Turlough volunteered to spend the afternoon helping the villagers with their clean-up, joining them in the jungle for several hours. The men's extra work took them away from their farming tasks, so the women busied themselves with the irrigation ditches and the weeding. Tegan had asked if she could assist, but her offers were politely declined. She had the oddest feeling that the women were uncomfortable around her, though she could not imagine why.

The Doctor had walked out to the fields with her. When it was clear that neither he nor she could be of assistance, he suggested that they return to the village. Tegan noticed a basket of green beans outside Ennen's house and sat down in the pleasant shade to prepare the vegetables for the evening meal. At least she could do something useful while the other women were otherwise occupied.

The Time Lord watched for a few minutes, but finally she said, "If you want to help, grab a handful of beans."

"That's going to take some time, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Probably half an hour at least."

"I'm going to see how the clean-up is coming along. I'll be back soon."

She shrugged. "Take your time. I don't need you for anything here."

He walked off slowly, glancing back at her several times to be certain that she remained occupied. When he was out of her sight, he began looking about near the fire pits, trying to see if he could find any evidence of her presence there during the night.

As Tegan snapped a particularly stubborn bean in half, it occurred to her that the TARDIS could easily have been obscured from view by some of the heavier foliage. There was a dense clump of trees that she recalled noticing to the west of the village. She set aside the basket and stood. A short walk out to the copse would assure her that the police box had not simply been overlooked. She headed out into the jungle.

She had gone about half a kilometer when she heard a rustling in the leaves. She knew that there were many birds in the area, but she hadn't seen any large animals. Yet something heavy was definitely moving through the brush. Tegan slipped behind a tree to wait for the animal to emerge into the clearing.

The leaves moved, and she caught a flash of copper. The animal was taller than she was. She looked up, judging how quickly she could reach the lowest branch if she needed to clamber up the tree.

The creature was drawing closer, moving aside the brush as it approached. She heard something fall to the ground, or was it just a very heavy footstep? She reached up for the branch.

"Tegan?"

Turlough's voice startled her as he stepped out into the clearing.

"Oh!" she gasped. "It's you! I thought you were an animal—something big and nasty. What are you doing out here?"

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked about. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I was looking for the TARDIS. There's a dense area over there that we weren't able to see from the hill this morning—"

"It's not there. I already checked."

"But I thought you were helping with the clean up—"

"I was," he answered abruptly. "But then I remembered the clump of trees, and I thought I should check." He turned back toward the jungle. "Come on. We should get back."

"All right." She began walking toward the spot where he had emerged, but he reached over and took her arm.

"Not that way," he said. "The plants are too thick. This way's easier."

She followed him through the brush, wondering just what his idea of easy really was: The jungle was heavier here than anyplace she had been on her previous route. Turlough's mood, too, was less than light. He seemed preoccupied, almost angry with her, responding tersely to her attempts to begin a conversation. Finally she gave up and walked silently along behind him.

When they reached the village, the women had returned from the fields and were preparing the evening meal. A few inquiries revealed that the Doctor was with Cabar. Turlough told Tegan that the Time Lord wanted to speak with her, so she followed him to the shaman's hut. Turlough poked his head inside but did not enter. He saw that the Doctor was seated on the floor, crushing several leaves in a mortar. Cabar was absent.

The Trion youth stepped inside. "Doctor," he said, "Tegan was out in the jungle."

The Time Lord looked up from his work. "I thought you were going to prepare the beans," he said, setting aside the stone bowl and standing.

Tegan said, "I wanted to see if I could find the TARDIS. I remembered an area with a lot of trees, and I thought that if it was there we wouldn't have been able to see it from the hill."

"It wasn't there," Turlough informed the Doctor summarily.

"No?" The Doctor strode to Tegan and looked directly into her eyes. "But you thought it might be?"

"It was worth a try," she replied.

"Where's Cabar?" asked Turlough.

The Doctor answered, "He wanted to check on twins who were born a few days ago. He'll be back soon."

"I should see if they need any more help cleaning up," Turlough said, backing out of the hut. "Excuse me."

Tegan still stood before the Doctor. He had not removed his gaze from her. Her eyes, however, flicked to the bowl he had been using. "What are you making?" she asked.

"A combination of herbs that promote relaxation."

"Something for Cabar? For someone in the village?"

He took her elbow gently. "Come and sit down, Tegan."

Suddenly she felt vaguely suspicious of his motives. She had a niggling feeling that he was trying to trick her into something, or that he had already succeeded… "Why?" she asked.

"I have some more aloe for your hand," he said reasonably.

The burn was still painful, so she sat on the soft woven mat that he indicated and permitted him to rub the broken leaf over her wrist.

"I'd still like to know how you got this," he said.

"Why does that matter so much to you? You've already asked me."

He placed her hand in her lap and looked up at her again. "The fact that you can't seem to remember concerns me."

"Why? I was in the middle of a fire—there was smoke, and I could barely breathe—"

"And you can't quite recall just how you got there."

"I remember going into the jungle, but then the smoke just seemed to surround me."

"At least a few minutes must have elapsed between your entering the jungle and the smoke becoming so thick that it affected your breathing. Think about it, Tegan. You're missing several minutes from your memory."

She blinked, the impact of his words hitting her unexpectedly. "I hadn't thought of it that way."

"No, but I want you to consider it now. Whatever happened during those few minutes could be very important in determining how the fire started."

"Oh, wait one minute, Doctor," she said, pulling away. "Are you trying to say you think I had something to do with it?"

"I don't know."

She began to stand, but he took her hand and pulled her back down. "I think we need to find out," he said simply.

"But I've already told you that I can't remember! What more do you want me to do?"

"I want you to let me hypnotize you."

She squinted at him. "Like you did when I was having nightmares about the Mara?"

"Yes."

"But the Mara's gone—you told me it had been destroyed. You can't still think it's influencing me?"

"No, I don't think that at all. But I do believe that something caused you to forget what happened in the jungle, and I think that we need to find out what it was."

Suddenly comprehension dawned on her. "When I asked the women if I could help, they were sort of cool to me—they acted like they didn't really want me around. Do they think I started the fire?"

"I'm not sure, but it's possible. There is a chance that we may be stranded here for some time. We may need to live among these people, and we won't be able to do that comfortably if they don't trust us. If I can find out exactly what happened last night, I'll know what to tell them and how to handle the situation best."

"But why, Doctor?"

"Because if they can't trust us—"

"No, I mean why would I start a fire?"

"I want to help you find out."

She thought for a minute or so, finally looking at the mortar and pestle nearby. "Is that for me?"

"I was hoping that it might be. It would help you to enter a state in which you'd be more receptive to hypnosis."

"More receptive?"

He smiled reassuringly. "Receptive, Tegan, mentally and physically open to it. That's what I meant."

She shook her head. "After having the Mara in my mind I really don't like the idea of having someone else poke around in there. It just feels like an invasion somehow."

"I understand that, and I won't do anything besides ask you a few questions. You can trust me on this."

"I'm not sure…"

He took her hand again. "Please, Tegan. It's important to me, but it's also important for you."

She took a deep breath. "All right. But just for a few minutes, okay?"

He squeezed her hand. "Okay."

He stood up. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"To ask Cabar to keep us from being disturbed."

"You're going to do it in here?"

He bent for a moment to light a match and hold it to a small clay bowl. A flame leapt up then settled down to burn across the surface. "A bit of incense," he said with a quick smile. "It's very calming."

He left and Tegan sat quietly, wondering precisely what she had forgotten and, with a shiver, exactly why.

Forty-five minutes later Tegan lay among a nest of soft pillows on the floor of the shaman's hut. The Doctor had blended the herbal mixture into some fresh juice that she had consumed only half willingly. Despite her reservations, it had the desired effect: She had grown drowsy and relaxed, her mind and body receptive to the Doctor's words. She became deeply hypnotized in a matter of minutes.

The atmosphere of the hut was tranquil, with the incense still burning softly and perfuming the room with a subtly spicy aroma. Cabar sat in the corner, quietly watching the Time Lord and his companion. The shaman had entered just as Tegan slipped into the hypnotic state. He wanted to observe the session but had felt it best that she remain unaware of his attendance. The Doctor agreed, permitting the man access only so that he could determine whether she knew anything about the presence he had sensed.

The Doctor had been asking Tegan questions for several minutes, but her responses had only frustrated him. She still would not admit to programming the TARDIS or to having any involvement in the fire. The Doctor decided to try a different tack.

"Tell me about waking up last night," he said.

"I was hungry," she said with a smile. "All your worrying was for nothing. Turlough's too—the water I drank was fine."

"So you woke up because you were hungry. What did you do next?"

"I got out of bed and went into the common room, but I didn't see any food sitting out, so I went outside. I remembered noticing baskets of fruit earlier. I went over to one and reached for a piece of fruit, but there was a smell—too sweet. I felt a little queasy and wanted some fresh air. The smoke from the fire pit was bothering me, too, so I walked out toward the jungle."

"And did you take anything with you?"

She shook her head, her forehead wrinkling in confusion. "What would I take out there?"

"Something from the village—something from the fire pit perhaps."

"No, nothing. I didn't take anything." Her voice was firm.

The Doctor sighed and glanced back at Cabar. The shaman had moved forward and was crouched a few feet from Tegan, watching her face intently.

"How did you burn your hand, Tegan?" the Time Lord asked.

"Don't know."

Continued questioning yielded no more satisfactory results. Tegan was growing slightly agitated, with clenched fists and an expression of frustration on her face.

"They won't let her tell you," Cabar said softly.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"The spirits. They're keeping her from saying what she wants to say. You see how troubled she's becoming. They're forcing her to remain quiet."

The Doctor was silent for a few moments, then he said, "I'm afraid that this isn't working as I'd hoped it would. I'm going to bring her out of it."

"Yes, I think that's a good idea. The spirits will only harm her more if you keep this up."

"Harm her more?"

Cabar stood and beckoned for the Time Lord to follow him toward the far wall. "I understand what's happened to her now," the shaman said.

"I'm afraid I'm not following you."

"She said that the water she drank was fine. Did she drink from the stream where the spirits were?"

"Yes, when she and Turlough went there I believe she had some of the water. But it feeds the brook that supplies the water to the village here. Surely it's not dangerous—"

"It's not the water, Doctor. It's the spirits in the water. When she drank it, a dark spirit entered her."

The Doctor had difficulty keeping his tone even but understood that his words could not show disrespect for this man's beliefs. Finally he said, "If that were the case, spirits would have entered all those who drank from the stream."

Cabar shook his head. "No. That morning I felt a change in the spirits, a movement all around me. Something disturbed them and caused them to come to the surface of the water that day. If they had remained content they would still be deep within the stream."

"But I thought you believed that they were good spirits?"

"Yes, most of them are. But now I can see that a dark spirit dwelt among them. Perhaps that is what drove them out—an angry spirit that has now taken possession of your friend. It saw the darkness that remained in her and sought it out."

Tegan was murmuring softly, so the Doctor returned to her side as Cabar stepped out of the hut. "It's time to wake up," he told her. "When I snap my fingers you will awake, feeling rested and calm."

When he heard the snap of the Doctor's fingers, Turlough stood carefully and crept away from the outer wall behind the hut.

Cabar did not have to encourage the Doctor to station himself outside Tegan's room while she slept that night. While the Time Lord did not share the shaman's belief in the totality of spiritual possession, he did believe that his Australian friend was under the influence of some force that he could not clearly identify. Her inability to recall her actions in the TARDIS and in the jungle showed how deeply she had repressed the memories. He was beginning to wonder if she had even stored the events in her memory; perhaps she could not access them because they were not there. Some form of dissociation might have prevented her from encoding the events.

He had slipped into the house just after she went to bed. Cabar had explained his presence to Mita and her husband, assuring them that Tegan posed no threat if she was watched. The Doctor kept a quiet vigil throughout the night, but Tegan did not awake. Twice, though, he heard her muttering in her sleep. He could not comprehend her words, but the tone indicated unrest. At some level she must be aware that something was wrong.

Early in the morning he left the house to busy himself in one of the nearby herb garden plots, keeping an eye on the doorway as he worked. For a few moments his attention was drawn to one of the plants. Its leaves were deep green with distinctly purple veins and stems. He was not familiar with this particular herb and wondered what it was. He made a mental note to retrieve his book and look it up later. Now that he thought about, he was not sure who had the book. Tegan said that she had found it, but he could not recall seeing it in her hands when she and Turlough returned to tell him about the disappearance of the TARDIS. Perhaps she had set it down inside the ship and it had vanished, too.

The formerly communal meals shared by the visitors and the villagers abruptly changed with the morning's breakfast. Ennen's wife and Mita brought food and drinks to one of the tables near the elder's home, setting out three plates then inviting the guests to eat. This arrangement seemed to cause some discomfort among their hosts and the other villagers, who glanced out warily from their huts.

As Tegan ate, she commented, "I feel like we're on display."

"I'm afraid that we are, to some extent," agreed the Doctor.

Turlough took a sip of juice as his eyes flicked from hut to hut. "They seem suspicious of us," he said.

"So word's gotten around," Tegan sighed. "They all think I started the fire."

"Well, they all know that none of them did it, and you were the only one out in the jungle that night," Turlough said.

The Doctor shot the young man a stern look. "They aren't accustomed to strangers, and our arrival did coincide with several unusual events, so it's not surprising that they'd be somewhat wary of us."

"Maybe," Tegan conceded, "but I still feel like they're watching me most closely of all."

The Doctor didn't seem to have any good response for that; he merely took a long drink of his juice. Tegan's appetite had faded, and she pushed her plate away.

They had just finished breakfast and were taking their dishes back to Ennen's house when three men came rushing into the village. One was Ennen's son-in-law, Aveoh, who Tegan recalled tended the crops each day.

The three hurried inside the house, and the elder emerged with them a minute later then hastened back out toward the crop fields. Ennen's wife came outside to watch their departure.

"What's happened?" asked the Doctor.

She looked up at him with frightened eyes. "They say the plants are dying."

The Doctor took Tegan's arm, and, with a glance at Turlough, urged, "Come on!" as he began walking swiftly away.

"Where are we going?" she asked, shuffling to keep up with his pace.

"Out to the fields. I want to see what's happening to the plants."

It wasn't difficult to find the source of the farmers' agitation. Near the irrigation ditches tender new plants lay wilted and brown in the cool morning dew. Several other villagers had joined Ennen and the three men. Two of the newcomers held fishing nets. All were talking rapidly, voicing rising with emotion.

As the Doctor approached them, Ennen lifted a hand to silence the men.

"Tell us what's going on," the Time Lord exhorted.

Ennen pointed at a row of withered plants. "You can see that the plants are dying," he said. "And now I hear that the plants by the stream are dying, too."

The Doctor bent to dip his fingers into the irrigation ditch then taste the water. He stood and gestured to Tegan and Turlough to follow him. "Show me the stream," he said to the fishermen.

They walked a short distance to see that, as reported, the plants growing near the stream lay limply along the banks. The Doctor tasted the water once again then began walking along, following the stream toward its source. The small group trouped along behind him.

"Doctor," Tegan asked softly, hurrying to walk right at his side, "what's happened?"

"I'll tell you as soon as I'm sure," he replied.

In a few minutes they reached a small lake from which the stream flowed. The Doctor knelt to study the outlet, then reached into the water. He stuck his arm in deeper, nearly up to the shoulder, his hand disappearing beneath the rocks near the bottom. After some wriggling and twisting, he pulled out his arm to reveal a large cloth bundle dripping from his hand.

"What is that?" asked Ennen.

The Doctor shook his head and untied the drenched cloth sack. Inside he found a heavy clump of something resembling powder. He bent to sniff the contents, then took a small bit between his fingers to touch it to his tongue.

"It's a mixture of talc and potassium," he said.

"I don't know those words," Ennen replied. "What are they?"

"Talc is a mineral, and potassium in a chemical element. Both are commonly found in magma chambers, such as the ones near the sites of the volcanic eruptions."

"Talc and potassium are what killed the plants?" asked Ennen.

The Doctor nodded gravely.

"But how did they get there?" Aveoh questioned.

Ennen looked up, eyes fixing on Tegan. "It was her," he said slowly. "She did it."

Tegan took a step back. "Me? That's crazy! Why would I do that? I didn't even know those could kill plants, and even if I did, I wouldn't have the foggiest idea where to find them!"

"We understand that you didn't do it willfully," Ennen said. "Cabar has told us about the spirit that possesses you."

"Spirit—that possesses me?" For once Tegan was at a loss for words.

She felt the eyes of everyone present upon her. She looked at the faces surrounding her. The villagers were scared; she could see that. Turlough appeared slightly surprised, but he quickly regained a stoic expression. It was the Doctor's face that hurt her: He was looking at her with sympathy and regret.

"No," she began, taking another step back. Her instinct was to flee, to run away from these people and their ludicrous assumptions. She turned and began to run, but strong hands caught her immediately.

"It wasn't me!" she cried. "Why would you think that? I haven't done anything!"

"Please," said the Doctor evenly, "let her go. I'll take her back to the village and watch her. You should go to all of the streams in the area and check them immediately."

Aveoh stepped up to Tegan and jabbed an angry finger at her shoulder. "Where else did you put them?" he spat.

She shrank back, permitting the Doctor to place a protective arm around her. "I didn't! You have to believe me—"

"Please," the Doctor entreated, directing his words to Ennen, "just check the other streams. I won't let her out of my sight."

Ennen spread his hands, and the others backed away as the Doctor began leading Tegan back toward the village, Turlough close behind them.

Tegan twisted her head around to look behind her. "Why do they think I did this?" she asked, voice trembling with both anger and fear. "You have to tell them that I had nothing to do with it!"

She felt his arm tighten around her waist. "I don't know if I can do that," he said quietly.

She stopped in her tracks, pulling away from him. "Oh my God. You think it was me, too?" She jerked her head toward Turlough. "And you do, too, don't you?"

"I did see you out in the jungle yesterday," Turlough said. "That wasn't very far from here. You sneaked away from the village—"

"I went to look for the TARDIS! I didn't sneak away. There was no one around to tell."

Both men were watching her, judging her… "Cripes," she hissed, "then tell me how I did it? How did I know that those things would kill the plants?"

"You had the botany book from the TARDIS," the Doctor reminded her. "All of the information was in there."

She shook her head adamantly. "I dropped the book in the grass when I got sick. I left it there—I never even thought to pick it up again after the TARDIS disappeared."

"Tegan," Turlough said, his voice forcibly calm, "you had the book with you later; I saw it."

"No, I—" She blinked and rubbed a hand over her forehead. Her head was aching, thoughts racing in confusion. "I thought I left it there," she said softly. "I don't… I can't remember…" She buried her face in her hands.

After a moment she felt the Doctor's hand at her back, gently urging her forward. She did not lift her head and did not even ask where they were going.