"Mercy," Peyton reads, the dry heat of the Arizona sun beating down on them. "Eighty-one residents."
"Look at this," Amy says. "It's a load of stones and lumps of wood."
Peyton glances down to the line of debris surrounding the town's limits curiously. It's odd, certainly but by their standards, not particularly.
Peyton looks to the Doctor who nods at her. She retrieves her sonic pen from her pocket and runs it along the debris.
"What is it?" Rory asks.
She looks at the readings then up at him. "A load of stones and lumps of wood."
"Seems fine time me," the Doctor comments before stepping across the line and toward the town. His three companions share a look before Peyton joins him.
"Er, the sign does say, 'keep out'," Rory says.
"I see keep out signs as suggestions more than actual orders," the Doctor turns back to the Ponds. "Like dry clean only."
He rubs his hands together and heads off into the town.
Rory and Amy hop over the line and beside Peyton, follow the Time Lord into whatever trouble lies ahead.
At first, Peyton thinks it's empty, a ghost town. That is until she looks harder and notices the faces peering out from windows and doorways, peering at the newcomers. She hopes it's just curiosity, not anger.
An old-timey electric streetlight sparks and the Doctor clicks at it. "That's not right."
He sonics it and analyses the readings.
"It's a street lamp," Rory says unimpressed.
Peyton lifts her wrist to her eye line, the Doctor gave it to her for her birthday. It automatically adjusts itself to time travel, displaying not only the local time but the date, year, weather, and points north. Very handy.
"An electric street lamp. It's 1869, we're about ten years too early for the light bulb," Peyton informs him.
"Well, it's only a few years out," he shrugs.
"That's what you said when you left your phone charger in Henry the Eighth's en-suite," the Doctor points out.
"Doctor, um," Amy speaks up.
"Anachronistic electricity, keep out signs, aggressive states," the Doctor chuckles. "Has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?"
"Doctor!" Amy gets his attention but pauses as he pulls a toothpick from his pocket and puts it in his mouth. Peyton bets he thinks he looks really cool chewing on that thing. She sighs exasperatedly.
• • •
The silent outrage when the Doctor introduces himself at the bar definitely piques Peyton interest. As the cowboy looking townsfolk get to their feet, she shoves her hands in her trouser pockets.
"No need to stand," the Doctor smiles before turning to his companions. "You see that? Manners."
Peyton peers over his shoulder to see a man with a tape measure, holding it up to the Doctor's shoulders.
"Uh, thanks, but I don't need a new suit," the Doctor says awkwardly, turning around to him.
"I'm the undertaker, sir," he says beneath his enormous moustache.
The Doctor takes a double-take as many of the patrons start snickering at him.
"I got a question," a young man announces in an incredibly strong southern accent. "Is you an alien?"
YOU ARE READING
The Time Lord's Apprentice
Fanfiction"But, you're impossible!" "Yeah, and the world is ending, I don't think now is the time." Peyton is an orphan, taken from her mother as an infant by the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. She is raised separately from other children because she is spec...
