There were so many things to do at this frost fair, Ophelia's eyes shone with amazement. Not once had she been allowed anywhere further than a hundred feet from whoever her ward was and considering not one Canassis would be caught dead in a place like this, every opportunity became a big first. Her first street food came from a kind popcorn vendor (courtesy of the Doctor), major second hand embarrassment as Bill spat out some concoction that did not taste like strawberry jam at all. Though Bill seemed like a complete opposite to her quiet nature, Ophelia could feel both the girl and the Doctor making their way into a long forgotten part of her heart. Instead of being forced to care for them, she'd decided to do so by herself.
All three hand entered a skittle tent where Bill was quick to play this strange game, which she was apparently great at. With a single ball, every pin went down and people cheered in celebration.
"Pub champion." She offered as an explanation to her company, both of which looked impressed. "Two years running."
"Ah." The Doctor smiled at both of them before walking further into the tent, leaving them to gaze with wonder at strange green lights under the ice. Ophelia looked at a confused Bill, trying to make sense of what was that until their attention was caught by a smug looking Doctor, who held a brand new top hat in his hands.
The trio walked outside to even more people roaming around, they enjoyed attractions while salesmen tried to get them to come to their tents.
"Best fish pies on the ice. Try your luck, ladies and gentlemen! Toss for a pie!" One salesman announced to them, his yelling sounded over even the enthusiastic cheering for a couple of acrobats doing complicated balance moves (even more so considering they were standing on ice). With nothing better to do than get distracted to forget those strange lights, Ophelia led them into the shop.
There were shelves lining every wall except for the door, each filled a variety of products used on the best fish pies on ice. Ophelia and the Doctor stood across from Bill with this strange little man between them, she amazed by every object and him keeping an eye on the vendor. He took Bill's coin and flipped it; heads she got her coin back and a pie, tails he kept the coin and gave her a pie.
Unfortunately the result was not in favor of Saint Luke's lunch lady who could do nothing but sigh.
"Better luck next time, miss." The Doctor and Ophelia shared a look of mistrust, the latter having dealt with her fair share of crooked people to know he'd probably manipulated this game.
"And you're sure this isn't cow brains or sheep eyes or..." Bill stops talking as he hands her the pie she has bought on top of a paper towel.
"I caught the fish myself, miss. Made it right here in the old...." As he turned around to show the girl just where he'd made his pies, The Doctor got caught red handed trying to steal something.
"Hey!" Ophelia got pulled back to reality by an exclamation of surprise. "What are you about?"
Apparently being a time lord came with side dishes of kleptomania, judging by what had happened today.
"Do that again." He asked the vendor and Ophelia walked up to them. "Toss the coin."
"Pay me another and I will." Daanish, she found out from a hastily written register, sassed back.
The Doctor handed over a coin while Bill ate her pie, not too long after she offered a bite to her friend, both girls trying to not get fish all over their nice clothes. Eating pies were usually messy affairs, crusts could get all over so Ophelia had her neck bent low while taking a bite which gave a perfect view of tiny green lights again.
"Hey, Bill!" They watched with interest as two specks of light did a small turn around their feet. "Doctor."
He seemed very busy arguing with Daanish so Bill decided to follow these strange little things as they led outside, not being able to resist temptation. A short lived chase because ice turned opaque due to snow.
"Get out!" The Doctor slid on ice, forcibly ejected by a very angry vendor, nearly knocking over a lady acrobat.
"Oh! In theory! I could steal anything in theory!" His voice fell on deaf ears as he walked back to his girls, one looking confused and her company slightly exasperated.
"Doctor." Ophelia's voice seemed to chide him slightly while Bill remained in her state of confusion.
"Honestly, some people. More pie?" No one could keep from smiling before they once again began to tread between tents.
A handmaiden's training included everything one could ask for but nothing compared to hands on experience. Though it had been forced upon, Lia (as Bill began to call her) chose to cherish these two idiots who seemed prone to thickness of mind and sarcasm.
"Are there side-effects to time travel? Like, physical symptoms?" Bill asked in earnest hoping for an answer. Aliens, those things can only be from out of this planet. Or maybe some very weird human.
They stopped in front of a carriage so the Doctor could look deep into Bill's eyes.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes you see lights under the ice." That earned him an elbow to his side from Ophelia.
"Okay, so you've seen the lights." Bill inquired as their walk resumed.
"Of course." His tone indicated that he too had hoped for a normal day instead of more trouble.
"Well, why didn't you say something?" People must have been so tired of this strange trio that stopped right where they were just for dramatic effects.
"Well, you're enjoying yourselves." He raised his hands as if saying not my fault while giving them a perfectly good reason. "I assumed we'd get to work eventually."
For a few minutes there was nothing but sounds of a unaware crowd serving as a soundtrack to their searching, not even Ophelia's enhanced vision could catch a glimpse of green under all of the snow. This simple action brought back memories of searching for missing toys or important documents, as always (when auto pilot took over) her thoughts let themselves out of her mouth without permission.
"Now, are these lights electric or organic?" The other two turned back to her, having walked a little further ahead.
"Organic lights?" Bill questioned to whoever wanted to answer.
"Bio luminescence." The Doctor offered. "Fireflies, glow-worms..."
A girl that looked like a younger version of Bill wrapped in a large shawl approached them, holding up a dog collar and lead.
"Please, sir. Have you seen my dog? He was right here, but then I looked away and he disappeared." Though it seemed true enough, Ophelia knew it was a trick.
"It's okay, we'll help. Um, what does he look like?" Bill's kindness shone through, denuinely concerned.
"He's small and brown and ever so soft." Each word sounded rehearsed, like lines in a play. That's it.
"Are you sure of that?" The Doctor used his right hand to push back his coat while examining the collar with his left one. "That collar's for a big dog. With long white hair." He straightened up and smiled. "Nice con, though. Respect."
A little boy with a red hat had been sneaking up behind them unnoticed. He quickly grabbed the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, thinking shiny equaled pricey, but the Doctor grabbed his wrist and they struggle until the girl kicks the Doctor in the shins, allowing both kids to escape. So they chased after them with the time lord leading, weaving between tents, nearly crashing into people; the soldiers didn't even bother to help as they chased. A troupe of acrobats keeps them from continuing on.
"What happened to the girl?" The Doctor looks around is desperation.
"Does it matter? The boy's the one with your magic wand." Bill retorted without missing a beat.
"Sonic screwdriver." His answer caught Bill's attention.
"How is that a screwdriver?" Even Ophelia looked at him confused, not one screwdriver she'd ever seen looked like that.
"In a very broad sense." He looked annoyed at these questions.
"All right, how's it sonic?" The dark skinned girl would not let this go.
"It makes a noise." Ophelia's assumption drew a non committal nod from The Doctor before he yelled, seeing both kids come out of a tent.
"There they are!"
And so their race across the ice continued but these kids had two advantages: being a lot faster and knowing where they were going. It didn't take too long for them to disappear behind some tents until the trio caught up to them.
"The lights. He's seen the lights."
As they ran forward, the ice below the boy creaked dangerously. Spider, they learned from a shout, fell through the ice, leaving only his arm holding the sonic screwdriver aloft like the Lady of the Lake visible.
"Stay back!" Both of the Doctor's warnings barely registered to Ophelia, whose caring instinct wanted to run forward to save this little kid.
Green lights whirled around Spider, making his arm slowly sink. The Doctor edged forward carefully and made a snatch for him, but ended up with the screwdriver. Each of them watched in grave silence as a hole in the ice sealed itself, no more of those strange things around.
"Save him." Bill's eyes went alternated between him and an empty stretch of ice, not quite registering what had happened.
"I can't. He's gone." Ophelia could see a quick shadow of sadness go over his face.
"Do something and save him." Bill got up to the Doctor's face, incredibly angry at having witnessed such a horrible thing, at his apparent indifference. He walked around her to talk to that little con girl, reaching out a hand.
"I'm sorry about your friend, but the danger isn't over yet. There must be more of you living rough here. Tell me where."
Being distracted was never a good thing when dealing with a dangerous situation (ice swallowing a kid could be classified as such), it would have made F-One earn a few good days of scrubbing toilets. Ophelia just watched both people in front of her, completely forgetting her friend on the side.
"So you can take us to the Magistrate?" Quick on her feet, that little urchin almost got away before he grabbed her arm and bent his knees to meet her gaze.
"No, of course not." It was almost parental how he talked in that moment. "We're not here to arrest you, we're here to help. And if you show me where you live, the three of us can do that."
"Three? That other girl is gone!" At once Bill's disappearance registered to them.
Ophelia made a quick choice, looking at The Doctor before chasing after the urchin. There was no one better than him to look for her friend, they'd both be safe together while this little girl would certainly be necessary for whatever came next. So Ophelia ungracefully darted out of most people's ways, into some tents' side due to inappropriate shoes until finally there was nowhere else for the girl to run, having been trapped with her back to a railing by the river.
"We really want to help." Ophelia knelt, white dress be damned. "What's your name?"
"I'm Kitty, miss." As an example to younger kids, she did know how to be polite. Also this lady looked trustworthy enough.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ophelia." Saying her name out loud, owning it, gave her such a thrill that it invited others to smile along. The younger girl could see truth in her so she took a small step forward.
"Can your friends actually help us?" Kitty was just so tired of scrounging around for scraps, of being so responsible instead of being a child.
"Of course." Her heart ached for this poor girl, knowing just what feeling lost did to a person. "The Doctor saved my life."
Much like a gesture she received long ago, Ophelia reached out a hand to her. A hand Kitty eagerly accepted.
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By the time her company arrived at where these kids hid, Ophelia had gained their trust with a code word given to her by Kitty. These kids lived in terrible conditions, not even their clothes fit properly. They explained how when someone approached without saying their code, it was an order to hide, reason why she now stood crammed behind a cupboard. But there's no one here, they must've done well then.
"Good job." At their leader's words, they began to come out of hiding. "Except you, Dot. I can see your shoes."
"They're too big, that's why!" Dottie wore The Doctor's original top hat, which caused varied reactions from outsiders. Bill looked a little less astonished when Ophelia gave her a side hug in greeting, moving on to squeeze her Doctor's hand (he even relaxed a little upon seeing her unharmed).
"Oh, I see! I get it." He sounded a little angry, running a hand through his hair. "You lure people to the fair and then you rob them. Very good. Very enterprising."
Dot hid her face in Kitty's shawl, afraid of the two newcomers.
"They're all right, Dot. Strange. But all right." She looked to Ophelia who approached him in caution. "And that's not how it is."
"Oh, what? You don't rob people? " She let him guide them to a further corner before giving him a pointed look, be nice it said. I'm sorry for whatever happened but these kids are not at fault. His eyes shone with something not quite understandable but they said two words: I'll try.
"Course we do. But bringing people to the fair, that's by-the-by." That caught his attention. "On the side."
"Why?" He questioned.
"Why? For coin, of course. Why else?" from there came most of their funds.
"Someone pays you to promote the fair, get people onto the ice?" Seeing he was under no danger of exploding at little kids anymore, Ophelia walked back to Bill and laced their arms together.
"Who? Who pays you?" This person probably was behind the lights, or at least knew what they were.
"Kitty, where's Spider?" A girl in boy's clothes questioned, instantly remind them of what happened minutes earlier.
"Spider is. He..." The Doctor shared in her feeling of loss, of guilt at having lost such a young life, but quickly bounced back. At that moment Ophelia could see just how much everything truly affected him, this man was in desperate need of a hug.
"Who's hungry? I'm hungry. Food!" Forced cheerfulness filled the air as he took off his top hat to reveal a lot more stolen fish pies while her friend got loose to pass around some napkins. "Bill, food! Food is always useful." Each kid got one, even Ophelia was handed a still warm pie. "Now, I know what you're thinking, but don't worry. These are stolen! Well, eat up." He put back his hat and stopped in front of Kitty. "Ah, with your permission, of course."
Kitty nodded with certain hesitation and the urchins bit into the pastries, enjoying a warm meal. With nothing more to do than wait for a new lead, the three time travelers stuck around these kids, helping around their house. By nightfall, Ophelia had fixed most of the holes letting cold wind in and sat by a fire, listening as the Doctor read a story about Little Suck-A-Thumb to some kids.
"Don't suck your thumbs while I'm away." She had her legs crossed under a ruined white dress, hands holding his top hat. No one questioned why a grown woman sat down with little kids. "The great tall tailor always comes to little boys who suck their thumbs. They dream what he's about: he takes his great sharp scissors out and cuts their thumbs clean off and then..."
Bill and the Doctor exchanged a look that seemed to put their small disagreement behind them, for which Ophelia was glad.
"Okay, I'm wondering why the Frost Fair's on this part of the river. I bet that at least one of you knows who paid Kitty to take people out on the ice." He talked to the kids as if it were a part of their story.
"It was a bad man, with a ship." Dottie said with innocence.
"Dottie!" Girl-in-boy's clothes answered.
"A ship? What, do you mean a merchant?" He asked her, hoping for something else to help them.
"Not that kind of ship." The boy offered but got cut off by third kid.
"Perry!" This girl seemed like a sort of second in comand.
"It's all right, Harriet. You can tell him." Kitty approached them, wrapping an arm around both Harriet and Perry while looking at the grown ups.
"It's a drawing. Here. On his hand." Dottie showed where on her own hand and Bill knelt beside Ophelia to address the kids.
"So, this guy, where would we find him?"
"He finds us." Harriet answered.
"But a tattoo on his hand, I mean, we could ask around?" Bill turned to her friends, trying to come up with something.
"Boring! I know something that's much easier to find." The Doctor got up, helped Ophelia stand, completely ignored Bill asking 'Where are we going?' and turned to the kids. "All right. You guys, hang tight! Laters."
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update is a little late because I had a migraine and couldn't write for the life of me, though i'm kinda proud of how this turned out. much love for those voting and adding this to reading lists 💙