Chapter 10, Alexis's in Wonderland
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Still don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: After Four of a Kind.
Chapter 10: Bad Kate.
"Horses! Freaking horses? They want us to ride horses?" Rodgers said loudly.
"I think that's why they have five of them standing there, lover." Becks said softly.
Rodgers shook his head slowly. "Horses."
"Can you ride?" Castle asked.
"I don't know. I never tried. Can you?"
"Oh, Castle is a great rider of police horses." Kate teased.
"The three of us can ride. Can you ride, Becks?" Simone said.
"I rode as a little girl, but I haven't been on a horse in years."
"It's like riding a bicycle." Castle assured her. "It'll all come back to you."
"Except a bike doesn't have a mind of its own." Becks said.
"And for rifles, they gave us Spanish hornets." Rodgers ran his hands over the rifle he'd been issued, working the action, examining the rifle. All of them had the same rifle.
"The Spanish hornet?" Kate asked.
"Spanish Mauser rifle in 7 millimeter, Model 1893. US troops ran across it in the Spanish-American war. The sound of the bullets whizzing by them sounded like hornets. It's a very good rifle for its day. Still a good rifle, for a bolt action rifle."
"And we have US Army .45s."Rick added.
"Colt Model 1911A1s. Another damned good weapon in its day, that's still pretty good today. Some special ops troops carried them in the Sandbox and A-Stan."
"We're ready to go. Do you want to mount up?" A technician called to them.
Rodgers slid his rifle into the scabbard hanging from his saddle and clumsily mounted.
Castle looked over at his wife and couldn't suppress a grin. He got a glare from Kate in return. The latest piece of technology that Metford had given them was a device that gave all of the women the appearance of being bearded. It was only a hologram, but from a distance they would appear to be five men.
There was a flash of blue light and they found themselves in west Texas. An entirely different Texas from the one they knew, however.
As he always did, Rodgers repeated the information they'd received from the virus, just going over the high points. "No one really big change from our word. No meteor devastating Europe, no extensive Black Plague, just a million minor changes that makes everything different. Technologically, they're about in the early 1900s, give or take. And west Texas is…" Rodgers looked out at the miles and miles of bleak countryside, "miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles of Texas."
"There are people ahead." Kate spoke up.
"A stagecoach." Rick said, sounding excited.
"Looks like they need help." Becks said.
As they rode closer, they saw that a wheel had been broken and the men were trying to lever the coach up with a wooden bar to change the wheel.
As they came closer, a man wearing a badge came forward, carrying a shotgun. "We're not carrying strongbox today, boys."
Rodgers smiled. "If we were planning to rob you, we'd have opened up with our rifles from a couple of hundred yards away, where your shotgun couldn't reach us."
The lawman nodded. "That's true, I guess. Can you give us a hand?"
Rick and Rodgers dismounted. Soon the wheel was replaced.
"Where are you headed?" Rodgers asked.
"Lordsburg, New Mexico Territory. And you?"
"Starbuck, Texas." Rick replied.
The lawman nodded. "Due west of here." He looked at the position of the sun. "I doubt you'll make it there tonight. Easy to get lost in the desert. We're headed off north. I'm Marshall Curly Wilcox."
Rick nodded and held out his hand. "I'm Pike Bishop, and this is my pardner, Deke Thornton." He pointed to Rodgers. Then jerked his thumb at the three women, still disguised with holographic beards, behind him. "That's Lyle and Tector Gorch, and Dutch Engstrom."
Curly turned around and pointed out his people. "Buck, our driver. Then Ringo, Doc Boone, Hatfield, Mr. Gatewood. The ladies are Mrs. Mallory and Miss Dallas."
Rick and Rodgers mounted their horses and watched the stagecoach drive off.
"Castle!" Kate said sharply. "Did you have to introduce us as the cast of the Wild Bunch?"
"Next time I'll introduce you as Butch Cassidy. You can be butch, can't you?"
Even though he couldn't see her, Rick knew Kate was glaring at him. He shook his head. "Still, there was something about that stagecoach."
"Yeah." Becks replied. "No air conditioning and no suspension."
The marshal had been right, night fell quickly. They found a stream that was probably a tributary of the Rio Grande and camped for the night. By late morning, the next day, they were on a low hillside looking down at Starbuck, Texas.
Rodgers was looking at the town through field glasses. "Not much there. A couple of muddy streets and a lot of ramshackle buildings. There is a two story brick building and the sign says…Yes! Hotel. We can make that our headquarters to search for Alexis."
They then rode into town and headed for the hotel. As they passed a weathered clapboard church, the doors opened and the congregation poured out. Castle turned in his saddle and saw a band forming up in front of the group. Two men unfurled a banner that read: West Texas Temperance League. The band started an off key rendition of Shall We Gather at the River? The marchers joined in singing.
"I'll bet they're headed for that saloon across from the hotel." Rodgers said. "We should stay ahead of them and be in the hotel before they start smashing whiskey bottles or something."
They tied their horses in front of the hotel and were unloading their gear when Castle saw her. "This is our lucky day. There's Alexis, across the street."
Although she was dressed in the long skirt that was common on this Earth, there was no doubt that it was Alexis. Just as Castle was about to cross the street, the marchers caught up with them and he was cut off.
"Hey!" Called Simone, the only one still mounted. "We not only have an Alexis, there's another Kate Beckett over there. And she waved at Alexis."
This Kate was dressed more like a cowboy: Boots and spurs, jeans with leather chaps, a plaid shirt, leather vest and a Stetson.
The others remounted to take a look. What happened next shocked them.
The other Kate walked up behind a man who was watching the parade and said something to him. As he turned, she shot him in the groin. He staggered backwards and fell on his back. She then shot him in the head. As she did that, Alexis pulled a pump action shotgun out from the folds of her skirt and began firing. The marchers ran screaming in all directions.
The other Kate was now on horseback and yelled out Alexis' name. She had another horse for the redhead. Alexis ran to the horse and mounted. In seconds, the two women had disappeared down an alley.
The street was filled with panicked people, running, screaming and getting in each other's way. Rick pushed his way through the crowd to the man who had been shot. The pudgy man in a cheap suit was dead. Shot through the head. Rick felt sick.
"The other one's okay." Becks said. "He just got pistol whipped." Rick looked over at her. She was helping a burly cowboy to his feet.
"Get back on the horse." He whispered to Kate. "We can't have anyone notice how much you look like a local cold blooded killer." Rodgers heard Rick, grabbed Becks and got her on her horse. Simone followed the other two.
"What the hell's going on here?" The speaker was a tall, rail thin, grey bearded man, leaning heavily on a cane. On his breast was a silver star.
"She escaped, Sheriff." A portly man said. "She killed poor Sloat over there and pistol whipped Jim Lane."
"Worse than that." Said another man, coming out of the sheriff's office. "Deputy Demming is dead. She killed him. Her and that red headed hellcat with her, La Rojita."
"What happened here?" The sound of the familiar female voice shocked both Rick and Kate. They turned in their saddles to see Kelly Nieman approaching.
"The two women escaped. Ma'am." The sheriff said stiffly. "Killed Tom Demming and Mr. Sloat. Got clean away. Luckily, for all the shooting, no one else was shot."
"What are you standing there for? Get a posse ready."Nieman demanded.
The sheriff shook his head. "Ma'am, with my leg and stove in ribs, I can't lead a posse nowhere."
Kelly Nieman looked at the people who had crowded around the sheriff's office. "I put up a reward of a thousand dollars for her the last time. The same now. A thousand dollars in gold. Who will go after her?"
The crowd looked away and shifted their feet.
"Doctor Tyson." A young man finally spoke up. "There were twelve of us then, with the sheriff and Deputy Demming, and she managed to kill four of us. My cousin Andy may never use his arm again from where she shot him. We ain't pistoleros or shootists. We can't go up against the K-Becks Kid. It'd be plumb suicidal." The crowd murmured in agreement.
Doctor Tyson's face was turning purple with rage. "You gutless cowards. She murdered my husband in cold blood, and near a dozen more. Are you just going to let her get away with that? A thousand dollars, people."
"We'll go ma'am." The words came from one of four shabby looking men standing in front of the saloon.
The sheriff laughed bitterly. "Saloon trash? They'd need horses, weapons, supplies and they'd just head for the next town, sell it all and drink. Save your money, Mrs. Tyson."
Rick and Rodgers exchanged glances. Rodgers spoke. "We might help, if someone can tell is what's going on here."
Kelly Nieman, apparently Mrs. Tyson now, smiled at them, which Rick found very creepy.
The sheriff turned to them. "The Becketts ran a ranch some twenty miles out of town. Jim, Johanna and their daughter, Kate Beckett. We all thought they were honest people, but we now know they were in cahoots with some Mexican cattle rustlers. Anyway, something went wrong and the rustlers killed Jim and Johanna."
Mrs. Tyson took over. "Kate tried to run the ranch, but one young girl? She couldn't manage. She came to town to ask my husband for a loan from his bank. My husband was a good man, but he just couldn't see loaning her the money. He turned her down. A week later she came into town and killed my Jerry in cold blood. She's killed other good men since then. Now they call her the K-Becks Kid. Somehow she hooked up with that crazy redhead, the one they call La Rojita. Little Red."
Rodgers nodded and looked at the other four, who nodded back. "We'll go after the two. Any idea where they're headed?"
"Agua Verde, across the border in Mexico." The sheriff said. "The Mexican officials won't do a damned thing about the Kid and those like her. I got a map inside. I'll get it for you."
Rodgers turned to Mrs. Tyson. "Is there a store in town? We could use a few things."
"Miller's Emporium, sir." A smiling man pushed his way through the crowd. "Francis Miller, your servant, sir. I assure you that I have everything you might require at prices that are so low…."
Rodgers cut off the sales pitch. "You have any Mauser 7 millimeter ammunition?"
Miller scratched his head. "I don't believe we have any cartridges like that, sir."
"Government Colt ammo?" Rodgers tapped the pistol at his side.
"Yes, sir. We have that. Anything else?"
"Some food."
"Mr. Miller, give them what they need and send the bill to me." Mrs. Tyson said.
A half an hour later they were headed towards Mexico in search of the K-Becks Kid and her red headed hellcat friend.
Rick was miserable. "I've finally found an evil Kate Beckett." He turned to his Kate. "I don't know if I could shoot her."
Kate smiled at her husband. "We'll manage. We always do."
Simone then spoke. "Some odd things, though. I took a quick look in the sheriff's office. Demming was in the only cell, with his pants down around his ankles and his underwear stuffed in his mouth. From the looks of his underwear, that should have been enough to kill him. There was one set of handcuffs on the floor and one set cuffing Demming's hands behind him. He'd been hit on the head pretty hard, which I guess knocked him out." Simone looked around. "He'd been castrated, and from the amount of blood he was alive when they did it. From the look on his face, they waited until he was conscious, so he'd know who did it."
"Does that mean…" Rick began and then stopped.
"I'll bet that Demming was putting them in handcuffs and intended to rape one or both of them. I don't know why else his pants would be down."
Rodgers nodded. "I'll bet he tried to cuff them so they couldn't fight, then one of them bashed his head with the cuffs. Gutless prick."
"Just because he was going to rape them, doesn't mean the Kid isn't a cold blooded killer. We know she is. And maybe they pulled his pants down to humiliate him." Becks said.
Simone nodded. "She shot that man in the balls and only then in the head. And she only pistol whipped that cowboy who was bigger that the man she shot. Why not shoot both?"
Becks shrugged. "Who knows? But our job is to rescue Alexis. This Earth can worry about the Kid unless we have to do something about her."
"But we have something to think about now." Rick said.
They had to think sooner than Rick had imagined. They camped for the night in a small canyon filled with brush and cactus. Later that night, Rick felt the need to pee and pushed through the brush to get some privacy. He pushed aside a large bush and came face to face with Alexis.
He raised his hands away from his pistol. "Alexis, I'm not you father. I just want to talk to…"
Her boot slammed into his crotch and he doubled over in pain. He saw her swing the barrel of the shotgun at his head, but was in too much pain to get out of the way. He fell to the ground.
"Of course you're not my dad, asshole. He's been dead for years." He heard her work the pump action of the shotgun.
"Alexis. Don't. I don't want you to become a killer like I am." That was Kate's voice.
"They're bounty hunters. After everything they did to you, you want me to leave him alive?"
"Yes. I've tried not to kill anyone who didn't deserve it, but even so, I know I'm going to Hell when I die. I don't want you there with me. Get the horses. We're leaving."
Alexis glared at him, and left.
"Kate." All Rick could manage was a whisper.
"You know who I am, then. It would be best if you forgot about me." She turned and was gone.
"Castle? Where are you?" Kate's voice called from behind him.
He managed to make a noise and she found him, called the others and they dragged him back to their camp. Castle told them what had happened.
"She didn't want Alexis to be a killer like she is." Becks was counting off the important points on her fingers. "She said she tried to kill only those who deserve it, but she still thinks she's going to Hell for her sins. And she left Castle alive."
Castle added, "And Alexis said something about all they'd done to her? Who the hell are they? And what did they do to her?"
""They"? Why, they is the plain and fancy they, that's who "they" is." Rodgers quoted.
No one had any ideas.
"We have more to think about." Castle said as he curled up with Kate and went to sleep.
They crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico, and a day after that, rode into Agua Verde as the sun was going down. A young boy called to them. "You wish a place to stay with clean beds, senors? Good food? Friendly women?"
Castle pulled a gold piece from his pocket and held it up for the boy to see. "How much does the place you're shilling for pay you?"
The boy laughed. "Ten centavos for every person I send."
"Tell me where the real best place for clean beds and good food is and this is yours."
The boy pointed. "Eduardo's, opposite the church in the square, senor."
Castle threw him the coin.
"Gracias, senor. And if you need anything else, just ask. I am Emiliano."
Rodgers held up another gold coin. "Any other Americanos in town?"
"Si, senor. Lots. A couple of dozen. Perhaps more."
"Any law in town?"
"The Rurales, senor. But, if you have money to spend and cause no trouble, they will not bother you. Everyone knows of this."
Rodgers tossed him the coin.
Eduardo's turned out to have a stable in back where they left their horses and tack, took their weapons and gear and went into Eduardo's to get some rooms. As they walked in, Kate looked into the cantina. "Look who's here."
There was the K-Becks Kid and Alexis, eating dinner at a table against a set of glass doors.
"We might as well start now." She said.
"Hold on." Rodgers said. "Those fellows in grey uniforms? They're Rurales, Mexican mounted police." Rodgers pointed to a table with a dozen or so armed, grey clad men eating dinner.
"Emiliano said they'd cause no trouble."
"As long as we don't cause trouble. If we get into a gunfight with the Kid, they'll sure as hell get involved. Let's wait."
As it turned out, they didn't have long to wait. A young woman came to the Rurales' table and whispered to an older man with a well-trimmed Imperial beard. The Rurales stood and left quietly.
Castle started to go into the cantina, but Rodgers held him back. "Let them get a little farther away."
Castle remained standing where he could keep an eye on the Kid and Alexis.
The glass door behind the two women opened suddenly and a man entered, pointing a gun at the Kid's head. "Don't move, chica." He bent down and reached around to disarm the two women.
"What the hell do you want, Javier?" The Kid asked angrily.
"Mrs. Tyson wants me to finish the job I began at your ranch."
"You killed my parents and the Tysons were behind it?"
"Of course. Your father was beginning to figure out who was really behind my little rustling gang. The Tysons are very ambitious. You are a very stupid woman not to have figured that out. Now, I have no orders concerning La Rojita here, so come with me quietly and I will kill you quickly but she will live."
With a hat over his eyes and a beard, Castle hadn't recognized the man until the Kid said his name. Castle realized he had run into another Javier Esposito.
"Just stay here, Alexis." The Kid said. "You'll be fine. But you run as soon as I'm gone."
Javier stood up just as Castle drew his pistol and fired one round into Javier's forehead. "Every damned time I meet another Esposito, I kill him." Castle muttered. He turned to the women. "Turn off the beards. I want the Kid to see the real yous."
The Kid was reaching for her pistol when she saw Rick. Her eyes widened when she saw duplicates of herself with him.
"What the hell…?"
"I don't want to hurt you. In fact, we all want to help you two. If it'll make you feel any safer, go ahead and pick up your weapons."
Both the Kid and Alexis carefully picked their pistols up off the floor where they had fallen from Javier's hands. Castle noticed that three ragged little boys, including Emiliano, we're busy stripping everything from Javier's body that he had.
The Kid put her pistols back in their holsters. "I guess if you wanted to kill me, I'd be dead." Alexis, however, kept her revolver in her hand, looking suspiciously around her.
"Let me tell you why we're here. It'll sound impossible, but it's true." Castle went on to tell the Kid about the alternate Earths and their mission to rescue the Alexis's.
"You mean what Alexis has told me is true? Flying machines carrying hundreds of people? Machines that show moving pictures in your home? The giant cities? Everything?"
"Everything, and more. Look, we can take Alexis home and get you to a safe place. Somewhere where you won't be an outlaw anymore."
To his surprise both women shook their heads.
"I'm not going back to my bitch mother. Ever." Alexis looked at Rick. "You do look like the photos of my dad, but you're older. Why did you ever marry Meredith? Did you marry a Meredith in your world?"
He smiled at her. "It was a dumb mistake, but it brought me my Alexis, the greatest joy in my life until I met Kate and she became my wife."
"Can I go with you, then?" Alexis asked.
"I'll have to talk to some people, but we'll get you somewhere." He turned to the Kid. "Please, come with us. You're not a bad person. You can change."
The Kid shook her head. "When my parents were murdered, I tried to go on without them, but it was too much. I went to see Mr. Tyson at the bank. I thought he was a good man. He told me he'd help if I'd…do things for him. Things only a married woman can do. I was shocked and said I couldn't. But he tore my clothes off and…raped me. Then he called Mr. Bryant, the teller and Joseph Brand, a customer and friend of his. And Deputy Demming and…others. Fifteen men all together." By this time tears were pouring down the Kid's face. "They did things to me that I didn't know a man could do to a woman. They made me say things. That I liked what they did. They made me beg them to do it again, and then they did those things again. And when they were done, they threw me out of the bank, stark naked. Luckily, it was nighttime. I rode back to the ranch and stayed there for a week, crying. Then one night, I rode back into town with Daddy's revolver. I shot Tyson as he walked home. Since then, I've killed all but two of the men who raped me. I have to kill those two."
"What will you do when you gave your revenge?" Kate asked.
"What?" The Kid said, surprised. "I don't know. I never thought about it."
Both Kate and Becks nodded. "We were alike in many ways." The two women told the Kid about how their mothers had been murdered at the orders of a corrupt senator. And how Kate had brought the Bracken in her world to justice while Becks had murdered the Bracken in her world.
"I was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. But I was pulled out of there to help the Alexis's, and I found a man that I'll love always. Just as Kate found her husband. You'd be giving up the chance of being a good person again just to kill two people. Is it worth it?"
The Kid stared at the table. "I lost both my parents. I was raped. How do you expect me to…"
The rest was cut off by a gunshot coming through the window. Everyone hit the floor.
"Get to the lobby." Rodgers screamed. "Get the rifles and ammo. And shoot the damned lights out."
Rick and Kate crawled to the lobby and brought back the rifles. The rest of them were occasionally firing out the window at their attackers. In the dark, they could see very little outside.
"Kid!" Someone outside screamed. "There are five of us and only two of you. You come out and you'll get a fair trial."
"Five of them?" Rodgers said with a smile.
"I can see a bush moving against the wind." The Kid said.
"Everyone shoot at it at once?" Becks suggested.
The Kid pointed out the bush and on the count of three, they all fired an entire five round magazine into the bush. There was a brief scream and then nothing.
They could hear men running and then the sound of horses. They waited until dawn, but the men were long gone. They hadn't seen the Rurales the whole time.
"I can go to a place like Alexis is from?" The Kid asked.
"I have money. I'm rich. I can make sure you're well taken care of. You and Alexis can go to the same Earth maybe."
"Why are you doing this?" She asked Castle.
Kate answered. "Because all Richard Castles love all Kate Becketts.
The Kid shook her head. "That's so…odd."
Castle laughed. "You think that's odd? You ain't seen nothing yet."