his attention back to the girl, debating what to do. There didn't appear to be anything dangerous about the girl, and the TARDIS was not acting like she felt threatened by the girl or that the girl shouldn't be there. Since TARDIS was a good judge of character, usually, he decided to wait as the girl had suggested, and see what interesting adventure was about to unfold.

"And we were headed toward the stone wall. I was certain we were going to run headlong into it. Then a few meters before it, the pony stops. Just stops! I flew over its head, but I held onto those reins. I wasn't about to walk back home, not after that ride. I rolled down the hill and could hear the pony running too. I didn't know where he was. Everything was blurry. I land in the marsh at the bottom and get covered in mud. Then I laid there – waiting to see if I was dead or alive. I look up, and this stupid pony is standing over me, staring me, as if it wanted to know why I was on the ground!" The woman laughed as she climbed to her feet. "And that is how I learned to ride and was able to get a job as a trainer at a horse farm in the United States."

The Doctor spun around when the controls began to flicker, things whirred, and somewhere a horn honked. The TARDIS was reacting to the story! And he realized that meant his TARDIS liked this girl, this complete stranger, and suddenly she was the most intriguing thing he'd met all day!

"Sara."

He turned, finding her holding out her hand for a handshake.

"The Doctor." He shook her hand. "You were telling my TARDIS a story. Fascinating. Tell me how you even knew she was listening to you."

"She's not your TARDIS. You're her Doctor. At least that's what she believes. We've been talking since the day after you went to Woodstock, while we were out adventuring."

Her correction excited him more. "Oh TARDIS, you took your new friend adventuring! Now, my dear," he said to Sara, "semantics aside, how… She? Why did you call the TARDIS she?"

Sara had turned to gather her belongings next to the pillows. She shouldered her knapsack. "She believes that she's a she. What do you believe she is?"

"I… A she. You two have been talking a while."

Sara smiled. "Well, I best go before a search party is sent out for me. It was good to meet you. And you as well Clara."

"You know my name?" Clara asked.

"Of course I know your name. TARDIS told me." Sara stopped next to Clara, telling her with a wink. "I've heard you two haven't gotten on yet. Give a room a good scrubbing every so often. She says it must be what getting your back scratched feels like."

Sara walked out of the TARDIS.

Clara turned to the Doctor, who wore a giant grin. She couldn't help but reflect it.

"Doctor? What do you know?"

He turned, looking up at the rings overhead. "What have you been up to, you clever girl?" he asked with a hint of deviousness. "Tell me about this new friend of yours."

A screen flashed and he turned to it. On it appeared: Making friends. Your ninth generation met her grandmother and she recalled the woman's stories of me, of you. She began talking to me and gave me a radio to keep me company when you're away.

"You don't need a radio, my dear."

It was a gift.

He grinned. "Ah. In that case, my dear, you definitely needed a radio!"

Do you like her?

"I think she's adorable! And I can see she's taken a shine to you. Are you going to come back to see her soon?"

On the screen printed: Time permitting

"That's the spirit! You have a new friend to gallivant with. Is she daring?"

No. We visited quiet places, safe places.

"And you enjoyed that, did you?"

I think I did. I enjoy our journeys and adventures but this was… different. We talked a lot.

"Oh, my dear TARDIS, we don't talk as much as we used to in the beginning. I am sorry for that."

Don't be sorry. We talk enough. But now I have Sara when I need someone else to talk to.

"And one can never have enough good friends. I commend you for taking a risk. Just—"

"Doctor," Clara quietly said.

He turned to her. "Hm?"

"It doesn't disturb you that some strange woman was in here talking to your ship?"

"Technically, Sara was right. The TARDIS isn't my ship so much as I'm her Doctor. And she's a sentient being, prone to emotions just like you. So no. Besides, she never would have let the girl in if she didn't trust her. TARDIS doesn't trust many people like—"

"Like me?"

"She will. I told you, she's like a cat. Cautious and distrustful when she first meets you."

Clara picked at imaginary lint on the console. "Your cat likes a complete stranger over me."

The Doctor smiled when she looked up. "She will warm up to you. You said she used a hologram of you. That means something positive, I'm sure. She likes you; she's just not very open about it."

Clara flashed a half-hearted smile. "Will she go off on her own to visit this new friend of hers?"

"Yes. She will."

"Won't that leave us stranded?"

"From time to time, but she'll always come back. Although…" He turned back to the screen. "Usually you're here before I come back. Why were you late this time?"

On the screen printed: We went to the beginning of the universe.

"Ohhhhh." He grinned. "That is the best reason for being tardy!"

"What?" Clara looked at the screen. "What does the beginning of the universe mean?"

He grinned. "She likes the start of time and space over all other times or places. She'd probably stay there forever if she could. She took her new friend to see it."

Clara looked at the floor, then the screen. "Could… I see it?"

There wasn't an answer. It looked like the answer was no.

"Well," the Doctor began to say to Clara, "where should we—"

He was interrupted by a print on the screen: Yes.

The Doctor smiled at Clara. "Remember, just like a cat."

Clara smiled, sidling up to him. "Thank you, TARDIS."

Yes, appeared on the screen again.

-#-

Sara sat on the log, looking at her sneakers. She glanced at the post card that sat on her knapsack beside her. It had been sent from Taos and the only text written on it was a date and time. The Doctor had come up with the idea so she would know when and what day to expect her friend, the TARDIS, to return for a visit.

She looked up when she heard the TARDIS approaching and then it materialized. The door opened. She picked up her knapsack and postcard and walked inside, finding the control room empty.

"Are the two off on some perilous adventure?" Sara asked.

A hologram of Clara appeared nearby. "Yes. Shall we join them?"

She looked at Clara. "I don't care for a perilous or dangerous or pretty much anything those two have told me about. Let's avoid peril altogether."

"Some place tropical. Some place warm."

"A nice, quiet beach sounds wonderful. Maybe later we can do snow."

TARDIS smiled. "I know just the place!"

The door slammed shut and away the two friends went.