"This is ridiculous!" Porthos exclaimed. "There's no sign of Aramis anywhere!"
Athos gave no answer as he scanned both sides of the street from atop his horse. He suddenly noticed a group of children playing, and something caught his eye. "Porthos!" he said, as he headed over to them.
Porthos followed, and spotted what Athos had seen…
Aramis' hat.
"Where did you get that?!" he exclaimed.
The children looked up at the huge musketeer, and some of them screamed in terror.
Athos put out his hands in a placating gesture. "Don't be afraid," he said. "That hat belongs to a musketeer; where did you find it?"
They all just stared.
Porthos dismounted and crouched to be on their level. "A good friend of ours is missing…some bad men took him. That's his hat, and if you show us where you found it, we might be able to find our friend."
The boy holding it looked at the hat before looking at Porthos. "Do I have to give it back?"
Porthos nodded. "Yes, he loves that hat very much."
The boy sighed and handed it to him. "It was over here." He passed both musketeers and started to walk, leading them to an alley, where he pointed to a spot on the ground.
"Thank you," said Athos. He took a coin out of his pouch and handed it to him.
The boy's eyes grew huge and he ran off with it.
"There are tracks, Athos," Porthos called from further down the alley.
Athos headed over to see and was relieved to find that they were easy to follow. "Let's go."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aramis and Marie quickly left the small house and headed to the stable.
"There's only one horse," Marie told him.
"Better than none," he answered. He reached down to grab the saddle, but his neck didn't appreciate the position and exploded with pain, sending painful tingles down his spine and into his arms and legs. He was unable to lift it, and with a pained gasp, he followed it back down, landing on his knees.
A hand grabbed his shoulder and he opened eyes that he didn't realize were closed.
"Can you hold her?" Marie asked, indicating the baby.
Aramis was unsure. He tried to lift his tingling arms and succeed. The baby was suddenly placed in them and Marie guided his arms down to his lap so Juliette couldn't fall. She then proceeded to saddle the horse and dragged a chair over to it. "Use this to mount," she said, before taking the baby from his arms. "Can you get up?"
Aramis took a deep breath and pushed himself to his feet, grabbing the chair for balance.
Marie used the chair herself, considering that she had arms full of baby, and waited for Aramis to mount behind her.
The chair made it much easier for Aramis in his current condition, and despite the tingling that wouldn't go away, he managed to get onto the horse, and they rode out of the stable.
Aramis figured out where they were: fifteen or twenty minutes outside Paris at a gallop. He desperately hoped that Athos and Porthos were nearby...they couldn't ride fast with the baby, and if Beaulieu found them first, they were as good as dead.
Luck wasn't with Aramis that day, it appeared, as less than ten minutes passed before a voice called out, "Musketeer!"
Marie gave a little shriek and tightened her hold on the baby. "It's him! We're going to die!"
Beaulieu rode out from the trees ahead of them. "So you don't know each other, then?" he shouted, sarcastically.
"I'm simply trying to help a damsel in distress," Aramis answered. "I'm not trying to steal your woman."
Beaulieu rode closer. "How do I know Juliette is really my daughter?" he asked his wife. "She's his, isn't she?!" he exclaimed, pointing at Aramis.
Marie shook her head, eyes opened wide in shock at the accusation. "Of course not!"
"It's not wise to insult a woman's honor in my presence," Aramis told him.
Beaulieu looked at him, before shaking his head. "There's only one thing left to do, then." With that, he pointed a pistol at them...Aramis' pistol.
Marie screamed and curled her body protectively over Juliette, which inadvertently gave Beaulieu a clearer shot at Aramis.
"A duel," Beaulieu said, flipping the pistol around and presenting it to Aramis by the handle.
Aramis took it, before saying, "Dueling is illegal."
Beaulieu laughed and pulled out his own gun. "Then I shoot her after I shoot you."
Aramis put up a hand to stop him, hoping that Beaulieu didn't notice its slight shaking. All of his limbs were still tingling, and he dismounted with difficulty, holding onto the saddle for a moment as he made sure that his legs could hold him.
"Ten paces," Beaulieu said, smirking when he saw that Aramis was having difficulty.
Aramis took a deep breath before making sure his pistol was loaded and primed.
"Don't trust me?" Beaulieu commented, mockingly.
"No," Aramis replied without hesitation. "I never trust a man who has no honor."
It was obvious that Beaulieu was angered by the statement, and he turned around and pointed his pistol at the sky. "You'll never have to again, for in a moment, you'll be dead."
Aramis turned his own back and copied the pose, his limbs still tingling.
Marie watched atop the horse with terror, turning Juliette to her shoulder as if to shield her from the sight.
"One, two, three..." Beaulieu started to count as he walked, purposely going fast in an effort to make Aramis stumble in his injured state, and when he got to five—not ten— he turned around and pointed his pistol.
"Aramis!" Marie shouted.
Aramis had only made three successful steps by the time Beaulieu got to five, and wasn't surprised at all by his treachery. He spun around and threw himself to the right, firing as he went down.
Beaulieu fired at the same time...and remained standing.
Marie screamed and closed her eyes, until she heard a *thud*. Reopening them, she saw her husband's pistol in the grass, and watched as he collapsed in a heap.
Aramis lay on the ground where he'd landed, unmoving.
Marie tried to quickly dismount, but it wasn't easy with the baby in her arms. She gasped when a group of men suddenly rode out from the trees, and exclaimed, "Help! Please!"
Most of the men were already dismounted by the time she finished her plea, and she watched as two of them quickly dropped to their knees beside the injured musketeer.
"Aramis!" Porthos exclaimed, gently rolling him onto his back. He found his eyes closed and quickly checked for a pulse.
"No blood," Athos noticed.
Porthos sighed with relief. "He's alive."
Aramis opened his eyes at that and blinked dazedly.
"Aramis!" said Porthos. "Are you all right?"
Aramis said nothing, continuing to blink.
"Aramis?" Porthos repeated.
"What happened to him?" Athos asked Marie.
She walked over to them after one of the other musketeers helped her dismount. "All I know is that he was hit on the back of his neck before we encountered each other."
Aramis could hear their voices, but was incapable of speaking. His dive to the ground had jarred his neck and he could feel nothing but pain and tingling. He tried to move his right hand, but couldn't feel it.
Porthos saw it move and gently picked it up.
"If he can move, his neck isn't broken," Athos commented.
"Not...broken," Aramis suddenly said.
"What's wrong with you then?" Porthos asked.
"Damaged nerves," Aramis said, with a wince. "Causing...tingling numbness." He closed his eyes.
"Can we sit you up?" Athos asked.
"Carefully," Aramis replied.
Porthos and Athos obeyed, pulling him up slowly.
The pain in Aramis' neck increased from the motion and his too-heavy head fell forward again.
"Whoa, whoa," Porthos said, thinking he'd passed out. He put a hand under his chin to lift his head, but halted at Aramis' unexpected hiss of pain.
"Wait!"
Porthos stopped, and with Aramis' head hanging forward, they were able to see the back of his neck, which was colored in an assortment of purple and blue.
"Your neck shouldn't be those colors, Aramis," Porthos commented, keeping his hand steady under his friend's chin to support his head.
Aramis sighed and shifted slightly, some feeling returning now that his body was partly upright. He tried to move his head and Porthos helped him lift it.
Aramis sighed again and looked around as well as he could without moving his neck.
Marie was watching with a worried expression, and Aramis noticed her husband dead on the ground. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," she answered. "He was an abusive monster."
"Can you stand?" Athos asked, wanting to get Aramis back to the garrison.
Aramis' legs were still tingling, but he knew that standing would likely help. "I think so."
Carefully, they pulled him to his feet, keeping him upright when his legs couldn't hold him at first. After most of the feeling came back, they helped Aramis get onto Porthos' horse, and headed back towards home.
TBC
