Title: Mystery of the Oxbow

By: greygoose70

Summary: "Why are you being so god damn stubborn!" Castle yelled.

"Because I'm god damn good at it!" Kate yelled right back.

DISCLAIMER: Own nothing associated with the show, AWM, or ABC.

Chapter 6

Castle decided that it would be best if he took maneuvers to cover his trail, so he changed directions several times, always away from his intended destination. When he got to a point several miles upstream of the shallow rocky bottom creek they crossed as captives days earlier he crossed over and worked his way back to the trail that lead up to tunnel behind the waterfall, always covering his tracks in the process.

When Castle exited the tunnel he found Gray Wolf waiting for him, they rode side by side directly to Gray Wolf's hutch where Castle saw Kate with a huge smile on her face. She came to him and gave him a hug pressing her head into his chest she said, "I'm so glad you made it."

"Can't have anything happen to you Kate," Castle replied placing a kiss into her hair.

Kate unwrapped Castle from her arms as he handed her the penicillin. She immediately extracted two of the 200 milligram capsules and gave them to Spotted Elk with a full cup of water.

"How soon before we know something? Castle enquired.

"I'll see how he is in the morning. If his temperature has gone down, I'll give him another dose, don't want to stop after just one."

Kate gave Gray Wolf and Yellow Feather instructions, but to come get her if they suspected something was wrong. She and Castle returned to their hutch.

That night Castle had a dream, well it was more like a nightmare. It was a modern day enactment of the Sand Creek massacre, only in this one it was led by Sheriff Blaine. Gray Wolf stood alone in defiance daring them to attack. His dare was answered when Blaine gave the order to attack. With weapons drawn the horde of men began charging forward, Gray Wolf was the first to be killed. Mounted Dog Soldiers came charging out firing arrows at the oncoming enemy, two of the white men were hit. Suddenly a helicopter appeared, a machine gun mounted in its open side door and began shooting. The Dog Soldiers were being cut down as well as women and children.

Castle shot straight up from his bedroll, perspiration dripping from his forehead. "What's the matter, Rick?" Kate asked sensing that something was wrong when she heard him move from his spot next to her.

"We can't let anything happen to these people, Kate," Rick responded laying back down. Kate reached over took Rick's hand in hers, she didn't say a word, just entangled their fingers together.

Day 13

That morning while Kate went to check on Spotted Elk, Rick went for a walk trying to get his nightmare from the previous night out of his head. He was on the outer edge of the village when he looked up and saw a rundown hutch at the top of a small hill, so he went up to take a look. Upon entering what he saw shocked him. There scattered about was possessions that probably belonged to those that the Dog Soldiers killed when they got too close to the Cheyenne village. As he walked though observing the many different objects his foot hit something. He looked down to see what it was and saw a wooden box. Squatting down he removed the lid and found it full of wrapped dynamite sticks, a fuse sticking out from one end, so he replace the lid and moved on.

"What would you do to protect your way of life?" Rick heard her say. It was Kate.

"You knew about this," he replied.

"Two Bears showed it to me while you were gone."

Rick just stood there and took in everything, his eyes spotted a shirt, it was from one of the convicts he had been tracking. He picked it up, located the number on it, it was Gregg Sears number, then put it back. "Let's get out of here," he said making for the exit, taking a hold of Kate's hand when reaching her.

"Okay Esposito, go find him," Sheriff Blaine ordered. Javier Esposito was another tracker, maybe not on the par as Castle but still good. As Blaine watched Esposito ride off he turned to face the dozen men he had assembled. "When we find him, we take him alive," he instructed, then turned his horse around to catch up with Esposito.

It was later that afternoon when Black Bear came back from his mission. Black Bear was one of Gray Wolf soldiers. Gray Wolf had sent him out on a scouting mission, he wanted to know if Castle had been followed. After Black Bear had finished giving his report to Gray Wolf, Gray Wolf turned to repeat it to Beckett, when she along with Castle had joined him.

"About a dozen men are on your trail," Castle. "One lone rider headed west along the creek bank."

"What did this lone rider look like?" Castle asked. Kate turned to face Black Bear and repeated the request to him. "Light colored brown skin, fringed buckskin coat, rode a big black horse," Beckett translated.

"Esposito," Castle responded.

"Who's that," Beckett said.

"Javier Esposito, another tracker. A pretty good one too. I covered my back trail, but there's always the possibility he'll find something."

"How soon before they find the tunnel?" Beckett enquired.

"Well, the only creek I traversed was Spring Creek which means at least another day."

"What we gonna do," Beckett stated.

"First we're going to talk with Two Bears, explain the situation to him, then suggest he get his people out of here."

"Think that will be enough time?"

"Maybe. But maybe I can give them some additional time."

"How you…" Beckett began before Castle interrupted.

"Blow the tunnel," he told her.

For the remainder of the day the Cheyenne people began preparing for their journey. It was decided they would leave at dawn the next day.

Day 14

Two Bears is making his final inspection, making sure his people were prepared and ready for what awaits them. He is leaving Gray Wolf behind to see that Castle and Beckett get away safely after blowing the tunnel.

"Let's go Kate," he says, but the response he got in return shocks him.

"I'm afraid this is a journey you'll have to make on your own, Castle. I'm going with the Cheyenne," she says.

"You can't be serious," he shouts.

"I've been teaching others about these people for most of my life, but now I'm the student. I have so much to learn, so much they can teach me."

Rick just looked at her in disbelief, but he could see the determination in her eyes. He knew it would be useless to try and convince her otherwise, so he went to her and said, "wherever you go I will find you," he then gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Rick Castle! You call that a kiss!" she glamoured, then threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her level and attacked his lips with hers.

Gray Wolf watched the interaction between Castle and Beckett and smiled. He knew these two were meant for each other from the moment he met them. That's why he let them live.

From the second Kate's lips met his, Rick knew he was in trouble. It wasn't just the softness of her lips, but the message they conveyed. She had feelings for him, and if he wanted to be honest with himself, he had feelings for her also, so knowing that he gave back as much as he was getting. They held the kiss until their need for air became apparent, then their lips parted, but their bodies didn't, they continued to hold each other close.

Kate was the first to release her hold, she gently push away but never took her eyes away from Castle's cerulean blue ones, they captivated her in a way no one else's ever have. "You should get going," she was finally able to say..

At Kate's words Rick dropped his arms from around her hips, placed them to her cheeks and kissed her again. It wasn't as deep as their previous one but it did let her know he cared for her. "One more thing," Rick said, "no matter how bad things get, don't let them eat my dog."

Kate let out a chuckle before saying, "I don't think you have to worry about that, I'm pretty sure Trip is in save hands with Moon Flower." She then raised up on her tiptoes and pecked a kiss to his lips. "Now go," she said.

Rick smiled, turned and mounted Lady, then rode over to join up with Gray Wolf, where the first thing he noticed was the grin the Indian Chief was giving him. Castle just smiled back in appreciation, thankful that Gray Wolf and him have repaired the damage from their first encounter and have actually become friends. They then headed out toward the tunnel.

Castle positioned himself behind a grouping of large boulders at the forward side of the tunnel, his horse secure ten feet away. From here he could keep watch for the posse that was on his tail. His objective was to keep the posse pinned down long enough so he could retreat back into the tunnel, light the fuse to the dynamite he had planted there, then escape out the other end.

Castle first spotted them about fifteen minutes ago, they had already crossed the rocky bottom creek and onto the path that led up to the tunnel. Suddenly the posse appeared led by none other than Sheriff Blaine himself.

Sheriff Blaine pulled his horse to a stop when he saw the trail up the side of the mountain and the waterfall cascading down over it. He dismounted, began proceeding on foot when suddenly a shot rang out and a bullet struck a boulder not more than a foot away. He instantly ducked for cover.

Castle injected a round into the barrel of his Winchester 30/30 rifle, took aim and fired. It wasn't his intent to kill anyone, but just keep them pinned down, he figured a half dozen of well-placed shots would be sufficient enough to accomplish that, so he injected another round and took aim. Suddenly he felt something in the small of his back, he turned his head and saw a man standing there, a man he recognized. "Espo," he said.

"Castle," the man returned, "your rifle."

Castle rolled and handed his rifle over. "Now your handgun and knife." Castle unholstered his pistol handing it over as well, then unsheathed his knife and gave it to Esposito. "Get your horse and let's go. Don't try anything."

"That too tight," Deputy Ryan sat as he put the handcuffs on Castle's wrists."

No, their fine," Castle replied. He then saw an opportunity. Ryan was standing there loosely holding Castle's rifle so Castle snatched it away, shoved Ryan aside and took off running up the mountain until getting to the entrance of the tunnel where he took aim at the stack of dynamite. He fired but missed, so he injected again and took aim, but suddenly there was the barrel of a rifle pressing against the back of his head.

"Drop it Castle or so help me god I will shoot you," Blaine ordered while pressing his rifle firmer against the back of Castle's skull.

Castle saw movement at the other end of the tunnel where he saw Gray Wolf, an arrow secured in his bow, taking aim at the dynamite. "Then you might as well shoot cause we're both going to die anyway.'

"What are…" Blaine began, turning his head just milliseconds before the explosion.

End of Chapter