Doctor Who: Paternoster Row (Non-Trek)

[USS Fardell]

Paternoster Row
Prologue: Stranded
The Paternoster Gang arrived home with Clara Oswald after the Doctor’s defeat of the Half Faced Man. “You’re sure he’d come back here?” Jenny Flint asked.

“There’s no trace of him in the wreckage. They searched all Parliament Hill. Where else would he go?” Vastra asked. They then noticed a square space in the straw. It was empty. The TARDIS was gone. “I fear we have missed him.”


The next day, the Doctor still hadn’t appeared. Clara knocked on the door of Vastra’s chamber. “Please come in,” Vastra directed. She saw that Clara hadn’t dressed in the clothes she had arrived in two days earlier, rather in another of Jenny’s outfits. Perhaps she wasn’t as sure of the Doctor returning as she thought.

“I’m not interrupting?”

“I should be glad of your company. What can I do for you?”

“Ah,” Clara said. “Well, that’s exactly what I was going to ask you. Seems like I’m stuck here now. Got a vacancy?”

“You are very welcome to join our little household, but the Doctor could return at any moment.”

Clara frowned. “I don’t think he is. And I don’t suppose you have any Vortex Manipulators?”

“I was afraid of that. If the person who knows him best in the whole universe doesn’t know if he will return, then he isn’t likely to return soon.” Vastra paused. “I’m afraid we don’t have any Vortex Manipulators, but you are welcome to stay.”

Clara teared up. “Thanks.”

“I know this will be a shock, so you can come to Jenny or myself if you want to talk, understood?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Please, call me Vastra.”

“Vastra.”

 

[USS Fardell]

Mystery of Sherwood Part 1
It had been a week since Clara had joined Lady Vastra, Jenny and Strax in their Paternoster Row residence. She was still adjusting to being stuck over a century in her past. She heard a knock on the door. “Come in.”

It was Vastra. “I have just received an intriguing telegram from Nottingham. It seems there’s a robber in Sherwood Forest who’s taken advantage of popular legend.”

That perked Clara up. “Robin Hood?”

“Yes. However, I doubt this is someone who’s motivated by charity as that figure was reportedly motivated.”

“Of course not.”

“I was wondering if you would like to accompany Jenny and I to investigate the truth of the matter. But I have to warn you, it almost certainly be dangerous.”

“Dangerous or not. I can’t just stay here doing nothing, while a certain Time Lord galivants around the universe but doesn’t return.”

“Well said,” Vastra added.

“I will come, and maybe when we come back, I’ll look for something else to do.”

“What ever you want to do, I’m certain London will offer it.”

“What of Strax?” Clara wondered.

“He has opted to stay here, in case something else comes up.”


It took Jenny and Clara the work of a few hours to pack for the trip. During this time, Vastra sought for more information on what was transpiring up north. But there was not much more to go on. It appeared that whoever it was in Sherwood Forest, they were being elusive. Vastra was disappointed.


“All this equipment, do you think we’d need it?” Clara asked, once they finished packing.

“Maybe not, but Vastra wants to be prepared, and so do I,” Jenny answered.

“Being prepared. If something goes wrong, we can’t say we weren’t.”

“We can’t always prepare for everything, but what we can prepare for we have.”

“It’s not like we’re going there without a plan,” Clara said.

“You sound like you’re unsure.”

Clara paced. “We don’t have one now. It’s just, go to Sherwood Forest and find out what’s happening. What if it’s a trap?”

“We can’t be second guessing ourselves. We’d get nowhere.”

“Of course not,” Clara said. She supposed it was the bossy, control freak part of her personality, causing her to be anxious, on top of the overall situation she was in. ‘But worrying isn’t good!’ She decided to focus on solving the problem. First, Sherwood Forest, then the overall problem of how to get home without dying of old age on the slow path.
Vastra then came. “Ready to go?” she asked.

“Yes,” Clara answered.

“We shall take the 1:45 train to Nottingham. We’ll be there about 4.”

“No improvement over the next century then,” Clara quipped.


Clara had half expected the carriage to be crowded and dirty, but it was quite clean and comfortable. “This is good,” she said.

“Well, it is second class,” Jenny said.

‘So it didn’t, or doesn’t, just apply to ocean liners,’ Clara thought. “I suppose it’s good we’re not in third class.”

“Definitely,” Vastra said.


They sound found their seats at the middle of the carriage.


Arriving in Nottingham, Clara remembered when she had been there in the future. Being a fan of the various legends and stories of Robin Hood, she had wanted to visit the city since she was young. She had spent some time in the city. “Not much will change, really,” she said as she and the others exited the station.

“Then you would know the way to Sherwood Forest?” Vastra asked.

“Certainly, but we would need to put ourselves up somewhere first,” Clara responded.

“I have already arranged that,” Vastra said.

“Good,” Clara said.

“We shall gather more information at the hotel.”

Clara nodded.


They soon arrived at a fairly busy hotel. All the more easier to gather information, Vastra had said.

“How often do you travel like this?” Clara asked Jenny once they had unpacked what needed to be unpacked.

“Once a month usually,” Jenny answered. “There is no end of cases that come up.”

“So, we’ll be keeping busy then.”

“Absolutely.”
Vastra then entered. “I have hired someone with a knowledge of Sherwood Forest to take us there in the morning.”


The Trio changed and then went to the Common Room for dinner. “We’re going meet a couple who have recently been to Sherwood Forest,” Vastra explained. “They’re going to fill us in more.”


Having ordered their meals, they sat at a table where a couple were waiting. “Madame Vastra?” the man asked.

“That is I,” Vastra answered.

“I’m Matthew Shaw, and this is my wife Audrey.”

“Welcome to Nottingham,” Audrey said.

“Thank you,” Clara said.

“This is Clara Oswald, my new assistant,” Vastra explained.

“Happy to meet you, Clara,” Matthew said.

“Likewise,” Clara said.