Zoe was watin' for them in the cargo hold. Crazy was there too, hangin' upside down from the catwalk. She looked like some kinda long, gangly, spooky-eyed possum.
Gave Jayne the wiggles when she looked through him like she was.
"No money?"
Mal leaned against a crate. "Didn't have it. Claimed he didn't know where it was."
"Huh. So where is it?"
"Whorehouse."
Zoe's eyebrows went up. "Anyone we know?"
"Man calls himself Mr. Pink."
"That's a pretty sly name for a man ta choose himself."
"That's what I said!" Mal an' Zoe both turned to Jayne. Gave him one of those even stares an' turned back to each other like he hadn't said nothin'.
Oh. So it was fine fer Zoe to say the man's sly fer givin' himself a girly name…
Jayne grunted and crossed his arms.
Ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng.
"Reckon he'd be willin' to give it up easy?"
"Doubt it. Few are."
"Reckon we should go check it out?"
"I conjure it'd make things easier when it comes time ta break in and take it."
"Yes, Sir."
"Jayne." Mal turned to Jayne. "I'm gonna need you ta go with Zoe. I reckon this Mr. Pink ain't gonna give us our money easy-like and I'd like to know what we're up against."
Gorramit, he'd been standin' right there. Not like Mal an' Zoe'd been talkin' in their heads.
"Shiny." Jayne started goin' through his guns in his head, tryin' ta decide which one ta bring along.
"You're just checkin' it out. Don't do anythin' stupid."
Damn.
"An' don't go feelin' up the merchandise, either."
Damn.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Jayne smiled.
Mal turned back to Zoe. "Be careful."
"Always am, Sir."
xx
Mal figured the mule would be a bit too conspicuous. Likely ta be remembered. Jayne didn't have the foggiest where the horses came from. Figured they was probably borrowed.
He took the big buckskin. Zoe took the smaller black one. There was a butter-yellow one, too. Real weird color. They left it tied ta the tree by the ship, nibblin' at a clump of grass.
They didn't talk none on the way ta the house. Fine by Jayne. Zoe'd never really done anythin' you'd call "openin' up" ta him. They rarely traded small talk, even before Zoe'd got all clammed up.
Jayne matched his breath with the footsteps of the horse.
Two steps in, two steps out.
Been a long time since he'd been on a horse. Felt good.
Two steps in, two steps out.
Kaylee looked real pretty that mornin'—even if she was makin' googly eyes at the doc. She'd taken a shower, now that they was dirt-side. Her hair was real shiny. Looked all soft. Skin, too.
He wondered what she smelled like close up. He hardly got a chance ta get close to her. Not close enough.
He needed a shower. It'd been a while, an' he reckoned his aroma was headin' past manful ta just plain wrong.
Plain. Plain Jayne.
He could use a sandwich. One with lots a meat. An' cheese. Gorram, it'd been a long time since he'd had cheese. An' that yella stuff mama'd bring out on real special occasions.
Yella. Yella paint. Half-naked Kaylee.
Better than a sandwich. Sweet and savory Kaylee between slices a… Jayne an' the wall.
"Sounds like we're getting' close."
Jayne let the visions of Kaylee slip away.
"Yep."
They could hear the laughin' an' carousin' long before they reached the house.
Actually, it was more than a house. It was like a compound—one big house in the middle of four or five little buildings.
"Quite the spread."
They didn't say nothin' else until they were up at the main house.
Zoe kept her voice low as they bent to tie their horses to the post out front. "I'll do the talkin'. Keep your eyes open for anythin' that might be a problem."
Jayne nodded. Fully planned on enjoyin' his look around.
A couple a girls were standin' right inside a the door.
They grew 'em pretty.
One a the girls—the redhead—attached herself ta Jayne's arm an' put her hand on his chest.
"Lookin' fer somethin'?"
Jayne looked down at her. Great view from above.
"Uh…"
"Bao bei."
Took all Jayne's will ta look away. Zoe was glarin' at him. The other girl was standin' beside her, eyin' her through half-closed eyes.
Zoe came over an' took Jayne's hand. Her hand felt right strange in his. Dry an' callused.
The redhead on his arm let go and purred. "Oooh. Couples."
"Who's in charge here?"
The girl slunk closer to Zoe. "You can just tell me what ya've got in mind. I can set it up for ya."
"We're lost. We need to talk to the person in charge. See if maybe we can get some help."
The other girl had moved behind Jayne. She circled around him, trailin' her fingers along his back.
Jayne's brain stuttered to a stop.
"We can help you. Getcha goin' real nice."
Her fingers slid along his waistband, over his side.
Jayne looked down at her. She looked up. This one had dark hair. Curly. She was bitin' her lip as she looked up at him.
Sweet Ye-soo.
She stopped. Looked away from Jayne. Turned her head to Zoe.
Jayne looked down. Zoe had grabbed her hand. Stopped it maybe a finger's width from the butt a the gun stuffed in his waistband.
Oh.
"You touch my man again, I will break every bone in your body."
The girl gave Zoe a sullen look. Jerked her hand away and folded her arms, juttin' her jaw out like a kid.
"Now. Who's in charge here?"
The other girl—the redhead—came to join her friend.
"Mr. Pink." The dark-haired one jerked her head toward a curtain on the other side of the room. "In there."
Zoe's voice was so damn pointy. He was surprised the girl didn't pop. "You gonna be kind enough ta introduce us?"
The girls looked between Jayne an' Zoe. The dark-haired one shrugged and walked toward the curtain.
Zoe followed her. She was still holdin' Jayne's hand, so he followed, too.
Kinda wished she would let go.
Sounded like most of the carousin' was goin' on behind that curtain.
The girl tapped on the wall beside the curtain, then turned around ta glare at Zoe.
Her friend had shown up again. The redhead. She stood beside her, givin' Jayne eyes an' lickin' her lips.
Jayne grinned.
A head poked out of the curtain. "What?"
Both girls turned toward it.
The dark-haired one spoke up. "We gots some people here wanna talk ta Mr. Pink."
The head—Jayne assumed it was attached to a man—turned ta him an' Zoe an' looked 'em over.
He pushed the curtain aside an' let them in. The girls went in first.
The man holdin' the door open eyed Zoe longer than he had to.
Jayne glared at him. Put his hand on Zoe's waist real lightly an' moved her to the other side a him.
Weren't proper fer a married woman ta get eyeballed like that.
There were probably a dozen men in the room. Near that, anyway.
Jayne could pick out Mr. Pink right away. Not that there was a blinkin' sign er nothin'. He could just tell.
First off… he was wearin' pink.
He stood up. He was almost as tall as Jayne. Littler, though. Skinnier. Dark hair an' a big smile.
If it hadn't been fer the little patch a hair on his chin, Jayne woulda thought he was about twelve.
He bowed.
"I see you've met Marie," he nodded at the dark-haired girl, "and Stella." He nodded at the red-head.
"We have. Right friendly establishment you have here." Zoe was tryin' hard ta sound nice. Non-threatenin' at least.
Mr. Pink bowed again. "I do try." He straightened back up. "And whom do I have the pleasure of meeting with?"
Whom?
"My name's Rebecca." Zoe put her hand on Jayne's arm. "This is Zeek."
What the hell? Zeek?
Mr. Pink smiled again. "A pleasure to meet you, Rebecca." He turned to Jayne. "Zeek." He pointed at an empty stack of pillows on the floor. "Please. Have a seat."
Zoe grabbed Jayne's hand again when he went ta sit down.
Jayne noticed Marie cough inta her hand.
Gorram girl was laughin' at him.
Zoe was makin' him look whipped.
Zeek.
"Thank ya kindly, but we were just wonderin' if we could get some directions. We're lost. Wonderin' if you could tell us where we could find a general store of some sort, so we could get some supplies and be on our merry."
"Ah. I see." Mr. Pink was noddin'. So were half a the other guys in the room. Looked creepy. "There is a town nearby. About three miles west of here. They don't really have what I would call a general store. More like a… luh-suh grab an' go hole in the ground."
He looked around at the people in the room. They all laughed like this was real funny of him ta say.
When things settled down again, Mr. Pink turned his attention back ta… Rebecca an' Zeek.
"You might be able to get some things there. I would suggest carrying on to Sheridan. It's about a half day's ride south of here. They'll have much better provisions."
"Thank you, Sir."
"Call me Mr. Pink. Everyone does."
Zoe bowed her head. "Thank ya kindly, Mr. Pink."
"No problem at all."
Zoe didn't say nothin' until they was outa listenin' distance.
"What do you think?"
Jayne shrugged. "Nice place."
"About Mr. Pink."
"Nice man." Jayne shifted in his saddle. "Mite paranoid, maybe."
"Every one of those men in there had at least one gun. Might pose a problem if we need ta take the money."
"Yep."
Jayne squinted against the sun.