Chapter Six
Lemay had wanted him to rest the arm for a few more days. But the good doctor had the sense to change his mind when Porthos raised a questioning eyebrow.
True to his word, within the hour he was heading out of Paris. His uniform tucked away in his saddle bag, a hat pulled low over his face. Despite his worry for his friends he was pleased to finally to be out of the garrison.
He knew his arm would likely start to ache, and unlike Aramis, he did not intend to hide that from the others. He would make a point of being honest about it. Not to show Aramis up, but to show him that it was perfectly acceptable to have the occasional moment of weakness.
As soldiers, they were expected to be tough men, to deal with demanding situations with little emotion. But there was still room for empathy, they had to look out for each other and if that meant being a shoulder to lean on, Porthos would oblige. He knew there was still something bothering Aramis. Although he was beginning to think that Aramis did not realise it. His friend appeared, outwardly, to be fine, but he was definitely still troubled.
Porthos wanted to be there when Aramis was ready to unburden himself of whatever it was.
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On the sixth day, the four zealots again entered an area of habitation, this time a small town. Up to this point, apart from the village where they sold the horses they had kept away from other people.
Rather than try to skirt around the town Athos followed the men along the main road, still at a discreet distance. They watched as the men stopped at a sizable tavern and dismounted. Athos glanced over at d'Artagnan who sighed, his expression weary. The younger man was exhausted, they both were. The prospect of another night under the stars made Athos shudder.
He decided, perhaps rashly, but he was so tired and in need of good wine that he did not care, to walk the horses up to the tavern. He dismounted and indicated for d'Artagnan to do the same. D'Artagnan looked confused. Athos shrugged his shoulders at him saying simply, 'we deserve it.'
D'Artagnan nodded and dismounted, he handed the reins to a stable boy along with a couple of coins from his purse. The lad smiled and took the horses towards the stable.
They entered the tavern, a large room with a roaring fire greeted them. It was fairly busy and they were not greeted with any curious looks. This was clearly an establishment that was used to strangers so they were not going to draw attention to themselves.
Athos scanned the room, he spotted the four zealots at a table. They already had bottles of wine in front of them. He nodded towards an empty table discreetly behind a wooden divide next to the zealots. D'Artagnan made his way towards it as Athos sought out the tavern owner.
'Yes sir,' said a portly middle-aged man from behind the bar, he had a friendly countenance and appeared at ease, 'will you and your young friend be after a room? I still have one available.'
'Thank you, yes. And food.'
'I'll see to it…second on the right at the top of the stairs,' he paused as Athos pushed money into his hands, 'thank you sir. I'll have the food sent over to your table.'
After collecting wine and cups Athos walked over to d'Artagnan. He was rather surprised to find the tired musketeer grinning broadly. He took the seat indicated by d'Artagnan, who leaned in closely to Athos and spoke quietly.
'They can't know I am sat here…they just mentioned the name of the nearest town to their hide out…only another two days ride,' he paused and looked at Athos hopefully, 'do you think we can stay here and actually sleep a whole night, and not worry about being up before they are to continue following them? We know where they are going…I'm willing to take the risk…'
Athos sat back, as d'Artagnan poured wine for them both. He thought about what d'Artagnan had said. It would be a risk to let the men out of their sights, but at the same time, they were both on the edge of collapse. He thought about Aramis collapsing from lack of sleep. He did not fancy doing that in the middle of the countryside.
He nodded at d'Artagnan, who smiled and sank back in his chair sipping his wine. A good night's sleep would do them both a lot of good.
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Aramis reached the village at noon after two full days riding and a calm few hours on the third day. He found the small tavern, The Hare, which acted as a focal point in the village. A sleepy stable boy took the reins of his horse and directed him to the main room of the inn.
The room was empty save for a slight man checking bottles behind the small bar. The man turned as Aramis approached. He gave a broad smile.
'Do you have rooms?'
'Of course, sir…not much used, but if you will allow my wife to freshen one we will be able to accommodate you tonight.'
'I will be joined in the next couple of days by three other men, can you accommodate us all?'
The tavern keeper's smile broadened further, his eyes lighting up. Aramis suspected that he was probably about to give the man more money for rooms than he usually made over several weeks.
'Yes sir, I will see to it. I have two rooms that will see you and your friends quite comfortable.'
Aramis returned the man's smile with ease, 'thank you.'
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The young lad, clutched the coins that Ruiz had dropped into his palm tightly.
'Describe the man again…'
'Tall, with a feathered hat, sir. He's booked in at The Hare. I looked in the saddle bag when I took his horse, it had a soldier's uniform in it, sir.'
'Anything else?'
'He had marks on his wrists. I saw them when he gave me some money when I took his horse. Looked like cuts.'
Ruiz knew it was Aramis, it had to be. How was he here? It did not matter; a plan was already forming in his head.
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Two days later, after a fruitless initial recce around the village Aramis was on his way out of the tavern when the landlord stopped him.
'Monsieur Aramis, you were asking yesterday about strangers in the area?'
Aramis nodded and walked towards the landlord, who he now knew to be called, Remy.
'I know there are people staying at an abandoned farm to the north. I forgot about them until my wife reminded my last night,' he paused, did Aramis detect a look of concern cross the man's usually friendly face? 'I thought you might like to know…I can give you directions…'
A few minutes later after the stable boy had saddled Aramis' horse he was on his way towards the farm house. Just to observe. He knew, that all being well, Porthos would probably be at the tavern when he returned. He had left a message for him, and Athos and d'Artagnan, should they make it to the tavern that day.
He planned to have a good look at the farm house Remy had directed him to and report back to the others, if this was the zealots base they would be able to work out a plan of attack and put an end to their wrong doings.
Aramis had mixed feeling about the zealots, as a religious man he could understand their need to see the relics, but to steal them violently was wrong. It went against everything he believed in. He would like the opportunity to speak with Ruiz if they met, to find out his motives.
But for now, stopping the zealots was the objective.
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Porthos was pleased with the time he had made. He doubted he could have made the journey any quicker, he had only slept for a few hours each night, setting out again just before dawn each day and riding for as long as the light would allow.
The village was not far off, he hoped Aramis would be there and not out searching. He wanted to check on Aramis. His concern for his friend had not diminished since he watched him leave the garrison a few days before.
The road was lined with woods on both sides but was quiet and Porthos was not worried as there had been no reports of robbers in this area. He was, naturally, always alert. He was not expecting to find a riderless horse trotting towards him. As the horse neared him Porthos could not stop a gasp of shock. The horse was Aramis'. He moved his own mount towards the trotting beast and managed to grab the reins and bring the beast under his control.
The creature looked unharmed, its saddle was slightly loose. Aramis' saddle bags were all accounted for, with the contents still within.
But what had happened to Aramis?
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