Adventures with Friends
Time Travellers: The Eight Musketeers?
Four friends are sent back to correct history- they just might have to rewrite it.
Chapter 3
"I'm so tired," Jacob complained, plopping down on a nearby crate. Erica dropped down beside him.
"Me too. And we haven't seen hide nor hair of Chase."
Krista stood in front of the two. "C'mon, guys! We can't stop now!"
Erica gave Krista a "I am not amused" look. "Krista, it is dark out and I am tired. We won't be able to find Chase in the dead of night."
"Chase is a big kid. He can take care of himself," Jacob commented, nestling his head against the a wall and closing his eyes.
"Come on!" Krista urged, shaking Jacob awake.
"Dude!" Jacob snapped, pushing Krista off.
"Chill out! Jeez! You two will wake up the whole friggin' town," Erica warned.
"I'll be quiet if Jacob gets up," Krista said.
"And I'll be quiet when Krista leaves me alone," Jacob returned.
Erica looked from one friend to another. She sighed. "Fine. We can't sleep on this crate any way. We'll get up and look some more for Chase and for a place to spend the night."
Jacob groaned as Krista pulled him to a standing position. Erica slapped him twice in the face to make sure he was awake. Then the three set off down the dark street again. Krista lead the way, scanning the dark street for Chase. Erica followed, halfway looking for Chase, but keeping an eye out for a place to stay. And Jacob brought up the rear, dragging his feet, and fighting to keep his eyes open.
"I'm so tired," Jacob informed.
"As you so kindly told us five minutes earlier," Erica snapped back.
"Stop you two! We need to pull together and find Chase."
"How much do you want to bet Chase has already found him a nice warm place to sleep and is already out," Jacob whispered to Erica.
"No bet."
"I heard that!"
"Who're we talking about?" Erica asked.
"What?"
"It's past her bedtime. You'll have to start using small words. Here in another hour or so, she'll start rambling and not make any sense at all," Jacob informed.
"Well, I"m sorry my genius is too much for you to handle," Erica said.
Krista snorted. "What genius?"
"Y'know what? Screw you!"
"Genius, indeed," Krista stated.
Lightning flashed. Thunder began to roar. Within a few seconds, the street was soaked by rain. The three stood in the street, having no where to go. Erica sighed and pushed her hair from her eyes.
"Tell me, who was thinking that this could not get any worse?"
The two girls' gazes slipped to Jacob. Jacob put up his hands in defense. "I didn't do anything!"
"Whatever. Let's get out the rain. This is stupid," Krista said.
The other two nodded and followed Krista. The three walked through the streets, just under the lips of the roofs. Rain blew around them, soaking them despite their best efforts to keep dry. After reaching the outskirts of the city, they stopped. Erica leaned against the wall, just under a window.
"This is gay," she stated as lightning flashed.
"Tell me about it."
"There is no where for us to go," Erica continued.
"And no food to eat either."
"I know. I haven't eaten since we left."
By this time, both Krista and Jacob were staring at Erica.
"Dude, who are you talking to?" Krista questioned.
Erica looked at Krista. "Well... you."
"I didn't say anything."
"Great, now she's holding conversations with herself," Jacob stated.
"Shut up, Jacob!"
Silence fell. Thunder rolled as the rain beat against the side of the building.
"I'm hungry."
Erica, Krista, and Jacob looked at each other, eyes questioning to know which one of them had said that. No one did. The thre looked up at the window. Erica pulled a crate under the window and hopped on it. She discovered that the window was barred. She peered into the musty darkness.
"Got'cha!"
"Son of a-" Erica hissed, nearly falling off the crate. She regained her balance and rounded on the man. "Chase! Goddamn! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Chase just started laughing. Erica reached through the bars, trying to smack him. She missed by a good two feet. Krista jumped onto the box, followed by Jacob.
"Chase! We've been looking all over for you!" Krista exclaimed.
"Why are you in here?" Jacob asked.
"I was arrested," Chase said simply.
"Arrested?" the other three said together.
"What did you do?" Erica asked.
"All I remember was falling into the middle of a road. I woke up and tried to find you guys, but oh no. Then these weird guys came up to me. They were dressed in red cloaks. Their leader was dressed in all black," Chase began.
"By any chance, did this guy have an eye patch?" Erica interrupted, remembering her own incident.
"Yeah! Do you know him?" The three nodded. "Well, yeah. I kinda insulted him." He shrugged. "He took it personally and had me arrested."
"That sounds a little familiar," Krista said. "We were looking for you and we asked him if he had seen you. He told us to go away so Erica came up to him and told him to do some soul searching." Chase laughed. "We barely escaped."
"You make it sound so dramatic. We practically ran out of the building. Did you see the look he gave me?" Erica said.
"If looks could have killed, Erica would have died a thousand deaths."
"And that's an understatement," Jacob finished.
"How come you didn't get arrested?" Chase burst.
"Chase, it's Erica. C'mon!" Krista returned.
"I don't know. But I'll bet he'd sure as hell like to kill me."
Footsteps echoed through the jail. Krista, Erica, and Jacob ducked away from the window. They silenced each other and listened intently.
"What are you looking at?" a man asked Chase.
Chase stepped away from the window. "Your mom."
"Silence you scoundrel! I'm here to inform you of your sentence. It will be held the day after tomorrow."
"Sentence?"
"Oh you didn't think you were actually going to get away with your crime did you?"
Chase nodded. "Yeah."
"Your sentence will be carried out on the day after tomorrow."
The man walked away. The four friends regrouped at the window.
"Sentence? What sentence? We're not in English, here."
"I think they mean punishment, Chase," Krista said.
"What? What kind of punishment?"
"Painful?" Jacob offered.
"How painful?"
"They usually end with a slight case of death," Erica stated.
"Death?" Chase repeated in a small voice.
"Yes," she said, nodding. "I believe the preferred way was by chopping people's heads off."
The four paused to imagine Chase's punishment. Chase gulped.
"Don't worry. We'll get you out of here," Krista assured.
"How?"
"Who's in charge of this place?" Erica asked.
"Patchy."
"Right. Better not go to him."
"What about the king?" Jacob suggested.
"Do you have brain damage? A king has no room for three kids wanting to break their friend out of jail," Erica replied heatedly.
"That's morbidly obese."
Erica, Krista, and Chase let out a small laugh.
"So where are we anyway?" Chase asked.
"Well, we think we're in Paris, France and in the 1600s," Erica informed.
"We're back in time? Oh snap."
"Yeah. As soon as we get you out, we're going to find a way home," Krista said.
"I knew there was something wack about those rings."
"Whatever."
"Who's in charge of Patchy?" Erica interjected.
"I don't know. But there was a guy in a red dress and a red cape. He had a Jewish hat. He sentenced me."
"The Cardinal."
"How do you know these things?" Jacob asked incredously.
"I pay attention in history."
"Okay. So let's go talk to this Cardinal dude," Krista said.
"How do you know where to find him?" Chase asked.
"I can't remember if the Cardinal was an advisor or a guy in charge of the churches," Erica admitted, wiping water from her face.
"Well, I guess we can always start at the church. Surely, someone will tell us how to reach him," Krista said.
"Yeah, and maybe we'll get lucky and run into him."
"Don't worry, Chase. We'll get you out," Jacob reassured.
"Well, if this plan is going to work, we'd better go find some place to sleep. And besides, it's really, really cold out here," Erica said.
A long pause fell. Chase shifted. "Well, you ain't gettin' any drier standing there."
"Chase is right. Let's go find that church," Erica stated.
"Will they even let us in?" Jacob asked.
"Either way, it doesn't matter. But let's go."
Jacob, Krista, and Erica said goodbye to their friend and set off to find the church. By now, the streets were muddy and covered in puddles. The three didn't even bother trying to keep themselves clean. They were soaked to the bone and had mud caked around their shoes.
Just by pure luck, they found themselves standing at the foot of a magnificant church. They stopped just outside the door. Erica and Jacob immediately tried to wipe off their shoes before they went inside. Krista followed suit, wiping her shoes and wringing her clothes out. Once they were all ready, they stepped inside.
Inside, the room was so large, it could have fit Jacob's house inside two times over. It was a long hallway lined with numerous candles. In the dim light, Erica could see pews towards the back of the hallway.
They stood with their mouths open and their clothes dripping. A priest came up to them several moments later.
"What are you searching for, my children?" He was dressed in a long, flowing white robe. He had wavy silver hair and a full beard. Although he looked to be in his seventies, the man looked awfully strong and lively.
Erica came out of the daze first. "We would like a place to stay."
"Of course. The Lord shall give shelter to those that seek it."
"Thank you," Erica said with a slight inclination of the head.
The priest returned the gesture and motioned for the three to follow him further into the church. The three shrugged and made their way to the back pew.
"You may rest here tonight," he said. "But I will need you out of here, or out of this room at least by morning. I have mass to attend to."
"All right. Sorry to have bothered you."
"Oh no. I've been up preparing everything for the Cardinal tomorrow."
Erica and Krista exchanged glances. "Well then. I suppose you don't need any help?" Erica proposed.
"No, no. You should get some rest, my children."
"Are you sure? We might as well. We've been up half the night already. And we need to earn our stay somehow."
The priest smiled and looked towards a statue of Jesus at the front of the church. "Thank you, Lord." He turned back to the teenagers. "As a matter of fact, I could use your help."
The three teens and the priest spent the next threee hours dusting and rearranging the church. At one point in time, Jacob and Krista pulled Erica over to the side.
"Why are we doing this?" Jacob asked.
"Might as well help the guy out..." Erica began.
"What is your plan?" Krista asked.
"Truthfully, my plan is to get on somebody's good side. And maybe he'll tell the Cardinal about us so we'll be able to see him."
The other two nodded. "Yes. We're going to need a friendly face," Krista said.
"Especially if we decide to break Chase out," Jacob added.
After another hour of cleaning, the priest sat down on a pew and wiped his brow. He sighed and smiled. The three kids joined him. He turned to them.
"Without your help I know there would be no way I could have gotten this done." The three kids waved their hands and murmurred a series of "It was nothing." The priest smiled. "By the way, I am Pierre."
"It's nice to meet you, Pierre. I'm Erica."
"I'm Krista."
"And I'm Jacob."
"Where are you children from?"
Jacob opened his mouth to say Nebraska, but Erica stepped on his foot.
"West," she lied. "A long ways west." Technically, Nebraska was west of here.
"West?" Pierre repeated. "The American colonies?"
"Even further."
"I'm not familiar with that area."
Erica smiled. "Don't worry. No one is."
"What are you doing in France, if you don't mind me asking?"
Erica looked at Krista. "Seeing the world? We've hear so much about France."
"Such as?"
Erica hesitated, unsure what to say. "Like what a great town- er- city Paris is."
Pierre smiled and nodded.
"And the Musketeers," Krista put in. Erica gave Krista a "What are you doing?" look. Krista shrugged.
The priest let out a sad laugh. "I should have guessed as much. But you have come at a bad time. The Musketeers have been disbanded."
"Yeah. We seen the gathering, but no one would say why."
"No one knows for sure. But it was the king's orders. I think it had something to do with Cardinal Richlieu's guards."
"Richlieu?" Erica repeated, looking at Krista, who looked equally upset.
"Do you have a conflict with Richlieu?"
"No, it's just that we heard some disturbing rumours about the guy."
The priest nodded solemnly. "The Cardinal is not as pure as he seems."
"Well, so much for trying to get Chase out," Krista said aloud.
"We've got to try," Erica stated defiantly.
"Who is Chase?"
"Chase is our friend who got arrested. We are going to try and see if we can get him out by talking to the Cardinal," Krista explained.
"What was he arrested for?"
"He insulted some guy dressed in black with an eye patch," Jacob answered.
"You must mean Captain Rochefort. He is the captain of the Cardinal's Guards."
"Great. I think our chances of getting Chase out are slimming down by the second," Erica said.
"I wouldn't let that worry you, my children. I'm sure you can pursuade him to let your friend go."
Erica gave a short laugh. "Believe me, that's not going to happen."
"Yeah, Erica insulted him yesterday," Jacob explained.
"Oh dear," Pierre sighed.
"And that's why we're trying to go to the Cardinal for help."
"Well, if everything goes well today, I shall give the Cardinal a recommendation for you."
"Thank you so much!" Krista burst.
Pierre stood up. "Now I must prepare myself for mass. Thank you for all your help. You are always welcome here."
They exchanged goodbyes and the priest left. The kids laid down of the pews, ready to sleep.
"I'm thinking sleeping through mass sounds like a good idea," Krista said.
The other two were already asleep.
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