Copper for a Kiss by Lady Cleo
All Disclaimers' Apply
Chapter Five: Jiangyin
2517 Early June.
Approximately Four Months Later.
"What in the hell is it?" Jayne demanded. Reaching out he grabbed the misshapen statue of the bird and picked it up, examining it from several different angles.
Peering over his broad shoulder River smiled gently, titling her head as she spoke, "Swan; any of various large aquatic birds of the family Anatidae and chiefly of the genera Cygnus and Olor."
Jayne frowned and turned his head towards her, "How you figure that?"
"Webbed feet, a long slender neck, and plumage. Also, says so on the bottom." Turning away from Jayne she wandered over to the shelves of knickknacks and picked up a combination bottle opener corkscrew.
Flipping the Swan over Jayne squinted down at the small print and muttered obscenities under his breath before slamming the wooden creature back down angrily. "What in ruttin' hell we supposed to do on this planet for a whole week? Look at misshapen birds in this go se store?" Turning away from the supposed swan he ambled over to his partner.
"Idle hands are the devils playthings. " River suggested, invoking a raised eyebrow from her partner as he leaned over her shoulder and grabbed the knickknack from her.
"Ya know, ruttin Inslee could've told us he had to make a run to the core and let us off on a decent planet; one we could've gotten off of 'stead of this trap" Jayne declared as his fingers flipped the small object over. "Should've hitched a ride with Monty 'stead of that pansy Inslee; never really liked him anyway, he's always lookin' at me funny."
Turning around the small genius faced the larger mercenary, "Blessing in disguise, would never turn coat and tail."
"Speaking off," Jayne started to say as he leaned his head down to stare the girl directly in the eyes, "How come ya didn't warn me about this little shindig he'd planned. Could've paid for a detour and gotten us to decent planet with transports, or better yet, one with work. "
"Thoughts are- dark, disorganized focus, soft and hard, random things that girl does not desire to share." River shuddered and turned away from the accusing glare of Jayne. Pushing past him she wandered over to the decorative plates, picking one up and examining the bright colors.
Jayne's eyebrow went up again and he turned to face the girl, "Is that why you were hanging off me like a gorram monkey?" He inquired, but River ignored him, her head tilting as her eyes glazed over. The corners of her lips suddenly twitched into a bright grin and she turned away from the colorful plates, wandering over towards the entrance of the shop. "Hey, girl, I asked you a question. "
"Winds are speaking." River declared as Jayne joined her. "Can't you hear the crickets?
"Hell, I ain't no mind reader, can't hear half the things you hear." Jayne answered back. Crossing his hands over his chest he frowned as he peered out into the dusty streets with a raised eyebrow, "What are them crickets talkin' 'bout?"
Grabbing a hold of his hand she tugged him out of the store, practically dragging him across the street. "Strings and cords. Pretty packages all dressed up."
Jayne snorted, but let her continue to lead him down the dark alley, his grip tightening on the crazy genius. "Gorram it girl, we ain't got time. " He started to shout, but stopped when he realized just how much time they did have. Wouldn't do too much harm to indulge her whims this once, might be amusing.
Pushing aside a hanging cloth, River led him out into the bright sunlight. Jayne stumbled to a halt, letting go of his crazy genius as he stared across the bright green field to the large tent, the cheerful sound of the fiddles echoing around him. "I'll be gorramed. "
River paused just before the stairs leading up to the center of activity and the whirling figures. "Know this." She whispered as Jayne once again joined her side
"Hell, girl, who don't? Even I know how ta dance." But the small genius ignored him stepping lightly up the stairs and merging into the steady stream of dancers. Watching the quick steps she found her heart jumping in tune with the music, her lips counting off the steps as she twirled in place, watching the bright skirts swirl around her.
This she knew. This was love, just like Simon, like family, like memories of warm hands smoothing down the tangles in the morning, or the strong voice that admonished the scarped knees with concealed worry. This was just like the other man who stood at the bottom of the stairs watching her wearily, a scowl permanently etched across his lips as he crossed his arms across his chest and narrowed his glare in on her. This was hers.
The grin that encompassed her heart spread quickly to her lips, grabbing a hold of her skirts she spun around, her feet kicking up into the quick pattern as she merged smoothly into the flow of the music. Heart pounding to the rhythm she moved around the makeshift dance floor.
Jayne frowned, watching her twirl around the floor he shifted uncomfortable and glanced at the crowd. If one of them took too keen a notice of the girl, they might suddenly recall a posting about her on the cortex. Leavin' the pair trapped on a planet with no escape. Movement shifted on the dance floor and Jayne turned back to watch his dancing' genius as she was swept into the arms of a younger man.
Jayne's hand automatically dropped down to his side arm, an overwhelming urge to kill the pretty boy creeping up along his spine. "Ruttin little boy better take his hands off. " The mercenary muttered angrily, barely controlling his urge to step forward.
"Drink?" The man beside Jayne asked, offering a dirty looking bottle of whiskey to the mercenary.
Jayne's eyes narrowed as the younger man swept River around the makeshift dance floor. Reaching out he grabbed the offered bottle of whiskey and took a quick swig, thrusting the bottle back to its owner.
There was only one way to handle this situation without calling to much attention to the two fugitives.
Jayne stepped up to the dance floor.
Moving quickly through the crowd he grabbed the young man by the shoulder, pulling the couple to a halt. "I'm cuttin' in boy. " Without waiting for a reply, Jayne wrapped an arm about the smaller girl and swept her away, back into the flow of the dance.
Suddenly the years of torture inflicted upon him by his elder and younger sisters was justified. Boots stomping together, the pair spun around the dance floor in a dizzying display, the larger man occasionally sweeping the girl off the ground for seconds at a time. They whirled and twirled in time with the jig that echoed around them, a smile cracking wide across Jayne's face as he swirled the girl around the dance floor, boots stomping loudly with the fiddle. The air about him suddenly began to feel light, the world titling on its axis as the girl in his arms started to glow.
Somewhere in the third turn a thought dawned on Jayne and for the first time since the train incident, he noticed the smooth body in his hands. The small soft waist he clasped with his left hand. The warm hand that fit snuggling into his. The soft curve of her chin. The bright pink lips that stretched across her cheeks in a happy smile. His eyes traced down her chin and along her soft creamy throat his thoughts wandering further away from reality as his tongue darted out to lick his lips. Forgetting about his feet, the mercenary suddenly stumbled.
River spun away from his grasp with a teasing smile. She merged into the moving flow, leaving the mercenary stumped and confused for a second. Jayne watched her move away, entranced by the soft flow of her movements. Without his consent he found his feet carrying him forward towards her.
River's grin suddenly faltered and the small girl stumbled to a halt, the bodies of the dancers moving swiftly around her, an unwelcoming voice suddenly whispering in her ear.
Jayne paused as his glimpse of the pale girl vanished completely. Spinning around in place, his sharp eyes sought out the smaller girl, bouncing from head to head for the familiar form. "Girl? Girl? Gorram it." Jayne yelled spinning around in place. "River?"
"She'll make a nice addition to the town, don't ya think? Real cute thing, she'll make a pretty bride. " Shifting the weight of the unconscious girl in his arms, the young man turned to his partner with a grin. "Reckon the elders won't be to happy bout it, seeing as she ain't got no obvious talent, but we can always use more women folk."
His partner glanced back along their path nervously. "You don't think he noticed?" He questioned, picking up his pace when he spotted an odd shadow in the bushes.
"Nay, he was too busy lookin for the girl ta notice." Shifting his gaze back to the girl in his arms, the young man grinned, "We was real lucky, her just passing out like that." The young man paused nervously in his speech. "You don't think nothing's wrong with her, do ya? Just passin' out like that ain't too normal like." When his partner didn't answer the young man shrugged, "Little thing like her, probably just exhausted herself."
His partner snickered, "Don't kid yourself, slipped her something while I was dancing' with her. Little bit of arsine powder on her dress, knocked a little thing like her out cold. Effected her partner a little too, didn't you see his eyes glazin' over?" Shifting back around, the man watched the path nervously as the wind shifted slightly to the north, rustling the bushes around them. "We best be moving faster, suns about ta set."
Monty glanced down the dusty street and smirked, "Surprised it's still standing." Behind him the gathered crewmembers snickered as the large captain turned around to face them. "Split up, wanna find the two wayward souls and get off this ruttin' planet." Motioning to one of his crewmembers to follow, the Sovereign's captain started off towards the local goods store. "What in the hell was Inslee thinking, leave them two stranded on this planet?"
"Reckon he's got a thing for the little girl." Berkley, Monty's engineer, answered back as he trailed after his captain. "Probably figured if they couldn't get off, they'd have to wait for him to come back."
"Inslee ain't smart enough to figure that." Monty answered back. Mounting the stairs of the general goods store he entered the small establishment and grinned at the sight that greeted him.
"What in hell do ya mean you don't know where'd they take her?" The mercenary stood across the room, holding a very frightened clerk in the air. "Ain't ya'll taken the time to track down them that's been taken?"
"We've looked." The gasping man tried to answer back. "But haven't found."
Jayne's grip tightened, cutting off the man's air supply, "I ain't looking for excuses. I wanna know where the hell they took my girl. "
"I reckon, Jayne," Monty declared with a frown, "that strangling the man ain't gonna help your situation much."
Jayne glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the Sovereign's captain wearily before dropping his struggling victim. Leaving the coughing clerk behind, Jayne stormed confidently past the captain, "Need to borrow your ship, where'd ya park it?"
"Why for?" Monty called after the man as he chased after the mercenary. "Where's the little bit?"
"She's been snatched by some hill folk." Jayne explained angrily as he waited for the Captain to catch up. "Taken right from underneath my gorram nose." He explained as Monty steered him in the direction of the ship. "Figure they gotta be in walking distance."
"You sure she just didn't decide that you ain't worth the bother anymore." Monty grinned, watching as the Mercenary scowled in response.
"I've been next to the little girl for the past four months, we've fought, we've saved each other's hides, even slept side by side. Hell, the only thing we ain't done is had us a tumble 'tween the sheets. Figure I know the girl pretty gorram well by now, she ain't gonna anywhere without me, needs me more then I do her. "
"Hell, Jayne, you don't even call her by her name."
"That ain't a factor; I'll call her whatever I want. Sides', I know her gorram name, who don't. Don't mean I have to call her by it." The mercenary muttered under his breath, picking up his pace. "It don't matter, anyway. What matters is gettin' her skinny ass back before some hillbilly puts his paws on what's mine."
Wrenching herself out of the black, River pushed herself into a sitting position, eyes glancing frantically about the room. "Jayne." It was the first thought that entered her mind. The first coherent thought that drove a panic into her heart as she scrambled around in the covers of the unfamiliar bed, searching for some sign of him; a hat, a left over weapon, a spot of gun oil on the sheets, or the heavy masculine scent that followed him around. But there were no signs of Jayne.
Scrambling down off the bed, she glanced around the room. This was no hotel room; the crude walls were not decorated with bad imitation art, and though someone had attempted to cover up the ugly patches of the room, it had the air of a more full hearted, loving attempt, no half ass job to just keep customers from complaining.
"Math is wrong, doesn't make sense, doesn't add up." The sound of approaching boots cut off any train of thought River had. Turning towards the door with panicked eyes, she took a hurried step back as it slowly opened.
"You're awake." A young woman declared with a kind grin as she stepped fully into the room. "My names Mary, it's a pleasure ta meet you." The other woman held out her hand towards the shaking River. River took another step back and Mary dropped her hand to her dress, fiddling with the material for a second. "We was getting real worried bout you, think maybe Will put too much of the stuff on your dress. You are still lookin' kinda pale, we'd best be getting that dress cleaned off." The elder girl reached towards River.
"No. " the girl genius shrieked, jumping back another step and startling the elder girl.
"I ain't gonna hurt you," Mary promised reaching out towards River again, "just wanna get you settled hon." River took another step away from the girl. "I know this ain't exactly easy to swallow, and you'll be missing your family for a little while, but this is a real nice place." The girl assured hesitantly, turning away from River she set to making the bed. "You'll be coming to call us family after a spell." She promised, smoothing out the wrinkles in the sheets, "And."
"No. " River whispered, interrupting the girl's rambling. Wrapping her arms around her chest she shook her head, tears clouding her eyes. "Not right, can't work without Jayne, need him to function."
Mary paused and looked up with a soft smile. "Jayne? Well ain't that a funny name for a boy. He your beau?"
The image of Jayne in a tux, holding a bouquet of wilting flowers jumped to the forefront of River's mind for a second, comforting her but at the same time drawing into view the pain his absence had created.
Mary shrugged off the question when River doesn't answer her. "Don't matter anyway, Danny's gonna be your new beau. And soon enough you'll be part of our family now. There's me, I'll be your big sister, Danny, and Will, he's my other brother. You'll like him plenty too."
"Doesn't make sense." River whispered pressing her palm into her forehead she shook her head quickly. "Can't think-"
A quiet knock disturbed the two and admitted River's grinning captor. "How'd misses." The younger of the two greeted, stepping forward to his sister's side. "I'm Danny, and this is my brother Will, were the ones that brought ya."
"Can't keep her." River retorted quickly, shocking the three siblings. "Need Jayne, can't think clearly, too many voices." She whimpered, backing up slowly towards the corner, ignoring the three pairs of eyes that watched her. "Not yours to take, should've left the girl. Can't function, can't see, can't feel, needs her, needs. " Trembling she sank down into the corner, huddling into a tight ball. But the voices only got louder, the questions bombarding her head and consuming her own inner voice. "Stop it, stop it." Clasping her hands over her ears she tucked her head down. "Shut up, shut up, stop talking, no more questions."
"Danny, what have you done?" Mary whispered worriedly. "This girl ain't right."
"Not like Suzy." River suddenly whispered quietly, drawing the three back to her huddled form. "Suzy didn't have her Jayne, lost him long before she knew him. Wasn't the blue hands that hurt, was daddy's hands that drove her to the edge, made her lose her own voice. But she buried the hatchet in the wrong place. Skull on the floor, you had to clean it up. Watched her hang, blamed yourself for not stopping her voices, for not being her Jayne."
"Danny you been talking bout." Mary whispered with a horrified gasp.
"He ain't said a word." Will interrupted, "We ain't even talked to the girl until just now, she was knocked out from the arsine. She can't know nothing bout pa and Suzy."
Turning back to stare at the girl Mary gave another horrified little gasp. "And they shall be among the people. And they shall speak truths and whisper secrets and you will know them by their crafts." Mary whispered her hand reaching out towards Danny.
"What are you talking' bout Mary?" Will questioned.
"Thou shaft not suffer a witch to live." Turning the young woman fled from the room, leaving to two young men to stand silently.
"Got a lock on em. It's the only town within walking' limits, hell it's the only town within any traveling distance" Monty declared to the mercenary as they stood behind the pilot in the Sovereign's dark cockpit, "Should be there in a matter of moments."
"Good." Jayne glared down at the other man and turned away; starting for the bunk he usually shared with River.
"You sure she's there. Maybe they boarded her up on a ship or something and took off for the nearest Alliance base."
Monty's voice made the mercenary pause in the doorway and he turned back to glare at the captain. "She's still on this go se planet, ain't no question about it." That said he continued on his way.
Monty turned back to his pilot and shrugged. "Never figured Jayne for the sentimental type."
The loud frantic clattering of the bell echoed across the small square, the townspeople gathering quickly. Danny and Will leading the now frighteningly calm River out into the crowd as the Patron lumbered forward from a dark building, his night clothes clinging to his large form as he glared at the gathering crowd. "What's going on?" Turning towards the frightened soul that had caused the commotion the elder man glared, "Why are you knocking us from our beds at this hour?"
"The new girl's a witch. She read my mind." Mary whispered, pointing to where Danny held River by the elbow. "Saw things she couldn't"
"I'm sure that's not true." Turning around the patron stepped over to River with a small smile. "You're not a witch, are you, nyen ching duh? I'm the Patron here. Do you know what that means?"
"Yes. You're in charge. Ever since the old Patron died." River answered quietly, his inner voice speaking quietly to her, whispering all the guilty sins that haunted his dreams.
"That's right." The man answered back confidently, hiding his guilt behind the confidence of power.
"He was sick." River's head titled, as though listening quietly to a distant voice. "But he was getting better. You were alone in the room with him-" The Patron suddenly lunged, his large palm meeting her face in a hard slap.
Shocked the small girl stumbled back a step, an unfamiliar hand grabbing hold of her arm, as the patron's cold voice echoed across the town square, "This girl reads minds and spins falsehoods. She's a witch, and we must purge the devil from her." His gaze moved with an eerie ease toward the shocked genius, "With fire."
The scream leapt from River's lips before she could recognize her own actions, the primal fear that suddenly consumed her heart putting a stop to coherent thought as the faces of the crowd suddenly loomed overhead.
Jayne checked Vera over quietly, "You and me are gonna have some fun getting back our crazy girl." The sound of boots hitting the deck pulled the mercenary's eyes away from Vera to watch Monty cross the cargo bay.
"Be landed in a sec," The Sovereign's captain grinned. "Gonna have Derek do a couple fly bys, then land just outside of the town to pick us up." The captain glanced over the mercenary for a second, "Gonna bring along couple volunteers just to scare 'em with numbers."
Jayne ignored the other man, his hands running down Vera as he checked her over for the second time and then swung her over his shoulder as the ship trembled beneath him. Reaching down into his duffel he pulled out a smaller sidearm and tucked it into the back of his pants.
Monty raised an eyebrow as he crossed the cargo bay and opened the ramp doors. "Ain't going to war Jayne. You that worried 'bout the little bit?"
"I ain't worried 'bout the girl." The mercenary barked back defensively. "And I ain't upset. Just want what's mine is all. " Turning away from the Captain, Jayne started down the ramp, "If'n they touched one hair on her crazy little head," he declared through clenched teeth, "there ain't gonna be anybody to tell 'bout what happened here."
"The witch must die." The Patron of the town called out angrily as the two men led River past the crowd towards the hastily assembled pyre. "God commands it."
Lifting the small girl up the two men quickly tied her into place before jumping down from the makeshift pyre as three torches were lit. "Light it now." The patron called out, his face scrunched up with a smug satisfaction as he watched the three young men advance on the girl tied to the stake.
A burst of gunfire suddenly clapped loudly through the air as one torch dropped harmlessly to the ground, followed by the loud cry of the young man that had been holding the torch. Stumbling back from the pyre the boy collapsed to the ground holding his red hand as the townspeople cried out in panic glancing quickly around for the source.
"Y'all got something that belongs to me." Jumping down from the slated roof of a porch Jayne advanced on the group, Monty and several crewmembers emerging around the corner as the Sovereign swept by over head.
Pushing through the crowd, Jayne advanced over to River's position, Monty's crew flanking him. He paused for a second before the girl, glaring up at her with a cocked eyebrow. "What'cha think you're doing up there, girl? Can't ya keep out of trouble for one gorram minute?"
"Didn't think you'd come." River answered back with a half loopy smile, her eyes shinning down on him.
Jayne snorted, "Hell, for a genius you sure are dumb. Any fool would've known I ain't lettin' you out of my sight for long."
"This is a holy cleansing." The loud voice broke through the private moment, and Jayne spun around to face the man as he lumbered forward, "You cannot think to thwart God's will."
"Damn right I can," the mercenary snorted. "What you're trying ta cleanse ain't yours to cleanse, she's mine. Burn one of your own gorram townspeople. "
"That girl is a witch."
Briefly glancing over his shoulder at the grinning River, Jayne snickered. "Yeah, but she's my witch." He answered back. Aiming the weapon randomly into the crowd, the mercenary grinned sadistically, "Now, you gonna cut her down or do I have to kill ya all?"
Note: Timeline based off of Edgar Governo's Timeline.
Sorry it's so short and took so long, but this chapter proved to be EXTREMLY difficult. Still can't say that I'm too delighted with this one. But its just been sitting for so long, holding up the story, so I went ahead and posted. May go through a couple additional rewrites yet.
Thanks to Twitchy Louie for putting up with my go se and HUGE thanks to Fryelily for giving me the final kick I needed to get my ass in gear.
Translations
nyen ching duh? – youngster?