Woke Up, Dreaming

By JeanTre16

Chapter 1

Wake Up, Jacqueline!

Once again, Jacqueline woke up to begin the daily routine in the garrison of the Royal Musketeers. It had been seventeen years now since that first fateful day she had donned the sleek grey and blue uniform. Presently, she found herself putting it on without much notice. It had become routine, including the binding.

Washing her face and taking care of her personal hygiene while dozens of other males were doing the same also had become common place to her. She was a Musketeer like she had always dreamt of being when she was a child.

"Good morning Ramon," Jacqueline greeted the shirtless man as he washed his face. "Better watch those seconds," she teased. "Looks like you're putting on a little weight, eh?" Her voice had become so accustomed to the manly inflections that it rarely drew attention from the others. It was true that she would never grow facial hair, but then, she had lived among men for so long that she had made up for her lack of masculine looks in other ways.

"You know, Jacques—" the Spaniard finally responded, after drying his face off with a towel "—you're all heart." Even the man who knew her identity treated her no differently than the other Musketeers, despite the fact that he had discovered her gender almost fifteen years prior. "You really should watch it your self." He candidly pointed out. "I've noticed you've been moving a little slower these days. How about a morning workout before breakfast? I bet this growing gut could beat your widening derriere." He stood there with his hands on his stomach, awaiting her response.

"You know I would, Ramon, but I already have a standing drill with the boss," she sassed back.

"If you're talking about d'Artagnan, I think you should reconsider my offer," her male friend informed her. "He's off with Dorine in the country again."

"Rats!" Jacqueline spat. "That woman is making a domestic out of him."

"Si." Ramon looked reflectively at this woman who had become so hardened over the years. "That's a horrible thing for a wife to do to her husband."

"So—" Jacqueline changed the subject "—I heard Siroc opened a little repair shop across town. Would you be interested in taking a ride over there to visit him?"

"Now that's an offer I'll take you up on," agreed Ramon. "I'll see you in the stables after breakfast."

"Later," the woman replied with a gristly voice as she walked out.

ooOOoo

Shortly after the usual meal, Jacqueline saddled her mare up for the ride across town. This was the fourth horse she had been through during her tenure as a Musketeer. Her prior three had been put to pasture. Roget thought that she herself would have been put to pasture had it not been her boss' promise those many years ago to watch out for a dead man's sister. He had kept his promise, too. There was a time he had flirted with her endlessly, but she had held her ground. "Those were the days," she said to herself softly.

"What were the days?" asked the Spaniard, approaching another horse with a saddle.

"Oh, nothing, Ramon," Jacqueline husked. "Just reminiscing those days when d'Artagnan would raze on me for hours."

"Si, Senorita." The tall man nodded with a tired smile. "You were a fiery young lady back then."

"Yep," the roughened woman breathed out as she pulled the cinch tighter. "I took care of that, didn't I?" Thinking better of what she had said, and not wanting to begin another dead-end conversation with her long-standing comrade, she replied curtly, "Never mind, don't answer that. Let's get going."

De la Cruz and Leponte exited the stables and made their way across town. As they plodded along, a man suddenly darted out of a shop, waving at them and frantically pointing them in the direction of a fleeing man. "Thief! Thief! Musketeers, stop that thief!" the vendor cried for their help.

"Here we go," responded Jacqueline, glancing over her shoulder to her partner. The two riders prompted their horses to pick up the pace, and as quickly as possible they went off after the man. Catching up to the running thief, the woman on horseback leaned over to grab him as she rode by. But her weakening grip gave way on the saddle and she lost her hold on the horse. Instead of apprehending the thief, she went crashing into a cart of hay piled on the side of the street. The careening woman hit hard and began to lose consciousness. Everything went blank.

ooOOoo

Then, as quickly as she had passed out, it seemed she was awakening to the voice of someone calling her name. "Jacqueline, Jacqueline. Wake up."

"Huh?" she muttered, trying to make sense of the voice she was hearing. "Is that you d'Artagnan?"

"Wake up Jacqueline," the voice repeated.

She opened her eyes and looked around, quite disoriented. There she was, just as she remembered, lying in a pile of hay, but the man before her was a young d'Artagnan. "Where am I?" she said, still trying to clear her head.

"We're out on patrol and we stopped to rest." He gestured at her current position. "You fell asleep." Her comrade looked at her in puzzlement, wondering the source of her strange question. "You appeared to be having a nightmare so I thought I'd wake you up."

"Whoa!" she whispered, rubbing her forehead. "That was all a dream?" She tried to sit up, but felt light-headed and lay back again.

"Apparently it wasn't a very good one either," he added in perplexed amusement. "Mind if I ask what it was about?"

Habit almost caused her to make a quick come back to make him leave her alone, but then she recalled her dream. From her reclined bed of hay she intently looked up at him and made an attempt to reply, "I had a dream that I woke up…dreaming." She wasn't exactly sure how to explain to him that she had dreamt of waking up one morning, seventeen years in the future, and that things had turned out rather disturbing to her.

D'Artagnan looked at her quizzically and laughed softly. "I have no idea what you just said. But maybe you'd like to join me by the fire and start over. The night is still young and we have a long shift to fill." He offered her his hand to help pull her up from the hay.

The guarded woman hesitated for a moment, and then decided she would take his hand to accept his offer. Maybe she just needed someone to talk to.

As they walked over to the fire, he asked her, "Have you ever taken a ride out to the country in the spring? I hear it's beautiful this time of year. Would you like to join me on our next day off?"

Jacqueline did not answer, but she promised herself she would think about it.