Doctor Who in Medieval Britain
As the whirring siren of the illustrious Tardis came to a slow descent, the Doctor was already waiting by the blue door, eager to pounce out on the adventure that lay beyond it.
"But, where are we? I don't know if you've noticed, but you haven't actually answered that question yet." Amy appeared behind him, her arms crossed, a look of slight annoyance crossing her face as she watched him hug the handle of the door.
"Doctor? Are you actually listening to –"
"Ssshhh." He finally spoke. He had pushed his ear up against the door, and was now listening intently to the sound beyond the Tardis door. Amy dare not interrupt him, again. She watched him, and observed that same appearance she had examined on many occasions when the Doctor wasn't looking: the tweed jacket, the bow tie done up a little too tightly, the light brown hair sweeping over his brow, that... nose. She smiled as she watched his face contort with what he was obviously discovering by listening to the door.
"AHA!" he announced, making Amy jump. He swivelled round to her and grabbed her arms, looking into her eyes, the way he always did when he wanted her to pay real attention to what he was saying.
"Do you have any idea, what I just heard?" the Doctor spoke, almost in a whisper; so quite that Amy had to move her face in a little closer just to grasp what he was saying.
"What?" she whispered back, her eyes becoming eager than his.
She felt the grip tighten slightly on her arms. "Coughing, Amy. I hear, a lot of coughing."
Staring with a dumb look of confusion at the Doctor, Amy felt the need to question this quite odd statement. "Coughing?"
"Coughing." He spoke almost immediately, smiling, still looking into her deep brown eyes. "Amy, we are surrounded, literally surrounded, by death, just outside of these doors." He let go of her arms slowly, and watched her as she began to grasp what he was talking about.
"What?" she finally spoke, her throat a little dry. What could he possibly mean? she thought, as she watched him prance off down the Tardis, climbing the stairs three at a time, and collecting his sonic screwdriver which he had left daggling by one of the levers. She swivelled round to watch him, his excitable, boyish nature as he patted himself down to make sure he had everything on him.
"Sonic Screwdriver, check. Psychic paper, check. Bag of herbs and lavender, check. Two health masks, check..."
"Doctor? Why on earth..."
"No time to explain now Miss Amelia Pond" he announced, jumping down the whole flight of the stairs and rejoining her by the door. He turned his back on her and touched the handle of the Tardis. However, he paused for just a second. With his back still turned from her, he asked "Amy, how good where your history teachers at school?"
She was now well and truly baffled. What on earth was he talking about? She could tell that he was actually awaiting an answer though, and answered quickly "they were good, I guess. Why?"
Still looking at the grain of the wood, he asked "how much do you know, about the Black Death?"
There was now an even longer pause, as Amy stood with her mouth open. "Are you telling me, that through that door, we will be in the middle of Medieval Britain? In the middle of the biggest epidemic that history has ever known?" Her breathe began to get a little heavier as thoughts began to cross her mind rapidly.
The Doctor turned to her, with an unexpected beam on his face. "So you do know a lot then? Good! That will be handy, handy handy handy. Right, let's go, Amelia Pond and The Doctor tackle the streets of London at Plague time, now this should be fun."
Amy smiled nervously, her stomach twisting.