Rose and I walked arm-in-arm in the same direction the Doctor had headed. Just as we neared the section of street the workers were on, a red mini-cooper stalled to a stop right beside us, the engine faltering and making strange sputtering noises.
One of the street workers shook his head, making his way over to the car.
"There you go," He called, bending down to talk to the driver, "Fifth today. That's not natural, is it?"
"Don't know what happened. I had it serviced less than a month ago."
"Nah, don't even try to explain it mate," He said, "All the cars are doing it, and you know what? Its bonkers. Bonkers."
"There's some kind of energy on this street," I muttered to Rose, so only she could hear, "Something's messing with the temperature, stalling the cars. You can feel it."
"Come on then, pal. I'll help you shift it. Quicker you're on your way, happier you'll be."
The driver stood int he doorway of the car, and the road worker moved behind it, beginning to help him push it down the street.
"Do you want a hand?" Rose asked as I held up my own, waving it through the air as I felt the energy that was positively saturating the atmosphere in this particular section of street.
"No, we're alright, love." The worker told her.
"Well you're not," Rose said, walking over and lightly bumping him to make room for her, "I'm tougher than I look, honest."
They began pushing together as I noted how the hair on the back of my neck seemed to stand on end depending on where I was standing.
"What is that?" I asked myself. The car they were pushing roared to life, causing the worker to just about faceplant into the street.
"Cheers, mate!' The driver called. I rushed over to exactly the point where the car started. The energy was weaker there than in the area where the car had stalled.
"Does this happen a lot?" Rose questioned.
"Been doing it all week." He said. I raised my eyebrows, stepping up beside Rose.
"Since those children started going missing?" She asked.
"Yeah. Suppose so."
"Just here though, yeah?" I asked, gesturing beside me. "This stretch of street?"
"Now that I think about it...yeah," He agreed, "Same spot, every time."
I shook my head.
"I don't like this." I whispered to Rose.
"Every car cuts out," The worker began, walking back towards his van. Rose and I both fell into step beside him. "The council is going nuts. I mean, they've given this street the works. Renamed it. I've been tarmacking every pothole. Look at that. Beauty, innit? Yep, and all this is because that Olympic torch comes right by the end of this close. Just down there. Everything's gotta be perfect, ain't it? Only it ain't."
"It takes 'em when they're playing." I raised my eyebrows, stepping slightly in front of Rose as an old woman appeared in front of us.
"Sorry, what?" I asked, putting a hand on the woman's arm, "What takes them?"
"Danny, Jane, Dale, snatched in the blink of an eye!"
"Liar! You're a liar!"
"I am a...I'm a...Police officer!" I looked up just past the woman to see the Doctor walking backwards away from a very angry-looking father, "That's what I am I've got a badge and a police car. You don't have to get-I can prove it. Just hold on..."
He backed into the space beside me, digging in his coat for his psychic paper.
"We've had plenty of coppers pokin' round here and you don't look or sound like any of 'em."
"See look, I've got Colleagues. Lewis and...Clark." I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"They look less like coppers than you do."
"Yes well that is simply for your comfort," I explained, "Some people get nervous when talking to police, so our unit tries to dress a bit more street-wise."
"Voila!" The Doctor shoved the psychic paper in his face.
"What are you going to do?" A new woman appeared, having just come out from one of the houses.
"The police have knocked on every door." The elderly woman pointed out. "No kids, no leads, nothing."
"Look, look kids run off sometimes, alright?" Angry Dad theorized. "That's what they do."
"Three of them in a one-week span?" I asked skeptically.
"I saw it with me own eyes," Grandma argued, "Dale Hicks in your garden playing with your Tommy, and then -pft. Right in front of me, like he was never there. There's no need to look any further than this street. Its right here amongst us."
"Why don't we-" the Doctor started.
"Why don't we start with him!" I held my arms out, looking at the Doctor and Rose as an angry mum appeared out of nowhere, pointing fingers at the street worker we'd met earlier. "There's been all sorts like hi in this street, day and night!"
"Fixing things up for the Olympics!"
"Yeah, and taking an awful long time about it."
"Ah, I see. You two are married, aren't ya?" I asked, gesturing between Angry Mum and Angry Dad.
"I'm of the opinion that all we've gotta do is-" The Doctor tried again.
"That woman who just said-that's slander!" Pothole Paul whined.
"I don't care what it is!"
"I think we need to just-"
"I want an apology off her!"
"Stop picking on him!" Granny scolded.
"Yeah, stop picking on me!"
"And stop pretending to be blind!" She continued. "Its evil!"
"I don't believe in evil." Angry Mum contradicted.
"Oh, no! You just believe in tarmackers with sack-loads of kidnapped kiddies in their van!"
"Hey, hey, that's not what she's saying!" Angry Dad defended.
"Would you stop ganging up on me!?"
"Feeling guilty are we?!"
"FINGERS ON LIPS!" The Doctor screamed. He held out a hand before extending his index finger, pressing it against his lips in a shushing motion. The people around us, in spite of being a group of grown adults, hesitantly did what he said while Rose and I watched on in amusement. The Doctor then turned an expectant gaze on us, and we hurriedly joined the others.
"In the last six days, three of your children have been stolen," He continued, "snatched out of thin air, right?"
"Uh...Can I..." Granny took her finger off of her mouth as she addressed the Doctor. He gestured for her to go ahead. "Look around you. This was a safe street till it came. Its not a person. I'll say it if no one else will. Maybe you're coppers, maybe you're not. I don't care who you are. Can you please help us?"
I let my eyes survey the group, finally coming to a stop on Rose. Her finger was no longer on her lips, and she was fixated on something above the crowd. I followed her gaze to see a little girl in a window, her hand pressed against the glass. I glanced over to see that one of the woman who had joined our little group spotted Rose's wandering eyes and instantly turned around and hurried back into her house.
"Something we said?" I whispered, leaning closer to Rose.
~~~
The first place we went after our little neighborhood watch meeting was Angry Dad's garden, where Granny had said Dale Hicks disappeared from. Rose leaned against a football net, while the Doctor and I walking in circles around the yard. I inhaled, scrunching my nose.
"What is..." I trailed off. The Doctor began smelling too, walking around the net.
"Want a hanky?" Rose asked.
"You smell it?" The Doctor questioned. He looked at me and I nodded. "What's it remind you of?"
"Sort of metal?" Rose guessed.
"Mhm."
"Oh!"
The Doctor put a hand on my back, lightly leading me toward the fenced in alley where Danny Edwards had disappeared from. Rose followed along with us, the three of us falling into step together as we moved down the alley.
"Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other." The Doctor said. "Whoa, there it goes again!"
"Do you feel it?" I asked. "Sort of..."
I waggled my fingers at him and he waggled back, smiling and nodding in agreement.
"Just look at the hairs on the back of my manly hairy hand." He said, glancing down at it. I grabbed it in both of mine, pulling it so I could see it. The hair on his wrist was sticking straight up, as if charged with static electricity.
"And there's that smell," Rose said, pushing our arms down and passing through the middle, "Its like a...burnt fuse plug or something."
"There's a residual energy in the spots where the kids vanished." The Doctor said, Each of us sliding our hands in our pockets as we followed after Rose. The Doctor paused, glancing over at me and furrowing his eyebrows. I did the same, both of us stepping back in unison and turning to face each other.
"What are you-stop copying me!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"Me? Copy you?" I asked, forging ahead. "Fat chance, space man."
"If I'm 'space man', then what does that make you?" He asked, jogging to catch up with me.
"Prettier." I retorted, offering him a smiled. He laughed, shaking his head "But seriously, getting back on track, whatever is doing that is using an awful lot of power to do so. Hopefully, that means we can follow the trace, and I think that peculiar stretch of street is the perfect place to start."