Bad Wolf From Space

36. Mrs Lovett

When I landed, I felt my ankle turn badly and my arm winged as I fell upon it.

My eyes blurred from the pain as I rolled on my back.

"Oh you poor dearling. Let's get you inside where its safe."

An older voice spoke and I felt strong but wiry arms picked me up.

Next I woke up, I was in a bed with a heavy quilt with a patchwork of purple and red.

The smell of blackberries and sea salt wafted from somewhere nearby.

On high alert I sat up only to wince when I felt how sore I was.

"You are awake, dearling?"

"Mrs Lovett?" I wrinkled my brow as I remembered the older woman who had tried to kidnap me when I had just turned eighteen.

"Mrs Lovett?" The older woman smiled, "Oh yes that's me."

The cool scent in the air had me closing my eyes trying to search out a clue but felt as the older woman patted my hand.

"I wouldn't do that dear, wouldn't want your glow to attract those nasty statues outside."

I let out a gasp before looking at the woman with a wary eye.

"You know about the statues?"

"You live as long as I have and you come to know a great many things, Rose."

"And how long has that been?" My brow furrowed.

"You've always been such a clever girl, my dearling, I'm sure you have an idea." She patted my hand.

"What year is it?"

The older woman sat to the side of the bed, her hand still grasping mine tightly.

"1963." Intense sky blue eyes peered at me, "It seems you jumped quite further way than you meant to this time."

Mrs Lovett was attentive and protective of me. She seemed to like my presence nearby, it seemed to assure her. She was always tense when coming back after working in her corner shop but her features would shine bright as soon as she saw me in the kitchen or sitting on her overstuffed couches reading.

I highly began to suspect that Mrs Lovett was a certain Time Lord.

If it weren't for the fact that she made the habit of making her 'signature' pie, blackberry with sprinkled sea salt on the crust, I would have been more sure.

The days turned into weeks and I missed the Doctor terribly. However whenever I got the wistful sort of expression on my face Mrs Lovett, Nan as she asked me to call her, would distract me.

She seemed quite content with me just living in her apartment not paying any rent.

"I'll go mad if I don't set my hands to something productive."

Mrs Lovett's eyes gleamed eerily before she gave a thin lipped smile.

"What do you have in mind, deary?"

"I wondered if perhaps we could expand the business downstairs and turn it into a cafe."

Her smile brightened, "Only if you do all the work, I don't like strangers coming through here."

I think it was more of a challenge she gave than anything, she wanted to see if I'd give up. Or perhaps I was short-sighted, for I would often catch her with a satisfied smile seeing me busy.

One day after a hard day painting the downstairs, I got a call that confirmed several suspicions.

"Is this Malynn Lovett speaking?"

"Who is this?"

"This is Detective Davies, I have your relative Maleka Lovett."

My gut sank before going to look through the drawers by our flat door.

My thoughts going to the time Mrs Lovett had told me to only open in case of emergency. There in the drawer was an id with my picture attached to it, it would seem I had been Malynn Lovett all along. Of course the name's meaning was not lost on me and I knew then I was the one who had chosen it.

I came back to the phone.

"Miss?"

"Ah yes, is Nan ok?"

When I reached the police station I saw Mrs Lovett sitting seemingly meekly to the side while on the other side of the room was a man in a grocer's uniform holding a wet cloth to his black eye.

This wouldn't be the last time that I would have to bail my 'Nan', Mrs Lovett, out of jail and it wouldn't be the last.