A Powerful Little Love

Chapter 45

The shots rained down from above, that was all Amorette was sure of as she let Athos drag her through the dust that still lingered over that area of Paris.  Athos clearly knew were the shots were coming from too as he didn't even attempt to look over his shoulder once.  They were not a target; that much was clear by the haphazardness of the rounds fired.  Every so often a shot would be aimed yards from them, at someone else who had risked the streets.  Amorette also did not think they really intended to shoot them, but she let Athos take charge none the less.  It wouldn't do to argue with him when he was still firmly on duty as one of the King's finer musketeers.

A break in the shots must have meant that the shooters had run out of ammunition.  Taking advantage of the lack of fire, Athos propelled Amorette towards a secluded alleyway and followed her down it, the darkness of the creepy corridor and the low brim of his hat making it very hard for her to ascertain just what expression he wore in that moment.

"If they're reloading, they won't be watching the streets.  Hopefully they won't have seen us come down here.  When they move off we should be able to make it back across the river."  It was all said in the gruff and cold manner that Amorette had forgotten Athos could possess at times.  His eyes darted from one end of the alley to the other repeatedly without blinking.  Amorette leaned against the wall and tried to catch her breath, her chest heaving with the exertion of the mad dash through the streets.  Athos on the other hand, was not affected at all.  Amorette supposed that he was used to all of that running though. 

They waited for a while longer in the quiet solitude of the alley, the air around them beginning to freshen all the while.  The dust was beginning to clear which would enable them to find one of the bridges more quickly, but it would also mean that whoever was shooting at them would have a clearer view.  Athos began to step closer to the mouth of the alley, poking his head gingerly around the corner to observe the street.  Amorette gave a worried yelp and grabbed a fistful of his doublet sleeve in readiness to pull him back towards her, but nothing happened.

Tentatively, Athos began to move further out into the street until none of him remained in the alley.  The more steps he took, the more apprehensive Amorette became and when he finally vanished from sight she rushed out after him, not wanting to lose him should anything else happen.  He held out his hand to her when she approached and she silently accepted.  They hurriedly walked hand in hand back the way they thought the river flowed, hoping to catch sight of one of the bridges with every corner they turned.  The air was beginning to clear, but they met no one along their way. 

Suddenly another shot rang out behind them and Athos let out a snarl as he glanced over his shoulder.  He dropped Amorette's hand and pulled out a pistol to fire back.  He had not done so before hand; Amorette understood because he could not have been sure he would have hit his target when they were positioned on the roofs of the buildings.  Now that they had come down to his level though, Amorette could tell by his stance that Athos felt sure he would hit them.  Part of her wished he was not so confident, that we would even consider retreating whilst he shot but he stood stock still in the middle of the street with his free arm pushing her behind him.

The young men Amorette had observed lining the streets this side of the river during the parade looked back at them now from the other end of the street.  There were at least twenty of them, but only a select few held pistols or muskets.  Those were the young wealthy students Amorette presumed, who probably carried pistols and rapiers on their person every day.  They were still firing wide of the mark and Athos returned the volley.  Amorette quickly made her mind up and reached for Athos' other pistol when his elbow gave a sudden jerk, almost winding Amorette as his free arm flew backwards with force into her diaphragm.  Amorette knew that such a reaction could mean only one thing and sure enough, when she looked down blood was beginning to drip to the dusty ground beneath their feet.