CH. 25 ACROSS THE POND AND IN HOT WATER

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Humble Opinion for posting this. Please read and review.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: I have been thinking about comments on the story on and offline as well as standard questions addressed by many Jem fics. Finally, I decided to put it to the readers. There are two questions I want you to consider.

1. Should Jerrica tell Rio her secret?

2. Should Kara be paired with someone? If so, who?

Cast your votes in a review.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Jem or any of the other characters or the rights to the show. It's just fun, and no profit is earned.

ROCKNROLLROCKNROLLROCKNROLL

The Renaissance fair seemed to be a great success. There were period costumes, exhibits, demonstrations of glassblowing and ironworking, as well as an amazing variety of food, most of which, Kara was pretty sure had not been available during the renaissance.

"'Ye Olde Caramel Corn?'" Kara read the sign aloud, not sure whether to laugh or not. The vendor chuckled and shrugged. With a slight smile, she bought a bag and moved down the lane to watch a group of jugglers. That was where Jem found her.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"I am," Kara nodded. "Even the anachronisms are fun."

"Anachronisms?"

Kara held up the bag and Jem read the side before giggling. "Seriously?"

"I thought I'd try a little stand called Camelot Cuisine next. Want to join me?"

"Pass," she smiled. "Lord Carfax is about to make his speech. Let's go."

They met the others near the stage and took their places while Reginald Carfax made his opening remarks, welcoming everyone and reminding them that he'd be 21 at midnight and assume his rightful place as lord of Carfax County. The locals seemed less than pleased. There were even some boos from the audience.

When the crowd dispersed to their work, Kara and the others went back to enjoying the fair, at least until Jem spotted a man dressed as Robin Hood robbing the guards.

"Are they performers?" Cheyna wondered. A moment later it became obvious they weren't.

"Come on," Jem called, rushing off. "We've got to help the guards." Kara was game and went along with the rest. They reached a spot near the back of the stage where Jem was certain the thieves would come out, though Kara doubted the lead singer actually had a plan.

It turned out there was no need for one as the two guards who had chased the thieves into the shadows under the stage stumbled out, tied together. While the rest of the group puzzled over it, Kara drew a knife from the belt of one of the bound men and started to cut them free.

"Stop where you are!" a voice behind her called. "Drop the knife."

Kara turned to see two more guards rushing towards her, dressed for the fair as the others were, in costumes that resembled armor and tunics. She sighed and casually tossed the knife to the ground. Really, I should be used to this by now, she thought.

When that confusion was sorted out, which necessitated a brief meeting with the future Lord Carfax, Kara was left with an apology from the guards and an invitation to dinner from Reginald Carfax. Given the mutters she'd heard, she didn't particularly want to, but decided she should know more about him, so she accepted.

Danse, who seemed to have developed an obsession with the man who called himself Robin Goodfellow, was angry but accepted Kara's reasoning. For the rest of the day, till the archery tournament began, Kara watched the guards and the vendors, seeing how money was 'collected' for fees and fines within the castle walls. The more she saw, the less she wanted to do with Reginald Carfax.

The archery tournament was fun to watch. Kara didn't bother participating. When someone attempted to hand her a bow, she shook her head. "Doubt I could hit the ground with it."

"Not really the point," Cheyna smiled. "I don't think I've ever used one of these that didn't have a suction cup on the end. It's all in fun."

"No depth perception, remember?" Kara shrugged. "With that in my hands the safest place to be would be in front of the target."

"There is that," Aja allowed. Kara was given a pass on the tournament.

Robin Goodfellow's arrest at the archery tournament was almost directly out of the story of Robin Hood, Kara thought, wondering if that was intentional on Robin's part. Kara had to hold Danse back at one point, assuring her that Robin would be fine and that they'd get him out.

Reluctant though she was to be in the same room with the man, Kara agreed to go to dinner in order to distract Reginald while the others snuck into the castle to search for evidence. Kara was just glad she had persuaded them not to physically attack the guards as Jem had first been inclined to.

"Bad idea," Kara had insisted. "For one thing, none of you know how to fight, and what good," she asked, looking at Jem's outfit, "is a holographic sword going to do you?" She shook her head. "I know you want to do something, and you know, I've nothing against violence, but there has to be some sense to it. The best thing to do is stay out of sight, and sneak into the castle later to free Robin. You should be able to do that," Kara gave a significant glance at Jem's earrings. "He told Danse that he can find evidence against Carfax."

"That would be more useful than getting the money back for a few people," Jem allowed.

"Less dangerous, too," Kara nodded. "I'm betting at least a few of the guards actually know how to use their swords." The others glanced at each other uncomfortably and nodded their agreement to Kara's plan. Kara had noticed earlier that what appeared to be armor was just patterned cloth, a costume, but the swords were real enough, from the Lord's collection. They were once part of the castle's armory but had long since become useless as weapons, save on occasions like this. The fair gave them a chance to get dressed up and actually carry the weapons.

Moving through the castle corridors behind the ever-so-polite-and –proper servant, Kara made a note of their route and any side passages in case it became necessary to leave in a hurry. Jerrica was normally level-headed and meticulous. At the moment, however, her sense of justice was being challenged and she felt the urge to do something. Whether that something would be sensible was anyone's guess.

Kara readily acknowledged that she wasn't in a position to criticize someone else's temper. She'd made some rash decisions, certainly, but she found herself in the unusual position of being the objective one. As much as she disliked dealing with the authorities, bringing them in would have been a nice option.

Sadly, for all intents and purposes, Reginald and Broadbent, the regent, were the law in the county, and little could be done as there was no evidence that they had broken any laws. Their men were heavy handed and skirted the law at the best of times, but none were likely to be charged. She was used to police being useless, but in this instance they were actually the enemy.

Her musings were interrupted by their arrival at the dining room. It was large and lavishly decorated. The table looked like it would seat 20 easily and Reginald Carfax stood alone at the head, waiting for her. Only two places were set. Kara thought it rather wasteful, but said nothing of that as she was led to the table and seated.

Carfax did his best to be charming, but knowing what she did of him, the effort was in vain and she found it hard to be civil. The food was good, not surprisingly, and Kara tried to enjoy it while keeping up a light banter with her host. She wondered how he would react if he knew about her scars. As he praised her beauty several times, though, she doubted he knew either about the scars or her twin daughters. She managed a genuine smile for a moment by thinking about the girls and how much they would have enjoyed the fair. Their seventh birthday was coming up soon and she needed to think of something special to do for them.

When Broadbent barged in and announced that Jem and the others had broken into the castle, Kara decided it was time to leave. Becoming Reggie's hostage wasn't on her list of things to do that night, so she slipped away while they argued.

Evading them wasn't that difficult, but it took time to do it successfully and find the others. It was the shouting that led her to Robin. Overhearing four of the guards rushing by the alcove where she currently hid talking about intruders in the dungeon caught her attention and she followed them carefully. They headed down a stone staircase and it was almost too easy to push the last one in line and send all four tumbling down the last few steps.

Robin, Aja, and Kimber stared at her as she jumped from one groaning or unconscious man to the next, eliciting louder groans and one scream when she accidentally stepped on a shoulder she suspected was dislocated.

"I thought you were the one telling us to avoid violence," Kimber said, looking at the pile up with alarm.

"I said I don't mind violence as long as there's a good reason for it."

"And what, pray tell," Robin asked, "was the reason for that?"

"They were in my way." Kara answered easily. "Oh, and they were going to lock you in the cell with him, assuming you weren't killed 'resisting arrest.'" She glanced at the crates the other Holograms were holding. "Tell me you weren't planning on blowing the door down."

Kimber blushed and Aja grimaced. "We really didn't think that out too well," the Chinese woman admitted.

"Perhaps I can help?" They turned to see one of Robin's men coming into the room with Jem, Cheyna, Rio, and Danse. They noted the pile of guards curiously, but each for their own reason, decided not to comment.

"Jack," Robin grinned and then stood back as his friend used his staff to break the lock.

"So where's this dirt we can dish at Reggie?" Cheyna asked. "We'll get him in enough hot water to cook a herd of elephants."

"I…don't know."

"You don't know?" Several voices asked at once.

"All I know is that from a young age, I recall a voice telling me to look within the castle catacombs. "

"There's an entrance to those through here," Jack pointed.

"We haven't got much time," Kara pointed out. "We need to delay the ceremony if we can."

"I think I've got an idea," Rio smiled.

They separated. Robin, Danse and the rest headed off with Rio and Robin to create a diversion while Kara and Jem set out to search the catacombs. Several fruitless minutes later, they heard a voice calling for help, and Jem put an ear to the wall, certain the voice was coming from behind it.

"It's still wet," she said to Kara as she began tearing down the wall. Kara pitched in and soon the cell and the old man within were revealed.

"We're almost out of time," Kara said as they set to work freeing the prisoner from his cell and chains.

Jem nodded. "I know. We've got about 60 seconds to prove that Reggie isn't the rightful lord."

"I can help with that," the old man told them, "if you can free me."

ROCKNROLLROCKNROLLROCKNROLL

It was raining money when they emerged into the courtyard and Robin was being passed over the crowd by his cheering admirers. The guards quickly surrounded him, but Jem ended Reggie's reign even before it began by introducing the crowd to Lord Carfax.

The former prisoner explained to the crowd how Duncan Broadbent had locked him in the catacombs nearly 20 years ago and cast his son out as an orphan, while claiming that his own son was Lord Carfax' heir. The guards responded badly to the news, even as the crowd deafened them with cheers over their new lord, Robin Goodfellow Carfax.

Not surprisingly, the group's exploits brought them extra publicity and the British press' 'silly season' got a lot sillier in Kara's opinion.