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Heart pounding, William was in position, listening for the slightest noise. The target was right in his sights, seemingly without danger or ambush, and that’s what worried him; he hadn’t yet flushed out their enemy. Birds flew. He spotted Albert in a grove to the east; Louis was moving at a measured pace to the north. They were both waiting for his signal. Watching from the top of a tree, William bit his lower lip. It had been a quarter of an hour, and he had no idea where their opponent was. Was he on the defensive? Was he going to attack one of the two fighters on the ground, or himself? A light caught his attention. The reflection of a sunbeam on a piece of metal. A trap, no doubt. This was no good.
He straightened up, ready to communicate his instructions, but his foot skidded on the damp wood of the tree. His body was dragged into the void. The teenager reached out a hand to catch himself. The branch he grasped snapped under his fingers. He contorted to regain his balance, but to no avail. He toppled over completely. His skull hit a branch. He swore and protected his head as best he could. The branches did little to slow his fall by several meters. His back hit the ground hard. All the air was expelled from his lungs, at the same time as a terrible pain tore through him. He had no time to scream; he was knocked unconscious.
Above him, the bright sky was a patchwork of blue between the leaves. The teenager fluttered his eyelids a few times. Lying on the ground, he could feel the dampness of the moss and grass creeping up his clothes. In the distance, he heard Louis calling his name. He must have been out for only a few seconds.
“I’m fine!” he called out, but his voice came out weaker than he would have liked.
His hands sought support to get up, but he was aching all over and moving with difficulty. A noise behind him drew his attention.
“Well, you gave us quite a scare, little Will!”
Jack appeared in his field of vision. The teenager was still trying to sit up, but a jolt of pain stopped him, making him gasp.
“Easy… Stay down for now,” the butler advised, kneeling beside him.
William nodded. He closed his eyes, feeling nauseous. He quickly opened them again to escape the sensation of the ground spinning on itself.
“Brother!”
Louis arrived. When he saw him, he paled visibly. William smiled to reassure him. “I’m fine, Louis.”
His little brother didn’t seem to hear him, his gaze fixed on William’s lower body. William lifted his head to look, careful not to move his legs, but Jack had positioned himself above him in such a way as to block his view, no doubt on purpose.
“Louis, get a doctor,” Jack ordered.
Louis was petrified, unable to take his eyes off his brother on the floor, as if he’d disappear if he did. Albert joined them at this moment, out of breath.
“Go, Louis!” the master insisted. “Ask for a doctor, and come back with something to use as a stretcher to carry your brother back to the manor.”
Albert touched his little brother’s shoulder to wake him from his torpor. “You’re the fastest, Louis. Don’t worry, we’ll look after Will,” he reassured him.
Louis finally nodded. He ran off, looking as if he was holding back vomiting. Jack withdrew from his original position, and William wanted to get up on his elbows to see what was making his little brother so sick, but Albert stopped him in his tracks. He crouched down to his head’s level.
“You don’t want to see that,” he assured.
“Is it that bad?” He could feel Jack touching his bruised body, but it was still bearable.
“Don’t ask me that,” Albert grimaced.
William laughed softly, but it made him move badly and he found himself paralyzed by pain. He gritted his teeth, waited for it to pass, but it didn’t and a tear escaped his eyes.
“Breathe with me, Will.”
The teenager forced himself to keep his eyes open, imitating his elder brother who was taking deep breaths. Albert gently lifted his head to rest it on his lap. The motion made William dizzy, giving him the impression that he was falling again. He reflexively sought a handhold, his fingernails clawing at the earth to catch himself. Above him, Albert could hardly hide his concern when he discovered that his hands were stained with blood. “Did you hit your head?”
William nodded. He regretted it; he felt dizzy again. He winced. His breath was short. “A branch,” he explained.
Albert nodded, then did it again a moment later in Jack’s direction. William had no time to wonder what was happening. A violent pain assailed him, and he couldn’t hold back a scream. On his shoulders, Albert’s hands forced him to stay put. A sob caught in his throat. His vision blurred dangerously.
“Stay with us, Will,” his brother murmured, gently caressing his moist cheekbones. He brushed aside the blond locks stuck to his forehead, and William whimpered.
A slightly rougher hand patted his cheek. “Stay awake, William. I’ve put your leg back in place, now all I have to do is…”
He couldn’t hear the rest. Nausea took him by surprise, and he only had time to throw himself on his side to vomit. Albert caught him before he collapsed to the floor, holding back the hair that was in his way. The action had moved his lower body, and the pain it caused twisted his stomach, forcing him to empty himself a little more. Albert ran an affectionate hand down his back, whispering encouragement. When the hiccups stopped, he carefully straightened him up, repositioning his head on his knees. He held a flask up to his mouth. William slowly took a few sips, then closed his eyes, exhausted. His older brother wiped a damp handkerchief over his face.
“Stay awake, Will,” Jack repeated from somewhere.
The butler apparently hadn’t finished with his leg. William swung his head to one side, holding back a whine.
“Remind me what your assignment was, William.”
His cheek was pinched, forcing him to open his eyes again.
“What was your assignment?”
The teenager frowned, struggling to concentrate on anything other than the burning that was spreading throughout his body.
“Retrieve the flag.”
“Good. Why didn’t you?”
Jack returned to his leg and he tensed reflexively. A hand in his hair diverted his attention. He looked up at Albert, who was smiling gently at him.
“I lacked information,” he replied after a moment.
“Do you think I’d give you impossible missions?”
He heard a tearing of fabric, and a few seconds later, there was a painful pressure. William clamped one hand over his mouth, the other grasping Albert’s for support. He felt himself faint.
“Answer my question, William.”
Panting, he finally withdrew his hand to speak. “What was the question…?”
“Do you think I’d give you impossible missions?”
“N… No…”
He gritted his teeth, a wave of pain sweeping over him. Tears rolled down his cheeks.
“Breathe, Will…” Albert reminded him.
He did so, and for long minutes, he could do nothing else. Albert repeatedly told him to keep his eyes open whenever he felt his brother faint, forcing him to stay awake.
William had calmed down a little and the pain had eased slightly – Jack had finished what he was doing – when hurried footsteps on the damp leaves were heard. Louis appeared, out of breath.
“They’re on their way to get the doctor,” he explained breathlessly. “And I took this…” He held up a simple sheet.
Jack straightened up. “You boys are going to help me.”
Albert nodded. He carefully laid his brother’s head on the grass and rose to his feet. Seeing where this was going, and knowing the torture it was every time he moved, William paled.
“Otherwise, I’m fine here,” he tried.
Jack laughed. “If you still have the strength to joke, you’re actually fine!”
The wounded teenager pressed both palms to his face, cursing his master with all his heart.
“Brother?” Louis worried.
William withdrew his hands to smile at him. “It’s okay, Louis. I’ll survive.”
Jack spread the sheet on the floor. He motioned to Louis and Albert, and they each took William’s side and straightened him up. William finally saw his legs. The right one was held together by a piece of wood tied by Jack’s jacket, which hid, if not the blood, at least the worst of the wound.
His brothers lifted him a few inches. Jack pushed the sheet under him and they set him down again. Then Louis held out his hand, and William squeezed it with all his might as their master moved his legs. When it was finally over, his eyes closed under the exhaustion and his head fell to one side.
“How much time did you have for this mission?” Jack asked as he lifted the sheet.
William would have laughed at the idea of them debriefing now, but he coughed instead. They started walking, carrying him, and the slight tossing made him want to vomit, as well as hurt.
“Thirty minutes,” Louis replied.
“I’m asking William.”
William groaned. He forced himself to open his eyes. It was Jack and Albert lifting the makeshift stretcher, his older brother in front and the butler behind, towering over his head. Louis was at his side, a worried look on his face. Once again, William smiled to reassure him.
“Thirty minutes,” he repeated to Jack, breathless.
“You spent fifteen minutes gathering information, perched atop your tree. When were you going to act?”
“I wasn’t going to act,” he explained. “I lacked information.”
“Being over-cautious is a fault, little Will. If I gave you these instructions, it’s because it could be done in the time allotted. Above all, you missed an essential element.”
“What is it?”
“Yesterday’s storm had soaked the woods. This was no time for antics in the trees.”
William glared at him, but said nothing. He was right.
“Have you noticed your brothers’ movements?” he continued.
He sighed. “Yes, I did. Louis saw an opening, but as I hadn’t given the signal, brother Albert signaled him not to do anything.”
“That’s very good, Louis,” Jack congratulated him. “When you act as a commando, as was the case here, you have to be able to take the initiative. And at the same time, it can be dangerous if you don’t take into account the movements of your partners, and on both counts, you did very well.”
Louis nodded, cheeks slightly pink, eyes shining.
“As for you, Albert, you relied too much on Will.”
Albert laughed softly. “As stern as ever, Master…”
“I warned you.”
“But I’m not complaining…”
“You knew William was in bad shape,” he continues, “yet you let him take the reins of the operation. That was stupid.”
“What do you mean?” Louis interjected, worried. “Brother, you weren’t feeling well?”
William clamped a hand over his face to keep from seeing Jack’s smirk above him.
“… I read all night,” he admitted. “I haven’t slept.”
“Brother!” Louis exclaimed. “You know better than to do that! Then you fall asleep anywhere and…”
“Sorry, Louis…”
Jack had certainly seen him do it, and had wanted to teach him a lesson by forcing them to train early the next day. And without a doubt, it was a lesson he would remember.
“Children!”
They looked up. Earl Rockwell was coming running, visibly panicked.
The youngest went to meet him. “Mr. Rockwell, I told you it was okay…”
“I was worried! You just said William had fallen and needed a doctor, then you ran off again… I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Thank God Jack was with you!” He approached them and finally discovered William, lying in the sheet. “My God, Will! What’s happened to you?” he gasped.
The injured teenager smiled as best he could. “We were playing… and I fell out of a tree,” he lied.
“Fell out of a tree!” the Earl exclaimed. “And since when do the three little Moriarty, who are usually so well-behaved, climb trees? Albert, you’re the eldest, and you let him do it?!”
“I’m sorry, sir…”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing, it’s normal at your age… Well, come quickly, the doctor shouldn’t be long…”
They made their way to the manor, where they laid the wounded teenager on a table. Servants warned them that the doctor had not yet arrived. William was finding it increasingly difficult to stay awake. He was cold and shivering, but at the same time sticky with sweat. A blanket was brought to him. Albert helped him rinse out his mouth and drink. Louis placed a hand on his forehead.
“You’re burning up with fever, brother…”
“It’ll be all right,” he smiled pathetically.
His ears were ringing and, after a while, he noticed that he could see the lips of the servants and his brothers moving, but he could no longer follow what they were saying. He heard Louis calling his name. Albert squeezed his shoulders and shook him a little, telling him to stay awake.
It was the last thing he saw, before exhaustion dragged him into the darkness.
When he regained consciousness, it was pitch dark outside. He was in bed. A fire was crackling in the fireplace. On either side of the mattress, his brothers were sitting in chairs, one deep in sleep, the other deep in reading. When Albert saw him move, he dropped his book on the bedside table and leaned over.
“Well, little brother?” he murmured.
William hesitated between smiling and grimacing. “I feel funny.”
“It must be what the doctor gave you.”
Louis, curled in half with his head resting on the bed between his folded arms, sighed in his sleep, but did not wake up. Albert silently filled a glass of water from a jug and helped his brother to straighten up. William took a few sips, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and then noticed the scratches left on his skin by the branches. He was sore in several places besides his leg, his back and the back of his head in particular, and he could feel that he had been bandaged on different parts of his body. He wanted to lift the duvet to check the state of his leg, but he was afraid of what he would find.
Albert was busy straightening the sheets, making sure he was tucked in properly, when he noticed his brother’s distress.
“What’s wrong?” he worried.
William clenched his fists on the duvet. He hesitated, moistened his lips and then asked, “Will I be able to walk again?”
Albert smiled tenderly. He moved closer to place a kiss on his cheek. “Yes, little brother, if you rest.”
William sighed with relief. “Thank you, brother Albert, for looking after me.”
“Always, Will.”
“Brother?” Louis had sat up and was rubbing his eyes. “I’m glad you’re awake, brother…”
“Thank you too, Louis, for looking after me,” he smiled.
A little more awake, Louis examined him, and what he saw didn’t seem to please him, as he tensed up. “Does anything hurt?”
“No, I’m fine. I’m just tired.”
Louis nodded, looking worried. “The doctor said you’d be fine since you’re young,” he explained. “He said you were very lucky, that if you’d fallen badly, you could have been paralyzed for life, or worse…” He blinked away the tears, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth pulled down. He’d been really scared. William regretted having worried him unnecessarily.
“I’m sorry, Louis… I’ll be more careful from now on.”
He caressed his cheek and wiped away a tear that had escaped. Louis nodded, his lips tight.
“Come on, you’ll be more comfortable,” William offered, patting the spot next to him. “You must have hurt your back sleeping on that chair.”
“It’s not a good idea, I might hurt you, brother…”
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. Will you be joining us, brother Albert?”
“I’ll get some food from the kitchen,” he explained. “Do you need a pot, Will?”
“Yes, please, but for dinner… I’m not really hungry.”
“You have to eat!” Louis protested loudly as he slipped under the duvet after taking off his shoes and jacket.
“But I…”
They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Albert opened it and Jack entered, pushing a sideboard.
“I’ve brought you your meal, gentlemen…”
“Thank you, Master!” Louis exclaimed as William grunted.
“I was just about to go and get it,” Albert smiled. “Thank you, Master.”
“I’m glad to see you’re awake, Sir William,” the butler said as he approached. He put a hand to his forehead and winced. “I’m afraid you still need some rest.”
“That’s all I ask…” he sighed as a hot plate of soup was handed to him.
Jack tended the fire while the three teenagers ate their dinner. Albert and Louis didn’t let go of their brother until he had finished his entire plate, despite his complaints. Thankfully, he was no longer nauseous.
When they had finished, Jack cleared their plates and made them a cup of herbal tea. William hid a yawn and then noticed on the bedside table the novel Albert had been reading earlier. “It’s my book,” he realized.
“Ah, yes… It’s true that it’s fascinating,” Albert smiled, embarrassed. “I can understand why you didn’t sleep to finish it.”
“Yes, it’s worth a sleepless night, isn’t it?” William laughed.
Louis rolled his eyes in exasperation, but before he could say anything, they heard a throat clearing beside them.
“Is this book worth a broken leg, too…?” Jack questioned.
William and Albert turned red with shame. Louis coughed to hide a laugh. The butler approached and snatched the novel from the bedside table. “Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, hmm? I’ll take it with me.”
“Wait, Master, I haven’t finished…”
But Albert made no further protest at Jack’s stare. He coughed to hide his uneasiness. Louis had more and more difficulty holding back his laughter.
“… Thank you for the meal, Master,” a dejected Albert murmured.
“I wish you good night, young people. Ring if you need anything. And above all… sleep well.”
It was as much advice as a threat, enough to make them break out in a cold sweat. The two elders waited for the butler to close the door behind him, holding their breath. When they were alone, Albert let out a long sigh. “I’ll never get to sleep without reading the end,” he complained.
William laughed. “I can tell you if you like.”
“Really?”
Albert happily agreed. Louis pouted, “I thought you were sleepy, brother…”
“It won’t take long,” he reassured him. “I’ll tell the story from the beginning, since you don’t know it, Louis, and then we’ll go to sleep, okay?”
Louis nodded easily. He loved hearing his brother tell stories.
Albert poured them new cups of tea before cuddling up in bed with them. William sat comfortably between them, his tiredness forgotten, delighted to share with his brothers a story he had loved. By the light of the fire and a candle, he spoke in a low voice, taking care to introduce each character, analyzing their behavior, painting their adventures with colors, leaving out no detail. Albert and Louis hung on his every word, listening religiously.
When the conclusion was drawn, they discussed it at length, each giving their opinion and ideas, so much so that it wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that they fell asleep. Jack discovered this and sighed, thinking that they definitely hadn’t learned the lesson.
(https://www.deviantart.com/naarci/art/It-s-the-story-of-three-brothers-1220867763)