Part 6 (1/2)

Liz was wiping down the tables and trying not to make it obvious she was watching Madsen. Peri had seen her trying to catch his eye several times, as if she wanted to speak to him.

The rest of them - the Doctor and Peri, Madsen and Trefoil - were seated round one of the tables. Madsen was drinking whisky, turning the gla.s.s slowly round and round, so that the chunks of ice floating inside clinked against the side. Trefoil had a gla.s.s of water. The Doctor was sitting with an almost untouched pint of Fisherman's Ruin, and Peri had coffee. It was strong and dark with the consistency of syrup.

'Since his father died last year,' Trefoil went on, 'Christopher Sheldon's returned. The prodigal he was. Off to London to study at first. Due back in a few years. Then he stopped coming home for the holidays. Pretty soon he stopped coming home at all. They say he was seduced by the bright lights and the money.' Trefoil grinned. 'Bright lights, maybe.

He had money already as we now know.'

'Why's it called Sheldon's Folly?' Peri wanted to know.

'Name of the house,' Trefoil said. 'Big house it is. We call the island Sheldon's Folly now too. Doesn't have any other name, far as I know.'

'And the house?' Madsen asked. Peri had not realised that some of this might be new to him too.

'Sheldon's Folly.' Trefoil said, nodding: 'A sort of joke, it is. Built by Christopher Sheldon's great-great-great-grandfather.' He paused to tap out the 'greats' on his fingers, checking he had it right. 'He never finished it. Spent the family fortune. There are still bits that are just abandoned.

Rooms without ceilings or roofs, open to the air.'

'So,' the Doctor said, 'folly as in mistake and folly as in unconventional building.'

'You have it exactly.'

'And folly as in helicopter?' the Doctor suggested.

Trefoil laughed, banging his gla.s.s on the table. Water sloshed over the side. 'That too. But we have to allow him his little eccentricities.'

'Oh?'

Trefoil shrugged. 'He still works in London, I understand.

Some sort of government scientist. I asked Sir Edward if he knew what Sheldon does, but he was a bit vague. Don't think they know each other. Anyway, Sheldon needs to travel back and forth and the boats are slow and unreliable.'

'And you let him get away with it?' Peri asked.

'Let him?' Trefoil considered. 'Not sure it's my place to stop him.' He swung round in his chair, waving a hand ma.s.sively in an arc through the air. 'He owns this pub.'

'Really?' the Doctor said.

'And the village. And the islands.' Trefoil wiped at the damp table with the back of his hand. 'Owns the whole blooming lot.' Then he suddenly downed the drink in one.

'Good thing too,' he said. Then he pushed back his chair and stood up. 'Now if you'll excuse me, I must help Liz lock up.

Then I'll show you two to your rooms.' He nodded to Madsen.

'You see yourself out?' he asked.

Madsen finished his whisky while the Doctor toyed with his pint and Peri stared at the remains of her coffee. 'What he didn't say,' Madsen explained as he put his coat on, 'is that Sheldon's only owned the islands for about six months.'

'Oh?' The Doctor was interested. He c.o.c.ked his head to one side. 'Who owned them before that?'

'The islanders. Some sort of trust as far as I understand it.'

'What happened?' Peri asked.

'Went bust. Legs up. Just ran out of money. The trustees had to sell out.'

'To Sheldon,' the Doctor concluded.

Madsen laughed. 'Oh no, not to Sheldon. Not at first. No, the only buyer they could find was a property developer. They agreed to keep the village more or less intact - most of it is listed, after all. But they wanted to turn the whole of this island into a theme park. Rare animal breeds mixed in with roller coasters and luxury hotels. Couple of golf courses on the other islands. Even a small airport.'

'Hmm. I take it,' the Doctor said slowly, 'that the islanders weren't terribly enthralled by the idea.'

'Too right. They had protest meetings, letters to Parliament, slots on the local news. Not that they saw it, of course. Then Sheldon stepped in. n.o.body knew he had any money, they sort of a.s.sumed he was broke because of Sheldon's Folly, I think.'

'And he trumped the developers?' the Doctor asked.

Madsen nodded. 'Big time, as I heard it. Bought them off, then bought up the islands lock, stock and barrel. They were a bit apprehensive here at first, but he just told them to get on with it and pretend nothing had ever happened.'

Peri stood up as Madsen made to leave. They all shook hands, and the young doctor turned to go.

'That's a wonderful story,' Peri said to Madsen. 'So nothing's really changed?'

Madsen was facing away from her. He stopped in mid-stride, but did not turn back. 'That's right,' he said, his voice suddenly sounding tired and breaking slightly as he spoke.

'Nothing's changed at all.' He left without looking back.

Chapter Five.

Herd Instinct Liz Trefoil showed the Doctor and Peri to rooms opposite each other at the top of the stairs.

'Not much call for bed and breakfast, I suppose,' the Doctor joked, and she smiled back.

'Breakfast when you want it,' she said. 'Dad'll be up at seven to get things sorted in the cellar. I'm usually not far behind him.'

'Seven?' Peri said. 'I don't think we'll worry you that early.'

'We'll see you in the morning,' the Doctor a.s.sured Liz and let himself into his room.

Peri opened the door to her room and went in. There was a single bed made up, and a towel lying across it. She turned to shut the door behind her, but there was someone in the doorway. She gave a stifled shriek, only realising as he stepped into the room that it was the Doctor.

'Don't do that,' she hissed. 'I nearly died.'