Author's Note
December 15th, 2011
Sorry about the wait - I will admit that it took me awhile to write this especially after I decided firmly where this episode will be set. That and I lost the internet for awhile so couldn't post it even if I had finished it in time, which I didn't. This episode was actually supposed to be for Hallowe'en, and has two genres in it that I'm not particularly great at writing. One is Western (the Doctor, for the purpose of this series & particular incarnation isn't the only one not fond of Westerns!) and the other is horror, which while I love the latter I will admit I'm not great at writing. Hopefully my stab at it isn't too much of a disappointment.
CHAPTER THREE
Lone Star
All that was on his mind was get away. He had to get away. There was the cry of a coyote in the distance and the scream of ravens that sounded like they were closer.
He ran around the corner, boots skidding in the loose dirt and spurs catching in the sand, sending bits of plant matter into the air. Issac was a brave enough soul. However, there was only so much a man could take before the instinct to run away was absolutely correct.
The dirt street in the middle of town was deserted. No one was stupid enough to be caught outside anymore in the dark. Except Issac who had been at the tavern for much too long and too far into his whiskey to care.
Until it was too late and he found himself in a puddle of his own drool and piss, and the howl of the coyote was all the warning he needed.
Too late.
He ran as hard as he could out into the middle of the street. "Help!" he shouted. "Someone, dammit all, someone help!"
There was the final, authoritative, scream of an eagle and something heavy landed behind him.
He turned into the alley, thinking that maybe if it was too big than he would have the advantage of being able to be the first to escape it. At the end of the alley, he turned and skidded to a full halt, turning to face the horror face on, his hand already slipping down to his gun where it rested in its holster.
Issac's hand didn't make it to the gun... it was on the ground in a growing pool of blood as what little there was bled out onto the sandy ground. He stared in shock at the stump left behind.
The boy that hid in the shadows, underneath the crates, trembled but watched the shadows on the wall. The man held up what was left of his arm and then there was this horrible wet tearing sound and then there was blood thrown everywhere.
The shadow on the wall appeared to be something that could walk on its hind legs, but it had the head of an coyote and wings of an eagle.
He couldn't hold it in anymore.
He screamed in terror and the thing dropped Issac, the town drunk, into a pile on the ground. The boy was dragged out, kicking and screaming into the dim light of the moon and the bloody mess.
He closed his eyes, not wanting to see his death coming, but he could feel the warm hands on his shoulder as something peered at him. He could feel it looking him over.
Why wasn't he dead yet?
It screamed at him, and shook him some more, but this was meant to frighten, and didn't actually hurt. Abruptly, it stopped and the boy cracked an eyelid open.
The beast was gone.
The day was a bright, and hot one, but then again not many weren't in Southern Texas. The sheriff watched as the undertaker and his assistants cleaned up the mess and put the pieces of Issac McCormick into the pine coffin. The mayor walked up, saw the mess, and abruptly began to heave up his breakfast. "What the hell happened, Jake?" he demanded.
Sheriff Jake Paulson shook his head. "I dunno, Neil. Another one like the rest."
"That's the third one this week," pointed out Neil Shannon, the town's mayor.
Jake had the grace to look a bit uncomfortable. "So far none of the locals, outside our late drunk, have ever been taken. None of the better folk that come in either. Just the stragglers, the drifters. Those caught out at night."
"It's damn disturbing, is what it is," said Neil. "Listen Jake, you've got to stop this person before he wrecks the whole thing."
"And how do you suppose I go about doing that?" asked Jake.
"I don't know! You're the sheriff Go... lawman it out or something."
Jake didn't bother lifting a brow. There were times when Neil managed to only hint that he was an idiot. Then there were times when he proved it. Like now. "Will do, Mayor. In the meantime, why don't you go 'mayor' us something up and let me do my job?"
Neil didn't grace him with an answer. It was one of the few times he knew to just keep his mouth shut before he really proved how much an idiot he really was.
ACT ONE
The console room was completely deserted. It had been for days. There was no need of maintenance or even piloting data to be input when they were merely drifting. This was one of the times on the TARDIS that qualified as downtime, or those rare moments when there was no place or no when in particular for them to be.
In those times, Donna found herself wandering and reading in the library. She was a Time Lady and she had no idea what it meant to be one. Her DNA had been completely and totally changed in order to save her life from the halfway death she had been left in when the Earth had been stolen. It many respects it had been her fault, and his, that she had stepped into this change. He had been right - at least the Valeyard had been right - that it had been a long time in coming.
The first step to her change, however predestined it seemed to be, was that fateful day she had found herself on the TARDIS on her wedding day to the traitorous Lance.
She could have walked away like she had after that one time, but she had wilfully chased after the Doctor until she had finally tracked him down again, something even he admitted was truly rare and sometimes impossible. But Donna, the ever so painfully normal Donna Noble, had done what even Sarah Jane Smith did not.
She successfully hunted down the Doctor and - much to his surprise and then joy - insinuated herself into the TARDIS and his life until she had touched the hand that would create the Valeyard from the Doctor.
The blow-back from the regeneration energy should have killed her.
But it had... and had not... at the same time. Even the Valeyard (then still the Doctor) and the original Doctor had been confused and puzzled by the occurrence... by the fact that she lived and walked and even learned to use it just fast enough to be able to save them all. For one shining moment that she had been part of she had been one of him and had his thoughts and his memories and how he did things in her mind.
And in that moment the Daleks and Davros had their worst nightmare come to life. Not one Doctor, but three at once and not one of them was simply the Doctor from another point in time or regeneration.
The exact same Doctor - all his experiences and his knowledge - in three separate bodies and minds and able to link perfectly together in a way most Time Lords thought impossible but knew if it ever happened would be like having the original Triumvirate again. And it was. She had touched it and for one shining moment they had touched that power within all Time Lords... of the first three... they had been the first three.
And then it had started to go wrong and, much as she hated it, she knew that the Doctor had little choice unless he felt like throwing away a regeneration- and even then it was a chancy proposition that not only could fail but also kill both of them by aborting the regeneration midway through it.
It had not been his death he feared.
He wanted her to live until he thought of another way.
But his life had pulled him away and then he was gone and she was still just existing. She would have simply existed until something began to pull back to the TARDIS again.
It was during this that Drax had regenerated, and sensing the metacrisis, had pulled her into his own regeneration and finished it successfully and when she had woken up she had her same face but it was as if she had rolled back the clock a good ten years back into her mid twenties. She had two hearts and remembered everything of herself that had been locked away by the Doctor.
She did not have his memories or experiences. Just shards of encyclopedic knowledge, things she could have picked up in a book and then they were only bits and pieces and the very, very occasional flash of insight or emotion.
And her days were filled with the massive library that encircled the pool trying to fit the pieces back together again and succeeding but very slowly... so very slowly... by reading and researching. Days had turned into weeks and then months in between various landings and wanderings, some no more exciting than going to the corner store for milk (in some cases that was their entire purpose, even if that "milk" was a slightly peach shade and had a very, very faint flowery aroma) on the planet Tallana Five.
Finally she sat back down in her chair and looked at the book. For the first time she noticed the print. She had simply read the book without really taking notice but now that she really looked at it and took notice she had to laugh and then the laughter died in her throat. The book was written entirely in Modern Gallifreyan and she had read it as if she had read the language her entire educated life and it wasn't being translated. She was reading Modern Gallifreyan as well as she could read English. It was a strange feeling to suddenly realize this. She didn't quite know how to explain what she felt at this moment. It felt both like she was coming home and losing something at the same time and that something was something she held dear.
It was as if her humanity was slipping away and everything that was Donna was being replaced by another Donna.
This new Donna looked at it and wondered if it was the same feeling as regenerating. The previous incarnation was gone and then replaced by the new.
Jenny seemed to take to permanent life on the TARDIS like a kitten to cream but then again she had been technically born to a life of travel and adventure. She spent her days learning of Gallifreyan life, as did Donna, and honing her already sharp combat skills. Some days she spent with the Doctor learning what she could of the TARDIS. Donna couldn't explain it but she already did. She spent her days reading, going through daily life and in the Cloister Room where the Eye of Harmony used to rest.
As for the Doctor, she also spent her days going through what a Gallifreyan normally would during their own typical day.
It was perhaps the one thing the others had not learned yet and it was something the Doctor wasn't sure she could share until the other two were certain of their heritage and how they fit into it. It wasn't as simple as suddenly saying they had the genetic make-up. There was literally hundreds of years of cultural catching up to do... the equivalent of the Time Lord Academy.
She was failing them again. By all rights she should have been teaching them and guiding them through those years of learning and filling in the genetic memories that they both had.
But she could not bring herself to.
She could say why that was but she suspected why it was. These were two reminders of how much her grandfather had failed two people. One he left for dead when he should have given her the rites, even if she had not been born the usual way, as due a Gallifreyan. Instead he wilfully left her body behind without even giving her those rites. The other he killed everything she had become even if had been to save who she had been and could be with the possibility, however remote, of saving her later.
And now they were in the TARDIS where her grandfather had promised them they belonged and he was long since gone.
He was supposed to be guiding them. Not her. It felt as if she was again in his shadow and she didn't even have the benefit of his guiding hand like she had before.
There was also fear of what either of could become if she did. There was something in both of them that frightened her old blooded soul. Jenny never saw Gallifrey, nor any other Gallfreyan or Time Lord. She was given a whole different set of genetic memories from a different people whose entire purpose was war. Donna was becoming something that even would frighten the most experienced Time Lord.
Donna should never have survived the second completion and regeneration, let alone the first metacrisis.
But she had.
It was like Donna was something else, some...
The Doctor's eyes snapped open, her thoughts running away from what she nearly had uttered, even if in her thoughts. The peaceful holo of the garden she grew up in on Gallifrey disappeared as she snapped out of her morning meditation. Everything about the room was the typical meditation and focus "chamber" that a Time Lord needed to psychically cleanse and focus from the constant daily barrage of thoughts and feelings. It was another part of the highly ritualized culture.
She eased herself out of the folded pose she had pretzeled herself into on the intricate woven gold and red mat.
It was at this moment that her vision faded from the room around her and she fell to the mat in a near faint. As her vision faded out, she was aware of the holo vanishing completely and the tolling of the Cloister bell, the room flashing in an alert.
The blackness at the edges of her vision swamped her.
When she opened her eyes she was standing in a street, but the perspective was all wrong. She was too close to the ground, and a bit hidden behind boxes. She felt fear and heard the screams of the man as she watched the hybrid form rip a man apart. Only she didn't see the life form, just the shadow as blood splattered everywhere. And then she could see nothing but she felt as if she was been shaken as something, perhaps a coyote, screamed at her.
And then it silenced and she gradually became aware of someone gently shaking her shoulder, tapping her hand and calling her name at once.
She blinked herself slowly awake and winced at the bright white lights of the TARDIS infirmary. "What in the name of Rassilon happened, Doctor?" asked Donna. "One minute I was reading and then both Jenny and I felt the distress from the TARDIS and followed it to its source to find you collapsed."
"Doctor, are you all right?" asked Jenny.
The Doctor ran a hand over her face before covering her face with her hands in the effort of at least attenuating the sudden overload of information. Donna backed up a bit, and the Doctor was aware of Jenny being pulled gently away. Not far, but enough that she could get her bearings again. Finally she lowed them back to resting on her stomach as she stared up at them. "Did either of you sense anything other than the TARDIS's distress at my collapse?"
"I... I don't know how to explain it but both Jenny and I did," answered Donna, as she and Jenny looked over the Doctor at each other. "What was it?"
For a long moment, the Doctor didn't answer. "It was a stone dropping into the Weave, making causal ripples. I'm not sure what caused it or why. However, I do have a when and where to find out."
She began to sit up, and both Jenny and Donna helped her up. Jenny grinned. "So what are we waiting for?"
"For the Doctor to recover from this," answered Donna as she ran a hand up and down the Doctor's arm in comfort. "Take it slow."
"I'm fine, Donna. I was just surprised by it. The timing wasn't great. I was just finishing..." The Doctor stopped with a sigh. "Never mind, one day I'll tell you and you'll look back on this day and understand what happened."
"How about telling us now?" Donna asked, her eyes thinning.
The Doctor shook her head. "All in good time, Donna, all in good time." She stood up, and waiting for the dizziness to pass. "Come on, these things always make me feel as if I just got off one of those playground spinny things you find in parks."
Donna and Jenny followed the Doctor, still mostly concerned about the dizzy spells, but were relieved that they seemed to have passed. Donna knew that since she and Jenny were still feeling a bit queasy and since it was related to the Doctor's dizziness meant the Doctor wasn't over these "causal ripples" or whatever she wanted to call them.
Jenny helped the Doctor pilot the TARDIS, and within minutes the sound of the old time ship re-materializing into existence filled the room. For a long moment, the Doctor seemed to stare at the controls and then she smiled suddenly. "Not bad. Where and when I intended to be on the very first attempt. I'm getting better at this."
"Or we're exactly where the TARDIS wants us to be- which can only mean one thing. Trouble." This from Donna who delivered it with an even, calm tone that a person only used when they tried to not alarm someone.
"Or... on a different note..." began Jenny thoughtfully. "The TARDIS and the Doctor are beginning to be far more in tune with each other and perhaps are sensing the same things at the same time..." She looked at the Doctor. "Which means you now know, on the same wavelength as the TARDIS, where you need and ought to be and therefore the TARDIS no longer has to 'hijack' your plans anymore."
There was an almost disturbingly silent pause before the Doctor shook her head. "It happens occasionally, to both me and my grandfather." She clapped her hands together, moved to the door and pulled the doors open. "Now let's see where we are."
The Doctor stared outside in dismay while Donna and Jenny watched in bemusement. Finally she stepped outside and they followed. Jenny looked around. "Where are we?" she asked as she noted the trees and rolling plains, only punctuated by the occasional and the river in the distance.
"Likely late 1800's in America on Earth," answered Donna. "By the look of it. Looks like something straight out of an Eastwood or John Wayne movie."
"You're precisely right," answered the Doctor darkly. "Not again. I hate, hate, hate this era and in particular this particular sub-culture. Nothing against it, some people liked it, I just did not."
"Are you all right with this?" asked Jenny, her eyes dancing. "What's so bad about it?"
"She doesn't like guns, and the whole Western thing was that everyone carried a gun at their hip, at least according to popular culture," said Donna in a sotto voice.
"Not just pop culture. Historical fact, especially if I think we are where we are. It's something to do with the right to bear arms or some such. That and the 'long arm of the law' wasn't that long or particularly law abiding itself," answered the Doctor. "The whole thing gnaws at me and it just isn't the 'gun thing'."
"What I can't understand is why, for the second time in a row, the TARDIS took us somewhere historical instead of an alien or futuristic one, as writers like to put it. It's like this series of adventures with you is about learning about Earth's past and far more educational to a human reader than perhaps what as to compared my adventures with your grandfather," said Donna, a note of mischief in her eyes.
"Well, that seems mostly out of my control. If, say, my life was a work of fiction I can tell you that my first adventures with humans, and my grandfather, was a lot like how these are working out to be. Sometimes I swore it was like we were on a publicly funded network meant to educate students on history. The Romans, Aztecs... even the Stone Age and not an alien in sight unless you counted my grandfather and I," answered the Doctor. "But I wouldn't count on it here. My little vision proves it. Some sort of hybrid creature... and would you look at that. We landed a fair bit out of that town..."
They had indeed. It wasn't that far, but far enough that it would take at least a half hour to walk to it. Thankfully, there was a road not two steps away from where the TARDIS had landed. "I would suggest we go back to the TARDIS and change so that we don't appear totally out of place," said Donna.
"You just want to wear the period clothing of this era," grinned Jenny. "You love this. I saw that collection of historical romances and the Louis Lamour books in your room. When you aren't reading what's in the library, you're reading those."
Donna blushed a deep crimson and the Doctor raised a brow. "I wouldn't suggest the ladies wear. You'd not find it as romantic as those novels suggest. In fact, I'd suggest wearing your modern underwear underneath what would be men's wear for this period. It's not completely out of place. Some of the more 'proper' people of this era will look down their noses, but there are a fair enough amount of tomboys in this era. And they aren't as rare as you'd think. It's just the nature of the area. You're tough or you don't survive."
When they came back out, they were all wearing a reasonable approximation of the period's clothing, favouring the men's side of things even if Donna still wore a feminine blouse complete with the frilly cuffs and high neck with a cameo pin worn a bit lower than what would be normal so that the neck wasn't restrictive. The Doctor wore a plain blouse, while still a women's blouse, that was the precursor to the modern women's buttoned and collared shirt. Jenny went straight for the men's clothes. They all wore jeans, but a different wash to each of them again. The Doctor favoured a plain, as close to historical, tan trouser that fit close but not skin tight. Donna wore a dark blue that was just shy of fitting like a second skin and Jenny wore a flat grey trouser that fit like Donna's jeans on her. Jenny chose to not wear a vest, while both the Doctor and Donna did. Donna wore a brocade one, that the Doctor couldn't help but point out was actually a piece of Eight's favoured clothing. She wore a plain grey linen vest. From that point, they were near identical, with matching duster jackets, Australian style hats versus the typical Stetson... except Jenny who went immediately for the Stetson.
The Doctor chose not to carry a gun, but they had seen her sonic screwdriver and psychic paper put into the inside pocket of the vest and a combat knife strapped along her belt at the small of her back and in easy reach. Donna chose to keep a simple hunting rifle strapped in a carrying case on her back over the duster and a simple long knife strapped to her left thigh. They had to rein in Jenny, who wanted to carry almost too many weapons.
In the end she agreed to carry only enough that she felt comfortable without looking ridiculous, which, like Donna, included a rifle carried the same way as Donna's, two revolvers - one strapped to each thigh, a simple long knife carried the same way as the Doctor's and another, smaller, blade just inside her boot.
At least those were the ones they saw her put on. In reality, the minute the Doctor's back was turned, Jenny put two small throwing knives on the inside of each arm, a sharpened hair stick held her hair, held securely by the clips so her hair wouldn't slip. On her belt and to the side was another, more utility than anything, multi-tool that was likely purchased or found in a surplus store and the ammunition for her guns.
Just under the knife and hidden further down and just underneath the small of her back and in the back of her jeans was a small laser pistol. Jenny had taken to carrying wherever she went and wasn't sure where it came from. It had been found on board the TARDIS in a room that was clearly a man's room, but not anyone she knew. The style was strange, and it wasn't until later when she met Jack Harkness that she realized the gun was his.
It was a small sized gun, almost pint sized, but when she had fired it in the testing range it had more than enough of a wallop to be effective.
The Doctor didn't like guns, so Jenny didn't carry a visible gun. But, her 'breeding' meant she was uncomfortable without the reassurance one meant.
Finally they left the TARDIS and walked towards the town. Jenny didn't regret the shade the hats brought them, or begrudge the insistence that the Doctor had about carrying light survival packs to appear to be simple drifters... without horses. "That will be noticeable. We are strangers to a town in the middle of nowhere and we're on foot. In case you haven't noticed, the boots from this period and place are not exactly conducive to walking."
"Why?" asked Jenny.
"Because they rode horses everywhere," answered Donna, inwardly grinning.
Although their boots looked historical, they had cheated and added support for walking and then the addition of gel inserts for further comfort. "Our boots are not like others. The support is okay, but the cushioning isn't. We've cheated and used modern boots that look historical and further cushioned them because we know how much we'll be walking until we get to town and I'd rather not end up with blisters," added the Doctor. "Come on, if we don't get there soon it will be dark out."
It was almost sunset when they arrived. The Doctor sighed in relief. "Let's try here for someplace to stay," suggested Donna, but was surprised when the innkeeper slammed the door closed, locked it and pulled down the shade when she approached. "So much for that."
They turned to the tavern and saw that it was also closing the storm doors as they turned to it. They kept walking, noting the town practically rolling up the sidewalk as they did so. The only place not suddenly closed was the sheriff's office. There was a man, likely the sheriff, outside sweeping off the step and he looked up and leaned on his broom as he watched them approach. "Evenin'," he said as he tipped his hat slightly.
"Good evening," answered the Doctor. "Perhaps you'd know a place to stay for the night. It seems everywhere is closed."
"That a Canuck accent I hear?" he asked, his eyebrows raising. "Haven't had a Canadian this way in a dog's age. What are you doing this far South, miss?"
"Travelling," she answered blandly. "Sheriff, that place to stay?"
"Oh, you can stay here. I can't believe the people of this town would turn you away. Downright callous and rude, if you ask me, but you didn't," he said. "Come on, I'll put on a fresh pot of coffee and we can talk, if you want."
They entered the Sheriff's office, which was also the town's jail. It was empty. "Come on, if I wouldn't make my enemy's dog sleep in a cell, I certainly won't a woman do it. My home is just above and up the stairs. I have enough beds to suit. Meant to be a depot with more men but it's just me now."
They followed him upstairs into the more comfortable space above, after watching close and lock the shutters of the main floor with bemused expressions. He also locked and shuttered the windows as well as the door to the walk-out balcony before lighting a lantern with a match, then the wood stove as he set the coffee pot on top. "I don't have much, but what I have you're welcome to," he said finally as he turned to face them. "You don't mind if I smoke, do you? Not a cigarette like most drifter's do, but I like a good proper pipe now and again."
The Doctor waved a hand dismissively. "Thank you for the hospitality, Sheriff We appreciate it."
He lit the pipe, and with an afterthought, offered it to Donna, who sat closest. She waved her hand in polite refusal. "No, thank you," she said, and watched him offer it to each one of them and as they refused.
"Mighty nice of you. You don't smoke but don't mind that I do," he said with a smile. "Must travel a lot to have that kind of... how do they say it... easy going manner, I suppose. I still can't believe the people of this town leaving you three out there at night just like that."
"We could have camped, if worse came to worst," said Jenny.
The Sheriff abruptly stopped smoking his pipe. "Absolutely not!" he finally said, vehemently, his voice raised to almost a shout, then he calmed as he looked nervously around. "What I mean to say is... well... three women out in the cold. No, no, absolutely not."
"That is a rather strong response to the suggestion," noted the Doctor. "What is outside, Sheriff.. what's out there that we can't stay outside."
"It's nothing," he waved it off.
He froze as the eerie sound of a coyote echoed in the distance. The Doctor looked at him, and his face grew pale.
ACT TWO
While the Doctor couldn't help but notice that this particular misadventure had its fair share of pauses, the Sheriff found himself in the midst of another one. She could see the cold sweat forming on his brow as he was caught out. "Sheriff, we mean no harm and possibly quite a bit of good. What was that?" asked Donna.
"Oh hell. I don't know, that's the problem. But I can tell you the mayor has been on my ass to find out and do something about it before it starts killing people in their homes." He took a long drag of his pipe and calmed his nerves. "I'm quite sure it's some lunatic... some sort of touched type that murders anyone not indoors. Although, as you can see, everyone has taken to the extra step of shuttering the lower floors completely."
"And what do you think is going on?" asked the Doctor.
With a sigh, the sheriff realized that these three women believed him and believed that it was something else out there. Made sense considering how armed one appeared to be and he knew he saw the bulge of knives on the other two hidden underneath their duster jackets. "In the past few weeks, anyone outside after dark has been brutally and messily, I might add, killed by being torn to pieces like it was done by some wild animal. The only warning is that coyote, and then the scream of an eagle, I think. So far, it's only targeted the drifters that come into town. Anyone inside and behind closed doors has been safe. The mayor might think it's some lunatic, but that doesn't explain the coyote or the eagle, or even the screaming ravens at the same time."
"Well, he could be right." The Doctor leaned back in her chair. "But you might be as well. The whole point is that we don't know what's out there and you're right in that it sounds dangerous. Were any of these drifters armed?"
"Some were, and it didn't make any difference. You'd find their gun, still in their hand, attached to an arm a good ten feet away from the torso, and no indication that they'd got a shot off. What ever it is, it's mighty fast too and knows what a gun is," he answered. "When the people in town saw and heard about that... well... I'd imagine you see the outcome. Most are certain that it's only a matter of time before we're all dead."
"And absolutely no one has survived or escaped an attack?" asked Jenny, her brow creasing.
"Not a single soul, miss."
The four of them sat for another bit of time, just thinking. The Doctor was puzzled by this. Something told her that there was just something missing from this entire equation. Some vital clue. "It's definitely a creature of some sort. And someone, while they didn't see it, they saw its shadow and survived."
The other three turned to look at her and the Sheriff's let the pipe drop against his chin as he let his mouth drop in shock. "Look, miss... I know I answered a similar question earlier to the negative."
"Sheriff, I can't explain how I know. But someone survived an attack. They're just not telling anyone about their close call. Someone saw another murdered in the last few nights." The Doctor as adamant.
"Doctor... I know you've an instinct... but seriously?" asked Donna.
"It had something to do with that... ah... right before we left the ship."
Both Jenny and Donna suddenly understood. "The causal ripple. You saw someone survive."
"But you just arrived here... how can you say that?" asked the Sheriff in shock.
The Doctor shook her head. "It's complicated."
The Sheriff appeared mollified. "Okay, say that you're right, and I don't think you are, but for the sake of argument, say that you are. How would we find such a person?"
"I'd say we would be looking for the most haunted looking person in town, as well as one trying to keep a low profile. I also think, given that they were also outdoors, in an alley, that they are likely without a home but not quite a drifter. Know anyone like that, Sheriff?" asked the Doctor.
For a long moment, the Sheriff thought about it and then said, "Yeah, I do. There's some kids in town, orphans. The matron tries her best but some manage to sneak out at night. She said one that was particularly infamous for it hasn't done so in a while. We can start there. Damn... a kid saw it happen." He saw the look on the Doctor's face, one that signalled victory and pointed a finger at her. "Doesn't mean I believe your hare brained notion that you 'saw' this kid 'see' anything."
"But you have admitted to the possibility," said the Doctor. "And that's the main thing. Now, it's been a long day... and walk... for the three of us and a long day for you. I suggest we begin at sun up."
A short time before sunrise, the Doctor woke the Sheriff. He stretched, yawned and then rolled over to a sitting position. After rubbing his eyes from sleep, he accepted the cup of coffee offered by the Doctor. "Yer up mighty early, Doctor."
"I don't sleep much," she admitted softly.
"Well, now that I'm up, I may as well do the hospitable thing and make a proper breakfast. Judging by your accents, yer from up North while your friends sound as if they come from England," said the Sheriff. "Don't get that many guests around these parts that come from such far off places. It's refreshing, really."
The Doctor smiled as she sipped her coffee. "I'm glad you approve," she admitted.
"Not many would, to be honest. Watch yourself out there."
The Sheriff stoked the fire until it was hot enough to boil water again and then he set a pan upon it. Soon the tantalizing smell of bacon, eggs and coffee filled the air. He sat down after giving the Doctor a plate and then gave himself a plate as well. For awhile they simply ate in companionable silence. Finally, after giving the Doctor an appraising look he finally said, "If I was smart, I'd deputize the lot of you. You seem to have the only chance of catching this thing... or wing-nut... so far you've had the best ideas and you seem the most capable."
The Doctor thought for a long moment, but didn't seem that impressed with the idea. "I'm not altogether sure..."
"I, for one, think it's a wonderful idea," said Jenny as she walked down the stairs to make herself a plate of food, passing another to Donna as she came down behind her. "I think we should. I think I will. What about you, Donna?"
The Sheriff smiled, went to his desk and pulled out the star shaped badge and handed it to Jenny, and seeing Donna's outstretched hand, also handed her one. The Doctor closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "May as well hand me one too, Sheriff You win. We'll let you deputize us. It appears I'm outvoted."
She stood up, accepted the third star and began to clip it to her shirt. Just as she was about to finish there was an enormous banging on the door. The Sheriff opened the door and the mayor ran through it. "Jake, I've heard a rumour that you put up three drifters... what... oh..." he turned and noticed the three women, all with stars on their shirts. "I see it's true."
"You're strangers here and you'll soon find your out of your element," huffed the Mayor.
"What, exactly, is our 'element'?" asked Donna.
For a long, tense, moment the Mayor and Donna appeared to simply stare at each other until the Mayor finally looked away. Clearing his throat, the Sheriff jumped in.
"Neil, these are more than drifters... they've agreed to help us." The Sheriff walked over and put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "I decided to deputize them. This is Jenny, Donna and Susan... although Susan prefers to be called the Doctor or simply Doctor."
Mayor Neil Shannon looked from one woman to the other. Finally his eyes settled on the Doctor. "You're a multi-talented woman to be both Doctor and Deputy, Doctor."
"You don't know the half of it," said the Doctor warily.
"Well, I, for one, am looking forward to learning more and I'm sure looking forward to having the back-up, Doctor, so I'm glad to have you on board," said the Sheriff
The Mayor turned on his heel with a snort and left quickly. "Will this cause trouble?" asked Jenny.
"Naw, he's just ruffled because I made a decision that makes him look like a waffling idiot. Don't worry about it. If people give you trouble, send'm to me and I'll straighten them out right and proper."
ACT THREE
The Doctor stepped out into the dusty street, careful to stay out of the way of the horses and various horse drawn carriages as she crossed the road over to the general store. While the coffee had been properly strong, bracing and hot it just wasn't tea and if she were to ward off Donna's tendency to twig mid-afternoon. And the TARDIS had certainly spoiled them in that regard.
Walking into the door, her eyes quickly adjusted to the darker interior as she looked around for what she sought. She smiled at the storekeeper, and noted his answering frown as he leaned forward on his counter. "Is there something in particular you're looking for?" he asked coolly.
"Tea," she answered. "Orange pekoe, or earl grey, even English Breakfast."
He raised his eyebrows slightly at both her accent... at least to his ears... and the answer he'd received. "You're not the typical drifter, I'll say that for you. I certainly didn't expect someone of taste and culture to come here." The tone was significantly warmer, not friendly quite yet, but definitely out of the sub zero tone it had been before. "I keep that behind the counter, miss...?"
She didn't miss the hanging question, left open for her to answer. "It's Doctor, actually."
Again his eyebrows rose. "A doctor, a deputy, a drifter... and a dame. Quadruple threat..." He laughed at his own joke, but then, seeing as she wasn't laughing, stopped and grew serious again. "I see the rumours were true... for once. Strange mix, but I guess Sheriff Paulson is getting a mite desperate. At least he picked someone with some brains. So, Doctor... what did you say your name was?"
"Just the Doctor will do." At this she winked. "It's not that I don't have a name, but that I prefer being referred to as the Doctor."
"So... Doctor... what do you make of our little town? That will be ten cents."
"It's a nice place... however, the night life takes some getting used to." She paid for the tea. "Just how long as this been going on?"
"You plan on doin' something about it?"
"Perhaps."
"Then let me tell you something, and only because I like you. I have a good feeling about you even if the rest of town don't agree with it. Stay indoors at night. You'll last longer and quite frankly we could use a quadruple threat to shake things up." He leaned back after giving her the change. "No amount of silver dollars are worth being ripped apart."
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." She tipped her hat and then walked back outside, again avoiding the three horses and two carriages that went by in either direction as she crossed the road.
The Sheriff was sitting on the deck outside of the front of his office. "Did you get what you were looking for, Doctor?"
"And then some," she answered as she went into the office.
Donna and Jenny turned to her. Donna was organizing the files and paperwork while Jenny appeared to be monumentally bored and was eyeing the guns in the locked cabinet. "This man, and the Sheriff before him, had no idea how to keep files," griped Donna.
"Anything interesting?" asked the Doctor.
"Not yet, but I have pulled what reports and notes I've found that could be related and put them on the table," answered Donna. "I'll let you know if I find anything substantial."
The Doctor nodded, and threw Donna the tin of tea. "Here, I know you get without tea so I bought some. It smelled like English Breakfast, although it could be mixed with Orange Pekoe. Either way, it smelled decent." She made a 'come on' gesture to Jenny. "Let's go talk to some of the locals and see if we can get more information about what's been going on."
Jenny jumped up eagerly and followed the Doctor out with a last minute wave to Donna. "I'll just stay here and keep looking over the files, then," said Donna with a shake of her head. "Don't mind me or anything!"
"That's mighty nice of ya, Donna!" came the Sheriff's response.
Donna let her head hang until she connected with the filing cabinet.
Jenny followed along, almost bouncing with glee at the chance to be out of the office and in the middle of it all. The Doctor could almost feel herself rolling her eyes at the younger Gallifreyan's excitement which she could sense off of her in waves. "Jenny, relax," said the Doctor. "You're making them nervous."
"I'm sorry, but I loved watching those old westerns and the remakes. This is ten times better."
With a laugh, the Doctor realized why Jenny had all but jumped at the chance to be a deputy. "Your big chance to be the 'new sheriff in town', is it?"
"Yup!"
The Doctor grew serious. "Not to rain on your parade, but we're not here for that. For some reason, the TARDIS decided it. I didn't pilot us here - keep your wits about you." She noticed that Jenny suddenly seemed to droop. "I don't mean to not enjoy it, but temper it with vigilance."
Jenny nodded, a bit brighter again, but this time at manageable levels instead of being like staring into the sun's corona. "Can we go in there?" Jenny pointed at the saloon. "Maybe we can get some information."
"You're kidding, right?" asked the Doctor, noting Jenny's pleading eyes.
"It's a saloon... everything happens in a saloon..." Jenny answered.
"... This isn't the movies, Jenny."
"I know, I know, but come on... everyone either goes to the general store, which you've already been to, or to the saloon. Which place do you see the most traffic going in and out of?"
The Doctor had to admit that Jenny had a point. The saloon was packed and full of noise that they could hear from the street. "All right, but be careful." The Doctor pushed the swinging doors open and followed Jenny in.
All at once, the music stopped as the man playing the piano in the corner stopped playing it and then everyone turned to stare at them. Jenny looked sideways at the Doctor, not turning her head or body, just with her eyes. The Doctor, out of the corner of her eye, saw that but was more concerned with the sudden attention they had gained just by walking into the saloon's common room. With a sigh, she pushed her way to the bar with Jenny not far behind her.
It was this that seemed to make things, even if it was strained, return to halfway normal as the piano player began to play again and the conversation noise restarted, even if it was somewhat subdued. The Doctor motioned to the barkeeper to come over, but noticed that he only looked at her warily and moved away. She was about to try again when a rather burly, and unwashed, man in a rough leather duster coat moved over beside her. She wrinkled her nose and looked up at him. "Well, isn't this special. You're one of them drifters everyone is talking about."
The way he said it made sound as if the word drifter equated to something that he would slough off the bottom of his boot. "Well, now I'm one of the deputies. And I'm on a case and I'm looking for information."
"You won't find it here," came another voice behind her. "The Sheriff has all he needs to know. We don't need some half-pint drifter getting ideas into her head that she belongs when she ought to just move on."
The Doctor looked around in the direction that came from. "Do you really feel that way?" she asked.
"Look, lady, we don't know where you came from and frankly, we don't care. Go back to it."
"Perhaps we can get rid of that thing that that's been terrorizing the town... the one that makes you board everything up at night!" exclaimed Jenny. "Or would rather it continue?"
The barkeeper put down a glass hard enough that it sounded like a gunshot, and everyone silenced at the sound. "Little lady, you may think you can help us but the truth is no one can. Leave, before you end up like everyone else."
"Have it your way, then," said the Doctor as she pushed herself off of where she had leaned backwards against the bar. "Come along, Jenny."
"Lady... where are you from? 'Come along'?" asked one tittering woman in the back.
"That's 'Doctor', if you don't mind," corrected the Doctor, noting with no little amount of satisfaction at the sudden surprise as more than a few heads whipped around at the correction.
"Yer a Doctor?" asked one man near the entrance, the disbelief plain in his voice.
"Yes, I am," she answered.
Again, there was a rather uncomfortable silence. "Fine, then, have it your way. If anyone has any information about the killer or why it's so important you all board yourself up at night, then you know where to find us."
The Doctor turned Jenny around and led her out of the saloon. "That was a mistake," said Jenny. "I didn't think they'd be so against us."
"It wasn't a mistake. Sometimes the hardest part of needing help is not just asking for it, but knowing that you need it in the first place. Their issue is just that. Eternals forbid they tell an outsider that they're in over their heads," answered the Doctor.
The rest of the afternoon passed peacefully, even after the Doctor and Jenny came back to the Sheriff's office. The Doctor and the Sheriff sat on the front porch and simply talked. Jake had to admit that the exotic nature of the Doctor was attractive, her accent endearing but still understandable unlike other British speakers he'd run across. Then again, they likely thought the same of his accent.
He knew she was only passing through and he could also sense a sort of deep grief that rolled off her in waves. It was a sort of lonesome that only came from widows and those whose love was spurned. She'd been deeply hurt, that much was clear. He cut a bit of apple and handed a piece to her.
"I can see what you mean about the town not liking outsiders."
"Aw, don't let them get to you. They're good folk that have been drawn a raw deal. It's one of the reasons I don't up and leave the place," he answered.
"Look, Sheriff.."
"It's Jake."
"Jake..." she said his name like she was memorizing it. "I appreciate the hospitality."
"It's nothing," he answered. "Look, I realize you tend to call yourself the Doctor more than you do Susan, but seeing as we're on first name basis and all, could I drop your title as well?"
"If that's the case, then it'd be more accurate to call me by my actual given name, which most believe to be somewhat difficult to pronounce."
"Hah, I knew you weren't actually... er, that is to say..." he suddenly stumbled. "Well, you ain't exactly, er..."
"White?" she asked.
"Well, not it so many words..."
"You'd be right. I'm not from England, by ancestry, unlike my friends. Although Jenny is a distant relative... but that's a bit complicated."
"How so?" he asked.
"Technically she's my aunt," answered the Doctor with a bit of a laugh. "My grandfather had her last, long after my father and his other siblings by my grandmother. Patience died a long time before Jenny was ever in the picture."
"That's not exactly a very exotic name... I'm guessing you're at least half British." Jake leaned back. "America is two ways in some places. Welcoming and open in some places, given how we've come about. Other places outright backward and... not so welcome. Unfortunately you found one of the latter, but only because of... this..." He gestured as the sun began to set, and he held out his hand to help her up. "Well, I suppose it's time to go inside, Susan."
She took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet, and they stood there, staring at each other for the longest time. "I think you're asking something of me that I'm not ready to give. After this... I will have to move on."
"You sure?" he asked, lifting a brow. "I'm sure I could find a place for you, even for Donna and Jenny in this town. I can tell you, with the rail coming through, that this place will be a whole lot more metropolitan, in both the good and bad, in a few years and your brand of back up would be welcome."
"I never did ask what the name of the town was," she admitted.
"It's called Dallas."
Donna saw the Doctor walk in before the Sheriff did. She looked a bit disturbed, to say the least. She looked over at Donna and asked, "Did you know we're in Dallas?"
Donna looked down at the paperwork and then back up to the Doctor. "Well, it was kind of hard not to notice on all the paperwork."
"Donna, when are we?"
"When are you?" asked Jake incredulously. "I've heard tell of some travellers being confused, but that takes the cake, Susan. It's July. Surely you knew that."
"Well, not precisely when... but refresh my memory. We have been wandering a bit... what year is it?" asked the Doctor.
"Eighteen sixty," he answered.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" asked Jenny as she watched the Doctor pale visibly.
"Think, Donna... the time lines..." whispered the Doctor to Donna so that the others wouldn't hear. "And then look again at the papers."
Donna stared at her for a long moment then closed her eyes, opened them and looked down. Instead of seeing the papers for the past, it was as if a few more reports were on the table, as ghostly images in golden and green dust, but to her eyes, and likely the Doctor's, it was as if they were as clear as the other papers on the desk. "Oh... my... God..." said Donna as she let the time lines fade back to the background and then looked at the Doctor. The fire that burnt down all of downtown Dallas. It happens...
... In less than two weeks, yes, came the Doctor's answer. I think we now know what really caused it.
Is there nothing we can do? Donna seemed disturbed by what they might have to do.
I think... I think the fire is what saves it in the end. If not for the fire the loss would be much, much worse. We have to find what is causing the killings soon, and stop it, or this Fixed Point breaks. The Doctor took a breath and smiled wanly at the Sheriff as he and Jenny closed up shop, locking everything on the first floor closed securely from the outside. It is Fixed.
But those people...
... More could die if we don't see this through. I don't like it any more than you do. Remember what happened in Pompeii when my grandfather took you there. Remember those creatures of fire and what they were doing to the people of Pompeii? This could very well be the same.
Their conversation was broken when they heard a scream from outside. The Doctor ran to the door and the Sheriff was there to stop her. "No! Don't! If you go out there it will get you!"
"Dammit, Jake, this could be our only chance to break this case wide open!" cried the Doctor as she fought her way past.
Donna jumped up and ran to the door, her hand on the handle and the Sheriff turned his attention to her as she grabbed firm hold of him and fell down, pulling him down with her as she did so. "Go!" she shouted.
Jenny pulled open the door and then the Doctor followed, her sonic screwdriver in hand. They ran down the street and Jenny found, even though she had a small head start, that the Doctor managed to outrun her and then it was Jenny who just barely managed to keep up. They could hear the Sheriff, swearing as he gave chase after them and Donna as she ran to keep up with them all.
"Dammit, you fool woman! Come back inside! That thing eats people!" shouted the Sheriff
"Doctor! Wait!" came Donna's voice.
In return was only, "It's this way!"
The Doctor turned the corner into the alley and came to a sudden and abrupt halt. She looked up at the back of the creature as the hybrid creature, which she could now see as it was instead of a shadow, lifted up the hapless man. Before she could raise an arm to distract it away, the creature reached up another clawed arm and tore into the man, ripping him in two as if using his legs as the two pieces of a turkey's wishbone. Blood, gore and other bits sprayed and splattered the area and the creature.
It suddenly realized it wasn't alone and turned on the Doctor and she raised the sonic, bracing herself in a basic aikido pose, grimly frowning and hardening her eyes in rage at the senseless slaughter. The hybrid creature, which appeared to be some sort of chimera, only formed from native American elements instead of Greek mythological ones, roiled back. It was as if it was surprised, shocked, or even a bit alarmed at the sudden appearance of something that didn't consider itself prey and therefore, given the lack of fear, was likely something of an equal in the food chain.
Given that it was used to be at the top, it wasn't sure how to react, whether to fight this new threat and show that it was still at the top, or to run away because if this new threat felt it was equal then perhaps it had power that the chimera wasn't aware of.
The Doctor stepped forward, and the chimera hopped back, screeching in dismay. This two legged thing didn't smell like the others and it dared to approach. It made the first move.
Two seconds later, Jenny turned the corner and stopped dead, her eyes widening in surprise, and then curiosity. She brought up her rifle. Curious or not, this thing had killed many, many others and she wasn't about to be next.
The chimera knew suddenly it was outnumbered, but they were still small if fearless. They smelled so different. Not like food... it had suddenly decided that something this bold was not food... but definitely something that was challenging its territory.
The arrival of Donna, the third to smell different from what the chimera had been hunting and a fourth which did, but had their smell on him, was the breaking point that the chimera decided it had enough. It was outnumbered. One challenge it could have handled, but not two and then three right after. It flew, clumsily, its wings only strong enough to lend it jumping and gliding power, but more than enough to get far out of reach.
Jenny lifted her rifle to take aim but was surprised when the Doctor put a hand on it to lower it. "Not yet, Jenny. We'll have to track it. Maybe, just maybe, we can relocate it using the TARDIS."
The Sheriff took off his hat and holstered his gun, walking forward. "What in hell was that thing?"
"Your killer," answered Donna, looking at the obvious evidence.
"You're either a whole lot braver than anyone in this town, or a whole lot dumber, but either way you're the luckiest I've ever seen." He shook his head as he crouched down. "Damn, if I hadn't tried to stop you from getting out here you might have been here in time to save him."
"You did what you thought was best with the information you had. And in answer, it's not luck, it's experience," said the Doctor.
"I'd hate to know what that 'experience' means," was his very quick rebuttal.
"She's the Doctor. She goes where she's needed and solves the problems no one else can, only to move on once done," answered Jenny.
The Sheriff stood up, and faced the Doctor, looking her in the eye as he then walked past her, shaking his head. "Yeah, I kind of thought you were one of those kind of drifters."
ACT FOUR
By mid morning the next day, everyone in Dallas knew about the 'first' survivors that had not only been out during the night, but had chased down, saw and then chased off the murderer, even if they had been minutes too late. Mayor Shannon came by around noon and walked into the office, seeing the Doctor and the Sheriff poring over a map of the area. "I've called an emergency town meeting for this afternoon."
"Whatever for?" asked the Sheriff
"Well, seeing as we now have people who have seen him, and survived him... hell could stand up to 'im," said Shannon. "It's time we went after the bastard and made sure he doesn't stop what Dallas should be."
The Doctor sighed and looked over at Donna and Jenny meaningfully. Jenny had already been filled in about the Fixed Point and was as grim about the possible outcome. They had argued, late into the night and into the early morning hours, over when this Fixed Point was and if, in fact, they were to have anything to do with it.
"You have a problem with that, Doctor?" asked the Mayor.
"Not really, no, however, I think it would be far wiser to send a small team of people instead of mobilizing the entire town, if that's what you're looking to do, Mr. Shannon," she answered.
The Mayor frowned and turned to the Sheriff "This is what happens when you put a woman in a place where a woman ought not to be. Be at the meeting, preferably without your so called deputies, Sheriff"
"You do realize that these so called deputies are the ones who saw the culprit and managed to chase him off, something no man has been able to do here so far, right?" asked Donna.
The Mayor whirled around. "What? How dare you!"
"She has a point," said the Sheriff "Before they came here all we could do was hunker down and pray for morning. Now they're here not one week and they've managed to do something none of us could. I'd say that deserves some respect."
"Women, drifters and this one not even white... are you mad, Jake?" said the Mayor, pointing at the Doctor.
"For Christ's sake, Neil, pull your head out of your ass long enough to listen to yourself! White, black or otherwise... or a woman... she's done something none of us could. If not for her we'd still be pissing ourselves in fear."
The Mayor threw his hands into the air. "I knew it was a mistake to put an Abolitionist into such a place of responsibility. Soon the slaves will be putting on airs and whose fault will that be? Yours!"
With that the Mayor stormed out. Jake chewed on the end of his pipe, looking like he'd prefer to grind his teeth, then he blew out his breath in a huge sigh. "Ignore him, Doctor. Remember what I said about some not being as great as others? He's one of those."
"He said you're an Abolitionist."
"That I am, and one of the few open ones. I'm blessed with the security of my position, and the fact that they can't find anyone else willing to do it, that I can be so open about it."
"What slaves?" asked Jenny.
"I'll explain it later, Jenny," said Donna as she pulled Jenny upstairs, undoubtedly to do just that. "I think the Doctor and the Sheriff need to have a talk now that cards are on the table that weren't before."
With that the two other women left the Doctor and the Sheriff alone in the office. "I didn't even think of the consequences of not being white in a southern state before the nineteen hundreds, and for that I am sorry."
"Again, not your fault. Personally, I think you're a godsend. Perhaps you're just what's needed around here to shake those pigheaded dimwits to pull their heads out of the sand. If not, then when you leave I think it's time I did too," he admitted, then caught what else she had said. "What do you mean 'before the nineteen hundreds'? Like you could have chosen any other time to arrive..."
"I could have, Sheriff, and I think after seeing that chimera last night that you are more inclined to think wider. I'm not from here..."
"Of course not, you're a Canadian with roots from abroad."
The Doctor laughed. "I'm a little more alien than that. Jake... my name isn't pronounceable by normal humans. Some can, after a few tries, but I'm not exactly from Earth... period."
The Sheriff blinked, and then his frame of understanding filled in what she meant and he found himself on his knees faster than he could think. "Holy Lord in Heaven, you're an angel sent from God above to exorcise the demon I saw last night..."
"Sheriff.."
"Forgive me, and I had become so familiar with you..."
"Jake..."
"I have sinned..."
"Jake! I'm not an angel, or a demon. I mean what I say... I'm simply alien. There are other worlds beyond Earth, like there are other continents, countries and islands outside of the Union and the Confederation. It doesn't mean I'm some sort of heavenly creature better than you, I'm just another person. It's just that my planet is... was... a long way away. But I'm as mortal as you. I just travel in a ship from place to place, same as you would travel in a steamer or sail ship from port to port. My ship is just a bit more advanced," she explained, putting a hand on the bridge of her nose.
Jake got up and sat down in a chair, leaning forward, still a bit shocked but at least a bit more steady. "Wow, when you said you were exotic I didn't think you were that exotic. So, just another mortal in this world... er... universe. So there's life... up there..." He pointed up. "Life that isn't angels or demons, but just life that is mortal and from other places that are different. Like Europe and India."
"Yes, just like that." The Doctor laughed. "Some of it is amazing. Some frightening. Some friendly... some not."
"Doesn't sound so different as here," he said. "And you travel in ships?"
"Yes."
"How? I mean, we haven't even got machines that fly. Perhaps we might, seeing as we have machines that now travel on metal rails, but that would mean you can fly, right?"
"Yes."
"That's just amazing. But why are you here? What have we got that you don't?" he asked.
She sighed. "Remember what Jenny said about me. That much is true. I'm here to help. And then I'll leave. I may look as you do, but I'm not the same."
"Why are you so sad?" he asked, and she looked up at him in shock. "I'm sorry, that was too forward of me."
"No, Jake, that was perceptive of you. I... outside of Jenny and Donna... I am very rare in the universe now. My kind is almost... well... extinct. We were nearly wiped out in a war and much of my family is dead. I only have Jenny, my son and a great-grandmother left from my entire family." She swallowed. "It's not exactly something I like to talk about."
Jake leaned back, suddenly understanding. "I'm guessing you're longer lived than our little human race."
"Much. My grandfather was a few thousand years old, near as anyone can guess, when he died. My great-grandmother, his mother, is a few more on him and looks as you do. I'm nearly a hundred and fifty, which is young, and my son is just nearing a hundred and is only a very, very young man. A teen to you."
Jake shook his head. "Your life is so different but yet so much the same. I can see why, especially now, being so superficial as to colour of skin is so meaningless. It is even more clear now that it was before I met you." He leaned forward and took her hand. "And for that you have my most profound thanks."
The town meeting that afternoon didn't go much better than the 'meeting' earlier that day with the mayor. All four showed, and the Doctor let Donna appear to take the lead. "What I don't understand is why we need her," said one person in the crowd.
"If not for her, we wouldn't have even had the lead we currently have. She was brave enough to not hide behind closed doors praying the monster under the bed was going to come and get her - she ran out to save someone. Something I don't see any of you doing!" boomed the Sheriff's voice. "I asked, time and again, for deputies. No one stepped forward. These three did so. I'd say you need to be a bit more appreciative of that fact."
There was a long and uncomfortable silence in the hall. "Well, be that as it may, the original problem stands. We have live witnesses who saw what happened. Now we know who to look for and can form a posse to go hunt the murdering bastard down."
"What we saw wasn't human," said the Doctor.
"If it ain't human, what is it?" asked a man in the back corner.
The Sheriff was silent for a time. "Not sure. Some sort of beast. Nasty, too. The Doctor here chased it off, but saw which way it headed."
"Then we form a hunting party... kill it before it kills more people," said the Mayor.
The next day, bright and early found the Sheriff, as well as the Doctor and Jenny sat on the horses as the others also mounted up. "I still say we don't need them," said one of the men darkly. "It'd be best for womenfolk to stay behind. They'd only slow us down."
"I still think it'd be best if we went ahead on our own... you'd only get in the way," retorted the Doctor in a rare showing of temper.
Both Jenny and Donna stared at her in shock, and she sighed. "This era is already getting to me," she said softly so only they heard. "Let's get this over with so we can go back to the TARDIS."
Finally they rode out, following in the direction as the Doctor had saw the creature head to. The area didn't have much in the way of cover although the hills were rolling. "We'll follow the Trinity," said the Sheriff "According to you, the direction seems to be going up river."
As they rode, the Doctor noticed who tended to band together and who avoided the other. The Sheriff led them, followed by the Doctor and then the rest of the men who decided they were joining them, and then by Jenny in the back. They rode for the morning, and eventually reached Oak Cliff, a small town that sat closest to Dallas itself. "Well, we never received reports from here about any strange killings at night," mentioned the Sheriff as the other town's sheriff came out to meet them.
"Jake, I don't usually see you up this far."
"Hello Cal. Dallas has been in a bit of trouble these past weeks, as you know. Are you sure there's been no sign this way?" asked the Sheriff
"Not one. Had a bit of trouble a while back, but it was a drunk and we threw 'im out of the saloon and he slept it off at the inn. Don't tell me you rode all this way with a posse seeking out something as minor as that," said the other sheriff
"I wish it was, but no... we finally had a witness see which direction our problem run off to. Said he ran up river. Thought maybe you might have saw someone come into town."
"Nope. At least, not from your way. Had a few of them Mormons, but nothin' else. Anything else I can help with?"
"No, thanks anyway Cal. We'll head back and disappoint our mayor. Maybe we'll catch a different break."
They turned the horses around, waving to the other sheriff as they left. "Well, that was a bust," said the Sheriff
The Doctor shook her head. "Not so. It did head up the Trinity. Is there any other place it could have changed direction to head to?"
"Maybe the bush, but other than that, nope," answered one of the men in the back. "If what you say is true and it wasn't a man but some sort of beast, then we don't need a posse, we need a huntin' party."
"So this was a waste of time?" asked Jenny, puzzled.
"Nah, little lady, we rode up to Oak Cliff, confirmed the farthest it could have gone in the direction it ran off to, and closed the search area up some," said another. "We're closing in on it, that's for sure. Maybe on our way back... we'll ride a little slower to see if we catch other details we might have missed, see if there was any tracks."
They rode back into town, dusty and tired. The Doctor slid off the horse and walked into the sheriff's office to sit down and put her head on the desk. Donna looked up from the filing cabinet, walked over and gave the Doctor a fresh cup of tea. "Thanks, Donna."
"Any luck?"
"Not really, no, but we have a better idea of its range. It headed off towards the Trinity River, but it didn't cross it or go up river like we thought. Nor did it go down river, according to the other posse that went that way. That means it's either here in town, but somewhere near the river, or it went east," answered the Doctor after she drained half her cup in two gulps. "I think I'm going to take a nap. Wake me at sunset."
"Sure, no problem."
The Doctor went upstairs, the weariness plain in the way she moved. Moments later, Jenny bounded in, her eyes bright. "Is that tea?" she asked.
"Yes," answered Donna. "So, what is the plan now?"
"Well, it appears to be a matter of waiting until sundown and for the creature to come out, then corral it and chase it down. The Doctor's plan is to use that only to also chase it to the TARDIS, herd it onto the TARDIS and have the TARDIS put it into a room that is closest to its natural habitat, find out where it comes from and return it home. We're going to have to run like mad, since she figures it will be at this point our backup will become a lynch mob that will be out to likely arrest us or kill us, she's not sure which," answered Jenny quietly, and then she grinned. "Exciting! Is it always like this?"
Donna let her head sink down so that it suddenly rested on the top of the filing cabinet. "Yes... far too often... it's just like this."
The only thing left was to wait for sunset.
The Doctor spent it sleeping, while Donna spent it wandering the soon to be historical core of the town. Modern Dallas, in Donna's time, was not the tiny village it was now. It was this once in a lifetime chance to see it as it had been when it all began. Jenny, having no idea and therefore not as 'lost' as Donna, spent her remaining hours with the Sheriff as he wandered the town on his rounds.
As the sun began to cast longer and longer shadows, they wandered back to the office where the Doctor served a rather large dinner.
Jenny and Donna stayed inside to do the dishes while the Doctor and the Sheriff went back out to the porch to watch the sun go down over the Trinity River. "I get this feeling that one way or the other this is the last time we'll do this."
"I have every intention of ending this nightmare for your city tonight, Sheriff"
"City?" he asked, puzzled.
"As you said, the rail will change many things."
"Yeah, but..." He shook his head. "You are a strange on, I'll give you that. So... will I ever see you again?"
She blinked in surprise at the sudden turn in the conversation. "Jake, I think..."
"If the answer is no, Susan, just let me hope." He turned back to the setting sun. "I'm not usually a man that likes uncertainty, but I don't think I could handle the thought of not ever seeing you again."
"Jake..." the Doctor turned to look at him. "There is a good chance that many will die tonight. And no matter what happens, I doubt you'll see me again... or that you'll want to... but I have been surprised in the past by my own life. So perhaps you will."
"I can handle that at least. Gives a man hope."
Not only did those in the Sheriff's office wait in nervous anticipation, so did most of the town. There was more than one lantern lit all throughout the town. Finally, the Doctor, having enough of waiting, ventured outside, sonic in hand. The Sheriff, with his rifle at the ready followed.
She turned to Jenny and Donna. "You head that way, Jake and I will head this way. Meet back up in the next street. We'll sweep the town street by street. Make yourselves as noticeable as possible. Maybe we can lure it out into the open."
With the Sheriff escorting her, the Doctor turned to the south and began to walk down the street, looking into each alley. Finally, they heard the screech of something in between a coyote and eagle, and then the frightened scream of a child. "Help!" cried a boy in the distance.
The Doctor ran towards the sound and Jake hurried to keep up. Donna! Jenny! South by southeast of the office!
On our way, came Donna's telepathic response.
Turning another corner, she saw the creature, not quite touching a young boy who crouched, crying in fear, hands all but digging into his eyes as he desperately tried not to look. The Doctor kept her gaze on the creature, which strangely seemed perplexed but also aggressive... passively... but still aggressive as it circled, screeching and squawking, trying to be where the child would look.
It was then the Doctor figured out why the creature hunted. "Don't look at the creature," said the Doctor to the Sheriff, relaying the same to Jenny and Donna telepathically. "If you see it directly, that's its cue to kill. If you don't see it, it won't attack you."
Jake kept his gun at the ready, but stared at the ground, at the shadow of the beast. The Doctor stepped forward, and, holding the sonic up, looked directly at the creature and into its eyes. "That's right, you, I see you."
It backed off the child, and hissed its displeasure but didn't seem to wish to attack her. She realized the other half. Fear. It was a predator, which meant two things. First was the instinct to kill was off the sense of sight. If it was seen, it would kill if the creature saw it. No fear meant another predator that was either its equal or higher up on the food chain. Because the Doctor exhibited no fear and even approached it while looking directly at it, it clearly felt that she was the aggressor.
Now it would go one of two ways. Either it would run like it had before or it would attack in response to what it perceived as her challenge. If it ran, they'd be back to square one.
She needed it to attack her, and unfortunately, it would have to be put down. It was an aggressive predator in an ecology that had no challenger for it. She would have loved to had tried to find its natural environment but that wasn't an option here. There was too many innocents at risk.
Jenny and Donna were not close enough. It was just her and Jake.
The Doctor didn't hesitate but ran in and right up to the creature, buzzing it in the face with the sonic screwdriver. "Run!" she shouted to the child and, thankfully, he did.
She felt a light touch and knew that the original vision had come from him, but she didn't have time to think about it now. The creature reared up and bared its claws, and Jake came alive at the same time, shooting his gun above its head to discourage it from escaping. The hybrid crouched, and coiled up, as it and the Doctor circled each other. Jake pulled out a mirror, and then his revolver as he ducked around the corner, using the mirror to aim and watch the fight.
Now that he had a better look he knew she didn't stand a prayer on her own.
The creature lashed out with a claw, and he was surprised to see her move before his eye actually manage to track the movement. The creature reared up again and he fired above its head to bring it back down. The Doctor ducked in, striking it above what could have been an elbow, making one arm hang uselessly, rolled under its legs and behind it, kicking at the back of a knee and then neatly sweeping out its legs with a leg sweep.
It fell heavily to the ground, knocking a bunch of crates and boxes flying. There was a screech of pain and it rolled around in a rage, trying to find its footing, its stunted wings flapping. Finally, it punched into the side of a wooden wall, knocking a lantern over on the other side. The lit lantern fell, broke, and the kerosene oil spread, taking the fire with it. The Doctor backed out of the alley, watching as the building went up and the creature rolled out, its feathers burning as it ran blindly into another building, only to keel over, likely dead. Only... it spread the fire that way.
"Holy mother of God," murmured Jake in shock. "FIRE! FIRE!"
The town came alive as people came out, trying to put out the fires, but they only spread as the wooden buildings, made of dry wood and almost on top of each other, began to burn. Donna, the Doctor and Jenny watched in horror. "Jake! Make a water line with buckets!" called the Doctor, and he whistled.
The townspeople formed a line to pass water and buckets as they fought the fire. The Doctor backed away, taking Donna and Jenny with her. It was then that Jake ran into a building to save a screaming woman... the Doctor tried to follow but watched in horror as the building collapsed on him.
"Jake!" screamed the Doctor, stricken.
"Doctor! There's nothing you can do! He's gone," Donna grabbed her before she could follow him. "He's gone... and it's time we were too."
From a distance, when the sun rose over the smouldering and blackened ruins of Dallas, three women watched a town pick its way out of the wreckage. "In July 1860 a fire would rip through Dallas," said the Doctor, as if by rote. "The townsfolk would blame the slaves, and run the abolitionists out. In a way, its better Jake died before he could see innocent people murdered by neighbours and run out of a town he saved from a creature that would have hunted every single last person down as food before moving to the next. Come on, it's time we moved on."
A child ran up to the blue box, remembered the voice of a woman who had saved him the night before. Having followed her he was shocked to see the box fade from view as if it had never been.
He stood in the perfectly square, flattened area of prairie grass and looked up in the sky. His mother ran up to him. "Canton! Don't you ever run off on me like that again, do you hear?"
"Yes momma," he answered as he took her hand and followed her back to the farmstead they called home.
NEXT CHAPTER: CRUSH DEPTH
The crew of the TARDIS finds themselves in a future Earth, on an underwater station with an unstable volcanic rift right beside it.
I am so far behind that my own schedule is completely blown. As I said, this "episode" was supposed to be posted right before Hallowe'en. The next chapter was supposed to be posted on November 12th, and then there were a few more in between now and a short "Christmas Special". All of them, even that short piece, aren't going to be posted in time, that's how far behind I am. Hopefully you won't have to wait as long for the next.
Here's our tentative schedule:
4 - Crush Depth (was supposed to be for November 12th, now will be ASAP)
5 - The Inquisitor - Part One (supposed to be November 28th, now ASAP)
6 - An Empire in Flames - Part Two (supposed to be December 2nd, now ASAP)
7 - State of Grace (supposed to be December 17th, now ASAP)
SPECIAL - December 21st, will be posted on time, but will be slightly out of order... however, as previous chapters are posted, it will be moved to be behind them so it remains generally in the correct order.
8 - The Net (January 6th, 2012)
9 - Time Lord Influenza (January 20th, 2012)
10 - Area 51 (February 3rd, 2012)
11 - Master and Commander (February 17th, 2012)
12 - The Miracle - Part One (March 2nd, 2012)
13 - House Paradox - Part Two (March 16th, 2012)
Further Specials TBA, but I have two more specials planned and one will be a two-parter to finish out Season Two.
Hopefully I'll catch up before New Year's so that we can be back on track.