Dr. Who - BBC New Series 28 Read Online Free PDF Page A

them, whatever they threw at you.
    Donna loved her mum, no two ways about that. And she had no doubt that Sylvia Noble loved her daughter.
    She just wasn’t entirely sure they actually liked each other that much.
    ‘Hullo, Donna,’ called Mrs Baldrey from opposite.
    ‘Had a nice trip?’
    ‘Yes thanks,’ Donna smiled back. ‘How’s Seymour?’
    ‘Oh fine. Still complaining about his prostate,’ the neighbour groaned.
    Donna thought that conversation had gone as far as she
    wanted it to go, frankly, and speeded up her pace towards home.
    A cat sat by a lamppost, warily watching Donna approach, not quite sure if she was friend or foe. Donna made squeaky noises to attract its attention.
    It bolted.
    Ah well.
    Mum’s car was outside on the road (you have a drive, Mum, use it) and Donna touched the bonnet as she passed.
    Cold. Mum hadn’t been out today then. Funny how she’d picked up these little things from travelling with the Doctor to find things out. Like whether a car had been driven. The old Donna would never have thought about that. The old Donna wouldn’t have cared.
    The old Donna was gone.
    Thank God – her life was a trillion times better these days.
    If only she could involve her mum in it, though. That last little piece of the puzzle, that last bit of acceptance from each of them.
    ‘Oh there you are, Lady,’ said a familiar voice from behind her. ‘I wondered if we’d see you today.’
    Donna didn’t bother turning around. ‘Hello, Mum,’ she said.
    ‘Oh yes, “Hello, Mum” – because that’s enough isn’t it.
    One minute the air’s choking with exhaust fumes, the next the sky’s on fire, and that’s it. No idea where my only daughter is. No calls, no texts, not even a message sent to your granddad, so he can shut me up. Nothing.’
    Donna stopped in the street and turned to face her
    mother, automatically tugging two of the four shopping bags from her hand to help.
    The old Donna wouldn’t have considered that either.
    ‘Nice to see you, too,’ Donna said. ‘Granddad got the kettle on? I could do with a cuppa, loads to tell you.’
    Sylvia Noble shrugged and stomped off ahead of her daughter. ‘You know what today is, don’t you,’ she called back.
    And Donna stopped dead.
    Of course she knew what today was. Why the hell did she think she was there? How dare she even ask that question?
    The front door opened and Sylvia pushed passed Granddad Wilf and went wordlessly into the kitchen.
    ‘Do you know what she just asked me?’ Donna hissed at him after kissing his cheek.
    Wilf raised his eyes to heaven. ‘It’s gonna be one of them days, isn’t it?’
    Donna opened her mouth to reply, then stopped.
    The old Donna would have gone off on one, there and then. The old Donna would’ve started a row with her mum, throwing around words like ‘attitude’ and ‘whatever’ and ‘selfish’.
    New Donna didn’t.
    Because new Donna, frustrating as it was, understood that what Sylvia Noble probably wanted and needed today was a good cry.
    But being Sylvia ‘I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve’
    Noble meant she’d never do that.
    And sadly it was going to be new Donna’s job today to
    ensure she did, before bottling it up caused her mum more damage than it already had.
    The Doctor was striding down Chiswick High Road, glancing into various shops where people were staring at the new laptop demonstrations. ‘It’s just a computer,’ he muttered. ‘Why so much interest?’
    ‘They’re already out of date,’ said a young voice beside him. ‘The M-TEK – that’s the future.’
    The Doctor looked over, then down. The speaker barely reached knee height. It was a little boy. The Doctor had seen him before somewhere – then running towards him, he saw Lukas Carnes, and realised this was the little brother he’d been carrying.
    ‘Joe!’ yelled Lukas. ‘How’d you get away from me so fast?’
    ‘I’m not your prisoner,’ Joe yelled back, and the Doctor gave the