[Chapel ruins]

(At night, a sinister ritual is taking place. Men in black robes are kneeling down to be sprinkled with presumably unholy water. They are inside a chalked circle which also contains candles and an altar. Once sprinkled, they rise and start to circle clockwise.)

MEN: Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate.

(The High Priest, who is wearing a goat's mask, sprinkles his deputy, the Priestes)

MEN: Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate.
PRIESTESS: I speak with the voice of Hecate, our greatest goddess. I bring joy on Earth.

(She lights a cauldron. A young man observes the rite through one of the ruin's windows.)

MEN: Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. (ad nauseam.)

(The priestess burns a photograph of an older woman in the cauldron.)

[Living room]

(That same photograph is on the front of the local newspaper, the Standard. Local scientist to tour America. The lady in question puts down a telephone and speaks to her well-built friend, who is sipping a drink.)

LAVINIA : Still not there. I should have liked to talk to her before I go.
JUNO: What's the rush? I thought you weren't going until after Christmas?
LAVINIA: No, they want me a month earlier. One of their other lecturers has gone sick.
JUNO: That's not what they're saying in the village.
LAVINIA: Oh? Why does Moreton Harwood think I'm off?
JUNO: I heard that woman in the post office, what's she called? Grigson?
LAVINIA: Gregson.
JUNO: I heard her telling someone you were being spirited away.

(Behind their backs, removal men are taking out boxes.)

LAVINIA: Spirited away?
JUNO: That's what she said. It's my guess, Lavinia dear, it's all due to that letter you wrote to the Standard.
LAVINIA: Which one?
JUNO: The one about witchcraft.
LAVINIA: Oh, poo. That had to be said. I'm a scientist, you know. I can't tolerate that sort of mumbo jumbo. Not on my own doorstep.
JUNO: It's all very well for some. They're very superstitious round here. You're a comparative newcomer. Even Howard has to tread very gently. He has enough difficulty keeping his staff as it is. Bill Pollock must be very pleased you're going.
LAVINIA: Why should he be?
JUNO: Gives him a free hand with the business, doesn't it?
LAVINIA: Bill Pollock may be part owner, but he doesn't run the place. Oh, he's all right on the selling side, but it's George Tracey who runs the market now.
JUNO: He gives me the creeps.
LAVINIA: George? He's all right. He's a very clever man.

(The removal men return for more boxes.)

LAVINIA: Oh, no. Leave that one, please. That's not to go. That's it. That's the last. Thank you.

(She pays the men and they leave.)

LAVINIA: That is typical of my niece. This was delivered to her so long ago, I can't remember. I had to bring it with me when I came here.
JUNO: Whatever's in it?
LAVINIA: I have no idea. I told her about it often enough, but she's like a butterfly, never in one place long enough to lick a stamp. If only I knew where she was.
JUNO: When is she due here?
LAVINIA: Oh, Friday week. The eighteenth.
JUNO: And your nephew? Brendan?
LAVINIA: Oh, he's my ward.
JUNO: Breaks up soon, doesn't he?
LAVINIA: Yes, next Friday. This is his first visit here.
JUNO: He can always come to me, you know. Muck in with my lot.
LAVINIA: Oh, that's sweet of you, Juno, but it's all settled now. I rang him yesterday. He's going to stay on at the school until Sarah Jane collects him.
JUNO: I'm looking forward to meeting her.
LAVINIA: You'll like her.

[Outside the house]

(Sarah Jane drives up to the front door and rings the bell. A man walks towards her from the garden.)

GEORGE: Miss Smith? I'm Tracey. George Tracey. I work for Miss Lavinia.
SARAH JANE: Is my aunt not here?
GEORGE: She's in America.
SARAH JANE: But she wasn't due to go until after Christmas.
GEORGE: She went last Sunday week.
SARAH JANE: Oh, she wouldn't go without telling me.
GEORGE: I know she wrote to you.
SARAH JANE: Oh, I haven't been home. I was delayed. I've been abroad.
GEORGE: Something about a cable to Reuters.
SARAH JANE: That's who I was working for.
GEORGE: Well, anyway, welcome to Moreton Harwood.
SARAH JANE: Thank you.
GEORGE: Here are the keys. That one's to the front door, the others have got tabs. If you want anything, I'm in the cottage just past the market garden.
SARAH JANE: Thank you very much.
GEORGE: You're welcome.

[Living room]

(Sarah Jane walks through from the entrance hall and picks up the newspaper that is still lying on the desk. Then she makes a telephone call.)

SARAH JANE: International, please. Yes, this is Moreton Harwood double seven eight. Could you tell me if a cable has been sent from this number during the past two weeks?

(She notices the large box.)

SARAH JANE: Will you? Thank you.

(She puts the phone down and investigates it. It has a note attached.)

LAVINIA [OC]: It is to be hoped, dear, that you will at last find a feverish moment to open this. It was crammed into the attic at Croydon for years, and I've just disinterred it again here.

(The telephone rings.)

SARAH JANE: Double seven eight. Yes. There hasn't. Well, thank you very much. Goodbye.

(Doorbell.)

[Front door]

(A young dark haired man in a leather jacket, and holding a thermos flask.)

PETER: Hello, I'm Peter Tracey. My dad sent me over. He thought you might be able to use this. It's a cup of tea.
SARAH JANE: Oh, how very kind. Thank you, Peter. Are you coming in?

(The telephone rings again.)

PETER: I'd better get back.
SARAH JANE: Yes, all right, fine. Thanks again. Can you close the door? Thank you.

[Living room / Telephone box]

SARAH JANE: Double seven eight.
BRENDAN: Sarah?
SARAH JANE: Who's that?
BRENDAN: Brendan.
SARAH JANE: Brendan. Look, I was just going to phone you. I'm sorry, I got held up. Well, I've only just arrived. Look, it's a bit late now. I'll come for you tomorrow.
BRENDAN: If you do, I'll be frozen solid.
SARAH JANE: What?
BRENDAN: I'm in a phone box at the station.
SARAH JANE: What station?
BRENDAN: Chipping Norton.
SARAH JANE: Look, what's the idea?
BRENDAN: I got fed up waiting.
SARAH JANE: Oh, you got fed up waiting.
BRENDAN: I'd take a taxi, but I haven't got enough money.
SARAH JANE: No, no. I'm on my way.
BRENDAN: Thanks.

[Living room]

SARAH JANE: Hmm. He got fed up waiting. Can't wait to meet him.

[Railway station]

SARAH JANE: What did she say exactly?
BRENDAN: Aunt Lavinia?
SARAH JANE: Well, who else?
BRENDAN: Well, you could have meant Matron.
SARAH JANE: When did she phone?
BRENDAN: The day before we broke up. All she said was that I'd have to wait at school for a week, until you pick me up.
SARAH JANE: Nothing else?
BRENDAN: No.
SARAH JANE: Nothing about the reason for going off suddenly like that?
BRENDAN: Maybe they wanted her earlier.
SARAH JANE: Just before Christmas?
BRENDAN: The Americans don't go much on Christmas, do they?
SARAH JANE: I think it's very odd.
BRENDAN: She's all right, isn't she?
SARAH JANE: How would I know? I've been abroad for the last fortnight.
BRENDAN: Are you home for good now?
SARAH JANE: Here? Yes.
BRENDAN: Good.
SARAH JANE: What's good about it?
BRENDAN: Well, I was hoping to persuade Aunt Lavinia to let me go to the local comprehensive here.
SARAH JANE: Oh, were you? Well, start persuading me. I'm here to write a book, not be a surrogate mum.
BRENDAN: I'm old enough to look after myself.
SARAH JANE: Don't you like it at Wellington?
BRENDAN: I think it's great, but I don't like boarding. Aunt Lavinia's got a better library.
SARAH JANE: What do you know about market gardening?
BRENDAN: Absolutely nothing.
SARAH JANE: Oh.
BRENDAN: But Travis's father is in the business. He says it's very scientific these days.

[Sarah Jane's car]

BRENDAN: And I'm taking three extra O levels. Additional Maths, Physics and Biology.

(That makes Brendan between 14 and 16, then.)

SARAH JANE: Well, watch it, boy. Watch it.

[Entrance hall]

(Brendon and Sarah Jane are greeted by a growling Alsatian dog, and the characterful Bill Fraser.)

BILL: Jasper, sit. Hello, hello. My name's Bill Pollock. I'm your aunt's partner.
SARAH JANE: Yes, Commander. We met two years ago.
BILL: Yes, we did. I thought you might not remember.
SARAH JANE: Oh, this is Brendan Richards, my aunt's ward.
BILL: How do you do, boy?
BRENDAN: How do you do, sir?

(Bill avoids shaking hands.)

BILL: You will forgive the intrusion, won't you? I was told you were here, so I lit a fire.

[Living room]

SARAH JANE: How very kind.
BILL: I got used to just popping in when your aunt was here. The back door was always open.
SARAH JANE: You live at Kingswood, don't you?
BILL: Well, I did, but last year your aunt let me rent the eastern wing here. It was much better for the business. No!

(Bill orders Jasper out of the room.)

BILL: Man's best friend must know his place. The most endearing trait in a dog is total obedience.
SARAH JANE: Oh, I couldn't agree more. Do please

(Bill has already sat down.)

SARAH JANE: How is the business?
BILL: Couldn't be worse. We've had two terrible years. If it doesn't pick up next year, we'll go bankrupt.
SARAH JANE: Brendan says it's all scientific these days.
BILL: Does he now.
BRENDAN: Yes, sir. I've a friend whose says that
BILL: Yes, I've got friends, too, lad. It isn't all science. It's common sense and experience. Mostly experience. Your aunt was quite happy to leave it to me.
SARAH JANE: Oh, as I shall be. Make no mistake. I've work of my own to do.
BILL: Oh, capital.
SARAH JANE: Actually, though, I'm a bit worried about her going off like this, suddenly, without a word. It's not like her.
BILL: She tried hard to reach you, I know that. I think she sent a wire.
SARAH JANE: Well, not by telephone. I've checked.
BILL: Well, you'd better check with Lilly Gregson down at the post office. Do you happen to know who your aunt's hosts are in America?
SARAH JANE: No. I think it was arranged by her agent.
BILL: Ah, well, there you are.
SARAH JANE: Yes, but I'm not sure which.
BILL: Ah well, somebody's bound to know.

(The telephone rings.)

SARAH JANE: Excuse me. Double seven eight?

[Baker home / Living room]

JUNO: Miss Smith?
SARAH JANE: Yes?
JUNO: This is Juno Baker. I am a friend of your aunt's.
SARAH JANE: Oh, hello.
JUNO: Hello, my dear. I heard you'd arrived. All's well, I hope?
SARAH JANE: Fine, thank you.
JUNO: Good. I wondered if you'd like to come over for a drink a little later. That's if you're not too exhausted.
SARAH JANE: Well, that's very kind of you.
JUNO: You can meet some of the locals and we're only just a little bit up the road.
SARAH JANE: No, really, that's most kind of you. Would you let me think it over?
JUNO: Of course, my dear. Don't feel pressed. Just come if you feel like it. We're at the lodge. Anyone will direct you.
SARAH JANE: Yes, well, thank you very much, Mrs Baker. Goodbye.

[Baker home]

JUNO: Goodbye. She'll come.
HOWARD: Good.

[Living room]

BILL: Well, if you want my opinion, don't go. Keep away from them. Howard Baker is our biggest competitor. He's so big that what he loses on the swings, he gains on the roundabouts. And we haven't got any roundabouts. Well, I'll let you get on with it.
SARAH JANE: Right.
BILL: I'll give you one other bit of advice. Keep the back door locked.

(Bill leaves. Sarah Jane follows him. Brendan looks at the mysterious box. Sarah Jane returns.)

BRENDAN: What's this?
SARAH JANE: Precisely what I intend to find out.

(Sarah Jane prises the lid open with a screwdriver.)

SARAH JANE: Aunt Lavinia says she's had it for ages, stuck away in the attic at Croydon.
BRENDAN: Well, what is it?
SARAH JANE: I've no idea. Ooo, whatever it is, it's very heavy.
BRENDAN: Well, let's lift this.
SARAH JANE: Oh. Pull.

(They pull the side off the box. Whatever is inside is covered in a silver blanket. Sarah Jane removes it to reveal a mechanical dog with a tartan collar. She laughs.)

BRENDAN: It looks just like a dog. A metal dog. It's even got a name tag. There's nothing on it. It's got ears, tail. It's a mechanical dog.
SARAH JANE: No legs.
BRENDAN: No. Sort of wheels.
SARAH JANE: What do you think it does?
BRENDAN: Well, we could try asking it.
SARAH JANE: Chump. You'll be taking it for a walk next.

(K9 switches on and lifts his head.)

K9: Mistress.
SARAH JANE: Hey, don't muck about.
BRENDAN: It wasn't me.
K9: I spoke, mistress.
SARAH JANE: What?
K9: I am K9 mark three.
SARAH JANE: K9 mark three.
K9: Affirmative.
BRENDAN: Oh, canine.

(Brendan laughs at the pun.)

SARAH JANE: Brendan, stop honking. Where, where are you from, K9?
K9: From the Doctor.
SARAH JANE: From the Doctor?
K9: Affirmative.
SARAH JANE: You can't mean, the Doctor?
K9: My precise meaning, mistress. A gift to you.
SARAH JANE: Oh, Doctor, you didn't forget.
BRENDAN: Who is the Doctor?
K9: Affirmative.
SARAH JANE: He's a, oh, he's a very, very great friend of mine. How is he, K9? I may call you K9?
K9: It is my designation, mistress.
SARAH JANE: Well, how is he?
K9: No available data. What is the Earth year?
SARAH JANE: 1981. December 18th.
K9: The Doctor last spoke in 1978 Earth years. He said, give Sarah Jane Smith my fondest love. Tell her I shall remember her always.
SARAH JANE: Thank you, K9.
BRENDAN: You're a computer.
K9: Affirmative.
BRENDAN: And a robot?
K9: Affirmative.

(K9 trundles forward a little.)

BRENDAN: Just look at that. He's fantastic.
K9: Negative. An efficient machine.
BRENDAN: What a find. Tri-Sec bus driver?
K9: Affirmative.
SARAH JANE: Bus driver?
BRENDAN: Oh, a bus is a microchip distributing data throughout a motherboard.
SARAH JANE: Oh.
BRENDAN: And a UART?
K9: Affirmative.
SARAH JANE: What's that?
BRENDAN + K9: Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter.
SARAH JANE: Thank you.
BRENDAN: Nuclear battery?
K9: Affirmative.
BRENDAN: Self-charging?
K9: Naturally.
BRENDAN: And I'll bet he's got a holographic memory.
K9: Affirmative.
BRENDAN: I knew it!
SARAH JANE: Go on, surprise me.
BRENDAN: Well, you see, there's this hunk of crystal and its so microscopic they need a laser beam to scan it. Right, K9?
K9: Affirmative.
BRENDAN: Well, in effect, it means he's got an integrated memory. Like the human brain.
K9: Better.
BRENDAN: Well, quicker.
K9: Quicker and better.
SARAH JANE: No, no, boys. No arguing. It's bound to be way over my head. I wonder what the Doctor would do?
K9: Mistress?
SARAH JANE: Oh. Yes, well, my aunt, K9, she left here suddenly a couple of weeks ago, and she's not been in touch. And I've got this feeling, intuition, there's something wrong. What would, what would you do?
K9: Insufficient data, mistress.
SARAH JANE: Oh. Oh, well.
K9: Curiosity, cause of annihilation of feline species but also only means to human knowledge.
BRENDAN: That's good. Isn't that good?
SARAH JANE: That does it.
BRENDAN: What?
SARAH JANE: I am going out.
BRENDAN: Where?
SARAH JANE: I don't know. I'll indulge my curiosity at the post office. Oh, I imagine you two will be able to amuse yourselves without me?
BRENDAN: You bet.
K9: Affirmative.

[Gregson living room]

(A comfortable, cosy room.)

LILLY: I've been closing early Fridays for years. I've just made myself a cup of tea. Would you like one?
SARAH JANE: Oh, I'd love one. Thank you.
LILLY: Well, sit you down. Make yourself at home.
SARAH JANE: Thank you.
LILLY: Did you want anything special?
SARAH JANE: Yes, I wanted to send a cable.
LILLY: No need to come here to do that. You've got the telephone, haven't you?
SARAH JANE: Well, there was something else.
LILLY: Ah.
SARAH JANE: Did my aunt send me a telegram before she left? Through you, I mean?
LILLY: She was never near me for well over a fortnight. Didn't even drop in to say goodbye. Not like her.

(Lilly hands Sarah Jane a cup of tea.)

SARAH JANE: Thank you.

[Living room]

BRENDAN: How about horticulture?
K9: Data on horticulture available.
BRENDAN: Oh, great. I'll get a pencil.
K9: Graphic notation unnecessary. Data printout available.
BRENDAN: Terrific! All you know, then.
K9: Available data considerable. Suggest specifics.
BRENDAN: All right, soil analysis.
K9: For that, soil sample required.
BRENDAN: Of course. You are clever, K9.
K9: Affirmative.
BRENDAN: Be back in a moment. Stay. Good boy.
K9: Yip.

(Brendan goes down to the market garden for his soil sample. It is dark, and he doesn't notice George Tracey watching from the big greenhouse.)

[Gregson living room]

LILLY: Absent-minded, was she, your aunty?
SARAH JANE: I don't think so. Well, not really.
LILLY: A lot of clever people are, I've found. Say they're going to do a think and then forget about it completely. Too much going on in here.

(She touches her forehead.)

LILLY: You're clever too, I hear. Work for a newspaper.
SARAH JANE: I did.
LILLY: Your aunty would write to the Standard, letters and that.
SARAH JANE: Yes?
LILLY: Upset some people.
SARAH JANE: Did she? Why?
LILLY: Wrote about witchcraft.
SARAH JANE: Witchcraft?
LILLY: They're a bit sensitive about that round here. It's traditional, you see. A lot of people hereabouts still believe that the black art makes the crops grow.
SARAH JANE: The black art?
LILLY: Well, that's what your aunty called it. Upset a lot of people.
SARAH JANE: Are you saying it's still going on?
LILLY: What?
SARAH JANE: The black art.
LILLY: Oh, no. All that stopped years and years ago. But that doesn't stop people believing in it. Country people. Do you want more tea?
SARAH JANE: No, thank you, Mrs Gregson.
LILLY: Call me Lilly. Your aunty did. Did you say you wanted to send a cable?
SARAH JANE: Yes, I did.
LILLY: I'll get you a form.
SARAH JANE: Thank you.

[Living room]

(The front door slams.)

BRENDAN: Sarah?

(Sarah Jane enters.)

BRENDAN: Sarah, look. K9 has done a complete soil analysis. What's more, comprehensive chemical treatment for healthy advanced yield.
SARAH JANE: Nothing about witchcraft?
BRENDAN: What?
SARAH JANE: Never mind.
BRENDAN: Did you find out anything about Aunt Lavinia?
SARAH JANE: No, not a lot. I think I'll accept that invitation.
BRENDAN: What invitation?
SARAH JANE: My neighbours, the Bakers? I'm going over there for a drink.

[Baker home]

(A party is in full swing.)

HOWARD: A fruit cup. Not as innocuous as it looks.
JUNO: Give her time, my dear. Lavinia will be in touch with you when she's cleared her mental decks and not before. I know her of old.
SARAH JANE: Yes, how long have you known my aunt?
JUNO: Hmm, since she moved here. About two years, isn't it? We natives are usually rather reserved with foreigners, but I must say, we took to her at once. I'll not deny it was because she was something of a celebrity.
SARAH JANE: Was?
JUNO: Still is, my dear, of course. Knock that back. It'll make you less prickly.
SARAH JANE: I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was being prickly. It's just, I can't help feeling
JUNO: Of course you can't. You need a diversion.
SARAH JANE: Yes.
JUNO: You're a journalist. There's somebody here you ought to meet. Excuse me, please. Yes, come along, dear. Excuse me, thank you. Henry, there's somebody here I'd like you to meet. Sarah Jane Smith, Henry Tobias.
HENRY: Delighted.
SARAH JANE: How do you do.
JUNO: Henry's the editor of the local Standard.

[Living room]

BRENDAN: You have five heuristic interfaces.
K9: Affirmative.
BRENDAN: And you can rely on your memory and your logic gates. You don't need updating from time to time from a piggyback board?
K9: Affirmative. Affirmative.
BRENDAN: Affirmative, affirmative?
K9: To both questions, affirmative.
BRENDAN: Ah.

(Meanwhile, two figures are breaking in. They make one noise.)

BRENDAN: Sarah?

[Entrance hall]

BRENDAN: Sarah?

(He walks past one man who is hiding under the stairs, and gets grabbed from behind.)

BRENDAN: Oh! Ah!

(The second man grabs him too, then K9 comes and shoots the first in the back. The second, George Tracy, runs away screaming.)

BRENDAN: Thanks, K9. What did you do?
K9: I rendered aggressor insensible. Suggest he is pinioned.

(Brendon uses his school tie to bind the young man's wrists behind his back. K9 pursues George to the greenhouses. Peter Tracey, for it is he, wakes up.)

PETER: Let me go.
BRENDAN: Who are you?
PETER: You've got to get away from here. You and the girl. You've got to get away.
BRENDAN: Why? Why did you attack me?
PETER: Please, let me go. Get away from here before they get you.
BRENDAN: Who's they?
PETER: Get away. Just get away. Go now. Now!

(Down at the greenhouses, K9 trundles past George and goes up to a garden gnome. Then his nose gun comes out. He moves forward and knocks down a ladder which in turn knocks over a stack of withies, which then crash into a cold frame. George runs.)

BRENDAN: What was that?

(Brendan leaves, and Peter gets himself free.)

[Baker home]

HENRY: You could call it a brouhahaha. That's all. Your aunt wrote a letter complaining that she'd found evidence that black magic rites had been performed. The correspondence page was quite lively for three weeks, but I'm sure it did your aunt no personal harm.

(The telephone rings. Howard answers it.)

SARAH JANE: You needn't have printed that letter.
HENRY: No, but it amused me, and I thought it might amuse other people. Nobody takes that sort of thing seriously any more.
JUNO: They don't?
HENRY: No.
HOWARD: Sorry to butt in. I've got to go out.
JUNO: Oh, Howard.
HOWARD: Won't be for long, but I can't avoid it.
JUNO: That's what you always say. Go on, then, off you go. Off, off, off.
HENRY: Try the Cornell University Press.
SARAH JANE: Oh, I'm sorry.
HENRY: If you're still worried about your aunt, the Cornell University Press in New York.
SARAH JANE: Yes, thank you. I'm hoping to get a reply to a cable I sent today to her agent there.
HENRY: If ever I can be of help, don't hesitate.

(Henry gives Sarah Jane his business card.)

SARAH JANE: Oh, thank you.

[Entrance hall]

BRENDAN: It wasn't your fault, K9.
K9: Guarden goblin not in my memory.
BRENDAN: Of course not.

(Brendan finds his tie on the floor.)

[Tracey home]

(There is a pentagram drawn on the round table. George is reporting to a shadowy figure.)

GEORGE: It was the goddess Hecate's familiar! A dog, a dog belching fire! It got Peter. It got my son. I swear. I swear by Arianrhod.

(Peter runs in.)

GEORGE: Peter, you led it here. Curse you. You led it here!
PETER: What? They knocked me out, but I got away.
GEORGE: You led it here.
PETER: What?
GEORGE: The dog.
PETER: What dog?
GEORGE: I swear. I swear.

[Living room]

SARAH JANE: I locked the back door. I know I did. And you didn't find out who he was?
BRENDAN: He wouldn't say. He just kept saying that we had to get away from here.
SARAH JANE: Well, what did he look like?
BRENDAN: He was dark, about twenty. He looked a bit like a gypsy.
SARAH JANE: Did K9 see him?
BRENDAN: He did more than that. He clobbered him. You should have seen it.
SARAH JANE: Oh, well done, K9.
K9: Congratulations unnecessary, mistress.
SARAH JANE: I'll see to this in the morning. There's nothing we can do tonight, except lock every door and window in this place. Come on.

[Greenhouses]

(George and Bill are examining the damage.)

BILL: Did you hear anything of this last night?
SARAH JANE: I was out, over at the Bakers.
BILL: Ah. You didn't happen to see a large white dog anywhere here, did you? Or over by the chapel?
SARAH JANE: No.
BILL: George says a dog did this. Yeah, well, if I catch him, I'll let Jasper here tear him to bits.
SARAH JANE: My guess is, whoever attacked Brendan did this.
BILL: What?
SARAH JANE: Brendan was attacked last night by two men.
BILL: Is this true, boy?
SARAH JANE: Do you doubt my word?
BILL: No, no, of course not. Don't be so touchy. What happened?
BRENDAN: Well, Sarah was out. I heard a noise in the hall and I went out there, and they jumped me. I managed to fight off one, and the other ran away.
BILL: Do you know who it was?
BRENDAN: No.
BILL: Would you be able to recognise him again?
BRENDAN: Oh, yes.
BILL: Good, good. We must tell the police.
SARAH JANE: I already have. They're sending someone over to take a statement.
BILL: Oh, good. It's been a bit frightening for you, lad. Something new around here. Was there anything missing?
SARAH JANE: No, no.
BILL: Good. Well, that's something, I suppose. Then let's just hope that the police turn up with something. And that the insurance company coughs up. I mean, there's up to five hundred quid's worth of damage done here.
SARAH JANE: What do you grow in this area?
GEORGE: Not for growing. It's going to be a protective tunnel. With shrubs and semi-hardy plants, to keep the frost off them.
BRENDAN: It's a pH of about nine, I'd say. Isn't that too alkaline?
GEORGE: Oh? What would you suggest? Three hundred kilos of ammonium sulphate?
BRENDAN: No, not as much as that.
GEORGE: Over there, you've got a pH of four. Over there it's six, over there it's as much as eleven. There's more to growing than science. Now, I've got my work to do.

(George leaves.)

BILL: You've hurt George's feelings, I'm afraid. There's not much he doesn't know about care of the soil. Don't you make the mistake, young fellow me lad, that everything's in books. Science doesn't control the elements. At least, not yet. You know that apple orchard of ours? Well, last September, just as we were due to pick, we had a thirteen second hailstorm. Thirteen seconds. Stripped the lot. Seven thousand quid. I stood and watched it happen. Over five hundred quid a second.
SARAH JANE: How dreadful. But you were insured?
BILL: You must be joking. Insured? An Act of God. Ah, here's your copper. You'd better be off.
SARAH JANE: See you later.
BILL: Yes. Come on, Jasper. We've got to go dog hunting.

[Tracey home]

(The table is covered with a cloth now. Peter is polishing his motor cycle helmet with Mr Sheen.)

GEORGE: You'll do as you're told.
PETER: I can't.
GEORGE: You haven't got any choice. The boy knows you. You've nothing to lose and everything to gain.
PETER: And what are you going to do with him?
GEORGE: None of your concern.
PETER: Yes, it is.
GEORGE: He's nothing. He means nothing.
PETER: He's only a kid.
GEORGE: Yes. Now you get him.
PETER: If I get caught, they'll put me inside.
GEORGE: You mean you'll get yourself caught? You'll be safe inside? You know better than that. Hecate will seek you out. She'll seek me out. And her revenge will be terrible. You know that.

(Peter crys.)

[Living room]

(Brendan is lying on the sofa reading and yawning, while Sarah Jane taps away on her typewriter.)

SARAH JANE: Go on, off you go.
BRENDAN: Why?
SARAH JANE: And make sure I've locked everything up.
BRENDAN: You don't have to remind me. Good night.
SARAH JANE: Good night.
BRENDAN: Good night, K9.
K9: Reciprocated.

[Back door]

(Outside, someone snips a wire nearly hidden by the ivy on the wall. Brendan opens the back door.)

PETER [OC]: Psst, psst.

(Then he grabs Brendan and drags him away, leaving the door wide open.)

[Living room]

(Sarah Jane is browsing Lavinia's book case.)

SARAH JANE: That's interesting.
K9: Mistress?
SARAH JANE: Some books on witchcraft.
(She sits by the fire to read.
Next morning, the log fire has gone out and K9 has switched himself off.)
SARAH JANE [OC]: Brendan? Brendan?

(Sarah Jane enters.)

SARAH JANE: His bed's not been slept in.
K9: Mistress?

(Sarah Jane picks up the telephone, but there is no dialling tone.)

SARAH JANE: It's dead. Right. I'm pretty sure I know who it was attacked Brendan.
K9: I must accompany. Mistress!

[Outside the Tracey home]

(Sarah Jane comes out of the unusual property and takes K9 from the back of her car.)

SARAH JANE: There's no one there. Somehow I didn't think there would be. Come on.

[Tracey home]

K9: I must remain, mistress.
SARAH JANE: Leave you here?
K9: Affirmative.
SARAH JANE: What have you got in mind?
K9: Stratagem, mistress. Will report after dark.

(K9 hides under the stairs.)

SARAH JANE: I suppose you know what you're doing?
K9: Correct.
SARAH JANE: Well, I'll get back to you tonight.

[Police station]

CARTER: Miss Smith. Good morning.
SARAH JANE: Good morning.
CARTER: Good morning, Commander.
BILL: Good morning.
SARAH JANE: Brendan Richards, the boy who was attacked on Friday night
CARTER: I'm sorry, Miss Smith, we
SARAH JANE: He's now missing.
CARTER: Missing?
SARAH JANE: Disappeared. And I believe that a man called Peter Tracey
BILL: Now, now, steady, steady.
SARAH JANE: I'm sorry, Commander. I believe that a man called Peter Tracey has something to do with it.
WILSON: I'll call you back.

(The station sergeant ends his phone call and comes to the desk.)

CARTER: The boy who was attacked the other night.
WILSON: Yeah, I heard. Are you sure?
SARAH JANE: I'm quite sure.
WILSON: Well, how long's he been missing?
SARAH JANE: Since last night. His bed wasn't slept in.
WILSON: Did he go out, perhaps?
SARAH JANE: No, I'm sure he didn't.
WILSON: Any evidence of a break-in, anything like that?
SARAH JANE: Nothing.
WILSON: What makes you think Peter Tracey is involved?
SARAH JANE: Oh, doesn't he fit Brendan's description?
WILSON: This is a tricky one, Commander.
BILL: You see, Peter got a suspended sentence six months ago. Housebreaking. In a sense, he's in his father's custody.
SARAH JANE: Then what are we waiting for?
WILSON: Peter's also missing. His father came here last night.
SARAH JANE: Look, what's going on here? My aunt goes off mysteriously, then Brendan's attacked, then he disappears. Now, what is the matter with this place?
WILSON: Now try not to worry, Miss Smith. We'll put out a general alert. The wisest thing for you to do is stay by the telephone.
SARAH JANE: But even that's out of order.

[Outside the police station]

SARAH JANE: I want to talk to George Tracey. He knows something about all this.

(She goes to Bill's Range Rover.)

LILLY: Hello, my dear. Have you heard from your aunty yet?
SARAH JANE: No, not yet.
LILLY: Oh. Oh well, never mind. No news is good news. If I don't see you before, Merry Christmas.
SARAH JANE: And to you.

[Tracey home]

(Bill knocks on the door and walks in.)

BILL: George? George?

(Sarah Jane follows him.)

BILL: He's not here. He's probably out looking for his son. Unless, of course, he may have gone to see his mother in Cirencester. He usually does on a Sunday. He'll be back.

(Bill leaves.)

SARAH JANE: K9?
K9: Mistress.

[Outside Lavinia's home]

BILL: You're very welcome to come and wait with me.
SARAH JANE: It's very kind of you, but, oh, I think I'll have a go at some work. It might help.
BILL: All right, if you like. I'll report your telephone, and I'll call round if I hear anything.
SARAH JANE: Thank you.

(George steps out from behind a hedge.)

[Living room]

SARAH JANE: Oh Brendan, where the devil are you?

(He is someone's cellar, lying on a mattress.)

[Tracey home]

WILSON: Where is the boy?
GEORGE: I'll not tell you.
WILSON: I can guess. This is madness. It's criminal.
GEORGE: It's survival.
WILSON: No. Not at that price.
GEORGE: You're bound.
WILSON: There hasn't been a human sacrifice since 1891.
GEORGE: You're bound by your oath.
WILSON: I'm a policeman.
GEORGE: Hecate's laws are higher. She sent her familiar to warn us. The white dog. Unless she's appeased, she will destroy us all.

(Sarah Jane hides in the shrubs as Sergeant Wilson leaves on his bicycle. She looks through a window to see George putting on his cap and coat, and going out. Then she goes in and gets updated by K9.)

SARAH JANE: Sacrifice?
K9: Brendan in great danger, mistress.

(She starts to use the telephone then changes her mind.)

SARAH JANE: Come on, K9. Let's go.

[Road]

(A vixen yelps, then twigs break. Wilson stops his bicycle. A full moon rides in the sky.)

WILSON: Who's there? Is anyone there?

(Wilson shakes violently and falls over. Sarah Jane drives over the cattle grid and discovers him staring at the sky. More twigs break. It is a white goat.)

[Bill's study]

BILL: Witches? George and Vince Wilson witches?
SARAH JANE: You must believe me.
BILL: You said you actually heard them?
SARAH JANE: Yes.
BILL: You don't seem very sure.
SARAH JANE: You have simply got to believe me.
BILL: All right, all right, all right. Now, they took Wilson to the hospital, did they?
SARAH JANE: Yes.
BILL: What did they say?
SARAH JANE: That it looked like shock.
BILL: No, I mean the police. I mean, you've just told the police what you've told me.
SARAH JANE: Yes. Well, I don't think they believed me.
BILL: It's hardly surprising, is it? A police sergeant a witch?
SARAH JANE: But you do.
BILL: I've got to, haven't I? I mean, you just told me.
SARAH JANE: Oh, thank you.
BILL: Yes, all right, all right. Come on.

[Ruined chapel]

GEORGE: But you've always wanted to be let in.
PETER: No!
GEORGE: But you've been chosen.
PETER: No!
GEORGE: You will be initiated tonight.
PETER: No!
GEORGE: But it must be complete for the solstice.
PETER: No!
GEORGE: Then be sure you'll go like Vince Wilson, to everlasting fire.

(Henry Tobias is also there, but hasn't said a word.)

[Tracey home]

(Bill comes down the stairs.)

BILL: No, there's nobody. Nothing else we can do tonight. But come first light, we'll get to the bottom of this. Come on. I'll take you back, and we'll lock every door in the place.

[Ruined chapel]

ALL: Hecate. Hecate. Hecate. (ad nauseum.)

(Peter is kneeling, dressed in a red shift.)

PRIESTESS: I invoke thee and call upon thee, oh mighty mother of all, bringer of all fruitfulness by seed and root, by stem and bud, by leaf and flower and fruit. By life and love do we invoke thee. Descend upon the body of thy servant and priestess.

(She touches Peter's shoulders with her dagger, as if dubbing him. He stands and she kisses his feet. The chant starts up again.)

[Baker home]

SARAH JANE: And now he's gone. Well, I've no one else to turn to.
JUNO: My dear, you were quite right to come here. But Bill's always busy in the mornings. He'll be about somewhere. He can't have disappeared.
SARAH JANE: But he has. I'd arranged to meet him. All the doors were open, his coat there.
HOWARD: Here, try this.

(Howard gives Sarah Jane a lovely cut-glass brandy glass, then sits down next to Juno.)

SARAH JANE: Oh, you don't believe a word of this, do you.
JUNO: My dear, you're upset.
SARAH JANE: Yes, of course I'm upset. The police politely suggesting I'm nuts and you humouring me. I didn't imagine it. I'm compos mentis and an experienced journalist.
HOWARD: Well, of course you are. But there must be a rational explanation for all this.
SARAH JANE: Am I being irrational?
HOWARD: Wilson died of a heart attack last night.
SARAH JANE: Am I saying he didn't?
JUNO: My dear, black magic, witchcraft, it's very romantic but this is 1981.
SARAH JANE: Aunt Lavinia found evidence.
JUNO: Relics. I'm sure they're found all over the country.
SARAH JANE: You're calling me a liar!
HOWARD: No, we're not. Now, where were you when you overheard Tracey and Wilson?
SARAH JANE: Outside the Tracey cottage.
HOWARD: They were how far away?
SARAH JANE: Well, they were inside.
HOWARD: Well then, isn't it just possible you misheard part of what they had to say?
SARAH JANE: No, it is not possible.
JUNO: Darling, why don't you go home and put your feet up? I'll ring Doctor Perry and ask him to drop in on you. Howard'll find Bill for you and he'll get your phone fixed. He's not without some pull round here, you know.
SARAH JANE: Yes. Thank you very much.

[Living room]

(K9 is reading a book, nose gun at the ready.)

SARAH JANE: K9, I'm at my wits end. I don't know what to do. I don't know what else I can do.
K9: Am able to assist, mistress. Require large scale map of the area.
SARAH JANE: What for?
K9: Is map available?
SARAH JANE: Yes, there's an Ordnance Survey.
K9: Data, witchcraft in England, assimilated. Primitive traditional belief in rural area, cosmic forces control weather to secure crops. Occult ceremonies invoke such forces. Most important ceremony falls on winter solstice, December twenty second.
SARAH JANE: That's tomorrow. Here.
K9: Witch's power increased by hallowed ground.
SARAH JANE: Churches.
K9: Affirmative. What signifies a church?
SARAH JANE: Black oblong or ball with a cross on top.
K9: All churches identified. A specific radius, please.
SARAH JANE: Say five miles.
K9: Better eight.
SARAH JANE: Can you work out the quickest route to look at all of them?
K9: Affirmative.
SARAH JANE: Right. We'll go now. We've got until tomorrow night.
K9: Negative, mistress. December twenty second begins after midnight tonight.

(The telephone rings.)

SARAH JANE: Hello?

[Baker home / Living room]

JUNO: My dear, I thought I'd just check the telephone was working again. How are you feeling?
SARAH JANE: Oh, a little better, thank you.
JUNO: Good. I've been talking to Howard, and we don't think you should be left on your own. Come to dinner.
SARAH JANE: Tonight?
JUNO: Yes. Take your mind off things. And by then we might have some news for you.
SARAH JANE: Oh, that's very kind of you, but well, I'm a bit tired.
JUNO: Oh, we won't be late. We'll have you tucked up in bed well before midnight.
SARAH JANE: No, no, really, it's more than kind of you, but I think I'd be very poor company.
JUNO: Very well, my dear. But if you should change your mind, we'll be delighted to see you.
SARAH JANE: Yes, thank you very much. Goodbye.
JUNO: Goodbye.

[Living room]

SARAH JANE: Come on, K9, let's go.

[Sarah Jane's car]

(She narrowly avoids a tractor which drives out of a field onto the road.)

SARAH JANE: Could someone be trying to kill me, K9?
K9: A possibility, mistress.
(Howard Baker calls at the police station, but no one answers the desk bell. It is 4:16pm.)

[Graveyards]

(Sarah Jane is using a torch to search amongst the old monuments.)

SARAH JANE: Three down, five to go.

(Later, as someone comes to get Brendan -)

SARAH JANE: Two more to go. It's nearly twelve. Oh, K9, what am I going to do.
K9: Significance of simple cross?
SARAH JANE: A chapel.
K9: Chapel?
SARAH JANE: A sort of church.
K9: Please be specific.
SARAH JANE: A private one. One with no parish.
K9: There is one at the manor.
SARAH JANE: Oh!

(Guess what they are chanting over at the ruined chapel?)

[Sarah Jane's car]

K9: Eleven fifty seven, mistress.

(Brandon is brought out, in a white robe.)

K9: Eleven fifty eight, mistress. Eleven fifty nine, mistress.

[Ruined chapel]

(The drugged boy is laid on the altar.)

SARAH JANE: (sotto) Come on, K9.
K9: Eleven fifty nine and thirty seconds, mistress. Hurry, mistress.

(The coven place their firebrands underneath the cauldron, and kneel.)

K9: Mistress, I must precede.

(The High Priest plunges his dagger into the Priestesses chalice. K9 trundles up and stuns the High Priest before he can stab Brendan. The coven scream. The Priestess grabs the dagger to finish the ritual, and gets stunned as well. Then K9 fires at random, hitting the stone walls and the occasional person, creating panic. Sarah Jane runs in and punches one, then kicks another.)

SARAH JANE: Put that in your leader, Mister Tobias.

(She helps Brandon down from the altar.)

SARAH JANE: Oh, you okay? Hmm?

(She unmasks the Priestess. It is Lilly Gregson. The High Priest turns out to be Bill Pollock.)

K9: Mistress.

[Baker home]

HOWARD: You're a hit with the Chief Constable.
JUNO: I thought he'd never leave.
HOWARD: He said Pollock and the others will be up before the beak on the twenty ninth. Attempted murder.
BRENDON: You think all those newspapers could be right?
SARAH JANE: About what?
BRENDON: Well, that there must be other covens like that all over the country.
HOWARD: It's possible, I suppose.
BRENDON: Human sacrifice.
SARAH JANE: Oh, you're human, are you?
BRENDON: I don't think it's very funny.
SARAH JANE: No, well I'll tell you something else that's not very funny. Aunt Lavinia once told me that her investment in your education was to teach you just one thing.
BRENDON: And what's that?
SARAH JANE: Never believe what you read in the newspapers. Yes, and would you believe this? Four days ago, I thought you two were part of it.
HOWARD: Part of what?
SARAH JANE: The coven.
JUNO: Absurd.

(The telephone rings.)

HOWARD: Baker. Oh, Lavinia. And a Merry Christmas to you, too. Yes, she is.
SARAH JANE: Aunt Lavinia? Oh!

(She takes the telephone.)

SARAH JANE: Hello.

[Room / Baker home]

LAVINIA: Merry Christmas, dear.
SARAH JANE: Merry Christmas.
LAVINIA: What are you doing there?
SARAH JANE: Brendan and I just had Christmas dinner here.
LAVINIA: Oh, that was nice of them.
SARAH JANE: Yes, they are.
LAVINIA: But I do wish you'd let me know. It's taken me simply hours to find you.
SARAH JANE: Aunt Lavinia, I didn't know where you were.
LAVINIA: But I asked Bill Pollock to cable you at your flat.
SARAH JANE: Oh, well that explains that. Look, why didn't you phone me? I was worried.
LAVINIA: Worried? I am more than capable of looking after myself.
SARAH JANE: Yes, Aunt.
LAVINIA: But, er, I tried to ring Bill Pollock and there's no reply. I hope everything's all right.
SARAH JANE: Well, I'll explain everything when you get back.
LAVINIA: As you wish, dear.
SARAH JANE: Oh yes, there is something I wanted to tell you.
LAVINIA: Yes, dear?
SARAH JANE: Well, that box you left me

[Living room]

(K9 has a paper crown on his head and tinsel around his neck, and a book of carols propped open on the coffee table.)

K9: You wish we a Merry. No. Recheck. We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Transcript originally provided by Chrissie. Adapted by TARDIS.guide. The transcripts are for educational and entertainment purposes only. All other copyrights property of their respective holders.