Chapter 9: It was a Dark and Stormy Night and the Captain said to his Daughter…

Tzao gao, he hated getting dressed up. Mal stared in the small mirror and squirmed a little at the tight collared shirt which made him feel like he was choking. One more swipe with the brush through his hair; that was as good as it was gonna’ get.

“Mal, are you ready? We need to go or else were going to be late and I want a good seat.”

“I’m ready.”

Everyone piled into the wagons; it was a motley crew: people hiding from the Alliance, loners, and the such. It was a nice day for a wagon ride, not a great day to be stuck in a schoolhouse listening to a spelling bee – not where Mal wanted to spend his Saturday. The only free day of the week; every other day had stuff crammed so full into it that he was kept busy from sunrise to sunset.

Diyu, there were a lot of people there. It was like the whole town was there. Mal sat in the buckboard for a moment after everyone else had gotten out and gone to find seats inside or meet up with friends. Nerves, it had to be nerves; he hated events like this.

“Malcolm Reynolds, get your butt in here. This thing ain’t going to start without you.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m coming.” Mal started walking the schoolhouse dragging his feet.

“Don’t you scuff your new shoes, either.”

“Mǔ. I’m coming.” He walked into the one room school house. Mama and Mr. Wang, the ranch foreman, was sitting right in the front row. It seemed that everyone in town was there, and all the ranch hands. This was the big social event of the month: The Spelling Bee finals; everyone was socializing afterwards there was going to be a picnic lunch. Mama had made fried chicken, Mrs. Xing, the washerwoman had brought fried apple dumplings, and the Jen’s, the local grocer’s had brought ice cream – homemade ice cream, both peach and strawberry.

The first few words were easy: apricot, trouble, principal, and the like. Jen Xing got out on marzipan. She was really pretty, long black hair almost to her