d'Artagnan And Her Musketeers (The Cosette D'Artagnan Romances, book 1)

Chapter 11: No Ordinary Kidnapping

"If this Philippe is truly the baby's father... where is he now?"

The red-haired woman looked back at the grave of her husband. Aramis, realizing his mistake, took his hat down and apologized.

" I'm sorry. That was tactless."

"Just leave me alone," Agnes cried. She yelled for Father Duval, heading into the church.

"Don't go in there!" Aramis shouted. Agnes looked back at him. He shook his head and spoke gentler. "Don't go in there."

The woman suffered enough for one day.

Athos cursed this trip. Though he was calm and collected, it was always annoying to go on hunting parties with the King. However, it was duty for them to be there. No he was thinking of Aramis and d'Artagnan, but mostly the latter of the two. He had been on edge for a couple of weeks. Athos thought it be a change of paste if D'Artagnan came along. Initially, it was to be Porthos and d'Artagnan on this and Athos with Aramis, but the boy insisted that he would be fine going with Aramis because they were escorting a woman and her baby.

However, things were not going to be so peaceful as Athos had thought it would be, for the Queen Mother, Marie de' Medici, to appear. She had previously been exiled because she attempted to steal the throne from her son. Her return was on pain of death. The Musketeers stood to protect the King. However, to Athos' dismay, it meant being stuck with Marie and her manservant, Vincent. However, it was entertaining.

"The King's mother comes to you in peril and you treat her like a common criminal," Vincent sneered.

So much for the chivalrous reputation of the Musketeers. I'm disappointed.

"But on the bright side, you're not dead yet," Porthos said, his eyes glistening with danger and warning. However, it did cause Athos to smile at his brother's tantics.

"You think I'm frightened of the King's toy soldiers?"

"For a glorified boot boy, you've got an awful lot to say."

Vincent reached for his sword, but the Musketeers surrounding Porthos reached for theirs first.

"Draw if you wish. It will be our duty to kill you and, incidentally, our pleasure," Athos said, trying to keep the humor out of his voice. Queen Marie looked towards her henchman.

"Vincent, I am weary," said Marie. She looked at Athos and Porthos. "Gentlemen, I assure you, I have no argument with you."

Instead of the King, Armand Richelieu stepped out of the tent, keeping the contempt out of his voice.

"The King is occupied with pressing state business," Richelieu answered. "He cannot see you."

"Her gracious Majesty has survived one attack only by God's grace," Vincent began but Richelieu interrupted him.

"We are too few to withstand another attempt. His Majesty's decision is final," Richelieu said. He glared to Queen Marie one last time before turning to join the King's party.

There at last, Cosette had finally found the kidnappers, who had taken the baby into a not-so-secluded building in Paris. The question she asked was how was she going to get inside. There must be at least something for her to get on with. Cosette didn't actually imagine that this was the place they decided to hide the baby. It was accurately unintelligent of these kidnappers to come to Paris in the first place, which was the grounds that the Musketeers were quite familiar with.

She was holding onto her horse's reins and looked to Sapphire.

"This has what my life has come too, Sapphire, fighting bad guys who take babies, now that is just sick," Cosette muttered. "I honestly do not know what to think of this anymore. I don't know. Should I tell them who I really am?"

Instead of responding, the horse just shook her head.

"Yeah, not the best time," said Cosette. "It's really not." She looked and knew where they took Henry now. "We'll discuss this later." The horse snorted in response. Cosette pet her mane. She quickly got back on Sapphire to meet Aramis at Bonacieux's house.

Athos and Porthos stood at the crime scene based on Treville's orders. They had been trying to escort Marie and her party back to where she had come from when all of the sudden, assassins made an attempt on the life of their King's mother. Vincent, Marie's henchman, killed the man they had tried to capture for questioning. It was as if this was just a show put on for them. They inspected the whole crime scene.

"If you were Marie's personal guard, wouldn't you want to ask questions, find out who's behind this? " Athos didn't bother to hide the confusion in his voice, for he was as confused as Porthos was. "Why kill them when he didn't have to?"

"Vincent was out of control," Porthos added.

"A good soldier is never out of control. And he's one of the best. "

"They had the weaponry of a small army... yet not one shot found its mark? "

"Not a scratch on any of us. "

"Wouldn't you expect to see at least some damage to the trees? Or the odd piece of splintered bark? There's just nothing. "

"I don't see any used wadding."

"And no spent musket balls." The boys looked at each other, nodding in agreement. When they told Treville, he told them to keep an eye on Marie and Vincent. Now Porthos wondered. Where Aramis and D'Artagnan were at for the brief moment.

Cosette told Aramis where they had taken baby Henry, away from earshot. Constance offered to join her right outside. The two women approached the house where Cosette had come from. They were only a few yards away from the kidnappers' hole. The only problem was how were they going to figure out a way to get in.

"What are we looking for again?" Constance asked. Cosette shrugged.

"A way in. A way out," she answered. "Which room the baby's in. Anything that helps, really."

"Did you see the look on Agnes's face when she spoke about Henry? That bond," said Constance. Cosette looked to her friend. "To value something over your own life. I want to know love that strong."

"You'll have children of your own soon enough."

"I suppose. If it's meant to be." Constance said. For years, her husband and her did try to have children. However, they could never produce any. Perhaps it was for the best if they couldn't have a child. Constance didn't know what she was going to do with a baby anyways. Cosette was probably upset too. "And you, Cosette? Based on the life you live, you'll never become a mother."

Cosette took a deep breath and looked to Constance. "As you said, Constance, if it's meant to be." She looked back.

"Wet Nurses," Constance explained. Cosette looked and saw that there were indeed women approaching the house. The men let them in and out.

"Wet nurses," Cosette confirmed. An idea formulated in her head. "You know, I could go in and pretend to be a woman. I'm a girl."

"Yes, Cos, but your hair is too short," Constance reminded her. She looked up towards her best friend's hair. "I'll go in."

"You can't go in there," Cosette said. "Too dangerous." Constance looked at her pointedly. The young woman looked at her own hair and nodded. She was pointing out that Cosette already crossed the line when she disguised her self as a boy and remained that way ever since.

"Point taken, but I wouldn't live with myself if you got hurt."

"If you can do it, I can do it," Constance promised, giving Cosette an uncharacteristic smile. "I'll improvise."