Hello again! I can't stress this enough, thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows. It truly means so much to me.
I'm so happy that you guys are enjoying the story so far. I hope I can continue to bring enjoyment for the rest to come.
Chapter 11
When the monthly cycle was finally over, Madison was glad to be back in her human form. Even though she loved being in her Mer-form, it was troublesome being stuck in one place and helpless to do anything about it. She was just glad she had the Doctor and Rose to keep her company throughout the twenty-four hours. Even if only the Doctor actually knew why she was trapped in the bath for so long. Rose questioned it, but Madison came up with the excuse that bathing in warm water helped her with her pain. Rose seemed to buy it . . . for the most part. But she felt even the girl knew she was lying somewhat. Luckily, Rose didn't question it too much.
"About time you got up," the Doctor said the moment she stepped foot into the console room. He was currently busy fixing something under the grated floor, some sort of large bunch of wires that connected to the console. He gave her a cheeky glance as he said this. "It was getting too boring around here."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I not fun enough?" Rose scoffed sarcastically, crossing her arms and pouting from where she sat at the captain's chair.
"Nope!" replied the Doctor, ignoring the sharp stare the blonde gave him. He moved out from under the floor, placing everything back as it was before he went over to the console controls. "Where do we want to go to next? I was thinking somewhere in the past this time around. Less trouble that way."
"Sounds good to me," Rose replied with a shrug. She looked to Madison then. "Where do you wanna go? I bet there's times in the past you'd love to revisit. What year were you born in any way?"
"1705. Though, honestly, there's not much I wish to revisit," Madison told them.
"Oh, come on, I'm sure there's somewhere you wanna go," Rose said, getting up and nudging her a bit. "Any date spots you wanna try out again."
Madison blushed, seeing the way the Doctor looked away and began fiddling with the controls in front of him. "I . . . didn't date much in my time, so no, there's not many places I wish to revisit. Though . . . Bali was always nice. That, and Tibet. Though I feel there are some timeframes we want to avoid in those places."
"You never really say where you want to go," the Doctor spoke up, glancing at her. "You always just leave it up to me. Well, I wanna know where you want to go, too." He grinned at her eagerly. "Take your pick. Anytime in the past, which is it gonna be?"
Madison had to think about it. There were a lot of times she wished to revisit, but nothing of personal value. "There are places I'd like to go that I've missed out on. Woodstock would be one of them."
"Woodstock? Why do you wanna go there? Don't you hate crowds?" the Doctor asked her.
Madison shrugged, replying, "It's just something I'd like to see for myself. Maybe from a distance, preferably."
"Woodstock from a distance, coming right up."
The Doctor spun a dial and began jumping around the console as he made them go. The TARDIS rocked around them, shaking and making it hard to stay standing. Both Rose and Madison fell back into the captain's chair, bracing themselves as the ship was felt spinning wildly through the Time Vortex. Before long, it came to a steady halt, making the usual landing wheeze. The Doctor grinned at them, nodding to the door.
"I picked a hill that's far away from all the mess. We should be able to watch it with a pair of binoculars," he told them, walking back towards the door.
"But will we even be able to hear the music if we're that far away?" Rose asked him, getting up and following him.
"Shouldn't be too much of a problem there. The noise is incredible. In fact, you'll probably thank me for having us so far away. It's a big mess in the middle of everything," the Doctor replied, giving a shrug. "I think we all want to avoid that sort of crowd."
"You're no fun. I wanna get in the middle of it all," Rose complained lightly but didn't argue as she walked out of the doors. Madison came up beside the Doctor, giving him a smile of appreciation.
"Thank you. Though, if you and Rose want to join the crowd, I can always stay back on the hill," she said.
"Nah, it's fine. Frankly, I'd rather stick to the hill. Maybe we can let Rose go join the mess. As long as she promises not to eat or drink anything," he replied, grabbing her hand and having them both step out of the ship.
The moment they set foot out the door, they were welcomed by an old horse-drawn carriage wheeling briskly past them. The driver yelled at them none too politely to get out of the road as he continued his way onwards. A cloud of brown dust from the road floated around them as they blinked, taking in the sight of a wild west town that stood before them. There was a saloon, with swinging doors opening and closing as men went in and out of the place. A few saloon girls were even seen helping some of the men into the place rather eagerly. There was a butcher shop placed near the stables where they could see the butcher cleaning up a deer a man had brought in and a few large working horses being led into the stables. A general store was not too far away from there with a few women and men mingling around outside of the place. A large church was down the road, with a cemetery and a gallow near there. A few homes were placed around the town, with a sheriff's office stuck between the barbershop and a large two-story home. The air was dry and hot, with the ground around them brown and cracked with dust on everything. There was some greenery with trees and plants that looked like they were best suited for a desert environment. Which, by all sights around them, was exactly where they had found themselves. Madison could only take it all in, seeing the sights and sounds from her past. She swallowed, slowly growing nervous but steeling herself as she prepared for whatever it was they were about to face.
"Seems you got it wrong again," she joked lightly as she glanced over to the Doctor. She found it humorous with the deep pout on his face, appearing very disgruntled by his driving.
"I set it to 1969. I know I did," he said, turning back to frown at the TARDIS. "Must have gotten off course a bit."
"Only a bit?" she laughed, shaking her head in amusement. She then frowned as she looked around for their missing companion. "Where's Rose?"
The Doctor glanced around for the girl as well. His frown became heavy with annoyance. "Did she get herself into trouble already? Typical. Every companion I have gets themselves into trouble. This has to be a record, though."
Madison, rolling her eyes, hit him in the side. "Let's not jump to conclusions. She might be at the saloon. Come on, let's go check."
They walked together towards the saloon, waiting for a moment for a few travelling carriages to pass by before they made their way across the dirt road. As Madison expected, the moment they entered the establishment everyone in the saloon sort of paused in what they were doing and looked at the newcomers. There were many scowls as she knew they didn't look like someone one would normally see during this time period. At least what she wore wasn't too out of place. She wore a jumper and denim trousers, so she could always pass off herself as a farmer gal. Not that unusual. Though the sneakers she wore might be a bit out of time. The Doctor, at least, could blend in pretty well with what he wore. For the most part. Though, given by the auction house that she had noticed down the road from the stable, this was a livestock town. Not a large one, either. So the main reason for the looks she knew, from experience, was because they were strangers. Newcomers in small towns out west were, generally, not the most welcomed. Especially during this time period.
Madison ignored the stares, keeping her head held up high and her eyes staring right towards the bar. She kept her pace even as she did not want to seem to falter. She didn't even know if the Doctor still followed her or not. All she knew she needed to focus on was to act as if she belonged here and there was nothing special about her. She came up to the bar, seeing a man and woman behind the counter. The man, wearing a typical bartender apron over top of his clothes and a large handlebar moustache, gave her a side glance as she stood at the counter. He kept cleaning the glass with a rag, not moving to greet her. The woman, wearing a beautiful red dress, leaned over towards her and set aside the bottle she had been opening.
"Can I help you, darlin'?" the woman asked, not sounding unwelcoming but the tone still not the warmest.
"Yeah, there was a friend of mine I was supposed to meet here. Blonde, short, sort of wears this thin coat and wears pants like mine," Madison asked briskly, needing to get to the point.
"You're the first newcomer I've seen," said the man, giving her a side-eye glance. "If you're waiting for them, you best order somethin'. I'm not having people just loitering around in here."
"Lay off her, Curtis," the woman sighed, shaking her head at him. The woman looked back at her. "What'll be, darlin'?" Immediately, Madison was tempted to make an order. There were so many drinks from this time period that were no longer available to her in the future. Or even more, the drinks were so much different back in this period. In her opinion, much better with a taste that modern distilleries just could not reproduce. But she shook her head, knowing she needed to stay focused.
"Maybe some other time. For now, I should really find my friend," she replied, taking a step back from the counter. But she was halted when an arm slithered around her shoulders and held her in place.
"Give us a shot of whiskey for this little lady," came a slimy voice beside her. She glanced over, seeing a man with missing teeth and limp stetson smiling at her. His breath reeked of booze as he leaned into her. He had a friend standing nearby, with a bowl hat and suspenders that hung off his shoulders. Both of them looked at her as if she were a prized auction horse to sell. She grimaced but placed on an even smile.
"Please don't touch me," she said slowly.
"Aww, is the little lady shy?" the man laughed, smirking at her. "That's some pretty accent you got there. How about you, me, and my friend, go get more acquainted? We'd both love to hear you keep talkin' with that voice of yours. Hehe." He gave a big wink, as he and his friend began leering at her.
"I'm only going to warn you one more time. Please don't touch me," she warned again, feeling her anger beginning to grow.
"For such a pretty thing, you sure ain't none too polite," the man scoffed, his hand gripping her harder around the shoulder. "Are you gonna make me and Travis teach you some manners? Or are you gonna come along all nice like?"
"Edgar, leave her alone," the woman behind the bar said firmly, glowering at the man. "You can't keep doing this to our patrons. If you need company, one of our girls can take care of you for the night."
"Or better yet, go home, Edgar. You're drunk," said Curtis, echoing his partner's sentiment.
"Can't a man get to know a fine woman when he sees one?" the man, Edgar, said angrily. He smirked at her again. "Come on, girlie. Let's get to know each other over a bottle. I got the stuff I'm sure you'll like."
"She said, let go," she heard the strict voice of the Doctor coming from over behind them. She glanced around to see him standing there with his arms crossed and glaring hard. There was a swirling storm in the Time Lord's eyes, making Madison aware he was ready to strike if necessary. She couldn't have that. Already they were strangers and unwelcome here. A bar fight was the last thing she wanted to happen.
"It's fine, Doctor. I've got this," she said, her smile still as calm as before.
"Yeah, doctor man. Let the gal enjoy herself," said Edgar as his friend snickered. It was then that she looked at him, her smile turning sinister.
"Now then, Edgar. Apparently, no one has ever taught you manners. So, allow me," she spoke smoothly. Reaching over, she grabbed his hand that was on her shoulder and moved so swiftly that it gave everyone little time to act. She twisted the man's arm around, slamming him into the counter as she held it behind his back. She held him down, ignoring the gasps and scraping of chairs around her. She had his face pressed into the wood, bent over the bar. She snarled at him as she spoke. "Lesson number one, if a woman tells you to let her go, you damn well better listen. Lesson two, don't grab onto strangers unless you're ready to face the consequences. Lesson three, when you get your arse kicked, you best tuck your tail between your legs and skedaddle if you know what's good for you."
She pushed away from him, and he and his friend shot glares at her but moved on either way. She then reached over and grabbed the shot of whiskey that the bartender had poured earlier. Downing the shot, she gave them a smile of apology as she slammed the glass back down.
"Sorry about the commotion. I have a thing about being touched," she said.
"You're perfectly fine, darlin'," said the woman, giving a wink as she chuckled. Curtis was heard chortling, shaking his head slowly.
Madison turned and walked away from the bar as brisk as she could, though without attracting attention to herself. She knew, judging by the men who had their hands to their hips, that her actions had already drawn angry responses. So she didn't linger there, going to the swinging door with her head still high and her expression still even. Once outside, she allowed herself a breath of relief. Well . . . that could have gone worse. Which it had in some cases for her in the past, but at least the bartenders seemed to approve of her now. If a bartender approved of the methods, then things were fine for the most part.
"I'm starting to realise that there's a side to you I don't really know about," the Doctor said as he walked out of the building and came over to stand beside her. He had this proud smile on his face, almost as if he approved of how she handled herself back there.
"You're just now realising this?" she joked lightly. Then she sighed, shaking her head. "Maybe it's better if you don't know everything about me." She walked away, ignoring whatever look the Doctor wished to give her after that comment. She just wanted to focus on getting Rose and possibly getting out of this era entirely. "Did you find out what year we're in?"
"It's 1885 in Whisperbend, Arizona," the Doctor said, staring around at the town surrounding them. "A livestock town from what I've been told."
"Whisperbend . . .," Madison mumbled as the name rang a bell to her. Though she couldn't recall from where.
The Doctor's brow furrowed as he appeared a bit worried then. "You been here before? Or should I ask, are you here currently?"
"No, I don't think I've ever been here. But . . . let's be careful just in case." She started down the road, keeping an eye carefully around them. "Let's just try to find Rose and then get out of here."
They walked together down the dirt road. Passing the general store and the different homes, they just saw different people going about their day. Some would give them side glances. Some would scowl. Some would merely shrug and pretend like they did not matter. Either way, there was no sign of Rose anywhere. She had no idea where the girl would have gone. It wasn't that long that the blonde was outside of the TARDIS before them. Did she run off because something attracted her attention? The answer came swiftly when Madison heard yelling coming down from between two homes. The two of them shared a glance before they were running after the noise. They just made their way down between the alcove of the homes when they saw Rose and a young woman with red hair being pushed into the back of a waggon by a bunch of burly men. There was one man trying to get another woman to corporate, but she was putting up a great fight, hitting and kicking all the way while screaming in his ear.
"Doctor!" Rose yelled as a man pushed her head down and behind the grey tarp that covered the back of the waggon.
"Rose!" the Doctor and Madison both yelled as they ran towards the waggon.
"Get 'em out of here!" yelled the one man, wearing a black vest and stetson. There was the snapping of reins heard and the neighing of horses. The man in black vest, and a large man with messy blonde hair that let go of the still struggling woman, rushed over to jump into the wagon as it took off. The Doctor and Madison came up to the woman, who was currently pulling herself up off the ground, to see the waggon rounding the corner of a building and disappearing from view.
"Are you okay?" Madison asked the woman, helping her up from the ground. The woman, with long brown hair, a round face, and wearing a white top, maroon skirt, and a plaid side scarf that was wrapped around her waist, glanced up towards Madison gratefully. The woman gasped and Madison had to blink in surprise.
"Abigale?" the woman gaped at her.
"Winnie?" Madison responded, just as shocked. "What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that," Winnie said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Weren't you back in Goldenford?"
"Ah . . ." Madison glanced towards the Doctor, seeing him raising a brow at her. "It's complicated." She shook herself out of her surprise, face set as she was ready for what was needed of her. "Better question, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be back at camp?"
"I was at camp, but . . . now, don't get all mad, but me and Charlotte thought it'd be fun if we made a few scores here in town. You know, earn some money for camp."
"Winnie," Madison sighed, shaking her head in disapproval, "you know David doesn't want you doing that anymore. You don't need to. We can get money in other ways."
Winnie shrugged. "I know. But old habits die hard I guess." The woman then looked to the Doctor, frowning heavily. "Who's this?"
"Never mind that. Where's Charlotte?"
"Oh, right." Winnie looked more panicked then, pointing back towards where the waggon had gone. "They took her. It was them Wilkins' boys. I didn't realise it was one of them when I was reeling him in, you know? But then Charlotte recognized them and they started getting rough with us. This young girl came out of nowhere, telling them off when they laid hands on me. Then, well, then you showed up."
"Do you know where they'd be taking her and your friend?" the Doctor suddenly asked, staring hard at Winnie.
"No . . . Wait, I think I do!" Winnie said, eyes going bright as she seemed to recall something. "I overheard one of them talking about taking the Bleakroost train."
"'Bleakroost'," Madison mumbled as the name popped up in her mind. Then, she recalled it quite clearly. She let out a sigh, shaking her head. "I think I know what they're doing. Which means we've got our work cut out for us." She grabbed the Doctor's hand, pulling him back towards the main part of the town. "Winnie, get yourself back to camp. And for god's sakes, stay there for once!"
Madison kept a good hold of the Doctor's hand as they walked down the road and towards the outskirts of the town. They earned a few stares for holding hands, but she ignored this. She didn't care that she was acting outside of the social norms of this time. She just wanted to hurry off toward their destination and save both Rose and Charlotte.
"So, what are we doing?" the Doctor asked her, not even trying to stop her from pulling him along as he stared intently at her. In fact, he kept up in pace with her, going with whatever it was she had planned.
"We have to get to the train station," she told him, grimacing slightly. "Sorry, but we're going to have to rob a train."
XxXxXxXxXx
"So you know you're supposed to rob the train?" the Doctor asked her once again.
"Yes," she answered, again.
"And you're absolutely sure it's already happened?"
"Yes. I'm certain of it."
Currently, the two of them were in the baggage car, hiding out from the rest of the passengers on the train. There were some trunks and carrying cases that were in the car, but there appeared to be mostly farming equipment and livestock feed boarded up into crates. They had managed to sneak on board when no one was looking and while the baggage car had been loaded up. During the time waiting for the train to get moving, she explained to him what she remembered. Though she had never been on the train to Bleakroost, she had a bounty for 'robbing' the train and had even been confronted by the notorious Harvey Wilkins about 'ruining' his heist. That 'heist' being that he was going to rob the train himself, but if she could beat him to it, start a panic . . .
At the moment, she was looking through a few of the trunks that must be from the passengers. There were clothes and other things in them that she knew she had to keep searching through. Finally, she found a holster and a revolver.
"Someone must be in the military. This is a colt revolver," she mumbled as she placed the holster around her waist and checked over the gun.
"You're not using that," the Doctor spoke up strictly, throwing her a very hard stare. There was swift tension in him as he shifted uneasily. She could tell that he didn't like seeing her holding a gun with such ease.
"Don't worry. This is just for deterrence. I won't ever use it on someone," she assured him as she emptied the gun of all but one bullet before she holstered the gun. "I promised myself a long time ago that I would never use a gun again. I plan to keep that promise. Unfortunately, in this time period, people don't listen unless they see you with a weapon." She let out a long exhale as painful memories hit her. She had never wanted to relive this time. Though there were plenty of good memories she had of this era . . . there were just as many painful ones that continued to stab at her heart. She felt the Doctor's eyes on her, studying her carefully.
"What happened that made you make a promise like that?" he asked her quietly.
Glancing at him briefly, she kept her mouth tightly shut as the painful memory hit her again. Only this time harder. No, this was one memory she would not share. With anyone. So, she kept herself quiet as she grabbed a brown Stetson from one of the trunks and placed it on her head. "Do you want a hat, too?"
The Doctor grimaced and shook his head. "No. I don't do Stetsons."
"Suit yourself." She stood up, kicking the trunks closed and adjusting herself as she prepared what their plan should be in her head. She was winging most of this. She hoped it would work out for the best. "Now, they probably have Rose and Charlotte in the livestock car up towards the front of the train. Knowing the Wilkins' boys, they have horses in that car, at the ready to get out of the train once they rob it."
"What are they planning on doing with Rose and your old friend, then, if they're robbing the train?"
Madison gave a small shrug. "Probably sell the girls off into some trade. It's happened before. That's how we got Winnie and Charlotte into the gang in the first place. Stopped the auction they were being held at. One of the many things we handled when the law wouldn't."
The Doctor hummed, frowning heavily in disgust. "Right. If that's the case, then what do you have planned? If these men are that dangerous, they could easily hurt Rose or your old friend before we even get to them. How is robbing a train going to help?"
"Because," she said as she carefully made her way towards the door, "all we really have to do is try to get this train into Bleakroost as quickly as possible. If we can get this train where there's plenty of law enforcement around, they might just stop the Wilkins' boys from hurting anyone." She peaked her head close to the window on the door, seeing that the Wilkins gang was already robbing the passengers. People were cowering in their seats, some being hit harshly in the face as the burly men of the gang were holding up bags and getting whatever they could from the passengers.
The Doctor came over to stand beside her, looking out the window as well. "Are you suggesting we climb the outside of the cars, make our way to the train engine, trying our best not to fall to the tracks and get crushed, then hit the thing into full throttle and get to town before they're done robbing the place?"
"Basically . . . yeah."
The Doctor laughed, shaking his head. "Fantastic," he said sarcastically.
There was a scream heard and both of them looked through the window to see one of the Wilkins' boys had hit a man so hard in the head that the man started bleeding everywhere and was clearly knocked out. A woman was frantically hovering over the man on the floor, crying over him. The one burly robber, with a bald head, long beard, and white shirt that barely fit him, pointed the gun into the woman's head and yelled something at her. Madison felt panicked as she knew this would lead nowhere good.
"Change of plans, Doctor. You need to get to the engine. I've got to stop them before they do something serious," Madison said, moving to get into the car with the passengers. She was halted as the Doctor grabbed her.
"I know you can be brash, but this is going too far. You can't go running in and think they won't shoot you," he said sternly, pulling her back.
"They're going to kill someone," she breathed, desperate to get in there and stop them.
"We can stop them, but not by throwing yourself in there." He grabbed her chin, forcing her to stare at him. "Your plan could work. We just have to try. Now, focus on that."
Reluctantly, she nodded, sighing as she and he both headed towards the back of the luggage car and opened the door to the back. It was loud as they listened to the thundering sound of the train running down the tracks. There was a bump every so often as the train moved along steadily. Not going as fast as it could, but not slow, either. The Doctor started climbing up the small metal ladder on the side of the car first, getting to the top and helping her up to join him. They gazed carefully around, nodding to each other as they made their way down the different cars. They had to hop from one car to the next, trying their best to not make too much noise. At one point, they got to a car that was different from the rest. It was made out of thick metal, with the doors to the car bolted tightly shut.
"Uh-oh," Madison said, speaking loud enough for the Doctor to hear her over the thundering of the train.
"What?" the Doctor questioned immediately.
"This is more than just a simple train heist," she said, pointing at the car they stood on. "This is a bank train. It's being transported to Bleakroost bank, probably filled with all the money from Goldenford and Whisperbend and any other town in between." She looked around, seeing the dynamite stuck to the round hatch door that was bolted at the top of the car. "Damn. They're going to blow this up."
The Doctor came over beside her, looking down. "They can't blow it up while the train's moving. So they're probably going to stop the train somewhere."
"Right . . ." Madison looked around, narrowing her eyes as she spotted movement over by the livestock car. She doubted it was sheep she was seeing moving about in the car. She walked over, checking to make sure the dynamite wasn't set on a trigger. It looked like it was just a bunch of dynamite sticks taped together before being taped to the car.
The Doctor crouched down to check it over with his screwdriver. "It's nothing special. Just sticks of dynamite," he said, nodding as he concluded it was safe.
"Well, then." Madison smirked as she gave a kick, knocking the dynamite away from the roof. The taped sticks fell, rolling across the top of the train car and falling to the ground below. "Oops. Oh, would you look at that. Darn the luck."
The Doctor sniggered as he grinned at her. Together, they quickly made their way over to the livestock car, hopping onto the roof as lightly as they could. There was a small hatch at the top of the car. The Doctor held a finger to his lips as they crouched by the small hatch door. Carefully, he opened it, allowing them to see inside. There, within the hay, between a couple of horses that were saddled and ready to go for an escape, were Rose and Charlotte. Charlotte, who was wearing a green dress and black boots, appeared rather banged up with a large bruise on her face. Rose seemed fine, for the most part, other than her clothes seeming to be a mess. The two girls were tied up with their backs pressed up against each other. The ropes were around their arms, keeping their limbs locked to their sides.
"I'm not coming quietly. No sir. I'm gonna kick and scream all the way there and back," yelled Charlotte, seeming to be in the middle of hollering at whoever else was in the car with them. "And you can be sure that my family will come for me. David always comes for his family."
"And the Doctor and Maddie will come for me. They won't let you get away with this," Rose spoke up, glaring at whoever was in the car.
"For the last time, if you two don't shut up, I'm throwing you both off the train myself," came a gruff voice. There was movement and before long they could see who the women were yelling at. It was the same man as before, wearing the black vest and hat. He was slimmer than the rest of the Wilkins' boys as the rest of them were more muscle than anything. He had a thin moustache on him and a small goatee as well. It was none other than Harvey Wilkins. The notorious slimeball himself. It had been so long since she had seen him that she had almost forgotten what he looked like. Honestly, if she didn't know better, she would have compared him to Van Statten. The resemblance and mannerisms were very close. She wondered if this was a distant relative or something.
"Do it! See if I care. I'd rather get run over by a train twice than be sold anywhere again," Charlotte said defiantly, puffing up her chest as she glared at the man. Harvey crouched in front of Rose, eyeing her up like something to eat.
"You'd catch a good price. Although," he said smoothly, leering at the girl as he ran a finger down her cheek, "if you behave, maybe I'll just make you my next saloon girl. How does that sound? I treat my girls well. You'll live a life of luxury."
Rose glared heatedly at the man, spitting in his face and making him flinch back in disgust. "I'm with Charlotte. I'd rather die first," she barked.
Harvey slowly wiped off his face before swiftly backhanding Rose across the face hard. She fell over to the ground, groaning from the pain. Madison saw red and, before he could raise his foot to kick the blonde as he intended, she jumped through the hatch and landed on top of him. He yelled, being taken by surprise as she and he rolled across the floor. She punched him hard in the face three times before he finally was knocked out. Shaking off the pain from her hand, she walked over to Rose and began untying the girl.
"You all right?" she asked, lifting the girl up from the floor. She felt her blood boil as she saw the angry red mark across the blonde's face, but was glad to see Rose smiling happily upon seeing her.
"Oh, I'm so glad to see you," Rose sighed in relief, giving Madison a quick hug. The girl looked over as the Doctor dropped down into the car. "'Bout time you showed up."
"Oi, don't complain," the Doctor said as he went over and, using his sonic to burn the rope around Charlotte, got the other girl out of her bindings. He glanced toward the unconscious man on the floor. "We need to talk about your violent side," he said to Madison.
"Don't act like you didn't want to hit him," Madison muttered, shaking her head as she ignored him.
"Abby? Oh, thank god you're here. I knew Winnie would get help," Charlotte breathed the moment she realised who was there in the car.
"Yep. Winnie always comes through," Madison said, smiling brightly. Then, she grew serious again, going over to the train car and opening it up. The countryside rolled on by them as the train continued onwards. Though, she began to notice the train was starting to slow down. "Quick, Charlotte, I need you to take one of these horses and get to Bleakroost. Tell them the train carrying a bank car is in trouble of being robbed. Bring as much law as you can back here."
"What about you? Won't the law-," Charlotte began to argue.
"Don't worry about me. I'll hide." Madison made the girl get onto one of the horses, leading the animal over to the side of the car. "Now get going!" She slapped the back of the horse, making the animal jump out of the moving train. Charlotte corrected the animal as it stumbled a bit, before quickly getting the horse to run off ahead of the train and leaving them behind.
"They're stopping the train," the Doctor noted as they heard the train wheels squealing, starting to come to a halt.
"What are we going to do?" Rose wondered aloud. "Do you two have a plan?"
"Sort of," Madison said, glancing out of the open car and seeing a man in the front of the train. "Doctor, take care of Rose. I'll stop them."
"You can't stop them on your own," Rose said quickly, shaking her head. The Doctor frowned, looking as though he agreed with the girl.
"It's a one-person job. Just figure out a way to hold off the men that are in the back, all right?" Madison countered swiftly, going out the large door and climbing along the side of the car before either one of them could argue with her.
Using the slits in the wood of the livestock car, she was able to climb back up to the top. Adjusting herself, she hopped over onto the coal car, not caring that she was covered in coal dust as she made her way across the black mounds and to the engine. Looking at the train engine, she saw there was only one man at the controls, pulling down the large level gradually. She tried sneaking down towards the man, wanting to take him by surprise. Unfortunately, the coal around her shifted and started to cascade into the small space with the train controls, making her fall along with it onto her back. The man jumped, startled by her sudden presence. She didn't give him a chance to counter her arrival as she pulled out her gun and aimed it right at him, still on the ground by the coal pile. She could tell this man was rather young, different from the others. He had a frightened expression the moment she had the gun on him with his hands straight in the air.
"Son, if you don't want to do this, this is going to be your one chance to run away," she told him, standing up and keeping the gun trained on him.
"You don't gotta tell me twice," he mumbled, nodding to her and scooting around to give her room in the small area. "I said it was too risky. But does anyone listen to me?" He quickly crawled up the mound of coal and disappeared from view. She hurriedly got to work, pushing the lever up to get the engine going at a greater speed. There was a jolt through the entire train, making her sway a bit on her feet. But, thankfully, the engine kicked up and she heard it chugging away swiftly. The countryside started to whip past as she knew she was getting the engine at top speed. Which, frankly, was not that fast compared to trains in the future, but it was swift enough to get them closer to Bleakroost. Though, she wondered if she could get the train to go even faster if she fed the fire with some more coal.
There came a sudden jolt through the entire train, followed by a roar of a sound. Stumbling into the hot control system, she pushed herself away from the furnace, turning around to see a fiery explosion happen somewhere down the train. Smoking billowed down from where she could only assume was the bank car. Oh, dear. It looks as though there was more dynamite that they had missed. As the Doctor would say, that was just fantastic. With an exasperated sigh, Madison hurriedly began climbing over the mess of coal and made her way back to the rest of the cars. She stood on top of the livestock car, seeing that the bank car was intact. This confused her, but then she realised with horror that one of the passenger cars was damaged and smoking greatly from whatever explosion there had been. Luckily, there did not seem to be too much damage. She only hoped that this meant no one was hurt.
Jumping over onto the roof of the car, she managed to make her way around the large gaping hole that took up most of the front of the waggon. Coughing, she waved away the dark smoke from her face as she went over to a hatch that was on top of the car and opened the small door to jump into the waggon. Once inside, her lungs were filled with smoke, making her cough and gag as it hurt to breathe in. Holding a hand to her face, she looked over with a start when seeing Rose and the Doctor picking themselves up from the floor with groans. Luckily, it seemed both were okay and that no one else was inside the car during the explosion. The Doctor noticed her first.
"They had more dynamite," he said, smiling sheepishly before he began coughing from the smoke.
"I see that," Madison replied, shaking her head.
"Who the hell uses dynamite on a train like that!" Rose yelled angrily, beginning to cough herself as she helped the Doctor up and pulled him down the car and away from the growing fire.
"Where did they go?" Madison asked as she waved the two over to the back door and towards the connection to the next car.
"They ran off towards the waggon with the horses," Rose explained, holding her hand over her mouth as she coughed. "I think they're making a break for it."
"Well, we have more pressing matters now," Madison replied, pointing to the fire that was now halfway consuming the car. "That fire is spreading fast."
"We need to disconnect the waggons," the Doctor said, swiftly going over to the door and opening it. The three of them looked down to the open section between the two train cars, seeing the metal connection of couplings and chains that hung underneath, swaying with the motion of the train. There was a railing in between the two passenger cars, keeping them from easily getting to the couplings. The Doctor climbed over the one railing they stood in front of, getting down between the two using his feet to balance himself. This only made Madison greatly worried as any wrong movement and he would fall in between the two cars and be crushed in an instant. She and Rose both edged around the railing, hopping over to the other car to get away from the growing fire. It had all but consumed the entire car now.
"Doctor, careful," Madison said, nervously biting the inside of her cheek as she watched him work on the coupling with his sonic screwdriver. She kept her hand out, ready to catch him at a moment's notice.
"I can't get them to break apart!" the Doctor said in frustration, aiming the sonic at the coupling and glaring at the metal pieces.
"Doctor . . . why don't you just pull the lever?" Rose asked. Blinking, the Doctor sort of looked at the two dumbly before he gazed down again. He then proceeded to pull the pin of the coupling before pulling small levers on either side. He then held onto the car they were on, hooking his arm around the railing as he sort of kicked the coupling lose. He then used his sonic to make the chains connecting the train cars break apart completely. They watched as it pulled apart, the cars still connected with the train steadily continuing down the tracks while the cars they were still with slowed down.
"That was easier than I'd thought it would be," the Doctor said lightly, grinning at the two as he pulled himself over the railing.
"No, you were just overthinking it," Madison laughed, shaking her head at him. Sighing in relief, she slumped down as she sat on the platform they were standing on, her back to the door that led to the rest of the waggons. "So . . . that went better than I expected."
"You're telling me," Rose said, shaking her head. "I'm surprised everyone listened to us when we told them to get to the back of the train.
"Just be glad they did, or else we might have dealt with a worse mess when that goon used dynamite on us," the Doctor spoke up as he sat down next to Madison. The three of them sat there for a moment, watching as the train ahead of them sped off and went away towards its destination. The cars they were on slowed down to a crawl now, barely moving much. Madison began to chuckle before going into full laughter, throwing back her head as she did. "What's so funny?"
"Because now I remember what happened to the train," she replied with a giggle. "The train is going to speed on and then derail on a turn up ahead. The whole thing flipped over and money went everywhere. So many people go to take their fair share of it before the law shows up to stop them and the bank loses hundreds. And guess who the whole thing gets blamed for it." She smiled brightly as she pointed to herself.
"You? Wait . . .," Rose gasped as she seemed to realise what this meant. "I was wondering why she called you 'Abby'. You lived around here, didn't you?"
"Yep! Currently, I'm in Goldenford working on a heist with a few of the fellows from the gang. Completely unaware that I'm about to be blamed for the biggest bank robbery of Bleakroost in years," Madison said, still chuckling and shaking her head. "I will be completely dumbfounded and confused about the law handing out a bounty on my head for years. To think, I thought there was a double me running around causing chaos."
"Well, you weren't wrong to think that," the Doctor said, laughing as he shook his head at the situation as well. "If I had a quid for every time something future me ruined for past me, I'd be a very rich man."
Rose laughed, shaking her head. "I don't think I'll ever get used to time travel."
There was a moment of silence as they watched the car they were on come to a slow stop. There was some jolting as the other cars bumped along against each other. But other than this, there was not much else to be done. The front of the train was long gone, only a small speck in the distance now.
"Hang on . . . you were in a gang?!" Rose said suddenly, turning with wide eyes to Madison.
"Sort of? It was . . . complicated back then," Madison explained, not sure how to talk about her past life with David and the family. It was a bunch of them, mostly taking things from the rich and those who hurt others. They had always been the one thing against the worst gangs, trying their best to keep order and keep innocent people from getting hurt. Their 'gang' or 'family' was something of a random bunch of assortment of people David had either helped or became friends with over time. All those from different backgrounds, all with their own heartbreaking story to tell. It was the main reason why she fell in love with the family. Because . . . they were just that. A true family through and through. They depended on one another and helped each other out through thick and thin. Through the best of times . . . and the worst.
"Don't you mean 'back now'?" the Doctor joked sarcastically, sniggering as she hit him playfully. Then, his humour fell and he gave her a kind stare. "I'd like to hear about it sometime. If you'd like to share." She glanced at him, seeing the way he gazed at her softly. She looked away, swallowing heavily and nodding, not wanting to say anything at the moment.
"What I don't get is, why does the police, or 'law', think you were involved with it? How do they know?" Rose asked suddenly, frowning thoughtfully. "It's not like they saw you crash the train." There was a pregnant pause as Madison blinked, slowly realising what was about to happen.
"You sent Charlotte off to go get them . . . They're coming straight here," the Doctor said, turning to her and now appearing worried.
"Oh, dear. Now I'm in trouble," she muttered, standing up quickly and looking out towards the distant countryside. There, far down the tracks, were small figures of horses coming closer and closer to them. "If they catch me here . . . you can be sure that I'm getting arrested. Maybe even worse."
"Not if I use the psychic paper to convince them I've already arrested you," the Doctor suggested, pulling out the paper from his inner coat pocket.
"That might work. But just in case . . ." Opening the door, Madison went into the car, going quickly through it to head to the back. It was the last passenger car that she saw the crowd of people all huddled within. They all jumped when she came into the room, but seemed to calm down once they saw the Doctor and Rose come in behind her.
"Is it safe? Are-are they gone?" one of the women asked, timidly holding onto a small boy next to her.
"It's safe," the Doctor assured them.
"Is everyone all right? No one was hurt too badly, were they?" Madison asked them, needing to know that the Wilkins' boys didn't do too much damage to these people. She hated it when the innocent were hurt in the crossfire or because of selfish greed. Seeing how the group of passengers sort of nodded collectively, even the ones who had been roughed up pretty badly, she had to breathe a sigh of relief. Then, she was grinning largely at the bunch of them. "Excellent! Then, I need to ask a rather large favour of you all. If it's not too much hassle, can every one of you go running out of the train in a panic and cause somewhat of a ruckus outside of the train? There's law coming and they need to be distracted."
All of the passengers began mumbling and staring around at each other in confusion, many of them frowning in displeasure.
"What?" gasped one woman.
"And what would we do that, huh?" said a man.
"You're crazy," said another.
"Are you robbing us, too?" spoke up a child.
Madison sighed, shaking her head before saying, "Please, I only need a bit of a commotion. Nothing too difficult to follow, yes?"
"We ain't listenin' to the likes of you," said a man in defiance.
Frowning, Madison shook her head one more time before pulling out her revolver. "Okay, how 'bout this? You lot cause some chaos for me peacefully, or I start shooting? How does that sound?"
"I'd like to see you try," said the same man.
She didn't wait to see what else they would say. She did not even give Rose or the Doctor a moment to start arguing with her. She merely lifted up the revolver, pointed it straight in the air, and fired. It gave a loud bang, shooting a hole straight through the roof. Everyone, beside her, jumped in shock, followed by the passengers beginning to panic and start shouting as they all rushed towards the back of the car and made their way outside. Pushing each other all along the way.
"I'd thought you said you wouldn't use that?" the Doctor asked her, giving her a stern look.
"I said I wouldn't use it on a person. There's a difference. Now come on!" she responded quickly, hurrying over towards the crowd of people and getting herself in the middle of it all. She made certain to keep a hold of the Doctor and Rose's hand as she pushed herself deep within the mix of people, running along with them outside of the car. She half-listened to the crowd of people screaming about a 'madwoman' on the train. None of them seemed to notice or care that she was in the middle of them all. All she could focus on was getting over to the horses the lawmen were now jumping off of.
"Now calm down. Calm down!" yelled the sheriff, waving his hands around at them all. His deputy, and a few other men, were trying to gather up the people and get them all to settle.
Madison steered the Doctor and Rose around the sidelines where the bunch of people were, getting them closer and closer to the horses. She pushed the Doctor and Rose to one horse once they got around and behind the lawmen, fortunately going unnoticed by them so far. She made certain to see them getting onto the horse, with the Doctor in the front and Rose in the back before she snuck over to get to her own horse. She was just about to get on when she heard a click of a gun in her ear.
"Well, well, well. If it ain't Abigale Brown."
Madison sighed as she held up her hands, slowly turning around to face the sheriff. She winced as she faced the man with a large white stetson, white vest, and large handlebar moustache. He had a haughty smirk as he puffed up his chest proudly. It then dawned on her who this man was.
"Sheriff Matthews. Nice to see you again," she said lightly, keeping her tone as even as possible. She glanced over, seeing the Doctor and Rose in their own trouble with lawmen pointing guns at them. "Please, don't hurt my friends. They didn't have anything to do with this."
"I've been looking for you and your partner for a long time," the sheriff said, ignoring her words. He looked around the crowd behind him edgily. "Where's Kramer at?"
"He's not here," she muttered, glancing again towards the Doctor and Rose. The Doctor had a heavy frown on his face, eyes fixated on the gun pointing at her.
"And here I thought Kramer never let you outta his sights," the sheriff smirked at her, looking her up and down. "You go rogue on him? Trouble in paradise? Or did he finally get bored with you and found someone younger?"
Narrowing her eyes a bit, her jaw tightened as she gritted "It's none of your concern, Sheriff."
The sheriff narrowed his eyes in return, pushing the gun up to her head a bit harder. "Tell me where he is. Where is David Kramer?" Seeing how Madison only stared at him in defiance, so he made his gun click by pulling back the hammer. "Tell me. Now."
"Ah, excuse me," the Doctor spoke up, earning the sheriff's attention. The Time Lord gave a small grin and a little wave. "Hello. Yeah, I wouldn't do that if I were you." He went to grab something from his inner coat pocket but paused as the men pointing their rifles at him and Rose all moved to shoot. He grinned brighter. "I'm just showing you my credentials." The sheriff nodded to him, allowing the Doctor to continue and pull out his psychic paper to show everyone it. "See? I'm from the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Me and my partner, Rose Tyler, were recruiting Miss Brown as a source to stop the Wilkins gang from robbing the train. The plan didn't go so well, but you know how it goes."
"What the hell is a Pinkerton doing all the way out here?" asked one of the sheriff's men.
"You know. Pinkerton stuff," the Doctor replied back with light sarcasm. "Which I'll still be doing soon and I'll still need Miss Abigale's help in, so no need for you lot around." He grinned at Madison. "Ready to get going, Miss Brown?"
"Hold on a second. There ain't no way I'm letting her slip through my fingers again," the sheriff said angrily, pushing the gun to her forehead harder. "I've been chasing after her and her damn gang for years. She deserves to be hung!"
"And she'll be arrested right after I'm done with her. So no need to worry." The Doctor frowned as the men around him aimed their weapons higher toward him and Rose.
"You'll arrest her? Ha! I don't think so. She's my prize. Not yours."
"You're going to argue with the Agency about that? We hired her for a reason."
Sheriff Matthews began to smirk darkly. "How 'bout this. Either we take her and you walk away, or you and your friend have a little 'accident'. Say, the Wilkins' boys got a little too trigger happy during the gunfight on the train?"
"You can't do that!" Rose cried in outrage, glaring at the man now.
"You'll find, little missy, that this is my county. I can do whatever the hell I please," the sheriff retorted back spitefully.
"Actually, you might want to wait on your little plan after you see what I have," the Doctor said, grinning away like his life wasn't in danger. Carefully, keeping an eye on the men who had their guns still trained on him, he reached into a pocket on his jacket and pulled out a strange-looking device. It had little bits and pieces sticking out of it as the entire thing was egg-shaped and silver looking.
"What the hell is that?" the sheriff asked, frowning in confusion.
"You're about to find out," the Doctor replied, grinning widely before slamming the device to the ground.
It was instant. The device lit up brightly and began screaming and screeching throughout the area. The crowd from the train, who had been moved back by the sheriff's men earlier, all ran back inside the train car to escape the sound. The sheriff and his men screamed and grabbed their heads as the sound shook the air and their bodies. Madison shook as even her bones felt as though they were quaking. The piercing sound that left the device was so deafening that Madison felt like falling to her knees and cowering from it. Her hearing had always been on the sensitive side, and this was a whole new level of pain. But she forced herself to stay upright. She only briefly made certain the sheriff and his men were too distracted by the noise before jumping onto the horse in front of her and kicking it to go. The horses had all been about to run anyway, trying to get away from the sound. The animals squealed, shaking their heads and ran away in fright. Madison steered her horse the best she could, even though it began bucking to get her off as it only wanted to run from the sound of the device. Kicking the horse's sides hard, she finally managed to get it to gallop away at full speed. She glanced around, glad to see the Doctor was also steering his horse to come up alongside her. He appeared unfazed by the sound still shaking the air around them. Rose, on the other hand, had covered her ears tightly and her face was scrunched up in pain.
"What was that?" Madison asked the Doctor after they were far enough away from the scene for her to finally begin to hear normally again. Though the ringing in her ears was still continuing and her eardrums still felt tender. She could still faintly hear the piercing sound way off in the distance where they had left it behind. She wondered just how long it would be going off until someone finally decided to shoot the darn thing.
"It's a toy from A'Masi. Got it as a gift a while ago," the Doctor explained briskly as they continued to gallop through the desert of Arizona.
"That thing was a toy?!" Rose exclaimed, finally dropping her hands down to hold onto the Doctor as she tried to keep her balance on the horse. Since he was in the saddle, it was harder for the girl to stay in place as the horse galloped. "What sort of horrid person would give that to a kid?"
"The people of A'Masi can barely hear. Things being loud are fun to them," the Doctor explained, giving a slight grin to the blonde. Then, with a more serious expression, he looked to Madison. "Back to Whisperbend then?"
"Yeah. That's for the best," she replied, sighing heavily. "I want to get this day over with."
"How long will it take to get back?" asked Rose.
"Several hours, at least," the Doctor told her. There was a shared glance between Madison and Rose, neither of them liking the idea of riding across the hot desert for hours on end. "Hey, stop pouting you two. It could be worse."
"Don't jinx it," Madison said, shaking her head at him. She even glanced back behind them, just to make sure the lawmen weren't coming after them. It was only a matter of time before Sheriff Matthews would lead his men off for a chase. She knew the kind of man they were up against. He wouldn't let it sit with their escape. "We should probably veer off course a bit. Just so that it gives them a harder time to track us down."
The Doctor seemed to silently agree with her as he steered his horse to their right, heading off in a direction that would take them longer to get to Whisperbend. But this didn't matter to Madison. All she cared about was to stick away from any more lawmen. So, she steered her horse to follow the Doctor, keeping up a good pace beside him. Though they were no longer galloping, they kept the horses at a good trot. Madison knew it was best to keep the horses' energy up. Just in case they needed to run off again.
"So, you gonna tell us more about your criminal life?" Rose asked suddenly, grinning cheekily at Madison after a long while of silence as they rode across the desert.
". . . There isn't much to tell. I joined a wild west gang during my somewhat 'rebellious' years. We didn't do much crime, honestly. It was mostly us getting blamed for what others were doing around at the time," she explained, shrugging as she really didn't want to make a big deal about her past life.
"But you said you're doing a heist somewhere right now," Rose countered, shaking her head as she laughed.
"I said not much crime," Madison responded somewhat sheepishly, realising that maybe there was more she needed to explain. "We stayed away from gunfights and violence as much as we could, though it was hard, being out in the wild west, to stay away from it altogether. Mostly, we stole when we needed to, and it was from those who hoarded their wealth. From people who showed their true colours of just how despicable they were."
"People like that sheriff? Who does he think he is anyway? I have half a mind to turn around to give him an ear full." Rose threw an angry glare over her shoulder off back towards where the train would be.
"What did your parents think of your little 'criminal' life?" the Doctor asked her suddenly. Glancing at him, she saw the keen interest on his face. The genuine curiosity about what had been her past.
"I bet they hated you being 'rebellious'," Rose laughed, grinning with her tongue slightly between her teeth.
"Somewhat. Though, not for the reason you're thinking," Madison explained, averting her attention from them as she steered her horse around some brush on the ground. "My mother didn't really like me being a thief as she had during her younger years."
"Your mum was a thief?" Rose asked, giving Madison a surprised glance.
"Once upon a time, yes. It was how she and my father had met. She stole his pig. Father said she stole his heart," Madison told them, smiling fondly as she remembered the stories of their first time meeting. It had been such a love story the way her father told it. Like it was destiny the way they found each other. Her mother said it was more like dumb luck on her part. Happening to find a fellow Mer during the Middle Ages had been something close to impossible. Even during the time when there were more Mer to find back then.
"That's so sweet," Rose commented, smiling lightly as she stared at Madison. "So what did your dad think about you being a thief?"
"He was concerned, but said he was glad I was finding something other than him and my mother to live life for." Especially when finding David. She left this part unsaid, not wishing to speak of her past lover. It was difficult thinking about him now when they were in this time period. In the same state. In the same county. He was just there, out of reach . . . and yet she could never allow herself to go see him. It would be . . . far too excruciating if she saw him again. Far too . . .
Madison hurriedly pulled her horse to a stop when a couple of men on horses came around a few large rock structures out in front of them. The Doctor was quick to follow her lead, keeping his own horse by her. Both horses stood there nervously, shifting around as the men came closer to them.
"Alright, keep your hands where I can see them!" ordered one of the men, who had long dark hair, a blue button shirt that was dirty around his sleeves and chest, brown chaps, and dark boots with spurs.
"Oh, what now," the Doctor muttered, narrowing his eyes as he saw the men were wearing bandanas to cover their faces, weapons already drawn and trained on them.
"Looks like we're about to be robbed," Madison sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. Though, as she looked at the men coming towards them . . . something about them seemed awfully familiar to her.
"It's just one thing after another today for us, isn't it?" Rose grumbled, already preparing herself for the worst.
"We're not going to hurt you. We just need to ask some questions," said the other man, ignoring the trio's muttering words. It was at this man's voice, the way his tone was calm yet stern, gruff in how he spoke. It was a voice she had almost forgotten. Her heart broke and she felt ready to weep as she slowly took in the man before her. It was him, though. Without a doubt. It was him. It was David.
An original storyline this time around. I hope it was good. I always worry when I stray from canon if it'll be good or not. Please let me know your thoughts in a review. I'd love to see if it was good or not.
Next chapter will be another original plotline. I hope that's okay. Can't wait to see you all again the next time.