‘Of course I’m getting married! This is my wedding day! Or at least it was meant to be before it turned into an episode of the Chuckle Brothers.’
The Doctor took Mark to one side and whispered. ‘Oh, no. You weren’t. Your own wedding. The list you showed me, of all the times you could intervene in your past? This wasn’t on the list! Do you know what you’ve done?
You’ve gone off-list!’
‘I wasn’t going to intervene,’ protested Mark. ‘I only wanted to stand at the back and watch.’
‘Stand at the back and watch?’ The Doctor waggled his fingers in frustration. ‘What have I told you? Paradoxes!
Angels! Ramifications! Why do humans never do as they’re told? Someone should replace you all with robots.
No, on seconds thoughts, they shouldn’t, bad idea.’
‘Sorry to interrupt,’ said Rebecca unapologetically. ‘Did I just hear you say you were on your way to a wedding?’
‘Yes, that’s right,’ said Mark. ‘Saint Stephen’s, in a village called Chilbury. It’s for a couple, Mark Whitaker
and Rebecca Coles…’
‘But that… that’s my wedding,’ exclaimed Rebecca.
‘You’re on your way to my wedding?’
‘You’re Rebecca Coles?’ said Mark, feigning surprise.
‘What a coincidence!’
‘Well, there we are, small world.’ The Doctor clapped.
‘So if, um, Harold here could move his car, you can be on your way, and get married, just as you should.’
‘Not gonna happen.’ The chauffeur shook his head, indicating the damaged limousine. ‘Can’t drive with it like this, the insurance won’t cover it.’
‘Oh, fantastic,’ said the Doctor, slapping his palms on the bonnet of Mark’s car. ‘Fantastic!’
‘Look,’ said Mark. ‘Since I’m going there anyway…
maybe I could give you a lift?’
‘A lift! It gets better!’ cried the Doctor to the heavens.
‘I don’t suppose I have any choice,’ said Rebecca. ‘If I’m not going to be late.’
‘Oh, I’m sure a small delay won’t hurt,’ said the Doctor hurriedly. ‘Bride’s prerogative. Make him sweat. What’s fifteen minutes in the grand scheme of things?’
Mark took the Doctor, Amy and Rory to one side. ‘But she wasn’t late,’ he said firmly.
‘What?’
‘She arrived bang on time.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I remember my own wedding!’
The Doctor paused, weighing up the situation. ‘Right!
Everyone into… Harold’s car. No time to lose, we have a
wedding to attend! You’re the father of the bride, I take it?
Isn’t she beautiful? I’d marry her myself, given half a chance! In you go!’
Mark opened the side doors of his car, and Rebecca and her father piled inside.
‘Sorry, what are we doing?’ said Rory. ‘Isn’t this changing history?’
‘No. If Rebecca is late for her wedding, that’s changing history,’ explained the Doctor. ‘We have to get her to the church on time!’
‘So, if you don’t mind me asking, but who are you?’ said Rebecca, her shoes in her lap. There was something strangely familiar about the four strangers. Particularly the guy in the driver’s seat. Take away the beard and twenty years or so and he’d have been a dead ringer for Mark.
‘A relative,’ he said. He even sounded like Mark. ‘On Aunt Margaret’s side. From Canada.’
The young man to her right with the large nose and gormless expression groaned for no apparent reason.
‘You’re from Canada? All of you?’ asked Rebecca.
‘Yes.’ said the guy in the driver’s seat. ‘A small place, about fifty miles north of Toronto. I’m Harold Jones, this is the Doctor, Amy, and Rory.’
Rebecca considered. Mark’s mother had mentioned something about having relatives in Canada. It would explain the resemblance.
‘You don’t, um, sound very Canadian, if you don’t mind me saying,’ said Rebecca’s father.
‘No, but that’s just it, you see,’ said Amy. ‘We Canadians
often don’t. It’s one of the most interesting things aboot us.’
‘So who exactly invited you to my wedding?’ said Rebecca.
‘We just happened to be in the country and Mark’s mother invited us, as a last-minute thing,’ said Harold.
‘Not a problem, is it?’
‘No. In fact, it’s lucky you were here. Although, thinking about it, if you hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have crashed into you in the first place.’
‘Funny how things work out,’ said the Doctor as the car came to a halt. At the junction ahead the traffic lights were on red. ‘How are we doing for time, Mar - marvellous Harold?’
‘Five minutes to one. We’re not gonna make it Not in this traffic.’
Leave that to me.’ The Doctor dug into his jacket and pulled out what appeared to be a large electric toothbrush.
He leaned out of the window and aimed it at the traffic lights. It buzzed and in an instant the traffic lights turned to green.
‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ grinned the Doctor manically. ‘Drive!’
Mark sat between his mother and Gareth on the front row pew. The air in the church smelt of stone and furniture polish. He stared at his shoes, so shiny he could actually see his reflection. ‘What time is it now?’
Five minutes to,’ said Gareth. ‘God, I hope she hasn’t done a runner.’
Mark’s phone beeped. He had a message from Lucy
and Emma, saying they’d been caught in traffic but they’d be there in five minutes, followed by four exclamation marks and a smiley.
Mark’s mother took his hand and she gave it a squeeze.
‘Don’t worry. Shell be here on time. I feel sure of it.’
Mark pulled up in the country lane outside the church, right behind Lucy and Emma’s limousine. The Doctor, Amy and Rory jumped out of the car, instantly regretting it as they landed in deep puddles. Rory gallantly helped Rebecca onto the grass verge. ‘Careful. It’s seriously muddy out here.’
Mark couldn’t take his eyes off Rebecca. She looked so perfect. How many times had he summoned up the memory of her on their wedding day? And now here she was, living and breathing, a memory made flesh. He’d even talked to her. Hearing her voice for the first time in fifteen years, seeing her so full of hope and excitement, Mark felt both an immeasurable joy and an immeasurable sadness. Every second he fought the urge to tell her who he really was and what would happen to her one night in April 2003. But that would have to wait.
He climbed out of the car to join them, taking care to avoid the puddles. How many times had he come to this church? Once to rehearse the wedding, once for the wedding itself, and then countless times to visit Rebecca’s grave. From the roadside he could see the empty patch of grass where it would one day lie, in the shade of an old, gnarled yew tree.
Rebecca’s father passed Rebecca her shoes and, leaning
on the lychgate, she twisted her feet into them. ‘All done.
What time is it now?’
‘Fifteen minutes past,’ said her father, indicating the clock on the church tower. ‘But don’t worry, it’s not as if they’re going to start without you.’
‘Fifteen minutes?’ said Amy. ‘But I thought…’
The Doctor licked a finger and held it to the air.
‘History is shifting course,’ he announced grimly as a blue light flashed across the gravestones. The same kind of light Mark had seen in Rome and the students’ union.
There was a tension in the air, like before a thunderstorm, and was it his imagination or was it getting dark?
‘So you were telling the truth,’ said the Doctor. ‘She did arrive at the church on time.’
‘What are you talking about?’ said Rebecca. ‘I’m only fifteen minutes late, it’s not the end of the world.’
‘I wouldn’t be so su
re of that.’ The Doctor reached a decision. ‘Desperate situations require desperate solutions.
Wait here, all of you, I’ll be back before you know it.’ He clambered into the driving seat of Mark’s car, revved the engine and accelerated into the road. Seconds later he disappeared from view.
‘What does he think he’s doing?’ said Rory, flabbergasted. ‘Thanks, Doctor, leaving us in the lurch outside the… church! Y’know, Amy, I think he’s really flipped this time.’
‘Look, you can stand here if you like, but I have a wedding to go to,’ said Rebecca, taking her first determined steps toward the church. ‘I think I’ve kept my future husband waiting long enough…’
‘Wait!’ said Mark. Rebecca paused. The leaves on the path swirled upwards as though caught in a gust of wind, and, with a grinding, whinnying sound, the Doctor’s blue police box appeared on the path directly in front of her.
The door creaked open and the Doctor emerged. ‘Well, what are you waiting for? Get in!’
‘What’s going on?’ said Rebecca, staring at the Doctor and his blue box in disbelief. ‘What is that thing? And what is it doing here?’
‘Just a short hop,’ beamed the Doctor, patting the police box like it was an old friend. ‘Same place, twenty minutes ago. Oh, and don’t worry, there’s plenty of room for all of us.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Rebecca. ‘Are you saying that’s some sort of vehicle?’
‘I assure you there’s nothing to be scared of. Do I look like the sort of person who would kidnap a bride, on her wedding day, in a police box?’
‘Yes.’
‘It’s all right,’ Amy assured her. ‘You can trust the Doctor.’
‘But I’m late for my own wedding—’
‘Just take a look inside,’ said Rory. ‘I mean, if you’re already late, what difference does one more minute make?’
The Doctor stepped out of the way to let Rebecca see into the police box.
‘But… but that’s impossible,’ stammered Rebecca in awe. ‘It’s like there’s a whole house in there…’
Chapter
12
Mark, Rebecca and her father stepped into the TARDIS
control room, looking around in awe.
‘This is your transport?’ said Mark.
Rory sympathised with them. It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, to step from the normal world into a time machine housed in another dimension. The Doctor’s choice of decor didn’t make it any easier; the centre of the chamber being taken up with a cross between an avant-garde brass sculpture and a child’s activity centre.
The child in this case being the Doctor. He darted around the console, entirely in his element. Rory had a theory that at least half the buttons on the console didn’t actually do anything and the Doctor only pressed them because they made an interesting noise.
‘You know,’ said Rebecca to her father. ‘I don’t think these people actually are Mark’s relatives.’
Rebecca’s father nodded. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t from Canada at all.’
A grinding sound filled the chamber, the central
column of the console came to a rest and the Doctor bounded down the steps to throw open the main doors.
‘Here we are!’
Rory followed the Doctor, Amy, Rebecca and her father outside. The TARDIS had landed on the village green opposite the church. They’d moved about a dozen metres.
The Doctor checked the clock tower. ‘Five minutes to one.’ He grinned at Rebecca. ‘A little bit early, but now you’ll be able to make it to the church, bang on schedule.’
‘Sorry? You’re saying we’ve gone back in time?’ asked Rebecca.
‘Only a little bit’ said the Doctor, leaning casually against the TARDIS. ‘It’ll hardly notice.’
‘Er, Doctor,’ said Rory. ‘Are you sure this isn’t cheating?’
‘No.’ The Doctor looked offended. He straightened his tie. ‘It’s the opposite of cheating. It’s enforcing the rules.
That’s what I do. That’s my thing.’ He clapped, then returned his attention to Rebecca and her father. ‘Well no time like the present, in you both go.’
Rebecca was about to cross the road when suddenly a heavy goods lorry thundered down the lane, its horn blaring. Rebecca stepped back onto the village green but as the lorry passed by, its wheels sluiced up the puddles, splashing muddy water all over her dress.
Everybody waited until the lorry had gone before speaking. ‘Whoops.’ said Amy sympathetically. ‘I’m sure it’ll dry-dean off.’
Rebecca looked down at her mud-spattered skirt She breathed in as much as she could, and said, ‘I’m supposed
to be getting married! In three minutes’ time!’
The Doctor took Mark to one side. ‘I don’t suppose, by any chance, when she turned up at the wedding she was like this, was she?’
Mark shook his head.
‘Sort of thing you’d remember?’
Mark nodded.
‘Right!’ declared the Doctor. ‘All of you, wait here, don’t move an inch.’ He ruffled his hair, then darted back into the TARDIS, slamming the door behind him. The lamp on the top of the police box flashed, and with a whirl of wind, it disappeared from view. Only to reappear a second later. The door swung open to reveal the Doctor holding up a brand-new wedding dress, identical to the one Rebecca was wearing.
‘Took me a while to find the shop where you’d bought the dress and get them to run up an exact copy, but I got there in the end. Thinking about it, I really should’ve asked you which shop it was before I left. Ooh, that Samantha does go on, doesn’t she? Anyway, there you go.’
The Doctor offered Rebecca the dress. ‘Problem?’
‘Yeah, slightly,’ said Rebecca through gritted teeth.
‘Firstly, if you think I’m changing into it standing here in the road you’ve got another think coming.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about,’ smiled the Doctor benignly. ‘No. That came out sounding wrong. What I meant to say was, you’re welcome to change in the TARDIS.’ He held open the doors of the police box.
‘And secondly, I’m supposed to be getting married in
two minutes and it took me half an hour to get laced up into this thing.’
‘Half an hour?’ The Doctor was aghast. ‘Half an hour?
Right! Back in you go.’ He ushered Rebecca, still clasping her new wedding dress, back into the TARDIS. ‘And you too, Amy, you know how women’s clothes work.’ A confused Amy followed them into the police box. Its lamp flashed and it vanished. And reappeared one moment later.
The doors swung open to reveal Rebecca in her brand new, perfectly dean, wedding dress, Amy and the Doctor behind her.
The Doctor checked the road for traffic. OK. Safe to cross. Got everything?’
‘I think so.’ Rebecca turned to her father, who was regarding the proceedings with utter bafflement. ‘My bouquet!’ she remembered in horror. ‘I left it in the limo!’
The Doctor took Mark to one side. ‘And she had it at the wedding?’
‘Yes,’ said Mark. ‘She threw it Lucy caught it’
‘Right!’ cried the Doctor in frustration, disappearing into the TARDIS. It vanished and reappeared. The Doctor emerged brandishing Rebecca’s bunch of lilies. He thrust the bouquet into her hands. ‘Anything else?’
Rebecca shook her head.
‘Then let’s get you married.’ The Doctor led Rebecca, her father. Amy and Rory across the road. After they’d gone through the lychgate and were halfway up the path to the church, the Doctor stepped in front of Rebecca and her father, forcing them to stop. ‘One last thing.’
‘What?’ said Rebecca.
The Doctor stared at Rebecca intently, touching her forehead with his fingers, and spoke in a steady, hypnotic tone. ‘You will have no memory of this, of meeting me, Amy, Rory, or Harold. As far as you’re concerned, you came here in your limousine, without incident.’
> ‘We… we came here in our limousine,’ Rebecca repeated hesitantly.
‘Good, good,’ said the Doctor. He then repeated the process with Rebecca’s father.
‘We came here in our limousine,’ Rebecca’s father confirmed.
‘Excellent. Now, when I click my fingers, I want both of you to wake up, make your way into that church, and have the most wonderful day of your lives.’ The Doctor clicked his fingers.
Rebecca twitched, blinking as though waking up. Then she saw her father beside her. He was looking around with a puzzled expression, then turned to her and said. ‘Ready?’
Rebecca nodded, took her father’s arm, and they headed up the path to the church.
Something wasn’t quite right. As they reached the porch, Rebecca released her father’s arm and glanced back at the graveyard, down the path to the road where four people stood by the gate. She couldn’t see their faces, but one of them seemed to be dressed as an old-fashioned professor.
There was a squeal of tyres as a limousine pulled up outside. Lucy and Emma tumbled out in a flurry of skirts and swearing. They jiggled their shoes onto their feet and stumbled up the path towards her. ‘Sorry,’ said Lucy
breathlessly. ‘Traffic was literally insane.’
‘You’re here now, that’s the main thing,’ said Rebecca.
‘I think it’s time…’ Rebecca’s father gently reminded her, offering her his arm.
‘Ready,’ said Rebecca, taking one last look back at the graveyard. She’d been coming to this church ever since she was a little girl, and she’d never noticed how many statues of angels there were before.
Amy felt a warm glow as Rebecca, her father and her two peach-coloured bridesmaids disappeared into the church.
Amy checked the clock. It was one o’clock exactly. They’d made it.
Mark began striding purposefully up the path to the church. ‘Mark!’ the Doctor shouted after him. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’
‘I told you,’ said Mark. ‘To stand at the back and watch.
It won’t do any harm.’
‘Won’t do any harm?’ snapped the Doctor. ‘After everything I’ve told you, everything we’ve been through?’
‘It won’t do any harm, I know it.’ Mark turned to continue up the path.
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