PART THREE

They managed a pretty good meal, with all the ingredients they'd salvaged and found, then picked several parts of the dentist's house as bedrooms. Cliff went out after supper and found an old but serviceable mule that needed a bit of work to get going. He and the other Maori with the exception of Hori set to mending it and trying to make it run. Jayne lent a hand, but his speciality was guns and explosives; he was a bit lost on transport. When it came to fuel, he was better placed to help. He and the Maori managed to make the mule accept alcohol as a fuel and most of the contents of the bar's cellar were put into service to help keep the vehicle going.

In the morning, they piled in and set off. the mule was a bit sluggish with six on board. When two tamed horses were found wandering free a day's ride out of town, Jayne and Cliff got off the mule and rode behind. The horses were a little skittish to start with, not having had human contact for some time, but they soon trotted along amiably enough, even if Cliff and Jayne had to ride bareback and with makeshift reins.The party skirted back close to the coast, trying to pick up the trail of what they hoped had been Redbeard.

After another couple of days, Cliff gestured ahead, "There's a small fishing village ahead with a hostelry and a whorehouse. Called Auckers, after Auckland in NZ, eh." Jayne grinned eagerly, "Whores?" Cliff fixed him with a look and motioned him to stop a moment, "Jayne, don't even *think* about it." "Them's not clean whores?" "It's not that. You've got a yearning to get inside Vera's clothes, eh?" "Wuh de ma; I ain't blind! But she told me I didn't stand a chance, Cliff!" "As sure as I know my name, if you even touch one of those ladies in that whorehouse, you won't ever get your chance with Vera." "Thought I didn't have none." Cliff grinned, "She likes you, idiot. May not show it, but it was similar with Maaka, eh. Tested him a while to check his mettle. He told me when he finally got her in bed, it was more than worth every second of the wait. There isn't a straight single guy on the whole of Beltane wouldn't jump to it if she so much as crooked a finger, eh. Some gals too, even though Vera doesn't swing that way." Jayne's grin widened, "Two women together..." Cliff laughed, "Yeah; it's a thought that keeps a lot of guys warm at night; but according to Maaka, Vera's like about three women rolled into one in the sack." "Ta ma duh!" Cliff nodded and deadpanned, "Yup, pretty much." Jayne suddenly caught his drift, "Hot damn!!" Cliff nodded, "So sleep alone tonight, no matter the temptation, eh?"

Later Jayne was nursing what was about his fourth whisky at the bar in the hostelry with Cliff. He'd managed to heed Cliff's warning and decided not even to tempt himself with the whores. "Bet I'm missing some amazing pretties over in the whorehouse." "Not bad; but you're safer here, Jayne." Jayne emptied his glass and decided to move onto beer, "Vera's not perfect, is she?" Cliff threw his head back and laughed, "Wuh de ma! Hell, no! Comes over as an ice princess mixed with a whole heap of schoolmarm, but you've not been able to escape that. She's firm but fair, dirty sense of humour," Jayne's eyebrows lifted, "Seriously, eh. You'll see it eventually. Cooks pretty well, doesn't do housework or wifely things, not easily angered, but better duck for extreme cover if she does get riled up, it's like a volcano; according to Maaka she snores in bed..." Jayne snorted, "So do I - supposedly!" "She's got physical scars, a checkered past, an interesting choice of clothing..." Jayne grinned, "I should say!" "It's to disarm the potential opposition. Someone sees her dressed in her showgirl stuff; might think she's an easy mark or a good time girl. Vera likes wrong-footing people to see what they're made of. And it works, eh." "It's fair distractin'." "If you pass muster, she'll be your friend for life. Cross her at your peril; you've seen that glacial look; if it's directed at you full force, you won't easily forget it. You're her kind of guy, Jayne; you lucky hwoon dahn. For Whatever's sake don't blow it; you won't ever regret it." Jayne grinned, "Her kind of guy, huh?"

After a fairly alcoholic night and a single room to himself with no guests, Jayne woke surprisingly refreshed. The sun rising over Auckers bay was pretty enough. Then he spotted what looked like a familiar boat in the harbour. Redbeard's boat. Jayne very carefully got together his weapons and threw on some clothes. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind it probably wasn't a terribly good idea, but his libido and fairly empty pockets were firmly focussed on the potential reward if he brought down Redbeard single handed.

He crept out of the hostelry with a stolen pastry in his hand, just to keep body and soul together. Last night's supper had consisted mostly of a liquid diet of grain, water, hops and sugar and fermented or distilled quite acceptably. His stomach was wanting something solid to get its teeth into. He did his best to hide behind other boats as he snuck nearer. The one he was approaching did have some tell-tale splintering around the prow that looked consistent with a grenade having made a reasonable glancing blow. From his memory, it seemed the right colour boat too, but one couldn't be sure of that in the contrast between the cave and daylight. He mounted the next but one boat and made for the aft of his goal. Coming at them from a direction they weren't expecting was pretty high on the list of basic rules for a merc. Jayne couldn't resist getting his knife out and holding it by the blade - carefully - between his teeth. His inner pirate was pretty much demanding he slip into character. Jayne managed to make it onto the aft pretty much silently. For a big guy, he could sneak around quietly remarkably well if he had to. Of course, all guns out blazing was a personal favourite.

He snagged a coil of rope lying on deck and tiptoed to the nearest doorway. The room at the aft of the boat was empty, so he ducked inside, keeping as low a profile as he could. Hearing footsteps outside he squashed himself against a wall. Someone entered the room. Jayne jumped him, muffled his mouth, knocked him out and tied him up in less than a minute. One down, several more to go. He tucked the knife away and carried along a corridoor to the sounds of talking. Two rough, male voices with classic 'pirate' burrs in their voices were having an argument. "We haven't got time to mend the prow, dammit!" "But it marks us out!" "Yeah, to about six people who are on our tail anyway. They didn't come out of the cave, and my bullet got one of 'em, so they're on land and behind us at the moment." "Where are we planning to go, boss?" "North; there's a paticularly big atoll off the coast that we can use as cover from the land for a while. After that, it's about time someone helped themselves to the gems just lyin' around the painted desert." Jayne flinched guiltily and held his breath. "It's taboo! The Maori will kill us!" "Not if we don't get caught, arsehole!"

Jayne double checked his guns, took a steadying breath and framed himself in the doorway, "Might wanna change your mind about that." He aimed for the kneecaps; Vera had been most particular about wanting them alive. The other guys were no slouches; they drew their weapons, but Jayne had the advantage of surprise. One bullet knicked his left arm and he swore violently. Someone tapped him on the shoulder, "Thanks Jayne; we can take it from here." Vera beamed at him, "Great work!" She kissed his cheek and Jayne barely had time to enjoy it before she was dealing with the bad guys. Her lips left a hot imprint that seared his skin and tightened his groin, so that he had to drop his guns to cover himself. The Maori were busy scouring the ship and hauling off the bad guys when Vera came back.

"You're bleeding." Jayne looked down. For such a small wound, it was very keen on being messy, "Clean me up, gimme a plaster and I'll be fine." Vera chuckled, "Okay, tiger; something like that. Come with me." She had the first aid kit complete with alcohol outisde on the deck. Jayne put out one large hand, "I'll do that." Vera saw the look on his face and nodded. He poured the whisky on the wound, said something unrepeatable as the sting hit, then Vera gently swabbed the place with a clean piece of cloth. "No stitches, just a small bandage." She popped one on him, over the place and nodded, "Like some extra...medicine?" Jayne's lips twitched and he had a good swallow, which made his mostly empty stomach swim a bit, and then rumble. Vera laughed softly, "No breakfast, eager beaver?" "Not much." She gently patted an uninjured portion of his arm, "Hero's rations when we get back to the hostelry." Jayne looked at her with a whole lot of unspoken questons and hope, "Is that dirty?" Vera grinned, "Not yet; we've got a court case to deal with in the next couple of days, then go back to Hine Moa." He caught her to him on impulse and held her as close as he dared, leering wolfishly down at her, "God, woman; you're a wicked, gorgeous tease!" For a split second there seemed to be an answer in her eyes, then Vera placed her hands on his chest, addressing him soberly, "Jayne..." He let go with a sigh of regret, "I know; I know; I don't stand a chance. You said as much; but a guy gets to hopin'; specially when what's on offer is so temptin' an' all." Her lips curved softly, "I hear you loud and clear, Jayne." Jayne gently caught one of the strands of her hair in his fingers and stroked it, "I even stayed away from 'em whores on account of hopin' on you." Her glance met his. Her eyes darkened subtly, the pupils widening, "I know," she said gently, "and it's counting in your favour, trust me." "Wanna kiss you somethin' bad." It was the first time in a long, long while he'd admitted that to a woman. Vera grinned, "I'd hope the kissing would be *very* good, slow and last a long time!" She walked away, leaving Jayne with his mouth open and his ears doing a huge double-take, not quite believing what they'd just heard.

He finally snapped out of his personal 'reboot' and went back to the hostelry, helping the Maori bring in the gang and place them under lock and key in the steel strong room in the cellar. Vera and Cliff had ordered and a huge pile of pancakes and maple syrup was placed in front of him. His stomach grumbled eagerly and he tucked in, grinning with pleasure. Cliff sat beside him nursing a very strong black coffee, "That was a crazy stunt to try on your own, but you've earned major points with Vera." Jayne spoke around his food, "Ain't often been the hero." "Well, you are right at this moment, if a somewhat rash one, eh." Vera was all business again, "Right. We got them all?" Several Maori heads nodded, "Okay. Is there a judge in town? Do we have the evidence and suitable witnesses?" Hori shifted on his feet, his arm in a sling, "Wish we could just string them up, eh?" Vera put her hand on his good shoulder, "The stringing up or firing squad will happen soon enough. They're as guilty as hell, but we have to prove it in a court of law." "You've just shot bad guys before, Vera." She nodded, soberly, "I know; but this time we play by the book." Jayne looked up from his food, "What if they escape from the cellar?" "A steel room with bars on it? If they can do that without weapons or tools, then all bets are off. That's escaping custody and we can shoot them with impunity." Jayne grinned, "Good." Vera planted her hands on both sides of his plate, very firmly, "No matter how much you might want to - and how much I might secretly like you to - you are *not* going to 'help' them escape. If they get out of there, they do it all by themselves, not with Jayne Cobb's identifiable fingerprints all over them, okay?" Jayne nodded.

It took a couple of days to get the judge and collect the evidence together, then all the local Maori plus Vera's posse and Jayne brought Redbeard and his four accomplices to court. Jayne fidgeted as reams of signed eye witness testimony and other documents were read. The case dragged on, with Vera in the stand giving evidence for the prosecution for most of two days. Jayne hardly saw her at night either; the witnesses were kept apart to avoid collusion. He survived on significant moments of eye contact and brief, radiant smiles in his direction. Finally it was all over. After five days, the judge had no difficulty in passing the death sentence. The firing squad were picked from the local sharpshooters; he and Vera couldn't be permitted to take part because it would be personal.

The whole of the posse and most of the population of Auckers filed out to see the sentence carried out. Redbeard was shouting threats and curses. Jayne didn't like the way that man was behaving one bit; and it didn't come as much of a surprise when the pirate made a break for it, grabbing Vera as he dashed for freedom. Jayne gave chase, along with some others. The rest of Redbeard's gang were held at gunpoint. Redbeard was heading for the cliff. Jayne had a vague memory of a path at that point; he'd idly noticed it on their way into town. It was pretty steep, though. He followed Redbeard carefully down. Vera was co-operating so far, but Jayne knew she'd be looking for an opportunity to strike back. So was he; his hand on a gun and the other keeping his balance on the path. Suddenly, at a turn in the path, Vera threw her self backwards and Redbeard went with her. Jayne was on them seconds later, getting in one punch before rolling to the ground with Redbeard on him. He felt Vera connect a blow to Redbeard and managed a kick himself. Redbeard was cursing like a trooper in several languages. Redbeard rolled off the path in a desperate move to get free, stopping himself on a rock and getting out his gun. Jayne instinctively threw himself on Vera, then there were two shots from somewhere, followed by silence.

Jayne was lying full length over Vera, with every inch of her in contact with him. He growled softly and blood rushed eagerly southwards. He looked into Vera's eyes and for a moment he saw everything he needed to see reflected there; open desire, pleasure and thanks. He dipped his head, hoping for at least a kiss, but suddenly that open invitation and welcome was battened down. He checked himself and pulled away, helping her get up.

"You okay?" "Yes." Jayne looked to see what had happened to Redbeard, and saw the mangled mess of his corpse near the base of the cliff. "Ugh." "At least he won't be botherin' anyone else, Vera." They walked back up to the top of the cliff where a local policeman was standing with his gun still out, having been the one who'd dispatched Redbeard, and they all went with everyone who had followed them back to the execution.

Once the grisly task was over, Vera and the posse managed to wangle the use of a launch to go back to the boat, which was still in the cave where they had left it. Jayne cleaned and polished his guns, checked his weapons and generally kept out of Vera's way. He'd been given the gentle 'back off' signals enough to get the message, even with what Cliff had said to him. They returned to Hine Moa and the Maori helped unpack over a couple of days, and then dispersed. Jayne and Vera finally walked back to her office and home. They unpacked and went to bed -seperately. The following morning, Jayne found Vera outside, packing her two person mule.

She touched his arm, "You've earned some R&R and so have I. Cliff will keep an eye on things and I'll take you on a kind of holiday, show you the sights properly." "Will we be long?" "Maybe a week or so. It'll be fun, promise!" Jayne smiled, "You 'do' fun?" Vera grinned back, "Sure, 'specially when there's good company, Jayne." Jayne shrugged, "Might as well, I s'pose." His hopes of more than friendship had pretty much died, in spite of what Cliff had told him.. Vera laughed, "It won't be boring, I promise; no dusty old museums or anything. You were jing-tsai in Auckers, Jayne." Jayne flashed a brief grin, "Weren't so bad yerself." He didn't know what Vera had in store, but a week alone with her didn't sound like tough punishment; rather the opposite.