Chapter Twenty

The Barricades Arise

Clementine opened her eyes. She was in a cramped alleyway, and she could hear shouting and the sound of running footsteps somewhere in the distance.

"Clementine," a familiar voice said, and she turned to look into Margaux's face. It definitely looked like Margaux's face, that is, but there was something very different about her. Her red hair was darker than normal, matted with grease and grime and forced into a braid that hung over one shoulder. She wore a filthy, ragged dress that had probably once been grey or maybe even white; it was hard to tell. The boots she wore were falling apart, and her skin was ingrained with dirt.

"Where am I?" Clementine asked, staring around herself. It was too warm; she felt like she was burning beneath her clothes. Of all the days she'd decided to wear jeans and it had to be this one. She shrugged out of her hooded jacket, draping it over one arm.

"You're in Paris still, in 1832," Margaux told her. "You've been here before, although it has been…different. Before you were not truly, physically in 1832. People could see you and interact with you, but you could not have left Jean Prouvaire's home, or be hurt, or change your clothes or appearance, or change anything physical. It was more your spirit, your essence that was in 1832. Now your physical self is here, because you must physically make a change." She glanced over her shoulder. "But this is not where you need to be. Come on. Follow me."

Margaux set off at a brisk trot and Clementine hurried after her. They left the alley and turned out onto a larger street, filled with people running. Clementine shrieked as a chair suddenly slammed into the ground in front of her, a leg breaking off. Margaux grabbed her arm tightly. "Be careful, girl," Margaux hissed. "They're building a barricade – do you want to die by falling piano?"

Margaux did not let go of her, instead taking hold of her hand and pulling her through the crowds of people. They were busy and frantic and no one took any notice of the two women running together.

Then they turned onto a street and Margaux slowed down. At the end of the street was a building, the sign above its door boldly announcing it was the Musain. In front of it people were assembling a collection of furniture and a carriage and there were so many people, so much shouting, so much movement.

"There you go," Margaux said, letting go of her hand. "Now, be careful. Don't get yourself killed, or you'll ruin everything."

Clementine whirled around to look at her again but Margaux was gone and she was alone, alone in a different time and an unfamiliar setting. She knew the basics of Paris but that was modern Paris. This might as well have been an entirely different country for everything she knew –

"Clementine? Is that you?"

Jehan was coming towards her, his brow furrowed, his face entirely confused. She flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his body and peppering kisses over his face. He pushed her away, held her at arm's length.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I don't know," Clementine said. "Margaux – she's – she's a fortune teller – she made me come here..."

"You can't stay," Jehan said. "It's dangerous, Clementine, this whole situation…it is dangerous for you."

"It's dangerous for you two but here you are," Clementine challenged.

"Jehan," another voice cut in. "Jehan, come on." It was one of the men she'd met that night, but she wasn't sure which one, couldn't remember his name.

"I'm coming, Combeferre." Jehan took her by her arm and tugged her towards the barricade that was being built. They worked their way around it and then he was taking her inside the café behind it. He took her by the shoulders. "You must leave. It isn't safe. You could be hurt."

"And so could you," Clementine insisted. "That is not an excuse that will work on me!"

"Whilst I find this scene touching in some ways, I do think this is the wrong time!" the curly-haired man she recognised as Courfeyrac boomed, clapping his hand down on Jehan's shoulder. "Send your mistress away, Jehan, and help us finish off –"

"I'm not his mistress and I will not be sent away," Clementine said fiercely, clenching her hands into fists.

"Courfeyrac is right," Jehan said. "You must go."

"I have nowhere to go," Clementine hissed. "I have no home here and I don't know how to get back to your house. I'm staying!"

"Musichetta and Hélène are not so far away," a dark-haired man with a cane tucked beneath his arm chipped in as he sidled past, carrying a chair with one hand.

"See, you could go with them," Jehan said. "They're nice women."

"I don't care," Clementine said, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm staying here."

"This is no place for a woman," Jehan said. "Have you ever fired a gun?"

Clementine snorted. "Have you?"

A dark-haired man with a large nose sat at one of the remaining tables behind them snorted loudly and waved what looked like a bottle of wine in their direction. "She has you there, my friend," the man said in a loud voice.

"I don't want you to stay," Jehan whispered, ignoring her. His hand touched her cheek for a brief, gentle moment.

"It is not your choice to make," Clementine replied in just as quiet a voice. "For whatever reason, Margaux sent me here and told me to come to you. I can't just leave you, not…not today."

His eyes went from quite soft to hard in a matter of seconds as he looked down at her. "You could be hurt," he said.

"I'm well aware of that," Clementine said, her heart beating fast. All around her was chaos and she could see people carrying guns and weapons. She'd never, ever been in a situation like this before – the closest she had got was accidentally running into protests against student tuition fees back home when she was seventeen or eighteen, and whilst that had been scary at the time it was nothing on this scale.

"Fine," Jehan said, in a low voice, before walking away.

A/N: I went away this weekend to a place with no internet connection and I managed to finish this story completely. One or two chapters need a bit of tweaking to make a bit more sense, but it is done, and will probably be updated once a day now. There are six more chapters to go.