madly, despite the fact that whoever she was talking to couldn’t see her.
The front door slammed shut and he turned from the sink to see Rani walk in, sullen and looking at the floor, as if something really interesting was on the carpet that she had never seen before.
‘So,’ he said to his daughter, ‘what was that all about? All those soldiers and stuff? She’s weird, Sarah Jane. I mean, there’s always something happening at her house and –’
He was cut off as Rani all but launched herself at him from the living room, throwing her arms around him and giving him a huge, tight hug.
Pleased at the hug, Haresh was nevertheless aware this was unusual and something was upsetting her.
‘Hey,’ he said quietly into her ear. ‘What’s this for?’
‘Don’t you ever go anywhere, okay?’
‘What?’ laughed Haresh. ‘Not even to the shops?’
But Rani held him tighter. ‘Please. Not anywhere. Ever. Promise?’
‘Okay,’ Haresh said, hugging her back. ‘I promise.’
Finally Rani broke free and told him that the Doctor had been killed in an accident.
‘They knew each other via UNIT,’ Rani explained. ‘That’s why they came to tell her.’
‘Must have been a pretty important person for all that noise and kerfuffle,’ Haresh said.
‘He was,’ Rani said simply.
‘Did you ever meet him?’
Rani nodded. ‘Once.’ But that was all she said about him.
And Haresh knew that if his daughter was this upset, Sarah Jane had to be feeling a great deal worse.
‘Is there anything we can do for her?’
But Rani shook her head. ‘I think she just wants to be left alone.’ She smiled at her dad. ‘She’s asked Clyde and I to go to the funeral tomorrow, in Wales. Is that okay? They’re sending a car for us and putting us up and everything.’
‘Well, I’m not sure…’ Haresh started to say, but then saw Rani’s face. And he could never say no to either of the women in his family. ‘Of course you must go,’ he said. ‘You have to support Sarah Jane.’
And Rani hugged him again. Just a little bit tighter. ‘I love you, Dad,’ she said.
Later that night, in the attic of 13 Bannerman Road, Sarah Jane was talking to Luke, via webcam.
Tonight, Luke could sense that his Mum needed him to listen to her rather than talk fun nonsense, as they usually did.
‘I always thought…if ever the Doctor died, I’d just know,’ she explained, although she wasn’t looking at Luke’s image, but was walking around the room. ‘Wherever he was, if he was far away on some distant planet or lost in the depths of the Dark Ages…that I’d know. But I didn’t. I didn’t feel a thing.’
Luke had met the Doctor on a couple of occasions – once they’d even teamed up to save the world from the Daleks and on another, he’d saved Luke’s life when he’d carelessly walked in front of a speeding car, because he’d been distracted, talking to Clyde on his mobile.
The Doctor meant a lot to him, too, so he could more than sympathise with his mum. But Luke was pragmatic – practical and rational. ‘That doesn’t actually mean anything, though, Mum,’ he said quietly.
‘Maybe it does!’ she said rather loudly. ’Because I don’t think he is dead. He can’t be!’ And she came back to the computer and looked at Luke. ‘I’m going to that funeral, Luke, but only to find out what’s going on. Because I know the Doctor is still alive!’
Chapter Three
Bang on time
Clyde and Rani were outside Rani’s house, waiting for the UNIT car to come and collect them. Gita was brushing down Rani’s blouse when Haresh emerged from their home with Rani’s overnight bag. ‘Don’t know what you’ve got in here,’ he muttered. ‘Feels like you’re going for a month, not a night.’
Clyde was explaining his concerns to Gita. ‘Luke says Sarah Jane’s gone mad.’
‘Oh, don’t be rude, my darling,’ Gita said. ‘Luke would never say “mad” about his own mother.’
Clyde nodded. ‘He also