Worth A Thousand Words

Chapter Eight

Rose had to run to keep up with the Doctor's long strides, but she didn't mind. His uncaring attitude and businesslike expression parted the crowding masses better than a plough. As long as she kept at his heels, holding on to the back of his coat so as not to be separated from him, she mustered through just as easily.

Upon reaching the boarding plank where crowds of passengers were queued, the psychic paper did its job – with only a slight pause on behalf of the steward checking them in.

'Mr Forman?' the young man frowned, looking at the Doctor and Rose, and then down at his ship's manifest. 'It says you and your wife checked in an hour ago.'

'Must be another Forman – can't imagine we're a rare breed,' the Doctor grinned disarmingly.

'It must be a mistake in the book,' Rose added. 'I bet you lot – I mean, you crew members are all so exhausted getting the ship and everything ready to go out. Maybe someone got distracted and checked in the wrong people?'

From behind them, other people were complaining about the delay, and the steward seemed to decide this wasn't the place to chase down a problem with the paperwork.

'That's probably it,' he agreed. 'And your ticket's obviously genuine, so I'll simply make a note of it and have another member of the staff look in on you after boarding. They will come to call upon you in your stateroom.'

'Sounds good,' the Doctor said, pulling Rose along. 'Cheerio!'

They were a few paces away when Rose quietly prompted, 'Wife?'

'Better than prostitute, don't you think?' the Doctor returned, unconcerned. 'Lucky for you, large age gaps are common in this day and age.'

'Lucky for you, you mean,' Rose teased. 'You get to walk around with a beautiful young blonde – isn't that every man's dream?'

'Human men, maybe,' the Doctor rolled his eyes. 'And you – bit of a high opinion of yourself, don't you think?'

'Not really. It's just something some bloke said to me once. Rather nice compliment, actually, considering.'

The Doctor frowned in confusion. 'Considering what?'

'That he was alien,' she told him, tongue between her teeth. For a moment he didn't appear to get the joke, but when the penny dropped he favoured her with his own wry smile.

'Think you're so clever, do you?'

'I am so clever! Superior human intellect, me!'

But her teasing impression of the Doctor trailed off as they stepped off the gleaming gangway and onto the floating palace that had been called unsinkable.

Rose had never been one of those kids that was obsessed with the story of the Titanic. Still, even she couldn't help the gooseflesh that travelled up her arms and the back of her neck at the sight of the ship's interior.

'Oh, she was right!' she breathed.

'Who was?' he questioned as they dodged the moving crowds of other passengers.

'The old lady in the film – you really can smell the paint!' Rose beamed.

'Are you going to compare everything you see around here with that bloody film?' he grumbled. 'It got more wrong than it did right, as you'd be able to tell if you were paying attention.'

'I am paying attention!'

They squeezed onto the deck which was already packed with other passengers and the uniformed White Star employees. For the longest time, Rose craned her neck to see if she could catch sight of the vitavore again, but it seemed finding anything in this din was impossible.