Chapter Text
“Why is there a cat?” Ace asked as she walked into the console room, keeping her distance in case it was a human-eater or had some sort of mind control powers.
“It adopted us.”
“And…?”
“I rather like it. Don’t you?” The Doctor lifted the tabby cat from off of the console and stroked it before placing it on the ground. It did not stay where it was put.
Ace decided that it probably wasn’t going to eat anyone or explode, so she called it over to her and crouched down. The cat climbed up onto her and purred. And Ace felt something hard and painful melt away.
She closed her eyes, just breathing, feeling the fragile bones under the soft fur, a little afraid she would hurt it.
Its little heart beat warm and fast against her hand, and by the time she opened her eyes, she was in love. “Hello,” she said softly.
Then a thought struck.
“Is this our memento mori replacement for a human?”
“Oh, Ace. No, no. I merely thought that he might help us be a family. If you don’t agree—”
“No. Um. God.” Ace swiped the back of her hand against her eyes. “I love him. Does he have a name?”
The Doctor had a pensive look, as if this were a decision of great import. Then he said, “I rather thought Wolsey.”
“Mum wouldn’t let me have pets. Said they were expensive and dirty. Not that home was very clean anyway.” Ace scooped up Wolsey and kissed the Doctor on the cheek.
Strange how sometimes she felt so young, out of the blue, almost as if nothing bad had ever happened to her.
Every time is happening at once. She wished she could give young Dorry the cat, tell her that things were going to be okay, mostly. That someday she would be loved, entirely.
“You know,” she said, “if you wanted to ask Alex to come with us, I’d be okay with that.”
He gave a little hum of thought. “I rather think that Susan might threaten my life, given what she’s seen of our recent adventures.”
Ace gave a laugh then went serious. “Does that ever happen? I mean, there’d be no escape from your family if you just come back after you die.”
The Doctor closed his eyes in pain, face shuttering, one hand resting on the console for balance.
“Sorry. I mean, I shouldn’t be insensitive. It’s only--”
“It does happen,” he said, “and to Koschei, there was indeed a sense of no escape.”
“I’m sorry. He did get off the planet eventually though. Is that why?”
“Doubtless, it was a part of his motivations. He… didn’t like to talk about it.”
“Oh,” said Ace. “About Alex, though. I really am okay with it. Your family is good for you.”
“That subset of it, at least. And I think they were good for you as well. I’m quite pleased.”
“I wouldn’t say it was all normal, but I did need something… like that.”
A very long pause. “Ace, I wanted so desperately not to be alone in the universe. I fear that I may have manipulated all of this somehow.”
She regarded him closely. “Doctor, you don’t control everything. I know what you have done, and I forgave you for it. I’m glad you’re not alone. Besides, now that I’m like you, how do you know I didn’t plan all of it?”
“I suppose with the lifestyle we lead there’s no sense dwelling about the order in which things happened or the intent behind them. All we can do is move forward.”
“You’re still scared. I’m… a little excited.”
He tipped his head, touched his mouth with a forefinger. “I’m concerned that if we regularly exceed the limits of a regular Time Lord, we might find ourselves in a form that…” He sighed. “Won’t fit back in the container, as it were.”
“The TARDIS is doesn’t have that problem.” Ace gestured about.
“The TARDIS is multi-dimensionally engineered.”
“She chooses to be like this.”
The Doctor placed both hands on the controls, pondering, reaching out. “Or perhaps we would extend ourselves too far, lose each other.”
“I could never lose you. Sometimes I wonder… if we were separated, really separated, if I could just come back to you through force of will.”
He frowned, the lines on his face growing deep, ageing him.
“How about if you ascend to a higher state of being, you promise to take me with you.”
Softly, his voice rough, he said, “I don’t want to be alone again. I think, perhaps, if we don’t…”
“Eat people?”
“Yes, then things will stabilise.”
“Me blowing everything up was the problem this time.” She reflected. “Probably not going to stop me doing it again though.” After a moment, “Going to the house kitchen, bye.”
A dream forced its way to the front of the Doctor’s mind as soon as Ace left the ship.
He dreams of her pressing hard against him, holding him down. Ace, with eyes the colour of blood. He retreats so as not to feel it, hiding deep within himself, so deep that he may never find the way out. When he finally awakes, she is near, and for a moment, he is afraid. He touches her, Ace and not-Ace, and she falls to ash beneath his fingers.
He shuddered and gripped the console tightly.
The TARDIS let him know that a message was incoming from Gallifrey. Get on with it, then.
Romana went on for some time then said, “And that’s another thing. The Shobogans are getting paranoid. We need to smooth this over, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
Ace walked into the room, the cat trailing behind, and said, “Send Leela, if she’s doing okay with the telepathy thing herself. They love her.”
“This, Lord Ace, is all your fault.”
Ace shrugged in her flippant way.
“Unfortunately, the Sisterhood is asking for you, so I’ll have to send you there instead.”
“Send me?” Ace bristled.
“Reverend Mother Ohila requests your presence on Karn.”
“I can’t go back there. My brain might explode.”
The Doctor gave her a mild glare then explained, “We have concerns about what repeated exposure to the planet will do to Ace after the Metebelis crystal incident.”
“So,” said Romana, “she was changed in some way as well?”
The Doctor hadn’t wanted her to know about that yet.
“Really,” Ace interrupted, “you want me as an ambassador? Me?”
“I’m not proposing an ambassadorial role.”
“You really kind of are.”
“I’d rather have you here on Gallifrey. You’re our only previous example of an atypical Time Lord.”
Atypical? Did Romana want to study Ace?
“The Shobogans are just like you. They’re just disadvantaged, and with as advanced as your civilisation is, you ought to be ashamed of that.”
On the screen, Romana folded her hands together. “Lord Ace, you may find this hard to believe, but I have been making gestures in that direction ever since I came into office.”
“Well, you were too slow.”
“This isn’t a decision you should have made without consulting—”
“Oi, you—”
The Doctor held up his hands. “This wasn’t a planned decision. The energy had to go somewhere.”
“What you thought you were doing breaking through the transduction barriers and bringing such a large quantity of crystals is—”
“Romana,” said the Doctor firmly, “we believed we were protecting ourselves in the midst of saving the planet.”
“We should have just let them take over,” Ace muttered. “Serves you right.”
“We don’t have any information on Faction Paradox’s intent!”
The Doctor stared at her through the screen. “Yes, you do.”
“Fred” made one of her amusing noises of rage. “Well, they’re gone now, and you’ve left us with quite the mess.”
“Ten million years,” said Ace tightly, “and you’re still all a bunch of racists.”
“I assure you that I’m not.”
“Just cos you get Leela in the sack doesn’t mean anything. You’re still the head of a racist, fascist institution.”
“Sudden change causes violent reactions.”
A vision of iridescent butterflies came to the Doctor’s mind.
“How long were you going to take then? How long have you been president? I’ve saved your stupid planet more than once. It’s time you dealt with it.” Then Ace cut off the transmission.
The Doctor gave her a stern look.
“Come off it,” said Ace. “We’ll let her sweat a while.” He followed her into the manor’s kitchen for tea.
“You cannot go back to Karn.”
“Might have to.”
“We don’t know what it would do to you.”
Ace fiddled with her cup as she thought. “I think they can help. It seems to me like Gallifrey needs more teachers. Assuming that the Sisterhood’s powers work off of Karn, and I think they do, but maybe less intensely, they seem like great candidates. Bridge that rift from millions of years ago.”
He was impressed and told her so. “Reconciliation is long overdue.”
“Getting people to actually listen to each other is more your strong suit, Doctor.”
“I don’t intend to send you anywhere alone.”
“Nobody’s sending me anywhere. I decide where I go. And unfortunately, Romana’s right. I did make this mess. You’d better see what’s going on on Gallifrey. They’ve probably come up with a jab to block psychic powers… or worse,” she added darkly.
“Or worse,” he agreed. “I’ll go.”
“I’m worried though, of what we might become.”
“As am I.”
Ace sat back in her chair, her shoulders sagging. “Sometimes you’d get this look,” she said. “It was odd, even for a Time Lord. Just a flash, and it seemed like you were sizing people up. Not their minds, but more like a predator would.”
His face shuttered, and his lips pursed. Then, he said, “There’s a reason I’m a vegetarian.”
“Knew it,” muttered Ace.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.”
He drew in a sharp breath through his nose and looked slightly upward.
“Apex predator. We’re apex predators. Maybe that’s why the Cheetah Virus affected you and me so quickly compared to everybody else. Me in reverse time, of course. My life’s bloody weird. Lucky you didn’t eat anybody out there on the Cheetah Planet.”
His face was carefully neutral. “Did you?”
Ace winced. “I think so. You didn’t?”
“Not that day, no.”
She stood to wrap her arms around his shoulders and look into his eyes. “Good. Maybe I wouldn’t have gotten you back if you had.” Lest she be too sappy, she added, “I wouldn’t have complained if you’d eaten the Master though. He had it coming.”
He murmured, “You’re astonishing.”
“Yep, that’s me. Really, though, nothing surprises me anymore.” Then, “I don’t want to leave, not really. I finally like it here in Kent.”
“I’d hoped we’d have more time.”
“I need to stop fucking up the universe in that case. Hard habit to break.”
“Mmm.”
“Still. I don’t suppose you’d have any objection to my bringing back a piece or two of Karn for scientific purposes.”
He straightened, letting his interest show. “What a wonderful idea.”
“Thought so. I’m sure you still have a few Metebelis crystals in that secret laboratory of yours.”
He didn’t bother to deny it. Then he said, “Ace, do you ever miss being human?”
She considered. “I mean, I’m used to how I am now. There are odd things though. Like how I don’t have to cut my fingernails if I don’t want. My nan used to have this wastebasket with a little metal bin. She’d trim my nails with the clippers, and they’d ricochet off the lid and go ‘ping’ like tiny bullets for shooting ants. I kind of miss that sound. But maybe that’s more about being a kid or about my nan. She used to have this huge National Geographic collection…” Ace shook her head clear of cobwebs. “Made me want to travel, that did.”
And then the doorbell rang. Ace and the Doctor looked at each other in confusion. Ace grabbed a rolling pin in lieu of a bat and dashed towards the front of the house.
“We’re not home,” called out Ace, at the same time as the Doctor said, “This residence is haunted.” They gave each other mutual looks of fond exasperation.
The voice outside was muffled. “Doctor,” said Ace, “couldn’t you have installed a viewscreen here?” She pulled back a dusty lace curtain, evicting a spider, and peered outside. “Oh my god.”
“What?” asked the Doctor sharply.
Ace set down the rolling pin on the side table and opened the heavy oak door. “Shreela!”
“Ace!” Her old friend wrapped her in a half-hug, her coat slightly damp from the early afternoon rain. “When did you move to Kent?”
“We’re just staying a while,” she said.
“Why does the street sign say, ‘Alien Road?’”
“It says what?” asked the Doctor in alarm.
“Probably just a prank. How in the world did you know to come here?”
“Erm, I found you because of a picture in a newspaper. It was about the Doctor playing spoons on the beach. I saw you in the background.”
Ace laughed. “Yeah, that’s him. We had some of his family over. Our granddaughter and our great grandson.”
“Your great…”
“Sounds weird, doesn’t it? They’re his.”
“You’ve gone up in the world,” said Shreela, and then Ace realised she was still standing on the doorstep, peering in at the panelled walls of Smithwood Manor. Ace gave the Doctor a quick glance, and he nodded back. Then they let their visitor inside. She shook off some damp papers onto the dark green carpet and put her coat on the hatstand next to the Doctor’s umbrella, then tried futilely to smooth her hair under control.
“He didn’t get older,” she said shakily. “But you did, Ace.”
“His sort don’t really age fast.”
“You’ll catch up at this rate.”
“Yeah, and people will finally stop telling me he’s too old for me.”
“He is, though, isn’t he?”
“Hey, judgey.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. My husband’s older than I am.”
“You finally landed a bloke, Shreela! Congrats!”
“Papa picked him.”
“Oh.” Ace wasn’t sure what to say about that.
“We have a little boy now.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yes! He was born the year after I saw you last, actually.”
“Wait, you got married that soon?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, I mean. That’s great.” Had Shreela’s parents been trying to tie her down so that she wouldn’t disappear again? “Um, come sit down over here.” She led her friend to the blue parlour. It had some proper name like the ladies’ day room, but she didn’t care.
“We live near your mum’s house now. Well, where it was.”
“Gone now, I heard,” Ace said.
“Wonder who could have done that,” Shreela said lightly.
“Dunno. Don’t care. Why’d you come? Can’t be cos of his spoon playing.”
The Doctor, who was sat opposite them, deflated slightly.
“I have a problem, Ace.”
Shreela was starting to cry so Ace patted her shoulder awkwardly. They’d never been especially affectionate since Shreela was not a fan of gay people. Ace hadn’t managed to cure her of that. “What happened?”
“Never mind. It was silly of me to come. You’re busy, I’m sure. You don’t have time to go to Perivale.”
Ace glanced down at the folder her friend still held. Quietly, the Doctor said, “Gallifrey and Karn can wait, Ace.”
“Gallifrey?” asked Shreela.
“His home.”
“Sure,” said Shreela. “In Space Scotland?”
The Doctor chuckled.
Shreela said hesitantly, “I’m glad you two are together. The Doctor seems kind.”
Ace rolled her eyes but blew him a kiss. “Space duty calls,” she said.
Then Shreela snorted. “Your life’s more interesting than mine. You probably have more important things to do.” She tapped her hand against her thigh nervously.
“Interesting isn’t always good. But yes, Shreela, I’m coming to help you. Of course I’m coming. What do you need?”
“I’ll drop you off,” said the Doctor. “You needn’t take a train.”
“I’ll send a message first,” said Ace. “I didn’t want to go to Karn anyway.”
He nodded.
“And I mean, as for Gallifrey, I’m no diplomat.”
Suddenly, he said, “Shreela, please let me take a look at those papers you’ve brought.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“Doctor is fine, or Professor, if you’re feeling cheeky.”
Ace smirked.
“Someone is abducting children in Perivale,” said the Doctor, flipping through newspaper clippings.
“Not the Master?” said Ace, the smile draining from her face.
“No, I think not. Shreela, how long has this been going on?”
He had an interested gleam in his eye, but this was Ace’s case. “Where did they disappear?” interrupted Ace.
“No one knows, but all of the parents are afraid.”
All of them, sure, thought Ace.
“They’re making the children come straight home after school.”
“Things have changed.”
“No more trash fires on Horsenden Hill,” agreed Shreela. “Ace, my boy has been missing for a week! I don’t know what to do.”
She could have led with that, but she was too damned polite. Must have been hard to hold it in so long.
“Are they all sneaking out at night?”
“Jayesh is too small for that. He’s not even ten.”
“We were sneaking out when we were ten,” said Ace.
“Different times, like you said.”
“Do these kids all know each other?”
Shreela shook her head. “No. They’re different ages.”
“Hmm.” She glanced at the Doctor. “Gabriel Chase?”
“It’s possible. Unlikely though.”
“Let me take care of this one.” After all, there was no one left in Perivale who could hurt her.
“Shreela,” said the Doctor. “Excuse me while I make you some tea.”
Once he had left the room, she burst into heavy sobs.
“Did he have a reason to run away from home?”
“Of course not. Jay has a better life than we had, Ace.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You said he didn’t know any of the other kids who disappeared?”
She sniffed. “There was Abigail.”
“Little Squeak? She’s missing too?”
“Not little anymore. She was alone a lot once her Gran got sick.”
“God, I’m sorry. It sounds like things were a mess after I left.” It always went that way, didn’t it?
“It wasn’t all bad. After all, I had Jay.”
“You had him really soon, don’t you think?”
Shreela’s face darkened with anger. “Just because you got out!”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. All right, I sort of did, but Shreela, I can’t judge. I mean, I’m a great grandmother!”
Shreela managed a giggle, and Ace went to look for tissues, found an old paisley handkerchief instead. At least it wasn’t dusty.
“Mum said to have children as quickly as I could so that Rudra wouldn’t get wandering eyes.”
Ace bit her lip hard then managed, “My mum used to say that too.”
“Was she happy when you married? Did you reconcile?”
“Um. Well, no. I did see her. Funny thing, the Master was there. He’s old mates with the Doctor, wanted to upset my mum about the whole thing. Of course, Mum’s dead now.”
“Yeah. Is your stepfather? He disappeared years back.”
Ace made a muffled growl.
“He was in with a rough crowd. No one wept for him.”
“Yeah, I sure didn’t.” She quickly added, “When I heard.” Some criminal genius you are, Ace.
“Probably a dealer did it,” said Shreela. “That’s what they said.”
“Whoever it was had the right idea in disappearing him. Wish they’d done it sooner.”
They stared at each other for a long time, on opposite sides of a gulf. Did Ace really have to keep reopening her past? She had a good reason not to help this time, a bigger kettle of fish, as the Doctor would say.
He returned, balancing trays full of sandwiches and cakes and a fresh pot of tea that was probably dimensionally transcendental and would never run out. “I took a moment to run a scan of Perivale,” he said. “There are some interesting changes in the ley lines. I think that perhaps there is something unusual going on after all.”
“Children disappearing isn’t automatically unusual?” Shreela asked defensively.
“Not our sort of unusual. Any cats about?”
“No new ones. I’d notice. Jayesh is as allergic as I am.”
“We have a new cat,” Ace said suddenly.
He placed a hand on hers. “Wolsey’s just a normal cat. I promise.”
“So no real leads.”
“Nothing concrete.”
As they had their tea, the Doctor asked eager questions about Shreela’s son. Ten years old. She must have gotten pregnant just after the whole Cheetah incident. Ace blinked back a wave of alienation as she looked at the photos in Shreela’s wallet. On her wedding day, she was done up gorgeously, and her husband was a well-groomed, serious sort. They looked cordial at least.
“I wanted to invite you,” said Shreela with a shrug. “Not many of us left in Perivale, so we married in India.”
Ace suddenly thought of Manisha, blinked hard. “Yeah, my fault. I’m not really a wedding sort anyway. Not into frocks.”
“Where’s your wedding photo?”
“Um, didn’t take one. We were travelling.”
But the Doctor went into the other room and came back with a lovely portrait from Oceanside Colony that Ace hadn’t seen before. For all she knew, he had just gone back right then to take it. “Our honeymoon. Ace has recently gotten her doctorate in chemistry,” he added, and Ace wanted to shush him for it.
Shreela did her best not to look insecure. “Where?”
Ace waved a hand. “Doesn’t matter. Somewhere spacey,” she lied. She gave the Doctor a glare, and he finally picked up on her desperation.
“Doctor, do you suppose we could send UNIT over to Perivale?”
“There haven’t been any alien sightings.”
“Maybe no one’s looked closely enough.”
“I’m sure you can take care of it, Ace. Go be with your friend.”
Ace had the urge to run to the kitchen but knew that Shreela would know why. She did it anyway, bringing a stack of plates for cover.
The Doctor followed along with two teacups. Ace hid behind the closed kitchen door. “I can’t do this.”
“You seemed fine with the idea earlier.”
“I’ve had enough of Perivale for ever.”
“Ace, children may be in danger.”
“Leave that to people who actually like the little horrors.”
He looked genuinely confused. For some reason, that made her panic more. Then he realised, “I’m truly sorry if I made your friend uncomfortable.”
“Don’t worry, the huge manor probably already did that.”
“Why don’t we take care of Gallifrey then come back to today and go together?”
“I don’t want to go at all. God, there’s no way to burn bridges around here, is there?”
“That’s why I left my own planet behind.”
Ace rooted around for some kitchen roll to wipe her face on. “Someday I’m burning down this entire planet,” she muttered. “From orbit. Nobody will miss it.”
“Earth is rather more trouble than it’s worth,” the Doctor said cheerfully.
“Ha.”
“But who will teach the next generation to make Nitro Nine if not Ace?”
“Ha bloody ha.”
“Your friend came all the way from Perivale. She’s dreadfully worried.”
“I know. I’m going to do it. I just want to complain first.”
“Perfectly natural.”
Ace blew her nose then squared her shoulders. “Yeah. Got to call Karn. Here goes.”
***
The Doctor took Shreela for a walk around the garden whilst Ace’s mind worked furiously at how best to excuse herself from visiting the Sisterhood.
A young Sister answered the transmission and announced, “It is the Dragon’s Apprentice.”
Ohila appeared on the screen, and Ace scowled.
“Seriously? You lot have to be feminists. The Doctor’s got enough cool nicknames. Can’t I have one all of my own?”
“Time’s Vigilante,” Ohila said in dramatic tones.
“Better,” Ace sniffed. “That one’s good enough to go on a comics cover. Right. I have a personal emergency, so I can’t come just yet. What do you need?”
“Gallifrey is in chaos.”
“Yeah, and?”
Ohila’s eyes went sharp. “He will need to choose between Gallifrey or yourself, Lord Ace.”
“No question,” said Ace, trying not to react. “He’ll pick his family every time. So, onto something practical. Gallifrey needs help. How do you feel about sending some Sisters to be teachers for the Shobogans?”
Ohila looked impressed. Ace tried not to preen.
“They’ll need help with basic education as well as the more psychic stuff.”
“We dare not leave the sacred flame unattended.”
“Then don’t send everybody, obviously. Besides, I’m wondering if it’s more an issue of sacred rocks, like Metebelis. Those you can bring with you. The Doctor would love to examine some.”
“That seems reasonable,” Ohila said reluctantly.
“So he’s on his way to Gallifrey soon. I’m sure they’ll keep him busy but he can talk with you there, and there’s someone called Leela you definitely should meet. She’s human, but she’s a lot like a Shobogan. Is that enough to start with?”
“It is, Lord Ace. I still have much to tell you.”
“First, I’ve got some kids to save here on Earth in my time. Not sure how long that will take, but we’ll meet up later.”
“Very well, Lord Ace.”
“Bye, Ohila.” Then Ace hung up, feeling very pleased with herself.
***
And so Ace said goodbye to the Doctor and Wolsey and found herself in Perivale five minutes later, as the TARDIS flies.
“I’ve got to stop by home,” said Shreela. “Rudra is going to be worried.”
“But you’d be home hours later if it weren’t for the ship,” Ace said.
“Still.”
“Great,” said Ace, standing around her old neighbourhood alone. “Guess I’ll go home too.” She walked a block in the opposite direction.
It looked like the elderly neighbour in the care home had gotten herself a semi-detached free of charge. The fire that Ace had caused had stopped at the wall, which was a bit eerie, as if Ace’s house had been lifted away from history. Some cleanup had been done, but nobody had started to rebuild, probably because Ace hadn’t contacted the insurance company. Probably ought not to stick around here too long.
There were four kids messing about in the back garden. She wanted to yell at them to go, but the only grounds she had to do so was that she was old. Maybe they could answer some questions.
“It’s haunted,” said a small boy with an ice lolly stain on his shirt. “They hear crying here at night.”
“I heard that the girl who burnt down the school lit her mum on fire.”
“I heard she lit herself on fire, that Dorothy girl.”
“Her mum thought she was dead.”
“Don’t be daft. Who lit the house on fire then? It’s gone, innit?”
“School’s not.”
Okay, that was enough. Ace shouted, “Listen up, you sprogs, that’s my mum you’re talking about. My name’s Ace, not Dorothy. Who the hell would want to be called Dorothy?”
“You’re taking the piss.”
Ace made a fist. “I’m not lying, you idiots. Get out of here!”
“Know it all.”
“I grew up here, so of course I know it all, you toerag.”
“How come I ain’t seen you here before?”
“No reason to come back, cos my mum’s dead!”
“Cos she’s mad and they took her to the asylum!”
“Well, which is it, idiot? Did she go to the asylum or light herself on fire or what?”
“Both!” He spat at her.
She caught him by the collar and lifted just a little, enough that he couldn’t get away. The other three boys drew back. “Shut up. You don’t know shit.”
“Gerroff!”
“You think you’re hard enough?”
“Oi!” came the small kid, tugging at her sleeve. “Leggo my brother.”
She met his eyes and dropped the larger boy, ashamed of herself. She was more than twice his age. Why had she regressed so quickly? This place was getting to her.
“Look, answer some questions, and I won’t haunt you, all right?”
One started to cry.
Ace said, “I heard kids are going missing. You know anything about that?”
“No missing kids here.”
“Course not, they’re missing.”
“Jay’s gone. They got him last week.”
“‘They’ who?”
“Dunno.”
“Where did you last see him?”
“School.”
“Anybody go missing at school?”
“No.”
“What about the playground up the road?”
“No.”
“Horsenden?”
“No.”
“See any weird looking cats around? Horses?”
They looked at her like she was nuts.
“Do you know anything at all?”
“They go at night. Nobody knows nothing.”
“Thanks,” said Ace between her teeth. “Thanks a lot. This was a total waste of time. And get out of here, okay? You’ll fall in the cellar and die.”
The kids took off. Ace added, “And I will haunt you if you do!”
Ace sank down on the old back step. “Bloody hell,” she muttered to herself. “I’ve become an urban legend.”
And it wasn’t even Cheetah Girl.