Chapter Two

Athos reached their camp, Aramis was nowhere to be seen. He glanced around and realised that there was an obvious trail leading out of the camp. He surmised that Aramis would have followed it. Going that way Aramis would most likely be met by Porthos.

A sound to his right caused him to start and turn quickly, d'Artagnan appeared panting hard form his run, he looked around.

'No sign?'

'No, but I think he would have followed our trail out,' replied Athos pointing behind him.

'Porthos will find him,' said d'Artagnan confidently.

They both paused as the sound of the dogs barking in the distance travelled through the wood.

'I know they are supposed to be following Aramis scent but it's started raining so that isn't going to work for long,' said d'Artagnan, 'perhaps we could give them something else to follow…give Porthos a chance to find Aramis?'

Athos gave a rare smile and nodded, he started running in the opposite direction with d'Artagnan close on his heels. With luck, their scent would prove more interesting, being fresher, than their injured comrades.

MMMM

Porthos dragged the barely conscious musketeer from the river and towards the farm house. He kicked open the door and pulled Aramis inside. He lay him down as gently as he could, his friend was pale, shivering and looked very confused.

'I'm sorry, but the dogs were after you. I had to get you away and into the river to throw them off your scent,' he said by way of explanation, although he was not sure if the marksman was really taking in anything that he said.

He left Aramis where he lay and searched about the two rooms of the building. There was a hearth but he could not risk starting a fire, the smoke would surely draw their pursuers to them. But he also needed to get Aramis warm, and quickly. There was a rickety bed in the back room that did not look like it would support anyone's weight, but it did have a couple of moth eaten blankets on it. He grabbed them and went back to the main room.

Aramis was trying to sit up, but not really succeeding. Porthos pushed him into a sitting position and started to undo his soaked doublet batting away Aramis cold hands when he tried to help.

'Let me do it,' he said, not unkindly.

'Others?'

'They'll join us, we split up. They know to come here.'

Porthos was peeling off Aramis shirt now, the marksman was shivering so much his teeth were chattering.

'Sorry, but the trousers are coming off as well, I need to get you warm,' said Porthos apologetically as he started undoing his friend's breeches. Aramis did his best to wriggle out of the damp clothes. Porthos grabbed one of the blankets and wrapped it round the now naked man.

He managed to get Aramis huddled in a corner of the room with one blanket wrapped around his shoulders and upper body the other over his legs tucking around as best he could. He spread Aramis clothes around the room in the hope that they would dry. The rain had stopped, but the outside temperature was cool.

Finally, he grabbed Aramis' weapons and sat on the floor next to his friend hoping that his own proximity would help to warm his friend. Under Aramis' watchful, sleepy gaze, he began drying the weapons with his own shirt. If they needed to defend themselves they would need the weapons in working order.

Porthos worked in silence, reassured as long as his friend was shivering. But alert in case he stopped.

MMMM

D'Artagnan was fit and used to being active, but this was a bit different. He was running for his life, for his friends lives. He could hear Athos behind him, and the dogs further back.

'Far enough, I think,' called Athos as he changed direction towards the river on their left.

D'Artagnan quickly followed suit, they headed for the river splashing into the shallow edges. They knew they would have to travel some way along it to reach the abandoned farm house that they hoped Porthos and Aramis would already have reached.

There was no way they could be quiet as they made their way along the river, it could not be helped. They hoped the dogs barking would be louder than any noise they made.

As they rounded a bend in the river a cottage came into view on the other side of the river. A man and a boy were stood on the bank of the river watching them.

Athos stopped running abruptly, d'Artagnan nearly ran in to him. He leaned over panting as Athos started calling across the river to the two on the other side.

'We need help, please,' he said. D'Artagnan was surprised at the tone Athos took.

'I gathered that,' said the man, 'the men with dogs are they chasing you? You must keep moving to outrun them, there is no way across the river for miles.'

'We think we have thrown them off our scent…do you have a horse?'

'Yes,' replied the man.

'Can you get to Paris, the musketeer garrison and tell our Captain where we are?' asked Athos before added, 'we will pay you for your time.'

The man smiled and replied, 'no need, I'll send Luc, he is a better rider than me. If your musketeers can rid us of those men and their abominable dogs I would happily pay you.'

'You, sir, are a fine citizen,' said Athos, he turned to the boy, 'Luc? Tell them Athos sent you. Tell them we will be in the abandoned farmhouse, about a mile from here.'

Luc nodded and looked to his father who smiled and nodded for him to go, the boy ran off towards the house.

As the two were about to move on the man called across, 'are you looking for two more soldiers?' both Athos and d'Artagnan nodded as the man continued, 'I saw them go passed a while ago, one of them looked in pretty bad shape.'

'Thank you, monsieur, we must get to our friends, but we are grateful for the assistance.'

The man nodded as Athos and d'Artagnan resumed their run along the river.

MMMM

The weapons were lying clean and dry by Porthos side. But they were not the main concern of the big musketeer, whose attention was solely on his very still friend. Aramis had stopped shivering and had slipped into unconsciousness a little while ago. Porthos had pulled Aramis closer to him, trying to share as much of his own body warmth as he could, although he was feeling quite cold himself.

Voices outside drew his attention to the door, he grabbed one of Aramis' guns. It was loaded and ready, he aimed it at the door. He was in no position to offer them much of a defence but he would do his best.

'It's us,' Porthos sighed with relief as he heard d'Artagnan call from outside as the door swung open.

Athos entered and looked around spotting his friends huddled in the corner. He looked concerned at the sight.

Porthos said simply, 'he's stopped shivering, I couldn't start a fire…but we need to warm him up.'

'Let's risk a fire now,' said d'Artagnan crossing to the hearth.

'We led the dogs away from here and doubled back along the river. Help is on the way, we have a message on its way to Treville,' Athos told Porthos as he pulled his jacket off and laid it over Aramis.

MMMM

Treville had assembled a group of musketeers and briefed them as they saddled their horses. They were leaving immediately. The young boy who had arrived minutes before was watching in awe as the well-trained soldiers did not hesitate in their preparations.

'You can use one of our horses to return,' said Treville to Luc, 'yours will need to rest. Don't worry we will make sure she is returned to you.'

They were on the road within fifteen minutes. Treville knew that for his men to have sent a civilian to get them help the situation must have been serious.

The spot where the musketeers had been making their investigation was only a few hours ride from the garrison. Treville hoped to be there before nightfall. They rode hard, Treville was impressed with the young boys riding and resilience. He did not complain and seemed determined in his task to help the musketeers.

When they reached the nearest bridge to the place that Luc had described they parted ways. Treville again telling the boy that he would see to it that the musketeer horse would be collected and his own one returned to him. Luc rode with them on the opposite bank until he reached his home and indicated that the soldiers should carry on following the river.

MMMM

The fire was lit and gradually warming the room. D'Artagnan helped Athos to move Aramis closer to the fire. Porthos had become stiff from sitting in an awkward position for so long. He managed to get up and shuffle over to the fire. He insisted on staying beside Aramis. Athos did not try to stop him.

Aramis' clothes soon dried and Porthos redressed his friend in the hope that proper clothes would help warm him quicker. Aramis was showing signs of improvement, for which they were all thankful, but he remained unconscious.

D'Artagnan took the guns and sat by the window at the front of the farmhouse, keeping a watchful eye on the river. Every so often he glanced around and watched as Athos kept a silent vigil over Aramis and Porthos.

The sound of dogs barking caused the three conscious musketeers to look towards the window. Athos rushed over to peer out over d'Artagnan. Porthos disentangled himself from Aramis and after lying his friend carefully back on the floor he joined them.

'They've found us,' said d'Artagnan trying to work out which direction the dogs would be coming from.

'What do we do? We can't run again.'

'Can we defend this place?'

'Possibly, but with only the two guns it will be difficult. Can we barricade the doors and windows?'

A flurry of activity followed. Athos tipped the rickety bed over in the back room and used it to block up the doorway. One room would be easier to defend than two. D'Artagnan piled up what little other furniture there was against the main door and closed and barred the shutters on the two small windows. Gaps in the shutters meant they could still see a little of what was going on in front of the house.

Porthos dragged Aramis back to the corner of the room and made him as comfortable as he could, covering him in the threadbare blankets. Porthos and d'Artagnan had also shed their jackets to help provide further warmth to their friend.

They readied themselves, d'Artagnan with one gun at one window, Athos mirroring him at the other. Porthos was ready with Aramis' sword as a last defence. They knew they stood little chance, but they were going to go down fighting.

'I told you I would win,' shouted a familiar voice, the leader of the hunters was calling from the front of the house, but neither Athos or d'Artagnan could see him.

D'Artagnan let out a shocked breath causing the others to look over at him, 'gunpowder…I think they mean to blow us up!'

MMMM

The sight that greeted Treville, was not what he had expected. The abandoned house where he knew his men to be was being besieged by a group of men. Normally Treville would simply have taken them out. But the group were well equipped, with dogs and guns. And they had laid a trail of gunpower from the corner of the small house to a low wall a safe distance away. A man was crouched down by the wall, protected on two sides.

It was quite clear that the gang of men intended to kill his trapped musketeers by blowing up the building.

'Stop what you are doing!' called Treville, causing the men to turn in his direction.

They were clearly shocked to find twenty armed soldiers facing them, but the men did not move. They were disciplined.

'We find ourselves in an interesting situation,' came a voice over to Trevilles left. A man peeked out from behind a sturdy tree.

'Surrender now, you have nowhere to go.'

'Oh, I think I have the bargaining chip here. Your men are in that building and I have the means to kill them. You will let us go and I won't blow them up,' he paused before saying with an obvious smirk, 'quite a simple choice really, your men or me and mine.'

MMMM

'Treville is there, it's a stand-off,' said d'Artagnan who had a better view from his window.

'Can you see where the gunpower leads to?' asked Porthos trying to see over d'Artagnan's head.

'It finishes by the wall over there,' he indicated to his left, 'there is man crouched down…I wonder if we could shoot him from here?'

D'Artagnan aimed the gun but did not fire, he frowned, 'I'm not sure I could make the shot, and if I miss, the chance will be gone…do you think you could?'

'You're a better shot than me,' replied Porthos.

There were a few seconds of silence.

'Shall I have a go?'

The three turned at the same time to look over at Aramis. The musketeer had managed to push himself up to a sitting position and, although he was still very pale, his eyes were focused and alert.

'If anyone can it will be you, even injured I think you will be our best hope,' said Athos as he and Porthos crossed the room.

They helped him up, he wavered slightly when he was upright. They waited for him to regain his balance then helped him to hop over to the window. D'Artagnan stepped aside handing Aramis the gun as he did so.

'Over to the left, the man is crouched down, but you can just see his back, he's not completely hidden.'

'I see him…'

Aramis spent a few seconds observing the crouching man. He took a breath and levelled the gun. The others fell silent not wanting to distract him. The shot would be difficult enough for the injured man as it was. He paused, waiting for the crouching man to lean back slightly. Aramis had noticed that the man would lean forwards and backwards every few seconds, he was swaying slightly as he crouched down, probably uncomfortable. The next time the man came further into view Aramis fired.

MMMM

The shot took Treville by surprise. He had been looking over toward the leader of the men and trying to work out how he was going to defuse the situation. He needed to neutralise the threat of the gunpowder. As long as there was a man ready to light the fuse his men were in danger. Letting the gang escape was not an option he wanted to take.

The shot, must have come from the house and not from one of his own men. The crouching man by the fuse was too well hidden for any of his men to have a chance of hitting him. The man gave a short scream before falling backwards away from the fuse.

An instant later Treville had given an order to advance and the musketeers who were at the ready did as they were instructed. The twenty musketeers rushed forward and were quickly engaged in fighting the gang. The baying hounds had been released and Treville saw them take down at least one of his men before they were shot and killed. The man who had been taken down was moving, but Treville did not know how badly he was injured.

The leader of the group had rushed forward towards the gunpower. Treville realised he intended to shoot at it to cause it to explode. Treville drew his own gun and shot the man instead, he fell to the ground his gun falling by his side. The man was weakly trying to reach the gun as Treville made his way over to him. He picked up the gun as the man looked up at him, the light slowly fading from his dying eyes.

'You will not be terrorising any more people,' said Treville as the man blinked one final time before becoming still.

The musketeers had either captured or killed all the men. They were busy tending to their own wounded, of which there were few and dealing with the gang. Treville was pleased to see the man who had been attacked by the dogs was sat up and his injuries were being cleaned and bound.

The Captain looked toward the house as the door was opened. D'Artagnan and Athos emerged. Treville walked over to them and greeted them warmly.

'That was an impressive shot, was that Aramis' doing?'

'Yes,' replied Athos as he took in the scene around him. The captured men were being rounded up and restrained. The bodies of the dead were being searched and prepared for transportation.

'Where is he?' asked Treville, looking passed Athos towards the house.

'He passed out after firing the shot…he was injured yesterday, and Porthos managed to throw him in the river earlier,' said d'Artagnan, 'he'll be fine.'

'Good,' said Treville a little confused at the explanation, but sure he would have all the details at some point.

MMMM

It had been too late to travel back to Paris that night. They had camped around the abandoned house. The building being used as a makeshift infirmary for the few injured men.

Aramis had regained consciousness a couple of hours earlier and was sat in front of the fire leaning against a saddle, wrapped up in a couple of new blankets, the threadbare ones having been abandoned. He had been given some broth, Porthos had supervised him to make sure he drank it all.

Treville watched as Porthos fussed around his friend. He was always amused at the way his four best musketeers, burly men generally, could become quite motherly when it was needed.

Athos and d'Artagnan had joined them in front of the fire.

'I'm looking forward to a big meal when we get back, all that running has made me famished,' said d'Artagnan.

'A trip to the tavern would not be unwelcome,' suggested Athos.

'As I made such a fantastic shot and saved the day I am expecting to have my meal bought for me,' said Aramis, managing a cheeky grin.

'You saved the day?' said Porthos turning to his friend with a look of mock shock, 'if you hadn't tripped over we wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place.'

Aramis looked taken aback, for a second, before smiling at Porthos and giving him a friendly shove.

'Porthos has a point, Aramis,' laughed d'Artagnan, 'if anything, you should be buying us dinner!'

'Suddenly I don't feel well,' replied Aramis dramatically.

Porthos laughed and grabbed his friend round the shoulders in a brief, friendly embrace, 'don't worry,' he said, 'we won't eat much.'

The End.