Episode 3: Fun at the Fair Part 4

“Run! Get out of here!” Catherine screamed.

Kaylie unfroze and pulled Mrs Sow from her seat, as the clown stepped towards her. They ran round the other side of the desk, grabbed Catherine, ran out of the room, then shut the door. Catherine, Kaylie and Mrs Sow ran down the corridor. The clown banged on the door, trying to get out.

“How long will we stay in here?” Mrs White asked, sitting down on the sofa.
“I dunno,” Georgia said. “I’m trying to contact the Doctor. My phone isn’t working.”
“What if the clown goes away?” Colin asked.
“I don’t think it’d do that,” Georgia said.
“What does it want?” Elizabeth asked.
“Me, I reckon. Cos of the Doctor,” Georgia said.
“Well, maybe it would leave if it got you?” Mrs White suggested.
“We’re not letting that happen!” Colin said aggressively.

Georgia smiled as Mrs White closed her mouth with a shocked expression. The Doctor, Beth, Conner, Zac ad Abby entered Mitchell West’s flat. A table, smashed glass and a picture off the wall lay on the floor.

“Clear signs of a struggle,” the Doctor said. “From the looks of it, Mitchell West was first attacked in his bathroom. He then fought his attacker, and they fought in the living room here. It is here that Mitchell’s attacker killed him, demonstrated by the body on the left.”
“Nice deducting Searge,” Conner said.
“Let’s take a look at the body,” the Doctor said, uncovering the white sheet that covered one part of the room.

The clown pressed his face up against the window, leering at Bradley. Bradley hot wired the car (another trick he’d learned from his dad) and reversed backwards. The clown turned around, surprised. Bradley drove the car at the clown, hoping it would run away. It didn’t. Bradley screeched to a stop, but it was too late. He was about to hit the clown… when it disappeared in a fold of smoke. Gasping, Bradley sat in the car in silence for a few minutes.

The Vicar was having tea with Mrs White, again. He had to be sneaky and not be spotted by the Bell woman next door. He’d told her he was booked up for two more years. It seemed she was out. The Vicar breathed a sigh of relief. He would be able to have tea with Viola White in peace. He walked up to the garden path of Mrs White’s house, and rang the doorbell. There was no answer. He peered in through the windows. It wasn’t like Viola to forget he was coming, and go out. He banged on the widows. Still no answer. There was a smash coming from the Bell woman’s house. The Vicar sighed; God wouldn’t approve if he pretended to be deaf and ran away quickly, he’d have to investigate.

The Doctor pulled back the white sheet, and Beth gasped. Zac put his arm around her comfortingly. Abby covered her mouth with her hands. Conner bent down beside the Doctor for a closer look. Mitchell West had a horrified expression on his face, which was stone cold and pale white. His hands were covered with red face paint. It was exactly how Steve Pemberton had described the scene, albeit in one small interview.

“That’s horrible,” Beth said.
“I know,” the Doctor said sadly, covering Mitchell with the sheet once more.
“Do you think it was a clown, Doctor?” Conner asked.
“I’m not sure. It may be a decoy. But would the murderer turn up back at her own crime scene?” the Doctor asked, standing up and turning around.

Beth, Conner and Zac slowly turned around to face Abby, who gasped in shock. Kaylie grabbed Catherine’s hand as they ran down the corridor. They were on the third floor, and their heels clacked on the floor as they ran. Mrs Sow kept up easily, which surprised Kaylie a lot. At the end of the corridor was a staircase, and as they reached it, there was a bang as the clown broke the door down along the corridor.

“Now what do we do?” Catherine asked, slightly out of breath.
“We get out of here,” Kaylie replied, brushing her hair behind her ears and out of her eyes. “And that especially means you, Mrs Sow.”
“Me?” Mrs Sow asked.
“Yes,” Kaylie replied firmly. “You’ve got to get out of here. Look after the students.”

Mrs Sow nodded, and ran up the staircase. The clown grinned and ran down the corridor. Kaylie grabbed Catherine’s hand, and together they ran down the stairs.

“Fairs are so boring!” Bradley said, as he pulled the car into the car park.

He looked at the leaflet again that he’d pulled from under the windscreen wipers. This was the best place to find a clown, Bradley had decided. All he had to do was go and see the manager, describe the clown to him, find out if he worked here, then call the police.

“Simples,” Bradley said, before squeaking like a meercat.

“Me?” Abby asked incredulously. “I didn’t murder him.”
“Then why are you here?” the Doctor asked, looking at Conner to make a plan.
“I came to get some answers. There’s a fair nearby, it has a fortune teller. She told me to come here, said I’d meet an important man,” Abby informed the Doctor.
“An important man?” the Doctor asked. “That’s probably me.”
“Who are you?” Abby asked.
“I’m the Doctor,” the Doctor said, flashing a smile at Abby.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you?” Beth asked Abby.
“Abby Stuart. I work for a water company,” she said coolly. “And you are?”
“Beth Grant,” Beth replied, equally as cool.
“I’m Conner Bennet, I’m the Doctor’s work experience,” Conner said.
“Err me too,” Zac said. “My name’s Zac Pemberton by the way.”
“Nice to meet you Zac,” Abby replied.
“Right,” the Doctor said. “I think we’d better go to this fair of yours. I don’t think we’ll discover anything more here.”

The Doctor stood up and led the others out of the room. The Vicar sighed. He’d gone to all that trouble; opening the front door of the Bell woman’s house (which, strangely, was open), trying to find the source of the noise, discovering there was nothing there, only to find out nothing was wrong! He’d just quickly check the back door, and then head back to the church. He walked out of the kitchen.

“That’s unusual,” the Vicar muttered.

The back door was open too. Had the Bell woman accidentally left it open? Or were they being robbed? The Vicar peered out of the back window, and gasped. There was a clown on the lawn! It was circling the shed, which had been bolted shut. Maybe the Bell woman was trapped inside. The Vicar chuckled, before going out to congratulate the clown, who he assumed was Colin. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Come on! If we can just get to the front gates!” Kaylie said, rushing down the steps.

Catherine’s hand was sweaty inside hers. Kaylie was afraid to let go of Catherine, in case she got lost. That would have seemed ridiculous to anybody else, but where Catherine was concerned, Kaylie wouldn’t be surprised if she fell through a wormhole and ended up on a desert planet on a Double Decker Bus, or something stupid like that. A little above them, the clown thundered down the stairs. It cackled evilly, enjoying the chase.

Christina Harrow moved around the tents and stalls. The fair was large; how would she find the manager in all this? When she had identified Mitchell’s body, she noticed face paint on his hands and face. Of course, only clowns usually wear face paint, so Christina pulled her car into the fair, and went to find the manager, to ask about his range of clowns. It felt strange to be going to a fair without Mitchell; he was the one who loved clowns after all. Though she didn’t think he’d be pleased if he had been murdered by one.

Bradley stepped into the tent. A woman was sat at a table with a silk cloth on it, looking mystifying. She was the fortune teller, Sybil. She didn’t have a last name, apparently.

“Hello, how may I help you?” Sybil asked.
“I’m looking for the manager,” Bradley said.
“Oh. Not here for a prediction then,” Sybil said.
“No, sorry. It’s really important I speak to the manager, I think there maybe something going on with some of your clowns,” Bradley replied.
“Ah. I can see how that may be a problem,” Sybil said. “Come and sit down.”

Bradley did, out of politeness rather than willing. Sybil reached out and gently took Bradley’s hands in hers. She wrapped her hands around his, smoothing out his palms. Bradley tried to withdraw, but she clutched his fingers tightly.

“Not until you’ve had your prediction,” Sybil smiled. “Now, let’s see.”
“How much will this cost?” Bradley asked.
“Consider it free,” Sybil smiled. “Now… You have some unusual friends. A Zach… No, a Zac. He’s surrounded by something new, you see it too. And so is Kaye. No, Kaylie. Who are these friends of yours?”
“Just people from school,” Bradley said uncertainly. “What about my future?”
“No, your friends are more interesting. What about Conner Bennet?” Sybil asked.

Suddenly she gasped. Bradley leaned away from her in his chair, but he continued to hold on.

“I would like to have a reading with this Conner Bennet,” Sybil said. “Is he interested in fairs?”
“I dunno,” Bradley said. “I could ask him, next time I’m at school.”
“Would you? That would be lovely, dear. One longs for interesting subjects,” Sybil sighed. “Anyway, you.”
“Me,” Bradley agreed. “What can you see? Am I gonna end up on the estate, like dad?”
“Your future is clouded…” Sybil said pensively. “I see a girl. Catherine. Catherine Ford. Do you know a Catherine Ford?”
“Yeah, she’s a girl at my school,” Bradley said. “She’s mates with Beth.”
“Beth?” Sybil asked.
“Yeah,” Bradley said. “Beth Grant. She’s a bit smarter than Catherine. They’re both quite pretty. Catherine’s the blond with the curls, and Beth’s got brown hair. Are they important?”
“Beth is. Her future was related to Conner Bennet’s. But… The future has changed,” Sybil said, surprised. “How could the future change?”

She seemed to be talking more to herself now. Bradley wondered why she kept going on about Conner, and what she meant by bringing up Catherine. Was he, Bradley Taylor, going to make Catherine a Mrs Catherine Taylor? Bradley imagined a rich girl, always laughing. Then he mentally shook himself. This was Catherine he was thinking about… Catherine Ford.

“Stop it,” Bradley muttered to himself.
“That’s how the future could change,” Sybil decided. “One man could change it all.”
“You mean me?” Bradley asked. “Is this like, destiny?”
“Not you, the Doctor,” Sybil said impatiently. “When Conner Bennet met the Doctor, his future changed. Beth Grant is no longer a part of that. It seems they’ve become untwined.”

Bradley looked up in shock, as two clowns entered the tent. They began to walk towards Bradley. Sybil looked up, as if she were noticing them for the first time. She raised a hand.

“Don’t kill him,” she ordered coldly. “I need this one.”

One of the clowns gave a jerky nod, and the two walked out of the tent.

“What do you mean, kill me?” Bradley asked, scared now. “What’s going on at this fair?”
“You will not be killed,” Sybil said robotically. “You are needed, for the Greater Prophecy.”
“The what?” Bradley asked.

Once again, he tried to withdraw his hands, but Sybil held on more tightly.

“Now, I’m going to take your prophecy,” Sybil said. “This wont hurt. Much.”

Bradley cried out, as Sybil squeezed his hand. The pain was white hot. Sybil shuddered as it started – the Greater Prophecy was increasing all the time, and it felt good.

“Are you sure we’re all gonna fit?” Abby asked.
“What, inside that thing?” the Doctor asked. “Course we’ll fit.”
“It looks a little small,” Abby said.
“It’ll be fine!” the Doctor assured her.

Placing a hand on each of her shoulders, he led her inside. Abby’s eyes widened as she saw what the Doctor meant – it was bigger on the inside!

“Colin!” the Vicar cried, raising his arms. “How did you manage it?”

The clown looked at him strangely. The Vicar walked towards him.

“Is Elizabeth scared of clowns?” the Vicar asked.

The clown advanced on him. The Vicar suddenly looked scared. It couldn’t be Colin under that makeup, it was too scary. Suddenly the Vicar’s phone rang. The clown froze in it’s tracks.

“Hello?” the Vicar said. “Oh, hello darling. No, I’m at Viola White’s house now. No, the Bell woman didn’t see me, its fine.”

Georgia heard a phone ringing, and looked up excitedly.

“Whose phone is that?” Georgia asked. “It might be the Doctor!”
“Not mine,” Colin said. “And your mum’s is inside the house.”
“I refuse to own a mobile telephone,” Mrs White said snobbishly.
“Not mine either,” Daisy said.
“It must be someone’s outside,” Georgia said.

She stood up and walked to the door, and pressed her ear against it. She heard the Vicar talking to his wife.

“There’s a strange clown in the garden, it seems to be frozen,” the Vicar said.

Georgia smiled, and turned back to the others trapped in the shed.

“The clown’s frozen!” Georgia grinned.
“We can get out?” Colin asked.
“Let’s see,” Georgia said. “The Vicar’s outside mum.”
“What?” Mrs White asked.

She barged past Georgia and stormed out of the shed. The Vicar looked up in shock, as Mrs White and the Bell woman walked out of the shed.

“Vicar!” Elizabeth trilled. “You must have found a free slot in the diary!”
“Err well no actually,” the Vicar said. “I… I came here to see Viola.”

He put the phone down on his wife. Immediately the clown unfroze. Daisy screamed as it charged towards them. Georgia looked around; this clown was going to kill all of her family, and it was her fault.

To be continued…