Arcadia's Family (Book THREE)

Truth

The Doctor:

Zygons, had to go and ruin everything we set up for them, didn't they? And now my best friend and daughter wouldn't answer the bloody phone. "Hello, it's Doctor Disco. I'm in the twenty first century. I don't know what month. I'm staking out some of the most dangerous creatures imaginable." Two girls stopped to stare at Phi, Cadia and I. "Operating under deep cover. Trying not to attract suspicion. Give me a call, my Sarah Jane, Clara. Nightmare Scenario. I'm worried. Sarah Jane, please."

I hung up, and Phi headed over to the little girls as they climbed onto the monkey bars. "Okay. Hey, Monster High and Cinderella. Down off the monkey bars. Listen to me. We've got to talk." They paused for a moment. "Look, I admire you, okay? I think you're ingenious. Pretending to be a couple of seven year olds is a splendid way to conceal your blobbiness. But let's not pretend. You're very blobby. In fact, you two are the big blobs. And you are not patrolling the ceasefire."

The climbed down as she carefully went down the slide, her leggings helping now her hips were now a little too wide for the slim strip of metal. Having twins would do that. "Fine. Fine, bury your heads. Listen to me. Listen! There are other factions. I know that there are other blobby factions that you don't control. They're planning something. And if we don't get together and stop it, it'll be the end of this. Of all of you."

"This is our jurisdiction, Doctor, Mrs Seraphina. These are our creatures. We are close to finding them."

"They are our children, and we will deal with them."

"Your kids are out of control. I'm taking this out of your hands." Like I could talk, my daughter was god-knows where. "Don't even think about going anywhere."

I looked over to see Arcadia on his phone. "Are you phoning me with your backside again, cousin, or are you really sending me a distress signal? We're tracing something from the day we were born."

His ma took the phone, putting it on speaker so we could hear Kate Lethbridge-Stewarts voice. "I'm really sending you a distress signal. They've kidnapped Osgood and they've stolen the location of every Zygon on Earth.Aunt Phi, Doctor, the ceasefire's broken down. They know about the twins."

Then there was red gas hissing from something, and Arcadia lept to action. "Hey! Away! Away! Get those kids out of the way! Out of the way! Out of the way! Out of the way! Move! Out of the way!" The teachers got the kids out of the way, and a couple of Zygons grabbing Jemima and Claudette, both of them screaming. "Ma, Da, LR55 YOY!" Cadia shouted, jumping on his bike and going after them, as his ma and I went to the TARDIS, getting to the UNIT Safe House. 

"Hi, this is Sarah Jane Clara Tate, Memory Investigations. I'm probably on the Tube or in outer space, which is a joke, Mycroft. Leave a message!"

"Call me now. Sarah Jane, they know, they know you're key to the treaty."

SJ

Why was he ringing me repetitively? It was just a little annoying, and it was girls night with me and Clara. She was up in her flat, and I was listening in to what was going on with them. 127 missed calls, and that was da, there was another 40 from Cadia and 74 from Cousin Kate. "Hello, it's Doctor Disco."

But I put the phone down as I saw a boy sat on the stairs, looking sad.  "Hello."

"Oh, hello." I smiled, bending down to touch his arm lightly, getting just enough info to learn his name. "Sandeep, hello. I'm SJ. You okay, poppet?"

"I can't find my mummy and daddy."

Hmmm, right... "Well, why don't you wait here, and I can go see if I can find them?" I smiled, then brushed his arm again to find out which flat was his. "Hello? Hello?" And then there was a man behind me, and I gasped, suddenly hearing thoughts that weren't there a moment before. "Oh! Sorry. Er, your little boy is out there. He couldn't find you."