CHAPTER TEN
Porthos and Aubin rode in silence. Porthos had tasked Aubin to look ahead, while he scanned the immediate ground around them. They kept the river to their right, and had stopped several travellers, but none had encountered anything untoward, nor seen any suspicious travellers. In the distance, a ruined monastery perched on the hillside, ideal in its time for surveying the valley below and warning its inhabitants of approaching visitors. At some point, Porthos would seek higher ground.
Gradually, Porthos's horse pulled alongside Aubin's and they rode side by side, in mutual mistrust. The atmosphere was still uncomfortable between them, but Aubin finally broke the silence by asking about the ambush. It had been the talk of the Red Guard. Aubin had been disgusted by some of the comments his fellow soldiers had made. There was no love lost between the two regiments, but as Aubin now said, the Musketeers had died prematurely, in the service of the King.
"My father used to say, a man ought to leave something behind him, not just a headstone."
Aubin was unsure as to what Porthos's reaction would be to his comment, but Porthos hummed in agreement.
"That's true," the big man said quietly. "Their lives were cut short; they never got that chance."
An easy truce settled between them as the morning wore on and Porthos continued to pass on his knowledge, all the time looking around him, his eyes missing nothing.
"We walk the horses for ten minutes, lookin' for anything out of the ordinary. Disturbed grass; bent blades give you the direction of travel. The top of the grass points in the direction the person, or horse, is movin'. Look out for fresh horse muck too," he said quietly, as their horses kept up a quiet steady rhythm through the low vegetation;
"After sunrise," he continued, "the dew will be disturbed and the dark track mark that leaves will reveal their trail. If you find that in the mornin', then they've been moving before sunrise. Watch for broken spiders webs between the trees, footprints in the mud near rivers and water holes and along the banks; they're pretty obvious signs;
Always look ahead, keeps you alert;"
Porthos glanced at Aubin to see if he was listening, as was pleased to see he had the young man's full attention.
"If they know we are following, they might try and set us up;
Rocks might have been overturned, you can tell from any damp patches. Mud scraped from boots, horseshoes cleaned out;
When we find any spoor, I'll leave a marker;
Later, if we get lucky and injure any of them, then we'll be lookin' for blood on vegetation; although I don't want no survivors," he growled. "Only one, at the end, for evidence and to find out who's behind it;
Watch out for discarded food; bones, offal, animal heads chopped off before cookin';
Once we know their footprints, the shape of their boots, size of indent marks; that makes them easier to track;
We may have to leave our horses at some point, and go on foot, so any footprints we identify will be useful. If they're runnin' they make deeper tracks. Drag marks means they've got wounded, but I don't think they will be wantin' to take any along with them; they killed all their wounded when they attacked us.
If we are trackin' and we lose them, we cut back and retrack;"
Porthos pulled up, leaning down to look at a particular clump of grass, before slowly moving off again'
"Listen for animals, birds, insects. If it goes quiet, we take cover. They don't like us in their territory, so they stop their singin' and buzzin. ' It means someone is close;
Listen for animals snortin' or runnin' – means someone is there;
We circle out from any spoor – go in ever increasing circles until we cut their trail;
If we find anyone, we use hand signals. If we have to talk, we stop and take cover."
Although, Porthos thought darkly, the need for revenge wore heavy on him. So if the assassins found out about them and came looking, that would suit him.
He did not tell Aubin that though.
Later, Porthos pulled up to take a break, and swung down from his saddle, pulling out some bread and cheese and settling himself on a rock by a stream that fed into the river. Aubin had at first protested against stopping, keen to carry on, but Porthos further explained;
"We rest frequently, it's hard work, trackin'; tired people make mistakes. The Queen Consort's life depends on this."
Aubin thought briefly of what Cardinal Richelieu would do if they failed, before dismounting himself and joining Porthos. Passing him some food, Porthos continued;
"At some point, we might try and get ahead of them. To do that, we travel at night, or before dawn."
"There is much to learn," Aubin said, watching Porthos stand and make ready to leave.
"It's important, Red Guard," Porthos said. "It can mean the difference between life or death. And not just in the countryside. You need ya wits about you wherever you are."
After their short break, they were soon on the road again.
oOo
Into the afternoon, Porthos stopped, looking toward the river. He quietly nudged his horse to the left and followed a narrow trail. Aubin followed.
"What are you doing?" Aubin asked, his voice low; wondering why they had gone down this particular track.
"First spoor," Porthos muttered.
"Back there," he said, flicking his head, by way of explanation, before Aubin could ask more questions.
The signs he had seen; broken branches, flattened grass to one side of the small track, and cow parsley torn up half way down their stalks by a hungry horse screamed "this way" to Porthos, and sure enough, they came to a small clearing. Porthos carefully dismounted, Aubin following.
Porthos could see tracks where the horses had been tethered, where men had eaten, but Aubin saw nothing. They were subtle signs, perhaps one or two days old, but bending down, Porthos could see the assassins in his mind's eye; sitting, eating, feeding and watering their horses.
The river was slow moving here. Porthos had seen as he had watched the river as it came into view now and then during their ride that, in this area, it didn't rise above the bank at this time of year. The mud closer to the waterline itself was damp and held onto any prints made by animal or humans.
"Go down toward the riverbank," he told Aubin. "They may have filled up their water skins. See if you can find footprints; count all the different prints; a left boot will be a different shape to a right boot. Then come back and let me know what you've got."
Aubin listened, and thankfully, did not challenge what Porthos asked him to do. Half an hour later, he returned, reporting that he had seen six different footprints.
"You didn't count your own boots in that, did ya?" he said.
When Aubin gave him a look that would rival Athos, Porthos laughed.
"So," he said, "divided by two, that means three people," he said. He checked around the ground around him, where he had done the same, coming to the same conclusion.
"Plus two, that makes five," he murmured.
Aubin was lost then, "Why plus two?" he asked.
"Look-outs," Porthos replied. "They wouldn't have all sat together. They will have posted look-outs, one at the top of the trail and one in the trees."
"Can't tell exactly when they were here, but at a guess, I'd say a couple of days," he added, hauling himself back into his saddle.
"We circle out now," he said.
oOo
A Ball of Red Twine
They retraced their steps back along the track, leading their horses, and then Porthos reached into his saddle bag and took out a ball of red twine. He cut off a piece with his knife and tied it to a branch of the beech tree at the top of the track, before turning back onto the main trail.
"Just leaving a callin' card," he said as Aubin waited for him.
When he raised an enquiring eyebrow, Porthos smirked,
"For my two friends," he said.
"I thought you said they were injured," Aubin replied. He had watched Porthos placing the red twine. He seemed very confident that they would be coming after him.
"One was – thought we were goin' to lose him, but he's a stubborn bugger and when he can stand up, he'll want to come after me. Always gettin' into trouble, me," he smiled, thinking of the thunderous look he would get when Athos did catch up with him.
"And the other one?" Aubin asked as they both wheeled their horses about.
"Oh, he'll come along to make sure the stubborn bugger doesn't overdo it," Porthos laughed.
"They are your brothers," Aubin said quietly. It was not a question.
"Yeah. Never 'ad a family growin' up, but they 're makin' up for that," Porthos said. "Do you not have brotherhood in the Red Guard?" he added, peering across at Aubin's face.
Aubin looked at him as if he didn't understand the question.
Porthos let it go, and explained the use of the twine to Aubin as he reached behind him and put the ball back into his saddlebag.
"We find anything, we leave a marker. This twine," he said, "the way each piece is knotted indicates the direction we are going in, north, south, east or west."
"We might deviate; go into a hamlet; ask questions. Athos and Aramis will be following me, not the main route; each thread is a half hour's ride between them, so they know if they're going in the right direction. If not, they'll circle back."
"So, if we don't put another thread out, they will know that too and come looking for us," said Aubin.
"That's it. Don't they teach you anything in the Red Guard?" Porthos snorted.
Aubin did not take the bait but he was impressed.
They carefully searched the rest of the day, stopping as the light began to fade. They had each brought enough dried provisions to last for three days at least so they did not have to worry about food, and there would be communities and villages ahead to stock up once their stores were depleted.
They found a suitable place under a ridge and set up camp for the night. Not needing a fire to cook or for warmth, they laid out their bed rolls and settled down to eat.
It was a clear night and by the time they were settled, the dark heavens were strewn with a myriad of bright white stars. The night air was still and warm, as they sat peacefully and listened to the natural sounds around them.
In the distance a lone tawny owl hooted its territorial call.
Aubin was keen to ask Porthos questions about what they had seen today, and the lessons the Musketeer had shared. Porthos answered patiently. This Red Guard was eager to learn, and Porthos did not mind passing his skills on.
It may save his life one day.
After Aubin had finally ceased asking questions, and had begun to yawn, Porthos stopped talking and waited until he was asleep. He did not have to keep watch tonight, as he doubted their presence was known, nor their business suspect. That may come later.
Taking one final look around their small encampment, he lay down and listened to the owl's continued warning call, until he succumbed to sleep himself.
All in all, it had been an eventful day.
To be continued ...