Ruby stared at him frostily.
“Just because I am old, does not necessarily mean I am stupid, Doctor Hariman.”
Chen shut his eyes; he could tell that Ruby's temper was rising.
Then, in an instant, her mood performed a quick somersault.
“Forgive me Doctor, I didn't mean to be sharp, but the twinges do make one... crotchety, sometimes... Tea?”
Ruby gestured towards the table, which was perfectly laid out with her finest china tea set and a plate of neat little biscuits, laid out in a row, tidy as a parade of soldiers.
Chen eyed the Doctor carefully as he approached the table. For someone so small, thin and pale, he seemed to have a surprisingly large 'presence'.
The Doctor noticed the crystal globe that was Chen's home and remarked to Ruby that she possessed a striking paperweight. Was it Italian millefiori? Or was it a cheaper Chinese copy?
Chen mouthed an ancient Chinese swear word that the Doctor didn't see.
“It is Chinese and most definitely not a copy; it is, in fact, remarkably unique.”
Ruby began to pour the tea in order to distract the Doctor from looking at Chen's domain too closely
“My, my. The tea light has gone out from underneath the pot. You haven't a match on you by any chance, Doctor?” she twittered.
The Doctor reached into his black woollen suit jacket and produced a box of matches, which he handed to her.
Ruby glanced at the box, took out a match, relit the tea light and returned the matches to the Doctor.
“How fortuitous. One rarely finds anyone with such simple, yet necessary, commodities about their person these days. I am most obliged to you, Doctor. Cold tea is not very convivial, now, is it?”
Ruby passed the Doctor a tea cup and saucer. “That globe is one of my most treasured items,” she continued, “Tell me Doctor Hariman – what are your favourite possessions?”
“My favourite possessions? Hmmm. None.... materially, except this minor trinket on my finger.” He lifted his hand to reveal a large, fire-red garnet set in an ornate gold ring. “I’ve had it since – I don’t know when. Ages, actually.”
He gave a sly smile, as the garnet twinkled, and seemed almost to glow, crimson in the light.
Ruby looked at him over the rim of her teacup. She paused a moment, thinking about what had just been been said.
“Yes, so I see... It does look very old,” she said, finally, then added, with a cheery air, “Drink up before it gets cold.” She raised her eyebrows in encouragement.
The Doctor dunked a biscuit and brought it up to his mouth.
Ruby watched more intently, as he placed the biscuit between his two pale, near-translucent, pinky-blue, slit-like lips. (Pearl had once remarked that the Doctor had a smile like a slit in a carrot, and Ruby now noticed this observation to be quite accurate and not at all derogatory).
As the tea-soaked biscuit went down his throat, the Doctor's eyes suddenly widened in plain horror.
He dropped to the carpet, writhing and twitching violently and clutching at his flushed and spasming throat. He gasped! He choked! He spat the tea and the remains of the biscuit across the caravan, gagging and retching for all he was worth; striving to expel every single atomic particle of both beverage and biscuit out, out, out of his body.
“Akkk! Poison! You're trying to poison me, you crazy old bat!”
Ruby seemed completely unperturbed. She carried on sipping her tea, nibbling on her biscuit, quite at her ease, seemingly totally disinterested in the doctor's plight.
“No, Doctor Hariman. Just tea. Quite an interesting infusion, and, I must admit, something of an acquired taste, perhaps, but nonetheless, simply tea. I bought it specifically for the occasion of your visit. Maybe it just went down the wrong hole? Another biccy?”
The Doctor was still coughing and spluttering. He snarled that he was in no mood for tea 'with an acquired taste', 'biccies' or crazy old witches pretending to have a bad back who went around trying to poison people at the drop of a hat.
His eyes flashed red and gold with anger and for the briefest of seconds, Ruby could swear they took on a decidedly reptilian cast.
Chen swam around his globe so that he could get a better view. The afternoon had just become considerably more interesting.
Eddy recognised the potential dangers of the situation immediately and started to communicate telepathically with Magpie Jack and Tobias, pleading with them to fetch Pearl immediately as a 'situation' was about to 'go down' as they say in the American Police TV shows.
Still clawing for breath, the Doctor dragged himself to his feet, and steadied himself with the aid of the back of a chair, shaking his head to clear his vision – and his throat.
“OK, sister, let's stop this dancing around. We can dispense with the politeness, biscuits and 'do you mind if I don'ts'. That’s quite enough twee English country village clichés for one day. Now... Why did you summon me here? What's the point of this intimate little face to face chat?”
He seemed to grow larger in size and stature with every word he uttered.
Ruby, however, was unabashed. She'd been threatened by hundreds of potential bullies in her time.
“I didn't summon anybody, or for that matter, anything, of any nature. I asked you here as a doctor. As for why, well, I wanted to get to know you; find out exactly who you are – and now I know. Because you have confirmed it all to me with a just one single sip of tea.”
Doctor Hariman's increasingly reptilian-looking eyes narrowed.
Eddy was frantically sending out mental S.O.S. messages, but was getting no reply. “Oh what's the skulling point?” he thought, desperately.
Chen was watching in growing alarm, wondering what use he could be if events escalated. Wise words weren't much use when you have a lizard-eyed maniac rampaging through your home.
Ruby continued to sip her tea; she was not to be hurried.
“Doctor Hariman. I'm particularly interested in you, because although everybody seems to know you and is
