A/N: Ok, so I failed in catching up to the show by the time the fourth season ended… But let's just pretend that, being an American, I was going by the US airing schedule; that way, I've still got three weeks! Yay!
As always, thanks to everyone for sticking with the story… Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Whoniverse.
Entry #15
The TARDIS landed with a jolt as we materialized in yet another unknown location (the Doctor had been in one of his "let's-set-the-TARDIS-to-random!" moods lately). I picked up the pens that had scattered on the floor and placed them back on my desk before heading out to the control room.
I met Donna in the hall on the way, and we walked together into the control room to find a grinning Doctor. "What's got you so happy?" she asked.
"Our latest landing site!" the Doctor answered, gesturing at the TARDIS doors. "Beyond those doors lies the moon Saffron, so called because the sky is the color of saffron flowers. Not only is it beautiful, but the moon is one giant, continuous fair! Games, attractions, music, food… All the good stuff!" He bounced a bit on the balls of his feet. "Supposedly, the fair started on the moon's planet, Celadon; but, because it kept constantly growing, within three years the fair had to relocate to the moon, which it has all to itself."
"Sounds like fun," I said, nodding. Donna nodded in agreement.
"Molto bene!" the Doctor exclaimed brightly. "In that case, ladies, follow me…"
He led the way out of the TARDIS and onto Saffron. The Doctor was right: it was beautiful. The sky was a deep, light purple-blue color (like a sunset, but brighter, since the sun was still in the sky), and the grass and leaves were purplish-pink. We seemed to have landed, conveniently, on the side of some sort of parking lot, and we could hear the lively sounds of the fair coming from somewhere ahead of us.
"You know what's great about this trip, too, is it sounds harmless," Donna said as she shut the TARDIS door behind her. "Unless you plan on, I don't know, drowning in the dunking booth or something."
"Personally, I wouldn't recommend going anywhere near a dunking booth to begin with," the Doctor put in. "You just wind up soaked and chilly, with your clothes sticking to you and your hair a mess – and thus, you spend the rest of the day miserable."
Donna raised an eyebrow at him. "Sounds to me like you've had a bad experience with a dunking booth."
"I was trying to humor Sarah Jane!" he cried as we walked towards the sounds of the fair. (The fact that Donna wouldn't know who Sarah Jane is didn't seem to bother him). "It's not my fault she 'forgot' to tell me that she has incredible aim – and a surprisingly strong arm," he sighed. "I never thought she'd actually hit that tiny little target and dunk me. She and Harry didn't let that go for months…"
But I was putting things together. "Harry and Sarah Jane, you said? But that must mean you were…" I burst out laughing, a not-so-flattering image of the Fourth Doctor flashing into my head. "Oh, no, your hair! When it dried, you must have been an absolute puff-ball!"
"As it happens, yes, my hair was a bit puffier than usual, thank you," the Doctor responded grumpily.
"I can't picture you with puffy hair at all," Donna mused. "Spiky, yeah, but puffy…" She grinned smugly. "Don't have a picture of this day by any chance, do you?"
"No," the Doctor snapped, looking embarrassed (and quite like if/when he ever saw Sarah Jane again, she'd be getting an earful). "And hey, look at that," he added quickly, clearly trying to change the subject, "I think I can see the fence designating the boundary of the fairgrounds not too far ahead!" He started zipping away towards the newly-visible fence.
"Oi!" Donna called, as the two of us sped up to follow the Doctor. "Wait for us!"
Before long, we'd reached the fairgrounds. Entrance was free, but some of the various rides, games, attractions, and food were not; luckily, there were futuristic ATMs scattered about, and the Doctor was able to sonic one into giving us what seemed like plenty of cash. (Well, coins, actually – apparently, Celadon and Saffron don't use paper money.)
"So," the Doctor grinned, once the money had been split up amongst the three of us, "where to first?"
We decided, in the end, to just wander around, since none of us had actually been to Saffron before, and thus didn't know what there was to go to. I noticed, in our wandering, that Saffron – or at least the Fair – was very diverse: fair-goers and employees alike were of all different species. Most of them I didn't recognize, but I definitely saw a good number of humans; I also saw some New Earth cat-people, and some of the blue humanoid aliens from the Face of Boe's end-of-the-Earth party. We also passed a lot of interesting food stalls, eventually pausing at one (manned by a very perky cat-man) so the Doctor could treat Donna and me to this cupcake-like dessert that tasted differently with every bite. There were a lot of trinket-selling kiosks, too; Donna tried to stop at one selling hats, but the Doctor wouldn't let her. ("You made me carry that stupid hat box of yours onto the TARDIS, and you haven't worn a single one of those hats yet!" he exclaimed. "Whatever is possessing you to think that you'll wear this one!?")
It was as the Doctor was dragging Donna away from the hats that I noticed the crowd of people a few yards ahead, gathering around an empty stage. A few seconds later, a brightly-dressed human man stepped onto the stage from the tent behind it, bringing much applause from the audience. He waved to the crowd, then bent down to pick something up that I couldn't see (there were heads in the way). He stood back up and started to juggle whatever it was that he had picked up. I shaded my eyes from the sun and squinted to try and see exactly what it was he was juggling, because if I didn't know any better, I would have said it was…
"Oh, my God, it is!" I exclaimed suddenly, causing the Doctor and Donna to stop their bickering over the hats and look at me, puzzled. I pointed at the juggler. "That guy over there, the one juggling! He's juggling geese!" I laughed. "Oh, wow, some people really do juggle geese!"
Donna just tilted her head at me, and the Doctor said, "Um… I feel that I might have missed the part where that's… been rumored?"
I laughed again. "No, don't worry, it was on a TV show, where I came from."
"There was a TV show about geese jugglers in your dimension?" Donna asked, surprised.
"Oh, no! Not a whole show," I explained, "it was just a casual reference… Some of the characters were talking about something being a strange custom, and one guy said, 'Well, you know, some people juggle geese!'" The Doctor and Donna didn't seem to quite get why it was so funny, but it didn't bother me. "You kind of had to have watched Firefly, I guess," I told them. "But can we go watch the juggler? Please? Just for a little while?"
"I don't see any harm in it," the Doctor said. "Might as well, then."
"Don't see any harm in it?" Donna asked as we walked towards the stage. "I'm pretty sure that juggling geese could be considered harmful to the geese!" She looked rather upset. "I'm going to have a word with this juggler, I think, when he's done his shtick…"
"Relax, Donna," the Doctor said, meandering through the crowd so we could see more clearly, "I'm sure that they aren't real geese. They're probably mechanical or stuffed or something."
"Oh, no, they're quite real," a woman's even voice said from behind us. We turned around to see a well-dressed, strikingly beautiful woman, maybe in her early thirties. She was also a human, like the juggler, and was smiling pleasantly (although slightly coolly) at us. "My brother and I have trained our geese since their birth," she explained, gesturing to the juggler, "to know exactly how to behave during the juggling routine. I assure you," she said, looking at Donna, "that our geese aren't harmed even one tiny bit. They know exactly what they're doing, as does my brother."
"Oh," Donna responded, thrown for a loop. "Well, then… That's good, I suppose… Sorry I just assumed…"
"I'm just happy to have cleared things up for you," the woman smiled. "If you have any other questions, please, feel free to stop by our tent at any time – we love to have audience members come back to meet us, and our geese, and we'll be happy to tell you whatever you'd like to know." She pulled three business cards out from a pocket on her dress. "These have our location here at the Fair, just in case you forget where we are." She handed Donna and I our cards, then slid the Doctor's, rather flirtatiously, into the pocket on his suit jacket. "I do very much hope you'll decide to stop by again," she said seductively. And then, she slipped back into the crowd.
"Well," the Doctor said, blinking, "that was different. I mean, it started off normally enough, but it ended rather… oddly." He shook his head. "So! Geese juggling!" he suddenly said cheerily, turning to watch the juggler. Donna and I just shrugged at each other (which was quickly becoming a habit for us), and watched the juggling as well.
After the show, the woman from earlier joined her brother on stage for the bows. The juggler, I'd noticed, seemed to be a few years older than his sister (mid-thirties, maybe). It was easy to tell that the two were related: they both had the same pale skin, nearly-black hair, and stone-colored eyes. They also were both gorgeous.
"Thank you all so much for watching," the juggler said in the same amicable but very even tone his sister had used with the Doctor, Donna, and me before. "I'm Darien Archer, and this is my sister, Willow." Willow waved at the crowd as they cheered for her, too. "The Saffron Fair – back when it was still just my sister's and my town's fair – started with this little attraction," he said proudly, "and it's only with support from people like you that we've grown to this size!"
"Oh, so these two are the owners of the whole Fair!" I noted, and the Doctor nodded to say that I was right.
"For those of you who aren't aware," Willow took over, "our tent is always open to our audience members. So, if you have any questions about our show, or the Fair in general, please feel free to stop in. We'll be closed for a few minutes as we organize ourselves after the show, but if you just wait outside the tent, we'll let you in as soon as we're ready."
"Thank you again for watching, and enjoy the rest of the Fair!" Darien finished with a brilliant grin (I hate to admit it, but it might actually have rivaled the Doctor's). Darien and Willow then walked off stage, and slipped through the flap-doors to their tent.
Most people in the crowd turned to go about the rest of their day, but I noticed that a few were following the siblings to the tent. I looked up at the Doctor. "What do you think? Should we take them up on their offer?"
"Sure would make that Willow woman happy," Donna added pointedly, clearly referencing Willow's desire for the Doctor to come by to see her.
But the Doctor shook his head. "Nah, it's going to be really crowded in there if we go now. The tent isn't all that big," he pointed out, gesturing at the Archers' tent. "Might as well wait till it's not right after a show – they did say that their tent is 'always' open, after all."
"In that case," I said, "anyone object to finding a drink stand? I don't know about you guys, but that cake thing from before made me really thirsty."
This time it was Donna who shook her head. "You know, I think I'm going to take my chances with the Archers' tent, actually," she told us. "It didn't seem like that many people went in, and I really do want to find out how they trained their geese so that they aren't hurt in the routine. Besides," she added with a cheeky smile, "I wouldn't mind getting the chance to talk to that Darien…"
"I don't know, Donna," the Doctor started, "there's just something about the Archer siblings that seems off to me. They're almost too perfect, or something… I'd rather the three of us go together; I don't feel comfortable when somebody just goes wand – "
But Donna interrupted. "I know, I know, 'No wandering off,'" she said rolling her eyes. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself. At the very least, I can handle a couple of fair-owning geese-jugglers. What are they gonna do, have their geese peck me to death?" She gave a small chuckle. "Honestly, Doctor, they're harmless. I don't think they're 'too perfect.' But I do think that you're looking for trouble that doesn't exist, not this time."
"Alright," the Doctor sighed reluctantly, "but seriously, Donna, just don't leave the geese-juggling area. If you're done with your visit before we're done with our drinks, wait by the stage; we'll meet you there."
"I get it, Spaceman," Donna said with mock annoyance (you could tell that, even if she wasn't saying it, she was appreciative of the Doctor's concern). "I promise I'm not going to decide to wander the Fair on my own. So, if that's all, I'll be going now," she said, walking away towards the Archers' tent.
"There's just no stopping her once she gets an idea in her head, is there?" the Doctor asked, shaking his head.
"I'm thinking no, not so much," I responded.
"Terrific." He sighed, then turned to me, brightening again. "Right, you wanted a drink."
There were stands selling drinks scattered throughout the Fair, but since we happened to be near the section of the Fair apparently designated as the food area, we decided we may as well just head there. I really just wanted a bottled water (they're portable, after all), but the Doctor wanted to try this one stand that had, according to its sign, 312 different fruit juices that they would mix for you in any combination that you wanted. I had to admit I was intrigued, so in the end I settled for buying both a bottled water and a fruit drink made of strawberry, peach, apple, raspberry, and mango juices. (I'm not even going to attempt to list what the Doctor had in his – I swear that he had at least twenty-five fruits, most of them I didn't even recognize. All I know is that he definitely asked for bananas, and definitely left out pears.)
Buying our respective refreshments proved to be a… different experience, though, and so the Doctor looked extremely perplexed (maybe even a little bothered) as he sat down with me at a nearby table. I, however, was looking at him with a bit of disbelief.
"Is it really that odd for you?" I asked, sipping my fruit juice cocktail. "People being all… flirtatious?"
"Yes," the Doctor answered quickly. "Well, no, but, yes, sort of," he continued, confused. "Not this many people, all in the same day! All in the same hour, stranger still…" He ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it pointed in brand-new directions. "First Willow Archer, then not one, but two of her employees; the lady selling water and the lady at the fruit juice stand. All three of them made some sort of flirtatious comment; more specifically, all three of them made some sort of flirtatious comment about wanting me to come by again." He ruffled his hair more vigorously this time. "But why? Why all the similar comments?" He sighed, looking off toward the Archers' tent; then, he suddenly looked back at me. "Really, you don't find this just the slightest bit unusual?"
"Ok, the fact that all three women made flirtatious comments about you coming back was admittedly strange; you'd think they'd each have their own little style of flirting, or something, I suppose…" I mused. "But in another way, it kind of makes sense. I think Donna's right; you're reading too much into this. You're so used to trouble popping up that, one time it's something innocent, you're searching for a problem that isn't there."
"Could be, I suppose…" he muttered with a sigh, and I could tell that he didn't believe it. "I just don't get it, though. Why so many similar comments, in the same place, within less than an hour? It's a pattern, and patterns don't just show up for fun."
"Well," I started with a slight roll of my eyes, "I have my theories, but I'm pretty sure you'd construe them all as 'similar comments.' Which, as it happens, is sort of my point."
"Never mind that; if you've got theories, let's hear…" He trailed off, tilting his head at me and squinting his eyes. "Wait, what?"
I was almost glad that, at that very moment, someone down below the food court area decided to yell out, "What the hell are you doing!?" sparing me having to explain my quip to the Doctor. I say "almost," though, for two reasons: one, because it's never nice to be happy that someone else might be in trouble, even if it helps you; two, because the Doctor and I looked at each other, wide-eyed, as we recognized the voice of the screamer.
"Donna," the Doctor and I said simultaneously, and we bolted away from our drinks and headed toward the Archers' tent.
A/N 2: I was watching "Genesis of the Daleks" earlier this week, to see the original Davros… Because of this, I just had to let the Fourth Doctor poke his head in here, somehow. Yay for Harry and Sarah Jane, too!
