The Seventh Doctor: The Stone Crow Part 1

PART ONE

The mines were dark and creepy at night; it felt like something was down there with you, watching your every move. Of course, Trevor didn’t believe the stupid stories; the tales of the Stone Crow and the Miners Curse, they were all fake! Just old wives tales that had spread around the town. Or at least that’s what he thought.

He walked carefully and with caution, not even the flickering light from his Davy lamp could light the way, and he certainly didn't want to risk death; he was too young to die. He kept to the sides, using the rocks to guide him.

As he ventured deeper into darkness, he took slow steps and he could hear everything beneath his feet. It started off as just the usual dirt and grit, and then as he stepped, he heard a crunch. He stopped abruptly and looked down, obviously in shock! A look of horror crossed his face as he noticed a canary, lifeless on the ground. It looked like it had been dead for years, and it's body was entirely encased in stone. It was like it had looked into the eyes of a gorgon.

Clearly things were wrong here, but Trevor had made the discovery of a lifetime, he'd found a new mineral. He'd dug deep enough to find a new, beautiful mineral with a surface of a diamond. It looked expensive, and expensive things would sell for more, and Trevor really needed all the extra payment he could get.

His family were getting poorer and poorer by the day and these extremely low miners wages weren't going to cover them for much longer. It was a good job he'd found this new crystalline substance when he had, because soon he'd be living like a vagabond.

The canary, frozen in stone, only halted him for a second but soon he got back on track. His candle light from the lamp illuminated the ground, and revealed a trail of dead stone canaries leading all the way to where he'd found the new material. He had to admit it was ominous, but he thought nothing of it, canaries died all the time down in the mines. The fact that they were stone didn't even worry or intrigue him; he was too focused on the task at hand.

He’d finally arrived at the location; a deep part of the mines that only he knew about. While the others were working he'd slip away unnoticed and trail off down here, trying to mine all the materials he could get. He didn't want to tell the others, because most, if not all of them were in the same position as him: poor. If he could find a way to mine everything he needed and then sell it off independently, he could be rich. This was a new resource after all, and who knew what it could do? He could be famous; Trevor Cooper, the first man to discover….. He hadn't thought of a name yet.

He took out his gear and began mining away, hoping that this would be the last night he'd sneak down into the mines to gather extra. He couldn't do this for much longer though anyway; he was beginning to lose his strength from constantly mining away with a pickaxe during the day and night, and he was having trouble sleeping. It was like ever since he'd discovered this material, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Suddenly, he hit what sounded like solid metal. He must have lost track of time and been mining for hours, as his light was almost out. He hit the metallic object a few times, just to double check he was hearing this properly. Once he was sure, and he could see silver polished metal on the other side of the rock, he dropped his pickaxe on the ground and it landed with a thud; hitting dust and dirt from the ground up into the air. “What in the world is that?” he asked himself, picking up the lamp, and holding it up to the metal. He'd dug a sort of square shaped window, very small though, and he could only fit his hand through, but weirdly enough, when he shone his light against the metal, he saw it was in the shape of a hand.

Curious to find out more, and making a stupid desicion due to lack of sleep, Trevor placed his hand into the slot and it activated. The rock around him started to break away, crumbling into nothing but dust and ashes, forming a perfect doorway for him to walk through. He observed the shape of the metal structure that he'd hit, and discovered that it was spherical. He peered through the new doorway, and into a strange room. A blue light shone from the room, and encased him. He had to cover his eyes; it was blinding. From the light, came a figure. A black shadow, resembling a person. He fell back, in fear, and his lamp smashed to the ground.

The shape began to edge closer to him; walking with sinister intent. It reached out its arm and continued its journey towards the frightened miner. He backed up against the rocks, and tried to get back to his feet. It was pointless and he just froze in fear; screaming and crying for help. But it was too late. Trevor had been dead for ages. And he hadn't even noticed….

*

The fields stretched out for miles, and in the distance, houses. Houses that were accommodating the miners of the village. Who knew how many families they were storing! When Ace stepped out of the TARDIS, the first thing she noticed was the greenery. She lingered in the doorway, and observed that it was lush with life, the trees and grass were the green-est green and everything looked perfect! “Finally a nice destination then Professor?” Ace called, taking a few steps forward, and breathing in the fresh air. “Doctor!” The Doctor corrected, as he too stepped out of the time machine, closing the door behind him. As usual he sported his iconic attire - the question mark jumper and burgundy jacket standing out the most. He used his umbrella to assist with walking, despite not needing it, and looked into the sky: “And no, I don’t think we are in a nice place.” he replied. He walked further, and Ace followed, and beyond them was a set of houses, that reminded Ace of a military base! She sighed, and remembered the last time they’d been at a place like this; she’d created her own future, and encountered vampire-creatures that could weld metal under the sea. What a day that was.

“So, we’re at another military complex then?” Ace suggested, and looked over to the Doctor, who was walking next to her, at the same pace. “No, no! This isn’t anything of the type. No. We’re in a miners village.” He replied. Ace asked: “How can you tell?”, and then looked further still into the distance, noticing that beyond the collection of houses, were the mines.“The air.” the Doctor simply replied. Ace looked at him, confused. How could he conclude where they were based on the air? Or maybe he was just saying that to impress. Anyway, they continued their journey towards the isolated village, and admired the scenery while they could; the life of the trees, grass and plants hid the dark truth. The truth of this old village - Melltith Glowyr…

*

Standing outside of the mine, was a worker, Pete. It was the early hours of the morning, and the sun was just rising, but there was enough light to see perfectly fine. He’d just sent four workers down into the mines to try and find Trevor, who’d recently gone missing. His wife had reported it directly to Pete, who she trusted the most, and he’d immediately got on the case.

A few seconds later, all four miners slowly emerged from the darkness of the cave-like tunnels of the coal mine. “Are you sure he’s not down there?” Pete said, taking the role of leader. Pete had a thick mustache and was in his 50’s. He’d been in the trade for years, and when he’d been at other mines, nothing like this ever happened. The supernatural wasn’t real, and miners didn’t just vanish into thin air. He was sure there would be a logical explanation, and as he told the other five miners in front of him, he spoke with confidence. By no means was he in charge; nobody was. But he’d sort of adopted the leader role; since he was the oldest miner in the village, and therefore had the most experience. It was a flat team structure anyway, and as long as you got your head down and the work was done, it didn’t bother anyone.

“No sir, he’s not down there.” one said.

“Not a single trace, boss!” a second added.

The other two miners agreed with what had already been said, and Pete came to a conclusion:“Word about this doesn’t get out, you understand? We tell his family to leave this town; maybe he found a better job, nobody knows. And we keep it that way.

“But, Pete-” one of the miners said, desperate to tell the town.

“No! If word gets out, we might all die!” Pete said, angrily. “They deserve to know! The town deserves to hear about this!” he stated.

The other miners did agree, but they were smart enough not to speak up to Pete. They all respected him, and thought that because he was the most experienced; he knew what was the best action to take. Pete took calculated, slow steps towards the slim miner; who looked extremely malnourished and pale. His footsteps were menacing, and it made the other miners scared; despite knowing that he wasn’t going to do anything too harsh. Pete was now face to face with the worker and said, in an authoritative tone:

“NOBODY. ELSE. CAN. KNOW. ABOUT. THIS!” he said, stressing every single word. He may as well have been shouting, but his voice didn’t raise. It was just gravelly and he sounded like he had all the power in the world.

Pete didn’t want other miners knowing about Trevor’s disappearance, otherwise most of them would threaten to leave, and most of them would carry through with the threat. Pete couldn’t have any workers leaving. They couldn’t afford to lose anymore miners; and if the others heard about this, ANOTHER missing miner - panic would begin to consume the town. “Understood?” he finally said, and the other four nodded.

“Good.”

*

The Doctor and Ace had been walking for a few minutes, and hadn’t talked much. The Doctor was still down about the recent ordeal; him forgetting Ace. She wasn’t too bothered, because at the end of the day, he remembered now, and that’s all that counted. However, he didn’t feel the same way, and would keep any questions directed his way brief, showing clearly his mood.

“Professor-”

“Doctor!”

“Sorry. Always forget that--you need to forgive yourself. It’s not a big deal, really!” she explained, and although this was a brutal thing to say to him, since he was taking it to his hearts, she had to say it.

He looked over at her as they walked: “I forgot you, Ace!” he emphasised the importance of the statement! “How is that not a big deal? How could I allow my mind to be so weak, to erase someone so important to me?” he questioned his strength and whether he was a good person. Ace thought he was. He was the Doctor. The man that, despite not being able to save everyone all the time, tried his best. “It’s not your fault! Whatever happened, it must’ve had a lot of power to erase me from your memory! How were you to know?” she said, trying to make him feel better - however, this began a tangent: “Yes. How was I to know, indeed? How was I to know that I’d forgotten you?”he said, with a slight hint of sarcasm. He wasn’t getting over this soon, so Ace left it for now, and waited until they’d entered the town.

They crossed an empty road, and took in their surroundings. Most of the buildings were two-storey brick buildings, only a couple had the luxury of being painted. It was a moderately sized village, considering it was to house a few hundred miners. However, doubt crossed Ace’s mind that all of the houses were inhabited. It was more than likely that too many houses were built, and they were built as a precaution, incase new miners came in from new areas; perhaps if there was a catastrophe at another site.

“Doctor, what does that say?” Ace pointed to a sign. A white chalk message on a black chalkboard, outside of a bakery. This was one of the very few shops in the village, and it was only run because one of the miner’s wifes was a baker. “Melltith Glowyr…Miner’s Curse!” he translated, before adding: “TARDIS translation circuits must be faulty. Well, looks like that’s on the to-do list!” he said, entering the bakery. Ace followed, confused: “You have a to-do list?” she asked. “Who doesn’t?” he replied, walking to the counter. He sniffed the air, and smelt freshly baked bread. “Still in business, so it’s not an abandoned village.”

Ace realised something; an important detail. And it was all because of that comment: It wasn’t abandoned. Not yet! But it would be soon. Ace had remembered the stories she used to hear; stories that had been passed on for years. “What’s the date, professor?” Ace asked, desperately. The Doctor turned around, calling for service, and looked at Ace; he couldn’t be bothered to correct her. “Don’t know...yet! Let’s ask, shall we?” he said, as a woman appeared at the counter. Ace was shocked: “Where did you?” She asked, startled. The woman replied with no delay - “Back door! So, who are you and what do you want?” she asked.

The Doctor replied, tipping his hat. “I’m the Doctor and this is Ace. We’re travellers, and we’re rrrrravenous for information.” he said, rolling the R in ravenous. “Could you perhaps help us?” he added. The woman nodded. “Sure. What do you want to know!”

“This town. It’s called Miners Curse, why?” the Doctor asked.

“Old tale. Dates back a hundred or so years, when the mines first opened.” she replied. “That it?”

“No, actually. I was wondering if you could tell us the exact year.”

“1916.” she replied.

“Month?!”

“September.”

“Date?”

“Have you been living under a rock?”

“Well, no. More like a box.” he replied.

“The 27th!” she replied, and was hoping this would be his final question.

Ace had heard enough and decided to call over the Doctor. “Could I just borrow you for a minute, Professor?” Ace asked, and the Doctor excused himself from the conversation with the baker. “Yes, what is it?” he said, whispering, assuming it was something important and dangerous. Ace replied, recalling information: “Tomorrow, the whole population of the town goes missing! Doctor, I know it! I’ve heard the stories! Me and my mates back in Perivale used to joke about it, thinking it to be nothing. But if this town is called Miners Curse, and it is the twenty-seventh ...”

“...Then this little village in the middle of Wales is about to be in for one big surprise. And things are going to get deadly very quickly!” The Doctor interrupted and Ace nodded. “Did you ever hear theories - any reason why they might’ve disappeared?” The Doctor asked, wanting all the information he could get. Ace tried to recall every last detail she could think of, and when she finally told the Doctor, she realised that their stay would be longer than just a trip into the bakery.

“Well my mates used to say that everyone went mad and...you know-” Ace gestured death and the Doctor nodded, with discomfort. “... Then others said there was a curse on the town. Like an old tale that scared the locals!” Ace said, and the Doctor agreed, as if that seemed the most logical thing, then he changed the subject. “You seem to know an awful lot about this don’t you Ace!?” he said, almost questioning her. Ace then replied: “Well one of the teachers at school was a relative of one of the miners that was here at the time, and once he told the class about it, everyone became interested, so started going to the libraries and stuff like that!” The Doctor was satisfied with her answer, and was almost ashamed of himself for questioning her; like he was testing her to make sure she wasn’t another parasite of the mind.

The Doctor turned back to the counter, and rested his umbrella against it. He then proceeded to press down both hands on the surface. “Miss?” he asked, and the woman replied: “Mrs..Mrs Cooper.” Ace looked horrified only for a second, and tried to hide it before Mrs Cooper had seen; but it was too late. “Would I be able to perhaps go down to observe these mines of yours?” he asked; the Doctor would go down to the mines and explore no matter the answer, but wanted to be polite. The woman nodded, and the Doctor set off, but stopped at the door. He turned around and said to Ace. “Don’t wander off!”With that, he exited the bakery and was on his way. Ace tried to follow him, also running out of the shop: “Professor!”

“Doctor-” he corrected.

“It’s not fair!”

“It is fair! The mines are not a place for you! I’m hundreds of years old, you’re only young - you’ve got a whole life ahead of you!” he said, making up an excuse - that was actually valid.

“Well, what can I do? I don’t just want to sit here like a lump and do nothing !” Ace protested.

“I never said you couldn't do anything . I just said don’t wander off.” The Doctor explained, wandering off.

Ace stopped and watched him walk off into the distance, and thought about what her next move would be. She decided it was best to go back to the bakery and do some research of her own.

*

The mines were illuminated and as bright as ever, all of the miners in the village were down there, mining all the coal they could. Some of them had wondered where Trevor had gone, but they trusted Pete and wanted to believe that his family had moved on to a better village. Pete was secretly searching for Trevor, once again, as he didn’t really believe that the four miners he’d tasked with finding him had searched properly.

His search was interrupted when he heard a racket of noise from behind him. He rushed up to see what the commotion was about, and saw a mass of miners crowded around a strange man, in a burgundy jacket, a question-mark-filled jumper, hat, and weilding an umbrella. “Back to work everyone!” he stated, but nobody listened. “BACK TO WORK I SAID!” he shouted, and all of the workers returned to their positions. “Damn coal isn’t going to mine itself,” he said, mostly under his breath, as he walked towards the man, who was clearly not from around here.

“Who are you? And why are you in my mines?”

“That’s quite the authority you have!”

“Answer the question!” Pete demanded. “Oh - and when you say your mines? You’re not the boss!”

“Yes I am. At least they see me that way - so that makes them my mines.” Pete returned, calmly. “Now ... answer my question. Who are you? Why are you here?” The strange man reached out his hand: “The Doctor, nice to meet you!” they shook hands and then the Doctor took a stroll around the rocky cave-like terrain of the coal mines. He was admiring it. “I'm surprised they don't send more workers down to this place; you've barely mined a scrap of coal!” The Doctor said. Pete didn't want to reply to this ; he didn't want to remind anyone that ten Miners had gone missing over the past two months. But he had to: “We keep losing Miners!” Pete said, trying to be vague. But the Doctor wanted answers.

“Losing? In what sense? “ he asked.

“None of your business!” Pete retorted.

“Well it is now!” the Doctor said with authority. He delivered his reply in such a manner that it made all of Miners feel uneasy. Like their lives were at risk. “Fine.” Pete replied and gestured for the Doctor to follow him outside. “BACK TO WORK!” he demanded as he walked out of the mines, unknowing what events were about to unfold.

*

Ace entered the bakery once again, and as she opened the door it triggered a bell sound: ‘ding ding’. This alerted Mrs. Copper, who came to the counter, hoping for a customer, or maybe even news on her lost husband. However when she saw the young Londoner just stood there, looking bored out of her mind, she sighed.

“Everything alright?” Ace asked, worried. She knew that this was one of the women affected by the alleged ‘Miners curse’. If Ace remembered correctly, this woman's husband had disappeared in the dead of night - only a few hours ago. Mrs. Copper nodded, but Ace could see behind the mask. She knew that really, deep down, this woman wasn't fine. How could she be after what had just happened; the events would still be fresh in her mind, and she'd probably still be praying for a miracle.

“No you're not! What's happened? “ Ace asked, knowing full well what was wrong, but trying to appear normal. Mrs. Cooper took a seat near Ace, so that they were sitting opposite each other. “Trevor - my husband..” That was all she could manage to say for the time being and took a long pause before the next sentence. Ace really wanted to end this conversation and stop this woman from going through anymore pain, but she had to gain her trust and she had to find out about the village. It wasn't her intention to ask about her husband, but she'd seen that Mrs. Cooper looked in a bad way, so changed the ‘plan of action’, and asked what was wrong.

Who knew? Maybe talking about what had happened could help her recover and maybe Ace could persuade her that everything was fine; at least she wanted to believe it was fine, although she'd heard the stories of this place from one of the old professors at her school and if what was said was fact and not fiction, this town was in big trouble!

Mrs. Cooper finally built up the strength to talk once again: “My husband, Trevor. I found out this morning that he'd gone missing. Well, actually I noticed at night, he didn't come home. Not even for dinner, and even when his shift finished, he didn't come home. So I asked Pete to go and look for him but they haven't yet found him!” She looked extremely distressed.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Really! But...I bet he isn’t gone.” Ace said.

“Do you think?” the woman asked, with a flicker of hope.

“Yes. I mean, he’s just got lost or something, or maybe it’s a prank!”

“A Prank!?” she raised her voice a little.

“Yeah, you know. Maybe he was trying to scare his mates!” Ace said, trying to calm her down, but Mrs. Cooper wasn’t having any of it: “You don’t have ‘mates’ in this town. You get your head down and do the work. Since this is the only work they can find!” she stood up out of the chair, a bit angry: “Anyway, who are you? And what are you doing here? Why am I even telling you all this? And why would I even trust you? I don’t know anything about you or that weird man!” She walked away, and Ace tried to cool the situation down, before it reached melting point. “No, please…. I didn’t mean to -” Ace started, but she was cut off.

“Get out of here while you still can! People around here don’t like strangers!” Mrs. Cooper disappeared round the back, and Ace sighed to herself. Where was she going to look for information? A complete history of the town? Great! She decided the only thing to do was ask door to door. Surely somebody knew a thing or two about the village they were living in. With that in mind, Ace set off, and wondered what progress the Doctor was making. Surely it couldn’t be any worse…

*

The fresh air! The Doctor and Pete were now outside of the mine, and the noise of pickaxes and tools chipping away at coal and other ores and minerals was very faint. The Doctor was leaning on his umbrella. “So, what’s this about disappearing men?”

Pete didn’t want to answer the man’s question, but something about his presence suggested that he dealt with this sort of thing on a regular basis, and that he was the only person that could resolve the problem, and hopefully find Trevor; if he wasn’t already dead. “Over the past few weeks, miners have just been going missing, left right and centre. It always happens at night as well!” Pete explained, and the Doctor interrupted: “Maybe these, Miners, of yours - perhaps they’re looking for something they shouldn’t.” The Doctor suggested, and Pete was confused.

“How so?” Pete asked, and the Doctor explained.

“Well, my friend, Ace - who’s currently in the bakery, she told me about this -- Well, she told me about it, but even she didn’t know exactly why this place is called ‘Miners Curse’.

“How can she hear about it and not know the truth?” Pete asked.

“We travel a lot -” he said quickly, trying to avoid answering any more questions. He changed the subject -“And what do you mean: The Truth?”

“It’s not a myth. Only fools would believe it to be false.”

“So what is it?” The Doctor asked, slightly impatiently. “ Come on, man! Miners are missing and the number could rise if you don't tell me right this instant?”

Pete started telling the tale. The tale of the stone crow. It was the tale that all sane Miners of this village believed in. This wasn't just a wives tale! This was a reality! “Legend has it that thousands of years ago, long before any buildings were constructed here, a group of explorers or something like that - they came across these mines. The story says that they became lost in the dark while exploring, and that they encountered a creature….” he trailed off.

“What kind of creature?” The Doctor asked, concerned.

“Well, apparently they were turned to stone! But I don’t know what kind of creature would turn people to stone!” Pete replied.

The Doctor took a moment to consider, and reflected on what he’d just heard: “What does this have to do with a Stone Crow?” he asked, mildly confused, however he was sure the pieces of the puzzle would soon join together and everything would make sense. “Well, you know like we use canaries?” The Doctor nodded at Pete’s statement, “Apparently one of these men had a crow, you know like to deliver a message. Although, it is a bit strange to use a crow instead of a hawk,” Pete said, and the Doctor was waiting for the last line of the explanation: “Anyway, this crow got frozen in stone. People have heard noises down in the mines, hundreds of years before I was born. They heard sounds of a crow, went to explore and there it was, a STONE CROW!” Pete said, finishing the explanation.

“How did this legend come about? How did it come to be?” He asked, confused. Pete replied: “One of them survived. Told the story. And apparently the other two are frozen in stone, deep within the mines.”

The Doctor was thinking. He then came to his conclusion and turned to Pete, saying: “I think we should go on a little expedition!”

“What do you mean?” Pete asked.

“Firstly, I want to take a look down the mines!”

*

He didn’t know how he’d ended up this far down into darkness. He couldn’t hear any mining and no matter how loud he called out for someone to help, nobody came. It was like he’d discovered a whole other universe, locked away in the mine. His Davy lamp couldn’t light the way, and as if blown out by an ancient ghost, the light flickered and then cut out. It was now pitch black ,and the only thing he could use to guide him was the jagged rocks. He stuck to the edges and as he ventured deeper into darkness, he slowed down. All he could hear was just the usual dirt and grit, and then as he stepped, he heard stone. Something stone was beneath his feet.. He stopped abruptly and looked down, obviously in shock! A look of horror crossed his face as he noticed a canary, lifeless on the ground. It’s body was entirely encased in stone.

Suddenly, a blue light encased him, lighting up a path ahead. Now, on the ground, he could see that there was a trail of stone canaries, each one closer and closer to the heavenly blue light. It was almost like it was leading him into it. He couldn’t resist the temptation, and journeyed into the light….

*

Pete and The Doctor entered the mines, only to inform the other miners of where they were going. Well, it was only really Pete that needed to go, but the Doctor didn’t like isolation, and was trying to keep his mind focused on the tale of the mines. If he was stood outdoors and left alone, his mind would drift to other things; he’d maybe even start feeling angry that he’d forgotten Ace. How could he let himself forget Ace? He could he be tricked so easily?

“Right, lads! Me and the Doctor are off to explore the depths of the mines…” some of the miners shuddered at the thought, and the atmosphere changed. It suddenly felt extremely cold, and set the scene for what was about to happen. “Just, get back to work, and don’t wait for me.” Pete said, and just as he and the Doctor were setting off, out of the ‘main’ mine, they heard an ear piercing, screech! It was a blood curdling scream of death and it was coming from deep within the mines. It echoed through the place like crazy, and it sent the miners into panic.“Doctor, with me!” Pete said. “COME ON. COME ON!” Pete shouted, getting the attention of every worker, and they all followed the Doctor as he navigated the tunnels…

It got darker and darker the further they got down and they all had to stick to the edges and use the rocks as a guide of where to go. They all lost sight of the Doctor, but they could hear the sound of his umbrella hitting the ground. Until they couldn’t.

The Doctor had stopped, and Pete pushed his way to the front. There was a blinding blue light ahead of them, so this lit up the way. The Doctor was knelt beside the corpse of a miner; he’d only been dead for a few seconds. The others were crowded around, waiting for an answer, and the time lord looked up, nodding; confirming the man's death.

The Doctor then turned his attention to the blue light, and could see that whatever it was, the source originated from within a spherical metal object, hidden in the rocks. The miners stared in confusion, stood behind the Doctor, and as they saw a silhouette step out of the pod, panic began to rise. As the figure took more steps forward, it was clear that this thing….this man.….it was Trevor! Trevor was alive!

But at what cost?

TO BE CONTINUED…