Brothers took a long time to write, not so much because I was stuck for ideas, but because I had the idea well in advance of when the story would go in the structure of the Theta Sigma series. I was still writing the three Who Do You Think You Are stories. So Brothers was actually written a little bit at a time, mostly on a writing pad in the park when I went out with the dogs. The part up to Garrick outdoing everyone in maths class was done in one session, then up as far as Cal dismissing the English Literature lesson, then the fight by the football pitch. By the time all that was on paper, I was ready to copy it up on the computer and actually add the bit where it all comes together.

Initially, Cal was going to kidnap Garrick. But Garrick has been kidnapped already, and anyway, if Cal’s stated objective was to kill both Chrístõ and Garrick, why would he do that?

The last time I wrote a scene in which Chrístõ and Garrick were asleep in the same bed – in the story Return of the Son of Lœngbærrow, some people objected to the idea of a small boy sleeping in the same bed as his much older brother. This complaint was shouted down by the voice of reason. Big brothers are perfectly all right cuddling up to their little brothers in bed.

The earlier stories had set up the idea that Garrick is somewhat traumatised by the war in which his home was torn apart and he almost lost his father. This one picks it up again, with Chrístõ not only seeing to his education, but also concerned for his emotional well being. So, naturally, he doesn’t object when the four year old wants to stay the night with him. The point, of course, is that Chrístõ is already holding Garrick protectively when Cal breaks in. The boy is never in any danger.

Why would Cal go to the roof of the house? Chrístõ wonders why in the story. There is, in fact, no sensible reason for him doing that. And the damaged chimney and stake sticking up from the overgrown garden are dreadfully deus ex machina. I had never mentioned either before. But there hasn’t been a story set in the house for a while. Quite honestly, where would a comment about the garden being overrun or the chimney needing work have come into it before this? Suffice to say, the accident that occurred was a nasty one and two humans would have been dead. Lucky for them they weren’t Human.

Cal, it turns out, is the illegitimate son of Rõgæn Koschei Oakdaene, senior, the father of Epsilon. This makes him the patriarch of the nearly extinct family line. But Cal has a lot to learn about being a Time Lord – if he even wants to be one. And that is going to be one of Chrístõ’s prime occupations for several stories to come, now. He has an apprentice!