Chapter Three
D'Artagnan pulled his sword from the dead man's stomach. He was panting from the short but fierce fight. Simon was peering at him from behind a tree a few yards away. The young man looked terrified.
'It's alright,' said d'Artagnan indicating for the servant to come out from his hiding place.
'D'Artagnan!'
D'Artagnan looked around. Pierre appeared at the edge of the small clearing, he glanced at the body on the ground and toward the still scared looking Simon.
'It's Athos.'
'What about him?' asked d'Artagnan walking forward with urgency.
Pierre turned and led them away.
'Pierre, what it is?'
Pierre turned back, 'he's injured. We heard the fight but couldn't locate you in the wood. We found Athos, two men had beaten him to the ground, one of them was about to run him through. Marc and I fought the two men off, Luc pulled Athos out of the way. The men were tired, Athos must have worn them down. We took them out easily…'
'Pierre,' said d'Artagnan stopping the younger man from giving him a blow by blow account of their fight, 'how is Athos injured?'
'He must have taken a sword to the hip and a blow to the head, Marc thinks he was kicked.'
'He's unconscious?'
'Yes,' replied Pierre as they reached the spot that Athos lay.
Marc was knelt at the still swordsman's side. Athos had been pushed to lie on his side as Marc checked the injury. A straight slice across his hip.
D'Artagnan found himself filled with worry, not only for his friend but for himself and the mission. With Athos potentially out of commission and Porthos and Aramis away, d'Artagnan was now the most experienced Musketeer amongst the group.
'It's not too serious,' said Marc looking up at d'Artagnan, 'he's going to be uncomfortable and riding will be, I would imagine, excruciating.'
'What about his head?' asked Pierre.
'Bruised, but not bleeding, I can't find any bumps, they can't have kicked him too hard...just hard enough, he's not showing any signs of waking.'
'Marc,' said d'Artagnan crouching down on the other side of Athos, 'are you able to deal with the injury?'
'Yes,' replied Marc, 'Aramis gave a few of us basic training a few weeks ago. I'm not sure about stitching, but I don't think this,' he indicated the wound, 'will need stitching.'
D'Artagnan nodded. The others looked at him expectantly. He realised he must have been looking a bit indecisive, which was no way for a leader to behave. The situation had changed too rapidly it was taking d'Artagnan a few minutes to accept his new position. Luc took a step forward and rested his hand on d'Artagnan's arm.
'This was unexpected, but you were doing fine before,' said Luc, 'and there's no reason that shouldn't continue.'
After holding his gaze for a few seconds Luc retreated a few steps.
'Thank you, Luc,' d'Artagnan said with a smile.
He took a breath before continuing.
'Marc, do what you can for Athos. Pierre, Luc, Simon, we are going to look at the castle.'
Marc looked up from Athos, 'I'll go back to our camp and get what I need, can you wait with Athos until I am back, in case he wakes up?'
D'Artagnan nodded. He watched Marc disappear. Pierre and Luc took up defensive positions a few yards away.
It occurred to d'Artagnan that they did not really need a leader, each man knew what was expected of them. What they needed was someone to coordinate them all. D'Artagnan was sure he could manage that. Although he was worried about Athos he knew that their training would see them through.
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Marc returned quickly and after ensuring that he would be fine on his own, d'Artagnan led the other three men back toward the castle.
'I guess the problem now is that the people at the castle are going to be alert for us. They're going to miss those men soon,' said Pierre.
D'Artagnan nodded, 'they must have been looking for Madam Clement.'
As they reached the ditch that Simon had been leading d'Artagnan and Athos to before they were attacked, the four men stopped talking. Simon indicated where they should go. Each man crouched down and quietly moved towards the edge of the ditch. The afternoon sun illuminated the nearest side of the castle.
It was an imposing building, the twin moats exactly as Simon had described, the first filled the second dry.
The main door was solid, d'Artagnan knew there was no chance of them entering the castle through the main door unnoticed. He thought back to Simon's description of the hidden tunnel and the switch in the passage. He looked across to the dry part of the moat and found the small passageway. Simon had not been wrong when he had said it would be difficult for a man to enter the castle that way.
'Are you thinking about the tunnel?' asked Pierre.
'Yes, but I can't see how we can empty that half of the moat. The passage in the dry moat is just so small.'
Pierre looked across at the dry moat again before replying, 'I could fit in there? You're thinking about a man your own size d'Artagnan. I'm several inches shorter than you. I'm only just big enough to be a soldier...I'd fit.'
D'Artagnan thought about Pierre's proposition. His friend was correct. Out of all the men on the mission, Pierre was the only one of them who could crawl through the passage.
'Once the switch has been pulled the passage will fill with water quickly,' Simon reminded them.
'I know,' said Pierre quietly.
D'Artagnan was again having trouble coming to terms with his sudden position as leader. He knew that what Pierre had suggested was the only way they could empty the first moat. They needed to enter the castle. They needed to rescue Clement before he gave up the information he had. Time was of the essence.
When Pierre triggered the lever to make the water drain from the first moat, the passageway where he would be would fill with water. Simon had described how the passageway was covered with a locked grate. Simon had described that the water would reach the grate. How would Pierre escape the water?
Pierre would drown.
'I can't send you to do that,' said d'Artagnan, 'I…'
'D'Artagnan, it's not that you wouldn't do this yourself, we all know you wouldn't send any of us to do something you wouldn't do,' said Pierre, his hand resting lightly on the taller man's arm, 'it's that you can't do this yourself. I'm the only one of us that can do this.'
D'Artagnan held Pierre's gaze, 'I know, but the chances of you…'
'It's a risk I'm prepared to take, we all know what we are signing up for when we become soldiers. None of us expects to reach old age.'
Luc had been looking at the castle as the exchange between his friends took place. He turned to d'Artagnan.
'We would have to be quick but could one of us reach the courtyard where the passageway comes out...they could throw the main lever and pry the lock open on the grate?'
Pierre smiled, 'I quite like that idea...but not at the expense of the mission, Clement should come first.'
D'Artagnan nodded slowly.
'Once we are through the tunnel and into the castle, Simon and I will head straight to where they are holding Clement. Luc, you and Marc can deal with any men we come across on the way to give us a clear route.'
Luc nodded.
'As soon as we know that Clement is safe, Marc can head to the main water lever that overlooks the courtyard, once the water is turned off he can get the lock on the grate opened,' continued d'Artagnan, looking at Pierre, 'Marc said he used to look at his father's plans of buildings when he was younger, I would imagine he would be able to work out how to get to the yard from wherever we end up.'
Pierre nodded, 'a good plan.'
'Simon,' said d'Artagnan turning back to the servant, 'do you think you would be able to come in with us, not to fight, but you might be able to direct us about a bit. Just keep out of the way when we tell you to?'
Simon looked a little apprehensive as he nodded, but it was clear he wanted to help liberate his master.
'Let's get back to Marc and Athos and prepare to attack. I don't think we can wait for Porthos and Aramis to come back. It's getting dark and the low light will help us.'
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So this was what leadership was about. This was what Treville and Athos had to do, each day, each time they came across adversity. They had to make the tough decisions. They had to make the choices, the ones that affected their men.
The life and death decisions.
D'Artagnan watched as Marc took in the details of the plan. Pierre had not given d'Artagnan the chance to tell Marc what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. D'Artagnan knew that Marc would take the news better from Pierre, and the young Musketeer knew that as well.
Marc and Pierre were close friends, they had the same brotherly bond that he shared with Athos, Porthos and Aramis. D'Artagnan knew that Marc would be the one to take the plan the hardest. D'Artagnan had to admit to feeling a little worried about explaining what they were going to do to Pierre's best friend.
D'Artagnan was about to send Pierre to an almost certain death and they all knew it. Luc's idea that they might be able to rescue Pierre from within the castle was a long shot. But it was something that they could cling to. It was something Pierre could cling to.
Marc had looked angry, he had glared at d'Artagnan despite Pierre insisting that he was willing to go, that d'Artagnan was not making him go. But they all knew d'Artagnan was the one who would be responsible if the mission failed. D'Artagnan hoped that if they could not save Pierre, his death would not be in vain. The mission was, after all, to rescue Clement.
'You'll come and get me when you're done. The inside of the shaft leading up to the grate has steps built into it, I can pull the switch then climb up and avoid the water for a bit,' said Pierre.
He was not fooling any of them, they knew the water would fill the passage and shaft too quickly. But they all accepted his attempt to placate them.
Marc stared at Pierre for a few seconds before grabbing the slighter man and pulling him in for a firm embrace.
D'Artagnan watched as they separated and turned away from each other. Pierre began removing his weapons and unbuttoning his doublet, Marc walked back to Athos' side he crouched down to check on the still unconscious man.
'How is he?' asked d'Artagnan.
Marc replied, 'he's still not shown any signs of waking. I cleaned and bandaged the wound on his hip. If he's not woken by the time we leave…?'
'We could leave him a note,' suggested Pierre as he hung his doublet over a low branch of a nearby tree, his weapons belt already hooked over the same branch.
'Good idea,' said d'Artagnan.
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They watched as Pierre scurried towards the passageway, the fading light making him hard to spot in his dark shirt and breeches. They could just about make out his slim figure disappearing into the low narrow passage.
The four men waited in silence looking towards the moats waiting for Pierre to start the movement of the water.
'Where's Athos? And Pierre?' said Aramis, as he and Porthos appeared beside the men.
They had become aware of Porthos and Aramis crossing the open space behind them a few minutes beforehand. D'Artagnan had been pleased to see them both approach quietly and with stealth.
As the two men lay down beside them watching over the top of the ditch d'Artagnan explained to them what had happened. He had assured Aramis that Athos was fine for the time being and would have to wait until they returned from the rescue mission. He had hated telling them what Pierre was doing, as he had spoken he had glanced across to Marc who was watching the entrance to the passage, his eyes not moving from the spot he had last seen his brother.
As he finished his explanation he looked at them both expectantly.
Porthos understood what d'Artagnan was thinking, 'you've got this. You all know what you're doing. What's the point of us taking over or changing anything? I doubt we could come up with a better plan.'
'Porthos is right,' said Aramis, 'but can I make a suggestion?'
D'Artagnan nodded.
'Why don't Porthos and I head straight to the courtyard, we're bound to meet some opposition on the way, we can deal with them...and then we can see what we can do for Pierre.'
Marc looked across, breaking his constant stare at the castle. He looked at d'Artagnan and nodded his agreement, 'I'll still head for the lever inside the castle, it might not be near the shaft, it just needs to be in sight of it.'
'But,' said d'Artagnan, 'we cannot lose sight of our assignment. Clement is the man we are here to rescue.'
'I know,' said Marc looking down.
'I'm sorry,' d'Artagnan said reaching out and squeezing Marc's shoulder.
Luc nudged d'Artagnan and pointed towards the castle.
'The water's moving,' said Simon, 'he's managed to reach the lever.
The six men watched in silence for a few seconds as the water began to flow into the dry moat.
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Pierre crawled along the passageway. It was a tight fit even for him. He was apprehensive, how could he not be. D'Artagnan had no other choice but to let him try to reach the lever. Getting the rest of the Musketeers into the castle was more important than one man. Rescuing Clement was the mission.
He continued to push and pull himself along the passage. The rough stone walls were not designed to have a man crawl passed. He was already sure his shirt had been ripped in several placed and he had a least two nasty grazes across his back. He had decided not to wear his doublet for fear that the leather garment would either prove too bulky or restrictive. Now he wondered if he should have kept it on.
The ground beneath him was dry, it was obvious the defence mechanism had not been employed for some time. Pierre wondered for a moment if the lever would even work. As he continued to make his way along the tight space of the tunnel he considered the prospect of the lever not working. Would he have to back out of the passage? That was not something he looked forward to, but the more likely end to his part of the mission appealed even less.
He had firmly told d'Artagnan and Marc that what he was doing was his choice that he was prepared for the consequence. But really, he was scared. It had taken a huge effort on his part not to show the others how scared to die he was. He had concentrated hard on not shaking as they had seen him off. He did not want them to be distracted by his fear. As it was he knew they would be distracted to a certain degree. He just hoped it would not affect their part of the mission.
The tunnel ended abruptly. The shaft appeared above him. It was only a few yards high. He could see the lever. It was just out of reach. There were steps built into the side of the narrow shaft, but they did not start at the bottom of the shaft, they started next to the lever.
With one foot on the wall in front of him and the other braced on the wall behind, he managed to slowly haul himself upwards. He soon got into a rhythm, gradually pushing himself upwards using his arms to take his weight for a couple of seconds as he moved his feet up the stonework. Then shuffling himself upwards a few inches before repeating the process.
Pierre was sweating with the effort by the time he reached the lever. He looked up at the grate a few yards above him and the darkening sky beyond it.
He said a quick prayer. He was not normally a god-fearing man, but when faced with his mortality he was prepared to try.
Pierre took a deep breath. And pulled the lever. Silence was all he heard for a few seconds. In the distance, he thought he could hear a creaking sound. He allowed a faint smile to play across his lips. The wooden gate under the stone walkway to the main door had opened. The water would rush in. They had calculated it would take a few minutes to reach the top of the stone shaft.
Pierre wondered if it would be enough time for his brothers to reach him from within the castle.
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