apologies for delay - been away!

this story is set just prior to Those Left Behind.

firefly credit this time therefore goes to Joss and Brett.

Three: Exile on Main Street.

The Serenity has landed at the township of Candle.

Zoë, Wash and Simon are at gun-point from a posse sent after Mal.

Inara is in her shuttle. Jayne is in the bath. River is - somewhere...

Kaylee is walking through town on her way back from visiting a strange shop.

Book is still there, with the owner, Jossiah Bell.

Mal meantime is on his way to find out why a job for the Drayton family has seen Serenity take onboard a cargo of oil that was meant to be wine.

.....................................

Splashing unhappily in the blackening water of his bath, Jayne was glad of the earplugs he always wore in the tub. Kept out the Captain and the crew and the whole go tsao de Jayne - do this - Jayne do that - crisis, danger, emergency - heavy lifting - nice and simple. Just a muted background - ship's speakers most like. Normally Cobb hated the bath, didn't seem natural sometimes - and - hell on a hump! - trying to get the lousy oil off his skin was a pain in the fay-fay ... Still, he was glad of the chance to avoid whatever job he was being yelled for. He ducked under the water again - no mean feat, man of his size. Then he rose to spit a fountain of liquid, one of his favourite tricks. Well, that was the plan... like ever, turned out to end in a messy splutter of coughing and swallowing and "GAH!"

Gazing down through the black of the ceiling vent, River's face was luminously clear, her eyes placid and watching. Jayne slapped water, hard. "Girl!" he yelled, "you got a need to keep - gorram! - why are you - DOING this!"

"Can't clean the insides," River said.

"Huh?" Jayne was still wearing his ear-plugs of course, wouldn't made much of a difference though - gibberese that crazy filly liked to come out with. "Stop watching me!" Jayne shouted. He pawed the air with one hand and ripped an ear-pl