Chapter Four
The Doctor and Rain slowly made their way to the console room. Everyone else was behind them and every once in awhile the TARDIS would lurch and they would grunt as they were thrown up against the walls.
"Oh God, I hope we get to the console room in one piece," Awinita said, finally keeping her body up against the wall.
"What's going on?" Mingxia asked.
"The last time this happened, Imiko was responsible," Awinita said.
Rain looked back at her and looked at the Doctor.
"Imiko? If it's her, why would she be summoning us?" she said.
"If it is her, I hope she doesn't tear my ship apart summoning us because I'll wring her Kitsune neck!" the Doctor grunted when there was another violent lurch and he was shoved back up against the wall.
They finally made it to the console room and tried to keep on their feet while they quickly moved to the console. The Doctor glanced down at the jump seat and saw the two dogs under it, whimpering in fear. They got around the console and worked frantically trying to get it under control again. He cursed when nothing worked.
"No wonder I have to keep repairing my ship!" he yelled while everyone held on for dear life.
Suddenly, the TARDIS landed hard and the Doctor was propelled back onto the jump seat while everyone else was thrown to the floor. He tried to see where they landed but the monitor shut off before he could see the readout.
"Right, I'm gonna have a word with Miss Fox Spirit about devising a smoother way to bring us to her," he said.
He looked around at his family who were struggling to get up.
"Everyone alright?" he said, standing up.
"I will be once my cracked ribs mend," Alan said, groaning as he grabbed hold of the console rim.
The Doctor felt the dogs nudge his legs and looked down at them.
"Are you two alright?" he asked, petting them while they slowly came out from under the jump seat.
They wagged their tails and licked his hands in response.
They all looked towards the door waiting for it to open but nothing happened. Finally, Awinita pulled out her sonic screwdriver and tentatively went towards the door.
"Careful, Te'lesu," Alan said.
"No worries, Bro," she replied. "I figured I'd be the welcome wagon since you and Bro and Rose and Rain aren't exactly dressed for it."
"Yeah, well the four of us didn't have time to throw some proper kit on since we were preoccupied with the crisis at hand," he replied, gesturing to his boxer shorts.
Awinita paused by the door while Donna, Mingxia and Jenny came up behind her.
"Imiko?" Awinita yelled through the door. "Are you out there?"
She paused and listened through the door for a response. When she didn't hear anything, she unlocked it and slowly opened the door, screwdriver at the ready. The Doctor noticed the dogs starting to follow her.
"Sit!" he said to them.
Both of them sat and watched quietly while the Doctor turned his attention back to his sister who was slowly opening the door. She stuck her head out and looked around while the other three women came down the ramp behind her.
"See anything?" Donna asked.
"Not yet," Awinita replied.
She opened the door further and stepped outside. She noticed they were in the woods, just at the edge of a large field. She stepped outside, stepped through the trees and stood in the field while she looked around.
"Do you see Imiko?" Rose asked.
"No. All I see is a farm," Awinita said, pointing off to her right.
She hesitated a moment and looked back at the TARDIS and her family standing inside watching her.
"Imiko?" Awinita called as she ventured further away.
She looked around again and shrugged.
"I don't see her, guys," she said.
The Doctor looked at Alan.
"So why are we here then?" he said to him.
"Um, I'm not sure. But you know the last time this happened before Imiko came along, you got pulled to Messaline and ended up with a kid so I'd keep your hands firmly in your pockets this time," he said.
By now all four women were outside in the field looking around them. The Doctor glanced at Rain, Rose and Alan.
"I think it's safe enough for us to go back and get dressed," he said to them.
They nodded and told the other women where there were going.
"Stay by the TARDIS till we get outside," the Doctor said.
"We will," Mingxia replied.
The Doctor closed the door. Alan grabbed the puppies and followed the others back to their bedrooms. In the meantime, the women walked a few feet away and examined their surroundings. They were in the middle of a field of tall grass with a large farm a half mile to their right and another farm off to their left, far away in the distance. There was a gap in the field that they assumed was made by a road or path and then another field stretched on past that. They stared at the farm closest to them. There was a white two story house with a wooden wraparound porch, a red barn with a silo and a large, white wooden fence that had several cows and two brown horses contained within it. Off to the side was a large garden containing an assortment of vegetables. They heard a rooster crowing faintly but couldn't see a chicken coop from where they were standing.
"Very rustic," Donna commented. "What's the monster gonna be? A killer cow or a gigantic zombie chicken?"
"If there even is a monster," Mingxia said.
"Oh, I'm sure there's some kind of monster somewhere," Donna replied.
Awinita looked closely at the farm.
"I don't see a car," she said, "or tractors or farm equipment."
Ten minutes later, the door opened and the other four stepped out, fully dressed.
"Have you determined why we're here yet?" the Doctor said, closing the door and stepping through the trees.
"Nope," Awinita said. "So far we've just been staring at this farm. But there's no sign of anyone there except the horses, cows and a rooster."
"No sign of anyone, anywhere," Mingxia added.
"Well, at least we don't have to worry about monsters for the moment," the Doctor said.
"Hey!" Jenny said.
They looked at her. She was pointing at the gap between the fields. They saw a dark brown horse pulling a black two person buggy in between it, confirming that it was a road.
"Okay, um…are we in the 1800's?" Mingxia said. "I mean the farm doesn't have any sign of a car and there's a horse and buggy."
"Yeah, but…they could be Amish," Awinita said. "Amish don't have any cars, live on farms and drive horse and buggies like that."
Alan looked at the Doctor.
"So the TARDIS decided she just had to go visit the Amish?" he said.
"There must be some reason why we were brought here," he said. "And perhaps the answer is at this farm. So, I say we go up to the house, knock on the door and see who lives there."
They walked towards it. While they did, they kept an eye out for any signs of human life but they couldn't see anyone.
"Um, is anyone even home?" Donna asked.
"If they're Amish, maybe they went to help neighbors with building a barn or somethin'," Rose suggested.
"Great," Mingxia said. "And with our luck, we'll get the militant Amish who shoot trespassers on sight."
Awinita stopped short. They looked at her.
"What is it, Sis?" Rose said.
"I just had a thought."
"And that thought is?" the Doctor said.
"Um…if this is the 1800's, I think Rain and I better hang back behind you guys."
"Why?" Rain asked.
Awinita held up her hand and pointed to her skin.
"1800's, Rain, possibly somewhere in America for all we know and we're Indians?"
Rain shrugged.
"So, we're just walking up to the house. We're not riding ponies towards it at full speed with war paint on our bodies and tomahawks in our hands."
"Yeah but that didn't matter to some people. You do remember a popular saying in the 1800's was the only good Indian is a dead Indian?"
"Not to worry, Te'lesu, if anyone thinks of harming you or Rain they'll have six angry people throttling them in a heartbeat," Alan said.
"Well, you might have to protect me then," Mingxia said. "Chinese people weren't exactly popular in the 1800's either. I might get sent to work on a railroad somewhere."
"Well, if we're following your lot's logic," Alan said, "it could also be 1812 which means those of us with British accents will be tarred and feathered. Before we get nervous and think these people are going to start shooting and enslaving us, let's just go up to the house and see if anyone's even home. We're not even sure we're in America yet, so just calm down, okay?"
They nodded and started walking again. When they got about twenty feet from the house, the front door opened and two young children came out on the porch. They stopped and stared at them. Both of them were wearing light blue loose dresses that came down to their ankles, peach and white colored bonnets that covered the top of their long brown hair and Doc Martins.
"Okay, I definitely think this is the 1800's then," Awinita said.
The children stared at them quietly. The Doctor walked around his family and headed towards them.
"Hello there, I'm the Doctor, are your parents home?" he called to them.
The older of the two children walked to the edge of the porch.
"Yes, they are, Sir," she said with an American accent while the younger one stood back against the door.
The Doctor paused about five feet from her and gave her a warm smile.
"Well, we're traveling and my family and I were wondering if we might come in and rest awhile?" he asked.
The child shrugged.
"Wait here. I'll ask my Pa," she said.
The Doctor nodded and watched while the two of them went inside. He looked around when the rest of his family came up behind him.
"Well, so far, so good," he said. "She had a southern accent so we must be somewhere in the American south.
The door opened and a man in his mid forties came outside and stared at them. He had a thin face with a square jaw, long thin nose, light brown hair and light blue eyes. He gave them a suspicious look.
"Ya'll travelin'?" he said with a heavy southern accent.
"Yes. I'm the Doctor and this is my family. We're traveling and we were wondering if we might rest awhile."
Awinita backed up nervously and stood beside Rain when the man's scrutinizing gaze settled on them. He looked from them to Mingxia and back.
"Ya'll got an oriental and two Indians in your family?" he said to the Doctor.
"Yes, we adopted them."
The man looked at the rest of them.
"The only one who resembles ya is the fella in the back," he said, pointing to Alan.
"Yes, that's my twin brother, Alan. This is his wife, Rose. This is Jenny…she's…the daughter of my first wife. And the rest of my sisters are adopted. This is Donna, Mingxia, Awinita…."
He stepped up to Rain and took her hand.
"And this is my second wife, Rain."
He noticed a shocked look pass over his face for a moment and he stared at him, silently daring him to say something derogatory to her face. But to his credit, the man merely nodded.
"Name's Joseph Sanders," he said. "My two girls are Amelia and Opal. Amelia's the one ya talked to. She's eight and Opal's six."
"You had children late in life," the Doctor noted.
He nodded.
"First wife died. My other wife, Patience, is inside. We're cookin' some vittles if ya wanna join us. Nothin' fancy, just some chicken and fried potatoes and corn pone, but we have enough for all of ya."
"Thank you, much obliged," the Doctor said.
He beckoned to them and they went up the stairs into the house.
"So, what brings ya'll to Georgia?" he said while they stepped inside.
"Um, just…traveling around America, seeing the sights," the Doctor said, looking at the wooden wall beside him and the framed cross stitch sampler hanging on it.
"Ya'll lookin' to get yourself killed?"
"Killed?" the Doctor said, frowning.
"Tarnation, doncha know there's a war goin' on?" he said.
"No, we just got off a boat from England a few days ago," the Doctor said, shrugging.
"And they don't know about the war over there?"
"They might but we live in a very rural area," the Doctor replied. "What war is it?"
"The War Between The States. Our boys are fighting those damn Yankees."
The Doctor's mouth formed an O.
Well, that narrows the time down considerably, he thought to the others.
"So this ya first time to America? I mean, if you got two Indians…"
"No, actually, we were here before about twenty years ago. We had a friend whose Cherokee wife died and she had two daughters so we took them back with us since he didn't have enough money to support them and my brother here raised them. I fell in love with Rain and when she was old enough, I married her."
Imagine that, Sis, you're Cherokee now, Awinita thought to her.
"Hmm, never been to England before. We never had enough money to travel that far," he said, leading them into the kitchen.
Rain poked her husband's side and he glanced at her while they stood by the kitchen table.
Watch this, Love, she thought to him.
She cleared her throat.
"Oh, England is positively delightful," she said with a perfect cockney accent. "My sister and I love it so."
Whoa! Good job, Sis, Alan thought to her with a huge grin on his face.
Yup, I definitely love being a Time Lady and knowing all the different languages and accents, Rain thought back to him.
She glanced at the Doctor and he winked and gave her a proud smile.
Oh yeah, two can play at this game, Awinita thought.
"Yes, England is a lovely country. So different from our native land here," she said with another perfect cockney accent.
"Yes, I do enjoy living in England. It's jolly nice," Mingxia said with a cockney accent.
The rest of the family had to fight to keep from laughing.
See guys, I can do it too, Mingxia thought.
What is this? A British accent pissing contest between the three of you? Alan thought back.
The three women bit their lips hard to keep from laughing.
"Have a seat, well…some of ya at any rate. Dunno where my wife is at but she should be along presently. I'll try to find her and tell her ya'll are here," he said to them.
He left the room. The brothers let the women sit down and Jenny, Donna, Awinita and Mingxia sat while Rose and Rain stood by their husbands.
Oh goody, Awinita thought to her family. We've landed in the deep south during the Civil War. Are we gonna be in our own personal Gone with the Wind then since we're in Georgia? Cause I'm betting Sherman will be through here in a few minutes torching everything in sight.
Maybe we're here to free the slaves? Rain thought.
How? Donna thought back. Go from plantation to plantation with the TARDIS, crowd em all in there and take them to Canada?
No, that's not the reason why we're here, the Doctor mentally assured them. There's something else and I'm sure it has something to do with this farmhouse.
They heard a gasp, jerked their heads around and saw a woman standing in the kitchen doorway staring at them in complete shock.
"Mercy me, who are all of you and what are ya'll doin' in my kitchen?" she said.
Apparently, Joseph didn't find his wife in time to tell her about us, Alan thought to them.
"Um, I'm the Doctor. This is my family. We're traveling and we just stopped for a rest. Your husband let us in and went to find you to tell you but I guess he missed you."
"I guess so," she said, looking at everyone.
She noticed Mingxia, Rain and Awinita.
"All of these people are your family?" she asked.
Yes, lady, we're his family, Awinita thought, annoyed. I'm sorry if you think it isn't possible for people to adopt Indians and Chinese as their sisters and take them for their wives.
The Doctor told her what he told Joseph. While he was talking, Joseph entered with their daughters.
"Ah, there you are, my Darling," he said, walking up to her.
The Doctor finished his explanation and Patience looked at her husband.
"Ya shoulda come and told me first. But ya'll are welcome here and we do have enough for you to eat. So ya'll go and wash up and we'll set a place for ya and find some more chairs."
The Doctor thanked her and nodded to his family. They stood up, listened to Joseph's directions to the bathroom and then went to wash their hands.