All the Ducks in a Row
Ziggy
"Welcome, Donna Noble, to small town America!" The Doctor, long coattails shifting in the slight breeze, stated happily as he and his companion stepped out of the TARDIS.
"Where, and when, are we?"
"Early 2008. As to where? Dunno, exactly." The Time Lord scratched behind his right ear as they looked around. It was definitely a small town somewhere from the looks of the town center that they faced. Neat houses and shops, with small uncongested roads leading here and there. "Somewhere in Illinois, I think." He shrugged. "Doesn't really matter, does it?"
"No, guess not." Donna Noble, redhead and totally human, took a deep lungful of air. "Smell those spring flowers! Wonderful!"
"Is kinda perfumy, isn't it?"
"Better than some of the places you've taken us."
The Doctor's face scrunched up briefly before he half-shrugged in agreement. He started to walk down the quiet street, Donna beside him. A few people were on the streets, mostly kids running around enjoying the beautiful spring day. Birds could be heard chirping. It was a picture-postcard rendering of idyllic.
"Oh, look! An ice cream shop!" The Doctor noted joyfully. "Love an ice cream shop! Especially banana splits!"
Donna looked less than thrilled. "No, thank you!"
"Aw, c'mon!" The boyish-looking Time Lord stated eagerly, turning to walk backwards, pacing ahead of his friend slightly so he could look her in the eye. "Bananas are good for you!"
She glanced around her, pointedly ignoring the wide-eyed puppy look. "And the sugar will have you bouncing off the walls within fifteen minutes." Before he could formulate a suitable reply, she stopped walking. "Doctor, look!"
The Doctor halted in his tracks, turned to see where Donna was staring. Quacking furiously, a small brown duck was waddling back and forth next to a concrete curb. The duck's movements seemed desperate, the quacks almost pleading.
"It's a duck," the Time Lord stated.
"Well, obviously!" Donna snorted.
"A female Mallard, by the markings," the Doctor continued as if his friend hadn't spoken. "Quite common to see them in rural and suburban areas, especially where there's a water supply, like a pond or river. I'd say she's--"
"Oh, will you shut it!"
Affronted, the Doctor closed his mouth with an audible snap. He raised his eyebrows at Donna, waiting for her to speak her mind. When a second paused in stunned silence, for Donna looked surprised that he'd actually listened for once, he raised a hand impatiently, gesturing for her to speak.
Donna shook her head. The man could be so frustrating at times! "Aliens!" she muttered darkly, knowing that the quiet remark would be picked up by the Doctor's keen hearing. Louder, she stated, "What I was trying to say is I think there's something wrong."
The Gallifreyan raised his eyebrows in question.
"Oh, stop being so infuriating!" she snapped. When the Doctor just cocked his head, she said, "You may talk now."
"What do you think's wrong?" he asked innocently, oblivious to dirty look she gave him.
"I don't know, but there is!" Donna started over to where the duck was marching resolutely back and forth in front of the curb. As she approached, she saw that a large grated drain covered a hole next to the curb. She realized it was a run-off drain, used to funnel rainwater off the street and into the sewers underneath.
It was then she heard the peeps.
She glanced back at her travelling companion before getting to her knees to peer into the grating. With the sunlight filtering through the slotted grates, she could see several fluffy ducklings huddled together in the concrete piping below. "There's baby ducks stuck down there!"
Hands thrust deep into the pockets of his long overcoat , the Doctor ambled over to Donna's side. He looked over her shoulder at the peeping ducklings. He grinned, stated happily, "Aw, aren't they cute?"
"They're trapped, Martian Boy!"
The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "They do appear to be that, don't they?"
Donna stood up. "Well? What are you waiting for? Get at it!"
"At what?"
The redhead gave him That Look. "Well, duh! Rescue them, O Champion of Space and Time!"
"Donna--"
"Don't 'Donna' me! Look at her!" She gestured towards the still quacking female duck. The answering peeps of her babies could be heard from underground. "She's a mother who's babies are trapped! She's frantic! Help her! Help them! Or are you too big a hero to save a few cute ducklings?"
"Of course not!" The Doctor shot back indignantly. Seeing he was going to get no sympathy from his travelling companion, he stepped around her to kneel beside the grate. He reached down, gripped two crossbars and pulled. Nothing happened. He tugged harder, but still the thick metal refused to budge.
Unpeturbed, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He adjusted the setting, then pointed the lethal end towards the grating. A few seconds of high-pitched whining, then he lifted his finger from the sonic and tucked it back into suitcoat pocket. This time, the grating lifted easily.
The Doctor set it aside. He settled chest-down onto the pavement, reached in to snag one of the ducklings. The baby ducks, however, retreated further into the pipe, under the street and out of arms-reach. "Come here, little ones," the Time Lord sing-songed. "I'm not going to hurt you. Your mum's calling, can you hear her?" Scared peeping was all the answer he got. He inched forward, but still could not reach the babies.
Sighing heavily--how had he allowed himself to be talked into this mess? Oh, yeah, Donna--he rose to a low crouch, then jumped into the drainage pipe. It was deep enough that he was standing with his hips at street-level. The pipe the ducklings had retreated into was too small for him to crawl into and reaching into it only forced the scared ducklings further from his grasp.
He stood his full height, his gaze catching the mother duck. She had backed off at the Doctor's approach, but soon wandered close again, never letting up on her frantic quacking. At his feet, the little ducks had come out of hiding, still peeping wildly. It was obvious the mother's presence was bringing them out of hiding, as long as they didn't feel threatened by the Big Bad Time Lord.
Swiftly, the Doctor dropped down. He let out a shout of triumph as his hand closed gently around a small fuzzy form.
"Hey, mister, what are you doing?"
The Doctor stood quickly, looked up into the face of a young, blond-haired, freckle-faced boy, who stood near the curb. Two more boys, apparently identical twins with dark hair, stood behind the first, staring at him with interest. All three lads appeared to be around ten years old, with dirt-smudged faces and clothes. Typical kids spending the day having their own little adventures.
"Well--" the Time Lord began, feeling ridiculous having been caught holding a peeping farm animal in his hands. Dealing with Daleks suddenly seemed so much easier.
"The ducklings are trapped," Donna interrupted. "We're saving them."
"Can we help?" the boy asked.
"Of course you can," Donna assured kindly, smiling. "I'm Donna and this is the Doctor. What's your names?"
"Darren, and this is Keith and Ken." He gestured to each of his friends. Despite being identical twins, Donna could see Keith had a healing cut on his forehead and wore a red shirt, while Ken had a chipped front tooth and sported a blue shirt. If she could remember that, then at least she didn't have to worry about mixing them up.
"Nice to meet you boys."
"You don't look a real doctor!" Ken remarked knowingly, staring at the tall alien.
"Oi!" The Doctor glanced at his fellow rescuer. "And you call me rude!"
"Of course he's not a real doctor, dummy!" Keith nudged his brother. "He's holding a duck! He's probably an animal doctor!"
"Actually, can I borrow your box?" The Doctor asked quickly, nodding towards the shoebox Darren held with both hands while Donna tried not to laugh at his offended facial expression.
"Sure, mister," the kid answered. He took the lid off the shoebox, reached in and scooped out a large frog. Uncerimoniously, he shoved the amphibian into Keith's hands, then held it out. If any of the boys thought it odd to be handing over a box to a tousel-haired stranger standing in a sewer pipe and cradling a duckling, they didn't give any indication. Maybe rescuing baby ducks is a common occurrence in America, Donna thought.
"Just hold it a minute," the Doctor suggested, eyebrow raised slightly at the unboxed frog. Darren stepped closer, still holding out the box with both hands. "I have an idea. Take this!" He thrust the duckling into Donna's hands. She carefully took the baby bird into her cupped hands, cooing softly. The Doctor quickly knelt, managing to scoop up another duckling.
"Ha! That'll do it!" The Gallifreyan crowed. "Between Mum's quacking and their sibling's calls, the others are coming out of hiding." He reached out to gently drop the captured baby into Darren's box. He become aware of the small crowd of people that was beginning to assemble behind the boys. Did nothing exciting happen in this town? he couldn't help wondering as he reached down for another.
Soon, all the fuzzy siblings were peeping away in the shoebox.
"That's all of them?" Donna asked, peering into the hole.
"That's the lot!" the Doctor stated, pulling himself out of the drain.
There was a round of applause and a few cheers from the assembled crowd, including the three kids. The Doctor looked abashed, while Donna smiled widely, giving her two-hearted friend a nudge in the ribs. "Nice job, Sunshine! My kind of rescue."
The Doctor pulled the metal grating back into place, thankful to see their small audience dispersing as he rose to his full height. Donna was standing next to the three boys; all of them were observing the peeping ducklings. Mama Duck still quacked away by the curb, though her calls didn't seem as frantic as they had a short while ago, as if she knew her babies were in good hands.
The Doctor took the proffered box from Darren. The Time Lord smiled down at the fuzzy babies. "Aren't you cute?" he cooed happily.
"Whaja gonna do with 'em, mister?" Ken wanted to know.
"Find a nice, quiet spot away from drains, for starters." Brow furrowed, the Doctor glanced around. "Is there a park with a pond or stream nearby?"
"You bet, mister!" Darren stated enthusiastically. "C'mon!" He and his friends quickly walked away.
Donna started to follow, but paused to look back at her friend. He was staring at the still quacking mother duck; he knelt, holding the box tilted slightly. "Come on, Mum! Here's your babies!" The duck waddled forward, urged on by her brood's confused calls.
They made for an interesting procession, Donna decided. Three boys, passing a large frog between them, walking down the sidewalk, chattering happily; behind them followed a ginger-haired woman being trailed by a man in a long overcoat, pinstriped suit and trainers who talked excitedly to a box of peeping ducklings, with a female Mallard bringing up the tail-end. She smiled. Life with the Doctor was nothing if not interesting! And she was pretty certain that the Time Lord had given each of his seven temporary charges names by now.
It wasn't long before the boys led them to a small pond in the local park. A few bushes and lush grassy weeds grew along its edge; the water looked clean and clear.
"Aw, brilliant!" The Doctor enthused, grinning widely as he took in the serene setting. "Just perfect!"
As the others watched, the Doctor knelt, then carefully tilted the box, spilling the fuzzy ducklings onto the grass. Quickly, Mama Duck waddled forward and her children gathered around her. She headed for the nearest bush, settling down under the low branches. The ducklings swiftly followed, tucking themselves under her protective wings as she quacked contently.
"Cool!" Darren said, echoed by Keith and Ken's remarks of "Neat!" and "Awesome!"
Smiling, the Doctor held out the box. "Here ya go, and thanks."
The boy tucked his frog back into the box before flipping the lid back on. "No problem, mister!"
"Mom's never gonna believe we helped rescue some ducks!" Ken stated. "Let's go!"
"Hey, I wanna be an animal doctor and rescue ducks, too!" Keith declared.
"Bye, Donna! Bye, mister!" And almost as soon as they had appeared, the three boys disappeared, racing away into the park, laughing about their latest adventure.
Watching the trio vanish behind some trees, Donna smiled. She tucked her arm through her companion's. "Nice job, Martian Boy."
The Doctor leaned down for a last look at the complacent family. Rising, he flashed Donna a large grin. "A job well done, I'd say."
"I'm sure you would," she answered drily. They strolled casually through the park. "Too bad those boys rushed off so fast, I think they deserved some ice cream or something for all their help."
The Time Lord's face fell. "Don't I deserve some ice cream? It was me who pulled the ducklings out of the pipe, afterall."
"You don't deserve ice cream." She found it hard to keep a straight face as her friend's expression fell to a full-blown pout. "What you deserve is a huge banana split with everything." Even though I may regret it later when you start boucing off the TARDIS walls. Literally.
The wide grin and twinkling eyes returned in a flash. "Oh, yes!" He started to pick up the pace when Donna, arm still entwined with his, tugged him back. He shot her a quizzical look. "What?"
"I'm curious about something."
"Well, can't it wait?" The Doctor gestured in the general direction of the town square and, more importantly, the ice cream shop. "We can talk while we eat."
Knowing she wasn't going to get the Gallifreyan's undivided attention once they were at the parlor--she barely had it now--Donna asked, "So, tell me, what did you name those baby ducks?"
"Name? What do you mean what did I name those ducklings?" Though he tried to look affronted at the mere suggestion of such a thing, the rims of his ears tinged red, confirming Donna's suspicions.
"I know it's beneath such a being as you, O Mighty Lord of Time, but I'm sure I heard you giving them names." Donna gave the impression of mulling things over. "Priscilla, perhaps? Or Myron?"
The Doctor sputtered in protest. "Who names a duck Priscilla? Or Myron?"
Smiling inwardly, Donna continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Maybe something Time Lordish? Mufasa? Surabi?"
"Mufasa and Surabi aren't Time Lord names!" The Doctor's voice rose indignantly. "That's The Lion King!"
"Harry? Ron? Herminone? Neville? C'mon, Sunshine, you can tell me! It'll be our little secret!"
Blushing, the Doctor extracted his arm from Donna's. He tugged on an ear lobe. "Stop it!" he demanded, embarassment tinging his words. "I did not name one of those baby ducks Neville!"
"But you named them Harry, Ron and Hermione, I'll bet! How could you tell the boys from the girls? Maybe you named Hermione Harry, and visa versa!"
"I would never--"
Donna raised her eyebrows. "You would never what?"
She smiled smugly when the Doctor's answer was to duck his head and walk swiftly away, leaving Donna trailing behind. She could hear him grumbling in a language the TARDIS chose not to translate for her. The ginger-haired Londoner kept the slow, pleasant pace, glanced at the peaceful surroundings, breathed in the fresh air before returning her gaze to the Doctor's furiously flapping coattails.
Yep, she thought contently. Life is good.
4/30/08