Author's Notes: I hope everyone in the US is enjoying their Labor Day weekend and that the rest of you who are returning to work on school tomorrow have enjoyable Mondays. I'd like to thank you all again for reading and especially those of you signing up for alerts, favoriting, and reviewing. I appreciate the encouragement very much!

Amy waited until Roona was out of the room before tugging her hand away from Rory's grasp.

"What did she say?" she demanded, turning so she was facing him. She was scowling but Rory didn't need telepathy to tell him that under her angry posturing, Amy was scared.

"She's going to talk with the others about helping us," he said, reaching out to catch her hand again. "She was upset when she realized the Doctor had been left behind."

"She was upset," Amy muttered, shaking her head.

"We didn't have a choice, Amy."

"Yeah, that makes me feel much better."

"We'll find him," Rory said.

"That woman…"
"Roona."

"Roona didn't seem optimistic." Amy's voice wavered and Rory was grateful she hadn't been able to hear the Mullette woman's thoughts.

"She doesn't know the Doctor," he said, trying to sound confident. He waited, bracing himself for more questions, but Amy was quiet. Her hand clenched tightly around his and he squeezed back, struggling to keep his face calm as his mind raced. What if he was wrong? What if the Doctor hadn't been able to get away from the mad ones?

His thoughts were disrupted when another of the Mullettes entered the room. She bowed as soon as he looked her way. When she rose Rory recognized one the women who'd brought them the food.

Roona has asked me to show you to the baths while she confers with the others the woman thought at him. If you'll come with me. She gestured toward the doorway, giving them a tight smile. Rory looked down at himself, frowning at the layer of dust on his skin.

"What's happening?" Amy asked. "Where does she want us to go?"

"She's offering to show us to some baths," he said, getting to his feet. He couldn't stand fully without his head brushing the ceiling. Amy rose as well, stooping to avoid hitting her head. They had to duck to get through the doorway.

The blue woman led them through another room, heading for a wooden door. Rory got a glimpse of the furnishings as they passed them. There were more mats near a hearth and a few stools clustered around a long table. The woman opened the door and waved them out into the bright sunshine. Rory winced at the sudden increase in light, squinting at his surroundings. The house they exited was one of several on a narrow street. Each mud-brick home looked much like its neighbors, but the occupants had added little touches. Curtains hung in one home's windows, while another was fronted with flower-beds. The hard-packed dirt road was clear of debris and all the homes seemed to be in good repair.

Three houses to their left was an intersection. The narrow street crossed a wider road. Their guide turned toward in this direction and they moved after her. Rory felt butterflies forming in his stomach. Now that they were outside, he was more aware of the buzz of thoughts coming from the residents. He caught fragments of conversations as they passed houses, just as he would have if the occupants had been speaking. The topics under discussion were ordinary – one family considering what to prepare for supper, two women wondering whether or not an article of clothing could be repaired or should be replaced, a pair of girls arguing over who had neglected to feed a pet – but running like a current under all the mundane chatter was an intense anxiety. The people in this village were worried about something.

Their guide turned right onto the wide street. Rory and Amy followed, continuing to study their surroundings. There were more people out on this road and the hum of telepathic conversations increased until Rory couldn't make out the words anymore. His skin crawled and he could feel himself growing tense. He knew it was at least partly due to not being able to tell what the villagers were thinking but he wondered if some of their anxiety was rubbing off on him as well. The tension in the atmosphere increased the further he walked. A little girl playing in the street went wide-eyed at the sight of him and dashed to cling to her mother's skirts. The woman turned away, taking the child into a nearby house.

The street seemed to get emptier the further they went, though Rory was aware of people watching him from the houses. The telepathic conversations seemed to fade but the feelings of anxiety and fear were increasing. Their guide's steps grew quicker. Rory wanted to ask her what had everyone so nervous, but he didn't think she'd answer him. Aside from her greeting, she hadn't shared any thoughts with him. She walked a few steps ahead of them, never looking back.

The woman finally came to a stop in front of a large building. The structure was framed in brick, with a stone wall running down the center. The exterior walls were made of wooden panels which stopped about a half-foot shy of the ground and the roof to allow for ventilation. There were doorways on either side of the central stone wall.

The baths are inside, the blue woman told Rory. You may use the door on the right. She waved him toward the door and he nodded. Amy moved with him toward the doorway. A woman emerged from the door on their left, her eyes going wide at the sight of them. Rory smiled at her, hoping to be reassuring, but the woman darted away. When he looked back he found their guide frowning at him.

"What was that about?" Amy asked.

"I don't know," he answered, turning back to look at the building. "C'mon, let's get cleaned up." She moved through the door and he stepped after her.

Inside the bath-house, Rory and Amy found basins and hand-pumps along the stone wall. There were wooden tubs along one of the outer walls. At the far end, behind screens woven from reeds, were latrines. The room was surprisingly well-lit and Rory looked around for the source of the light. He spotted mirrors positioned in corners near the ceiling, catching and reflecting the sunlight. Amy motioned for Rory to follow her and stepped to one of the basins.

"Wha…"

"Wait," she murmured, reaching out to start pumping water. Once the water was sloshing into the basin she spoke again, keeping her voice low. "Do you trust these people?"

"They got us away from the ones chasing us," Rory said, frowning. Roona had seemed welcoming and her distress about the Doctor being left behind had felt genuine, but now that Amy raised the question he had to wonder. Could a telepath lie, or project a feeling which wasn't sincere? He had no idea.

"But why were there people chasing us at all?" Amy asked.

"Roona called them the mad ones."

"Mad like insane?"

"I… I guess. She said they weren't chasing us because of anything we did. They would have done it anyway." He took a shaky breath. "She said they were irrational and violent."

"It doesn't make sense. The Doctor said these people were peaceful."

"Maybe he made a mistake, brought us to the wrong place or time."

"Maybe." Amy was clearly skeptical.

"He has made mistakes before."

"Hmph." She shook her head. "There's something strange happening here."

"Amy…"

"Where are all the men?"

"What?"

"We didn't pass a single man on our way here."

"Maybe the men are away hunting or fishing or… something."

"The boys too? All the children we passed were girls." Rory frowned, replaying their walk through the village in his mind. He realized Amy was right; they hadn't passed anyone male on their way to the bath-house.

"What do you think is going on?" he asked.

"I don't know," Amy admitted, "but something's wrong."

"They're nervous about something."

"Did you see the way that one girl reacted to you? And her mother? They weren't just nervous - they were scared. So was the woman we passed outside."

"Yeah."

"Do you know why? Could you… sense anything?"

"I could tell people were anxious but not why." Amy frowned and Rory tried to explain. "It… it was like hearing parts of a lot of different conversations. I just had… impressions of feelings."

"What about that woman? The one who brought us here?"

"I wasn't getting anything from her. She must be shielding her thoughts."

"Speaking of her, I guess we'd better get cleaned up. If we stay in here too long, she'll start to wonder what we're doing," Amy said.

They emerged from the bath-house a few minutes later. They'd found some cloths on a bench and wetted them in the sink before wiping away the worst of the dust. Rory wasn't sure what had happened to their hats, but remembering his had reminded him of the rock which landed on him. While Amy had twisted her hair up onto the back of her head, he's run a hand through his, checking for any bumps or bruises. He'd been relieved not to find any. Amy had tucked in a last pin before glancing at him. At his nod, she'd started for the door and he'd followed. Their guide was waiting where they'd left her. If she found it suspicious that they'd taken so long, she didn't give it away. Her face was expressionless and her thoughts shielded. She motioned for them to follow her before turning to start back down the street. Amy arched a brow at Rory and he shrugged. They moved after the woman.

The wide road they walked along was empty this time. Everyone had retreated into their homes. Rory tried to concentrate on the fragments of thoughts and feelings he could pick up, hoping to pinpoint the cause for the undercurrent of anxiety. The nervous tension was more pronounced on the return trip but he still couldn't pick up any hints as to the cause. He had the strong impression that the villagers were trying very hard not to think about what was bothering them. Their guide kept her thoughts locked away. Once again she stayed a few steps ahead of them and this time she quickened her pace. It was obvious even without hearing her thoughts that she was eager to get away from them.

When they reached Roona's house the woman motioned for them to go inside.

Roona will return shortly with the others' decision, she told Rory. Her face was neutral but he had the feeling she wanted to wrinkle her nose or run away or perhaps both. He'd felt a mixture of scorn and fear coming from her in that instant of communication.

"Thank you for showing us to the baths," he said. The woman ignored his thanks, waving him toward the house.

Please, go inside. He stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out what was bothering her. Was he offending her by speaking? Her face remained a blank and she had her thoughts shielded once more. With a sigh he nodded and turned to the house.

"Come on, Amy. We're supposed to wait inside."