Lost Our Minds |5| The Ascension

Chapter Seven: A Town Called Mercy

"Oh, cowboy country," McKenzie cheered, spinning round and round in the middle of the desert until she stumbled, laughing. "I am gonna have so much fun!"

"Mercy," the Doctor said, reading the sign on the outskirts of the town. "Eighty-one residents."

"Look at this," Amy frowned, nudging the boundary line with her boot. "It's a load of stones and lumps of wood." She looked up at the Doctor soniced it. "What is it?"

He flashed a grin. "A load of stones and lumps of wood." He headed into the town.

"The sign does say Keep Out," Rory reminded him.

"D'you wanna take that one, Kez?" the Doctor suggested.

McKenzie rolled her eyes as she and the Ponds followed him into the town. "He tends to see 'Keep Out' signs as suggestions more than actual orders. You know, like 'Dry Clean Only'."

Amy frowned. "Actually, that means something."

"Oh." McKenzie blinked. "Well, that explains a lot."

They caught up with the Doctor in front of the town bank, seeing him frowning at a streetlight. It sparked. "That's not right." He soniced it.

"It's a street lamp," Rory said.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "An electric street lamp about ten years too early."

Rory shrugged. "It's only a few years out."

"That's what you said when you left your phone charger in Henry VIII's en suite," McKenzie reminded him.

"Yeah, we still need to get that back," he pointed out.

She shrugged. "Working on it."

"Doctor, er..." Amy trailed off, seeing the townspeople watching silent, some of them clinging onto their children protectively.

"Anachronistic electricity, Keep Out signs, aggressive stares," he listed off before beaming. "Has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?"

"Doctor!"

He just headed on.

***

McKenzie raised her eyebrows as the conversation stopped in the saloon as soon as they walked in. "Okay... The movies really weren't exaggerating, huh?"

"Tea," the Doctor ordered at the bar, chewing on a matchstick. "But the strong stuff. Leave the bag in."

The barmaid watched as he nearly got the matchstick caught in his teeth, dropping it onto the bar. "What're you doing here, son?"

"Son?" He chuckled. "You can stay."

A preacher stood up from his table. "Sir, might I inquire who you is?"

The Doctor turned. "Of course. I'm the Doctor, this is my—" Everyone stood up, and he cut himself off. "No need to stand." He turned to Rory. "You see that? Manners."

"Thanks, but we're not looking to buy a suit," McKenzie said warily. The Doctor turned to see a man in a top hat measuring him.

The man just stared at them. "I'm the undertaker, ma'am."

Another man stepped forward. "I got a question. Is you an alien?"

The Doctor blinked. "Well, er, bit personal. It's all relative, isn't it? I mean, I think you're the aliens, but in this context, yes. Yes, I suppose I am." He straightened his bowtie. The next thing he knew, he'd been hoisted up onto the shoulders of a mob, and was being carried through the streets toward the town boundary. "Guys!"