They’d been waiting for over an hour, sitting in the side room staring at the portraits on the walls.

“Who’d you reckon they are?” Kaylee had stage-whispered after five minutes.

Zoe shrugged. “Mayors, or suchlike. Maybe Parliamentary representatives.”

River studied one of the pictures close up, her nose almost touching the canvas. “Founding father. Willikins O’Toole. The first man to discover the water that gives Jericho Wells its name. Born –”

“You can figure that out from looking at the brushstrokes?” Kaylee asked, as always slightly in awe of the younger woman’s abilities.

“No.” She moved to one side so they could see a small plaque on the bottom of the frame. “I read it.”

Kaylee laughed a little ruefully. “More fool me.”

River sat back down next to her sister-in-law and gave her a hug. “No. But in this case the simplest explanation is the right one.”

Ten minutes after that …

“No-one ever has.”

Zoe looked around in surprise at River, as she answered a question nobody had asked. “Has what?”

“Campaigned.”

Zoe shouldn’t have been surprised that the young Reader had been listening in to her and Mal’s conversation. “Were you …?” She touched her temple.

“Heard with my ears. I was outside the door.”

“You mean you were eavesdropping.”

“Everyone on the crew does it. It’s traditional.” River leaned over, saying very quietly, “You were thinking about how to go about it.”

“Maybe I was.”

“Nobody has ever campaigned in Jericho Wells.”

“No? Why not?”

River shrugged. “It’s always been a foregone conclusion. One candidate is very like another, with nothing to choose between them.”

“And now?”

“More variables.” She smiled. “Not to win, but … I’ll have to consider.”

“What’s this?” Kaylee asked, looking from one to the other, her eyes finally lighting on Zoe. “You gonna campaign?”

“I've been thinking about it.”

“Good.” The young mechanic smiled. “Don’t wanna waste that speech.”

“We’ll help,” River promised.

“Um … thanks.” For o