I eyed his stocky form, mentally estimating his possible consumption of eggs, parritch, and toasted bread against the dwindling supplies in our hampers. Not that simple shortage of food would stop any Highlander from offering hospitalitycertainly not Jamie, who was inviting MacLennan to join us, even as I mentally divided eighteen eggs by nine people instead of eight. Not fried, then; made into fritters with grated potatoes, and Id best borrow more coffee from Jocastas campsite on the way up the mountain.
We turned to go, and Jamies hand slid suddenly downward over my backside. I made an undignified sound, and Abel MacLennan turned round to gawk at me. I smiled brightly at him, resisting the urge to kick Jamie again, less discreetly.
MacLennan turned away, and scrambled up the slope in front of us with alacrity, coattails bouncing in anticipation over worn breeks. Jamie put a hand under my elbow to help me over the rocks, bending down as he did so to mutter in my ear.
Why the devil are ye not wearing a petticoat, Sassenach? he hissed. Yeve nothing at all on under your skirtyoull catch your death of cold!
Youre not wrong there, I said, shivering in spite of my cloak. I did in fact have on a linen shift under my gown, but it was a thin, ragged thing, suitable for rough camping-out in summertime, but quite insufficient to stem the wintry blasts that blew through my skirt as though it were cheesecloth.
Ye had a fine woolen petticoat yesterday. Whats become of it?
You dont want to know, I assured him.
His eyebrows went up at this, but before he could ask further questions, a scream rang out behind us.
Germain!
I turned to see a small blond head, hair flying as the owner streaked down the slope below the rocks. Two-year-old Germain had taken advantage of his mothers preoccupation with his newborn sister to escape custody and make a dash for the row of soldiers. Eluding capture, he charged headlong down the slope, picking up speed like a rolling stone.
Fergus! Marsali screamed. Germains father, hearing his name, turned round from his conversation, just in time to see his son trip over a rock and fly headlong. A born acrobat, the little boy made no move to save himself, but collapsed gracefully, rolling into a ball like a hedgehog as he struck the grassy slope on one shoulder. He rolled like a cannonball through the ranks of soldiers, shot off the edge of a rocky shelf, and plopped with a splash into the creek.
There was a general gasp of consternation, and a number of people ran down the hill to help, but one of the soldiers had already hurried to the bank. Kneeling, he thrust the tip of his bayonet through the childs floating clothes and towed the soggy bundle to the shore.
Fergus charged into the icy shallows, reaching out to clasp his waterlogged son.
Merci, mon ami, mille merci beaucoup, he said to the young soldier. Et toi, toto, he said, addressing his spluttering offspring with a small shake. Comment ça va, ye wee chowderheid?
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The soldier looked startled, but I couldnt tell whether the cause was Ferguss unique patois, or the sight of the gleaming hook he wore in place of his missing left hand.
Thats all right then, sir, he said, with a shy smile. Hell no be damaged, I think.
Brianna appeared suddenly from behind a chinkapin tree, six-month-old Jemmy on one shoulder, and scooped baby Joan neatly out of Marsalis arms.
Here, give Joanie to me, she said. You go take care of Germain.
Jamie swung the heavy cloak from his shoulders and laid it in Marsalis arms in place of the baby.
Aye, and tell the soldier laddie who saved him to come and share our fire, he told her. We can feed another, Sassenach?
Of course, I said, swiftly readjusting my mental calculations. Eighteen eggs, four loaves of stale bread for toastno, I should keep back one for the trip home tomorrowthree dozen oatcakes if Jamie and Roger hadnt eaten them already, half a jar of honey...
Marsalis thin face lighted with a rueful smile, shared among the three of us, then she was gone, hastening to the aid of her drenched and shivering menfolk.
Jamie looked after her with a sigh of resignation, as the wind caught the full sleeves of his shirt and belled them out with a muffled whoomp. He crossed his arms across his chest, hunching his shoulders against the wind, and smiled down at me, sidelong.
Ah, well. I suppose we shall both freeze together, Sassenach. Thats all right, though. I wouldna want to live without ye, anyway.
Ha, I said amiably. You could live naked on an ice floe, Jamie Fraser, and melt it. What have you done with your coat and plaid? He wore nothing besides his kilt and sark save shoes and stockings, and his high cheekbones were reddened with cold, like the tips of his ears. When I slipped a hand back inside the crook of his arm, though, he was warm as ever.
Ye dinna want to know, he said, grinning. He covered my hand with one large, callused palm. Lets go; Im starved for my breakfast.
Wait, I said, detaching myself. Jemmy was indisposed to share his mothers embrace with the newcomer, and howled and squirmed in protest, his small round face going red with annoyance under a blue knitted cap. I reached out and took him from Brianna, as he wriggled and fussed in his wrappings.
Thanks, Mama. Brianna smiled briefly, boosting tiny Joan into a more secure position against her shoulder. Are you sure you want that one, though? This ones quieterand weighs half as much.
No, hes all right. Hush, sweetie, come see Grannie. I smiled as I said it, with the still-new feeling of mingled surprise and delight that I could actually be someones grandmother. Recognizing me, Jemmy abandoned his fuss and went promptly into his mussel-clinging-to-a-rock routine, chubby fists gripped tight in my hair. Disentangling his fingers, I peered over his head, but things below seemed under control.
Fergus, breeches and stockings soaking wet, Jamies cloak draped round his shoulders, was wringing out his shirtfront one-handed, saying something to the soldier who had rescued Germain. Marsali had whipped off her arisaid and wrapped the little boy in it, her loosened blond hair flying out from under her kerch like cobwebs in the wind.
Lieutenant Hayes, attracted by the noise, was peering out from the flap of his tent like a whelk from its shell. He looked up, and caught my eye; I waved briefly, then turned to follow my own family back to our campsite.
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Jamie was saying something to Brianna in Gaelic, as he helped her over a rocky patch in the trail ahead of me.
Yes, Im ready, she said, replying in English. Wheres your coat, Da?
I lent it to your husband, he said. We dinna want him to look a beggar at your wedding, aye?
Bree laughed, wiping a flying strand of red hair out of her mouth with her free hand.
Better a beggar than an attempted suicide.
A what? I caught up with them as we emerged from the shelter of the rocks. The wind barreled across the open space, pelting us with sleet and bits of stinging gravel, and I pulled the knitted cap further down over Jemmys ears, then pulled the blanket up over his head.
Whoof! Brianna hunched over the swaddled baby girl she carried, sheltering her from the blast. Roger was shaving when the drums started up; he nearly cut his throat. The front of his coat is covered with bloodstains. She glanced at Jamie, eyes watering with the wind. So youve seen him this morning. Where is he now, do you know?
The lads in one piece, he assured her. I told him to go and talk wi Father Donahue, while Hayes was about his business. He gave her a sharp look. Ye might have told me the lad was no a Catholic.
I might, she said, unperturbed. But I didnt. Its no big deal to me.
If ye mean by that peculiar expression, that its of no consequence Jamie began with a distinct edge in his voice, but was interrupted by the appearance of Roger himself, resplendent in a kilt of green-and-white MacKenzie tartan, with the matching plaid draped over Jamies good coat and waistcoat. The coat fit decentlyboth men were of a size, long-limbed and broad-shouldered, though Jamie was an inch or two the tallerand the gray wool was quite as becoming to Rogers dark hair and olive skin as it was to Jamies burnished auburn coloring.
You look very nice, Roger, I said. Where did you cut yourself? His face was pink, with the raw look common to just-shaved skin, but otherwise unmarked.
Roger was carrying Jamies plaid under his arm, a bundle of red and black tartan. He handed it over and tilted his head to one side, showing me the deep gash just under his jawbone.
Just there. Not so bad, but it bled like the dickens. They dont call them cutthroat razors for nothing, aye?
The gash had already crusted into a neat dark line, a cut some three inches long, angled down from the corner of his jaw across the side of his throat. I touched the skin near it briefly. Not bad; the blade of the razor had cut straight in, no flap of skin needing suture. No wonder it had bled a lot, though; it did look as though he had tried to cut his throat.
A bit nervous this morning? I teased. Not having second thoughts, are you?
A little late for that, Brianna said dryly, coming up beside me. Got a kid who needs a name, after all.
Hell have more names than he knows what to do with, Roger assured her. So will youMrs. MacKenzie.
A small flush lit Briannas face at the name, and she smiled at him. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, taking the cocooned baby from her as he did so. A look of sudden shock crossed his face as he felt the weight of the bundle in his arms, and he gawked down at it.
Thats not ours, Bree said, grinning at his look of consternation. Its Marsalis Joan. Mama has Jemmy.
Thank God, he said, holding the bundle with a good deal more caution. I thought hed evaporated or something. He lifted the blanket slightly, exposing tiny Joans sleeping face, and smiledas people always didat sight of her comical quiff of brown hair, which came to a point like a Kewpie dolls.
Not a chance, I said, grunting as I hoisted a well-nourished Jemmy, now peacefully comatose in his own wrappings, into a more comfortable position. I think hes gained a pound or two on the way uphill. I was flushed from exertion, and held the baby a little away from myself, as a sudden wave of heat flushed my cheeks and perspiration broke out under the waves of my disheveled hair.
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Jamie took Jemmy from me, and tucked him expertly under one arm like a football, one hand cupping the babys head.
Yeve spoken wi the priest, then? he said, eyeing Roger skeptically.
I have, Roger said dryly, answering the look as much as the question. Hes satisfied Im no the Anti-Christ. So long as Im willing the lad should be baptized Catholic, theres no bar to the wedding. Ive said Im willing.
Jamie grunted in reply, and I repressed a smile. While Jamie had no great religious prejudiceshe had dealt with, fought with, and commanded far too many men, of every possible backgroundthe revelation that his son-in-law was a Presbyterianand had no intention of convertinghad occasioned some small comment.
Bree caught my eye and gave me a sidelong smile, her own eyes creasing into blue triangles of catlike amusement.
Very wise of you not to mention religion ahead of time, I murmured, careful not to speak loudly enough for Jamie to hear me. Both men were walking ahead of us, still rather stiff in their attitudes, though the formality of their demeanor was rather impaired by the trailing draperies of the babies they carried.
Jemmy let out a sudden squawk, but his grandfather swung him up without breaking stride, and he subsided, round eyes fixed on us over Jamies shoulder, sheltered under the hooding of his blanket. I made a face at him, and he broke into a huge, gummy smile.
Roger wanted to say something, but I told him to keep quiet. Bree stuck out her tongue and wiggled it at Jemmy, then fixed a wifely look on Rogers back. I knew Da wouldnt make a stramash about it, if we waited til just before the wedding.
I noted both her astute evaluation of her fathers behavior, and her easy use of Scots. She resembled Jamie in a good deal more than the obvious matter of looks and coloring; she had his talent for human judgment and his glibness with language. Still, there was something niggling at my mind, something to do with Roger and religion...
We had come up close enough behind the men to hear their conversation.
... about Hillsborough, Jamie was saying, leaning toward Roger so as to be heard over the wind. Calling for information about the rioters.
Oh, aye? Roger sounded both interested and wary. Duncan Innes will be interested to hear that. He was in Hillsborough during the troubles, did you know?
No. Jamie sounded more than interested. Ive barely seen Duncan to speak to this week. Ill ask him, maybe, after the weddingif he lives through it. Duncan was to marry Jamies aunt, Jocasta Cameron, in the evening, and was nervous to the point of prostration over the prospect.
Roger turned, shielding Joan from the wind with his body as he spoke to Brianna.
Your aunts told Father Donahue he can hold the weddings in her tent. Thatll be a help.
Brrrr! Bree hunched her shoulders, shivering. Thank goodness. Its no day to be getting married under the greenwood tree.
A huge chestnut overhead sent down a damp shower of yellow leaves, as though in agreement. Roger looked a little uneasy.
I dont imagine its quite the wedding you maybe thought of, he said. When ye were a wee girl.
Brianna looked up at Roger and a slow, wide smile spread across her face. Neither was the first one, she said. But I liked it fine.
Rogers complexion wasnt given to blushing, and his ears were red with cold in any case. He opened his mouth as though to reply, caught Jamies gimlet eye, and shut it again, looking embarrassed but undeniably pleased.
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Mr. Fraser!
I turned to see one of the soldiers making his way up the hill toward us, his eyes fixed on Jamie.
Corporal MacNair, your servant, sir, he said, breathing hard as he reached us. He gave a sharp inclination of the head. The Lieutenants compliments, and would ye be so good as to attend him in his tent? He caught sight of me, and bowed again, less abruptly. Mrs. Fraser. My compliments, maam.
Your servant, sir. Jamie returned the Corporals bow. My apologies to the Lieutenant, but I have duties that require my attendance elsewhere. He spoke politely, but the Corporal glanced sharply up at him. MacNair was young, but not callow; a quick look of understanding crossed his lean, dark face. The last thing any man would want was to be seen going into Hayess tent by himself, immediately following that Proclamation.
The Lieutenant bids me request the attendance upon him of Mr. Farquard Campbell, Mr. Andrew MacNeill, Mr. Gerald Forbes, Mr. Duncan Innes, and Mr. Randall Lillywhite, as well as yourself, sir.
A certain amount of tension left Jamies shoulders.
Does he, he said dryly. So Hayes meant to consult the powerful men of the area: Farquard Campbell and Andrew MacNeill were large landowners and local magistrates; Gerald Forbes a prominent solicitor from Cross Creek, and a justice of the peace; Lillywhite a magistrate of the circuit court. And Duncan Innes was about to become the largest plantation owner in the western half of the colony, by virtue of his impending marriage to Jamies widowed aunt. Jamie himself was neither rich nor an official of the Crownbut he was the proprietor of a large, if still largely vacant, land grant in the backcountry.
He gave a slight shrug and shifted the baby to his other shoulder, settling himself.
Aye. Well, then. Tell the Lieutenant I shall attend him as soon as may be convenient.
Nothing daunted, MacNair bowed and went off, presumably in search of the other gentlemen on his list.
And whats all that about? I asked Jamie. Oops. I reached up and skimmed a glistening strand of saliva from Jemmys chin before it could reach Jamies shirt. Starting a new tooth, are we?
Ive plenty of teeth, Jamie assured me, and so have you, so far as I can see. As to what Hayes may want with me, I canna say for sure. And I dinna mean to find out before I must, either. He cocked one ruddy eyebrow at me, and I laughed.
Oh, a certain flexibility in that word convenient, is there?
I didna say it would be convenient for him, Jamie pointed out. Now, about your petticoat, Sassenach, and why youre scampering about the forest bare-arsedDuncan, a charaid! The wry look on his face melted into genuine pleasure at sight of Duncan Innes, making his way toward us through a small growth of bare-limbed dogwood.
Duncan clambered over a fallen log, the process made rather awkward by his missing left arm, and arrived on the path beside us, shaking water droplets from his hair. He was already dressed for his wedding, in a clean ruffled shirt and starched linen stock above his kilt, and a coat of scarlet broadcloth trimmed in gold lace, the empty sleeve pinned up with a brooch. I had never seen Duncan look so elegant, and said so.
Och, well, he said diffidently. Miss Jo did wish it. He shrugged off the compliment along with the rain, carefully brushing away dead needles and bits of bark that had adhered to his coat in the passage through the pines.
Brrr! A gruesome day, Mac Dubh, and no mistake. He looked up at the sky and shook his head. Happy the bride the sun shines on; happy the corpse the rain falls on.
I do wonder just how delighted you can expect the average corpse to be, I said, whatever the meteorological conditions. But Im sure Jocasta will be quite happy regardless, I added hastily, seeing a look of bewilderment spread itself across Duncans features. And you too, of course!
Oh... aye, he said, a little uncertainly. Aye, of course. I thank ye, maam.
When I saw ye coming through the wood, I thought perhaps Corporal MacNair was nippin at your heels, Jamie said. Youre no on your way to see Archie Hayes, are you?
Duncan looked quite startled.
Hayes? No, what would the Lieutenant want wi me?
You were in Hillsborough in September, aye? Here, Sassenach, take this wee squirrel away. Jamie interrupted himself to hand me Jemmy, who had decided to take a more active interest in the proceedings and was attempting to climb his grandfathers torso, digging in his toes and making loud grunting noises. The sudden activity, however, was not Jamies chief motive for relieving himself of the burden, as I discovered when I accepted Jemmy.
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Thanks a lot, I said, wrinkling my nose. Jamie grinned at me, and turned Duncan up the path, resuming their conversation.
Hmm, I said, sniffing cautiously. Finished, are you? No, I thought not. Jemmy closed his eyes, went bright red, and emitted a popping noise like muffled machine-gun fire. I undid his wrappings sufficiently to peek down his back.
Whoops, I said, and hastily unwound the blanket, just in time. What has your mother been feeding you?
Thrilled to have escaped his swaddling bands, Jemmy churned his legs like a windmill, causing a noxious yellowish substance to ooze from the baggy legs of his diaper.
Pew, I said succinctly, and holding him at arms length, headed off the path toward one of the tiny rivulets that meandered down the mountainside, thinking that while I could perhaps do without such amenities as indoor plumbing and motorcars, there were times when I sincerely missed things like rubber pants with elasticated legs. To say nothing of toilet rolls.
I found a good spot on the edge of the little stream, with a thick coating of dead leaves. I knelt, laid out a fold of my cloak, and parked Jemmy on it on his hands and knees, pulling the soggy clout off without bothering to unpin it.
Weee! he said, sounding surprised as the cold air struck him. He clenched his fat little buttocks and hunched like a small pink toad.
Ha, I told him. If you think a cold wind up the bum is bad, just wait. I scooped up a handful of damp yellow-brown leaves, and cleaned him off briskly. A fairly stoic child, he wiggled and squirmed, but didnt screech, instead making high-pitched Eeeeee noises as I excavated his crevices.
I flipped him over, and with a hand held prophylactically over the danger zone, administered a similar treatment to his private parts, this eliciting a wide, gummy grin.
Oh, you are a Hieland man, arent you? I said, smiling back.
And just what dye mean by that remark, Sassenach? I looked up to find Jamie leaning against a tree on the other side of the streamlet. The bold colors of his dress tartan and white linen sark stood out bright against the faded autumn foliage; face and hair, though, made him look like some denizen of the wood, all bronze and auburn, with the wind stirring his hair so the free ends danced like the scarlet maple leaves above.
Well, hes apparently impervious to cold and damp, I said, concluding my labors and discarding the final handful of soiled leaves. Beyond that... well, Ive not had much to do with male infants before, but isnt this rather precocious?
One corner of Jamies mouth curled up, as he peered at the prospect revealed under my hand. The tiny appendage stood up stiff as my thumb, and roughly the same size.
Ah, no, he said. Ive seen a many wee lads in the raw. They all do that now and again. He shrugged, and the smile grew wider. Now, whether its only Scottish lads, I couldna be saying...
A talent that improves with age, I daresay, I said dryly. I tossed the dirty clout across the streamlet, where it landed at his feet with a splat. Get the pins and rinse that out, will you?
His long, straight nose wrinkled slightly, but he knelt without demur and picked the filthy thing up gingerly between two fingers.
Oh, so thats what yeve done wi your petticoat, he said. I had opened the large pocket I wore slung at my waist and extracted a clean, folded rectangle of cloth. Not the unbleached linen of the clout he held, but a thick, soft, often-washed wool flannel, dyed a pale red with the juice of currants.
I shrugged, checked Jemmy for the prospect of fresh explosions, and popped him onto the new diaper.
With three babies all in clouts, and the weather too damp to dry anything properly, we were rather short of clean bits. The bushes around the clearing where we had made our family camp were all festooned with flapping laundry, most of it still wet, owing to the inopportune weather.
Here. Jamie stretched across the foot-wide span of rock-strewn water to hand me the pins extracted from the old diaper. I took them, careful not to drop them in the stream. My fingers were stiff and chilly, but the pins were valuable; Bree had made them of heated wire, and Roger had carved the capped heads from wood, in accordance with her drawings. Honest-to-goodness safety pins, if a bit larger and cruder than the modern version. The only real defect was the glue used to hold the wooden heads to the wire; made from boiled milk and hoof parings, it was not entirely waterproof, and the heads had to be reglued periodically.
I folded the diaper snugly about Jemmys loins and thrust a pin through the cloth, smiling at sight of the wooden cap. Bree had taken one set and carved a small, comical frogeach with a wide, toothless grinonto each one.
All right, Froggie, here you go, then. Diaper securely fastened, I sat down and boosted him into my lap, smoothing down his smock and attempting to rewrap his blanket.
Where did Duncan go? I asked. Down to see the Lieutenant?
Jamie shook his head, bent over his task.
I told him not to go yet. He was in Hillsborough during the troubles there. Best he should wait a bit; then if Hayes should ask, he can swear honestly theres no man here who took part in the riots. He looked up and smiled, without humor. There wont be, come nightfall.
I watched his hands, large and capable, wringing out the rinsed clout. The scars on his right hand were usually almost invisible, but they stood out now, ragged white lines against his cold-reddened skin. The whole business made me mildly uneasy, though there seemed no direct connection with us.
For the most part, I could think of Governor Tryon with no more than a faint sense of edginess; he was, after all, safely tucked away in his nice new palace in New Bern, separated from our tiny settlement on Frasers Ridge by three hundred miles of coastal towns, inland plantations, pine forest, piedmont, trackless mountains, and sheer howling wilderness. With all the other things he had to worry about, such as the self-styled Regulators who had terrorized Hillsborough, and the corrupt sheriffs and judges who had provoked the terror, I hardly thought he would have time to spare a thought for us. I hoped not.
The uncomfortable fact remained that Jamie held title to a large grant of land in the North Carolina mountains as the gift of Governor Tryonand Tryon in turn held one small but important fact tucked away in his vest pocket: Jamie was a Catholic. And Royal grants of land could be made only to Protestants, by law.
Given the tiny number of Catholics in the colony, and the lack of organization among them, the question of religion was rarely an issue. There were no Catholic churches, no resident Catholic priests; Father Donahue had made the arduous journey down from Baltimore, at Jocastas request. Jamies aunt Jocasta and her late husband, Hector Cameron, had been influential among the Scottish community here for so long that no one would have thought of questioning their religious background, and I thought it likely that few of the Scots with whom we had been celebrating all week knew that we were Papists.
They were, however, likely to notice quite soon. Bree and Roger, who had been handfasted for a year, were to be married by the priest this evening, along with two other Catholic couples from Bremertonand with Jocasta and Duncan Innes.
Archie Hayes, I said suddenly. Is he a Catholic?
Jamie hung the wet clout from a nearby branch and shook water from his hands.
I havena asked him, he said, but I shouldna think so. That is, his father was not; I should be surprised if he wasand him an officer.
True. The disadvantages of Scottish birth, poverty, and being an ex-Jacobite were sufficiently staggering; amazing enough that Hayes had overcome these to rise to his present position, without the additional burden of the taint of Papistry.
What was troubling me, though, was not the thought of Lieutenant Hayes and his men; it was Jamie. Outwardly, he was calm and assured as ever, with that faint smile always hiding in the corner of his mouth. But I knew him very well; I had seen the two stiff fingers of his right handmaimed in an English prisontwitch against the side of his leg as he traded jokes and stories with Hayes the night before. Even now, I could see the thin line that formed between his brows when he was troubled, and it wasnt concern over what he was doing.
Was it simply worry over the Proclamation? I couldnt see why that should be, given that none of our folk had been involved in the Hillsborough riots.
... a Presbyterian, he was saying. He glanced over at me with a wry smile. Like wee Roger.
The memory that had niggled at me earlier dropped suddenly into place.
You knew that, I said. You knew Roger wasnt a Catholic. You saw him baptize that child in Snaketown, when we... took him from the Indians. Too late, I saw the shadow cross his face, and bit my tongue. When we took Rogerand left in his place Jamies dearly loved nephew Ian.
A shadow crossed his face momentarily, but he smiled, pushing away the thought of Ian.
Aye, I did, he said.
But Bree
Shed marry the lad if he were a Hottentot, Jamie interrupted. Anyone can see that. And I canna say Id object overmuch to wee Roger if he were a Hottentot, he added, rather to my surprise.
You wouldnt?
Jamie shrugged, and stepped over the tiny creek to my side, wiping wet hands on the end of his plaid.
Hes a braw lad, and hes kind. Hes taken the wean as his own and said no word to the lass about it. Its no more than a man should dobut not every man would.
I glanced down involuntarily at Jemmy, curled up cozily in my arms. I tried not to think of it myself, but could not help now and then searching his bluntly amiable features for any trace that might reveal his true paternity.
Brianna had been handfast with Roger, lain with him for one nightand then been raped two days later, by Stephen Bonnet. There was no way to tell for sure who the father had been, and so far Jemmy gave no indication of resembling either man in the slightest. He was gnawing his fist at the moment, with a ferocious scowl of concentration, and with his soft fuzz of red-gold plush, he looked like no one so much as Jamie himself.
