Captain Kate in the Caribbean
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: We all know by now who owns Castle, right? Rating: K Time: An AU 18th Century.
The captain of the small Guarda Costa lugger was happy that his boring day was almost over. Nothing, absolutely nothing, ever happened this close to Vera Cruz.
"Captain," Said one of the seamen. "there's a small boat over there that seems to be in distress. They're waving at us."
The captain cursed under his breath. He was sure it was a boat full of fishermen who'd brought too little bait and too much rum when they set off. However, since it had been brought to his attention, he had to do something.
"Set a new course to intercept them." He said tiredly. He would no doubt be late for his dinner.,
In a few minutes, they intercepted the boat. It was not a fishing craft, but a ship's boat of some sort.
"What do you need?" Demanded the lugger's captain.
"Thank God you found us." Said a swarthy man in the garb of a common sailor. "We're from the French brig Phaeton, owned and commanded by l'Comte de la Fere. Alas, we were attacked by English heretics and the good comte …" The man stopped, obviously overcome by emotion. "L'Comte died valiantly defending his ship, and he charged me and Manuel here with saving his dear wife, l'Comtesse. She is a delicate lady of taste and breeding."
The sailor gestured to the remains of a sail which had been rigged as a sun shade. Beneath it was a woman of great beauty, dressed in fashionable, expensive but now torn and dirty garments. The captain noticed that the diamond necklace she wore was doubtlessly worth many thousands of pesos.
"Get her and yourselves aboard at once. I will take her to the palace of the Governor of Vera Cruz himself."
L'Comtesse was taken at once to the Governor's Palace where she was given food and water and allowed to rest in a comfortable feather bed with silk sheets.
The next day, l'Comtesse was able to confirm the sailor's story. She spoke no Spanish, but did speak French, and surprisingly, she spoke English.
"I am of Irish descent." She explained. "My grandfather was the Earl of Tyrone, chased from his home and lands by the beastly English. He took service with the armies of France and spent his life serving France and Ireland. I was raised on our estates in Brittany until I was seventeen and went to Versailles to join the court. It was there I met and fell in love with Etienne." The lady began to cry. "Oh, my poor Etienne. How can he be gone? Taken so cruelly from me."
One of the younger daughters of the Governor, Don Elias Iturbide y Bohamonde, one Dolores, by name, had been, briefly, at Versailles when her father had been sent there on a diplomatic mission.
"I loved Versailles." She said. "But to have lived there must have been magical, Contessa de la Fere."
"Oh, please, call me Claudette. I can see we will be great friends."
The girl blushed.
"Thank you, Claudette. Please call me Dolores." Then she lowered her voice. "Did you know the Prince de Broglie?"
Claudette smiled coquettishly. "The older one was a sweet old man. He used to bribe me to sing for him by giving me chocolates. But, the younger Broglie? No decent woman should allow herself to be alone with that man for fear of her virtue."
Dolores looked around. The only other people there were young ladies like herself, and like herself, were eager of gossip from the great world outside of Vera Cruz.
"I had heard a tale about de Broglie, the younger, and a certain Madame de la Roche?"
Kate Beckett smiled at Dolores. For once she was happy that she had heard so much palace gossip in Versailles.
She lowered her voice.
"I wasn't there, of course, but I can tell you what I heard."
By the end of the afternoon, everyone from Governor Iturbide y Bohamonde on down were convinced that l'Comtesse Claudette de la Fere was exactly who and what she said she was.
A soon as she was able, l'Comtesse de la Fere sent for a dressmaker and ordered new gowns. They were of the finest silk, of course, but all were black with no decorations of any sort. The poor, widowed Comtesse was in mourning for her dear, dead husband, Etienne.
The Governor of Vera Cruz made sure that l'Comtesse was invited to all of the social functions he gave and all of the elite of Vera Cruz invited her as well. However, the beautiful Comtesse, dressed all in black, always had red and tear stained eyes. Everyone admired the brave woman for being as kind to her hosts as the hosts were kind to her, in spite of the great pain she was in.
L'Comtesse was often found wandering through the Governor's Palace at all hours of the night. She said that she was unable to sleep because she had terrible nightmares about the death of her poor, brave, sweet, deceased husband, Etienne. The servants were instructed to give the poor Comtesse every assistance and they happily did. L'Comtesse was not only far more polite to the servants than the general run of the inhabitants of the palace, but, having sold of few of her lesser jewels, was quite free with gold coins for those servants who assisted her. They noted with pleasure that she always inquired who lived in which parts of the palace so that she would not disturb anyone.
L'Comtesse even began riding, sometimes late at night, sometimes early in the morning before anyone was awake, and sometimes in the day. She said that this reminded of her days on her family's estates in Brittany and brought back fond memories to blot out her more recent, horrible memories. The Governor ordered that the stables always have one of l'Comtesse's favorite horses ready for her at any hour of the day or night. The grooms at the stables were amazed that such a refined and aristocratic lady always took the most spirited horse available and rode like a madwoman, taking chances that few experienced cavalry officers would take.
"The Irish are a wild race." Said Old Tomas, a retired cavalry sergeant, now a groom. "Good Catholics, mind you, but wild. But, there is no doubt she is a great lady."
No one disagreed.
L'Comtesse was accompanied everywhere by the two sailors who had brought her to Vera Cruz, Javier and Manuel. They said that the had been charged by l'Comte de la Fere with protecting and serving l'Comtesse every day of their lives. The Governor and others were amazed that two ignorant peasants could have such refined feelings, but then again, l'Comtesse Claudette de la Fere had a bewitching effect on all men and women. She was truly remarkable.
Late one night, l'Comtesse called at the rooms of Don Antonio Feliz y Paredon, the deputy commander of the arsenal at Vera Cruz. The commander of the arsenal was a nobleman of great and historic lineage who had no time for the minutiae that actually running the arsenal entailed. That suited both men as Don Antonio was able to amass a substantial fortune by selling weapons and ammunition to anyone with a sufficient amount of gold.
"Contessa de la Fere," He said, wondering what this beautiful woman was doing at his door so late at night. "How may I be of assistance to you. Oh, please do come in, please."
She did and Don Antonio closed the door and was sure to lock it.
She spoke slowly in French so Don Antonio would understand her. "Please, Don Antonio, I don't believe what I'm seeing. Please look out the window behind you."
Don Antonio turned around and was hit on the back of the head with a thick woolen sock filled with sand. He dropped like a stone.
Kate Beckett went to the door and unlocked it, letting in Javier and Manuel. They undressed Don Antonio and put him in the clothing of a servant, much like the clothing they now wore. Then they poured a bottle of cheap wine over him and carried him out the door. To anyone they should run into, they were simply two servants assisting a friend who had too much to drink.
Kate waited a few minutes and then walked calmly to the stables. She smiled at the groom on duty.
"Is Pegasus available tonight?"
"But of course, Contessa." Replied the groom. "I'll have him out for you in a moment."
"I'll also need horses for my two servants. They'll be along in a bit. They're doing an errand for me."
It took a half an hour for Javier and Manuel to show up. The groom was amazed at how calmly the Contessa took it. Most aristocrats would be fuming at being held up by their servants, even if it wasn't their fault. However, the three were soon off.
At the edge of the palace grounds, they found the still unconscious Don Antonio, now bound and gagged. He was thrown over Kate's horse in front of the saddle and they rode off towards a small cove only two miles further down the coast. There a small boat met them and they were quickly rowed to the Revenge.
As soon as Kate stepped aboard, Rick grabbed her and kissed her.
"I've been in a terror for the last few weeks with you in Vera Cruz."
Castle was quickly joined by both Alexis and Priscilla who loved Kate as if she were their mother. Both women did think of Kate as their mother, in fact.
"I missed you, too." She said, kissing Castle and hugging the two young ladies. "But, I need to change out of my mourning clothing and into my working clothes. Don Antonio will be coming to soon and I do want to talk to him."
The sun was just climbing over the horizon when Don Antonio awoke. As he was still a recovering from the blow to his head, Kate had a bucket of cold sea water thrown over him.
"Dios mio!" He exclaimed. He looked around him, not at all certain what had happened to him. Don Antonio saw that he was tied to a very sturdy chair and tied very tightly. He saw that he was on a ship at sea, and he saw that a woman was standing in front of him. However, she was dressed unlike any woman he had ever seen. She wore sea boots with four-inch heels and tucked into them were skin tight doeskin pants, which showed off her truly magnificent legs. Around her waist was a red silk sash over which she had a sword belt holding a rapier and a dirk. Tucked into the belt were two large pistols. Above that was a spectacular view of her toned stomach. She wore a red silk shirt that matched her sash, tied under her breasts. Her chestnut hair was wrapped in yet another square of red silk and on her head was a wide brimmed black hat, turned up at one side. An odd-looking feather completed the hat. The most bizarre thing about the woman was her face. Don Antonio was staring at the face of l'Comtesse Claudette de la Fere. How could that be?
"Comtesse de a Fere, what…what is this?"
"I'm afraid I'm not l'Comtesse de la Fere, but I understand she is as kind and as sweet as she is beautiful, so I hope I haven't damaged her reputation with my little charade. I'm Captain Kate Beckett, the pirate. You may have heard of me."
"But you are a lady of taste and breeding. You cannot be a pirate."
Kate shrugged. "I am many things, but I certainly am a pirate. This is my ship, the Revenge, and this is my crew. And you are my prisoner."
"Prisoner? But I am just a poor administrator. Why would you take me prisoner?"
Kate pulled her dirk from its scabbard and tested the edge against a sheet of paper. The blade neatly sliced the paper in two.
"Let's discuss that, shall we?"
TBC