"You upset her, didn't you, Sir?" said Zoë accusingly, leaning confrontationally across the galley table. "You said something crass and insensitive and now she ain’t never coming back. Ain't that they way of it, Sir?"

The captain, fiddling at the stove with the coffee-pot, turned and gaped. "Zoë, I ain’t got no notion what you’re talking on and, frankly, I ain’t mightily interested. I am, however, pretty ruttin' sure I heard myself tell everyone to go get on with their jobs. Or was I hallucinating?"

"No Sir," said Zoë, standing her ground, "weren't no hallucination, but I ain’t going nowhere till we sort this thing out. We all knew it was only a matter of time. You got to bickering and you said something unforgivable and now she’s fixing to forget about us all."

"I swear, Mal", growled Jayne from behind Zoë, "If you've done anything to screw up the best gorram cook we've ever had and I lose out on my feed, I’m just sure as hell gonna go get Vera".

Mal glared at them all. "That weren't the way of it!" he said, in a hurt tone. "Honest! I ain’t got no trouble with Hat, least ways no more'n usual, but that don't mean nothing, jus' means as we like a good spat, is all."

None of the crew look convinced and Inara sighed dramatically, signifying her disbelief. Mal swung round, ready to yell his whole gorram crew out if needs be. Why the hell were they all blaming him for what was clearly Hat's own senseless decision. Let her rot, was his last uncharitable thought before Book spoke calmly into a silence caused by everyone taking a breath prior to all yelling at once.

"I don't mean to be rude, but aren't we in danger of overlooking the most obvious explanation in all this?"

He paused and Mal raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"Harriet pretty much hates her brothers as much as we do, right?" Book went on.

A chorus of "right" and "hell yes" went round the room.

"So why would she want to stay with them? She may be sympathetic by nature, but she’s not one to buy a sob story, especially from h