OK Doc p.11
They arrived back in Tombstone to find a panic. Someone was ringing an alarm bell and everyone was running toward the far end of town.
"What is it?" Rose asked. She grabbed Reggie’s arm as the woman ran past. "What’s happened?"
Reggie’s face was stark white. "Mine collapse." Rose released her in shock and the woman ran on. Billie dashed after her.
"He did it. He really did it." Rose looked at the Doctor in dismay.
"Looks like."
"If he gets that thing working..." Rose looked around, imagining the tiny, wooden town overrun by millions of rabbits. It should have seemed funny, but it would be a slaughter. "Oh my god."
"Come on." The Doctor took her hand and they ran.
The gate to the mine yard was wide open. The bell ringer was still plying his rope at the mine offices bell tower. People streamed in, miners yelled orders, organizing the townsfolk. A group of wounded miners was lying near the fence to one side, being tended to by the women, led by Reggie. A long line of people had already formed at the mine entrance, passing rocks out hand to hand. Rose was amazed how many people there were, everyone worried. For all its historical significance, Tombstone was just a small silver mining town. Everyone had friends or relatives that worked in the mines.
The Doctor spotted Wyatt Earp standing in a knot with two other men who were organizing the efforts, The Doctor pushed his way through the crowd.
"Was anyone trapped in the new seam?" he asked bluntly, interrupting their discussion.
They turned to look at him with surprised eyes.
"Doctor! Good, you’re here," Wyatt said. "We don’t have anyone badly injured yet but..."
"Was anyone trapped in the new gallery?" the Doctor asked again, his eyes pinning the burly, well dressed man he took to be the mine owner, ignoring Wyatt’s rambling.
"No," the man said slowly, his eyes measuring the rough cowboy in front of him, with his two days growth of beard and dusty jeans. Something in the Doctor’s intense gray gaze must have reassured him. "The miners in that section came screaming out of the tunnels before the collapse, babbling something about "demon winds" and wildcats. They’re over there." He jerked his chin at a quivering trio of miners who sat huddled against the palisade wall.
Rose recognized that look. "Where are their wives?" Rose asked Earp, already moving to go help. Wyatt looked out over the crowd and spotted one of the women just arriving, he pointed her out. Rose grabbed his arm and dragged him off to show her. The Doctor left her to it.
"Is there any chance of getting that seam back open?" The Doctor directed the question to the other man. The head miner was a scrawny little man in dirty overalls and a felt hat.
The miner shook his head. "Whatever it was brought the whole tunnel down, collapsed the junction of the two tunnels. The real problem right now is the primary seam. We’ve got six men trapped down there. We don’t know if any of them are hurt. We’re digging as fast as we can. But we’re going to have to slow down soon. We can’t just indiscriminately dig, we’ve got to make sure it’s stable, bring in supports where needed. It’s not going to be a quick job."
"Other exits?"
The owner shook his head. "This is a silver mine. We have trouble enough just guarding this entrance, we didn’t add any more."
"Air shafts?" the Doctor continued.
"Two," the head miner answered. "One to the new gallery," which was empty, his grimace said, "and one to the old. But without cross ventilation that isn’t going to do a lot of good. They’ll just run out of air slower. But I’ve already got a team of men working at it. We’re sending one of the younger boys down."
He saw the Doctor’s scowl. "It’s not big enough for a man, and we need to know if it’s clear. If he can get through and find his way to the others he can lead them back to the shaft. It will be easier to widen it than get through this end," he waved at the tunnel mouth. "If the way is blocked, or if some of the miners are trapped or injured, he can bring word. At least we’ll know more and can plan from then."
"You’ve done very well," the Doctor said.
"Thank you," the professional said wryly.
"Joss!"
The head miner’s head snapped up at a call from the mine entrance. The line of stones had stopped moving and the townsfolk were fidgeting nervously as they waited in their line, some craning to see, others bent over panting, or tending to scraped hands.
The Doctor followed the scrappy little miner over to the entrance where another miner beckoned to him.
The Doctor looked across the yard, and found Rose with the three miners. Two of the miners were frantically clutching young women to them, obviously their wives. The other clutched an older woman who was apparently his mother.
Rose turned and saw him, said something to Earp and the two trotted over to join him.
"Come on then, let’s have a look," the Doctor stalked toward the cavemouth.
Joss grabbed him by the arm and stopped him, "You’re not allowed in there."
Rose smothered a grin. The head miner was a little man in coveralls and a felt hat with candle wax dripped on the brim. the Doctor towered over him. But Rose had to laugh at the way the little man didn’t even notice. It was like seeing a terrier facing off a mastiff. But a terrier who thought he was just as big as the big dog.
The Doctor stared down at the little man as if the words didn’t make any sense. Finally he just shook his head, rolled his eyes, and stalked into the mine anyway.
"Miss, please don’t come in here," the miner said politely, holding up a hand to stop her. Had he ordered her out, she would have ignored him, but it was a respectful request.
She nodded. She’d had more than enough of the mine anyway. From what the three nervous miners had told her, Kokopelli had returned and pulled that same trick on them, but he hadn’t stopped at merely frightening them. The noise had continued until the very walls had shook, bringing down a cascade of boulders that had chased them out of the mines. One said he’d actually seen the gallery roof crack, before the sound and the rocks had shoved him out.
One of the men’s ears were bleeding.
She jerked her head toward the traumatized miners. "I’ll just be over there if the Doctor needs me." He nodded and ran into the mine after the Doctor.
Eventually the Doctor and the head miner exited from their inspection, the miner yelled something to his men, who jumped up and gathered several of the large timbers used for bracing and threaded their way into the mine.
The Doctor stalked over to Rose, batting the dirt off his hat as he came. He shook his head at her. "He did a good job. They’ll be weeks clearing that out." He rammed his hat back on his head.
Just then there was a childish "Whoop!" of jubilation from beyond the fence and everyone turned to the gates just as Billie burst into the mine yard. He was covered in dust and scratches from head to foot but he was jumping with glee. "We found them! They’re safe!" he yelled.
The townspeople burst out in cheers and hoots. Some of the women crying with relief.
Rose and the Doctor stepped back out of the way as Joss and the mine owner blocked off the mine entrance and organized everyone to go recover the miners. Carts were loaded with digging equipment and people started to wend their way out of the gates, heading toward the air shaft or back to town.
"So how long have we got?" Rose asked.
"Eight hours minimum."
She frowned at him as if something didn’t compute. "Wait a minute, don’t you mean, ‘Eight hours maximum?’"
"No. If it was possible for him to repair the ring in less than eight hours he’d have done it before now. All he’d have to do was fix it at night while everyone was asleep. Since he didn’t I think we can safely assume it takes more than eight hours."
"That still doesn’t leave us a lot of time," Rose said.
"It’ll be enough if we move fast." The Doctor said, pushing his hat back as he watched the yard empty.
Rose opened her parasol and twirled it jauntily. "So what’s your plan?"
He grinned at her. He turned and scanned the crowd. "Wyatt!" he yelled over everyone’s heads. "I’m going to need a cart!"
-------
Rose twirled her parasol, grateful for the shade. The sun was well up now and the desert heat was fierce. She cocked her head at the Doctor.
"So why now?" she asked. He turned those piercing grey eyes on her. They had that sort of calm intensity that only he could do. She finished her though. "That maniac rabbit could have collapsed the mine any time in the last two months. Why suddenly choose now?"
"Us." He saw her look of confusion. "He’d been concentrating on running the people off. It may not have occurred to him to collapse the tunnel until he almost did it to us. He’d have to be careful or risk damaging the ring. But he knows we’re getting close. No one knew about him before, he could work in secret. Not anymore."
Rose nodded and watched as Wyatt Earp disengaged himself from his discussion with the miners and trotted over. "What’s the problem, Doctor? What do you need a cart for?"
"I know who’s been causing all the trouble."
Wyatt's hand settled on his sidearm, "Who?" The cold glint in his eyes sent a shiver down Rose’s back. This man had lost his baby and nearly his brother in the past few days. He was looking for someone to blame.
"It’s not someone you can just go and drag out of their hideout." the Doctor explained. "We’ll have to lure him out. And for that I need a wagon."
***
"Should we have abandoned the deputy to Billie’s tender mercies?" Rose asked as they entered the Tardis.
The Doctor took off his hat and tossed it on the console. "It’s the fastest way." He started manipulating the controls. He pulled the scanner around and frowned at it. "I’ve got some work to do, why don’t you go get cleaned up?"
Rose looked down at her dusty dress with chagrin. She shook out the peach colored skirts. Dust billowed off in a cloud, settling gently down through the deckplates onto the fancy electronics underneath. She looked back up at the Doctor with an guilty grimace, she knew how he felt about the Tardis. "Sorry." He glared at her, then turned back to the scanner. Rose scuttled off.
Rose used one of the Tardis’s cleaning arches to get rid of the dust. All you had to do was walk through the archway fully clothed and it cleaned everything. Body, hair, clothes, all in one go. Handy that. She squinted in the mirror. Unfortunately it had the tendency to clean off her makeup too. And, yeah, she was getting a sunburn. She wondered if the Doctor had any space age cure for that. She grimaced and reapplied her makeup, brushed her hair, and returned to the console room.
The Doctor had stopped diddling around with the controls and was bent over rummaging around in the tool chest looking for something. Rose tilted her head and admired the denim-clad view then gave him an innocent look as he stood up and turned around. "Found it!" He held up a small triangular device, as big as his palm with rounded corners. He dug in a pocket and pulled out, not the sonic screwdriver, but a tiny little pick. He popped open the top of the device and started rooting around in it with the pick, "Come on." Not looking up from his work, he scooped his hat on and he led her out of the Tardis back into the baking heat and hot soughing wind of Arizona.
Rose grunted as the heat hit her. It had been nice and cool in the Tardis. For their next destination she was going to ask for something in the mountains. Someplace with cool breezes and soft snow and skiing and hot chocolate around a roaring fire. Although knowing him, the snow would be carnivorous and the hot chocolate would taste like sweatsocks.
She pulled the Tardis door closed behind her and watched as he stood there, intently hunched over the device, his hat tilted down over his face as he reprogrammed the thing. She looked around his shoulder, watching his strong hands manipulating the delicate device. She looked up at his absorbed face. He really was a sexy man, with that long nose and those big ears. She leaned against his side. He bumped her companionably with his shoulder, not taking his gaze from his work.
She leaned closer, turning slightly toward him, the sound of the wind moaning softly in her ears, her hand slid forward over his flat stomach and smoothed over his shirt, slipping under the far edge of his coat. He was so strong, and solid. Hmm. She lifted up on her tiptoes, her eyes going to his mouth.
"Rose!" The Doctor jumped back and whipped the sonic screwdriver up between them. The harsh buzzing sound snapped her out of the sensual haze she’d been in, drowning out the soft sensual music on the wind.
He’d dropped his electronics in the dust. Slightly dizzy, not thinking, she stooped and picked it up, wiping it clean. She stood up to find him looking at her strangely.
"You all right?" he asked.
"Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?"
Suddenly she realized what had happened. "Oh my God. I came on to you!" She stared at him with horrified eyes. Okay, daydreams were one thing, but she’d never.... But she’d been about to.... If he hadn’t.... Oh my God!
He relaxed and grinned that wide, little boy grin at her, though she could swear there was a naughty glint in his eye. "It’s not the end of the world. Kokopelli’s trying to distract us. He’s the spirit of fertility, remember."
"Fertility!" she yelped.
He grinned wider. "Certain frequencies of sound can stimulate human emotional responses." He rummaged in his pockets as she blushed crimson. "Here. I meant to give these to you earlier." He held out his hand where two waxlike white blobs sat. "Earplugs. They’ll filter out the offending wavelengths but still allow you to hear."
She snatched them and shoved them in her ears.
He gave her that cocky grin again. Full of himself. He took the electronic triangle from her, blew the dust out of it and finished programming it. He snapped it shut. "There. Now all we have to do is see if Billy and Earp did their part."
next chapter - previous chapter