All the usual. Not mine, but oh I wish they were.

The next morning Mal established the routine they would follow for the next few days. He, River, Book, and Jayne started the day by grooming all eight horses. Book said it had been quite a while since he had been around horses but that he would greatly enjoy helping. River couldn’t have been kept away from them with an electric fence. Jayne was, as usual, grumbling.

“I’ll learn to brush ‘em but I ain’t singin’ to ‘em,” Jayne announced when Mal detailed what needed to be done.

“Singing is optional,” said River.

“Well, I’m optin’ out,” answered Jayne.

Mal’s objections to religion in general and prayer in particular did not seem to extend to singing. When Book started singing “Holy Manna,” an ancient hymn from Earth-that-Was, Mal joined in. River listened for one verse and then pitched in with an ethereal high harmony. It turned out that Mal knew almost as many hymns as Book and singing them brought them through the morning chores. Jayne declined to participate, unless a low-level grumbling could be counted as a basso obligato.

***

Once the horses were groomed, Mal sent Jayne off in a respirator to wipe down the vents where they had removed the boxes. Inara tore a sheet into small squares, Jayne took the squares and a bucket of water to Serenity. He dampened one square at a time, wiped until he had used all its surfaces and then dropped the used square in a bag. This way, he didn’t spread spores from one place to another. The job didn’t take long, and when it was finished Simon said that they would leave Serenity wide open and see what the spore counts were like by the afternoon.

While Jayne cleaned Serenity, Mal marked out a long rectangle about 50 yards by 25 yards on a flat piece of ground near the spring. He marked the corners with piles of rocks and then he patiently walked back and forth through the rectangle, covering every inch. As he walked he collected any stones he found and threw them to the outside of the rectangle. River watched him for a while and then began taking the stones Mal removed to build cairns along the edge of the rectangle. Some she stacked in ways that seemed to defy gravity, balanced on their edges or hanging out over nothingness.

“Look at what moonbrain’s doin’,” Jayne said when he came back from cleaning the vents. “I hope them ain’t gravestones she’s settin’ up. Look’t them piles of stones, all eery-ass and peculiar.”

“Leave her alone, Jayne, she’s just playin’,” Kaylee admonished.

“How come she’s gotta play graveyard, huh?”

“Maybe it ain’t graveyard, maybe it’s signpost,” offered Kaylee cheerfully.

Once the improvised ring was complete, Mal taught River how to lunge the horses, so that she could help him keep them exercised. River looked very tiny standing at the end of a long line, making the horse circle her at a brisk trot. She quickly understood the idea of rhythm and using her eye to push the horse on.

“You’re doin’ a good job, there, girl. Remember not to ever loop the rope around any part of you, just fold it and hold it in a bundle. That’s right, good. Keep her moving free and easy, lift up your whip when you think she’s thinkin’ a fallin’ in towards the center,” Mal patiently talked River through the process.

“It makes me very dizzy, this turning in a circle,” River said.

“Look at the horse, not what’s behind it, and that’ll help,” Mal answered.

“Like dancing. Choosing a spot to look at when you turn.,” River answered.

“There you go, then – pick a spot on the horse. I’m gonna take that red mare, Lightskirt, and give her a little work. You get Highflyer ready for me and then we’ll swap. It’s a big help, havin’ you out here. I ‘preciate it.” Mal tacked up Lightskirt and started out at a slow trot. He worked the mare in circles, then in figure eights, then in long serpentines. Then he cantered her around the edge of the space he had cleared, first in one direction and then the other.

They quickly established a system: Mal got a horse tacked up, River lunged it for a little while, then Mal rode for half an hour or so, by which time River had another horse tacked up and warm for Mal to ride, River took the first horse and cooled it out by leading it around slowly, and started getting the third horse ready. By working this way they gave every horse some exercise without spending the entire day handling the horses.

As Mal brought the last horse but one back to River to cool out, she looked up at him and asked “Will you teach me to do that?”

“Do what? Ride?”

“Yes, ride,” River answered in a tone that suggested that Mal was not very bright.

“You rode a little the other evenin’,” Mal said.

“No, really ride. Not just be led around in a circle,” answered River.

“I s’pose I could. You can start with Fat Ninny, he’s good-natured enough and he’s up next. Put just his saddle on him and take the stirrups off – you won’t need a bridle this time.”

Mal fastened the lunge line to the gelding’s halter and then boosted River into the saddle. He clucked at the horse to get him walking in a circle and then turned his attention to River.

“Let your legs hang straight for now, don’t try to hold on with your calves. That’s right, good. Now hold your arms out like you were tryin’ to balance on a skinny walkway, good. What we’re trying to do is to get you balanced on your, on your…” Mal stalled, not sure how to politely name the idea he was trying to convey. “Think about a clothespin on a clothesline, it’s not like sittin’ in a chair, you wanta be balanced like that clothespin, right down on your, your …” Mal stalled again.

“Pelvis. That’s my pelvis. You can say pelvis, Simon won’t hit you for saying pelvis,” River offered.

“He might. I’m gonna say sit bones, just in case. You look good up there on your sit bones. How’s it feel?”

“Lovely. When can I go fast?” River’s eyes sparkled.

“Not today.”

Mal and River worked a little longer and Mal told her that was enough for one day. He finished tacking up Fat Ninny and climbed on himself, sighing through his nose as he did.

“Why are you breathing like that?” River asked.

“Because I am an old man and this is a long time in the saddle for a man who hasn’t been on a horse in many a long year,” Mal answered.

“Why are you doing it?”

“I told you. These horses need to work to stay healthy – my responsibility to keep ‘em healthy. You c’n go on now – I’ll finish up,” Mal turned the gelding away and started to trot in circles.

***

Simon and Inara stood in front of the infirmary, watching Mal and River work the horses.

“Do you think it’s safe for River to get on that horse?” Simon asked.

“They look to be extremely well-trained and I don’t think Mal would put her in danger,” Inara answered.

“I don’t know why you think that,” Simon said.

They stood watching Mal after River climbed down and he mounted and started circling the buckskin gelding. He rode easily, straight-backed and quiet in the saddle. He finished Fat Ninny’s workout by making the gelding turn in a perfect circle around first one front hoof and then the other, before getting down to lead him until he was cool.

“Who would have known that he could ride so beautifully. It’s like dancing,” Inara remarked.

“Surely that kind of riding isn’t necessary on a ranch?” Simon said.

“I don’t really know what’s necessary on a ranch, Simon. For all I know all ranch boys ride like that,” Inara responded, before returning to her tent with an armload of laundry.

***

River walked back to meet Mal as he led Fat Ninny to the improvised grooming stall. She had something in her mouth.

“What’re you eatin’, there?” Mal asked.

“Candy.” River stuck out her tongue to show Mal.

“Keep your tongue in your head. Where’d you find candy?” Mal asked.

“In the horse boxes. Peppermint candy, the stripy kind, in every horse box,” River answered.

Mal laughed. “Do those mares know you’re eatin’ their candy?”

“Why would horses have candy?” River asked.

“You take one a those over to Highflyer and see what she does. Remember, hold your hand flat, so she c’n see what you’re offerin’ her.”

River did as Mal said. “She ate it! She crunched it right up – I did not know horses ate candy.” River’s eyes were open wide with surprise.

“Well, they do. Whyn’t you take ‘em all a piece? It’ll make ‘em easier to catch in the morning.” Mal watched River float away, a pocket full of peppermint candies.

Interesting, he thought, River had made sense and stayed put where she belonged for the entire morning. Horses were apparently good for her. On the other hand, there were those constructions she had built all around the edge of the ring. Mal wasn’t sure whether he thought they were artful or unsettling.

***

Mal walked up to join Simon in front of the infirmary.

“How were the spore counts when Jayne finished, Simon?” Mal asked.

“Surprisingly low. I think we got the source, and with the breeze blowing, Serenity’s ventilating very well. We’ll give it another day and check again,” Simon answered. “And Kaylee is pumping water through the water lines right now – we’ll give that 24 hours and see whether they are coming clean also. If everything looks good we can start returning things to the ship day after tomorrow.”

“That’d be a good thing. I don’t like the feelin’ of not bein’ able to leave in a hurry, if we need to,” Mal said. “Everything that came off the boat comin’ clean?”

“Yes, I think we caught it before too much could be thoroughly contaminated. Except Jayne’s laundry and that was a pre-existing condition,” Simon said drily. “Washing things and hanging them to dry seems to have been successful.”

“Good. How’re the patients?” Mal asked.

“Doing well. I thought perhaps you and Wash could bring Zoe out and let her get some sunshine and fresh air before the afternoon gets too late,” Simon answered. “Gowan, too.”

“We could do that. Plenty a chairs out here for her to sit in. Kinda nice, seein’ everybody sittin’ out in the sun,” Mal answered. “All the laundry hanging out, ‘s real cheerful.”

“Mal, before you go get Zoe, might I ask you a question?” Simon asked diffidently.

“I may not answer, but you c’n ask.” Mal said.

“How did you know that Gowan wasn’t the real stableboy’s brother? Wing could have picked him for the job because the real stableboy was his brother, couldn’t he have?”

“Could have, but that’s pretty complicated. I figure they’d cooked up a scheme to put this boy on Serenity a while back and they were just waitin’ for us to show up. They couldn’t have known I’d be carryin’ horses for Warrick – we didn’t know until we landed. No, I knew because I asked him what his real name was and he told me I could keep callin’ him Gowan, that he kinda liked it. Nobody agrees to be called his brother’s name – so, there you go.” Mal nodded sharply and walked into the infirmary to see Zoe an

***

Exline was more and more baffled by the activity around the grounded ship. Laundry was being done, horses exercised, but everything that had come off the ship was still off. Now it was more neatly arranged, furniture set up, laundry hanging to dry, a fire pit built. The big man had taken down a decrepit building, chopped up the wood and piled it by the fire pit. They were clearly planning to stay some little while.

Now there was something new. The man in charge and another, shorter man had carried another person out of the building they were using. She was either badly injured or very ill based on the way they handled her. They carefully installed her on a couch, then the man in charge went back into the building and came out carrying either a woman or a boy, Exline couldn’t tell from his distance. He looked injured or ill, too.

Well, that was enough. Tomorrow morning, before first light, Henry Exline was going to get close enough to determine who that man might be and what the crew was up to.

*End of part 9*