Title: Taking Up Arms Author: hisgoodgirl Rating: PG-15 for adult language, violence Characters/Pairing: Crew, ofc, omc. Jayne/Kaylee, minor references to Mal/Simon. Timeline: One year post BDM; seven years later. Disclaimer: All belong to Joss. I got nada. Word Count, Part Two: 3,250 A/N; During the American Civil War, a group of soldiers-turned-outlaws called Quantrell’s Raiders terrorized the Kansas-Missouri area. This story was inspired in part by their impact on the settlers of that region. Originally written for the Summer_of_Jaylee community at LiveJournal with the prompts ‘sun’ and ‘water’. If you read and enjoy this story, please take just a minute to let me know. Hover for translation.

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Taking Up Arms

Part Two

With trembling hands, Kaylee steered Maddie toward the workshop. Book kept his position close behind, backing along and growling softly at the man who threatened his family, doing his best to stay between his ‘flock’ and Briggs.

Once inside the shop, Kaylee placed Maddie up on the workbench. “You stay here while I put the dog away,” she told the child. Maddie nodded gravely, her rosy lower lip nipped between her teeth, eyes wide. Quickly securing the shepherd in the storeroom, Kaylee began to gather the tools she might need and prayed Jayne would return home soon.

Briggs watched her impassively, his sidearm held ready in case she attempted something. She’d met men like him before, back when she and Jayne served on Serenity, and she had no doubt that he meant what he said.

Out in the paddock, the roan whinnied, and Kaylee could hear muted cursing and the jingle of tack. As much as she hated the idea of riding the animal, she appreciated that his limp would force them to move more slowly, giving Jayne a better chance of catching up with them. She dropped the last couple of items into the bag and reached for her multimeter.

Briggs scowled. “What the hell’s that for?” he asked suspiciously.

She shrugged. “Gotta have some way to test your electrical connections, make sure there ain't a problem in the wiring.”

Maddie tugged on her sleeve. “Mama? Gotta pee,” she whispered.

Kaylee nodded solemnly and lifted her daughter down off of the workbench. She turned to Briggs. “Look, mister, she needs to use the outhouse. It’s just round t’the side of the house, yonder.”

“Since I don’t know if either of you’ll run off, let’s just all go together, shall we?” He wagged his pistol to suggest they proceed.

“Mama – ” Maddie complained.

Kaylee shook her head, using her eyes to caution the child. “Shh, baby. Just do your business. I’ll be right there.”

They reached the small, clean structure and the child scampered in. Kaylee crossed her arms over her bosom and glared at Briggs who backed off a few paces.

He glanced over his shoulder and called out, “Lonnie, you got that goddamn horse saddled up yet?”

The younger man appeared around the barn, leading both animals. “She’s right, Boss. He’s favoring a back foot.”

Behind them the outhouse door banged shut and Maddie snuggled up next to Kaylee. Briggs glanced at them, then ordered, “He’ll do to get us where we need to go. You grab that carryall and tie it behind the saddle, then take the kid and mount up.”

Lonnie quickly secured the carryall and came for Maddie. Kaylee’s forehead furrowed at the idea of Maddie being taken from her and her arms surrounded her child. “Don’t separate us,” she pleaded. “Can’t you see she’s scared enough as it is?”

Briggs’ voice dropped low and mean as he threatened, “Probably scare her a lot more if I shot her, I imagine.” He grabbed Kaylee’s upper arm in a viselike grip as Lonnie dragged the sobbing child away and put her up on the roan, then swung into the saddle behind her. Taking the reins to the horse they’d stolen from Farmer Haynes, Briggs gestured again with his pistol. Kaylee reluctantly mounted, sliding as far forward in the saddle as she could in an effort to avoid contact with the man who settled in behind her.

“What’s the straightest route to that big box canyon north of here?” he demanded, poking her ribs with his gun barrel.

Kaylee thought a minute then pointed with a shaking hand. “Up that ridge and over.”

*

Jayne brought the wagon to a stop and leapt from the buckboard seat. “Kaylee? Kaylee, honey?” he hollered but received no reply. The paddock gate was open and the roan gone. He could hear Book’s muted, frantic barking coming from the storeroom and he quickly unlatched the door.

“I guess them bastards got ‘em, huh?” he asked the dog and Book whined.

Striding across to the house, Jayne pushed the screen door open and headed straight for the bedroom he and Kaylee shared. He took his best hunting rifle down from the rack and laid it on the bed. He stared for a brief moment at the gunbelt and revolver that hung from the same rack, his hand hesitating momentarily in its reach. He’d promised Kaylee he’d never carry a gun against a man again, but then, neither of them had counted on him needing to.

When he strapped his sidearm to his hip, the years fell away, and with them any hesitancy to do whatever might be necessary to rescue his wife and daughter. With sure hands, he secured the holster to his thigh and then yanked open a dresser drawer. He took out an ammo pouch and loaded it with cartridges for the rifle before filling another with ammo for the pistol he carried.

“I’m comin’, girls. You hang on, hear me?” he affirmed to his absent family.

Jayne shoved open the door and Book began to run in agitated circles around him. His well-trained team stood waiting where he’d left them. With the surety born from years of practice, Jayne swiftly unbuckled their harnesses. He led one of the pair of bays over to the paddock. Slipping the bridle off, he urged the animal into the enclosure with a slap on its rump. His wheel horse was the steadier of the two, so he quickly swapped out the wagon tack for his spare saddle and bridle and slipped his rifle case onto the saddle.

Book continued to reflect his owner’s anxiety, barking and whining while Jayne tied a bedroll behind the cantle and slung a quickly filled canteen from the saddle horn. The whole process seemed to take forever and he wondered how much of a head start the killers had on him. He thrust a boot into the stirrup, then slung a long leg over his mount and called out to his dog, “Show me the way, boy. Go find Kaylee.”

With a sharp, purposeful bark, the brown and white shepherd exploded from the yard, running toward the ridge to the north. Jayne dug his heels into the bay’s sides and galloped hard after him.

*

Mal shook his head at River. “Nope. We’re just plannin’ on finding these Alliance renegades and taking them into custody. Best for all if you stay on the boat with your brother.” He went back to shoving ammo into a belt.

The younger Tam leaned down and turned her head to make eye contact with Mal again. “I appreciate your concern for my physical well-being, Captain, but I assure you that you will need me.”

Mal’s head came up, an eyebrow cocked. She certainly had his attention now. “Think so, huh?” Experience had finally taught him to pay attention when the girl offered her remarkable intuitive insights. He stuffed two more cartridges into the ammo belt and then slung and buckled it over his gunbelt.

Zoe gave him a knowing look as she chambered a round into her ‘mare’s leg’. “She’s usually right, sir.”

Mal nodded. “Yep, she is.” He clapped a hand on River’s slight but muscular shoulder. “Run change, then, and come meet us in the main shuttle. Dresses ain't made for crawling through brush.”

River smiled and ran up the stairs toward her bunk with quicksilver lightness. She and Simon had long ago moved from the passenger dorm up to the crew quarters left vacant when Jayne and Kaylee had departed from Serenity.

As she disappeared into the fore corridor hall, Mal turned to reassure Simon. “She’ll be fine, Doc. Mostly seems to rescue us, anyways.”

Simon nodded reluctantly. “She certainly does seem to be adept at looking out for herself these days.”

“You’ve got the boat, then. Tell Ned to finish up his screwin’ around with the mule in case we need it.”

“Will do. And Mal, be careful.” Simon’s eyes were filled with concern.

“Ain't I always?”

*

“So you never reached them?” Mal asked Zoe. The shuttle was well into Ezra’s atmo and the flare of entry filled the small craft’s cockpit with hard light that quickly gave way to intermittent clouds.

“They’ve never acquired a Cortex link, sir. Best I can tell, they use the one at the drygoods store in Doughton. I don’t think we need to worry – I mean, this is Jayne we’re talking about, right?”

Before Mal could respond, River looked up from the controls. “He wanted to leave that life behind but it came looking for him.”

Captain and Mate looked at one another with veiled concern. “Well,“ Mal responded, “I guess we best just focus on rounding up Briggs and his boys, seein’ as that’s what we’re commissioned to do.”

Zoe chuckled dryly. “You know, sir, I never thought I’d live to see the day when we’d be working for a new Independent Federation, tracking down the last hardcore Alliance raiders.”

Mal grinned, as handsome as ever. “Yep. Life’s like that. Always throwin’ something unexpected at you.”

The small craft emerged from high fine cloud cover, skimming quickly over the rugged landscape of Ezra. “Keep her high enough we won’t be spotted from the ground,” Mal ordered, peering over River through the view-screen at the convoluted green-brown landscape far below. “We’ve got a general idea of where these boys are supposed to have put down, so I guess we’ll just have to scout until we locate ‘em, then look for a discrete place to land ourselves.” He patted River’s shoulder. “Look sharp now. Don’t wanna spook these húndàns if we can help it.”

*

About forty-five minutes later River located a bright reflection from the floor of a box canyon and announced, “Sensors indicate there are a total of six life-forms. I can position us further back in an estuarial plain.” Seeing Mal’s puzzled expression, she clarified, “There is ample flat space beside the river for landing.”

Mal looked across at Zoe, nodding to cover his embarrassment. “Flood plain. Landing. I understood her.”

His second almost managed to hide her grin. “I’m sure you did, sir.”

“OK, Li’l Bit. Get us on the ground.” Mal straightened up. “Zo, pull up any topo maps for this area. We need to figure out how best to approach ‘em.”

*

Jayne looked down from horseback at the overturned rocks and loose divots of soil. Any chuin-zi with half a brain could follow the trail these bastards had left. Clearly, they weren’t too worried about anyone coming after them. He had a pretty good idea of where they were headed, too.

The Ember River had cut its way through the plateau to the north, leaving behind a series of canyons that eventually opened out into a wide and fertile landscape that had appealed to the early settlers of Ezra. The availability of ample clean water in such a dry region contributed to the settlement of the town of Doughton and the area had the makings of a successful little farming community.

Follow the water north, Jayne knew, and you wound up at a deep box canyon – the perfect place to set down a starship if you weren’t interested in having local folk aware of your landing. No telling how many crewmembers there were in addition to the killers who’d taken his wife and daughter. He thought about it for a moment, wondering how best to check out the situation without giving himself away, then turned his horse off the train and headed up a long series of rises toward the plateau above.

At first, Book was reluctant to leave the scent trail he’d been following. The shepherd whined softly, but when Jayne whistled low and told him to stick close, he complied, trotting beside his master’s horse. Travel was much slower now, much of it over rough, loose ground. Jayne felt torn, wanting to catch up with the men who held his family but also not wanting to risk having his mount break a leg.

After about half an hour, Jayne knew he was nearing the canyon. He dismounted and tied his horse off in the shade of a big cottonwood. Crouching low, he took Book’s silky head in his hands and gazed into his dog’s eyes. “I know you’re gonna wanna go with me, big fella, but I need you to stay here, understand?” The dog whined and wagged the tip of his tail urgently. He understood his master’s command and would obey, but it was with clear reluctance.

Sensing how much Book wanted to accompany him, Jayne felt sorry for the dog. Best give him something to do, he though. “Guard the horse, boy,” he ordered and the shepherd shifted into the vigilance his kind had been bred for since way back on Earth-That-Was. “You stay, now,” he said, and rumpled Book’s ears. “I’ll be back soon.”

He slipped his rifle from the saddle case and made his way quietly up-slope toward a rocky outcropping that would give him cover while he took a good look at the canyon floor and whatever might be going on down there.

*

Zoe spread the topographical map out on the ground and Mal and River gathered close. She bent to trace a strong brown finger along the canyon rim. “Looks like if we…”

River broke in. “Oblique access via the west rim will be most productive.” Seeing the glance exchanged by Mal and Zoe, she added, "We can see them and they won’t see us.”

Mal’s face was grim and determined. “Generally the best way to do it. You loaded up, Albatross?” River proudly shouldered the sniper rifle Mal had assigned to her. With Jayne gone, she was by far the best marksman among them. “I am.”

Mal fiddled with a piece of twig, flipping it tensely between his fingers. Jobs like this one were always high risk. “You know Command would rather have us take ‘em into custody so’s they can be tried in Federation court, but y’all do what you have to if things get crazy, dong ma? River, you pick up anything tells you we got company close by, signal,” Mal advised.

Zoe and River nodded.

“Then let’s get moving.” He stood and gazed out at the high ruddy bluffs that defined the horizon, then headed toward them.

*

Deep in the canyon bottom the Norton Helix sat, well hidden from any casual observer. She was a sleek, fast ship, as deadly as she looked. This particular vessel had clearly lacked for regular maintenance in recent years, and her crisp silver and dark blue Alliance paint scheme was marred by old battle damage from the Rebellion as well from more recent illicit engagements.

When they rounded the towering red-rock cliff walls and the ship came into view, Kaylee’s first thought was how the Norton seemed a perfect match for the men who had kidnapped her and Maddie. She could hear sniffling from the horse behind them and felt so helpless. Maddie was a tough little kid but she had good reason to be afraid. Kaylee craned her neck to look back at her daughter and forced her features into reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” she told the child. The truth was, she was scared to death herself.

They pulled up in the shade cast by the ship’s stabilizers and Hal Briggs swung down from his horse, his pistol pointed at Kaylee. A ruddy, fox-like man emerged from the ship’s main hatch and came toward them. “What’s with the woman and kid, Cap’n?”

“Woman’s a ship’s mechanic. Real skilled from what we were told. The kid’s just leverage. Everything been quiet?” Briggs asked.

“Like a grave. We can’t even monitor the local bands, much less check Cortex transmissions.”

Briggs waggled his pistol at Kaylee. “Climb on down, now, and get yourself busy figuring out what’s the problem with the transmitter array.” He thumbed at the roan. “Unload that bag of stuff and tie up these horses. And Lonnie – hang on to that brat.”

As soon as Maddie realized that she and her mother were about to be separated, she began to wail in earnest.

“Shut the fuck up!” Briggs growled at the trembling child.

Kaylee was furious. “She’s just a little kid, mister. At least let me talk to her for a minute before I do what you want. Please?”

Briggs nodded grudgingly and Maddie ran to her mother.

Kneeling down, Kaylee held her daughter close and whispered, “I need you to be strong and quiet, honey. I’m just gonna fix their ship and then we can go on home to Book and Papa. You think you can be my brave girl?”

Maddie scrubbed at her tears with a dirty fist and nodded gravely. “Y-yes, Mama.”

*

Fifteen minutes later, Kaylee was thirty feet off the ground, having been led through the ship, up an access ladder and out onto the Norton’s hull. Down below, she could see Lonnie as he stood with Maddie’s wrist clutched in his hand. The foxy man, pistol at his hip, accompanied her, hauling the carry-all she’d filled with tools and equipment. They gingerly settled onto the sloping hull next to the antennas and broadwave dish that comprised the ship’s transmitter and sensor array with the tool bag between them.

“You got a name, gal?” Foxy asked.

“Not as I’d tell the likes of you,” she snapped back. She yanked the zipper open and dug around in the bag until she found an appropriate wrench and a large screwdriver. “You want me to get this done, just leave me be and pass me tools if I ask for em.”

“No need to take my head off,” he replied.

“Weren’t no need for your boss to come along and kidnap me an’ my daughter, either.”

*

“Sir, best we stop for some water. Don’t need to be getting all dehydrated out here,” Zoe advised. The mid-afternoon heat reflecting from the red sandstone around them was oppressive.

Mal drew them into the shade where the cliffs overhung the trail, and opened his canteen to pass around. “We gotta be getting close. You pickin’ up anything, Albatross?”

River stood quietly for a moment, her dark eyes unfocused and far away, and then she responded. “We have company.”

Mal was immediately alert. “Somebody trackin’ us?”

The girl shook her head. “Just an old friend on the same mission. He has another reason.”

Mal looked quizzically at Zoe who shrugged. “I got nothin’, sir,” she said, shaking her head.

“Our quarry has taken Kaylee to repair his ship and Jayne is nearby, tracking them. Doesn’t realize we’re here.” She looked up at Mal and explained, “He still thinks loud, especially when he’s mad.”

“Well I’ll be damned,” Mal muttered. “I can’t say as I’ve especially surprised. We need to link up with him, but the question is how to do it without gettin’ ourselves shot in the process. Them húndàns got his wife and daughter, he’s like to be madder’n hell.”

"He is, indeed,” River acknowledged. “I can do this.” She smiled confidently at Mal.

“I just bet you can. Walk soft, now,” he told her. “We’ll stay put here.”

Before he could complete his sentence, the girl was gone.

“You OK with her goin’ out on her own after Jayne?” Zoe asked, somewhat uncertainly.

Mal took another sip from the canteen before recapping it. “Safest thing we could do.”

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To be continued – Part 2 of 3