Mrs Acres (short story)

Mrs Acres was a short story written by David Llewellyn and published in the 2008 Torchwood Yearbook.

Summary
Gwen visits Mrs Acres in her home, and the old lady brings out tea and biscuits. As Gwen settles in for what she expects to be a boring conversation, she imagines the rest of the Torchwood team having great adventures. She recalls their excitement when heading to Splott earlier that day. They had been looking for a creature that bit the head off a Rottweiler, and were happily speculating as to what the creature could be. Gwen’s attention drifts back to Mrs Acres, who recounts when her friend’s dog was found dead. Gwen recalls that Torchwood were tracing a spate of violent pet deaths, and found that they had concentrated around Courtenay Road. They went door to door, knocking on the road’s houses, before Gwen arrived at Mrs Acres’ address.

Gwen notices that Mrs Acres’ house has no pictures of her relatives on the walls. Then, Mrs Acres’ son Colin Jr. comes into the living room and glares at Gwen. When Mrs Acres explains that Gwen is investigating the dead pets, Colin suggests that foxes are to blame. Gwen notices that Colin is too young to be the son of the long-deceased Mr Acres, and when he leaves Gwen asks Mrs Acres how old he is. Mrs Acres tells Gwen about how she met her husband, how he died in the army, and how she struggled to cope with the loss of her husband. After this she trained as a doctor, and worked in A&E and paediatrics at St. Helen’s hospital, where she became friendly with the research staff. At this time many drugs were tested at St Helen’s, and Mrs Acres begins telling Gwen about the animals she had seen in the lab’s cages, in particular a group of abandoned kittens, before getting up to make more tea. As Mrs Acres goes Gwen notices her limping from an injured leg. She also notices that the house smells strongly of cats, as if a large number of cats lived there, but that there’s not a single cat hair in sight. Gwen asks Mrs Acres if she has any pets, and Mrs Acres says she does not. She then returns with more tea and continues her story. She recalls looking after the runt of the litter of kittens, who was blue-grey in colour, had no tail, and whose paws resembled human hands. Mrs Acres eventually took the kitten home from the hospital and kept caring for it, observing that it was adapting itself to its environment rapidly and dramatically. Gwen then realises that the cat eventually grew into Colin Jr.

Mrs Acres, crying now, asks Gwen if she’s from Torchwood. She tells Gwen that she doesn’t know what to do about Colin killing the neighbourhood pets, and was hoping someone would come. Just then Colin, who has been listening in to the conversation, bursts into the room. Gwen sees that his upper lip has split, and his eyes are now green with vertical irises, and claws are protruding from his fingers. Gwen pulls a gun on Colin, who quickly swipes it away and knocks Gwen to the floor. Gwen tells Colin that her friends can help him, but he doesn’t believe her. Eventually Mrs Acres calms her adopted son, and he retreats upstairs. Gwen then calls Jack for backup, but asks him not to come in “all guns blazing”. Then, she reassures Mrs Acres before following Colin upstairs. Before Gwen gets to Colin she hears a crashing sound. In the upstairs bathroom she sees Colin lying in the bath, having slashed his own throat with a shard of broken mirror.

Jack and Ianto arrive a few minutes later, and put Colin into a body bag. Gwen comforts Mrs Acres as Jack and Ianto load the body into the SUV. As the Torchwood team drive away from Mrs Acres’ house, Gwen feels regret at not being able to save Colin’s life.

Characters

 * Jack Harkness
 * Gwen Cooper
 * Owen Harper
 * Toshiko Sato
 * Ianto Jones
 * Mrs Acres
 * Colin Acres Junior

Worldbuilding

 * Mrs Acres’ house is very old. It has woodchip wallpaper, ornamental dogs, ceramic ducks, and a grandfather clock. Her TV is a Grundig, an old-fashioned brand in 2008. The house's coal fireplace has been replaced with a gas fire. It smells like lavender oil and cats.
 * Mrs Acres has Catherine Cookson novels on her bookshelves.
 * Mrs Acres brings Gwen tea in a teapot and Jaffa Cakes, and says she’s run out of chocolate digestives.
 * Gwen notes that foxes often live in cities. Colin later suggests that littered food scraps from fast food restaurants lures foxes into urban areas.
 * Tosh mentions a Chupacabra, and Owen jokes that a Chupacabra is a kind of lollypop, punning on Chupa Chups.
 * Owen mentions Jehovah’s Witnesses.
 * Colin makes instant coffee.
 * Mr Acres once broke his ankle playing rugby.
 * Gwen and Andy once encountered a neglectful pet owner who had been reported to the RSPCA.

Continuity

 * Gwen is engaged to marry Rhys Williams.
 * Gwen recalls her time in the police, serving with Andy Davidson.