The pomme and Union Jack weren’t causing any trouble, but the Doctor still had an uneasy feeling. A few days after his stop at Keilly’s Café found him swatting away giant insects amidst fog and shadowy trees. The Banshee Swamp was not a pretty place; breathing was even difficult if you weren’t used to the humidity, and the trees grew in twisted shapes draped in damp moss and vines.
But the mud sticking to his shoes, in a moment, became worth it. The Doctor saw a fluttering flash of gold zoom right past his face and he took off after the critter, wishing his ship hadn’t decided to take up temporary residence on the banks of the Kelpie River. Stubborn thing.
“Come on, you silly little bird…” The Doctor muttered as the wet ground sucked him down with every laborious step. His quarry’s golden wings were getting duller and farther away, obscured by the swamp’s thick green-grey fog.
“HEY!” A voice shouted behind him, “What are you doing?”
The Doctor stopped, and in that split second saw the golden bird vanish. He scowled and turned to face the shouting stranger with his arms crossed, noting the bright blue law enforcement uniform that stood out in the dark swamp. “Hello. And you are?”
“Officer Coppa,” the yehxil replied, sounding suspicious, “Do you know what you were chasing?”
“Well, I do, but I don’t imagine you do. Do you?”
“Of course! It’s been illegal to forcibly catch Swiffets for twenty years! You’re lucky to even have seen one,” Coppa shot back, “Now I suggest you get out of here, and unless a Swiffet lands on your shoulder, leave them alone.”
Stunned, the Doctor could only nod and trudge back to what passed for a city in the Banshee Swamp. How had Coppa already known about Swiffets? And twenty years – impossible! They’d only existed in this dimension for a few days!
It was moments like this that made the Doctor wonder if time travel was worth it.