Chapter Four

D'Artagnan was pacing up and down along the cliff edge. He hated having to wait. They had thought about how they might get to the cave sooner than the tide would allow. The nearest coastal settlement was too far away, there really was no other option than to wait.

He stopped suddenly, feeling his weapon belt. Athos looked at him quizzically.

'The key,' said d'Artagnan with a shocked expression, 'it must have fallen off my belt, when I was checking on him…there was a bit of gap under the door of the cupboard…he must have been able to reach it…it's my fault he escaped.'

Athos, who had sat himself down on a rock tried to get the young man to see reason, 'I think that is a bit far-fetched, d'Artagnan.'

D'Artagnan hated it when Athos spoke to him like he was child, but the more he thought about it the more he realised Athos was right.

'I suppose so…but the key is still gone.'

D'Artagnan thought back to the incident that had left his uniform and weapon belt tattered and his doublet with multiple tears in it. They had been pursuing Jourdan for a couple of weeks and had come very close to catching him. D'Artagnan had been closest, the others out of sight in the thick woods. Jourdan had unexpectedly stopped and turned to face him, his sword drawn. D'Artagnan had been quick to engage the man in a fight without realising Jourdan had stopped right on the edge of a hidden ravine. As d'Artagnan had moved forward to lunge at the spy he had simply stepped to the side and given d'Artagnan a shove. The fall had left him winded with several nasty bruises and quite a few rips to his doublet. When the others had caught up they had been sympathetic but as frustrated as he was that they had come so close to catching their man only for him to escape.

'Even if he had, somehow managed to get hold of the key, this is not your fault entirely. I should have woken you all up before investigating the noise I heard, I was in no shape to deal with the situation. You only awoke by chance. I am the one who is at fault here.'

D'Artagnan smiled, and sat next to Athos watching the water continue to rise along the rocky coast line, 'thanks,' he said.

'Waiting is not an easy thing to do, when one is worried.'

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It was an awkward position yet Aramis had been able to sustain it, sitting at a twisted angle whilst he checked the gunshot wound on Porthos' leg. As the tide had advanced it had begun to reach up the side of the cave, the three of them had been forced to move up to another ledge higher up.

Aramis had steadied Jourdan who was clutching his side firmly and looked on the verge of passing out. Porthos would not mind in the slightest if the smug spy passed out, or died. When his friend had turned back to him and helped to haul him up Aramis had spoken quietly, telling him that Jourdan's injury was not as serious as he was pretending. Porthos could not contain a snort of laughter. As long as the spy believed he was badly injured he would likely be more compliant, thinking that exertion would make the injury worse. At least that is what they hoped.

Now Aramis was looking at Porthos' leg. Aramis had ripped the fabric around the wound to get a better look.

'The ball has gone through,' he said as he gently touched the exit wound causing Porthos to wince, 'it's not bleeding too much, but we do need to clean and stitch it.'

'And how do you propose to do that?' asked Porthos, unable to hide the sarcasm in this voice, 'we're stuck 'ere for a few hours yet.'

Porthos regretted snapping at his friend, but Aramis just looked at him sympathetically. They both knew the situation was serious. They were trapped with a dangerous man and one of them was injured. It was also cold in their unexpected prison. The cave walls were dank and although there was daylight from the opening above them, it was not adding any warmth. Aramis was already shivering a bit, at least he and Jourdan had their jackets on.

'Can't you do something else for me?' Jourdan asked, he looked pale but was still focused.

'No, there is nothing I can do for you,' said Aramis turning back to the spy who was sat slightly slumped on the marksman's left. Porthos was sure if the man knew he was not too badly injured he would not be reacting as if he were about to die.

'Just think yourself lucky we need you alive…I'd cheerfully shove you off into the water,' said Porthos scornfully.

He noticed Jourdan's expression harden.

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The tide was almost at its highest point. They had anxiously watched the cave mouth. The water had not quite reached the roof of the entrance. Athos had wondered if the cave would fill with water, their friends would stand no chance if that happened. But they knew the caves were rocky and he hoped there would be somewhere they could reach to escape the rising tide.

D'Artagnan was still quiet, he had paced up and down a bit more then settled next to Athos again. Athos was not averse to some quiet waiting, although preferably in different circumstances, but the young man was itching to get down to the beach and check on their friends.

'Do you think they managed to disarm Jourdan?'

'There is no point speculating, we just have to wait.'

'I know,' said d'Artagnan with a frustrated sigh.

It was clear he was blaming himself for losing his weapon to the spy, but Athos knew it could have happened to any of them. But, like d'Artagnan, he wondered if Porthos and Aramis had managed to disarm their enemy.

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The tide had reached the first ledge and was working its way further up the cave. The three of them had been watching the water in trepidation. There was nowhere else to go. If the water breached the shelf of rock they were sat on they would be in far more danger.

The water was crashing about in the cave, they had watched a piece of drift wood being pulled and pushed about by the waves as they rushed in and receded.

Porthos was trying to shift himself so that he could bring his legs onto the ledge before the water reached his dangling feet. Aramis twisted around to help him.

As Aramis managed to ease Porthos' injured leg up Porthos looked behind the marksman. Jourdan was moving towards his unaware friend.

He was about to warn the spy to sit back when Jourdan raised his hand. He was holding a small dagger. Aramis must have sensed the movement behind him, he turned just as Jourdan brought the dagger down. Porthos watched as the blade sliced across Aramis' left shoulder causing a short cry of pain from the marksman.

Aramis twisted back around and grabbed Jourdan's hand, he tried to force the spy to drop the dagger, but Jourdan was determined to cause Aramis further injury. Porthos tried to shift forward but was prevented by a wave of pain when he moved his injured leg. He gasped and shut his eyes for a few seconds.

He opened them again in time to see the grappling men lose their balance and topple into the water, disappearing below the churning waves.

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D'Artagnan was stood intently watching the cliffs below. After a few minutes, he looked around to Athos.

'I think it's turning. The water has definitely gone down a bit.'

Athos nodded but remained seated.

'How is your arm?'

In the excitement, he realised he had neglected to ask Athos how he was feeling. The swordsman looked a little pale, but not as bad as he had been the previous night.

'It hurts, and I won't be fighting any duels for a while but it is not too bad,' replied Athos who seemed very calm in the circumstances.

D'Artagnan turned back to the sea. He noticed something by the cave entrance, it took a few seconds for him to work out what it was.

'I think there's a body, floating,' he said.

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