We're in trouble.
We got cut off.
- Cut off from what? - Our platoon, Simon.
We got out playing for the Independent Squad...
and we won't make it back to our platoon.
We need to resort to cannibalism.
That was fast. Don't we have rations or anything?
They got lost. We're gonna have to eat the men.
Aren't you supposed to practice for your recital?
I learned it all.
- That's wrong. - It's from the book, River.
No. The book is wrong. His whole conclusion is fallacious.
So how'd the Independents cut us off?
They were using dinosaurs.
Language, young man.
Sorry, Dad. The Independents attacked us with dinosaurs.
Simon lost his head in the heat of battle.
Because there were dinosaurs involved, I think we'll let it slide.
- Did you get my wave? - I got it. Your text shorted.
I got it during a board meeting. Thank you.
If I had a dedicated source box, it wouldn't short. I lost half my essay.
Yes, and you'd have access to any tien sha duh that filtered in from the cortex.
I absolutely forbid it.
- Dad. - Dad.
I will not have it in my house.
But since your mother's ordered you one...
I should give up the fantasy this is my house.
Are you kidding?
You will repay me by becoming a brilliant doctor. That's the deal.
Dedicated source box, brilliant doctor.
- When do I...? - Many years.
Dad, this is so...
- It's really gonna... - I know.
You think I'd let you work with something second-rate?
- Thank you. - You're worth it.
Is it possible for you two geniuses to give your tired old dad...
a couple minutes quiet?
No! No, I don't want to go in!
- It's okay. - It's not okay.
You can't dig into me, shove 20 needles in my eyes and ask me what I see!
I... We won't go in. Look.
- No test today. - No rutting tests?
Stupid son of a bitch dressed me up like a gorram doll.
No tests, no shots.
Come on. I'm just gonna give you a smoother cuttle.
River!
Not him.
So she's added cussing and hurling about things to her repertoire.
- She really is a prodigy. - It's just a bad day.
No. A bad day is when someone's yelling spooks the cattle.
Understand? Ever see cattle stampede when they got no place to run?
It's kind of like a meat grinder.
- And it'd lose us half our herd. - She hasn't gone near the cattle.
No. But in case you hadn't noticed, her voice kind of carries.
We're two miles above ground and they can probably hear her down there.
As soon as we unload, she can holler until our ears bleed...
although I would take it as a kindness if she didn't.
The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds...
given adequate vacuuming systems.
See, morbid and creepifying, I got no problem with.
Long as she does it quiet-like.
This is paranoid schizophrenia, captain, handcrafted by government scientists...
who thought my sister's brain was a rutting playground.
I have no idea what'll set her off.
- If you have some expertise... - I'm not the doctor.
And I'm not your gorram babysitter either.
Gag her if you have to.
Got trade to be done.
You see that?
Fancy vessels such as that don't land here unless they got something to sell.
If it happens to be something we need, we take it.
It's about time you broke in them pretty shoes.
Get along!
You know, they walk just as easy if you lead them.
I like smacking them.
Hope this corral's strong enough to hold them.
Shepherd's a purely figurative title, you know.
Next time we smuggle stock, let's make it something smaller.
Yeah, we should start dealing in those black market Beagles.
Little soul, big world.
Eat, sleep and eat.
Many souls.
Cattle on the ship three weeks, she don't go near them.
Now we're on Jiangyin and she needs to communicate with the beasts?
They weren't cows inside.
They were waiting to be, but they forgot.
Now they see sky and they remember what they are.
Is it bad that what she said made perfect sense to me?
Come on now, let's get you clear of the work.
What's going on?
- What are you doing? - I'm fixing to do business.
I can't be herding steers and your sister.
- She didn't mean any harm. - I never figured she did.
But when a man engages in clandestine dealings...
he has this preference for things being smooth.
- She makes things not be smooth. - Right.
I'm very sorry if she tipped off anyone...
about your cunningly concealed herd of cows.
I'm starting to think you've got too much time on your hands.
I've got a notion regarding that.
Why don't you take your sister for a little walk?
- A walk? - Yeah. Someplace away.
Well, probably best we stay close. Alliance has us marked as fugitives.
Closest Alliance is the cruiser Magellan, hours from here...
and I promise they ain't coming to Jiangyin.
Still, I'm not sure it's such a wise suggestion.
I wouldn't mistake it for a suggestion.
Don't worry. We won't leave without you.
Does it seem every supply store on every water planet...
has the same five rag dolls and the same woodcarvings of...
What is this, a duck?
That's a swan.
- I like it. - You do?
Looks like it was made with, you know, longing.
Made by a person who really longed to see a swan.
Perhaps because they'd only heard of them by rough description.
Do you think this'd make a nice gift?
A gift? For whom?
I just kinda like it.
It's rich, you know.
Oh. For Simon.
I didn't say that.
You don't do a very good job of hiding your interest.
He's just so...
You just wanna take a bite out of him all over, you know?
Careful.
Morning, you two.
Don't usually see you two out and about planet-side.
Yeah, we're trying something different today.
River...
Be careful with that. That's...
- What is that? - That's a post-holer.
You dig holes.
For posts.
It's, it's dirty and sharp.
Let's come over here.
"Jiangyin Prairie Paradise".
Good God. They're asking money for this crap?
Hard to believe, ain't it? Glad you're out.
Give you a chance to have a little fun.
Fun. Right.
I consider this fun.
It's fun being forced to the ass end of the galaxy...
to get to live on a piece of los soh ret.
And eat molded protein.
And be bullied around by our pien dyododo chowren of a captain.
It's fun.
Los soh?
Sorry?
Serenity ain't los soh.
- No, I didn't mean... - Yeah, you did.
You meant everything you just said.
Well, no.
Actually I was being ironic. So in the strictest sense...
You were being mean is what.
And if that's what you think of this life...
then you can't think much of them that choose it, can you?
River?
This is the last time, last time with cows.
There's an idea with Beagles. They have smallish droppings.
I believe so, sir.
Also, your disreputable men are here.
Better go take their money.
Morning, gentlemen.
Must be the Grange brothers. Hope you're in the mood for beefsteak.
Attractive animals, ain't they?
They ain't well-fed. Scrawny.
Hey, wah. Milk and hay, three times a day.
- Fed to them by beautiful women. - That was something to see.
They's branded.
You are hitting on the selling points. The first brand's a giveaway.
Claim them as your own.
Twenty a head.
That's an amusing figure, since you agreed on 30 with Badger.
That's before we saw them.
They're atrophied from being on a ship for a month.
My comprehension is less muscle, the more tender the meat. Thirty.
- Problem? - No.
About a minute from now, we'll agree on 25.
Seem a mite jumpy to you?
Morning, officers.
I'm thinking maybe we walk away entirely.
I'm thinking you do that, and we got ourselves trouble.
Morning, ladies.
Serious trouble, of the you-owe-us variety.
I can go to 25.
Well, we'll be taking a loss, but you seem like clean and virtuous boys. Done.
Marcus and Nathaniel Grange, you are wanted in connection...
to the illegal killing of Rance Durbin. You are bound by law to stand down.
You know, I'm starting to find this whole planet very uninviting.
Yeah.
- Careful with that! - Seems we have ourselves a situation.
Who are you?
Just a bystander.
- This your beef? - No, sir.
You're looking at the proper owners right there.
I'd like to see some paper on that cattle.
Come on, hurry it up!
- Here we go. - Never goes smooth.
How come it never goes smooth?
Hey, stay with me, Shepherd.
That's...
That's quite a lot of blood, isn't it?
It just means you ain't dead.
Afraid I might be needing a preacher.
That's good. You lie there and be ironical. Stretcher!
Jayne! - They going.
Of course. They got what they wanted.
You get the cash?
What's going on?
Oh, God! Shepherd!
Shepherd, can you hear me?
Doing good.
Wash, get down to the infirmary.
Gotta try to stop this bleeding.
Don't you worry, Shepherd.
Captain and Zoe got lots of experience with this kind of thing.
Seen a lot worse in the war.
Shepherd?
Oh, God. He ain't breathing.
He ain't dead.
But he is bad off. We got to see what we can do to help him.
Wash, go to town. See if you can't find that jin seem yong, the doctor.
Hurry.
Faster. Got to go faster.
- Won't get there before dark. - Get where? Where are we going?
Shut up!
If it's ransom you want, I can arrange something.
No talking!
Look, you don't understand. My sister...
Your sister is fine, Simon.
She's not fine.
Didn't you look at the letters? Look at the letters.
Well, I'm looking at letters.
These phrases, they don't sound anything like her.
Some of these words, they're misspelled.
She started correcting my spelling when she was 3.
She's trying to tell us something.
I think there's a code.
- A code? - Yes.
I always thought it was River who was lost without you.
Now I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't the other way around.
Did you have a good time at the Darbanvilles' Ball this year?
What are you...?
River thought it was duller than last year.
But since we don't know anybody named Darbanville, I can't judge.
- Did you read these? - Well, of course I did.
It's one of her silly games. You two are always playing.
She is trying to tell us something that somebody doesn't want her to say.
Simon, this is paranoid.
It's stress.
If they heard you talking like this at the hospital...
it could affect your entire future.
- Who cares about my future? - You should.
You're a surgeon in one of the best hospitals in Capitol City.
On your way to a major position, possibly even the Medical Elect.
You're gonna throw all that away?
Everything you've worked for your whole life?
Being a doctor means more to you than just a position, I know that.
A few months' time, you'll turn around and there she'll be.
Nothing is going to keep you two apart for long.
No! Oh, no!
- Found you. - Get him!
River, no! River! Run! Run!
- Found you! - Go!
Bring her.
Where is the doctor? Why isn't he with you?
- He wasn't in town or anywhere. - He was in town. We saw him there.
- Him and River. I can show you... - The town's not that big, Kaylee.
Believe me, he wasn't there.
Knew it. Probably saw them cops, turned tail.
The doctor could be called a lot of things but not coward.
Do you think they were arrested?
Worse than that, probably.
- Looks like maybe they got snatched. - Kidnapped?
I went by the sheriff's. If we'd checked the posted alerts we might've known.
Settlers up in the hills take people sometimes.
Usually tradesmen and the like.
And now they got themselves a doctor, and we don't.
We're going.
Well, what are you doing? What about Simon and River?
Forget them.
We already lost two people today. If I can help it, we won't lose a third.
Wash, get us in the air.
We're lost.
- Lost in the woods. - It's gonna be okay. They'll find us.
Once the captain realizes what happened, they'll come.
See there? No one's coming for you. You just keep moving.
That bad?
Battle wounds are nothing new to me, preacher.
I've seen men live with a dozen holes in them this size.
- That right? - Surely is.
I knew a man who had a hole clean through his shoulder once.
Used to keep a spare hankie in there.
Where's the doctor? Not back yet?
We don't make him hurry for the little stuff.
He'll be along.
You could hurry a little.
Well, there's Greenleaf. They'd have med help there.
Too far. More than 10 hours.
- He's worse off than that. - You know where to find what you need.
- Don't recall inviting you here. - You didn't.
You know where you can find a doctor.
He was dumb enough to get himself grabbed in broad daylight.
Don't have time to be looking for him now.
No assurance we'd find him or that he wouldn't need a doctor.
I'm not talking about Simon.
I'm talking about medical facilities.
That's not an option, nor is it a discussion I want to have right now.
It doesn't matter what you want. He's dying.
We need a doctor now.
Look what we got! Got ourselves a doctor!
A real doctor.
Stand up straight.
They brought home a doctor. Thank the Lord.
"Dear Diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy.
Today we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again.
It was the best day ever".
Now we're talking.
Amazing we kept them this long.
- Can I? - Sure.
He's out, though.
He did this for me once.
How's he doing?
I cleaned it out, wrapped it up. Best I could do.
I don't know.
Well, we're headed for help, right?
- Captain'll come up with a plan. - Well, that's good. Right?
You're not recalling some of his previous plans.
We left them back there.
Yeah.
Don't seem right.
- You sure this is where you wanna be? - Oh, I'm fairly certain it ain't.
Be sure to ask nicely.
Alliance cruiser Magellan this is Firefly transport Serenity...
requesting permission for docking.
Firefly transport Serenity, stand by for docking orders.
In here.
I don't figure it's as fancy as you're used to, but that's what we got.
I got you a doctor.
Praise the Lord.
Doralee here'll show you what's what.
- What's your name? - Simon.
Hello there. Who are you?
This is River. River, just sit down over there.
Has there been a...?
Is there a sickness here?
Nothing special.
Just people get sick or injured.
Though mostly people heal on their own, but sometimes...
Sometimes you need a doctor.
Bring me light, and any supplies you have.
You sanguine about the reception we're apt to receive on an Alliance ship?
Absolutely.
- What's sanguine mean? - Sanguine, hopeful.
Plus, point of interest, it also means bloody.
That pretty much covers all the options, don't it?
We're requesting aid. No other purpose.
We got papers.
- What's your business? - We're a supply ship, freelance.
Had an accident this morning, crewman got hurt.
We need medical help.
Faster be better than slow.
Official seal's out of date, Captain Harbatkin?
We ain't had a checkpoint in a while. You gonna see to my man?
How did this happen?
Bystander in a gunfight. Back on Jiangyin.
You can check. Not he nor any of ours were the aggressors.
We aren't an emergency facility. Our services aren't for just anyone.
Get... Med...
My ident card.
Get this man to the infirmary at once.
You keep that bandage clean now, you understand?
She's not quite right, is she?
She's been through some trauma.
She's recovering though.
She won't get a good conversation out of Ruby. I can tell you that much.
That little girl's mute.
Do you know the cause?
- Was she born deaf? - No.
She was fine until two years ago when she stopped talking.
A place like this might be good for your sister.
Quiet, safe.
A place where folks take care of each other.
Yes. Seems like a lovely little community of kidnappers.
The Lord says "judge not".
They took us off the street.
Sometimes life takes you places you weren't expecting to go.
Life didn't bring us here. Those men did.
You were on a transport ship, right?
Taking a journey?
The way of life in my findings is, journeys end where and when they want to...
and that's where you make your home.
This isn't our home.
If it isn't here, where is it?
This place gives me an uncomfortableness.
So, what do you figure?
Shepherd's got some kind of connection with the Alliance?
That's what it looks like. It would surprise me if he did.
See? That's my whole problem with picking up tourists.
Ain't never what they claim.
Does seem like everyone's got a tale to tell.
River?
- What's wrong? - River's gone. So's the girl.
Ruby. I'll check out back.
River. Don't...
What is that?
Oh.
I picked them.
Here. They'll stain your dress.
You have to eat.
Hodgeberries.
Remember when we found those giant Hodgeberry bushes...
on the Cambersons' estate?
And we thought they'd grown wild, but...
A long while ago.
- I took you away from there. - No.
I know I did.
You don't think I do, but...
I get confused.
I remember everything.
I remember too much.
And some of it's made-up.
And some of it can't be quantified.
And there's secrets, and...
It's okay.
But I understand.
You gave up everything you had to find me.
You found me broken.
It's hard for you.
You gave up everything you had.
Maybe everything I have is right here.
You need to eat. Keep up your strength.
We won't be here long.
Daddy will come and take us home.
And I'll get better.
I'll get better.
These are better than the Cambersons' berries.
They are. Except they're poison.
You believed her. Made a face.
You are such a brat.
You get to bed now.
We should probably think about doing the same.
It's been a big day, what with the abduction and all.
Well, y'all don't have to sleep here. There's a house set aside for you.
We've been looking for a doctor for a good while, so things are ready.
Really?
Her sister got killed.
Mother got crazy, killed the sister.
That one lived.
Ruby talked to you, honey?
It's true what she's saying.
Poor woman went out of her mind, tried to kill her two girls.
Ruby lived.
Sweetheart, you are an angel.
No one's been able to get Ruby to speak even a peep.
It's a miracle! That's what it is.
Ruby doesn't talk.
Her voice got scared away.
I hear crickets.
I don't understand.
If Ruby didn't talk, how do you know...?
My sister's...
She's very good at...
What's wrong?
"And they shall be among the people.
And they shall speak truths and whisper secrets.
And you will know them by their crafts".
What are you talking about?
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live".
Have you completely lost your mind?
- Nearly. - We got the wave at the Friedlichs'.
I had to leave your mother at the dinner table.
I'm sorry, Dad.
I never would have tried to save River if I had known...
there was a party at risk. - Don't you dare be flippant with me.
I just spent 2000 credits to get you out of here.
I had to walk through that door, which goes on my permanent profile.
- Are you trying to destroy this family? - I didn't realize it would be so easy.
- Dad, I didn't do anything. - You were in a blackout zone.
Talking to someone who might be able to help River.
And I'm going right back there.
This is a slippery slope, young man.
You have no idea how far down you can go. You're not taking us with you.
Meaning what?
I won't come for you again.
You end up here or get mixed up in something worse, you're on your own.
I will not come for you.
Now are you coming home?
This is lunacy! You're supposed to be the teacher here.
What exactly is it you teach?
What's going on, woman? Why are you knocking us from our beds?
The new doctor's sister's a witch! She read Ruby's mind.
- Saw things she couldn't. - No, River is not a witch.
She's just a troubled girl.
I'm sure that's true.
You're not a witch, are you...?
I'm the patron here. Do you know what that means?
Yes. You're in charge.
Ever since the old patron died.
That's right.
He was sick and he was getting better.
And you were alone in the room with him.
- No! - This girl reads minds...
and spins falsehoods.
She's a witch, and we must purge the devil from her!
With fire!
You're gonna be fine, Shepherd. Alliance patched you up.
- Alliance? - Yeah.
They let us come, and they let us go.
What kind of ident card gets us that kind of reception and send off?
I am a Shepherd.
- Folks like a man of God. - No, they don't.
Men of God make everyone feel guilty and judged.
That's not what I saw.
You like to tell me what really happened?
I surely would.
And maybe someday I will.
It's good to be home.
Badger just hailed us.
Getting impatient for his share. Wants us to drop it on the Common Fed Base.
That'll be a lot easier to do without the two most wanted on board.
Life would look to be simpler with us not carrying any 'fugees.
He is right, you know.
Yeah.
Simpler.
Take me instead. Take my life for hers.
The witch must die.
God commands it.
No! Get away from her!
She has done nothing to you!
If she dies tonight, it won't be God's will that killed her, it'll be you!
Your lunacy! Your ignorance!
That's not gonna stop us, doctor.
Post-holer.
Digging holes for posts.
Light it.
Time to go.
Well, look at this.
Appears we got here just in the nick of time.
What does that make us?
Big damn heroes, sir.
Ain't we just.
Sorry to interrupt, folks.
Y'all got something that belongs to us, and we'd like it back.
This is a holy cleansing. You cannot think to thwart God's will.
Y'all see the man hanging out of the spaceship with the really big gun?
I'm not saying you weren't easy to find, but it was kind of out of our way...
and he didn't wanna come in the first place.
Man's looking to kill some folk.
It's his will you should worry about thwarting.
Gotta say, doctor, this town's real and the folks are near miraculous.
Yes, I'm very proud.
Cut her down.
The girl is a witch.
Yeah, but she's our witch.
So cut her the hell down.
Hey, doctor. Glad you're back now on the ship.
Thanks.
I've moved him to his room.
- How's he faring? - He's gonna be fine. Yeah.
- They took good care of him. - Good to know.
So finally a decent wound on this ship and I miss out.
I'm sorry.
Well, you were busy trying to get yourself lit on fire. It happens.
Captain...
- Why did you come back for us? - You're on my crew.
But you don't like me.
Why'd you come back?
You're on my crew.
Why are we still talking about this?
Chow's in 10! No need to dress.
So Shepherd says to him...