712. Chapter 712

After Get A Clue

Episode 6.06

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Hear ye, hear ye! UCSBdad does not own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above

Mistress Nikki Heat moved rapidly around the Golden Arches tavern making sure all was in readiness for the night. She made sure that the red, white and blue bunting was correctly hung, and that not a speck of dirt was on any of them. She checked the red, white and blue tablecloth and made sure the cushions on the chairs were soft.

"Nikki, "Said her husband, "don't worry. Everything will be fine. You've served…." Jameson Rook craned his neck to view the sign outside of the tavern. "…eleven thousand, four hundred and eight of the succulent sandwiches that you make with ground beef and topped with melted cheese. One more dinner can't be that difficult."

Nikki approached her husband and allowed him to hold her and comfort her. "One more dinner you say? But our guest is His Excellency George Washington. And tomorrow he will stand at Federal Hall here in New York City and take the oath of office as the very first President of these United States. How can I not be worried? The whole nation will be watching what happens here."

Nikki withdrew herself from Jameson's arms. "I must see to the kitchen." Followed closely by her husband, who loved the view, she marched into the kitchen where Mr. Raley, Senor Ochoa, and Miss Alexis, Rook's daughter, were busy assembling the ingredients for the Big McNikki sandwiches that Washington had specifically asked for, as well as the sliced potatoes she had named French fries in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette.

"Is all in readiness?" She demanded.

Raley, the senior man nodded. "Yes, Mistress Heat. But we do need you to make the secret sauce. As you know, it must sit for a bit before we spread it on the artfully shaped bread rolls you devised."

Nikki nodded and walked to the strong box that was set into the wall of the small nook that served her as an office. She removed the key from the chain that hung from her neck and that nestled between her perky breasts and opened the box. There, instead of the worn parchment that had been handed down for generations from mother to daughter, was a scrap of paper. Nikki read it with mounting horror. "Bring one hundred pounds in gold to the wharf where the ship Minnow is docked. Come alone or you will never make your secret sauce again."

Nikki at once showed the message to her husband and to her friends. "What shall I do? I don't have a hundred pounds in gold! I doubt I have one hundred pounds at all. I spent so much money on the ingredients for tonight's feast."

Jameson Rook nodded. "Luckily, my romances of a doughty lady spy in our recent War for Independence are selling well. Ginny, my publisher, has just given me money from the latest sales. In truth, she's a scandalous old woman, but she pays regularly." Rook pulled out a bag of coins and handed one hundred pounds worth to Nikki.

"In truth, husband, I never approved of the name you gave that fictional spy. Kate Beckett seemed an unlikely name for a spy, but I'm glad now that you wrote of her adventures."

"But can't you just make the secret sauce from memory?" Young Alexis Rook asked.

"No, the recipe is so complex that I've never been able to do so, although I've tried many times."

Rook thought. "There could be treachery and foul play. I shall escort you to this vessel."

Nikki shook her head vigorously. "No! The instructions said to come alone, and I shall do so."

Ochoa, who had served as a rifleman with Daniel Morgan nodded. "That you shall, senora. But I'll take my Kentucky rifle and keep you covered. I'll be too far away for any man to see me. But should anyone try to hurt you, he'll die."

Nikki agreed, and after kissing Rook passionately, she headed for the docks.

She asked around for the ship called the Minnow and was directed to a deserted dock just as night was falling. Nikki walked out onto the dock, but could see no ship. Then she heard a noise.

"I've brought your money, you scoundrel. Now give me back my recipe."

"Over here." Said a weak but familiar voice.

Behind a barrel Nikki found Thomas Demming, once a noted supporter of the British, now fallen on hard times.

"Demming! You did this to me?"

"It was that loyalist William Bracken and I. I needed the money, but Bracken wants revenge for being on the losing side of the war. He sailed hours ago, and knifed me." Demming opened his coat to show the stab wound. "I'm a dead man and your recipe has been destroyed." Demming leaned back and expired.

Nikki was heartbroken when Ochoa silently slipped up behind her. "What happened?" He asked.

Nikki explained as they walked back to her tavern and then explained again to her husband and her employees. "I am doomed. I cannot reconstruct the recipe for the secret sauce and without it, my Golden Arches tavern will have no customers."

"Then you must try." Rook said. "Why, imagine what our country would be like without the Golden Arches tavern or the Big McNikki. You can do it, Nikki. I know you can."

With trepidation, but encouraged by her friends, Nikki began to assemble the ingredients for the famed secret sauce. Alas, after an hour and a dozen attempts, she had failed to find the exact combination and amounts of ingredients that went into the secret sauce.

"We may as well tell Mr. Washington not to come." Nikki sobbed. "A meal at the Golden Arches without the secret sauce? How can I do that?"

"Perhaps you could ask a friend." Said a voice. There in the doorway to the kitchen stood an older man, well dressed and with a cheery smile on his face. He bowed. "Benjamin Franklin, at your service, my dear. Along with my good friend, Thomas Jefferson. We have over heard your troubles and wish to help. While I may not have the intellect of my friend here, I am not without my abilities."

Jefferson bowed. "My good friend Benjamin is being unaccustomedly modest. He is quite a brilliant man and has a list of accomplishments that dwarfs mine. But, let us get to work solving your problem."

Between the two of them, they determined the exact recipe for the secret sauce and wrote it down. Mr. Jefferson having a good hand with a goose quill pen, did the honors. Then both men returned to the tavern's main room to await the arrival of Washington and the other men who would accompany him.

To Nikki's great delight, the dinner was a huge success and Washington invited Nikki and Rook to come to a little ball he was throwing after his inauguration. They were, after all, famous American patriots as well.

Many years later it was discovered that the Minnow was shipwrecked on a small tropical isle. The loyalist Bracken, had been declared dead and his son, wasteful scoundrel, had spent every last farthing before dying in the arms of some redheaded actress named Meredith. When Bracken was finally rescued, he lived in poverty for the rest of his days.

As for Nikki and Rook, they lived happily ever after. And eventually, Nikki came to agree that Kate Beckett was a suitable name for a lady spy.