Adventures with Friends
Time Travellers: The Eight Musketeers?
Four friends are sent back to correct history- they just might have to rewrite it.
Chapter 9
The four Musketeers and the four teens sat around a small fire in the middle of the forest. A chilling breeze blew through the trees, but no matter how the flames flickered, they did not fizzle out. Each one of the eight sat in silence, reflecting the distubing news that had befallen them. Erica and Krista sat next to each other, cloaks folded around both of them. Krista's stomach growled. Erica and Krista looked at each other and let out a little laugh.
"I'm sorry we couldn't reach the nearest village by nightfall. I'm afraid we will have to rest the horses for the night," Athos said quietly.
Erica's stomach also churned. She was seriously considering eating dirt, but she put on a smile. "Oh don't worry. It's not like we're not used to being hungry..."
"I could go see what I can find in the forest," Dartagnan offered. Athos nodded. The young Musketeer stood up and disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
"Although I am thankful to be off of death row, but I can't help but wonder if prison would have been better..." Chase mused. Jacob nodded.
"At least we had food there..." Jacob sighed.
"Shut up, Jacob. Nobody cares," Krista said.
"But I care."
"Shut up, Jacob. Nobody loves you," Chase added.
"I thought you did, Chase," Erica teased halfheartedly. Jacob and Chase glared at Erica. The Musketeers looked strangely at the two guys. Krista and Erica just laughed.
"You four are indeed strange ones. Where are you from again?" Athos asked.
"Well, they're from America," Porthos added.
"Yeah. Where there is not a queen," Jacob returned sharply. Porthos smiled.
"What part of America?"
"Way out west..." Erica sighed.
"And don't worry if you've never heard of it," Krista added before the Musketeer could say anything. "No one has."
"What are you guys talking about... we're from Nebraska!" Chase burst.
"Chase! Shut up!" Erica shouted.
"What?"
"Just shut up," Jacob advised.
"Why?"
"Because you failed History," Erica said.
"No I didn't! I almost failed it."
A tense silence passed between the group.
"So what are you doing in Paris?" Porthos asked.
"Travelling," Krista answered.
"I see. And you four are related then?"
"No. Only those two- Erica and Jacob. They're cousins."
"Well..." Porthos laughed. "They act like brother and sister."
"We could be," Jacob said.
"Unfortunatly," Erica added.
Dartagnan came out of the darkness. Everyone looked at him hopefully. He shrugged. "Sorry. I couldn't find anything."
"Well... we should have guessed as much," Athos said.
"Too bad we didn't keep the Cardinal's carriage," Porthos said. "It would have came in helpful."
"Yes, but Rochefort would have tracked us down in no time," Aramis added.
"Speaking of Rochefort, what exactly happened between you and Rochefort?" Athos asked Erica.
Erica sighed. It seemed that no matter where she went or who she was with, she could not escape Rochefort's name. "Well..." she sighed and began to tell them the story of the two days that they were in France. Krista and Jacob added in bits and pieces when Erica forgot something. When she was done, the Musketeers sat in silence, thinking.
"Why would the Cardinal want to make an alliance with England?" Athos asked. "We're at war with them."
"The Cardinal is an ambitious man," Aramis said. "Perhaps he wants to make his authority against the King stronger."
"What about Krista's conspiracy? The one with the foreign girl," Dartagnan asked.
"What did you say the nationality of the girl was?" Athos asked.
"Australian."
"What?"
"Y'know. Australian. From Australia. The Land Down-Under...?"
The Musketeers exchanged looks. Porthos shrugged. The Musketeers turned back to Krista.
"Are you sure you heard correctly?" Athos asked.
"Well, there was a lot of noise. I could of heard wrong."
"Wait. Didn't the Commander say something about the King expecting someone from another country?" Dartagnan asked.
The three other Musketeers looked sternly at Dartagnan. Dartagnan seemed to fidget under his superiors' gazes.
"No, Dartagnan. He didn't," Athos said.
"But I confess to a curiousity to what makes you say that," Aramis said coolly.
"I- I- Okay so maybe that was Serenity that said that..."
"Serenity!" Porthos burst. "Haha! I knew you were seeing that Lady-in-Waiting!"
"Dartagnan!" Athos burst. "A Lady-in-Waiting?!"
"You know that is forbidden."
Krista's eyes became starry as she looked at the young Musketeer. She clasped her hands together. "Unrequitted love! How romantic!"
Jacob and Chase looked as if they had been electrocuted. The Musketeers turned their attention to the three.
"What is wrong with you?" Dartagnan asked.
"You made her say the "R" word!" Jacob said, horrorifed.
"The "R" word?"
"Romantic," Jacob whispered.
"What do you expect? These two idiots still believe in cooties," Erica said.
Dartagnan turned in confusion to Erica. "Cooties? What are cooties?"
Erica looked at Krista and supressed a smile. There were so many mean things that she could say... And the sad part of the fact was that the Musketeers would believe her...
"Well... y'know..." Erica said, trying to search for the right words. "They're little transparent... bugs... that are in the shape of a... heart. They live in a woman's prescence and only young boys can see them. But if you're bitten by them, then you can no longer see them anymore. And once you are bitten, then you become the subject to a woman's every thought."
"That barmaid must have cooties!" Porthos exclaimed.
Erica and Krista looked at each other. Erica shrugged. It was a pathetic story, but at least, Porthos had bought it.
"Well, getting off the topic of cooties, what exactly did your Lady-in-Waiting say, Dartagnan?" Athos asked.
"Well... I was asking her when I could come see her again. I asked if I could come sometime later this week and she said no. She said that there was a princess coming to see the King."
"Did she say what country?"
"No. She said that even she wasn't allowed to know. But she did say that she knew the princess was coming in disguise due to the war."
Aramis looked deep into the fire for concentration. Suddenly he looked up. "Do you think it is the Austrian princess?"
"Austrian?" Athos repeated. He thought about it. "Well, once you think about it, it does make sense. An allied France and Austria would make a power to be reckoned with."
"Australian..." Erica said to Krista accusingly.
"Well, I'm sorry I'm deaf, okay?" Krista returned.
"That would explain why the girl is important to the Cardinal. But that doesn't explain why the Cardinal would send a treaty to a country he intends to destroy."
"It also doesn't explain how Richlieu knew that the princess was coming," Dartagnan stated.
"Well, Serenity found out, then there is no reason why the Cardinal couldn't," Erica pointed out.
"No. Serenity said she overheard someone speaking with the Cardinal, telling him these things."
"Now wait a minute, Dartagnan. Tell us exactly what happened. Tell us exactly as it is," Athos ordered sternly.
"But if I do, she could be in trouble!"
"And if you don't, France could be destroyed!"
Dartagnan sighed. "All right. Serenity was sneaking out of the castle to find me. She passed by a room where the Cardinal and a man that she had never seen before were sitting. She stopped by the door to make sure no one would see her. She happened to overhear the man telling the Cardinal that a princess was on her way from a neighboring country, undercover to make an alliance with France. But then Serenity heard footsteps coming down the hallway. She ran away before she could be caught. Then she came to tell me what she heard."
"How long ago was this?"
"Three days ago?"
"Three days? That would put her on the border of France," Porthos said.
"That would also put our messenger two days from England," Aramis reminded the group.
"But what is the Cardinal's intention for the two?" Dartagnan asked. "Is there a connection?"
"I don't know," Athos said.
"I have a question, though," Erica stated. "Why did Rochefort and the Cardinal accuse me- or us of killing Musketeers? You know very well that you're the only Musketeers we met."
The Musketeers exchanged looks. "Treachury has further reaches than what you think. For the past month, troops of Musketeers have disappeared. They're believed to be dead. So many have disappeared that the King and Cardinal declared that the Musketeers were disbanded two days ago," Athos explained.
"Yeah, we seen the disbanding when we first arrived. But no one would tell us why," Krista said.
"I doubt anyone would tell you. The people were told that the Musketeers were no longer needed. But the Musketeers knew the Cardinal had his hand in it. And the Cardinal's Guards knew it had something to do with the disappearing Musketeers."
"So what happened to the disbanded Musketeers?" Chase asked.
"The ones who obliged were transferred to the ranks for the war. The ones that resisted to give up their cloaks were arrested," Aramis said.
"Or in our case, still avoiding arrest," Porthos pointed out.
"Yeah, but still. Why?" Erica asked again.
Aramis turned to Athos. "The Commander said that the King was pretty distraught about the disappearance of his Musketeers. Monsieur Treville heard the Cardinal say he would find those responsible for the disappearances."
"You don't think...?" Athos said.
Aramis nodded. "Yes. He knew who was responsible because he was behind it all. What he was actually saying was "I'm currently looking for someone to pin it on for you"."
"Yes. But four children?" Dartagnan asked.
"What about that new lieutenant that Rochefort has?" Athos stated.
"What about him?" Porthos asked.
"You all know that everything was fine until he showed up. And no one knows for sure where he came from!"
"Wait! Tell us more about this lieutenant dude!" Erica burst.
"Well, he says his name is Jacques. He is not a Frenchman, but he is an extremely good swordsman. No one knows where he came from. He just showed up one day, spoke with the Cardinal, and then was suddenly a lieutenant."
"Don't forget, he's got an obsessive suspicion with foreigners," Porthos added.
"What?"
"If a foreigner is in town, he'll go talk with them or have Guards spy on them."
"Well... What do you guys think of him?"
"No one likes him save for Rochefort and the Cardinal," Aramis said.
"Wow! Rochefort actually likes somebody!" Erica exclaimed suddenly. "That has got to be a first."
"Indeed. He is little better than Rochefort or the Cardinal."
Erica whipped around to her friends. "That's him!"
Everyone stared at Erica.
"That's who?" Krista asked.
"The one dude that the one dude in the one letter was talking about!"
"What?" Jacob and Chase exclaimed at the same time, while Krista burst, "Yes! That one dude!"
"Jacob, didn't you say you a prisoner near you overheard a lieutenant and another man?" Athos asked.
"Yeah... Yeah I did!"
"Tell me the exact thing he told you."
"Well... he said something about needing a demonstration of power against the King. He said basically that they were setting up a time to see what the man could do. The prisoner said that he suspected that the man was a marksman. Then he said, you must deliver this information to the King and may God protect you. Then he died."
"Was this prisoner the only one who knew the conversation between the two that the lieutenant knew of?"
Jacob paused. "What?"
"Was the lieutenant aware that the prisoner held the information?"
"Yeah. The guy asked him about it, then the lieutenant frickin' shot him."
"So the lieutenant shot the only man that knew what the conversation was about."
"The prisoner could have been loyal to the King," Aramis mused. "And that would give the lieutenant a good reason for shooting the man."
"Did the prisoner say what the demonstration of power was?" Athos asked Jacob.
"No. He didn't say anything. Just that this information needed to be revealed to the king."
Silence.
"So are you trying to tell me I could be killed for what that dude told me?"
"Actually," Athos said darkly. "You and your friends have just become the most threatening people to the Cardinal by knowing what you know."
"This would be an excellent time to suffer from short term memory loss," Erica mused.
"So what are we going to do?" Chase asked.
"We need to find the key to this plot. Is it the Austrian princess? Or is it the treaty?" Athos said.
"What about the demonstration of power?" Dartagnan added.
"One of them has to be the main playing piece. If we go after the wrong one, the Cardinal will be able to turn everything on us," Aramis explained.
"I think it's the princess," Dartagnan said. "Treaties can be rewritten. But princesses can command a lot of ransom."
"But we don't know if ransom is what the Cardinal wants," Athos said. "It could very well be the treaty. Because without it, the Cardinal will not have an ally."
"Maybe the Cardinal doesn't want an ally," Porthos put in. "Maybe he wants it to be a distraction- a decoy."
"Or maybe both of them are distractions so that he can take all the focus off of him for a demonstration of power against the king," Aramis said.
"Or maybe we're just screwed all the way around," Jacob said. The three teens nodded in agreement.
"But if we get a hold of that letter, we can prove the Cardinal guilty of treason," Aramis said suddenly.
"Provided that there is still a King to prove it to," Dartagnan countered.
"Well, then, we'll just have to be sure to get it before any harm befalls the King," Athos said defiantly.
"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Chase burst, holding up his hands. "You four forgot something very imortant. Even if we do get that letter or even the Austria chick, what happens if the Cardinal dude still accuses us of all the things he accused us of? We have no prove agains that. So if we're going to do anything, it's got to be something that will help us out too!"
"Chase is right. If we have to get one thing, we might as well go after everything," Krista said.
"So it's all or nothing, or nothing at all for us," Erica said.
After an intense moment of staring, Aramis nodded his head. "Very well. First light we go to save France and expose the Cardinal and all of his followers for what they really are."
Musketeer Index
Home