"What's the plan?" she asked with a smile, her hand already removing the PDA from her belt.

"Something on this ship has got everybody scared... and I'm going to find out what... Come along Song... Let's meet the locals... See what they have to say about all this... lock down business" River nodded in agreement, following him as he made his way into the jungle of homes.

"Here take this, in case we have to split up," she added nudging his arm. He turned around and looked down at her hand, "Spare communicator..." The Doctor took it and thrust it into his jacket pocket roughly.

"Good thinking... now... where do you want to start?" he stopped still, the realisation of exactly how many inhabitants the ship was carrying had just dawned on him.

"Pssssst! Hey you two!" came a loud whisper. They turned sharply to their right where a head wearing a stetson hat was poking out of a very western looking carriage, "C'mere!" an arm extended from inside waving frantically for them to venture nearer.

"Let's start over here then," River replied shortly slowly making her way towards the stranger. The Doctor watched her for a second or two before following her with a smile. A woman with a sense of adventure as big as his; meant he had to less work than usual.

"Whatcha doin' out there? You gotta be inside fer the lock down. C'mon in" River and the Doctor looked to each other in mild suspicion before climbing up into the carriage. Inside was stiflingly warm and very small and cramped. The Doctor felt his hair brush against the top of the doorframe as he stepped inside after River. He looked around biting his lip and absentmindedly putting his hands in his pockets. Finally upon realising he couldn't see the figure that had gestured for them to enter he lowered his line of vision. They were the shortest people the Doctor had seen in a while. Not even half his height; the couple were dressed in typical western attire in matching coffee and cream colours, everything matched even their worn brown leather boots. Their dark hair was the same shoulder length, slightly greasy; and his bushy beard extended down to hide his collar.

"... Hi..." the Doctor managed finally plunging them into an even more awkward silence as the couple stared blankly back at him. He bit his lip once more, his mind ticking slowly over all the human chit chat he'd acquired on his travels, "I'm the Doctor," he decided on at last; his safest line.

"I'm Billy... Bill to me buddies," the short man replied tilting his stetson back slightly his friendly blue eyes shone as he spoke, "And this here is my wife Marie"

"River Song," the Doctor added waving a casual hand in River's direction, "Tell me..."

"She your wife?"

"No! Oh... I mean no... no... no we're not married," he panicked instantly, his ears reddened as he nervously avoided River's eyes. The awkward silence took hold once more; the only sound was the steady tapping from River as she continued working on her PDA. The Doctor rocked backwards and forwards in his almost worn out boots, eyes scanning the one roomed home with interest taking in the old pots and pans and trinkets probably collected from their travels. He put a hand up to scratch lightly behind his ear before turning to River, "Do you have to tap so loudly?" he demanded.

"Well if you hadn't broken it I wouldn't need to press so hard!" River snapped back. The Doctor clenched his mouth shut tightly, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Fine..." he said delving into his pocket, "... Hand it over then" He withdrew his screwdriver and held out his free hand towards River. She slammed the PDA into his open palm He began to work on the PDA, the green light lit up his stern features and the buzzing noise filled the room.

"Witchcraft!" Billy cried cowering behind his plump wife.

"See," the Doctor sighed looking up at River, "You humans... Travelling through space and time in a carnival... No questions asked... A Sonic screwdriver comes out and it's instantly witchcraft... I'll never understand you lot... never... You should have been there at the Salem witch trials... they tried to tie me to a stake after I helped them to get rid of a three legged banshee... never again" He looked back down at the PDA finally deciding that it had undergone enough sonic-ing, "Alright Billy," he continued tossing the PDA to River, "Why can't we go outside?"

"It's the rules," Billy replied simply, "If you go outside when it's lock down... you don't ever come home... All those home out there... they aint all bein' lived in right now Doctor... folks just vanish, don't come back... folks start to get too curious" River's eyes looked up from her screen; her hands paused as she listened with a new found interest.

"And we all know where curiosity got the cat," River stated calmly turning her head in the Doctor's direction.

"Vanish," the Doctor scoffed, "There's nowhere to go... and it's impossible to fall off one of these so they must be somewhere" He rushed to the small window pushing the tiny curtain out of the way, "Do you ever hear anything during lock downs Billy? Noises...? Unexplainable... sounds?" His eyes scanned the still and silent surroundings before he dropped the curtain and turned around quickly.

"... no"

"Well tonight I want you to listen... every noise... every time someone sneezes I want you to write it down..."

"Where are you going?"

The Doctor jumped the short drop out onto the soft artificial grass; landing softly with an exaggerated bend of his knees, "We are going to have a look around," he grinned holding his arms out as River jumped lightly down to join him. Taking hold of her hand tightly he looked back up to the bewildered looking western couple, "Don't worry... we'll be back," he added brightly.