figure had watched from the shadows as the Doctor had gone into his room and closed the door behind him. The figure chuckled, revealing perfect teeth. He knew it only had to be a matter of time before the Doctor would arrive, even if he had regenerated since they last had met, so he was pleased with his preparations. After a moment, he crept away down the corridor of the chateau and into the darkness.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The crow soared through the night air, wings fully stretched as it glided silently searching for prey in the fields and woods below. It passed over the group of large stone buildings and the square areas that had been cut and tailored to make gardens and suddenly saw something unusual below it.

The crow turned abruptly with a caw and swooped down to land on the square wooden roof of a blue box that sat in the gardens. It scuttled around the lamp on the centre of the roof and cawed again.

Then suddenly its eyes glowed with an eerie, purple hue.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning, the Doctor woke just as the grey dawn crawled across the sky. He had never needed much sleep, but the occasional night or two made a galaxy of difference. He stretched lazily and then bounded out of bed. He dressed quickly and then went downstairs into the hallway where there were a few servants busying themselves with their chores.

To the Doctor’s delight, he recognised Henri amongst them and walked over to him. 'Bonjour Henri. Where is my good friend this fine morning?' the Doctor bluffed.

'The Vicomte is out riding as usual Monsieur,' Henri replied with a short, respectful bow. 'You may borrow a horse from the stables if you wish?'

The Doctor grinned; he hadn’t ridden a horse for ages! This was getting better and better.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

he Doctor rode quickly to the top of a small hill and looked around him. The Vicomte’s estate and palace looked idyllic in the early morning sunshine. In the distance, and lower down in a valley about half a mile or so away, the Doctor saw not one, but two figures on horseback standing next to each other. One, astride a chestnut stallion, was clearly the Vicomte in a plum riding jacket and black boots. The Doctor frowned and sighed as he recognised the other figure. It was a handsome man, also dressed in a riding jacket, but in emerald green and riding upon a grey horse. The Doctor dug his heels into the flanks of his horse and rode down the hill towards the other two men.

Captain Jack Harkness grinned broadly as the Doctor rode up to them. 'Morning, Doctor!' he called cheerfully. 'We’ve been expecting you!'

Jack glanced up and down at the Doctor, assessing the appearance of his regenerated body. 'Nice make-over by the way!' he said with a grin.

The Doctor reined his steed to a halt and nodded a greeting to the Vicomte before looking hard at his former companion. 'What are you doing here Jack?' he asked accusingly. It had been a while since he had seen Jack Harkness, not since that terrible battle with the Daleks that had cost him his ninth regeneration. Until very recently, the Doctor had thought that Jack had perished on the space station, but that was before he had accessed the computer files in the Torchwood tower whilst battling against the Cybermen. Rose must have saved Jack as she had saved all of them.

Now as he looked at Jack, the Doctor realised that there was something different about him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he knew that it was definitely wrong.

Jack raised his hands and shrugged mockingly. 'Aw, come on Doctor!' He pulled a rather important document from his jacket pocket. 'I’m just showing our gracious host here your papers.'

The Doctor sighed. He had seen such documents before, an offshoot of his own psychic paper. 'Alright, so why are we,' he emphasised the last word, 'here?'