Panting slightly, the Doctor paused in the shade of a silvery-leafed tree, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed his face.  Above him the red sun simmered motionless in the purple sky.  Around him the perfect gardens basked in the sun's perpetual warmth and light.  But of what he sought there was no sign.  He had to face the facts.  The TARDIS had been deliberately removed from its landing place and running round trying to find it without better knowledge of his surroundings was getting him nowhere.

There was also the matter of Peri, whom he had left for far longer than he had planned.  She would be wondering what had happened to him by now.  Perhaps it would be best if he went back for her, then they could search for the TARDIS together and cover more ground.  But he still needed a rope to get her out of the pit.

Looking round for inspiration, his eyes alighted on a shaggy fan of ivy-like growth spreading across a nearby wall.  Thoughtfully he went over and examined it more closely.  The main stem was gnarled and woody, but the newer, more slender growth still showed some green.  He worked his fingers under a tendril and managed to pull a length free.  Yes, if he wove enough of these together he could make a rough sort of rope.  It would hardly be suitable for mountaineering, but it would only have to take Peri's weight for a few seconds.  Perhaps he should have looked for something like this near the haha pit, but then he wouldn't have discovered the TARDIS was missing.  Oh well, you couldn't turn the clock back - not too often, anyway.

He tore several more strands from the wall and draped them over his shoulder in a bundle.  Then he set off back to Peri, his fingers working nimbly as he began stripping off the leaves and plaiting the ivy strands together.

After a brisk quarter of an hour's walk he emerged onto the avenue with a three metre length of coarse roped [sic] coiled over his shoulder.  As he strode up to the pit he called out:

'Sorry to be so long, Peri, but I had to -'

His words trailed away as he looked down into the pit.  It was empty.  There was no sign of Peri.

Automatically the Doctor looked up and down the great avenue and called out her name several times, but there was no reply.  He began peering through the openings in the garden walls and hedgerows that flanked the avenue, but then checked himself, scowling in thought.

Had Peri somehow got herself out of the pit?  Unlikely.  If she had not been able to climb out with his help, then she certainly couldn't do it alone.  Therefore somebody had helped her.  But who?  The only being who knew she was down there was Boots, and why should he come back and help Peri out, even assuming he had the means to do so?  Perhaps she had been found by other travellers on the avenue, though it seemed unlikely anyone else would discover the pit by chance in the hour he'd been gone.

However she had got out, if she'd been free to do so, she would have either stayed by the pit knowing he would be returning soon, or retraced her steps through the gardens.  In the latter case he should have met her along the way - always assuming she hadn't got lost, of course.  If she'd been compelled to go another way, she should have left some sort of sign or marker.  That there was none suggested that her actions were restricted to some degree.

But had she gone along the avenue or back into the gardens?