Fans Fiction The New Adventures of Lady C - The Early Years by S. Florence

Chapter 1

After the Doctor! 

Where do you go when you are in a flying bus? That was the question that went around and around in Christina's head as she flew the skies of London. She had just escaped the clutches of Detective Inspector Macmillan, and was now flying a number 200 route master bus to freedom! As surreal as it was, she had no time to marvel at her present situation and had to think fast. The only option was to go back home and get working on an alibi. If she got the bus moving quickly enough, she could have it done by dawn and it would be like she had never left the house that evening. There would be no proof she'd been anywhere near the International Gallery, let alone another planet, and no charges could be brought against her. Pushing the bus into top gear, she slammed her foot on the accelerator and to her relief, it shot off at high speed.

   Less than 10 minutes later she was landing a huge double decker bus on the dark but vast grounds of her home. There was no point trying to hide it, it would be visible wherever she put it so she just parked it up under the trees that ran the perimeter of her home, shielding it from public view for the time being, and decided to deal with it later, she could always claim ignorance if anyone asked, it seemed to work for most people who were caught red handed, and wondered if dyeing her hair blonde would have a better impact. Grabbing her rucksack, she jumped out of the driver’s seat and ran up to the main house calling out for assistance from her long serving butler John Cook as she went. Cook wasn't at all surprised to see her coming home so late, what had surprised him was catching a glimpse of the bus as she came in through the door.

   "I trust you had an engaging night mi'lady. Everything went according to plan?"

   Throwing her bag onto the sofa as she walked into the main living room, she flopped down next to it looking exhausted. "I wouldn't say that Cook, actually I'd say the plan failed completely and I nearly ended up in jail this time."

   Cook brought her a drink without being asked. He had worked for her long enough to know what she needed and when she needed it.  "Shall I arrange the alibi for you ma'am? There was a party at Lord Mitchell's house this evening, I can arrange for at least six guests who will testify under oath that you were there all evening, including Lord Mitchell himself. He is such a name dropper that he wouldn't know if he'd invited you or not, or if you had turned up! Having your name and title mentioned to him would be enough for him to confirm."

   She nodded and drained the glass of vodka he'd given her..."Yes, but do it now as it won't be long before Macmillan comes knocking." Cook tipped his head in agreement and left the room to make the arrangements.

   Christina rested her head back against the soft cushions of the sofa and closed her eyes. What a day it had been, definitely the strangest day of her entire life, without question. The robbery was one thing but a different Planet!!...That was something else entirely. She had actually left Earth and flown through a worm hole in time, to another world, in a double decker bus! The more she thought about it the more ridiculous it sounded and that made her laugh to herself. Who was going to believe her? Who could she tell that would even understand what she had been through today? She'd stolen a golden chalice worth tens of thousands of pounds and then watched it being hammered by a mad man to the steering wheel of the bus. She'd been attacked by alien stingrays, been on a space ship that belonged to giant flies and she had met the most wonderful man in the world! None of it seemed real now as she sat in the darkness of the living room. None of it seemed possible, yet it had happened, it had most definitely happened and she had no one to share that with. The man, "The Doctor" as he had called himself, was a traveller, but according to him travelled on his own, and when he left, she knew that she might never see him again. She couldn't recall who the other people on the bus were. The whole day had been wasted, miraculous, frightening and magical, yet here she was, back at home on the sofa alone.

   Cook re-entered the room around 20 minutes later with a tray of food and set it down on the table next to her. Picking up the remote control he turned the tv on and switched it over to the late night news.

   "Something you might be interested in m'lady."

   She opened her eyes and quickly sat up as the picture on the screen came into focus. There were news readers everywhere standing outside the entrance to the queen’s gate tunnel.

   "The air force have dismissed the claims of a flying bus, or of an attempted alien threat, and put it down to a training exercise that went wrong. They also insist that such claims are not only dangerous rumours, but the work of internet UFO enthusiasts. Torchwood representative Ianto Jones said earlier that if there had been anything remotely off world about tonight, then his team would have been the first to know about it. We interviewed UNIT who were believed to be witnesses to tonight’s events and they have recently confirmed the statement from the Air Force saying that they were asked to come out as a matter of courtesy to help dismiss the ridiculous claims. Detective Macmillan from Scotland Yard who was also present at the scene said he couldn't actually remember why he was there, and went home."

   Cook turned off the TV and went to leave the room...." If that is all for this evening, I shall retire ma'am. I don't think you'll be needing those alibi's now do you?" He smiled knowingly at her and closed the door behind him.

  

   So that was that? According to the news the whole day never happened? The problem was, that it did and as her reason for leaving the house this morning hadn't quite gone the way she had hoped so, there really was only one thing for it. She lost the chalice she had stolen, the one thing that would have gotten her out of the mess she was in, and so she would have to steal something else, and keep stealing until things were sorted. If the news, the police, the government and the Doctor were going to deny her part in today’s events, if she was to be overlooked and ignored in such a life changing matter then she would use that to her advantage. She wasn't going to hide in the shadows anymore. As from now, she was going to take back her life and live it in the best way possible. She might be prepared for everything, but was the world prepared for her?

   Christina slept well that night and for most of the next day. It was 5pm before she finally managed to rouse herself and get out of bed. The events of the previous day had obviously had more of a physical impact on her than she had realised because she felt so tired. Maybe travelling from one world to another did that to you, some kind of Intergalactic jet lag?

   Although still quite drowsy she had in her mind a plan of action about what to do next, what she would do with her life and how she would improve it. Pulling on her dressing gown she left her bedroom and headed downstairs to the kitchen to find Cook brewing some coffee and toasting a muffin for her.... funny how that man always seemed to know her needs as she was just thinking of those two things! She smiled at him and sat at the large, well worn wooden table as he placed her breakfast, in front of her.

   "You slept well m'lady? Forgive me for not waking you sooner, but I guessed with the news reports and your lack of treasures that last night didn't go as planned, and you might need some time on your own to recover and regroup!"

   She nodded gratefully at him whilst sipping the hot coffee. Her mind too preoccupied with plans to give him a direct answer. Plans that she would need to go over and over with a fine tooth comb before she put them into action. She could do that this evening in her office. She could search the internet for a list of local businesses and.....; She sighed heavily, no she couldn't, not tonight at least. Tonight, Cook was due to drive her to Kenilworth to attend a party in the large stately home of Lady Pensworth, a social butterfly of the Midlands who had known her parents for many years before they had died. It was going to be quite a noticeable party and she could start to build the de Souza reputation there as she would meet and make a lot of useful contacts. It had to be that evening as Lady Pensworth was due to leave for Germany the next morning for a planned vacation.

   She almost resigned herself to starting her new life a day later than anticipated but was interrupted by the sudden thoughts and flashes of inspiration that seared through her mind, and for several moments, she stared like a zombie into space as a plan unfolded before her eyes.

   Perhaps she could kill two birds with one stone? Maybe this would be the perfect opportunity, the perfect robbery? No one would suspect her, surely?

   More moments passed in a blur of madness as she thought more and more of the possibilities of the evening and, she left the table and gave instructions for Cook to have the car ready for 7pm. The party would be in full swing by the time she got there at 9pm, and she could work her way through the guests whilst surveying the place, checking the security and planning the job as she went along. The thought of mingling with people of such nobility whilst secretly planning to steal from them sent shivers down her spine. This was it! This was the feeling she wanted and craved for! This was the stomach churning nervousness of excitement that raged through her body as she dressed in a black evening gown, the urge not to laugh or to cry as she placed some useful items in a bag, things she would probably be needing to carry out the job....a lock pick, gloves, torch and a stop watch, all small enough to fit into the black diamante clutch bag she would carry.

   Feeling sick with excitement as she made her way down the spiral staircase to the awaiting car and checked herself in the hallway mirror before she left. Oh yes, this was it! This was the night that Lady Christina de Souza made her comeback to the world of aristocracy, and the night that The Lucky Cat, (the alter ego she had given herself) would make its entrance into the world of crime. This was her night, and she intended to see it through to the last!

  

In and out the guests she weaved, polite conversation made as eye contact dipped from one person to another, eyes flitting round the room, an alarm above the door, a panic button under a desk, staff that looked too burly to be just servers, could also be trained in combat, seven security locks on all doors, windows fitted with alarms, it was a high security place and one a little out of her reach for a first time heist, better start small, better get her reflexes and intuition sorted first and foremost. More conversation, condolences about the death of her parents, questions about the disappearance of her sister, a slight tear, and an excuse to leave the ballroom and take a few minutes to herself, an excuse to search the upstairs rooms and take what she wanted.

   Bracelets, necklaces, rings, gold, diamonds, rubies, she needed a bigger bag, but she hid them well and took whatever she could conceal. Back in the ballroom, feeling better, mingling again, polite chats, exchanges of addresses, invites to more parties, more chances to steal, more chances to make contacts and take these stuck up suckers for all they were worth. Oh, they could say they were sorry about her parents dying, but where were they when it had happened? When she and her home needed saving, when at the age of 24, she had been called home to take on the debts of her father’s estate and face the persecution and prosecution he had left her with. They all turned their backs and refused to help, so now she would help herself!

Extract from the London Daily Newspaper

"Thieves steal a selection of valuable jewellery from Kenilworth home."

Police are investigating a burglary in Kenilworth in which a car and a number of valuable items were stolen. The burglary occurred sometime last night during a party hosted by lady Pensworth, the founder of the Midlands heritage charity who's fundraising allows for historic places of interest to be rebuilt and maintained.

Lady Pensworth was hoping to raise awareness for her charity at last night’s event which saw a guest list that boasted many famous and influential names. Instead she had to cancel plans to travel overseas this morning, to answer police questions whilst they investigated the crime.

   The thieves apparently entered the property through an open kitchen window and searched through many of the stately homes rooms whilst the party was in full swing. stealing items worth several thousands of pounds. There were no clues and as yet, no evidence to work on.

   Officers investigating the incident would like to hear from anyone who was in the vicinity of Fieldgate Lane in the hours leading up to 2am and saw any suspicious activity.

   Police wanted to question every guest at the party but Lady Pensworth refused stating that she was positive that no one she had invited into her home would do such a terrible thing.

   "This was not just any party, this was "The party".......She said in a public statement to the press, early this morning......."I can assure you that among the carefully screened guest list of, Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen of the aristocracy that I did not invite a common criminal into my home. This was obviously a chance robbery and I have no illusions that I will be seeing my valuables again!"

   Anyone with information about this or any other crime is asked to contact Warwickshire Police on 01926 415000 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

   Christina folded the paper and placed it on her lap smiling. Looking over to the bag on her dressing table chair, she lay back down in bed and snuggled under the warmth of the duvet, closing her eyes she began plotting her next heist.

   She spent the rest of the week sorting through the collection of Jewellery she'd stolen from Lady Pensworth's house. There were quite a few items that looked as though they could be worth a bit of money, but to be absolutely sure that she wasn't going to be wasting her time or exposing herself to the criminal underworld for nothing, she decided to dig out her father’s old gold testing kit. She had seen him use it several times in the past when she was growing up, to authenticate pieces he had brought or had been given, and it was now packed away in the cellar with the rest of her parents things, things she didn't want to part with just yet.

   Making her way through the old-fashioned kitchen, she pulled opened a large heavy wooden door that revealed several stone steps leading downwards to the very bottom of the Manor. The coldness of the stale air hit her lungs as she trod carefully past empty dusty wine bottles, worn boxes stacked in cobwebbed corners and broken bricks which had fallen from the dilapidated walls of a building that had not been loved in a very long time. Finding the light switch as she ran her hand down the cold damp wall, she flicked it on and shuddered as a dim light filled the area.

She didn't come down here much, there wasn't really much point as what was stored here wasn't needed anymore, but when she did, she always had the feeling that there was more to the room than what she could see. It was almost like something was hidden, but she could sense it, feel its presence even though she couldn't see anything beyond the cold stone walls.

She quickly grabbed the box she was after, a blue box file labelled "FdS", and hurried back up the steps to the warm comforting glow of the kitchen and placed the box on the table, where she carefully opened it and found more than she was looking for.

   Inside, under the gold testing kit was a small note book containing a list of names and numbers. Reading through them she recognised some as friends of her fathers, people he had associated with over the years for business matters, but this wasn't a phone book as the names were not listed next to an address or company name. It looked to Christina like it was a book of contacts as next to each name and number was a word and a maximum price. For example: James Wentworth - 18crt Gold - max £8000. M. Carter. - Gold and opals. max - £30,000. There was also a list of names written in red with a cross next to each one. She assumed that these must be people not to deal with, maybe they had bad reputations or didn't pay the full asking price for things?

   Tapping the book against her chin as she leant on the kitchen table, she smiled coyly to herself. This was exactly what she needed, a list of contacts willing to buy the gold she had acquired. Packing everything away back in the box, she took it to her office to get started.

Several hours passed as Christina sat in the small hot office reading through the instructions on how to use the kit properly. It wasn't as easy as she had hoped it would be and using acidic elements in the hot weather was beginning to irritate her eyes and skin, and so deciding enough was enough, she left the Manor and went for a stroll in the sun to clear her head and fill her lungs with something less toxic.

   Her mind wandered in and out and her thoughts flipped from one thing to another as it had been doing for several days now. Planets with 3 suns, stingrays, buses, stealing, a skinny man in a suit who claimed to be an alien!.....it was no wonder that she hadn't paid much attention to where she was going and she was quite surprised to find that she had wandered into town. Stopping suddenly to get her bearings, she found she was staring mindlessly through the window of an old high street Jewellers and almost immediately something caught her eye. What looked like an 18th century 24ct gold locket, sparkled at her in the sunlight behind the dusty glass. It stood proudly on its display stand, standing out from the rest of the items that were for sale. The more she stared, the more transfixed she became and almost instantly as if it had always been part of her, as if some hereditary gene had suddenly activated, she hatched a plan to steal it right there and then, and without a second thought, almost hypnotised by the adrenalin rush that had started to build, she pushed open the door and walked into the shop.

   The Jeweller greeted her by name having known the family for years, and proceeded to show her some of his finest pieces to which she gracefully declined asking instead to be shown a diamond encrusted bracelet that was advertised in the brochure and kept in the safe. Nodding in agreement he obliged and walked through the dividing curtain and into the back of the shop after asking her to please be seated. She sat down and crossed her legs with a smile and continued to browse through the brochure.

Immediately as he disappeared, she jumped up and pulled on some slim black gloves and removed a small lockpicking device she kept on her key chain, from her pocket and casually walked over to the display window and started working on the lock.

   "Do you want both sizes Lady Christina?"...came the call from the back of the shop

   "I most definitely would!” She called back with a smirk on her face as the lock became free. Carefully sliding open the glass door and slipping her hand inside, she picked up the locket. She then moved a few pieces about to disguise the gap that had been left in order not to bring it to notice to soon and slid the door shut. Re-locking it she pulled off her gloves, pulling the locket inside them at the same time and put them and the Lock picker back in her pocket and sat back down on the chair. Crossing her legs, she took up reading the Brochure once again just as the Jeweller came back through the curtain and into the shop.

   She looked up at him smiling sweetly as he placed both bracelets on a velvet cushion on the counter. She Ummm'ed and Ahhh'ed and politely told him that they were not what she was looking for, and left.

   Hurrying out of the shop, heart pounding in her chest she walked quickly along the busy street and turned a corner, out of sight. Was it that easy? Had she really just stolen something in broad daylight and got away with it?

   The adrenalin surged through her as she struggled to keep herself calm. Many people in the town knew her and the last thing she wanted was for them to see her acting this way and put two and two together when news of the theft got out. Being present at two robberies a few days apart might arouse suspicion and get the cops asking her questions. She counted to ten, took several deep breaths and then merged back into the flow of people walking along the street going about her business. Putting her hands in her pockets she nearly burst out laughing as she felt the locket and quickly made her way back home.

   Back at the Manor and back in her office she gratefully flopped into her chair, glad to be sitting down before her legs gave way and she fell down. The last two thefts had been planned, she had known what she was going to do and had gone over it several times in her mind before hand, this was something else. Stealing on impulse was not only dangerous but a little too exciting. She'd nearly fainted with nerves, had felt light headed and sick but compelled to take the item she had seen. This was not the way to go she told herself. If she didn't do this properly then what she had done so far would be for nothing.

   Removing the locket, she held it up before her and watched it twirl around on its chain, catching the light as the small diamonds fell into the rays on sunlight pouring in through the small office window. It was pretty though and if her amateur guess at what it was, was indeed correct, it would be worth in the region of £500. That would be enough to get the boiler fixed at least. The rest of the gold she had estimated was probably worth between £6-£9000. If she could convince her father’s old contacts to buy from her that would get the heating sorted, repair the roof and probably refit the kitchen to a more hygienic standard. This was the reason after all that she was doing all this. Step 2 in rebuilding the family reputation was to fix up the de Souza Manor and make it fit for a Lady to live in.

There were 10 names in all on the list and so taking a deep breath, she started from the top, a name she at least recognised, and dialled the number. It rang several times before it clicked when answered and a deep voice spoke to her from the other end of the line...

   "Hello, Mike speaking!"

   "Hello, is that Michael Winchester?"

   "Yes, it is, who's calling, please?"

   "It's Lady Christina de Souza, Lord Felipe's daughter. I was hoping to speak to you about some business, the sort you and my father used to talk about?" 

   A few pleasantries were exchanged along with the passing of condolences on the death of her parents, followed by a short trip down memory lane that Christina had come to expect when talking to friends of her parents. Within a few minutes though she managed to steer him back onto the conversation of buying the gold she had stolen and when he showed a keen interest in her list of items, she talked him round into negotiating a price with him. It wasn't as hard as she had imagined but it was every bit as nerve wracking as she had thought. He could have laughed at her and scoffed at her amateur selling technique, or refused to confirm he was in that business at all, and for the first time in her life, Christina gained an insight into her father’s lifestyle before he died.

   "I take it you have acquired these goods in the same way your father did? Ask no questions and get it for a cut of the selling price?"

   "Well let's just say that I don't exactly have receipts for everything and leave it at that shall we?"

   He had laughed heavily down the phone. "You're your father's daughter alright, he would have been damned proud that his daughter was following the family tradition."

   She wasn't sure she should be proud of what she was doing, nor should she be congratulated for it. It was a means to an end and a short one at that. As soon as she had made enough to fix the Manor back up enough to earn its title back and re-established herself back into high society, she would stop and do things legally.

   They agreed a price that Christina found most pleasing and Winchester told her to expect a courier the next morning to collect the gold and pass on the money which would be cash as cheques were too traceable, and that was it!

She'd done it!

   Not only that, but Winchester had also given her a few more names that she would find useful. One for the locket and another, a man called Henry J. Lawler. He only dealt in original art work, paintings from famous artists that hung in galleries around the world. If she was interested in making some serious money then this was the man to call.

   Hanging up the phone, she decided that call him, she would!