From the corner of my eye, I saw Joseph Wemyss stroke back the hair from Jamies forehead, and wipe away the sweat from his face and neck with a towel.
Because ye need me, hed said. And I realized then that it wasnt only me that hed meant.
It didnt take a long time. When it was done, I spread honey carefully over all the open wounds, and rubbed oil of wintergreen into the skin of foot and calf.
Thats a nice job of basting, Sassenach. Dye reckon its ready for the oven yet? Jamie asked, and wiggled his toes, causing the tension in the room to relax into laughter.
Everyone did leave, then, patting Jamies shoulder or kissing his cheek in farewell, with gruff wishes of good luck. He smiled and nodded, lifting his hand in farewell, exchanging goodbyes, making small jokes.
When the door closed behind the last of them, he lay back on the pillow and closed his eyes, letting all his breath out in a long, deep sigh. I set about tidying my tray, setting the syringe to soak in alcohol, corking bottles, folding bandages. Then I sat down beside him, and he reached out a hand to me, not opening his eyes.
His skin was warm and dry, the hand reddened from Murdos fierce grip. I traced his knuckles gently with my thumb, listening to the rumble and clatter of the house below, subdued but lively.
It will work, I said softly, after a minute. I know it will.
I know, he said. He took a deep breath, and at last, began to weep.
NEW BLOOD
ROGER WOKE ABRUPTLY, out of a black and dreamless sleep. He felt like a landed fish, jerked gasping into an alien and unimagined element. He saw but did not grasp his surroundings; strange light and flattened surfaces. Then his mind made sense of Briannas touch on his arm, and he was once more inside his skin, and in a bed.
Hwh? He sat up suddenly, making a hoarse noise of inquiry.
Im sorry to wake you. Brianna smiled, but a line of concern drew her brows together as her eyes searched his face. She smoothed the tangled hair back from his brow, and he reached for her by reflex, falling back against the pillow with her heavy in his arms.
Hwm. Holding her was an anchor to realitysolid flesh and warm skin, her hair soft as dreams against his face.
Okay? she asked softly. Long fingers touched his chest and his nipple puckered, curly hairs around it rising.
Okay, he said, and sighed deeply. He kissed her forehead briefly, and relaxed, blinking. His throat was dry as sand, and his mouth felt sticky, but he was beginning to think coherently again. Whatime ist? He was in his own bed, and it was dim enough in the room to be evening, but that was because the door was closed and the windows covered. Something felt wrong about the light, the air.
She pushed herself up off him, sweeping back the fall of red hair with one hand.
Its a little past noon. I wouldnt have waked you up, but theres a man, and I dont know what to do about him. She glanced in the direction of the big house, and lowered her voice, though surely no one was near enough to hear her.
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Das sound asleep, and Mama, too, she said, confirming this impression. I dont want to wake themeven if I could. She smiled briefly, one corner of her long mouth curling up with her fathers irony. It would take gunpowder, I think. Theyre dead to the world.
She turned away and reached for the pitcher on the table. The sound of water pouring fell on Rogers ears like rain on parched land, and he drained the offered cup in three gulps and held it out again.
More. Please. Man? That was an improvement; he was making complete words again, and his capacity to think coherently was coming back.
He says his name is Thomas Christie. Hes come to see Da; he says he was at Ardsmuir.
Yeah? Roger drank the second cup more slowly, assembling his thoughts. Then he put down the cup and swung his legs out of bed, reaching for the discarded shirt that hung from the peg. Okay. Tell him Ill be there in a minute.
She kissed him briefly and left, pausing long enough to untack the hide over the window and let in a brilliant shaft of light and chilly air.
He dressed slowly, his mind still pleasantly torpid. As he bent to dredge his stockings out from under the bed, though, something in the tumbled bedclothes caught his eye, just under the edge of the pillow. He reached out slowly and picked it up. The auld wifiethe tiny fertility charm, its ancient pink stone smooth in the sun, surprisingly heavy in his hand.
I will be damned, he said, aloud. He stood staring at it for a moment, then bent and tucked it gently back beneath the pillow.
BRIANNA HAD PUT the visitor in Jamies studywhat most of the tenants still called the speak-a-word room. Roger stopped for a moment in the corridor, checking to be sure all his bodily parts were present and attached. There hadnt been time to shave, but hed combed his hair; there was a limit to what this Christie might expect, under the circumstances.
Three faces turned toward the door as he came in, surprising him. Bree hadnt thought to warn him that Christie had outriders. Still, the elder man, a square-set gentleman with trimly cut black hair streaked with gray, was obviously Thomas Christie; the dark-haired younger man was no more than twenty, and just as obviously Christies son.
Mr. Christie? He offered the older man his hand. Im Roger MacKenzie; Im married to Jamie Frasers daughteryouve met my wife, I think.
Christie looked mildly surprised, and looked over Rogers shoulder, as though expecting Jamie to materialize behind him. Roger cleared his throat; his voice was still thick from sleep, and thus even more hoarse than it usually was.
Im afraid my father-in-law is... not available at present. Could I be of service to you?
Christie frowned at him, assessing his potential, then nodded slowly. He took Rogers hand, and shook it firmly. To his astonishment, Roger felt something both familiar and grossly unexpected; the distinctive pressure against his knuckle of a Masonic greeting. He had not experienced that in years, and it was more reflex than reason that caused him to respond with what he hoped was the proper countersign. Evidently it was satisfactory; Christies severe expression eased slightly, and he let go.
Perhaps ye may, Mr. MacKenzie, perhaps ye may, Christie said. He fixed a piercing gaze on Roger. I wish to find land on which to settle with my familyand I was told that Mr. Fraser might feel himself in a position to put something suitable in my way.
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That might be possible, Roger replied cautiously. What the hell? he thought. Had Christie just been trying it on at a venture, or had he reason to expect that sign would be recognized? If he didthat presumably meant that he knew Jamie Fraser would recognize it, and thought his son-in-law might, as well. Jamie Fraser, a Freemason? The thought had never so much as crossed Rogers mind, and Jamie himself had certainly never spoken of it.
Pleasedo sit down, he said abruptly, motioning to the visitors. Christies familythe son and a girl who might be either Christies daughter or the sons wifehad risen as well when Roger came in, standing behind the paterfamilias like attendants behind some visiting potentate.
Feeling more than slightly self-conscious, Roger waved them back to their stools, and sat down himself behind Jamies desk. He plucked one of the quills from the blue salt-glazed jar, hoping this would make him seem more businesslike. Christ, what questions ought he to ask a potential tenant?
Now, then, Mr. Christie. He smiled at them, conscious of his unshaven jaws. My wife says that you were acquainted with my father-in-law, in Scotland?
In Ardsmuir prison, Christie answered, darting Roger a sharp look, as though daring him to make something of this.
Roger cleared his throat again; healed as it was, it tended still to be clogged and rasping for some time after rising. Christie appeared to take it as an adverse comment, however, and bristled slightly. He had thick brows and prominent eyes of a light yellowish-brown color, and this, coupled with feathery, close-clipped dark hair and the lack of any visible neck, gave him the aspect of a large, irascible owl.
Jamie Fraser was a prisoner there as well, he said. Surely ye knew as much?
Why, yes, Roger said mildly. I understand that several of the men who are settled here on the Ridge came from Ardsmuir.
Who? Christie demanded, increasing the owlish impression.
Ah... the Lindsaysthats Kenny, Murdo, and Evan, Roger said, rubbing a hand over his brow to assist thought. Geordie Chisholm and Robert MacLeod. I thinkyes, Im fairly sure Alex MacNeill was from Ardsmuir, too.
Christie had been following this list with close attention, like a barn owl keeping track of a rustling in the hay. Now he relaxed, settling his feathers, as Roger thought.
I know them, he said, with an air of satisfaction. MacNeill will vouch for my character, if thats needful. His tone strongly suggested that it shouldnt be.
Roger had never seen Jamie interview a potential tenant, but he had heard Fraser talk to Claire about the ones he chose. Accordingly, he posed a few questions regarding Christies more recent past, trying to balance courtesy with an attitude of authority, andhe thoughtmanaging it none too badly.
Christie had been transported with the other prisoners, he said, but had been fortunate in having his indenture purchased by a plantation owner in South Carolina, who upon finding that Christie possessed some learning, had made him schoolmaster to his own six children, taking fees from the nearby families for the privilege of sending their children also to be tutored by Christie. Once Christies term of indenture had expired, he had agreed to remain, working for wages.
Really? Roger said, his interest in Christie increasing markedly. A schoolmaster, eh? It would please Bree no end, to be able to resign her involuntary position as what she disparagingly termed Bo-Peep. And Christie looked more than capable of dealing with intransigent scholars. What brings you here, then, Mr. Christie? Its some way from South Carolina.
The man shrugged broad shoulders. He was road-worn and quite dusty, but his coat was of decent cloth, and he had sound shoes.
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My wife died, he said gruffly. Of the influenza. So did Mr. Everett, the owner. His heir did not require my services, and I did not wish to remain there without employment. He shot Roger a piercing look under shaggy brows. You said Mr. Fraser is not available. How long will it be until his return?
I couldnt say. Roger tapped the end of the quill against his teeth, hesitating. In fact, he couldnt say how long Jamie might be incapacitated; when seen last night, hed looked barely alive. Even if he recovered uneventfully, he could be ill for some time. And he hated to send Christie away, or make him wait; it was late in the year, and not much time to spare, if the man and his family were to be settled for the winter.
He glanced from Christie to his son. Both sizable men, and strong, from the looks of them. Neither had the look of a drunkard or a lout, and both had the callused palms that bespoke at least familiarity with manual labor. They had a woman to look after their domestic requirements. And after all, Masonic brotherhood quite aside, Christie had been one of Jamies Ardsmuir men. He knew that Jamie always made a special effort to find such men a place.
Making a decision, Roger pulled out a clean sheet of paper and uncapped the inkwell. He cleared his throat once more.
Very well, Mr. Christie. I think we can reach some... accommodation.
To his pleased surprise, the study door opened, and Brianna came in, carrying a tray of biscuits and beer. She cast down her eyes modestly as she set it on the desk, but he caught the flash of amusement she sent him under her lashes. He bent his head, smiling, and touched her wrist lightly in acknowledgment as she set out the mugs in front of him. The gesture reminded him of Christies handshake, and he wondered whether Brianna knew anything about Jamies history in that direction. He rather thought not; surely she would have mentioned it.
Brianna, say hello to our new tenants, he said, with a nod at the Christies. Mr. Thomas Christie, and...
My son, Allan, Christie said, with a jerk of the head, and my daughter, Malva.
The son had none of his fathers owlish look, being much fairer in aspect, with a broad, square, clean-shaven face, though he had the same feathery, tufted dark hair. He nodded in silent acknowledgment of the introduction, eyes fixed on the refreshment.
The girlMalva?barely looked up, her hands folded modestly in her lap. Roger had the vague impression of a tallish girl, perhaps seventeen or eighteen, neat in a dark blue dress and white kerch, with a soft frill of black curls just visible around the pale oval of her face. Another point in Christies favor, Roger thought absently; girls of marriageable age were rare, pretty ones still rarer. Malva Christie would likely have several offers before the spring planting.
Bree nodded to each of them, looking at the girl with particular interest. Then a loud shriek came from the kitchen, and she fled with a murmured excuse.
My son, Roger said, in apology. He lifted a mug of beer, offering it. Will you take a bit of refreshment, Mr. Christie?
The tenant contracts were all kept in the left-hand drawer of the desk; hed seen them, and knew the general outlines. Fifty acres would be granted outright, more land rented as needed, with provision for payment made according to individual situations. A little discussion over the beer and biscuits, and they had reached what seemed an adequate agreement.
Completing the contract with a flourish, Roger signed his own name, as agent for James Fraser, and pushed the paper across the desk for Christie to sign. He felt a deep, pleasant glow of accomplishment. A sound tenant, and willing to pay half his quitrent by serving as schoolmaster for five months of the year. Jamie himself, Roger thought complacently, would not have done better.
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Then he caught himself. No, Jamie would have taken one more step, and seen the Christies offered not only hospitality but lodging, a place to stay until they could achieve some shelter of their own. Not here, though; not with Jamie ill and Claire occupied in nursing him. He thought for a moment, then stepped to the door and called for Lizzie.
Weve a new tenant come, and his family, a muirninn, he said, smiling at her anxious, willing mouse-face. This is Mr. Thomas Christie, and his son and daughter. Can ye ask your Da will he take them up to Evan Lindsays cabin? Its near where theyll have their own land, and Im thinking perhaps Evan and his wife have room for them to stay for a bit, until they can get a start on a place of their own.
Oh, aye, Mister Roger. Lizzie bobbed a quick curtsy toward Christie, who acknowledged her with a small bow. Then she glanced at Roger, thin brows lifted. Will Himself know about it, then?
Roger felt a slight flush rise in his cheeks, but gave no sign of discomposure.
Thats all right, he said. Ill be telling him, so soon as hes feeling better.
Mr. Fraser is ill? I am sorry to hear it. The unfamiliar soft voice came from behind, startling him, and he turned to find Malva Christie looking up at him in question. He hadnt taken much notice of her, but was now struck by the beauty of her eyesan odd light gray, almond-shaped and luminous, and thickly fringed with long black lashes. Perhaps sooner than the spring planting, he thought, and coughed.
Bitten by a snake, he said abruptly. Not to worry, though; hes mending.
He thrust out a hand to Christie, ready this time for the secret grip.
Welcome to Frasers Ridge, he said. I hope you and your family will be happy here.
JAMIE WAS SITTING UP in bed, attended hand and foot by devoted women, and looking desperate in consequence. His face relaxed a little at sight of a fellow man, and he waved away his handmaidens. Lizzie, Marsali, and Mrs. Bug left reluctantly, but Claire remained, busy with her bottles and blades.
Roger moved to sit down on the bed-foot, only to be shooed off by Claire, who motioned him firmly to a stool before lifting the sheet to check matters beneath and be sure that his ill-advised gesture had caused no damage.
All right, she said at last, poking at the white cheesecloth dressing with an air of satisfaction. The maggots were back, evidently earning their keep. She straightened up and nodded to Rogerlike the Grand Vizier granting an audience with the Caliph of Baghdad, Roger thought, amused. He glanced at Jamie, who rolled his eyes upward, then gave Roger a small, wry smile of greeting.
How is it? both of them said at once. Roger smiled, and the corner of Jamies mouth turned up. He gave a brief shrug.
Im alive, he said. Mind, that doesna prove ye were right. Yere not.
Right about what? Claire asked, glancing up with curiosity from the bowl in her hands.
Oh, a wee point of philosophy, Jamie told her. Regarding choice, and chance.
She snorted.
I dont want to hear a word about it.
Just as well. Im no inclined to discuss such matters on nothing but bread and milk. Jamie glanced with mild distaste at a bowl of that nourishing but squashy substance, sitting half-finished on the table at his side. So, have ye seen to the ulcer on the mules leg, then, Roger Mac?
I did, Claire told him. Its healing very well. Rogers been busy, interviewing new tenants.
Oh, aye? Frasers brows went up in interest.
Aye, a man named Tom Christie and his family. He said he was at Ardsmuir with you.
For a split second, Roger felt as though all the air in the room had been removed by a vacuum, freezing everything. Fraser stared at him, expressionless. Then he nodded, his expression of pleasant interest restored as though by magic, and normal time resumed.
Aye, I mind Tom Christie fine. Where has he been in the last twenty years?
Roger explained both Tom Christies account of his wanderings, and what accommodations had been reached for his tenancy.
That will do verra well, Jamie said approvingly, hearing of Christies willingness to be schoolmaster. Tell him he may use any of the books hereand ask him to make up a list of others he might need. Ill tell Fergus to look about, next time hes in Cross Creek or Wilmington.
The conversation moved on to more mundane affairs, and after a few minutes, Roger got up to take his leave.
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Everything seemed perfectly all right, and yet he felt obscurely uneasy. Surely he hadnt imagined that instant? Turning to close the door behind him, he saw that Jamie had folded his hands neatly on his chest and closed his eyes; if not yet asleep, effectively forbidding conversation. Claire was looking at her husband, her yellow hawk-eyes narrowed in speculation. No, shed seen it, too.
So he hadnt imagined it. What on earth was the matter with Tom Christie?
THE SUMMER DIM
THE NEXT DAY Roger closed the door behind him and stood on the porch for a moment, breathing the cold bright air of the late morninglate, Christ, it couldnt be more than half seven, but it was a good deal later than he was accustomed to start the day. The sun had already drifted into the chestnut trees on the highest ridge, the curve of its flaming disk visible in silhouette through the last of the yellow leaves.
The air still held the tang of blood, but there was no trace of the buffalo left, beyond a dark patch in the flattened pumpkin vines. He glanced around, taking stock as he mentally made his list of chores for the day. Chickens scratched in the fall-shabby yard, and he could hear a small group of hogs rooting for mast in the chestnut grove.
He had the odd feeling that he had left his work months, or even years, before, not days. The feeling of dislocationso strong at firsthad left him for quite a long time, but now it had come back again, stronger than before. If he closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, surely he would find himself on the Broad Street in Oxford, the smell of auto exhaust in his nostrils and the prospect of a peaceful mornings work among the dusty books of the Bodleian ahead.
He smacked a hand against one thigh, to dispel the feeling. Not today. This was the Ridge, not Oxford, and the work might be peaceful, but it would be done with hands, not head. There were trees to be girdled and hay to be gathered; not the field hay, but the small wild patches scattered through the hills that would yield an armload here, an armload thereenough to allow the keeping of an extra cow through the winter.
A hole in the roof of the smoke-shed, made by a falling tree branch. The roof to be mended and re-shingled and the branch itself to be chopped for wood. A fresh privy-hole to be dug, before the ground froze or turned to mud. Flax to be chopped. Fence rails to split. Lizzies spinning wheel to mend...
He felt groggy and stupid, incapable of simple choice, let alone complex thought. He had slept enoughmore than enoughto be physically recovered from the exhaustion of the last few days, but Thomas Christie and his family, coming on the heels of the desperate business of getting Jamie safely home, had taken all the mental energy he had.
He glanced at the sky; a low sweep of mares tails, sketched against the sky. No rain for a bit, the roof could wait. He shrugged and scratched his scalp. Hay, then, and tree-girdling. He stuffed a stone jar of ale and the packet of sandwiches Bree had made for him into his bag, and went to fetch the hand-scythe and hatchet.
Walking began to rouse him. It was cold in the shadows under the pines, but the sun was now high enough to make itself felt whenever he walked through the bright patches. His muscles warmed and loosened with the exercise, and by the time he had climbed to the first of the high meadows, he had begun to feel himself again, solidly embedded in the physical world of mountain and forest. The future had gone back to the world of dreams and memory, and he was once more present and accounted for.
Good thing, too, he muttered to himself. Dont want to be cutting off your foot. He dropped the ax under a tree, and bent to cut hay.
It wasnt the soothingly monotonous labor of regular haying, where the big two-handed scythe laid the dry, rich grass in pleasing swathes across a field. This was at once rougher but easier work, that involved grasping a clump of sprouting muhly or blue-stem with one hand, slicing the stalks near the root, and stuffing the handful of wild hay into the burlap sack he had brought.
It took no great strength, but required attention, rather than the mindless muscular effort of field-haying. The grass clumps grew thickly all over this small break in the trees, but were interspersed with outcrops of granite, small bushes, decaying snags, and brambles.
It was soothing labor, and while it did require some watchfulness, soon enough his mind began to stray to other things. The things Jamie had told him, out on the black mountainside, under the stars.
Some he had known; that there was bad feeling between Alex MacNeill and Nelson McIver, and the cause of it; that one of Patrick Nearys sons was likely a thief, and what should be done about it. Which land to sell, when, and to whom. Others, he had had no inkling of. He pressed his lips tight together, thinking of Stephen Bonnet.
And what should be done about Claire.
If I am dead, she must leave, Jamie had said, rousing suddenly from a feverish stupor. He had gripped Rogers arm with surprising strength, his eyes burning dark. Send her. Make her go. Ye should all go, if the bairn can pass. But she must go. Make her go to the stones.
Why? Roger had asked quietly. Why should she go? It was possible that Jamie was deranged by fever, not thinking clearly. Its a dangerous thing, to go through the stones.
It is dangerous for her here, without me. Frasers eyes had momentarily lost their sharp focus; the lines of his face relaxed in exhaustion. His eyes half-closed and he sagged back. Then, suddenly, his eyes opened again.
She is an Old One, he said. They will kill her, if they know. Then his eyes had closed again, and he had not spoken again until the others had found them at daylight.
Viewed now in the clear light of an autumn morning, safely removed from the whining wind and dancing flames of that lost night on the mountain, Roger was reasonably sure that Fraser had only been wandering in the mists of his fever, concern for his wife muddled by phantoms that sprang from the poison in his blood. Still, Roger couldnt help but take notice.
She is an Old One. Fraser had been speaking in English, which was too bad. Had it been Gaelic, his meaning would have been clearer. Had he said She is ban-sidhe, Roger would have known whether Jamie truly thought his wife was one of the faery-folk, or only a thoroughly human wisewoman.
Surely he couldnt... but he might. Even in Rogers own time, the belief in the others ran strongly, if less widely admitted, in the blood of the Highlands. Now? Fraser believed quite openly in ghoststo say nothing of saints and angels. To Rogers cynical Presbyterian mind, there wasnt a great deal of difference between lighting candles to St. Genevieve and putting out a pan of milk for the faeries.
On the other hand, he was uneasily aware that he would himself never have disturbed milk meant for the Others, nor touched a charm hung over cow-byre or door linteland not only from respect for the person who had placed it there.
The work had warmed him thoroughly; his shirt was beginning to stick to his shoulders, and sweat trickled down his neck. He paused for a moment, to drink from his water gourd and tie a rag round his brow as a sweatband.
Fraser might just have a point, he thought. While the notion of himself or Briannaeven of Claireas being sìdheanach was laughable on the face of it... there was more than one face to it, wasnt there? They were different; not everyone could travel through the stones, let alone did.
And there were others. Geillis Duncan. The unknown traveler she had mentioned to Claire. The gentleman whose severed head Claire had found in the wilderness, silver fillings intact. The thought of that one made the hairs prickle on his forearms, sweat or no.
Jamie had buried the head, with due respect and a brief prayer, on a hill near the housethe first inhabitant of the small, sun-filled clearing intended as the future cemetery of Frasers Ridge. At Claires insistence, he had marked the small grave with a rough chunk of granite, unlabeledfor what was there to say?but marbled with veins of green serpentine.
Was Fraser right? Ye should all go back, if the bairn can pass.
And if they didnt go back... then someday they might all lie there in the sunny clearing together: himself, Brianna, Jemmy, each under a chunk of granite. The only difference was that each would bear a name. What on earth would they carve for dates? he wondered suddenly, and wiped sweat from his jaw. Jemmys would be no problem, but for the rest of them...
There was the rub, of courseor one of them. If the bairn can pass. If Claires theory was right, and the ability to pass through the stones was a genetic trait, like eye color or blood-typethen fifty/fifty, if Jemmy were Bonnets child; three chances out of four, or perhaps certainty, if he were Rogers.
He hacked savagely at a clump of grass, not bothering to grasp it, and grain heads flew like shrapnel. Then he remembered the small pink figure underneath his pillow, and breathed deep. And if it worked, if there were to be another child, one that was his for sure, by blood? Odds three out of fouror perhaps another stone, one day, in the family graveyard.
The bag was almost full, and there was no more hay worth the cutting here. Fetching the hatchet, he slung the bag across his shoulder and made his way downhill, to the edge of the highest cornfield.
It bore no more resemblance to the British cornfields he had been used to than did the high meadows to a hayfield. Once a patch of virgin forest, the trees still stood, black and dead against the pale blue sky. They had been girdled and left to die, the corn planted in the open spaces between them.
It was the quickest way to clear land sufficiently for crops. With the trees dead, enough sunlight came through the leafless branches for the corn below. One or two or three years later, the dead tree roots would have rotted sufficiently to make it possible to push the trunks over, to be gradually cut for wood and hauled away. For now, though, they stood, an eerie band of black scarecrows, spreading empty arms across the corn.
