Thump the Tardis landed.

"Are we there?" Cara looked up from the various objects that controlled the Tardis' functions.

The Doctor nodded, his hair flopping, "1845, Fort Vancouver at its peak, just as I promised."

Cara grinned and went to the door. She stepped out, glancing around herself in awe. The few milling tourists had been replaced by a bustling trading village. Buildings seemed to have sprung from the soil. The masts from a large wooden ship could be seen just beyond the fort. Trappers, pioneers, and Native Americans came and went, most carrying bundles and wagonloads of goods.

Breathing in the unpolluted air, Cara eagerly absorbed all of the sights and sounds. She grinned at the familiar sight of the eight-sided tower.

The real one, she thought, and brand new, too. She was momentarily saddened to think that, along with the rest of the fort, it would burn to the ground in about 20 years.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the Doctor standing just behind her.

"So?"

She jumped, then gave him a satisfied smile, "It's amazing, just as I imagined it except that it's real. We're really here!"

The Doctor nodded, smiling back, "Want to go explore?"

"We can do that?" she asked, "We won't mess up the timeline or anything?"

"Not if we're careful," he winked and stepped past her. She followed him and together they entered the fort gates.

"Where to first?" Cara asked, her eyes wide in wonder.

The Doctor nodded to her, "It's your fort, you tell me."

She glanced around for a while, then pointed, "The blacksmith's shop, over in that corner. It always fascinated me."

They visited the blacksmith's shop, where the Doctor commissioned a spare part for the Tardis to be made.

"Never can have too many spare parts," he told Cara.

She secretly thought that the TARDIS might be spare parts.

They went to the landing and watched men unloading the trade goods from around the world.

"All of that stuff came such a long way, out here from civilization to wilderness," Cara remarked, "Those sailors have probably been here and back several times. What a life that is! I've never even been out of this country."

The Doctor gave her a look somewhere between amusement and sad understanding.

There's something lonely about this man, Cara thought upon seeing the look, and yet, he also seems so self-reliant. I wonder what's happened to him.

Next, the pair went to the tower. Cara was surprised that it wasn't guarded.

"They hardly ever used the cannons, and only to salute arriving ships," she rationalized, "there's not a war going on."

The view from the tower was drastically different from Cara's own time. There were no highways, no railroad tracks, airports, or military vehicles. Instead, there was a clear view of the workers' villages and even the Columbia River. From the villages, the smell of cooking stew wafted into the wooden structure.

"Hungry?" the Doctor asked.

She nodded, "Time to leave, then, I suppose."

"Not unless you want to," he answered, "do you?"

"No way, we just got here!" Cara replied, "So what, did you bring a picnic dinner in that box of yours?"

The Doctor gave her a sly grin, "Not exactly."

A few minutes later, they stood in front of the most fancy of the buildings. It was painted bright white and had vines growing in a shady roof over the front porch.

"The Chief Factor's house?" Cara gasped.

The Doctor nodded, "Are you up for formal dining?"

"Well…" Cara glanced down at her jeans, "I'm not really sure I know how to have a fancy dinner with 200-year-old famous men."

"How about a 900-year-old not-quite-as-famous man?" the Doctor asked, pointing to himself.

"Wow, you don't look a day over 205!" Cara giggled and looked again at the house, "Well, never argue with the driver. But how are we going to get in?"

Already, several well-dressed men were walking into the house. A lady in a long dress strolled by, enlisting the help of a young man to glide up the curved porch steps.

Cara stood there with her mouth open, "Doctor, I left my parasol at home."

The Doctor glanced down at his clothes, "Well, they've never seen clothes like these. I really don't think anyone will notice."

"Like your Tardis." Cara nodded, "But still, I feel silly."

"You look fine," the Doctor reassured her, "Trust me."

The girl nodded uncertainly and followed her new friend up the porch steps. She marveled at the creak of wooden boards under her feet and the ivy above her head. Compared to the other fort buildings, it was extravagant and imposing.

The interior did nothing to diminish this appearance. Thickly carpeted floors guided the visitors into different rooms. As the pair followed most of the crowd into the dining room, they caught glimpses of other plush rooms on either side. The dining room itself seemed to take up half the house, with a long table carefully and properly laid out for the arrival of the first course. The guests were standing near chairs and talking politely to each other. None seemed to notice the two strangers in their midst.

Cara relaxed a little and stood near the Doctor, who just watched it all with a smile on his face.

The room suddenly hushed as a white-haired man strode in. His strong jaw and piercing gaze gave him a fearsome appearance.

"That's him!" Cara mouthed, "John McLoughlin. The John McLoughlin."

The Chief Factor turned his steady gaze around the room as he took his seat, not glaring, just assessing who was there.

"Good evening, dear friends," he said. Everyone sat.

McLoughlin nodded towards the Doctor and Cara, "I see we are blessed with new faces at our table. Tell, friends, who are you and where are you from?"

The Doctor spoke, "I'm the Doctor, and this is my companion, Cara. We were just passing through and thought we'd stop by."

A few eyebrows raised at the word "companion".

"If that's all right," Cara added, forgetting her attempt to be ladylike and quiet.

McLoughlin smiled warmly, "Of course, Madam, we are happy to have you as guests." He turned to the rest of the table, "Now, let us say grace and eat!"

The rest of the guests tittered amusedly at the emphasis on the last word.

Cara relaxed again, remembering how highly the Chief Factor's hospitality had been spoken of. He'd even gotten into a lot of trouble for helping the American settlers.

Apparently the history books got the hospitality part right, she mused as everyone bowed their heads and the white-haired man at the head of the table humbly offered his gratitude for having so much to share with friends and strangers alike.

All through the meal, Cara remembered to act as ladylike as possible. She carefully watched the other women in the room and emulated their actions to the best of her ability. She did drop a fork once, but no one seemed to notice and there were plenty at her setting to replace it.

The last course was finally finished, and Cara hid a sigh of relief. Despite the ever-so-tiny bites she'd taken, she could not eat another bite.

If I see any more food, I'll suffocate! She thought.

Bidding them all good night, the Chief Factor stood and retired for the night. The rest of the guests also stood and left, most of them men heading to the gentlemen's quarters.

The girl paused on the porch. She heard the Doctor walk up behind her, but her eyes remained on the sky.

"It's so clear tonight," she remarked, "without Portland's city lights, you can't even distinguish constellations."

"One of the benefits of living in a less populated time," the Doctor answered her, his voice as serene as the night.

Cara nodded and breathed in the air, smelling the scents of villages, livestock, cedar, and a hint of sea saltiness. She smiled, "It's so amazing here, seeing everything when it was new and young. I may have used the very dishes today that I saw in the archaeology department in my time." She hugged herself against a sudden cold wind, "and the people! Well I would never have imagined having dinner with John McLaughlin! The whole evening, it was like a dance or a dream."

"So you had a good time then?" the Doctor asked.

The girl smiled at the sleepy scene of the fort bedding down for the night. The clanking of tools echoed from the blacksmith's shop as they finished the day's work. Uniformed guards changed shifts at the storehouses. Somewhere, a horse whinnied at the wind blowing through the trees.

"Oh yes," Cara replied, turning back to the Doctor, "yes, I definitely did." She hid a tired yawn and blinked a few times.

The Doctor gently steered her toward the steps, "I should get you home."

"No no, I'm," she yawned, "fine."

"Well, I'm tired," the Doctor grinned, "so it's back to the Tardis for us. Never argue with the driver, remember?"

Cara nodded, "Yeah, okay. Let's g-…"

She tumbled from view with the first step. The sound of wood cracking caused several windows of the house to light up.

The Doctor was down the steps in an instant, avoiding carefully the broken one. He knelt beside Cara as she picked herself up off the ground.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his eyes reflecting in the porch lanterns.

The girl stood shakily, "Mostly embarrassed. I don't remember reading about dangerous porch steps in the history books," she joked. Then she gasped a little and flopped backward. The Doctor quickly caught her.

"What's going on over here?" the light of a lantern spilled suddenly over the two. A guard had arrived to investigate. Seeing Cara wincing in the Doctor's grasp, he rushed to assist,

"Sir, unhand that lady at once!"

"No, it's okay," Cara cried, "I fell and he was helping me. He's a Doctor." She added quickly.

The guard relaxed somewhat, "Are you sure you are all right?"

Nodding, the girl pointed to the porch, "I would have a carpenter take a look at those steps though, if I were you. I don't think they're safe."

The guard eyed them warily, but bade them goodnight and walked back toward the rear gate. He turned to say one more thing, "The way things have been going, we could use another doctor around here."

The Doctor helped Cara back onto her feet, "Let's get you to the Tardis."

The young woman didn't argue as the Doctor helped her limp out of the gate and back into the misleadingly small blue box. He showed her to a comfy sofa and pulled an ottoman up for her injured leg.

"How badly does it hurt?" he asked her, wary of touching any sore spots.

The girl shook her head, "It doesn't any more, really. It's just kind of tingly."

The Doctor frowned, looking at a tear in her jeans where a nail had ripped from the wood. There was a little bit of blood from a scrape, but no scrape.

"So, Doctor, am I going to live?" Cara asked jokingly.

"Hmm?" he looked up, then grinned, "Oh, yes. You'll be fine. You certainly fared better than the staircase."

"Poor staircase," she giggled, then she gasped, "Oh, oh no! I didn't screw up the timeline did I?"

The Doctor shook his head, "I don't think so. Someone would have stepped on that sooner or later."

"But what if someone was supposed to?" the girl asked, then answered herself thoughtfully, "though maybe I was supposed to…"

The Doctor nodded matter-of-factly, "At any rate, what happened has happened. I should probably get you home."

"Aw, not yet." Cara protested, "there's so much more to see here, to do. And other places and times too!"

The Doctor blinked and nodded again, "Yes, that's true."
"And I want to see it. All of it!" Cara added.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive!"

The Doctor grinned widely, "Fantastic! But you still need to sleep."

The girl grinned tiredly, "yes, I do at that. Goodnight, Doctor." She fell almost instantly to sleep.

The Doctor watched his new companion for a while before whispering, "Goodnight."