Struggling To Adjust (Book Three of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

The Shakespeare Code

The Doctor grinned. “Bingo.”

“But hold on,” Martha interrupted. “Am I all right? I’m not going to get carted off as a slave, am I?”

The Doctor frowned. “Why would they do that?”

Jessie whacked him in the back of the head. Martha gave a small smirk before pointing at her face. “Not exactly white, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Bad Wolf and I aren’t even human,” the Doctor pointed out. “Just walk about like you own the place. Works for me.” Martha slowly followed them, and the Doctor smiled encouragingly. “Besides, you’d be surprised. Elizabethan England. Not so different from your time. Look over there.”

Jessie giggled when she saw the men shoveling manure into a bucket. “Lookie, they’ve got recycling!”

The Doctor pointed to men talking over a water barrel. ‘Water cooler moment.”

“And the world will be consumed by flame!” a preacher announced as they walked by.

“Global warming,” both of them finished with chuckles.

The Doctor grinned. “Oh, yes. And entertainment. Popular entertainment for the masses. If I’m right, we’re just down the river from Southwark, right next to – ” He began to run through the streets, and Jessie followed, leaving Martha to follow. He stopped past Southwark Cathedral, and her eyes widened at the sight before them. “Oh, yes!” the Doctor cheered in excitement. “The Globe Theatre! Brand new. Just opened. Though, strictly speaking, it’s not a globe. It’s a tetradecagon. Fourteen sides.” He beamed. “Containing the man himself.”

Martha’s eyes widened. “Whoa! You don’t mean . . . is Shakespeare in there?”

“Oh, yes,” the Doctor agreed, turning to wink at Jessie. “Bad Wolf, will you accompany me to the theatre?”

She took his arm. “Not much of a Shakespeare fan, but why not?”

The Doctor then turned to Martha. “Miss Jones?”

“Mr. Smith,” Martha replied, taking his other arm. “I will.”

The Doctor grinned and led them towards the theatre. “When you get home, you can tell everyone you’ve seen Shakespeare,” Jessie told her.

Martha smiled. “Then I could get sectioned.”

***

The psychic paper was very useful at times. It got the Doctor, Jessie, and Martha high up in the stands. Jessie had to admit, she wasn’t a huge Shakespeare fan, but seeing the actual version of Loves Labor’s Lost in the actual Globe Theatre? That was something.

“That’s amazing!” Martha gushed at the end, applauding with the others. “Just amazing! It’s worth putting up with the smell.”

“Including the men dressed as women,” Jessie added, raising her head off of her fist. “London never changes.”

“Where’s Shakespeare?” Martha asked curiously. “I want to see Shakespeare.” Jessie’s eyes widened when Martha began to shout. “Author! Author!” She paused, then turned to look at the Doctor and Jessie. “Do people shout that?” she asked. “Do they shout Author?”

Jessie looked over her shoulder when a man began to shout “Author!” as well. It was closely followed by the rest of the crowd. The Doctor raised an eyebrow, then smirked at Martha. “Well,” he commented. “They do now.”

Jessie raised another eyebrow as Shakespeare came onstage. Martha voiced what she was thinking. “He’s a bit different from his portraits.”

“Genius,” the Doctor told them, brightening considerably. “He’s a genius. The genius. The most human human there’s ever been. Now we’re going to hear him speak. Always, he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words.”