Sometimes Sarah Jane dreamed of the caverns. She’d been in similar places in other worlds.
These had been on Earth, waiting to be explored, filled with dangerously fascinating secrets.
“There’s a witch in the cave.” What had the boy’s name been? Tony? Tommy. “She pretends she’s stone, but she’s just waiting. Waiting for someone to wake her.”
“Really?” Sarah Jane shivered, more than a little thrilled at the notion. Not that she’d admit it to Tommy.
“Think you’re the one to wake her?” Tommy sneered, looking Sarah Jane up and down. “All girls like you are good for is screaming when you’re facing a witch. Or any other kind of danger.”
“What’s wrong with girls screaming?” Sarah Jane demanded with some heat. “It lets everyone know the danger is there, where the scream comes from. Nor is it the only thing I could do if I was facing a witch.”
“You’re all talk.” Tommy folded his arms, looking down at her. “Go on. I dare you. Go find her.”
And so Sarah Jane found herself paddling down a deep pond in a dark cave. A cave filled with whispers, searching for a witch. Unsure what she’d do if she found her.
One of those whispers became a gust of wind. A woman’s scream.
A current grabbed at the boat, dragging it toward an overhanging rock.
Sarah Jane had no choice but to throw herself overboard.
The water was icy cold. She felt herself sinking, thrashing. Too aware she couldn’t swim.
Something like singing filled her ears. A sad song. Perhaps a lament for her.
“No.” A voice, the voice of many men and women whispered a denial. “You’re not going to die here, Sarah.”
A hand reached out for her, seized her. It dragged her out of the water.
She spluttered, flailing, but the hard held her with a firm gentleness. It touch calmed her enough to stop thrashing and start paddling.
She was pulled onto the bank of the pond to stare at the woman in front of her.
“Are you the witch?” Such an odd creature she was, a tomboy in a sodden blue coat over a shirt with a rainbow across it, dressed in trousers far too short. “I thought you’d turned to stone.”
“Sometimes that happens.” The woman glanced at the ceiling before offering Sarah a cheeky grin. “Naw, I’m not the witch. I’m a lot older than she is.”
“That was you, singing under the water.” Sarah was sure this woman’s voice had amongst those she’d heard while sinking.
“Sometimes that happens.” The woman shrugged, her cheeky grin turning apologetic. “I find myself in other places. Or other people find me in other places. Others mes.”
She ran a hand through her hair. “It’s not their fault. Our fault. Wow, I really confuse myself sometimes. Along with other people.”
Sarah giggled at this. “You’re funny.”
“You always thought so.” The woman’s smile turned wistful as she looked Sarah Jane up and down. “I always tried to make you laugh when I could.”
“I don’t understand.” The girl frowned at the almost intimate gaze. “Have we met?”
“Not yet, but yes.” The woman winked at her. “But we will. Not that you’ll recognize me.”
“I still don’t understand.” Sarah Jane frowned, trying to work out what this stranger meant.
“Some things are hard to understand. Might say they’re mysteries.” The woman laid a hand on her shoulder, leaned forward. “I hope you’ll never stop chasing them. Even if they involve weird things.”
“I won’t.” Sarah Jane lifted her chin to study this adult. Some of the weirdest things came out of her mouth. Still the child wanted to reassure her. “I promise. I won’t.”
What happened to the woman? Sarah Jane didn’t remember saying goodbye to her.
She kept her promise. Sarah Jane kept chasing weird things. She had a hard time resisting a mystery.
She ended up crossing the path of a white-haired, dapper gentleman called the Doctor. He was perhaps the biggest mystery she ever encountered.
He took her places, so many places. Sure enough they made her scream.
She was never afraid of him. Not her personal mystery, the Doctor. Not even when he changed into a tousle-haired man much younger with a childish grin and a mania for danger.
At a certain point she had enough of that danger. She wanted to go home.
He dropped her off and disappeared, not even at the right spot. Sarah Jane had to find her way home.
Once there she grew restless. Once again she found herself seeking out mysteries when and where she could.
Until her path crossed the Doctor’s again. He was wearing an even younger face with a younger girl at his side. An even bigger mystery than ever.
She had a chance to go with him, travel once more, but she’d backed away. It was no longer her place. Her time with the Doctor was over.
She’d encounter him again, one last time. Wearing an even younger face, swaying on his feet as if he wasn’t entirely sure how to use his limbs.
They crossed paths, but this was all. She couldn’t go with him. She couldn’t go back to whom she’d been. Any more than she could go back to being the little girl who’d nearly drowned in a cave.
She remembered only bits and pieces of that encounter in the cave and the woman who’d saved her.
Sometimes she wondered about that woman whom she'd met, who said they would one day meet. About whom she might be.
The Doctor could change his face, his entire body. Maybe the change could go further than that.
The Doctor was all about change. Look how he'd changed Sarah Jane. Along with many others his path had crossed.
You couldn't stay the same after meeting him...or her. You carried your memories of the Doctor forever.
Some might consider it a burden, but Sarah had tried traveling light.
She prefered to have some luggage.