938. Chapter 938

After Captain Kate and the Buried Treasure

Chapter One

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Yo, ho, ho and I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: AU

Author's note: There was no Castle ep with the above title, so this is the first of the After stories that continue with the adventures of pirate captain Kate Beckett. It seems easier to just continue the After stories rather than set up a bunch of new stories.

"I were there, I tells you. I seen it." The old man said angrily.

Captain Kate Beckett leaned back in her chair at a nondescript pub on the island of Tortuga, off of the mainland of Hispaniola. She was dressed as she usually was, in boots with four inch heels, skin tight doeskin pants, a white silk shirt tied under her breasts, displaying a well-muscled stomach, and a black hat turned up rakishly at one side with an ostrich plume. This day she had added a long royal blue silk scarf as a sash. Two pistols were held in the sash.

With her, dressed in his usual conservative grey broadcloth suit was her ruggedly handsome husband, Dr. Richard Castle. Sitting next to him was his daughter, Alexis, dressed in a fawn colored skirt and a white blouse. Her fiery red hair was wrapped up in a bandana of many bright colors.

Gathered around the trio were men from her ship, the Revenge. Closest to them was Javier Esposito, the ship's quartermaster and with him was his Irish comrade, Kevin Ryan, the master gunner. A dozen or more well-armed men watched ceaselessly. Their weapons were necessary for they were all wanted as pirates. But these were no ordinary pirates, for from the Captain on down, they had been driven from their homes and lives by the greed of the Royal Governor of Jamaica, Sir William Bracken.

Captain Kate took a drink of rum. "So you say, Asa Grey. But you can enter any seaman's pub from here to Dover and find a likely sort who'll tell you where buried treasure is, if you'll just buy him a tot of rum."

Grey scowled at her. "You think I do this for rum?" He pushed the tankard of rum in her general direction. "Take your poxy rum, then. I do this because of this." He pulled a scrap of cloth from his eyes, to show his empty eye sockets. "And for this and this!' He waved the stump of his left arm at her and pounded on the floor with his peg leg.

Alexis pushed the rum back towards him. "I think, Mother, that we should hear Mr. Grey out."

"Aye, listen to the lass, Captain, for she be your own flesh and blood."

Alexis was not Kate's own flesh and blood, but each thought of the other as if they were truly mother and daughter.

Grey took a drink of rum. "Me father apprenticed me to a printer and bookseller in London when I was but a young lad."

"Perhaps you need not tell us your whole life story." Ryan said gently.

"I'm telling this story, you Irish rogue, and I'll tell it my way." He drained his rum and Kate motioned for the publican to refill it.

"Because of the printer I learned how to read and write, something few did then or do nowadays. But I was a roaring boy and wanted adventure and money. I ran away and shipped out on a ship sailing to Africa. I didn't know what kind of a ship it was, but I learned. It was a slaver. We picked up slaves in West Africa and sped them across the Atlantic to Brazil where we sold them for gold to the Portugee." Grey stopped and shook his head. "I've done many an evil thing in my life, but slaving….They'll be waiting for me in Hell, I reckon. But the money was good and rum drowned out the cries of the men, women and children below decks, crammed in so tightly they had to lay on their sides. But I hears them cries sometimes when I sleeps."

Grey took a long draught of rum. "The navigator found I could read and taught me his trade. I became his assistant as he was getting on in years. But then we had a war with the French, two wars ago. Or was it three? Anyway, I shipped out on a privateer, Pretty Polly, out of Bristol. We made good money, but we spent it on rum and wenches and when the war was over, we had no funds. But we had a good, fast, well-armed ship and an experienced crew. The captain, Vaughn he were called, had saved his money and bought an estate in Ireland. So, our first mate took over and suggested we join the Brethren of the Coast. We changed the ship's name to the Ranger and a-ranging we went."

"My God!" Cried Captain Kate. "You sailed under Calico Jack Rackham."

"I were his navigator, Captain."

"Who's Calico Jack Rackham?" Rick asked.

"Who's Calico Jack Rackham?" Grey laughed. "Where did you find this land lubber, Captain?"

"He's my husband and a doctor." She turned to Rick. "Rackham was the most successful pirate of all. He sailed the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. One of his first prizes taken had bolts of brightly colored calico cloth from India. He had the cloth made up into suits: Coats, waistcoats, trousers and sashes. He even had hats made up. He wanted his enemies to see him and be afraid."

"And afraid they was." Grey added. "We sailed to the Indian Ocean and raided for over a year, filling our hold with gold, silver, pearls, jewels and other riches. Then we sailed for the Caribbean to melt the gold and silver down into bars and divide up the rest. Every man was rich for life." Grey laughed. "Do you know how to make God laugh? Tell him your plans." Grey laughed. "When we got to the Caribbean, God sent us a hurricane, such as no one has ever seen before or since. It roared for three days and each hour I thought would be me last. But, on the fourth day, the seas were calm, but our poor ship was near wrecked. We had but a stump of a mainmast, as the other two had gone overboard. And the ship's seams were tore open so bad we had to pump constantly and still the water rose in the hold. Finally, Calico Jack said we'd have to off load the riches in our hold to survive. We landed on a small island, took the cargo ashore and buried it deep. Every man of the crew was told where we were so's no one would steal the riches buried there without the others knowing."

"So why didn't they come back for it?" Ryan asked.

"We sailed for a place where old Calico Jack said we could get the ship repaired, no questions asked. But one day out, we were spotted by a Spanish frigate. We tried to run, but it was no use. They closed in and recognized our ship. I lost my eyes, my arm and my leg in their first broadside. Four of my mates grabbed the only ship's boat the hurricane left us with and we ran for it. The rest of the crew fought like tigers for they knew the Spaniards would hang them all. When it was over, those that were still alive was hung by the Spanish. But our boat had gotten to shallow water where the big frigate couldn't follow us."

"Why didn't your mates go back for the treasure later?" Kate asked.

Grey shrugged. "No idea. If they had, four simple jack tars with all that money, would have been news from here to China, it would."

"What happened to you?"

"They left me with some Christian Indians on the coast and sailed on without me. The Indians cared for me and I stayed with them for three years until a ship's captain who had come to the coast to cut mahogany took pity on me and took me to Jamaica. I tried to find someone who'd take me back there, but I could never find anyone I trusted."

"Why trust me now?" Kate demanded.

"Look at me. If I can't trust you, I'll be better off with a knife in my ribs and a quick trip to the bottom of the sea anyway. And if I can trust you, well. I'll have money for my old age."

"You were a navigator, you say?" Alexis asked.

"I were."

"So tell me how to use a sextant to find latitude."

"And what would you know of such things, girly?"

"I'm the navigator for the Revenge." Alexis answered boldly. "Now tell me about how to find latitude."

That night, Rick, Alexis and Kate sat in the stern cabin of the Revenge. "Do you think I'm being foolish for agreeing to take him to this island?' She asked.

"No. There's a chance he's not some crazy old man and that the treasure is there. From what he said, there are many millions of pounds worth of gold, silver and jewels there. We'd be rich."

"To what end? I'm the pirate Captain Kate Beckett and everyone knows you're my husband and Alexis is my daughter. We'll still hang if we're caught. What difference does it make if I have all the gold and jewels in the world?"

"A great difference." Rick replied. "If the treasure is there, we'll be fantastically rich with two shares of the treasure…"

"Three shares." Alexis said quickly.

"Three shares. " Rick agreed. "We can sail to France, who have no love for England and live there. You'll be one of the richest women in Europe, and the most beautiful. We can use our wealth to fight Bracken that way. We can go to the Court of Versailles and enlist the help of the French king."

"Who'll probably want to make me his mistress." Kate said unhappily.

"And being fabulously wealthy, you'll decline. Meanwhile, we can send agents to England to contact Bracken's enemies. Given the kind of man he is, he must have plenty. We'll bribe people to get information on Bracken, we'll steal information about him. We'll fight him from the safety of France and not from the deck of a pirate ship. We'll use our money and our brains, not cannon. Give it a thought, please."

Kate imagined herself in a silk gown with a diamond necklace, earrings and bracelets dancing with Rick at Versailles while secret agents brought proof of Bracken's villainy. She shook her head. "First things first. We'll need to find the treasure before we can become fantastically wealthy."