Well after seeing episode 2, it seems that the show's writers agree with me that d'Artagnan is good with kids:-) Thank you so much for the messages and reviews and more messages this week. You have no idea how much they have been appreciated.
Chapter Nine
The street outside Albert's house still had far too many people milling about and Louis pulled the hat down low to avoid being seen by anyone who may recognise him. He wanted to run, but figured that would only draw unwanted attention. His heart was in his mouth as he tried to appear as though he belonged there. The more he concentrated on escaping into the early evening, the more he lost focus on anything else. His vision narrowed to plotting his escape route and his ears could only pick up the steady pounding of his own blood. An unrelenting and overwhelming fear pushed him forwards as he knew he could not go back to prison. He would die there.
Juliette trailed behind by quite some distance. Her legs were not long enough and it seemed that each time she called out to Louis, he was too far away to hear her. She was determined to catch up with him and did not notice just how far they had traveled until she looked up and did not recognise anything. A faint flicker of fear made her wonder if she would be in trouble for wandering. She gripped Marie a little tighter and decided that Louis could take her back home.
Up ahead, she could see that Louis had finally come to a stop. He was standing behind a vendor's cart and looking around when he finally spotted her. The look on his face caused her to pause as he didn't seem happy to see her. It took a moment for her to start towards him again and he reached out for her and dragged her behind the cart.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed at her.
Tears welled in her eyes at his response and she wondered if she should have just gotten Odette instead of following him.
Louis' eyes darted around the area, as if he was expecting somebody. His face softened a little at her distress, but he still frowned at her.
"Why did you follow me? You can't be here!"
"Mama said you were sick. You shouldn't be out of bed and she would be mad at you." It had seemed perfectly reasonable at the time and she wondered why he didn't think so also.
Louis dropped down to one knee in front of her and chewed at his bottom lip.
"You have to go home. I can't take you with me." He pointed back down the street and Juliette shook her head at him.
"I don't know the way back."
"What do you mean, you don't know the way back? You live here!"
Once again Juliette shook her head vehemently. "I haven't been all the way here before."
She clutched tighter to Marie as a sense of unease took hold of her. He wouldn't leave her alone, would he? Really?
Louis felt his insides warring as he knew he had to get away and quickly, but he simply couldn't leave a defenseless child alone.
Albert nudged his wife inside the house, rather than create a scene on his doorstep. He had no idea how the musketeers with him would react to such news and he did not wish the entire area to witness it. As the men followed him inside, he could see the mounting distress on his wife's face.
"We'll find them. They can't have gone far. Don't worry, we'll find them."
Albert hugged his wife and tried to calm her.
"Why would he have left?" Athos stared at the woman who was clearly Albert's wife.
Margaux looked askance at her husband. Surely he had told them. Otherwise, why would they be there?
"Because he thinks you are coming to arrest him!"
"Arrest him! Why?" Athos looked at Albert, trying quickly to put the pieces together from what they had been told. The woman's answer made no sense to him at all.
Albert shook his head in dismay at how quickly things had gotten out of control.
"Louis believes that … I'm sorry, Charles, believes that … " Albert faltered as he tried to find the words to explain the mess.
"He believes what?" Athos prodded impatiently.
"His memory is not right. He does not remember much. Today he was in great distress when he recalled something."
The men watched intently as Albert searched for the words to explain. "He told me that he had killed a man. A musketeer."
Albert looked at the faces surrounding him, desperately hoping they would tell him otherwise. The confused looks he received back, gave rise to hope.
"Tell me … this cannot be true, is it? If he truly did murder a musketeer, I do not believe you would be so concerned for him."
Athos frowned at the question, while shaking his head. "He has murdered no-one! What did he say that makes him think that he did?"
Albert felt relief wash over him and Margaux squeezed his hand in silent support.
"He said he remembered shooting a musketeer in a market square, like ours. He seemed quite certain of it!"
"My God! Of all the things he could have remembered it had to be that!" Athos felt his stomach constrict as he realised what was happening.
"I am confused! You said he did not do it, but now you … "
"No!" Athos exclaimed. "It was a ruse. A way to capture a traitor. He pretended to shoot me, but as you can see, I am not dead."
"But 'e believes that you are." All eyes turned to Porthos as he shook his head. "'e thinks that 'e murdered a musketeer and 'e doesn't know who 'e really is!"
"If he knew we were coming, he would assume we are here to arrest him. No wonder he ran." Aramis looked across at Athos as he spoke. "Which also means, if we go after him, he won't see us as friends."
Athos felt sick as the implication of that thought sunk in. "He knows how to hide. To blend in. Any sign of musketeers, or red guards for that matter, and he'll go to ground."
"So what do we do? We can't just frighten him off?" Aramis stared at Athos, hoping he would have any kind of idea on what to do next.
Margaux nudged her husband as the conversation flowed around them. He looked at her and read his own fear in her eyes.
"What about Juliette? Our daughter. She is only six!"
Even though she had been mentioned at the beginning, Athos had put it aside as he took in the more pressing details. "Why would d'Artagnan have taken a child with him?"
Albert cleared his throat as he shook his head. "I doubt that he did. She is an inquisitive and oftentimes impulsive child. She has taken a liking to him and it is quite possible he did not even know she had left the house."
Margaux looked as though she were about to say something when Albert shook his head at her. "You know it's true. She goes off exploring and has no fear. And he has given no reason for us to think he would cause her any harm."
Athos looked towards the window and noted how dark it was getting outside. "We need a plan to start searching. Porthos, return and let Treville know what has happened. We need men out here looking before he gets too far."
As Porthos nodded in agreement, Athos turned to Margaux. "Madame, I know this may not seem like much, but we will not stop looking until we find both of them."
Margaux found herself unable to speak and she simply nodded as tears welled in her eyes.
It was getting dark and Louis watched as lamp lighters went about their business, lighting wall sconces along the street. He pulled his hat lower over his face and struggled to think what to do. Before he could decide, he noted two red guards heading towards them. He quickly grabbed Juliette's hand and tugged her further down the street until they came to a small side alley. He turned into the alley and was quickly aware of a sickly smell of rotting fish. They were behind the fishmongers. As he gagged on the smell, he hurried the child past it and turned another alley and then another as he tried to put as much distance between him and the guards. He could not afford to be seen!
Juliette began to protest as he pulled at her arm and he finally slowed down enough to listen to her. She had tears brimming in her eyes as he eventually stopped.
"My foot hurts." She clutched at Marie and tried to stifle the sob rising up from her insides. She had walked far further than she should have and her ankle was beginning to puff up again.
Louis looked at her in frustration and tried to decide what he was going to do with her. She swallowed a gulp and pulled Marie a little closer, all the while watching his face.
He paced across the small space and she could hear the clack of his boots on the cobblestones. It seemed very quiet otherwise and she glanced around to see there was nobody else nearby. Finally he knelt down in front of her again and tried to smile. "I'm taking you home."
Juliette flung her arms around his neck and tried not to cry again. When she felt herself being lifted up, she simply clung on tightly and allowed Louis to start for home.
His thoughts raged against his actions as he started back down the alley. It was an insane decision to be placing himself at the mercy of the very men who would surely be hunting him down. Instead, he reminded himself that all he needed to do was get Juliette within sight of her home and he could leave her there safely, while escaping before anybody saw him. At least that was the best plan he could pull together in such a short time. If only he could work out which way would take him back to the baker's home.
Athos turned down another alleyway and found himself in a blind corner. It had long since grown dark and despite the lamps that dotted the streets, he knew there were far too many dark holes his friend could have disappeared into, since he clearly did not want to be found. The elation of the discovery that d'Artagnan was alive was the only thing keeping him focused as the despair once again threatened to take over.
"Why can you not make anything simple?" he muttered the question into the darkness.
The darkness had enveloped the streets hours earlier and Louis was beginning to despair that he would ever recognise any kind of landmark or feature in his trek back to Albert's home. He had taken so many turns as he fled that he had not really been paying any attention. His direction had not mattered. He simply needed to get away.
Juliette had fallen asleep in his arms and he noted how tightly she clutched onto her doll, even while asleep. He could not contain a smile at the memory of the child's efforts to cheer him up, using the thing she knew best.
As he rounded yet another unfamiliar corner, he realised he had found one of Paris' seedier taverns. The coarse language flowing out from inside made him hurry past with the small child tucked safely into his chest. Suddenly a door flung open and he had to sidestep quickly in order to avoid the two drunken patrons being thrown out of it. He stumbled on the uneven cobblestones and Juliette jolted awake in his arms, losing her grip on Marie. Before he knew why, she was tugging at his collar and pointing back over his shoulder.
"Marie! I lost Marie!"
Louis looked behind him and was dismayed to see that one of the men had picked up the doll and was laughing at it. He looked to see the man's companion was stumbling away along the wall and had not noticed what his friend was doing.
Louis would have preferred to just keep going, but he found himself unable to leave Juliette's best friend behind. He turned and walked back towards the man, holding out a hand.
"Thank you for finding my friend's doll. I truly appreciate it." The placatory tone to his comment seemed to have the opposite effect as the man drew himself up to his full height.
"Whadidyousay?" The slur to the words showed how inebriated the man was, which made him unpredictable. Louis slowly lowered Juliette to the ground and pushed her behind him.
"I said, I appreciate you finding my friend's doll. She would be very sad to lose her."
The man began swinging Marie by the arm as he laughed at his own actions. Louis felt Juliette's hand gripping the back of his leg and he reached behind to reassure her.
"It is just a child's toy. It's of no use to you."
The man looked up and threw the doll across at the wall behind Louis. Juliette scrambled to grab her while Louis found himself on the receiving end of a wild swing. He dodged the meaty fist coming his way and stepped in front of Juliette again. The drunk lurched towards him and he kept nudging the child back while trying to keep an eye on where the man was. He suddenly heard Juliette scream as the second drunk lumbered back towards them.
Louis swung around in time to see another fist coming his way and he was a fraction too slow to duck. The knuckles connected with his head and he felt the impact jolt through like a bolt of lightning. Brilliant spots of light flashed across his field of vision and he stumbled forward.
"Juliette! Run!" He could see what was coming and had no other way to protect her.
