6. Rescue and Questioning

Jacqueline kept very still. She had been blindfolded, gagged, and dragged to this place where they tied her ankles and wrists together. She now stood precariously on a narrow wooden beam. Her captors had assured her that she was positioned over a very deep and very empty vat. This clue and the barn-like smell in the air convinced her that she was in the abandoned leather tannery where skins had been treated with solutions in vats and softened with hen and dog dung.

She did not dare try to escape. Jacqueline did not doubt that she was standing high above the ground; her dizziness made sure of that. Her blindfold made it impossible for her to scope out her surroundings—and a misstep could mean crashing helplessly fifteen feet down to the ground. In any case, tied hands and feet made movement impossible for the moment.

Jacqueline slowly worked her hands around, trying to loosen the ropes that bound them. If she could liberate a hand, it would just be a manner of finding the knife she had hidden in her skirts and cutting her way to freedom.

She heard the doors burst open below her. The next moment was spent in a desperate battle to keep her balance as the beam shook under her feet. Her heart pounded with fear and she fought to stay calm. Who would have entered in such a manner? Surely not her captors, they used a secret, hidden entrance. Jacqueline tried not to get her hopes up for rescue, instead straining her ears for clues pertaining to the intruder's identities.

She heard two pairs of footsteps walking around the ground floor. After a few tense minutes, Jacqueline heard the sheathing of one rapier followed by another. "Nothing, mi amigo. It's empty," one voice said sadly, and her heart almost burst with joy.

"Ramon?" she asked timidly around the gag, afraid she might be mistaken.

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"Shhh," d'Artagnan hissed to his friend, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ramon whispered back, cocking an ear. His eyes probed the darkness for movement.

"Ramon?" came a louder and more desperate call. The sound was muffled to the men's ears.

"Jacqueline?" called d'Artagnan. "Is that you?" He held his breath.

"Thank you, God! D'Artagnan, look up," Jacqueline cried excitedly, trying to form words around the gag. "Look up!"

The two Musketeers followed the noise up and saw Jacqueline balanced high above their heads. They moved into action.

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Moments later, Jacqueline was safe on solid ground rubbing her chafed wrists. She sat with her legs stretched out in front of her, hardly caring if it was 'ladylike behavior.' They shook from the nervous stain they had been through for the past two hours. It had seemed so much longer…

D'Artagnan kneeled down next to her while Ramon stood, staring in disbelief. Jacqueline could not spare him more than a thought, however, because d'Artagnan started a line of questioning.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Did they hurt you?"

"No, d'Artagnan, I—"

"Did they touch you at all?"

"No! D'Art—"

"What did they look like?"

"I don't know; I was blindfolded."

"Where did they go?"

"How would I know? I was blindfolded!" Jacqueline finally yelled impatiently.

D'Artagnan's face softened from vengeance to tenderness. He then saw Jacqueline as his close friend rather than a witness. "Why did you risk it?"

"Do you know what it is like to be a man—Oh, never mind!" she sighed. "I just needed to shake it off."

"You were out playing dress up? Nice way to do it, getting kidnapped and waiting for me to rescue you," d'Artagnan teased, only half serious.

Jacqueline looked at him sincerely. "He asked me for my husband's name to send for the ransom, and you are the only one I knew I could trust to come." She smiled weakly.

"That reminds me," d'Artagnan fished through his pockets and pulled out the fake diamond ring that had come with the letter. "I believe this belongs to you." He offered it to her.

Jacqueline looked at it and blushed. "That was part of my disguise; I thought any street toughs would avoid a married woman. I was wrong." She looked up at him again and said, "Keep it. I don't want to be tempted again. Now, can we please get out of here? This place isn't exactly the royal apartments."

D'Artagnan helped her stand and they both noticed Ramon again. "Um… Ramon this is—" d'Artagnan began before Jacqueline cut him off.

"It's no use hiding it." Jacqueline stood up as tall as she could manage and said, "Ramon, I am Jacqueline Roget, a simple farm girl who murdered the Cardinal's captain to avenge my father and ended up a fugitive. I serve the King and France now as Jacques LePonte, and I ask for your discretion at least if you will deny me your friendship. After my deception, I wouldn't blame you if you never spoke to me again."

To Jacqueline's surprise, Ramon dropped to his knees in front of her, taking her hands in his own and resting his forehead on them. "I have waited for so long to hear you say that." He mumbled in Spanish and looked back up at her. "I pledge myself to your cause and swear to keep your secret to the grave." With that simple oath, he kissed her hands and rose to his feet.

"How did you—?" she began dumbfounded.

"I had my suspicions," Ramon grinned and winked at her.

Jacqueline traded glances with d'Artagnan and they both smiled. "We all know now," d'Artagnan told her. Jacqueline only nodded.

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When Ramon, d'Artagnan, and Jacqueline back in her Musketeer uniform walked into Siroc's workshop, the inventor greeted them calmly, "I hope your mission was successful, Jacques."

"Don't worry about it, Siroc; Ramon knows," d'Artagnan informed him after the door had been securely shut.

"That's a relief," the blonde man sighed, setting aside paper and pen.

"Wait, Siroc knew too?" Ramon asked sounding hurt.

Jacqueline jumped in, "Not for long. He just found out when he had to treat my wound on the night that Gerard died. I didn't know how to tell you, so I made him promise to keep it a secret."

Ramon shook his head thoughtfully, and Siroc took the initiative to ask for the story behind the rescue. D'Artagnan crossed his arms over his chest and waited expectantly for Jacqueline to tell the whole truth.

"D'Artagnan, you know that night you ran into me?" she started, everyone's eyes on her.

"I believe you ran into me," d'Artagnan clarified.

"Either way, that was just the first time I went out dressing up like a woman by myself. The black eye I had was from a man who dragged me into an alley; I fought him off and went running. I wasn't going to do it again until we had that fight earlier today, and I wanted to get away. Then, some men caught me on a back street. All I saw was that they were dressed in black and wore masks that covered their faces entirely, but not like the ones we saw before that worked for the Cardinal. They're different," Jacqueline explained.

"All black and in masks?" Siroc asked, eyeing d'Artagnan. The other Musketeer took no notice, so Siroc did not expand on the idea.

Jacqueline bobbed her head 'yes' and yawned. The three men all jumped to insist that she get to bed, and she groaned, "Don't start with that nonsense. No one can see you treating me any differently."

They exchanged guilty looks, but d'Artagnan earned the honor of walking her to her room. At the door, d'Artagnan checked the hall for other people before speaking, "You know, you could have asked me to be your escort. No one would have bothered you then."

"Yeah, and you would have escorted me right to your bed," she shot back over her shoulder in a low voice.

"Jacqueline, you know I wouldn't," he protested sounding hurt.

She turned to face him, back against the door. She smiled up mischievously. "Lighten up, d'Artagnan. Did anyone ever tell you that you were too serious?" Jacqueline slipped backwards into her room at that and shut the door in his face.

"It's only when I'm around you," he told the wooden door with a grin of his own.

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Author's Note: This is referring to the final episode, "Secrets." I assumed that Siroc tended to Jacqueline's wound and obviously found out her true identity while Ramon was left outside to start digging the graves or something. I'm ignoring the whole Dumas sending them out in disguise thing and having Jacqueline's secret being exposed die with Bernard.