A/N: Slow day at work and some ideas that had been rattling around. Not sure how well it jells together. I can't claim to own any part of Castle or the show. I'm still making nothing from my scribbles. No Beta was tortured by being forced to slog though my atrocious spelling, grammar and storytelling. Thanks to everyone who has alerted or favorited this or any of my stories. Also a big thanks to those of you who took some of your valuable time and reviewed…all reviews are greatly appreciated. Thoughts on how this chapter worked? JT

A/Nduex: Almost forgot…thanks to Jim, for the nudge and Tom, for the moral support(and for not letting slip the rampaging rodents of ruin)

Castle - The Bucket List - Chapter 9

Rick Castle looked up from his laptop, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He wanted to laugh out loud but wasn't sure how his traveling companions might react so he swallowed the urge before looking back down at his computer. The latest posting of his travelogue had been followed with a note from KB, telling a story about her misadventures aboard a Mississippi riverboat. She'd mistakenly taken a cruise that included a 'Midnight Murder Mystery' and had run afoul of the rest of the passengers when she'd solved the 'murder' within fives minutes. The posting had included photos of Goo, posed at various places on the steam ship and had ended with the now familiar promise to catch up with him soon.

The section of the 'Proper Care And Feeding…' website that featured his daily postings had become increasingly popular and Alexis had informed him that the number of 'vacation' photos featuring Gumby, Pokey and the rest of the characters from the 'Gumbyverse' as well as hundreds of other figures had led to the formation of a separate section which, after acquiring the proper legal clearances from the Clokey estate and SNL, had been titled, 'I'm With Gumby, Dammit' and in the short time it had been up and running, thousands of people had posted their own pictures of travels with their figures.

Rick's pride in his daughter's accomplishments continued to grow, each day seeming to bring a new piece of news that would leave him beaming with pleasure and pride. Black Pawn had already ordered a third printing of Alexis' book and the offers for merchandising and appearances continued to pour in. The website had taken off and two of the publishing company's interns now had full time positions managing the site. Paula and Gina had both been clamoring for some of his time because the publisher wanted to release a collection of his postings and the 'Western' and they'd been hesitant to listen to Alexis, despite the fact that she was his un-official editor and, more importantly, his daughter.

He'd already started legal proceedings to allow Alexis to handle any decisions about anything he'd written and once he got together with her in Los Angeles, he'd make it official. He was sure Paula would rant and rave but he knew that when push came to shove, she'd fall in line, realizing that representing two Rogers was a whole lot better than representing none. Gina would have to come to the same realization because the success of the Nikki Heat franchise, the popular response to his daughter's book and the critical response to his latest writings left Black Pawn with two extremely hot commodities and they wouldn't do anything that might jeopardize that.

The last time he'd spoken with Alexis and told her his plans, she'd immediately announced her plans to have him committed and then squander all of his money. He'd laughed and asked if she'd at least wait until after the premiere before implementing her plans and she'd laughed and agreed before getting serious asking him if he was certain that it was a good idea, suggesting that she might not be the ideal person to have the responsibility. When he'd asked who she'd recommend to handle everything she'd paused and then agreed to his plans after extracting his promise that once he'd come to his senses, he'd resume the responsibility.

With the heavy stuff out of the way, she'd asked him about the package that was still sitting on his desk, finally giving in and opening the box that had a return address in Texas. Her sharp intake of breath had worried him for a moment until she started explaining how beautiful the rattlesnake skin boots were and how much she was looking forward to seeing them on him, promising to bring them with her when she flew out to California for the Nikki Heat premiere that was now less then two months away.

The call had ended and he'd filed away the information about the boots until a picture of them, with Pokey posed standing between them, had appeared on the website. He found himself agreeing with his daughters assessment of them and looking forward to wearing them, already picturing himself making his way down the red carpet, looking ruggedly handsome in a western cut tuxedo and his boots, a stunningly beautiful woman on his arm. He wasn't sure who the woman would be but he secretly hoped it might me the inspiration for the movie's female lead. Thinking about the red carpet led him to thinking about Nikki Heat which would inevitably lead to thoughts of KB.

He'd been gone from Texas for almost six weeks and KB seemed to be staying a step or two behind him. He knew it was Kate and had given serious thought to letting her catch up but conversations with Alexis and Molly had helped steel his resolve, both of the women telling him to continue his travels, not to speed up or slow down, just to continue at whatever pace seemed to feel natural and what would be, would be.

A sudden shout of shock followed by a bark of laughter caught his attention and he looked up just in time to see the group's guide topple backwards off of the cooler he'd been sitting on, the tips of his shoes smoking lightly. Closing his laptop and setting it aside, he got to his feet and started to move towards the campfire but stopped when the guide suddenly started laughing while pointing at the group of concerned faces that had gathered around him. Before a word could be spoken, one of the women rushed up and threw a bucket of water in the general direction of the guide's still smoking shoes, dowsing not only the shoes but the rest of the man as well.

"Thanks, Karen" the man spluttered, moving slowly to get to his feet.

"Your shoes were on fire" the woman answered, the now empty bucket still clutched tightly in her hands, a look of puzzled concern on her face.

"Well, sort of…"

"What the hell do you mean, 'sort of'?" Karen yelled , interrupting the drenched guide who was in the process of pulling one of his shoes off and holding his foot up so that the group gathered around him could see the material that covered half of his foot.

"What's left of one of those fire proof oven mitts" the guide replied, pulling the piece of material from his foot and waving it around while obviously trying to suppress laughter.

"Oh, very funny, you asshole" Karen hissed at him before turning to leave, pausing to give everyone around her the stink eye when they all started laughing.

Rick found himself laughing along, actually impressed at the preparation that went into the latest practical joke. He walked over to the group, planning to congratulate Jim, the group's guide, on the latest prank. Approaching the group, he met Karen's eyes as she stomped away and was surprised to see that there was no anger there, only a look of cold calculation along with what could only be described as an evil grin on her face.

"He's going to pay" she whispered under her breath as she passed Rick and moved towards the tent that she and the other women in the group shared.

Rick smiled as he thought about the series of pranks that had been going on since the first day on the river and wondered what bit of mischief Karen would get up to as part of her payback. He looked over at the rest of the group who had returned to their seats around the campfire and couldn't help smiling at the memory of how he'd happened to meet his current traveling companions.

He'd just finished a pack-mule tour of the Grand Canyon and happened to overhear the woman, who'd led the tour, telling a couple of tourists about her brother's river-raft tour that covered hundreds of miles over a seven day period. Following his gut, he waited until Susan had finished giving the information to the curious couple and they'd walked away before approaching her and asking when her brother's next expedition was leaving and if there might be any open spots. After pulling her phone from her pocket and making a call, he found himself in the middle of a negotiation for a spot that had suddenly opened up on his next trip. Finally agreeing to pay the same price that he'd paid for the pack tour, a promise to mention the trip and the guide in one of his posts on the 'Care and Feeding' website.

After helping Susan clean and feed her mules, he'd accepted her offer of a ride to the launch point the next morning after convincing her to let him treat her to dinner. He'd slept that night in the barn and been awakened the next morning to Susan hollering for him to get his 'pampered ass' up and moving so they could make the trip. He'd smiled and was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck within ten minutes and was about to lean over and honk the horn when Susan had appeared with two travel cups of fresh coffee and two breakfast rolls.

"So, you don't want coffee and a roll?" Susan had asked, having caught him in mid-lean, his hand half way to the steering wheel.

"I was going to make sure there wasn't any dust on your steering wheel" he'd answered, knowing full well that he'd been caught and smiling when she'd rolled her eyes, reminding him of another 'eye-roller' he knew.

"Sure you were, Rick" she'd answered with a smile and, after handing the cups and rolls through the window, climbed into the truck and, after delivering a thump to his ear, started the vehicle.

The trip had taken about two hours and after Susan had introduced him to her brother and said her goodbyes, Rick was introduced to the group that he'd be joining for the raft trip. It turned out that the four women and three men were all college professors who had been planning the trip for over a year and had nearly canceled the voyage when the eighth member of their party had broken his leg and couldn't make the trip. At his urging, the seven friends decided to make the trip without him and Rick had licked into the empty spot.

As the introductions were made, Rick couldn't help smiling at the reaction that his name elicited from the rest of the group which ranged from interest to indifference. His travels, as he worked on his 'bucket list', had been an eye opening and, in some cases, humbling experience for him. He'd always been comfortable with his ego but the many people he'd met had helped him come to realize that he really was just a person who'd gotten incredibly lucky. He'd always believed he was a good writer but it had only been recently that he come to realize that he could be even better and, as much as it pained him to admit it, it took Kate distancing herself from him to make him grow.

The raft trip got underway shortly after his arrival and the days that followed had been filled with beauty and hard work. Rick wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but had been surprised by the amount of work that the group had been thrown into. He silently thanked Jeremy at the end of the first leg of the journey when he realized his 'chores' on the ranch had actually left him in the best shape he'd been in since college and he'd been dragging less than several of the younger members of the expedition.

The first night had involved everyone pitching in the set up a camp and, after everyone wolfed down a meal , a couple hours of 'getting to know you' type of conversation around the campfire. Rick had been pleased to find that everyone seemed to be more impressed with his daughter's book and website than with his own body of work and they'd asked quite a few more questions about her than about him. He'd gladly answered every question and smiled when three members of the group had produced their own plastic figures and announced their plans to document their trip and send off pictures to the 'I'm With Gumby, Dammit' page. Rick had laughed out loud when the one married couple, who happened to be economics professors, had produced 'Blockhead' figures and a professor of contemporary fiction had brought along a Godzilla the stood almost 12 inches tall.

The next five days had been much the same as the first with everyone relaxing into a easy camaraderie that included raising with the sun and spending the day enjoying the beautiful scenery and the early evenings gathered around a campfire and talking about whatever with the topic often changing several times before everyone would drag themselves to their tents, the days workout making for an early bedtime.

The second day out had seen the first practical joke and each consecutive day saw more pranks that had culminated with Jim's burning shoes. None of the jokes had been malicious and everyone would laugh, including the 'victim', although it might take a little longer for that person to join in. Usually the 'victim' would become the perpetrator and pick a new victim. The third morning, Rick had awoken to find his shoes filled with mud, sticks and stones that had hardened to an almost concrete like consistency. While the rest of the group had snickered to themselves, he'd spent almost twenty minutes getting his footwear cleared of debris while plotting.

That night, he'd waited until everyone had finished their meals and then he'd held up an empty Visine bottle and asked if everyone liked the secret ingredient he'd included in the evening meal. The look of disbelief and panic on everyone's face had been worth it and when he'd explained that he hadn't really added anything, everyone had yelled that it wasn't funny but, within minutes, they'd all started chuckling and warning Rick to sleep with one eye open.

The pranks the next few days had been directed at other members of the group and after Jim had pulled the 'shoes on fire' gag, Rick almost breathed a sigh of relief, sure that he'd be safe since the next day would be their last before reaching the terminus of their trip. When Karen returned to the campfire, a small smile on her face, everyone had fallen into talking about their plans for after the trip and, almost an hour later, everyone said their goodnights and left Rick sitting by himself, his laptop once again resting on his thighs as he put the finishing touches on the 'Western' that he'd begun almost two months before.

After dotting the last of the 'I's and crossing the last 'T's, he saved the document and then added a quick note before sending it off to Alexis. He still had no idea where the story had come from or how he'd managed to complete the novel in less than eight weeks while still posting daily updates to his 'travelogue' and, truth be told, he wasn't really concerned with finding the source.

After powering down the laptop, he leaned back in the camp chair and closed his eyes as he listened to the sounds of the river moving past the campsite. The soft, rhythmic lapping of tiny waves as they reached to river bank reminded him of the steady, rhythmic sound that seemed to vibrate throughout the entire steam ship that he'd spent almost two weeks aboard, cruising on the Mississippi River.

The first night on the paddle wheeler had found him unable to sleep, the steady thrumming under his feet seemed to urge him to go topside and he'd spent hours walking about the upper deck, pausing often at the side rail to watch the dark waters flow past and to wonder what he was missing on the shoreline as it slipped away behind them. After completing the circuit of the deck, he found a deck chair near the rear of the boat and he sat down, watching as the dripping paddles of the stern drive rolled around as they pushed him along on the latest part of his journey.

He'd been sitting and watching for almost an hour when a ghost appeared at his side…at least he told himself it was a ghost and if the figure hadn't spoken to him, had simply turned and disappeared back to where it had come from, he might very well have been telling the 'ghost story' for years.

"Mind if I join you for a spell?" the visitor had asked, gesturing towards the chair next to him.

"Uh, sure" Rick replied after doing a double take when he saw the source of the question, "Mr' Clemens?"

"JT Palmer, at our service" the older man replied as he extended a hand after lowering himself into the empty seat.

"Rick Castle" he answered as he shook the offered hand. "I'm sure you hear it all the time but…"

"Yeah, that's my job."

"Your job?"

"Yes, I finally gave into my friend's suggestions and made use of my resemblance to Sam and got a job as a greeter on this steam ship. I get to spend my time cruising the Mississippi, playing poker in the Grand Salon and meeting lots of new folks."

"That sounds like an interesting way to make a living" Rick replied, still amazed at the man's resemblance to one of his favorite authors.

"Well, it's not as rewarding as teaching but, after retiring, it beats sitting around the house and watching Wheel of Fortune" he replied as he pulled a pipe from his jacket's pocket. "Do you mind?" he asked, motioning with the pipe in his hands.

"Not at all" Rick had answered and watched silently as the actor slowly stoked the pipe and then eased back into the chair. Deciding to let the man set the pace, he waited until the man finally turned and spoke again.

The rest of the night was spent in friendly conversation and before he'd realized what had happened, the sun had begun to lighten the eastern sky. Getting slowly to his feet, he thanked the older man for the company and, after promising to find him that evening in the casino, bade him goodnight.

The rest of the trip had included nightly visits to the Grand Salon and hours spent sitting at the poker table, smiling, as JT, as Samuel Clemens, would tell stories of his life on the Mississippi. The nights would often end with an hour spent on the top deck, listening at the older man would talk about his life and the kids he'd taught through the years while they would enjoy snifters of brandy.

The last night on the cruise had found Rick caught up in a high stakes poker game that left him with almost fifty thousand dollars worth of chips eventually making their way into his hands and, after a visit to the teller, into his pocket in the form of pre-loaded credit cards. Shaking his head as he left the casino, he couldn't believe that, despite his plans to travel frugally, he ended up with enough money to finish his journey to California.

An owl's screech broke Rick from his memories and, after getting slowly to his feet, he made his way to the tent, looking forward to the final day on the river.

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After finishing up the raft trip, he'd found a lawyer and finalized his plans to give Alexis the power to make decisions concerning everything that he'd written. Once everything had been drawn up, he signed on the dotted lines and shipped everything off to his daughter, promising her that if everything got to be too much, he'd find someone else to handle it. Leaving the lawyer's office, he'd found a cheap hotel and, after taking a long, hot shower, had ordered room service. While waiting for the ordered food, he sat on the bed's edge and powered up his laptop.

Rick looked down at the email that Alexis had sent, informing him that Black Pawn wanted to purchase his 'Western' and, sight unseen, several big name Hollywood production companies were bidding for the film rights to the story. Paula and Gina were still clamoring for 'face time' with him and Paula had even threatened to hire a private detective to track him down and drag him back to New York. He laughed out loud when he read that his daughter had threatened to take his latest book to another publisher and the sudden improvement in the attitudes of both his agent and his ex-wife when she offered them the phone number of the lawyer that was handling to paperwork that would give her control of everything he'd written during the last year, including the fourth and fifth Nikki Heat novels.

He'd finished the email and then logged onto the 'Care and Feeding' website and was just about to check the 'I'm With Gumby, Dammit' page when a knock sounded at the hotel room door. His stomach growled as he got to his feet and he found himself smiling in anticipation of the food that he was sure was waiting for him in the hallway. Stepping to the door, he turned the knob, pulled it open and then struggled to breath as the air in his lungs seemed to have disappeared.

"Hi, um, can we talk?"

"Kate?"

A/N2: Next chapter, Kate's journey to the doorway. Thoughts?