Richard Castle and the USS Santa Barbara
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Except for the true parts, this is fiction. Rating: K, mostly. Time: The turn of the 20th Century.
Davidson hit her, knocking her off her chair.
Castle shot to his feet, but was instantly covered by four riflemen.
"Bitch!" Davidson said. "You two want to be that way? Fine. Take them to the lock up."
The two were dragged to a thick-walled building and thrown in. A barred cell door was locked behind them.
They found they had company in the cell. He was a thin, but muscular Asian, barefoot and wearing tattered canvas pants and a ragged blue shirt, topped with a battered fedora. Rick and Kate tried to speak to him, but they had no common language.
Kate managed to look out of the cell towards the village.
"It appears that everyone is smoking opium with Davidson. I believe it makes you quite euphoric, then rather tired. We'll wait."
"Wait for what?" Castle asked.
"A chance." Kate said with a shrug.
Four hours later, the village was completely quiet.
"I think we should leave." Kate said.
"How?"
She pulled two long hairpins from her hair.
"I'll use these."
"You're going to pick the cell door lock with a pair of hair pins?"
"Yes. When I was teaching in New York, I accidentally locked my keys in my classroom. One of the young men, a Vito Andolini, took some hairpins and picked the lock. He showed me how to do it."
"I think this is a complete waste of time, Kate. You'll never get…"
He stopped when he heard a click and the cell door opened.
"And luckily, Davidson didn't think to take my pistol away from me. Nor my ammunition."
Kate lifted her skirt up a bit and removed her pistol and a small bandoleer of ammunition from around her shapely ankles.
"Shall we go?" She said,
"Of course."
They had just left the lock up when their companion pointed to a building just across from them and said something. He headed for it and motioned for them to follow. Inside the building they found their sixty Navy rifles and ammunition bandoleers as well as other weapons and ammunition.
The Asian grabbed a Lee rifle and three bandoleers. Rick and Kate did the same. Then they headed out of the village, their new companion in the lead.
They quickly found that Davidson's village was on a piece of high ground in the middle of a swamp. They trudged for hours through water up to their waists.
Castle was wondering if their companion actually knew where he was going, but suddenly the man stopped. He pointed to the east where the sky was starting to lighten. Then he pointed to a small grove of trees just a few inches above the water.
"I think he wants us to stop and rest." Castle said.
"I don't think I can go much further." Kate said, agreeing.
The man headed for the grove and Rick and Kate followed. The man carefully pulled some vegetation between them and the swamp they had been in. Then he mimed someone drowning in the water behind them.
"I think he's trying to tell us the water is deep there." Rick said.
"Rick, there's something on your arm."
"It's a leech. Damn! I bet we have leeches all over us. We'd better check.
There wasn't much room for modesty on their little island and Rick was able to see Kate's long, firm and slender legs. They did indeed have leeches on them. He pulled his trousers down. He had leeches as well.
Their companion said something and took off his fedora. From it he pulled a dozen cigarillos and a box of matches. He lit one and used it to burn a leech off of his leg. He lit two more and handed them to Rick and Kate.
"Rick, I'm afraid I have leeches up under my drawers."
"I do too." Rick confessed.
"Will you burn them off of me? Front and back?"
"Kate, then I'd see…"
"I know, but we have to get rid of the leeches. I'll do yours."
Rick took a deep breath as Kate pulled down her drawers. He could see six leeches.
"Kate, one of the leeches is right on your…Um…I mean…It's…"
"I know where it is. Will you please get busy?"
Rick burned the leeches off of Kate's front and then she turned around. Although he knew that as a gentleman he should concentrate solely on the job at hand, he couldn't help but notice that her derriere was magnificent.
She pulled her drawers up and dropped her skirt down.
"My turn to do you."
"I could have our friend do it."
Kate smiled.
"Turn about is fair play, Captain Castle. Now, drop 'em."
Castle did so and made every effort not to get aroused as Kate burned the leeches off of him.
Finally, they were done and they settled down to sleep. Kate snuggled herself into Castle's arms and soon all three were asleep.
Castle woke as soon as something touched his arm. He looked up to see their companion looking down at him and smiling. It was staring to get dark. The man waved all around and said something.
"I think he's trying to tell us there are none of Davidson's bandit's around." Kate said.
"Or he's just noticing what a lovely sunset it is." Castle grumped.
They hadn't gone more than a few hundred yards when their guide stopped and said something. He pointed to his right towards what they knew was deep water.
"He wants us to cross. Can you swim?" Rick asked Kate.
"Yes, but not dressed like this."
Kate took off her dress and stood there in her chemise and drawers. The man waded into the water and then began to swim.
"You go next, and I'll follow." Rick said. "In case you have any trouble."
Kate raised an eyebrow.
"Suppose you have trouble?"
"Then you'll be in a better position to call to our friend. I'm bigger than both of you. If I get in trouble, it'll take the two of you to get me to shore."
Kate laughed and waded into the water, with Rick right behind.
Somewhere in Tonkin
Night, April 21, 1899.
They found that the land on the other side was dry. Kate dressed and they began walking.
"I hope he knows where he's going and he's not just wandering around in a circle." Castle said.
"I hope he isn't actually working for Davidson." Was Kate's reply.
"Unlikely. Why would Davidson want us to escape just so he could recapture us?"
Kate had no answer for that.
They walked for hours. Castle noticed that Kate was having trouble keeping up. He wondered if he should put his arm around her waist. Before he could make a decision, she put her arm around his waist.
"Sorry." She said, breathing heavily.
"That's quite all right. I'll carry you if I have to."
After several more hours of marching in the dark, Castle called a halt.
"We need to stop and rest.
Kate sat down heavily and looked like she was about to fall asleep.
Castle noticed something.
"I think there are men out there." He raised his rifle, trying to find a target.
"Please don't shoot at them, Lieutenant Castle. They're friends."
It took Castle a second to realize that it was their companion who spoke.
"You speak English?"
"Yes. I was educated by American missionaries."
"Who's out there?" He demanded.
"Who do you think is out here coming to get you out of trouble, as usual."
Castle's head whipped around in the direction of the voice. As he did so, a burly, older man with a grey beard walked out of the trees. There were a dozen armed men with him.
"Dad?"
"Of course. How are you, Rick?"
"Better now."
Kate got to her feet.
"You're Jackson Hunt. I recognize you from the newspapers. What are you doing here? Writing a book?"
Hunt chuckled.
"I suppose I'll have to tell your girlfriend…"
"She's not my girlfriend." Castle said, but felt Kate's arm go around his waist.
"We're friends." He said.
"Good friends." Kate added.
"Very good friends." Castle conceded.
"Of course, if he asked me to be his girlfriend, I'd accept. But he seems to be somewhat slow."
"Tell me about it." Jackson said,
"Will you be my girlfriend, then?"
"I'll think about it." Kate said softly.
"You'll think about it? You just said…."
Kate was giggling.
"Your son is very easy to tease. Now what were you going to tell me?"
"I do write books, Miss Beckett, but I also work for the Office of Naval Intelligence. Writing books gives me an excuse to go about sticking my nose into things."
"What are you doing here, Dad?"
"Davidson is causing a problem for the US government with the French. I was in the area and the ONI asked me to do something about him."
"You'll need more than a dozen men."
"I have more than a dozen men. However, there's a river not five hundred yards from here and a boat. I suggest we get to it. You can sleep for a while."
Rick and Kate staggered to the boat and were asleep in seconds.
Than Hoa, Tonkin
April 22, 1899.
"Where are we?" Castle asked as they pulled into what looked like a fairly large village.
"Than Hoa." Hunt said. "This is the headquarters, more or less, of the Thai tribal alliance."
"Thai?' Rick asked.
"The people of what we call Siam." Kate said, waking up. "They're scattered all over Tonkin, Annam, Laos, Cambodia and even southern China."
"She's not only brave, beautiful, and smart, but she's very knowledgeable." Hunt said.
Castle smiled.
"That she is. But how do you mean to take Davidson and his bandits."
"The local Thais hate him since he raids them. And I've convinced the French to provide them with modern rifles and ammunition. As happens in life, the Thais get picked on because they're a minority. If the French will arm them, they'll fight for the French."
"When will you attack."
"Oh, not until your boat gets here. That should be tomorrow."
"The Rafale is coming here?"
Hunt nodded.
"I sent your officer, Ensign Potter a letter. Since I don't want everyone to know what I really do, I claimed to be a French officer. I'll have to disappear before they arrive. I know I can trust you two to keep my secret, but sixty or so sailors and Marines? Someone will get drunk in a bar and blab."
"Now, how about we have some breakfast and you can get some more sleep. Later, I'll tell you what I have planned."
Than Hoa, Tonkin
April 24, 1899.
"I can see smoke down river, Lieutenant Castle." Said their friend and guide, who Castle had learned was called Peter Ananada.
"I hope that's the Rafale."
Peter laughed.
"If it wasn't our people would have let us know by now."
Castle, Kate and Peter walked out to the small dock as the Rafale chugged up the river. They saw Ensign Potter stand up in the bow.
"Captain? Is that really you?"
"It is. Come ashore and I'll explain everything."
When the Rafale was tied up, Potter leapt off the ship and grabbed Castle's hand, shaking it vigorously.
"When we got the letter from the French officer, I wasn't too sure if I could trust it or not. I'm glad I did."
"So am I"
Castle explained what had happened from the time the Rafale had headed downstream and now, carefully leaving out his father's part in all of this.
"What do we do now, sir?" Potter asked.
"Captain Juin has taken the Thais out to attack Davidson from the land. He has about a thousand men, and they're all armed with modern Lebel rifles. I'm sure Lieutenant Smith will be happy to know that the good captain has left enough Lebels for us to outfit everyone on the Rafale. And we'll have Mr. Ananada with us. He's a Thai Christian and knows the river." Castle checked the position of the sun. "We'll leave tomorrow morning and try to time our attack to coincide with Captain Juin's. In the meantime, check out the new rifles, do anything needful on the Rafale, eat and sleep."
TBC