Seemed to Book that there was a bit of accusation in the Captain’s tone of voice. He wasn’t sure where exactly that attitude was coming from, but he supposed it could be understandable. Man comes back from the dead right in front of you, couldn’t be an easy thing to deal with. Anger was a convenient emotion, and a lot of people, a lot of men, used it to hide things that ran deeper. And Malcolm Reynolds was an expert when it came to hiding things that ran deeper.
More pressing to the shepherd than figuring out what made the man tick, an ongoing project in any case, was what Zoe revealed. Her once dead husband. Did that mean that from where she came from, Wash was dead, but here, he wasn’t? No wonder she’d been so emotional when she’d seen him. Must’ve been a terrible reminder. Again, though, the woman was not the sort to take conventional comforting. Especially not in front of the Captain.
But before he could do more than give a commiserating look, she was offering a flat. Didn’t seem all that happy about it, but offering just the same. And then she pulled out something that first made Book’s eyes widen. Then they crossed. He wasn’t about to try to figure out exactly how the map worked, but it was enough to give a body a bit of a headache. “Don’t think I want to stare at it much at all, thank you.”
He turned his head away before either of them could notice he’d gotten a bit green. Seasick on dry land. The young lady pirate he’d met would likely be amused, but he doubted his current companions would be. Taking a couple of breaths, he willed his equilibrium to balance.
“That is an interesting map. By chance is there a church on it? There should be a parsonage right next to it that wasn’t there a few days ago, if your map tells you such things.” Book shrugged lightly. “Got caught in a snow storm, and when I made my way back to the church, it was waiting for me.
“Met a young man in the park, another man of the cloth, named Jesse Custer. He’s been here a few years.” There was a small smile, indicating that the shepherd had liked the young man in question. He did. He also found him useful. In any situation, information was a valuable asset, and the boy had provided him with quite a bit. “Told me more than a bit about this place and how it works, and it appears that parsonage was made for me.
“Not sure what I’m going to do with it yet, or what it all means. But I think I might be able to make a difference here.”