The Musketeers followed the tracks until they reached a broad meadow partially filled with wildflowers. D'Artagnan said, "Look," pointing to a small house at the far edge of the meadow. Excited that they might finally be closer to finding their missing brother, they took off across the meadow,slowing as they approached the house. They didn't know if anyone was within, nor did they know, if there was, if they would be friend or foe.
Athos knocked firmly at the front door. No one answered, and there was no sound from within the house. Impatient at being stymied in their search, Porthos tried the latch on the door. It swung open, revealing a dark interior with no signs of life.
Pistols now in hand, they proceeded through the door, and began searching the house. No one was present. But d'Artagnan came out of one of the rooms with a paper in his hand.
"We need to find Aramis quickly. Look at this!"
After Athos and Porthos had also perused the note, Athos said, "Let us finish our search of this house first. There may be a cellar, as houses of this design generally include one to store vegetables, among other things."
It didn't take them long to find a cellar door, heading down the steps once they had grabbed a couple of lanterns in the main part of the house.
They had not even arrived at the bottom of the steps before Porthos said, "He was here! Look at the cot and the table next to it-there are bandages rolled up on it!"
Moving their lanterns around to the corners, they all froze when they saw a body lying against the far wall. Approaching slowly with pistols still drawn, d'Artagnan slowly rolled the man over, revealing a strange face unknown to them. He was a big man, with a head of straight black hair.
Athos said, I wonder who he is. Maybe the owner of the house, perhaps?"
He had no sooner said this when the man groaned, moving his head slightly as he was slowly coming to. His eyes opened a moment later, and froze when he saw three strange men squatting around him, their faces at once curious and frowning.
"Who are you, monsieur," Athos asked him in his flat, yet commanding voice.
The man continued to stare at them for a moment, still obviously somewhat groggy from whatever had happened to him.
"My name is Jean Bertrand, and this is my house. Some men entered against my will, hit me once they were inside," he improvised, shiftly his story somewhat to maintain his innocence.
"What were they after-do you know?" Porthos asked.
"They wanted a man we had been caring for," Jean finally decided to say. If he was careful, he could enlist the help of these men to find his daughter.
"Who was this man," Athos asked.
"We do not know. My daughter found him beside a creek in the woods, and we brought him back here to care for. My daughter has a tender heart, and has never been able to resist taking wounded creatures under her care."
"Where is your daughter, monsieur? Porthos asked.
Jean looked up at him, his face, unknown to him, almost an open book to the experienced Musketeers, as he wondered what he should say so he wouldn't look involved.. "I ...do not know. I ...had to go on a short business trip, and ...when I came back, she was gone and so was the young man," Jean said. "Then, these men came."He kept hesitating as he spoke, like he was unsure of himself.
"What did you tell them? Porthos said, voice dangerously low, as he didn't know if he trusted this man.
Again, Jean hesitated, like he was thinking. "That maybe she and the young man went into the woods around the place she had found him , as he had been asking about some missing items."
D'Artagnan,while they had been speaking, had checked out the back of Jean's head, finding a sizable lump which had rendered him unconscious.
They got a cloth and some water, and tended his wound, laying him on the cot.
Then, they told him they were going to search, but that they would be back soon. Leaving, they walked a short distance from the house to discuss the situation where Jean couldn't overhear.
Porthos said, "I have a bad feeling about that man. He almost sounded as if he was making parts of it up, the way he talked."
Athos said, "I agree. I have the same bad feeling. Why do we not head in the opposite direction as he mentioned? I am thinking he wanted to lead us away from where they really went-for whatever reason."
They turned and headed in the same direction as Aramis and Angelique had gone.
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When the Musketeers had gone, Jean got up, thinking he had to get out of there before either Albert's men or the Musketeers came back for him. He had also told Albert's men the same story he had just told the Musketeers,and when they found he had led them astray (assuming they didn't run into each other and kill each other off in the meantime), they would be back, and furious.
His head still spinning somewhat, he headed up the stairs, and opened the door to leave. A pistol was aimed at his face, and Albert kicked the door the rest of the way open.
"Now, you are going to tell us the truth. Where are they?"
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Aramis and Angelique again made very poor progress that morning, as Aramis simply couldn't move very fast or very far at a time. He denied that he needed rest when Angelique would insist on stopping for a bit, but she could tell he needed it.
She told him, I'm going to wash off this grime on my hands, and I will be right back. Please just rest for me."
Heading for yet another of the many creeks in the woods, she washed off the dirt in the water. Giving into an impulse, she also threw her hair forward over her head, and rinsed off her long tresses.
Still bent over and intent on wringing her hair out, she heard Aramis right behind her. His voice was strangely strained and very quiet as he asked, "Have you always had that birthmark?"
Startled, Angelique nearly fell in the water at the nearness of Aramis' voice. Pulling her hair back and tying it tightly, she turned around. Aramis looked like he had seen a ghost, and was staring at the back of her neck.
"What do you mean? What is a birthmark?"
"It is a ... mark on the skin that a baby can be born with?" His voice still had an element of shock in it as he spoke. She didn't understand what was affecting him so much.
"I have never seen myself except in the water. Is it bad to have such a thing?" she asked.
Aramis was no agitatedly threading his fingers through his hair, obviously disturbed by what he had seen.
"No. Not bad. I have one, too," he replied, turning around and heading back to their temporary camp.
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They reached the hills later in the day, after traveling through lush greenery, the sounds of birds and calling animals around them. At any other time, Angelique would have been delighted with their surroundings, but at the moment, she just felt the approaching danger they could be in. Aramis had been very quiet since their encounter at the stream.
Angelique ran her eyes over the terrain, looking for anything that could both shelter and hide them from sight. Just when she was giving up hope, she saw a patch of dark behind some trees, rocks and scrub, and her eyes lit up. Let it be a cave, she thought. Asking Aramis to wait there, she ran forward to check it out. It was exactly what she had been looking for!
Coming back, she told Aramis, and they slowly and carefully made the laborious, yet short climb to the cave. Looking out from within, she rejoiced, as if she could not make things out very well, neither could anyone looking from without.
Quickly fixing some of the stew she had brought with her in her provisions, they ate mostly in silence,and turned in for the night. She knew something was wrong with Aramis, but was almost afraid to ask him anything further about it. She did not come and sleep next to him that night, but kept to herself in confusion.
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Next morning, they had arisen before it was even light. After fixing some mostly cold porridge, Angelique said to Aramis, "We may be able to stay her for a bit. I will sweep over our tracks for a distance so we cannot be found."
He just nodded, and said he needed to go outside for personal reasons. Heading back to the trees, he thought he heard a twig snap nearby, and froze. He had no weapons with him, if someone had found them. Waiting, he first thought he had been mistaken. Then, he heard it again. Creeping forward, he finally spotted a form ahead of him. Moving forward stealthily, he was almost up to the man, when suddenly without warning, the man's elbow slammed backward into him, and he crumpled limply to the ground.