Chapter Fifty Four
They went and told the rest of the family in private what they had discussed and what their plans were. Once they told them about putting the void crossers in secret locations the rest of the family burst into relived tears and gathered around the Doctor holding him tight. The Doctor closed his eyes and smiled while he soothed their minds.
"This was really weighing heavily on your minds, I take it?" the Doctor said to them.
"You're better believe it," Mingxia said while they nodded. "We kept wondering whether or not to tell you but I'm glad Rain and Awinita did if you found a way to get out of it."
"Well, I wasn't too keen on it myself," the Doctor said to them.
He smiled when his women clustered around him and encased him in a group hug. Alan sat nearby smiling while he watched and felt the outpouring of love from all of them. He was glad his family had found a solution instead of just resigning themselves to fate. He was horrified that something like this might happen to tear their family apart and he knew if they were close now they would be inseparable in two centuries time. He was glad that Rain wouldn't have to endure at least three centuries of separation from her husband either. He loved her and he was more than willing to take care of her but a brother was a poor substitute for a husband. He could tell his brother was relieved especially since he had been just as horrified when he told him about it.
While they were holding him, the door opened and Rani peeked inside.
"Oh, am I interrupting something?" she said to them.
"Not at all. We're just having a little family hugglies session," the Doctor said. "Come on in."
"Well, we were discussing where to go to next," Rani said. "And kinda throwing out ideas and I just wanted to ask Rain something."
Rain smiled at her.
"Yes?"
"Well, I guess you or Awinita can answer this but you know, I was kinda interested in seeing something Native American since I've never known any before you two. Is there something interesting you can think of that we could see?"
"Are you wanting to see something specifically Navajo or Cherokee or just Native American history in general?" Rain said to her. "Because I know a lot of different events but not all of them are Navajo history."
"Same here," Awinita said. "There are lots of different moments in history. Lot of sad moments too."
"Like what?" Rani said.
"Well, my people went through the Trail of Tears where we were forced to walk about 500 miles to Oklahoma because Andrew Jackson and the whites decided our land was valuable after finding gold in Georgia where my people were living. We weren't the only ones that were forced to walk it. They tried to get rid of all tribes east of the Mississippi and they think about 4,000 Cherokee died walking it and also from the concentration camp type forts they forced them into before they went. But that was just my people. In all, there were about 80,000 Indians that went to Oklahoma territory and about 10,000 died from the walk and the forts"
"Can we see that or a part of it?" Rani said. "I mean, we don't have to if it's gonna be painful for you and I don't wanna upset you."
"No, that's fine. I wouldn't mind seeing it because it's a part of my people's past. I'm happy you're curious. Not everyone is," she said while Rain nodded in agreement. "Besides Bro just got done telling me and Rain he was interested in our history and culture too."
"Yup, but I really do wanna make sure you wanna do this, Awinita, since these will be your people and we more than likely won't be able to interfere and save them."
She nodded.
"I understand. I've kinda wanted to do this for awhile anyway. I want to see what my people went through."
He nodded and put his arm around her while all of them headed up to the console room.
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(Missouri, 1838…)
The TARDIS landed behind a high hill in a wooded area. Everyone stepped out the Doctor closed the door behind them. They looked around but they saw only woods.
"Let's head straight. The TARDIS landed somewhere near the forced march and I'm betting it's straight ahead," the Doctor said. "We've got our perception filters on but just be careful in case we accidentally do make our presence known to soldiers."
They nodded and slowly began to walk away from the TARDIS. Rain held her sister's hand while the Doctor, Alan and Jack walked near them so they could comfort them if they needed to. They walked about a half mile when they suddenly noticed movement up ahead. All of them slowed down and hunched down. Finally, they reached the top of a hill and all of them lay down on their stomachs side by side and watched quietly. Their hearts ached at the scene below them. There was a line of captives stretching back for as far as they could see, men, women and children forced to march while several soldiers rode beside them on horses. They glared when they noticed all the adults hands were shackled in front of them with heavy iron chains and manacles. A few elderly Cherokee were on horses and there was one man driving his family in a wagon but these were the exception rather than the rule. Everyone looked exhausted, malnourished and they stumbled along while the soldiers ignored their suffering. Alan and the Doctor put their arms around Rain and Awinita who were lying between them crying silently. They could hear a few people singing in both English and Cherokee trying to keep theirs and other people's spirits up. Beside the Doctor the others lay and watched in stunned silence.
While everyone slowly marched by on the dirt path, they saw one young woman look around her while she passed by them. She had on a red dress and a white cotton blanket was wrapped around her head. She glanced at the soldiers and when she saw they were distracted, she made a break for the hill, scrambling up and over it as fast as she could. The time travelers glanced at each other while she fell to her knees nearby, gasping and panting.
"Te'lesu, come with me," the Doctor whispered to Awinita.
She nodded and both of them got up and walked over to her. At first she didn't see them but the moment the Doctor laid his hand on her shoulder the spell was broken and the women shrank back in fear.
"No, I won't hurt you," the Doctor said, holding up his hands. "My name is the Doctor and this is my sister Awinita and these are my family and friends behind you. We're not with the soldiers. What's your name?"
"Galilahi," she said.
He smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Galilahi. Will you let me help you?"
She nodded and he reached into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver.
"Let's get there horrible shackles off your wrists first," the Doctor said.
Galilahi watched in amazement when he turned it on and the manacles opened. He took them off and examined her chafed wrists.
"Good thing I keep an assortment of things in my pockets, Te'lesu," he said to Awinita.
He pulled out some bottled water and a small bottle of aloe vera skin cream. He unscrewed the cap off the bottled water.
"It's water," he said to Pranati.
She nodded and took it from him. She took a few sips watching while the Doctor squirted out a bit of the skin cream onto his hand and rubbed it.
"This will help your wrists feel better," he whispered to her.
She nodded and he gently took her left wrist. He rubbed the cream into her chafed skin while Awinita sat with her and kept her company. Galilahi looked at her.
"Are you Cherokee?" Galilahi whispered.
"Yes."
"Are you with us?" she said confused.
"No. I live with my brother and his family and we happened to be here and we saw you run up here so we decided to help."
Galilahi gazed at the others who were watching her quietly. She pointed to Rain and Rani.
"Are they Cherokee?"
"No, Rain there is Navajo."
Galilahi frowned.
"Navajo? I've never heard of that tribe."
"They live out west, in the southwestern desert," Awinita said. "And Rani isn't an Indian like us. She's from England but her ancestry is the Indians from India. Everyone else is from England, America and China."
The Doctor finished applying the skin cream.
"Better?" he whispered to her.
She nodded.
"Thank you…Doctor?"
"Yes, Doctor. How long have you been walking?" he asked.
"Not sure. About six days, maybe seven."
Awinita closed her eyes in anguish while everyone still lying on the hill looked at each other and shook their heads.
"What about family? Do you have family members still walking?" the Doctor asked Galilahi, putting a hand on Awinita's shoulder.
"No, they died back in the forts. I'm all alone which is why I chose to run up here. I'm tired of walking and I really don't care if they kill me. It's better than leaving our homeland to go die in a land that doesn't belong to us. I'm gonna make my way back home but if I die on the way, so be it. I'd rather die than go where they're forcing us to go."
The Doctor nodded.
"I understand, Galilahi," he said to her.
His eyes shifted over when he saw Alan, Rain, Clyde and Luke get up.
"Where are you going?" he said to them.
"To help, Brother. Trust me, she needs it. We'll be right back."
They watched while they went down over the hill and hurried back up a minute later carrying an elderly woman in between them.
"She collapsed in front of us, Love," Rain said while they gently laid her on the ground. "We couldn't just let her die there."
The Doctor nodded and bent over her. He unlocked the shackles, pulled out his stethoscope and checked her vital signs while Awinita held her hand.
"Will she be alright?" Luke asked, worriedly.
"She's very weak," the Doctor said. "I'm not sure yet."
Galilahi came around to Awinita's side and looked down at her. She shook her head.
"How could they do this to other people?" she said to the Doctor. "We've never done anything to them. We have treaties with the white man and our homeland was ours. But the whites just decided to take it and force us all to walk to this strange new home. People have died around us but the soldiers don't care. They don't even give people enough time to perform burial rituals. We just have to bury them and go on. How could people be so cruel?"
The Doctor gave her a sympathetic look.
"I don't know, Galilahi. I don't know why some humans can do things like this and not care. I wish I did know."
"Me too. But the Great Spirit will judge their hearts and see their deeds and they will answer for this eventually."
The Doctor nodded and Awinita put her arm around her and hugged her.
"Hey! Here! Up here!"
The Doctor looked at Jack when he heard him. He saw the others beckoning to someone and a minute later a man and a young boy of about five ran up and over and collapsed to their knees. Jack and the others went to them and the Doctor unlocked the shackles around the man's wrists. The man stared at him in surprise.
"You're not with the soldiers?" he whispered looking around at them.
"No, I'm the Doctor and we're here to help. We've tried to help a few and my brother, Jack, must have seen you and called you up here."
He nodded.
"Thank you. I am Adahy. This is my son, Tooantuh."
"Nice to meet you both. Just rest now. You and everyone else here are safe. We won't let the soldiers take you."
"Thank you, my friend. Thank you all. May the Great Spirit bless each and every one of you."
The Doctor smiled. He took the bottled water from Rain and offered it to them. Adahy drank while the rest of them went back to watching the others. The Doctor rubbed skin cream into Adahy's wounds and when he was finished, he went back to tend to the elderly woman. He smiled when he noticed she looked better. Galilahi had folded her blanket and put it under her head as a makeshift pillow. He smiled when she opened her eyes and stared at him with a weary expression.
"Don't be afraid. We're friends. I'm the Doctor. What's your name?" he said gently while he took her hand.
"I'm Salali," she said softly.
"Nice to meet you. Just rest. You're safe now," he said, rubbing the back of her hand.
Donna came up beside him.
"Will she be alright?" she asked.
"I think so. I'm gonna take them back to the TARDIS and get them some food and take them back home. It's too far for them to walk and I don't want the soldiers catching up to them. But as much as I hate to leave the rest we have no choice. This is a fixed event and I'm only doing like I did in Pompeii, saving a few. But we have to go before the soldiers down there cotton on."
Donna nodded and thought to the others. Jack looked back when she finished thinking, nodded and told Sarah Jane and the teens. All of them took one last look before reluctantly pulling away from the hill.
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After getting the astonished Cherokee inside the TARDIS, the adult men carried Salali back to the med bay while the others took their friends to the kitchen to feed them. the three men worked to restore Salali to health and when they were satisfied that she was out of danger, they let her rest while the Doctor flew the TARDIS back to their home in Georgia.
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"I'm glad we did that," Awinita said when they had finished getting their friends back to their home and flew back into the vortex. "It was painful but I'm glad we helped a few people get back home safely."
"Me too," Rain said. "It was nice to be able to help a little. I just hope all four of them had a nice long life."
"I'm sure they did. The Cherokee we talked to promised to shelter them," the Doctor said.
He glanced over at Donna who was smiling widely at him.
"What?" he said.
"You got that from me, you know. The whole saving a few people even if it's a fixed event. I taught you that."
He smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately.
"Yes, you did, Te'lesu," he said to them.
Rani looked at Awinita.
"Thanks for letting us do that. I know it was painful but I'm glad I saw it because I didn't know very much about Native American history."
"Well, I'm glad you wanted to do that. I wanted to see it and I'm glad we did get to help."
The Doctor rubbed his sister's back and sent love into her mind while they sat and discussed where they should go next.
