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Chapter Fifteen
"You and your pride," Lanie huffed, using a needle to remove the splinters from the soles of Kate's feet. The captain had walked around all morning without boots, daring anybody to say anything to her about them with a steely glare. Nobody had. Nobody except the resident healer and seamstress. "I've told you a million times at least to never walk around this ship with bare feet. It's very dangerous."
"Dangerous how?" Kate huffed. "Splinters ain't so bad, are they?" She wiggled her toes and winced at the pain that shot through them.
Lanie rolled her eyes. "Use your head, aye? You've got a dozen cuts on this foot alone and the deck ain't exactly the cleanest place in the world, is it? You could get an infection and be walking with two peg legs before you know it. Is that what you want?"
Kate looked away, clenching her jaw. "No," she said, pouting a little.
Lanie sighed. "Now," she said, "are you going to tell me why you weren't wearin' your boots? Javier worked real hard to lift those from that marketplace in Italy. He had to check the size and everythin'. Do you not enjoy them anymore, Captain?"
"I enjoy them just fine," Kate replied. "I love those boots."
"Then why?" Lanie asked. "Why wouldn't you wear them after I told you all those times that—"
"Because Castle came to my room this mornin'," Kate growled, side-eyeing the tiny girl in the corner, who was sloppily sewing with a blunt needle, barely paying them any mind. "And I forgot to put them on before I walked out."
"So why didn't ye go back and put them on?"
"Because he was watchin'!" Kate told her. "I wasn't goin' to embarrass myself like that!"
"I repeat," Lanie groaned. "You and your blasted pride! Mr. Castle wouldn't a cared about your damned boots, Captain; not if he valued his life."
"Still," Kate said, stubbornly, "I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction."
"Oh, I think we can all agree that a little 'satisfaction' is probably what you two need," the dark-skinned woman said, cheekily, as she pulled the last splinter out of Kate's foot. The other woman glared at her while she wrapped her foot in bandages. Lanie ignored her. "Now," she said, "you stay here with the little one and I'll go fetch your boots, aye?"
"Really, Lanie," Kate said, glancing nervously at the quiet little girl, "I can retrieve my own boots, thank you very much."
"Nuh uh," Lanie denied. "You stay sitting right there; I'll be back in a moment." She left no more room for argument as she practically flew from the room, her own feet encased in low heels that clicked against the wooden floors.
Kate sat there in silence, nothing but the sound of the waves crashing against the outside of the ship and Alexis's small grunts of frustration to accompany her. She chanced a glance at the little girl and found her with a look of utter concentration on her face, he little pink tongue sticking out as she narrowed her eyes, focusing on the needle as it glided through the rough fabric of a pair of trousers. Her red hair, which was shinier now than it had been when she and her father had first come aboard, fell over her forehead and she pushed it away in her aggravation. Kate smiled, wondering how a child could be so serious and sunny at the same time and how someone like Richard Castle came to father a child like that.
Suddenly, Alexis gasped and dropped the fabric, letting out a tiny whimper as she held her left hand with her right. Kate's eyes widened when she saw tears fill the clear blue eyes and the redhead's bottom lip protruded. Ignoring the pain, Kate stood and made her way over to her, kneeling down in front of her. "Are you alright?" she asked, softly.
Alexis looked up at her and shook her head. "Hurt," she said, her chin quivering. Kate felt her heart break, even though it was just a tiny puncture on the tip of her finger. Even made with a duller needle than usual, it must have hurt an awful lot for such a small girl. There was the smallest drop of blood on the end and Kate immediately reached into her pocket, pulling out a handkerchief and pressing it to the finger. Alexis hissed in pain.
"Oh, I know," Kate said, sympathetically, "but this will make it better, I promise." She held the girl's hand tightly for a few moments to stop the bleeding and then lifted it away, showing her her own finger. "See? It stopped."
Alexis nodded, still pouting, as she looked at her finger, and then held it out to Kate. "Kiss?" she asked, meekly and Kate's eyebrows rose. She remembered her mother kissing all of her scrapes and bruises and cuts, but she'd never done the same for a child herself. And especially not a child that wasn't even remotely related to her. But that didn't seem to matter to this particular child, who was looking at her as if her lips held the magic balm that would make her pain go away.
And so Kate took a deep breath, checked all around to make sure that nobody was watching, and pressed her lips to Alexis's little finger…and then quickly pulled away. The girl beamed up at her and giggled, pulling her hand back to curl against her chest as she stared up at Kate with wonderment and…and something that looked a lot like affection, only stronger and unnamable. And not because Kate didn't know what it was, but rather because she was afraid of what it was in that girl's eyes.
She gave Alexis a quick smile and a pat on the head and then retreated back to her place, sitting on a wooden box. Lanie came in moments later and by that time Alexis was already back at her sewing.
"Here's your boots," the short woman said, dropping them by Kate's feet. "Now, go on back up and do your duties; let Mr. Castle see your pride." Kate rolled her eyes and slipped her bandaged fee into the boots.
"Alexis pricked her finger," she informed Lanie. "She might need something to ward off infection, but treat her gently, aye?" Lanie smiled at that, giving the captain a knowing look.
"Aye," she said. "I know just the stuff." Kate nodded and gave a little wave to Alexis, then headed out to climb up the steps.
Castle was sitting with the boys, playing poker while Tory steered the ship. The tan woman waved the captain over and Kate went, lifting one brow in expectation. "We're getting close, Captain," Tory informed her. "We should be there by sun up tomorrow, if we continue at this speed."
Kate nodded. "Right on track," she said. "I'll have Eustace take the night shift. Is he still sleeping?" Tory nodded. "Good," the captain said. "He'll need plenty of rest." She turned towards the small cluster of men playing poker. "Esposito, Ryan." The two men threw down their cards and stood at attention, facing her. "Make a list of what we need. If we land tomorrow, you'll want to go lifting. Also, Ryan, if Lanie plans to visit her family, I'll need you there to guard her and make sure nothing goes amiss. We can't afford to lose her." Ryan nodded and Kate didn't miss the disappointment in Esposito's face, surely because he'd planned on being the one to protect her.
Kate didn't have time to deal with that right now, though. "Tory," Kate said, turning back to the other woman, "you and Esposito will be lifting together, so plan on wearing a dress while we're in port." Tory groaned, but conceded. "Mr. Castle," the man perked up, "you and Paolo will be escorting me to Madame LeRoux's brothel; we have some business to attend to."
"A brothel?" Castle asked.
"Don't get too excited, mate," Esposito warned. "We'll be there for business, not pleasure."
"But what business do we have at a brothel?" he asked, looking towards Kate for the answer.
"You'll see soon enough," Kate responded, before making her way towards the kitchen to ask Jenny and Antonio when lunch would be ready. Castle watched her, his eyes glued to her hips as they swayed, the mysterious, maddening woman…
She was something else.
"Don't even think about it, hermano," Esposito laughed, pulling Castle back into their game. "You don't stand a chance." Castle laughed, but on the inside he ached, for he knew that the Hispanic man was correct.
He didn't stand a chance when it came to somebody as extraordinary as Captain Kate Beckett. Not. One. Chance.
Reviews please! I'm sorry this took so long!