Waylaid In London

Chapter 4

Yawning, Jamie sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He nearly did a double-take as he caught sight of the clock on the small table next to his bed. It was eight o'clock in the morning. He was always an early riser and hadn't expected to sleep this long. Obviously he'd needed it after all the excitement, especially after what had happened late last night. Incredibly, it hadn't taken very long for him to fall back asleep. He'd checked on Polly one last time before he'd gone back to bed and again found her sleeping soundly.

Feeling quite groggy, he decided having a shower would refresh him and wake him properly. Stretching, he got out of bed, grabbed some clean clothes from his knapsack and headed toward the bathroom. On the way there he'd nearly bumped into Polly.

"Good morning, Sleepyhead!" she greeted him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Aye, but something strange happened last night." He watched Polly regard him curiously. "Did ye not hear it?"

She shook her head. "No, I never heard a thing. What happened then?"

"Well, I was sleeping soundly when I suddenly heard a loud noise outside yer house. I went tae investigate and I found an old man rootin' through yer rubbish bin."

"An old man?"

"Aye. He looked like a proper hobo, growth of hair on his face, scraggly clothes ... He suddenly turned tae me and shouted some nonsense before he ran away, down the end of the street. I didnae see where he'd gone."

Polly raised her eyebrows, appearing a bit nonplussed before finally shrugging. "Sounds like a typical vagrant. Nothing out of the ordinary round these parts, really."

"Maybe so, but I'll never forget the look he gave me. His eyes were almost wild and what he said ... It was something tae the effect of ... 'Droox?' No, 'Drix.' That was it."

"Well, then he's a vagrant on mind-altering drugs. Also not unheard of."

"Eh?"

Polly gave him what seemed like a sympathetic chuckle. "Look, I can imagine it must have given you quite a start. You're practically a stranger in a new environment, even if you've been here before a few times. It's completely understandable. But it's really nothing out of the ordinary, Jamie. Don't give it another thought."

"Och..." Jamie sighed in frustration. She was probably right, but he couldn't shake the feeling there was more to it than that. Maybe he was just being paranoid. "Alright, if ye say so." His gaze dropped to the bundle of clothes he was carrying. "Anyway, I was hopin' tae freshen up this morning, wash away some of the sleep still weighing me down."

"Well, you're quite welcome to use our bath," she smiled, gesturing toward the room near the end of the corridor. "It's not as fancy as the TARDIS shower, but it's decent enough." She walked a bit further until she came to a small linen closet and opened the door. "I've got fresh towels in here." She removed a small and large one, and handed them to him. "If you need anything else, just tell me."

Jamie nodded gratefully. "Thank ye."

Polly returned his nod and he watched her head down the corridor. Offering the bundle of towels and clothes in his hands a tentative glance, he finally made his way into the bathroom.

Jamie gave his hair a final rub with the towel and sighed happily. The shower had refreshed him immensely. True, it didn't have all the bells and whistles of the TARDIS shower, but it felt invigorating. Jamie had noticed his hair had become a bit grimy and found a bottle of shampoo sitting at the corner of the bathtub. It was a brightly colored bottle with a drawing of flowers on it and he'd immediately assumed it was Polly's. Removing the cap, he wrinkled his nose at the strong whiff of fragrance that resembled woman's perfume and realized he was right. He'd then spotted a smaller, dark bottle and, discovering it had a more subtle scent, decided to squeeze a glob of it into his hands and wash his hair.