The "Four Musketeers" was the nickname given to the adventurous quartet including Phillip Spaulding, Rick Bauer, Melinda Sue "Mindy" Lewis and Beth Raines.
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Phillip and Rick were childhood friends who both transferred from Lincoln Prep to Springfield High School their senior year. At the same time, Mindy, the daughter of oilman Billy Lewis, arrived in town and immediately set her sights on Phillip. In order to get his attention, she faked an injury on her horse. At the hospital, Mindy shared a room with the shy but charming Beth Raines. The quartet became inseparable soon after.
Although friendship was the primary bond between this dynamic quartet, love was a major force keeping them together... and tearing them apart. When Rick and Phillip first laid eyes on Beth, they were both smitten with her beauty. Mindy went to the senior prom with Phillip while Rick escorted Beth. But when Phillip and Beth were crowned King and Queen, they knew they belonged together. Their relationship, however, was met with great opposition. Beth's domineering stepfather, Bradley, forbade her from seeing young Phillip. In addition, Phillip was preoccupied by the discovery of his father's true identity. The couple tried to work things out but Phillip was frustrated with the situation and allowed himself to be seduced by Mindy. Meanwhile, Beth was raped by Bradley and began to withdraw from her circle of friends. When she finally told Phillip about her assault, the "Four Musketeers" fled to New York on a Christmas adventure to escape the evil Bradley.
Bradley was eventually put in jail for his crime and Beth and Phillip planned to marry. When Beth learned that Mindy was pregnant with Phillip's child, however, the wedding was called off. Torn between a love and a friendship, Phillip decided to marry Mindy so that they could raise their child together. Mindy suffered a miscarriage and the marriage fell apart, thereby freeing Phillip to pursue his true love, Beth. Unfortunately, Beth was in the middle of a rocky relationship with bad-boy gangleader, Lujack.
During his quest to win back Beth, Phillip was forced to marry India Von Halkein, Alexandra's stepdaughter. Meanwhile, Lujack was killed in a freak explosion and died in Beth's arms. Phillip found a way out of his marriage and ran to Beth's side but she was kidnapped as part of an elaborate art smuggling scheme. She was assumed dead when the boat she was aboard sank and Phillip entered a period of mourning before marrying Blake Thorpe. Meanwhile, Beth was alive and suffering from amnesia. She was saved and nursed back to health by an architect named Neil Everest who brought her to Springfield when he took a job in town. Blake and Neil teamed up to keep Beth and Phillip apart but the lovers were reunited and married on Valentine's Day, 1991.
When Neil died in an explosion, Phillip was framed for the murder. Together with Rick, Phillip faked his own death to escape prosecution. When the smoke cleared, Rick and Phillip were forced to do community service to pay for their role in the faked death cover-up. Rick moved to Chicago and Phillip moved to Arizona with Beth and their daughter, Lizzie. After clearing their names, both Rick and Phillip returned to Springfield. Rick would later marry Abigail Blume. Mindy left Springfield. A Spaulding vendetta caused Beth and Phillip to split, again, and she remained in Arizona with Lizzie. The "Four Musketeers" would never be the same again...
