A Dram of Outlander Podcast

Perpetual Adoration

Season 5 Episode 5

Written for Television by Alyson Evan and Steve Koracki

Directed by Meera Menon

It all feels very Greek tragedy with the webs and spinners. 

Claire is contemplative, hesitant, and pushed to discover how important a single patient was to her finding her way back to Jamie. 

Jamie, as ever, a man of honor, duty, and blood defends his family from incursion, exposure, and takes a life.

Roger's insecurities get the upper hand yet again before he is wisely counseled by Claire and the picture comes into clearer view for him moving forward.

Brianna's own webs of deceit unravel and she is exposed to Roger before they can make peace and work together. 

And for now and forever because of his introduction, Adso will be known as "Murder Kitty". 

In this podcast episode I discuss both 503 Free Will and 504 Company We Keep.

Roger is having incredible growing pains in the 18th century both in his relationship with Jamie and in his feelings of adequacy and fitting in.

Brianna is processing through her trauma and assault even more deeply now that she's learned Stephen Bonnet is alive. Her fear is causing her to panic and not think clearly. In this, Marsali proves to be a friend.

The Beardsley home and property are ill-kept with several secrets within. Jamie and Claire discover a shocking truth when they try to free the Beardsley brothers from their indenture. In the end, they leave with the proper papers, a herd of goats, and a wee bonnie bundle. 

Brownsville is rife with conflict, sorrow, adultery, an interesting broadsheet, and merriment. 

Claire and Jamie make a profound decision that draws them closer together.

And as ever, love, foolish or wise, wins.

Jamie Fraser is The King of men walking the razor's edge of loyalty, honor, and oaths between the Crown and his people. 

Murtagh Fitzgibbons has become a man of blood while stirring the Regulators to violence and rage. 

Claire Fraser is a frustrated 20th-century physician feeling stuck in the ways of the 18th. 

Roger Wakefield MacKenzie is feeling inadequate and cannot seem to find a useful place in the 18th-century. He wants to go home to the 20th-century.

Brianna Randall Fraser MacKenzie is struggling with trauma and desiring to stay near family in the 18th-century. 

Marsali Fraser is caught between two mothers and curiosity. 

Stephen Bonnet believes he is a father and wants what's his. 

Season 5 Episode 1

"The Fiery Cross"

Written for Television by Matthew B. Roberts

Directed by Stephen Woolfenden

The people of Fraser's Ridge, friends, and family gathered to celebrate the wedding of Roger MacKenzie and Brianna Ellen Randall Fraser. The big house was almost complete. Memories were shared and made, drinking games, feasting, dancing, romance, threat, treachery, bonding, politics, oaths, and a release of oath all happened in the two days lived onscreen.

Season 5 Episode 1 is the strongest opening episode only behind Season 1 Episode 1.  It was written with the deft hand of Mattew B. Roberts leading the writers' room. It inhabited the spirit of the written word and achieved an adaptation that stood beautifully on its own with well-crafted storytelling that requires no external explanation. 

From storyline references, character development, foreshadowing, costuming, hair, acting, music, variations of emotion and tone, all the way to the set design, no elements are left wanting. 

This season is looking to be a spectacular ride. 

Call or email me to share your thoughts and comments at 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

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The Fiery Cross

Installment 13

Chapters 23-25

Domesticity, Building Bonds, and Duty

Chapters:

23 – The Bard

24 – Playing with Fire

25 – The Angeling of My Rest

Summary:  Roger returns with mission incomplete. The baby is cranky. Brianna is at her wit's end. Roger gets beautified. He’ll sing to help Jamie prepare the guests. Roger gives an uncomfortable history lesson to Brianna. Roger sings to an appreciative crowd. Jamie calls the men to duty. Roger reflects. Jamie and Claire find respite in their room. Jamie writes a letter.

Setting: The settlement of Fraser’s Ridge, NC – December 1, 1770

Active Characters:

Of Interest:

Links:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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The Fiery Cross

Installment 12

Chapters 21-22

Chapters:

21 – Twenty-Twenty

22 – The Fiery Cross

Summary: Claire administers an eye examination. Mrs. Bug takes ownership of the running of the big house. A family with a sordid past comes to visit. Claire worries. Claire struggles with the changes to come. Fight. Fight. Fight. Solace is found outdoors. Jamie ceremonially prepares for the changes ahead. The men Jamie calls to arms must come of their own volition. A family member is asked to join Jamie in the fight.

Setting: The settlement of Fraser’s Ridge, NC - Fall

Active Characters:

Events:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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The Fiery Cross

Installment 11

Chapters 19-20

Chapters:

Summary: The activities of the Ridge create a picture of the day today. A friend visits bearing news. Brianna and Roger go hunting. The dangers of the 18th century run through Brianna’s mind. Only one has experience with a gun. A willing student Roger makes, but a great shot he is not. Memories of a dear one surface. Roger makes a confession. They play a game only travelers can play. Lactating breasts need relief. A fowl encounter happens on the way home. Brianna was purposely prepared for the 18th.

Setting: The settlement of Fraser’s Ridge, NC

Active Characters:

Events:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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Hello, A Dram of Outlander listeners. The podcast is back after an unexpected and unavoidable hiatus. We're jumping right back in with The Fiery Cross chapters 19-23 on June 25th. 

Thank you for your patience! Join me for the next many months as we tackle the GIGANTIC book five in the Outlander series. 

Desirre

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

 The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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The Fiery Cross

Week 10

Chapters 17 & 18

Chapters:

Summary:  The Gathering and the longest day draws to a close. Jamie ponders the act of surrender. There is a call to duty. The caravan heads to Fraser’s Ridge. Jamie happens upon a spirit-filled place. A gift for Claire is picked up amongst the trees. There is fear for what might be found at the Ridge. Homecoming is sweet and noisy. A wee posy for Claire. For what is a sponge?  Roger gives Brianna something practical and special. It’s not a dream.

Setting: The settlement of Fraser’s Ridge, NC

Active Characters:

What’s Happening:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

The Fiery Cross

Week 9

Chapters 15-16

Summary: A wedding feast is had by all. An evening calling of the clans occurs. Jamie makes a moving speech. The families of the Ridge are announced. Roger vows to always sing for her. Lactating breasts don’t care. Brianna takes matters into her own hands.

Setting: Mt. Helicon, NC, Late October 1770 with cool, grey, and wet weather.

Active Characters:

Of Note:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

The Fiery Cross

Week 8

Chapters 13-14

Summary: The age-old argument of what makes the best barbecue unfolds. Beans are indeed a musical fruit. Memories endure and bond. Aunt Jocasta is a savvy woman. What makes an honorable man? Jamie makes a confession. A religious event occurs. Marriage cannot wait.

Setting: Mt. Helicon, NC, Late October 1770 with cool, grey, and wet weather.

Active Characters:

Of Note:

 Interesting Links:

  Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

The Fiery Cross

Week 7

Chapters 11-12

Summary: Roger seeks a kindness from Jocasta. Jocasta shocks Roger and she gets a piece of his mind. The Gathering is drawing to a close. Claire’s guts are griping. Germaine sings a tune. The mobcap dies an ugly death. Jamie consoles Claire. Jamie has a plan for the Ridge. A deal is struck. Himself is in demand.

Setting: Mt. Helicon, NC, Late October 1770 with cool, grey, and wet weather.

Chapter 11 Pride

Chapter 12  Virtue

Active Characters:

Of Note:

Interesting Links:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

The Fiery Cross

Week 6

Chapters 9 and 10

Summary: Claire uses a cautery iron. Claire receives gifts. Roger and Jamie recruit for the militia. Roger meets an interesting family. Where is Stephen Bonnet?

Chapter 9: Germ of Dissent

Chapter 10: Grannie Bacon’s Gifts

Setting: Mt. Helicon, NC, Late October 1770 with cool, grey, and wet weather.

Active Characters:

Of Note:

Interesting Links:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

The Fiery Cross

Week 5

Chapters 7 and 8

Summary: Claire greets an unexpected patient. Ghosts of Culloden emerge with 25-year-old shrapnel. Jamie is given orders. We meet an important pair. Roger questions his place in the family. A baby must eat after all. The MacKenzies of Leoch live on. Roger goes from zero to hero.

Chapter 7: Shrapnel

Chapter 8: The Factor

Setting: Mt. Helicon, NC, Late October 1770 with cool, grey, and wet weather.

Active Characters:

Of Note:

Interesting Links:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

The Fiery Cross

Week 4

Chapters 5 and 6

Summary: Claire treats some interesting patients. There’s more to Goodwin than meets the eye. Brianna is grossed out. Roger and Brianna meetup. Celibacy or sex? Passion wins out. The implications of sex are made clear. Roger shares Frank's letter. Brianna is stunned. Roger comes to Frank's defense. What about the other man? Will there be another baby in the future?

Chapter 3: Riotous Unrest

Chapter 4: For Auld Lang Syne

Setting: Mt. Helicon, NC, Late October 1770 with cool, grey, and wet weather.

Active Characters:

Of Note:

Interesting Links:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL–NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

The Fiery Cross

Week 3

Chapters 3 and 4

Chapter 3: Bilious Humours

Chapter 4: Wedding Gifts

Setting: Mt. Helicon, NC, Late October 1770 with cool, grey, and wet weather.

Active Characters:

Of Note:

Interesting Links:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

The Fiery Cross

Week 2

Chapter 2

Summary: Breakfast is served, but not for Claire. Jamie desires an astrolabe. John Quincy Myers summons Jamie. A thief-taker threatens. Claire has a pop-up clinic. The unintended consequences of high taxes. A personal account of the riot is offered.

Chapter 2: Loaves and Fishes

Setting: Mt. Helicon, NC, Late October 1770

Characters:

Of Note:

Interesting Links:

Images are CC or Wiki Commons unless produced by ADoO or otherwise specified. Featured image.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

The Fiery Cross

Week 1

Chapter 1

Before I begin the opening of TFC, I feel the need to address what we didn’t yet see in some form in S4 of the television show. Six chapters were not covered in the adapted material. And since Roger returned to River Run instead of the Ridge, they’ll be some changes to the order of things and surely some scenes will be omitted altogether.

How do you think the writers will fit it in? How do you think it will be adapted? What will end up being ignored?

Chapter 1 Happy the Bride the Sun Shines On

Setting: Mount Helicon, The Royal Colony of North Carolina, Late October 1770

Characters we see:

Scenes:

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL–NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 413

Man of Worth

Directed by: Stephen Woolfenden

Written by: Toni Graphia

My initial thoughts are below, but you’ll need to listen to the podcast to get the details!

Summary:  Roger remains imprisoned. Jamie and Claire arrive at the village but are turned away. River Run receives a guest. Brianna awaits the birth of her baby. Otter Tooth is revealed. Young Ian makes a decision. Jocasta gets some lovin’. Testosterone poisoning rears its head. Roger learns the truth. Roger reveals his experiences. A choice needs to be made. A baby is born. Uncle Murtagh enjoys the baby. Jamie and Claire return. The baby has no name. But is Bonnet dead? Roger returns. The British are coming. Tryon assigns Jamie a job.

Things I am Pondering (in no particular order):

Ongoing thoughts:

See you next up for The Fiery Cross read-a-long.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 412

Providence

Directed by: Mairzee Almas

Written by: Karen Campbell

My basic thoughts outline is below, you’ll need to listen to the podcast to get the details!

Summary: Roger completes the initiation and remains a slave. He is known as dogface. Fergus plans. Lord John brings Brianna news. She requests an audience after reading the letter.  Brianna and Lord John share an intimate moment. Roger works in the village. A woman with a baby helps Roger. Brianna and Lord John make a visit. Roger breaks a cultural rule. Roger meets a priest. Roger learns his location. Marsalis deduces the plan. What would Jamie and Claire do? The priest is tortured. Roger prays. They dig. The priest is taken away. Brianna and Lord John arrive at their destination.  Roger escapes. Brianna says her peace. Murtagh escapes. Roger does the priest a service. His lover makes a choice.

What is Providence? From the Oxford Dictionary.

1 The protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power. ‘They found their trust in divine providence to be a source of comfort.’ Synonyms: fate, destiny, nemesis, kismet, God's will, divine intervention, predestination, predetermination.

1.1 God or nature as providing protective care. ‘I live out my life as Providence decrees.’

2 Timely preparation for future eventualities. ‘It was considered a duty to encourage providence.’ Synonyms: prudence, foresight, forethought, far-sightedness, judgement, judiciousness, shrewdness, circumspection, wisdom, sagacity, common sense, precaution, caution, care, carefulness

Conflict, Friendship, Protection, Forgiveness, and Confrontation:

Purpose and Friendship:

Biding Time, Kindness, Reflection, Conflict, and Sacrificial Love

Freedom

I CANNOT wait until the finale. See you on the flip side.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 411

If Not For Hope

Directed by: Mairzee Almas

Written by: Bronwyn Garrity and Shaina Fewell

My basic thoughts outline is below, you’ll need to listen to the podcast to get the details!

Summary: Roger is recaptured. Brianna uses art therapy. Brianna sketches a beautiful woman. Jocasta plans a party. Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian are on the trail. There is a worry about Brianna. Young Ian plays a marriage therapist. Fergus finds intel, but not work. Jocasta bears a gift. Marsali knows what a man needs. The eligible men arrive. Brianna commands a parlor game.  A pirate is captured. A proposal will be made. Brianna hatches a plan. Bones are discovered. Jamie and Claire makeup. Roger is put to a test.

This episode brims over with emotional vulnerability and characters being unable to hide who they are, what they are, and exist in bareness for viewers to watch. The overarching theme of hope is a bit over the top and lacks any subtlety.

Brianna The Prized Heifer:

Lord John:

What’s Up with Roger:

Jamie and Claire:

A Man Needs A Purpose:

Murtagh the Wanted:

Lizzie the Loud Mouth:

Final Thoughts:

I wanted to love this episode. So much detail and excellence were given to the whole River Run experience, yet the Jamie and Claire makeup seemed okay but not as impactful as desired. The Fergus subplot is bizarre since he had a job when Roger ran into him at the newspaper shop.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 410

The Deep Heart’s Core

Directed by: David Moore

Written by: Luke Schelhaas

My thoughts are below, but you’ll need to listen to the podcast to get my in-depth perspective.

Summary: Jamie teaches Brianna a valuable lesson. Roger continues to travel with the Mohawk. Claire offers Brianna a choice. Young Ian is smitten. Claire’s at home in the garden. Homestead life thrives. Claire and Brianna play a missing game. A nightmare causes revelation. “Where’s Roger?” Brianna rages. Punches and slaps are thrown. A plan is made. Jamie asks for a favor. Young Ian proposes. Everyone departs. Aunt Jocasta meets Brianna. Roger makes an escape. A buzzing calls to Roger. An anguished decision is being made.

The Fraser Fire and Many Shades of Parenting

There’ve been glimpses of the Fraser fire in Brianna in the past couple of episodes, but tonight the emotional dam breaks and she lets loose. Following in her English parents’ footsteps, she generally doesn’t open up easily, but she can’t seem to stop herself at any point in the episode. If you’ve ever been through a serious traumatic event or events, sometimes emotions can’t be held in regardless of intent. All the internal box lids come flying off and emotional chaos ensues and hopefully, healing can begin.

Brianna’s emotional transformation begins with her telling Jamie he must hate her because she’s an unwed, pregnant, and so forth daughter. This is more about her self-image and what she believes about herself than what Jamie thinks. Jamie to his credit expresses he doesn’t hold her accountable for what someone else did to her before he jumps in and says she’ll be wed before the baby comes. Because you know it’s the culture of the time. Regardless, she has someone in the 20th, her Historian, so she won’t wed anyone else. Jamie is feeling her out and giving her parental space while being reassuring.

When Brianna begins talking to herself about how she is stupid and at fault because she didn’t fight and should’ve known better than to follow “him” into a dark room, Jamie jumps in telling her it’s not her fault, but she doesn’t believe him. Jamie’s parenting style takes a dark turn for many, but demonstrating the truth is more impactful than telling it. He begins to taunt her, tells her maybe she’s lying, or she liked it. Her anger riles, and she goes to take a swing at him, he grabs her placing her into a choke hold. Brianna can’t move no matter how she fights. She takes his point and finally understands there’s nothing she could’ve done to stop the man from harming her. I love how they sit together, and he speaks into her what she is feeling. That she is a coward because she couldn’t fight off a wolf.  In my mind, this is a nod to the books, where Claire did, in fact, fight off wolves bare handed outside of Wentworth.  He knows Brianna would’ve died at her attacker’s hands had she fought.

Brianna is in a state of vulnerability that can’t sit by itself, she asks Jamie about his experience with Black Jack Randall. Did he fight back? Did seeking vengeance help? Did killing his attacker make him feel better or forget? Jamie took the questioning in stride. He’s walking a fine parenting line, having his private pain sitting next to hers without judgment, only openness, and wise guidance.

The next level to Brianna’s emotional breach is after a nightmare (a really beautiful nod to Jamie’s nightmare in Season 2 where Black Jack Randall is swapped for Claire) when she learns from Lizzie that Roger came to the Ridge and was mistakenly beaten up and sent away by Jamie. The way she barges into the cabin is the bull in the china shop we expect. She yells, growls, slaps, says terrible things to Jamie, and generally commands the room.  Jamie being the adult and the parent, takes her tongue lashing, he takes her brutal words, he lets them absorb without turning on her (even though some furniture is not so lucky). He is the Da. He learns what parenting this daughter, a Fraser daughter means during this moment. There’s no altering her course or changing her opinion. Claire is the protective mother yet is at a loss seeing her daughter unhinged when Brianna goes beyond all measure and punches Young Ian in the face.

Brianna is grown and claiming what is hers. She wants Roger back no matter how long it takes.

Last, she goes on to make her mother leave her because she doesn’t trust Young Ian and Jamie will get the job done because of their judgment and because Roger will need to see a friendly face and a doctor. She puts the pursuit of Roger in front of all else, even if that means her mama misses the birth of the baby while she is safe at River Run under Aunt Jocasta’s care. 

When mentioning shades of parenting, I have to address Claire offering Brianna a surgical abortion. It’s a tender and most gentle offering. Though we don’t get the background in the show, Claire referred patients who sought an abortion to other doctors. She couldn’t do them because she could feel the life force of the fetus. She’s a healer. For her to offer the choice to Brianna by her own hand, is a very big deal to Claire as a mother and as a physician. When Brianna asked Claire If she considered it (with her pregnancy), Claire was astonished and horrified at the thought. This squeezed my heart for Brianna to get that reassurance and the truth from her mama. And it not only speaks volumes about how Claire felt about the baby she was carrying and Jamie, but how she trusted Frank even though she tried to send him away.

I like this vulnerable and fiery Brianna. I love this truly connected mother and daughter pair. For the first time maybe ever, Brianna gets her mama as she really is and shares the pieces of her heart she long concealed in the 20th century.

Brianna and Jamie have a long way to go to repair and grow their relationship, but the seeds and foundation are there to be reaped when he brings Roger back.

Run, Roger! Run!

The note about Roger is about his utter devotion to getting away from the Mohawk and back to Brianna. He accidentally escapes (boy, oh boy those Mohawk are bad trackers so far) and finds himself face to face with the standing stone we saw the ancient people dancing around in the first episode. He has the gemstones in hand. He is anguished and can escape this horrid reality right now if he wants to. We’re left hanging as he reaches for the standing stone when the camera fades to black. Could he really go without having a resolution in the 18th century? I can see why he would want to jump centuries and get the hell out of the nightmare.

Wrap Up:

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

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THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 409

The Birds & The Bees

Directed by: David Moore

Written by: Toni Graphia and Matthew B. Roberts

My thoughts are below, but you’ll need to listen to the podcast to get my in-depth perspective.

Summary: Brianna returns to her room battered and bleeding. Lizzie tries to help. Roger returns to the tavern for Brianna but is greeted by someone unexpected and forced to leave. Brianna wakes late learning Roger has left.  The Frasers are in town. Brianna and Jamie meet for the first time. Claire is overwhelmed seeing her daughter. Brianna explains the reason for her visit. Young Ian meets his cousin. Lizzie is smitten. Brianna tells Claire all about Roger. Young Ian tells the story of what happened the last time they went upriver. They all arrive at Fraser’s Ridge. Jamie and Brianna bond over bees. Domesticity rules. Roger gets a gemstone and heads to the Ridge. Brianna reveals truths and secrets to Claire. Lizzie makes a proclamation. Jamie takes mistaken vengeance upon Roger.

It’s All Good:

For the first time maybe ever, I have only good to say about this episode. It hits every beat with superb acting, good storytelling, and every character feeling right in their own skins and actions. This episode feels like the essence of Outlander and why readers go back to the books again and again. Outside of the very first episode, this episode in my favorite of all the seasons. The second viewing was even more satisfying than the first. This episode is what a quality adaptation should look like. The heart and soul of the story and the characters are masterfully brought to life with the alterations blending in as if they have always been there. I hope this is the new standard for the series moving forward. Toni and Matt wrote excellent material for the ensemble of actors, the director, and the host of personnel to turn into something magical.

Miscommunication, Relationship Dynamics, and Secrets:

 Interesting Links:

So many lingering questions:

Final Thought:

There are four more episodes to go. The next six days cannot pass fast enough for this lassie!

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 408

Wilmington

Directed by: Jennifer Getzinger

Written by: Luke Schelhaas

Summary:  Roger searches for Brianna. Jamie and Claire visit Fergus, Marsali, and the baby. Roger mopes in a tavern before finding Brianna. A declaration is made. A wedding transpires. Jamie and Claire are off to a play with the who’s who of Governor Tryon’s friends. A consummation occurs several times. Claire fangirls over someone famous. A plan is underway. Jamie worries for Murtagh and creates a distraction. Claire performs surgery in front of a crowd. Roger and Brianna fight. There is an unhappy parting. Murtagh is saved for another day. Brianna is drawn into trouble.

The Good:

The Okay:

The Ugly:

Character Portrayal and Storytelling:

Interesting Links:

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 407

Down the Rabbit Hole

Directed by: Jennifer Getzinger

Written by: Shannon Goss

Summary:  Roger follows after Brianna with the help of a friend. Brianna is ill-equipped for the rigors of the 18th century Highlands. Brianna remembers her daddy. Unexpected hospitality is offered. Roger becomes a crewman for a wicked captain. Brianna learns a terrible truth about her host. Ian Murray helps her to the coast. Brianna secures a travel companion and passage to The Colonies.  

Brianna’s Quest

Brianna appears to have made a fast getaway into the 18th century because of her inappropriate clothing and purse choices. She doesn’t even don gloves or warm knitwear. She watched her mother quickly prepare for her departure yet seems to have not heeded the example at all well. In a nutshell, she’s on foot and trying to get to the coast from the standing stones to secure passage to North Carolina but injures herself and ends up being taken care of by Laoghaire “Damn Her Eyes” MacKimmie and her daughter Joanie at Balriggan.

Brianna gets to bond with wee Joanie, who seems to be the real adult in the household. She also gets an earful about Laoghaire’s deadbeat former husband. It’s a perspective check that strains what Claire has said of Jamie.

Brianna sees the hateful and wretched side of Laoghaire when it’s revealed in the conversation who her mother is, who her biological father is, and who Laoghaire’s ex-husband is. With the tongue of an adder, Laoghaire strikes Brianna. It’s poetic justice when Brianna tells Laoghaire Jamie never loved her. At least until Laoghaire threatens to have Brianna arrested as a witch and locks her in her room. Joanie saves the day by freeing Brianna and taking her to Lallybroch. Uncle Ian gives her money, a trunk of Claire’s old clothing, and advice to find Aunt Jocasta when she arrives in Wilmington.

We also get to see the relationship she had with her daddy Frank and how the revelations about her parents’ marriage and his death have taken a toll on her. Between that and the effects of her mother’s secrets and subsequent return to the 18th, it’s quite easy to understand the depth of trauma that has accumulated within Brianna.

What the Frank?

Frank returns in flashback highlighting the strain of his and Claire’s relationship, his closeness to Brianna, and the last time she saw him before he died.  We see a side of Frank that has gone largely unexplored in the series. Did the obituary give him the onus to divorce Claire, tell Sandy he wanted to marry her, take the job at Cambridge, and ask Brianna to go with him to England? I find myself angry that Frank spilled the divorce beans to Brianna after his last fight with Claire. What a hellish last conversation to leave her with before he dies. At least his final words to her were “I love you.”

Roger’s Journey

Fiona takes Roger to Craigh na Dun so that he can go after Brianna into the 18th. He’s very smartly clean shaven to deter lice and fleas from infesting his facial hair.  In period clothing, he goes through and becomes a crewman of the Gloriana. The ship is captained by none other than the malevolent Stephen Bonnet.  Roger shows his grit by vehemently decrying Bonnet’s actions in front of the passengers and the crew. Suffice it to say throwing an ill child out the window is not something Roger can tolerate. Roger takes it a step further and hides a mother and her baby (Morag MacKenzie and Jemmy) when the baby has a teething rash. Roger is a man of principals and does what’s right even if it could cost him. By the flip of the coin, Roger’s fate to live or die for his indiscretion against the captain. The luck of Danu was with him.

The Faces of Laoghaire

Bonnet, Bonnet, Bonnet

Truths

Callbacks

Shout Outs for Book Readers

Links of Interest

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 406

Blood of my Blood

Directed by: Denise Di Novi

Written by: Shaina Fewell

Summary:  An unexpected duo comes to visit. Lord John’s wife has died. The boy William is grief-stricken. Lord John asks for discretion. Murtagh serves up politics and distrust with dinner. The boy remembers Mac the groom. Murtagh discovers the truth about William. A liquor lubricated chess game is played. John becomes ill with the measles. Jamie and William head out on a multi-day tour of the Ridge. Claire tends to John. Barbed and frank conversations occur. The boy and Jamie go on a hunt. Emotions run high. John makes a confession. The boy shows courage. Claire and John make peace. Parting gifts are shared.

All the Feels:

This episode is a roller coaster of emotions where we see longing, tenderness, passion, vulnerability, confrontation, brutal honesty, humility, fear, hope, understanding, introspection, and healing.

The Good:

The bulk of this episode is fantastic.

The Awkward:

Murtagh being singularly focused on the tax situation in every conversation he participates in does not make for interesting viewing. the dozen or so years apart from Jamie has altered their relationship. For the first time, Murtagh has something of his own to fight for and keep or lose. He’s no longer Jamie’s protector and main guidance counselor. Having these two characters re-establish their relationship while being at odds is difficult to watch. Jamie is definitely working from an optimistic vantage point while Murtagh is pessimistic about what the Governor will or will not do. I hope we see resolution before too long if only to lighten the mood.

Lingering Questions:

Favorite Lines:

Links of Interest:

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 405

Superstitions and Cruelty

Directed by: Denise Di Novi

Written by: Bronwyn Garrity

My basic thoughts follow below, but you'll have to listen to the podcast to get my complete thoughts. 

Summary: Claire and Adawehi bond. A misunderstood truth is given. The white sow is challenging her worth. Jamie shares a supernatural dream. Claire midwife's a mountain family. Jamie and Young Ian go to recruit settlers. Claire quashes a conflict. Settlers are difficult to come by. Measles claim lives. A dear friend is murdered. Someone special is found. Retribution is demanded. Family finds itself opposing one another.

The Good:

It is impressive how Claire is integrating and participating in the community and blending cultures through her healing practice, her relationship with Adawehi, and in her clothing (gloves and fur undervest). She even temporarily belays bad blood between the Cherokee and Herr Mueller. 

The continuing theme of Claire as a loving mother who misses Brianna. Adawehi tells her Brianna is here, but Claire misunderstands the meaning. 

Who doesn't love MURTAGH? RAWR! They've turned him into a serious silver fox. Move over Jamie, Murtagh is in town and seems to be single. Living well post indentured servitude has him doing well for himself. 

The reunions between Jamie and Murtagh, Murtagh's reaction to Claire returning, and Claire's reaction to Murtagh coming up the path to the cabin are all squishy warm feeling delights. 

The Difficult:

The sheer superstitious savagery that Herr Mueller displays in believing the Cherokee cursed the water and his family leading to the measle related deaths of the baby, Petronella and Tommy are awful and painful to watch. Claire's reaction when he hands her Adawehi scalp because the curse was broken through her death is revolting and wrenching.  Herr Mueller puts the savage in savagery. The retaliation by the Cherokee for the death of Adawehi erases the Muellers from the New World. Mueller and his wife perish at their hands, and their cabin is burned to the ground. Mueller is the antithesis of the good neighbor Jamie and Claire are trying to be. 

Jamie and Murtagh being on the other side of the law and Governor Tryon is setting up a storyline of challenge and decisions between them. 

The Confusing:

The way Brianna departs the 20th century is baffling and irritating. She appears to have left in a moment of rash decision when she learns on her own of the bad news about a fire at Fraser's Ridge. She didn't call Roger to tell him of the fire and obituary notice. When Roger goes to Inverness to track her departure and find clues, Miss Baird (presumably the daughter of Mrs. Baird the Innkeeper) gives him a letter Brianna asked her to hold for a year. She couldn't take the heartbreak on Roger's face. 

The letter Brianna left is cold and dare I say cruel. She gives no indication she loves him or what her intentions are. She doesn't even say what bad news she found that led her to leave. She tells him not to follow her into the past. And then, simply says goodbye. 

Is she trying to push him away purposely? She seems utterly detached and uncaring. "Oh well, think of me happily in the past." Ho hum. Nothing to see here. 

Where is the deep love and wanting that is supposed to be building the foundation these two characters are bound by and drive us into the next generation willingly? 

Roger's character will have him following her without a doubt. BUT WHY would he follow her? She has left nothing for him to hold onto or to be encouraged by.

I am underwhelmed by the Brianna and Roger storytelling and find myself not caring if he follows her or not.  

And don't get me started on the Holly Hobbie dress she is wearing. It must have been a truly rash decision to head for the 18th.

Links of Interest:

What say you? I love to get your comments by email or voicemail. Call 719-425-9444 or email contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander TV Series is adapted from the Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website.

All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

Like what I do? Support the podcast with a monthly offering, go to my Patreon page and sign-up.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 404

“Common Ground”

Directed by: Ben Bolt

Written by: Joy Blake

Summary:  Jamie becomes a landowner. Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian leave Marsali and Fergus, turning toward the mountains. The boundaries of Fraser’s Ridge are marked. The land is prepared for a cabin. They meet the locals who are unhappy at their presence. Roger makes a discovery. An awkward phone call ensues. Jamie receives council. Jamie believes the land spoke to him. Actions are taken to be peaceable neighbors. A threat bonds them and the Cherokee in friendship. Claire receives a prophecy. Fiona surprises Roger and shares a terrible discovery. Roger finally calls Brianna, but it’s too late.

What is the common ground? Merriam-Webster states the definition to be, “a basis of mutual interest or agreement.”

The Indian Tribes and the Highlanders:

Prejudice exists about the Cherokee (and other tribes) by the non-native colonialist peoples. They are called savages and compared to the Highland Scots by the Governor himself after Jamie signs the land agreement. The opening scene also provides a comparison as it shows the Cherokee Chief dressing. It harkens back to the opening scene that shows Jamie going through the same ritual of dressing in the Highland fashion. There are also similarities in the ways of life and difficulties with their way of life being compromised by encroachment, war, and politics.  This, of course, is a highly simplistic comparison, and I urge you to do your research on the history of the Cherokee and other tribes.

As a side note, Jamie wanting this land for his and his family’s greater purpose and reclamation of all that was lost, believing the land spoke to him, coupled with his desire to be a good and peaceable neighbor creates conflict in me. The land is available because of deals the colonialists have made with the Cherokee. Jamie is now the Governor’s man and by extension the Crown’s man. He is the face of colonialism — the face of western Europe expansionism. Can one be a kinder gentler colonialist or rather take advantage of a colonialist offering and not be an oppressor? I know this is a modernist view and who wouldn’t jump at a chance to finally have something of value and worth? Who wouldn’t seek the avenue of legacy? Jamie Fraser is a good man who wants to do what is right and just. He strives to have a solid moral compass. Jamie Fraser is also a man who prizes his family’s safety, security, and prosperity above all else. He’s had so little ability in his life to take care of those in his charge without usurping the law or being an unstable caretaker.

Finding Common Ground

The episode did an excellent job in showing the growing pains of having settlers on the land, whether or not they are on the right side of the boundary lines. The local Cherokees do not take kindly to Jamie and Claire while they are clearing an area to build a shed and cabin. They even go so far as to threaten them with the return of several land marker poles. Jamie has no issue having his family brandish weapons when the Cherokee approach, yet in wisdom seeks council to somehow establish a harmonious and peaceful relationship between his family and the Cherokee. John Quincy Myers promises to take a gift of tobacco from Jamie as an offering. Jamie inadvertently finds the better alternative to forging a respectful and healthy friendship; he kills the bear that has been wreaking havoc in the area. It isn’t an ordinary bear; it’s a shunned Cherokee who has taken on the spirit, skin, and claws of a bear. To the Cherokee he is dead, so they have no means to kill the Tskili Yona man-bear. When the bear attacked friend John Quincy Myers and threatened in the forest, Jamie goes on the hunt. He discovers it is a bear-man when it attacks him. He ironically kills the monster with one of the land marker poles. When he returns the corpse to the Cherokee, they accept it and being to respect his place on the land.

The Cherokee offers friendship to Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian and the chief names Jamie, Bear Killer, as he will be known to the Cherokee. Jamie now has mountain cred. Through his actions, a bond of mutual respect is formed.

Claire also finds common ground with Adawehi, a great healer, who is Giduhwa’s husband’s grandmother. Adawehi dreams of Claire and gives her a prophecy that she will have great power when her hair turns all white. She also tells Claire something ominous about death coming that won’t be her fault. Claire stands to learn much from Adawehi and will undoubtedly become a stronger herbalist for it.

Common ground is also secured between Jamie and Claire as he maps out their new cabin that includes a clinic room for Claire to see patients. He considers both their needs in the design. This is the Jamie we expect and adore.

Where Common Ground Lacks

The painful awkwardness between Roger and Brianna when he calls to tell her the discovery about her mother and Jamie. She’s cool and distant to Roger while seeming to be less than enthused at the news. You’d think she’d be more excited and express deep gratitude for him continuing to research in the past. What’s a guy have to do to get a rise from her? After Roger finds out Fiona knows about Claire being a traveler and sharing devastating news from an article she found in her grandmother’s belongings, they also disagree on whether Roger should tell Brianna about the obituary with a blurred date. At some point after, Roger decides to phone Brianna but is told she left for Scotland a couple of weeks ago to visit her mother. She never told him or contacted him. The divide between them grows. Was he calling to tell her about the obituary? How much time had passed since Fiona shared it with him? Why was Brianna traveling into the past without telling Roger? From this vantage point, I think he has the right to be angry.

The other area where common grounds lacks is in Tryon’s views of the regulators and the Indians. He stands for King and Crown, where Jamie is using the land grant for his purposes knowing he’ll have to choose sides in the future when the American Revolution breaks out.

Into the Future

This episode resolves one serious issue but opens up pathways to many unanswered questions.

Links of Interest:

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 403

“The False Bride”

Directed by: Ben Bolt

Written by: Jennifer Yale

Summary:

Roger says goodbye to the manse. He goes to America to see Brianna and perform in a Scottish festival. Roger shares his intentions. Brianna shocks Roger. There is a row that strains Roger and Brianna. Jocasta throws shade at Claire. The Frasers and Young Ian leave River Run with funds, a guide, and a mule.  Young Ian goes adventuring with John Quincy Myers. Jamie and Claire are caught in a terrific storm. Claire gets lost and encounters a ghost. Jamie and Claire find each other supernaturally. In the mountains, the perfect spot for Fraser’s Ridge is found.

What stood out?

In the 20th

This episode spoke to me about the clash between tradition and modernity even down to the ghost being a modern traveler (silver fillings for the win) going back in time to a more traditional period for some purpose.

Roger Wakefield demonstrated, even SCREAMED tradition every moment onscreen. From giving Fiona and Ernie a traditional welcome to the manse as he prepared to leave with the last boxes of his family home, his clothing, the song he sang at the gathering, and when refusing to bed Brianna unless he knew she would marry him.

Brianna displayed a stark contrast to Roger’s tradition with her clothing, approach to sex, and voicing she may not even believe in marriage. It’s the 1970’s after all.

The hot and heavy scene between them that turned into a deep conflict shows us without a doubt the expanse between them.

Roger stops a topless Brianna (save for that excessively unsexy bra of the day) from going any further until he could give her back her shirt and the bracelet while pouring his heart and intentions upon her. The engraving inside the silver bracelet is based on a poem, it says, “Je t’aime un peu, beaucoup, passionnement, pas du tout.” In English, it means, “I love you a little, a lot, passionately, not at all.”

Roger realizes the divide between them when he asks her to marry him. She responds with it’s moving too fast. He wants her to be his wife. To make a home. To have children. Dogs. But, she’s not ready for that. 

As he goes to leave, she grabs him and kisses him hard then it all unravels into hurt feelings, harsh words, and misunderstanding.

Roger: “What in God’s name are you playing at?” Brianna: “You said you wanted me. I want you too don’t you know that?” Roger: “Oh, ye don’t want to marry me but you’ll fuck me?”  Brianna: “You don’t have to use that language.” She sneers. Roger: “Oh, you can suggest such a thing, but I cannot say the word? “If all I wanted was to have my way with you, I would have had you on your back a dozen times last summer.” She slaps him, bloodying his mouth. Roger: “If ye don’t care enough to marry me. Then I don’t care to have ye in my bed.” She says it doesn’t make sense. He shouldn’t have sprung the proposal. She has things like school and never thought about kids.  Roger: “Well then what d’ye mean by making me such an offer—a nice Catholic girl? I thought you were a virgin?” Brianna: “I am. What the hell does that have to do with it?”

Is Roger a hypocritical brute because he’s had sex with women before?

Roger is a man steeped in tradition, his job as a historian, his views on love and marriage, his desire for home and hearth in the wake of losing his adopted father, and the manse being rented by Fiona and Ernie, and his performing songs from the past each speak to his temperament and longing for roots.

He doesn’t care whether or not Brianna is a virgin; he cares whether or not she commits to him before he shares her body, heart, and soul. He is shocked knowing her Catholic upbringing, and it went against what he thought she believed. The difference between the women Roger had lain with prior and Brianna is clear, he didn’t love them. It was sex without the heart, body, and spirit comingling. His love for Brianna yearns for permanency, for the foundation, to comingle every part for something deeper than physical sex. The love he desires to give and to receive is the love we see between Jamie and Claire.

I say Roger is not hypocritical. It’s a misunderstanding and inability to articulate exactly what she means to him. Roger has equal parts of similarity to Jamie and Frank and sometimes cannot act outside his abject male self.

Brianna is in a completely different emotional headspace only thinking of sharing bodies though born out of love; she thinks that’s what Roger wants. Perhaps it’s immaturity or hope on her part that sex would and could be a bridge without thinking too far into the future. She does love Roger. She has not had sex because she wanted it to be with someone she loved. It deeply matters to Brianna, yet she did not say it or share why the future cannot be agreed upon now. She’s complicated and traumatized from the revelations of the past few years. She cannot enter into marriage until she is SURE. She cannot repeat a marriage of duty like Claire and Frank. She also wants the whole marriage enchilada.

Both of their offerings failed to hit the mark. Both of their offerings frustrated the other. They each have reasons for holding steadfast to their position.

Meanwhile in the 18th

Claire and Jamie meet a ghost and find the land they will build their home on after taking the Governor’s offer. Jamie will get to be the laird he was meant to be since his brother died. Claire will get the home of her heart. A home built on all-encompassing love, including duty and passion. Jamie can build and grow lands to protect his family and the men who will come. The opportunity to replace all that has been lost.

Favorite Lines:

Links of Interest:

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

Season 4 Episode 402

“Do No Harm”

Directed by:  Julian Holmes

Written by:  Karen Campbell

Summary:

Claire, Jamie, Young Ian, and Rollo arrive at Aunt Jocasta’s plantation, River Run. Aunt Jocasta extends every hospitality learning they were robbed. Young Ian and Rollo meet a wicked predator. We meet a mountain man. Claire’s sensibilities and beliefs are on edge. Auntie Jocasta hatches a MacKenzie style plan. There’s a party with the who’s who of the area in honor of their arrival. An incident puts Jamie and Claire between what's right and what’s the law.

Themes:

The Confusing:

The timeline isn’t discernible for how long Jamie and Claire’s stay is at River Run before the dinner party or the incident with Rufus and Overseer Byrnes. This is important to why Jocasta named him heir so swiftly without seeing him really acting administratively or performing the business management duties she needs help with. Jamie appears not to have looked at Jocasta’s business dealings until after the public announcement. Really? One discussion with Wolff and Jocasta following his business acumen from afar. He was laird of Lallybroch for a short time with Jenny and Ian doing most of the work, he worked for Jared in Paris for a short time, yet successfully, he was in hiding, in prison, working his sentence off, and then became a seditious printer and smuggler. His bonafides don’t add up without Jocasta seeing him in action.

The plot device of Jamie only learning about the difficult slavery laws of the colony AFTER the announcement to make him an heir and the incident between Rufus and Byrnes. Jamie knew about other laws and even the Regulators. Surely, he would’ve asked about slavery and all it entailed. He was so pie-eyed and Pollyanna about working to release them if he took on the running of River Run. It is a kind and right notion, but as we find out, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Squares and Round Holes:

John Quincy Myers the wild mountain man just happens to be on the property and is the one person who knows how to help Young Ian with the skunk perfumed Rollo. Then he goes poof, and we don’t see him again during the episode. This screams, “Hey viewers, he might be important later, and we wanted you to meet him now.” Secondly, he’s either ill-mannered or completely oblivious in speaking to Young Ian, a lad of 16, in such a way. Book readers, I think you get my vibe on this scene.

The Good:

Maria Doyle Kennedy as Aunt Jocasta Cameron. She convinces me she IS a MacKenzie through and through.  The other new faces Ulysses, Phaedre, Lieutenant Wolff, John Quincy Myers, and Farquard Campbell are also well cast and believable. I am always struck wondering what the experience is playing the part of a slave or a slave owner. Both cause my heart to ache.

Claire and Jamie being in partnership they can’t own slaves, how they proceeded together in trying for true justice, treating Rufus, and subsequently understanding his soul is what matters. They stand unified.

Young Ian’s sweet heart when learning about Jocasta’s blindness and his compassion for the American Indians as people and not savages. He also shows great steel as Claire’s surgical assistant.

Jocasta’s butler Ulysses speaking plainly to Claire about what is to come for Rufus if he lives and how saving his soul is better than what’s to come. He’ll be used as an example for the other slaves to obey. Jamie says the same thing to Claire when he realizes Rufus will not be allowed to live no matter what. I like how these conversations mirrored each other, one from each, a free man and a slave.

Claire’s loving and kind bedside manner connecting with Rufus as he was dying. We have seen her do this before to send a soul off peacefully and with comfort.

Finally, Jamie’s prayer as the clock strikes midnight, Rufus dies from the poison, and Jamie delivers the limp body to the waiting men. Jamie crosses himself and prays, “I’m bending my knee in the eye of the Father who created me. Pour down from heaven the rich blessing if thy forgiveness. Be thou patient wi’ us. Grant to us savior of glory, the love of God...And the will to do on earth at all times as angels and saints do in heaven. Give us the peace.”

Mixed Bag:

Claire’s unwavering belief that people should not be owned. Seeing her fight the need to save the young man and not to cause unintended harm, was a beautiful struggle to behold. Sometimes the right answer requires courage in action we can never see coming. The downside to this staunch and brooding belief is that she isn’t culturally aware or sensitive. Did she have to bludgeon the idea home over and over. It is revolting, but she could have found a way to not sulk around and find a way through the situation without inadvertently putting the slaves in harm’s way, and without threatening Jocasta’s home and land, which she did. SLAVERY IS UNCONSCIONABLE. History, when allowed, will speak it loud and clear without Claire being more entrenched and rasher in action because of her 20th-century beliefs.

I was struck hard at the closing sequence. I applaud the realistic and brutal portrayal of slavery as it was in the American Colonies. I believe we must confront the good and bad in our collective history through any and every medium. The entertainment industry is an important vehicle, especially when the simple and often harsh truths are allowed to be represented, and no agenda or politics get in the way. Time might heal some wounds, but others need intervention and social change to be righted even a little bit. That said, I do think like the theme of circles in episode 401, it was heavy-handed without allowing the viewer to make the emotional, ethical, and moral leaps on his or her own. Outlander viewers are by and large people who can critically think and get what the writers are trying to say.

The idea Jocasta would assume Claire to be a Quaker because of her abolitionist beliefs is simply odd. The Southern Colonies had slaves, the northern Colonies did not. For some reason, viewers REALLY, REALLY need to know that Quakers may be of importance to future storylines.

CORRECTION: There was slavery across the colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. And the first organized group of white people to speak out against slavery was indeed the Quakers (The Society of Friends) who stood alone as a group for quite some time. I misspoke in my critique. With the exception of Claire’s speech, Jocasta may have been correct in this assumption.

Things to Ponder:

Favorite Lines:

There are numerous warm fuzzies from the book regardless of who the lines were given. These stand out in particular for me.

Links of Interest:

Bottom Line:

It took me two viewings before I could get a handle on this episode. I think us devoted book readers need to watch more than once to firmly separate one from the other. We have the blessing and curse of knowing the material being adapted.  I like this episode for the most part. I’ve a few gripes so far this season: the choppiness in the flow scene to scene and episode to episode (why didn’t they discuss the ring being taken too), the sense of feeling rushed from one place to the next without taking time to savor or deepen important moments or characters, then slowing way down for one event, and being spoon-fed what the writers deem important. If the writing is solid, there’s no need to put the point on repeat.   

 Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

America the Beautiful

Season 4 Ep 401

Written by Matthew B. Roberts and Toni Graphia

Summary:

Jamie, Claire, Marsali, Fergus, Young Ian, Lesley, and Hayes are in Wilmington, NC. There’s a hanging. Young Ian gets a dog. The Frasers are going to a party. They are broke and need to sell a gemstone for passage back to Scotland. A greedy pastor, flashbacks, and a stowaway complicate the burial. Assistance is given to an escaped convict. Jamie and Claire sleep rough. The Governor makes Jamie an offer. They decide to stay in America. On the way to River Run, there’s trouble.

Themes:

With good there is bad. There are opportunities in the new world, but there is also cruelty and opportunistic savagery that takes place against others in the process.

Circles have significance from the broader to the personal, impact lives, and are here to make a point this season.

The Good:

The Bad:

Jamie’s banged wig is hands down is THE worst thing in this episode. Claire’s wig and the funky North Carolina CGI are next in line. Everyone else’s wigs are fantastic. I just don’t get it. It seems the hair team is trying to mimic Sam’s hair before he donned a wig. Someone, PLEASE give Jamie an all over shoulder length wig that can be properly plaited. The utter distraction makes for difficult viewing.

Who the hell is Lillington and how did they get an invite to a party? It was an abrupt non-sequitur without context while they’re riding to the kirkyard to bury Gavin. Unless you’re a book reader, this came out of left field.

The So-So:

The hanging of Gavin barely ticked the emotional box because there was so little character development of him and Lesley even though they were at Ardsmuir and worked for Jamie in Edinburgh. Except for Lesley’s heartfelt tavern singing, and the shocking nature of his death, they felt superfluous to a storytelling end

Why was Jamie so determined for them all to go back to Scotland? Claire mildly talking him into staying is a bit off-putting.

Fergus being so mild and mousy and seemingly lacking the wit and fire his younger counterpart displayed is a slight turn off as a viewer.

The Funny:

The Obvious:

Claire’s voiceover in the opening scene of native peoples building a cairn circle around a standing stone, Hey there! Circles of ALL kinds (nooses, wedding rings, the movement of clock hands, and planetary orbits) are super-duper important. Especially stone circles in America.” (Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink). Then Stephen Bonnet focusing on the rings and the importance of an eternal circle. Then Stephen attempting to take Claire’s wedding rings.

Bottom Line:

Overall, I liked this episode and looked forward to what’s coming. A lot of ground was covered to move the story along nicely. I don’t envy the task of adapting such detailed and lengthy work. Outlander viewers are pretty darned smart and don’t need to be spoon-fed foreshadowing, hit in the face with themes or points the producers and writers want to be certain we don’t miss. I promise, if the writing is good, viewers with getting it.

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

THE INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC SEGMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM A PIECE BY DAMIANO BALDONI AT URL ON FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE. CURATOR: CCCOMMUNITY. COPYRIGHT: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0: HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-ND/4.0/

THE COUNTDOWN TO OUTLANDER S4 CONTINUES!

News: The official Season 4 opening credits and the music was released on October 6thduring an Outlander panel at the NYCC. Bear McCreary masterfully creates the connection to the colonial south of America by once again altering The Skye Boat song to reflect where the story is going while maintaining its Scottish roots. The credits also combine the familiar beginning with snippets from the season that include the sweeping expanse of River Run, the backcountry cabin on Fraser’s Ridge, Brianna touching the stone at Craigh na Dun, traditional dancing, a handfasting, and more.

Outlander stars Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Richard Rankin, and Sophie Skelton, producers, Maril Davis, and Ron D. Moore, and writer Diana Gabaldon were at the NYCC doing autographs and participated in panels. The official Outlander panel audience members were surprised with a showing of S4 E1. 

Rewatch Season 3 episodes 1-3 then listen to my thoughts.

Here are the episode synopses from Outlander Starz:

Ep 301 The Battle Joined - After living through the Battle of Culloden, Jamie is at the mercy of British victors, until his past provides his only hope of survival. Meanwhile, a pregnant Clarie attempts to adjust to life in 1940's Boston.

Ep 302 Surrender - Hiding in a cave, Jamie leads a lonely life until Lallybroch is threatened by redcoats pursuing the elusive Jacobite traitor. In Boston, Claire and Frank struggle to coexist in a marriage haunted by the ghost of Jamie.

Ep 303 All Debts Paid - In prison, Jamie discovers that an old foe has become the warden - and has the power to make his life hell. Claire and Frank both put their best foot forward in marriage, but an uninvited guest shatters the illusion.

It's been almost ten months since the finale of Outlander Season 3, and in a mere 5 weeks, Season 4 will premiere. 

Last seen, Jamie and Claire, the family, and crew had washed up on the southern shores of The Colonies in America.

Season 4 is based on book 4 of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Jamie and Claire are no longer being pursued by the British, however, expect adventure, trouble, surprises, and love as they embark on their life in The New World.

This podcast discusses the six revealed episode titles, the main characters this season, which characters will have the most misadventure, slavery, American Indians, indentured servitude, The Ridge, mature marriage, and more!

Please share your thoughts and comments to 719-425-9444 or contact@adramofoutlander.com. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

What coming up? More Countdown to S4

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/Sony.

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook Page, Facebook Group,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

The intro and outro music segments are taken from a piece by Damiano Baldoni at URL on Free Music Archive. Curator: ccCommunity. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 68-71

Week 34

“All Roads Lead to The Gathering.”

Summary: Domesticity ruled the moment. Jamie and Claire drunkenly frolicked in the night. Roger and Brianna established married life. Duncan Innes came to the Ridge with a proposition. The family headed to the Gathering. The baby finally had a proper name. The Gathering hosted Scottish families from across the Colonies. A word from Young Ian was had. A Highland Regiment arrived. Lizzie got a welcomed surprise. Claire worked her pop-up clinic. Roger shared a private letter with Jamie. Jamie offered to return something special to Claire. Brianna clearly made her choice.   

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 68

Domestic Bliss

August 1770

Domestic bliss filled the morning and Claire thought about the night before when Jamie had invited her outdoors the night before (p1045, Nook). They wandered into the woods to intimately share each other under the moon before drunkenly going back to bed for an hour. They silently shared the memory over parritch under the acknowledging eye of Brianna. The moment was broken when Clarence announced a visitor. Duncan Innes arrived to invite them all to the upcoming gathering at Mount Helicon. The clincher for Jamie was being told a priest would be there and the baby could be baptized. Then Duncan embarrassingly dropped a bomb on Jamie; he asked permission to marry Aunt Jocasta (p1047, Nook). Duncan was a man of propriety and thought it only right to seek Jamie’s blessing because he was the next of kin and her rightful heir. Jamie gave his blessing and said they would dance at the wedding.

Chapter 69

Jeremiah

October 1770

The baby’s name had not been settled even though he was about five months old. The discussion went round and round as they traveled to the Gathering. Claire brought up Jeremiah and the nickname of Jemmy. This recalled the woman and her child from the Gloriana to Roger. He inquired to Claire if she remembered the name of his ancestor the changeling’s (William Buccleigh) wife. Claire obliged. The woman’s name was Morag Gunn. Her son’s name was Jemmy. Claire suddenly spoke of Geilie who had said they could travel through time to change things.

Chapter 70

The Gathering

We have arrived at the Gathering an incredibly long and detailed set of storylines that carry on well into the next book.  Claire reflected on the last Gathering she had attended at Castle Leoch nearly thirty years prior. Though the Clans and the old way of Highland life were dead in Scotland, the Clans gathered together in this place with pride. Looking for Jamie in the crowd, Claire spotted John Quincy Myers and called to him. He was there to sell his hides and trinkets. He was surprised on a trip up in the mountains to have seen Young Ian geared out like a Mohawk. Myers presented Claire with a small package from Young Ian.  Myers left Claire assuring her he would see her later. Jamie returned, and they read the letter together. Young Ian had been married to Emily, and they were expecting a child. Rollo had also sired a great many puppies in the village. Jamie, of course, ridiculed Young Ian’s use of Latin.

Claire observed every Scottish family from the Colonies up to Pennsylvania must be there with more arriving all the time. Due to the difficulty of travel, families would stay about a week or so. The next day Jamie made his way to where Lizzie was sitting and offered her a great surprise. Fergus has Joseph Weymss, Lizzie’s father with him. Jamie had purchased Mr. Weymss indenture contract and intended to burn it in the fire that evening.

Day three and Claire was almost overwhelmed with the amount of news, gossip, and Gaelic in the air. Roger though absorbed every detail and sound as he wandered about the grounds listening. The night before he had borrowed a guitar and sang for a crowd. Jamie being no fan of music decided to take the baby for a game of dice (p1054, Nook).

Claire had opened a pop-up medical clinic. She gave dietary advice trying to get the people to eat foods filled with vitamin C. She even had Jamie eating the dangerous nightshade, tomato in front of people on purpose to persuade them it was safe to eat. Instead of making dietary inroads, the others regarded Jamie supernaturally and that Himself, of course, could survive having eaten such food. Claire treated skin a family with a skin condition when a Highland regiment marched into view. Brianna and baby came up behind and asked if they were friend or foe. Did the Crown think this was a political gathering? Claire advised Bree to take the baby up into the rocks if anything happened. All around the men stepped in front of the women and children. Two men rode toward Jamie. The man dismounted and introduced himself (p1057, Nook).

Chapter 71

Circle’s Close

Roger had been waiting to get Jamie alone. He had a message for him. Jamie took the baby from Roger and invited him to speak. Roger explained he had to wait to go through the stones after Brianna left. Roger had stayed at the Manse, his family home while waiting. He found a letter and was not sure if he should tell Claire or Brianna about it. The letter was to his father the Reverend, and the seal of confession had been broken by the death of the writer and his father. Roger spoke the memorized letter to Jamie word for word (p1059, Nook). Roger knew the struggle of thought he had gone through carrying this knowledge. Frank could have chosen to keep the information to himself and not had the Reverend place the headstone that led Claire back to Jamie after Frank’s death followed by Brianna and Roger. With Brianna in the past having had a baby, Jamie’s bloodline would continue. Roger wondered if it was “interest on the debt owed?” Jamie finally spoke (p1063, Nook). Roger planned to tell Brianna but asked if he should tell Claire also. Jamie said under his pledge of honesty to Claire, Roger should tell her. 

Day four and even more families had arrived. Each family had their campfire that filled the night’s darkness. Claire was reminded of the MacKenzie clan badge. She realized the burning mountain was a visage of a Gathering like this one representing togetherness. The motto, Luceo non uro (I shine, not burn) finally made sense to her too.

There was a large fire in the clearing families came to declare their presence including Jamie announcing, “The Frasers of the Ridge.” Claire sat with the sleeping baby in her arms. Jamie sat down behind her.  They watched Roger and Brianna in intent conversation leading Jamie to wonder if they were going to change the baby’s name again (p1065, Nook). After formally choosing to be husband and wife, Brianna asked Roger to go declare “the MacKenzies are here.”

We DID IT! We finished the Drums of Autumn read-a-long. 34 episodes over most of a year. Thank you for sticking with me as we followed our (my favorite) book friends further into their adventures. We met new people along the way and saw the painful and painstaking process it took for Roger and Brianna to be together. Young Ian is in the hands of his new Mohawk family. Lord John has become a friend to Brianna and reestablished his friendship with Jamie. He and Claire still tolerate each other. Roger and Jamie have entered a tentative relationship. Jocasta is marrying Duncan Innes yet has no heir in Jamie or Brianna. Stephen Bonnet is on the loose. Claire and Jamie are building a life and home for themselves and others in the mountains. We learned how Frank was instrumental in Claire, Brianna, and Roger going into the 18th century. Claire hopes the coming war will stay away from the Ridge. Beware after season 4 airs on television we will be starting straightaway on a read-a-long of the immense Fiery Cross.

What’s Coming up? The Space Between novella.

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

The intro and outro music segments are taken from a piece by Damiano Baldoni at URL on Free Music Archive. Curator: ccCommunity. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 66-67

Week 33

“Cowards Need Not Apply”

Summary: Claire was annoyed with the rascally rabbits. Roger made his return. He performed a blood vow upon the baby. Jamie declared Roger and Brianna husband and wife by handfast. Brianna was timid around Roger. Claire tended Roger’s wounded foot. Roger convalesced at the partially completed big house. Brianna visited Roger daily. Claire released Roger from rest. Claire cautioned Roger to be careful. Jamie cautioned Roger not to be cowardly. Roger went to see Brianna. They talked and began to make their way back to each other.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 66

Child of My Blood

Claire was in the vegetable garden decrying the work of hungry and destructive rabbits. She found herself missing Young Ian and his dog. She was trying to get the new planting in before the weather turned cold. She needed a way to keep the rabbits from the nutrient dense and flavorful cabbages. She decided Jamie should urinate, like a mountain lion, around the garden would keep the hungry bunnies away. She headed toward the herb shed and noticed movement. She thought it was Jamie, but it was a man dark of hair and beard, in tattered clothing looking worse for wear. It was Roger MacKenzie Wakefield. He was happy Claire was the person he met first (p1019, Nook). The others were in the cabin. Jamie and Brianna worked on the house plans, while the baby slept nearby. Lizzie was busy spinning by the window. With the opening of the door, Jamie swiftly and loudly reacted before recognizing who it was who had entered. Brianna looked around wildly as she soothed the woken baby.

Jamie stood with the stillness of battle readiness next to Brianna as she nursed the baby. Roger’s own countenance echoed that of Jamie. They appeared to mirror each other to Claire’s shock. They were Vikings, the pair of them with Brianna rounding out the trio with flames in her eyes. Roger asked Jamie to cut his wrist (1021, Nook). In that one act, Roger adopted the baby as his. He asked what the baby was named, but none was given yet. Claire saw how different Brianna and Roger were to each other. It had been nine-plus months since they became handfast. Roger wanted to know if Brianna was his wife (p1022, Nook). Brianna wanted to know why he came back. Maybe for obligation and wanting, but he couldn’t tell her exactly. She asked him about the stone circle. It took him a long time to find it again. She explained to Roger what she wanted from a marriage (p1023, Nook). They were handfasted on September 2 of the prior year, for two and a half more months they would remain so then they could choose to stay together or not (p1023, Nook). The last remark or rather a threat caused a row between the two men after they went outside (p1024, Nook). As ever Claire attributed it to testosterone poisoning (p1024, Nook). Claire if it were only so easy to take care of testosterone poisoning.

Life on the Ridge was uncomfortable with the personalities and situations at play. The baby’s nightly colic caused Jamie to work on the new house with fervor. Roger helped with the other chores though his injured foot made it difficult. He refused treatment, but Claire insisted he must allow her to assess it. There were no signs of blood infection or gangrene. There were pockets of infection that built up and had been partially draining when he walked. She decided what to do and needed Bree’s help. Lizzie offered in her place out of remorsefulness and trying to make amends any way she could for her part in Roger’s trial. Claire bid Lizzie the task of taking the baby outside for some fresh air. Claire explained the procedure of draining, disinfecting, and debridement to Roger. She had Brianna hold onto his hands tightly. By the time she had disinfected the wound, Roger’s head was in Brianna’s lap, and her arms were tight around his shoulders. Claire went to the shed for a minute to get the rotting meat she had prepped a couple of days before. She placed the maggots into the wounds to eat away any dead tissue that remained. Claire had learned this type of debridement from her friend Nayawenne. She wrapped his foot and assured him the work of the maggots might tickle, but they wouldn’t hurt. If you would like to know more about Maggot Therapy, click here.

Claire went outside to wash the bowl. She met Jamie who was holding the baby. He had taken him from a crying Lizzie who was mourning the loss of Young Ian. This girl is gonna get #boycrazy soon. Jamie took Claire to show her of his progress on the big house. He thought Roger staying at the big house temporarily would be the best bet since beds were in short supply. They talked, and Claire told Jamie Brianna and Roger are getting to know each other again, and things seemed well between them.

Clever Claire had Brianna help her with Roger’s procedure. Brianna had to touch Roger and be near him. Why oh why did Jamie still think poorly of Roger? I haven’t puzzled that one out yet. Lizzie, damn that girl should feel all sorts of remorsefulness, though Jamie going full tilt “Operation Wakefield is a Rapist,” is all on his shoulders 100%.

Chapter 67

The Toss of a Coin

Roger was staying in the partially built big house while recovering from having Claire perform minor surgery on his foot. Brianna came to see him every day to bring food, water, and such. She had come without the baby and thought it was wonderful to have the rare alone time with her; she didn’t stay long because of the baby’s absence. Roger’s appetite had come back with ferocity. He gratefully ate what she had brought him in the basket. As he ate, Roger looked out over the land understanding and approving of Jamie selecting this site for the house (p1030, Nook). Roger pondered why he told her he didn’t know why he returned. He hadn’t known then (p1031, Nook). The jig was up. He figured out and appreciated Claire’s tactic in getting Brianna in proximity to and touching him when performing the wound surgery.

At the end of the week, Claire released him from recovery and cautioned him to not step on anything sharp. The baby had been crying all night, so no one got any sleep. Jamie planned on moving into the partially built house with Claire immediately. Roger took this moment to ask Claire’s advice about what to do based on Brianna’s behavior when he tried to touch her. Claire indelicately approached the subject (p1033, Nook). She told him to be careful. After Claire left, Jamie came bearing gifts of a razor and hot water. Roger was thankful as the beard itched terribly. Roger tried to make small talk as Jamie watched him shave. There was little use for a historian with a talent as a folk singer on an 18th-century mountain farm (p1035, Nook). Jamie lacked all subtlety in telling Roger Brianna, and the baby would be alone for the night. (Insert staring blue cat-like laser beams at Roger). Without being prompted, he gave Roger relationship advice (p1036, Nook).  That one sentence said it all, Brianna didn’t need a cowardly man. Jamie told him to go for it, tonight, there was no time like the present to convince her.

Roger initially heeded Jamie’s advice and went down to the cabin. He worked out ways to get her attention without scaring her. Then he thought to give up and to try again in the morning. Jamie and Claire thus even in the advice taking. He stayed and walked around the cabin a couple of more times. As if divine intervention, Brianna left the cabin to use the privy. He scared her saying her name. She was annoyed and told him to go away. He waited for her to return from the privy. At first, she chided him for walking on the foot before she told him to go back to bed (p1037, Nook). They are finally talking. #OnTheTrainToCommuncationStation She invited him into the cabin after the baby began to cry. She laid down to nurse and Roger sat on the nursing chair in front of the fire. The room was warm and had homey scents.

He watched and apologized for it. She didn’t care. To her surprise, Roger began to undress (p1039, Nook). She asked about the marks on his back. The scars had come from the Indians. He turned around. It had been dark when they were together the many months back, so this was the first time she was seeing him in the light. Which of them had changed more since that first and only night together? He sat down and wanted to know what it felt like to have the baby nurse. To show him what happened when the baby nursed, she popped the baby off and sprayed him with the fine streams of letdown milk. Yes, Roger like a squirt gun! Roger told her he wants her; she wanted him too. Roger took the sleeping baby into his arms and looked him over. Brianna thought he was trying to see the resemblance; he wasn’t. He wanted to have a proper look at the baby. Brianna brushed her hair while Roger examined the baby. He noticed the foot reacted to his finger stroke. She explained the “Eau de baby” scent that babies have. It is intoxicating and helps keep parents from killing them. She’s not wrong. Babies are tough work. Brianna placed the baby back in the cradle.

Roger asked why Brianna stayed once she found out she was pregnant. She couldn’t leave without him. She allowed her gown to fall to the floor. He saw her in full nakedness. He delighted at seeing the colors upon her nether region. He wanted her. She wanted to know what Roger found holy. Their little family, nothing more.

What’s Coming up? Chapters 68-71 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

The intro and outro music segments are taken from a piece by Damiano Baldoni at URL on Free Music Archive. Curator: ccCommunity. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

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Drums of Autumn

Chapters 63-65

Week 32

“New Life and Returning Home”

Summary: Brianna was angry about Jocasta’s will. Lord John had a plan if he needed to help. Brianna feared how things would be between her and Roger if he came back. Only two riders returned. Brianna forgave Jamie. Claire assessed John. Brianna went into labor. Jamie and Claire supported her. A healthy baby was born. The Fraser’s and Lord John left River Run. They happily returned to The Ridge. Roger was nearby. He was committed and ready.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 63

Forgiveness

River Run, May 1770

Brianna was in a huff over Auntie Jo’s stubborn refusal to change her will. Lord John to Brianna, “Pot meet kettle.” John believed doing nothing was the answer (p997, Nook). John went on to explain if Jocasta died leaving the plantation to Brianna, he would buy her slaves and free them in Virginia, and she would return his money, thus fixing the problem. He slyly made another point along the way (p998, Nook). Brianna asked and inferred that Lord John could never care for a child who wasn’t his own, so how could Roger be expected to? He told her for the sake of the parent, and he’d been doing that very thing for some time. Brianna misinterpreted it to mean her he was caring for because of her father (p999, Nook). Upon deeper reflection, Brianna was worried about the intimacy between her and Roger (p999, Nook). I love the ease of their conversation and the sharp wit of Lord John. Brianna was raped, there is a level of worry whether or not she can sexually be with Roger. Could he accept her if he couldn’t touch her? Could she ask such a sacrifice of him? She knows healing can take place because of Jamie being able to have a full relationship with her mother. Brianna seems to hold onto the most negative outcome possibilities as a way to guard and prepare herself. 

Only two riders were seen by the servants, Brianna thought it must be Jamie and Claire.  So many thoughts were running through Brianna’s mind. “Was Roger not found? They found him, and he didn’t want to come back?”  She jokes to Lord John about him being her fallback. Lord John came up with other scenarios in which Young Ian and Roger rode separately from her parents. John proceeded to ask Brianna how far her remorse went for almost getting him killed (p1001, Nook). Out of the room, she flew to greet her father. Lord John was the wise and caring friend Brianna needed. Like Claire, Diana describes Brianna about nature, a storm cloud in this instance.

Cut to Claire as she examined Lord John (p1003, Nook). He asked after MacKenzie. She assured him Roger would be coming along later. Lord John is not convinced. Claire had faith in Roger returning. Without asking Claire opened John’s shirt to listen to his heart, lungs, and abdomen. Why would John be surprised by this gesture? She manhandles anyone needing medical attention. When she asked if he has moved his bowels, he downright refused to answer. John looked her over (p1003, Nook). I think he was admiring her and at the same time looking for anything to critique in a bitchy and catty way. Claire wanted to get a look at the trepanation site and was unusually delicate in the asking because she was curious (p1004, Nook). That line is quintessential Lord John. As Claire examined his head, she thanked him for helping Brianna while they were gone. John was pleased to have helped even if it cost him a hole in the head. John worried for the state of Brianna and Jamie’s relationship. Claire instructed him to look into the garden. All was well between the father and daughter. Claire thought Brianna would deliver soon and John professed his thankfulness at their return (p1004). At that, Claire returned the sapphire to John at Brianna’s request. “Jilted, by God!”.

Chapter 64

Bottom of the Ninth

Claire told Brianna labor is like a baseball game. It’s mostly boring with bouts of activity. I like to say it has phases. Most of the labor a woman has more rest periods than work periods until near pushing when the end of active labor requires more work and little rest to finish dilation and bring the baby down. Brianna mentioned beer and hot dogs in response. Jamie asked if he should fetch some small beer. He then asked about a hot dog. Claire explained it was sausage on a roll. Brianna didn’t want one. Jamie decided he should leave, but Brianna wouldn’t let him (p1005, Nook). Claire was gripped with worry, and her brain went haywire thinking of how she almost died when she lost Faith. By the way, that was a placental abruption that could not have been stopped or fixed at any time. She’d had a subchorionic hemorrhage in mid-second trimester that resulted in a full abruption in the sixth month of pregnancy. This problem had nothing to do with her ability to carry a baby or birth. They sometimes happen without injury or accident. Claire prepared in her mind for how she would handle various situations that might arise during labor.

Jamie was called into service to walk Brianna around the room like he would a horse with colic to help distract her and progress labor. Claire opened the windows and took a moment to inhale the freshness of the outdoors. The house was in full anticipation and readiness for the birth. Claire contemplated how little needed to be done to support normal birth and how little could be done if it went wrong. Brianna wanted to lie down after walking for a long time. The labor was getting more intense and organized. Claire didn’t think it would be much longer, though five minutes apart is usually early labor, and it could last another 5-12 hours on average. I love how Brianna clings to Jamie and calls him daddy. Brianna asked Jamie to tell her a story. He told her stories as she held onto him. Claire rubbed her back. They offered excellent labor support! Claire had Phaedre fill the room will candlelight to provide light since Brianna had started voluntarily pushing. Claire provided perineal massage with oiled fingers (not necessary, but usual for her training). The amniotic sac broke, and the waters splashed upon the bed and floor. The baby came down, and Claire felt the head with her fingers (p1010, Nook). Claire assessed the baby quickly, he was healthy and well. There was no sign of hemorrhage (p1010, Nook). WELL DONE! Claire waited to cut the cord until after the placenta which gave an opportunity for the baby to receive the blood back into him from the placenta. The house was abuzz. Jamie was crying with joy. Brianna was grinning and put him to breast right away. He latched without a problem and surprised Brianna with the force of it. Claire was crying too and realized it when she tasted tears when she smiled. The baby and Brianna were settled in, and Claire found Jamie (who had gone to tell Lord John of the birth). They kissed and afterward she noticed the marks on his hands from Brianna’s nails (p1012, Nook).

Jamie was trying to figure out if the baby resembled MacKenzie or Bonnet. Claire said it was impossible to tell right now and mentioned recessive genes. Jamie had no idea what she meant, she went on to explain the baby could be any color, and they wouldn’t know for sure who the father was and wondered aloud if it mattered (p1012, Nook). Jamie fell fast asleep, but Claire thought about why she said that phrase. It was something Frank always said (p1012, Nook). Peace swept over Claire, and she slept.  

Chapter 65

Return to Fraser’s Ridge

Jamie, Claire, Brianna, nameless baby boy, and Lord John traveled together as far as they could. Lord John turned toward Virginia and William (p1013, Nook). The others kept on toward Fraser’s Ridge for another week. Though the cabin was in disarray, the garden was a mess, and everything unkempt, Claire was the most joyful she had ever been at a homecoming.

The baby not only didn’t have a first name, but his last name was also under question. They all called him a different nickname. Brianna was waiting for Roger to come before deciding what the baby would be called. Jamie was fed up with the waiting (p1014, Nook). Claire was cranky too since the baby had kept everyone up from crying due to a diaper rash. Claire was trying to fill out the baby’s birth certificate, she could fill in the date, approximate time, and who the attending doctor was, but no name as of yet. She and Jamie got sidetracked with names of Saints (p1015, Nook). Jamie goes on to tell her of the Saint against impotence. Claire hit another problem with the birth certificate; what last name should she put for Brianna? Fraser, Randall, or both? Claire decided to write both last names and to have faith Roger would come.

Roger was preparing himself to ride up the path to Fraser’s Ridge. He must have been a sight to see but didn’t think it mattered much. He passed through the clearing where he had met Jamie on that fateful day many months ago. The memory stabbed him, but nothing mattered because he was there.

What’s Coming up? Chapters 66-67 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

The intro and outro music segments are taken from a piece by Damiano Baldoni at URL on Free Music Archive. Curator: ccCommunity. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comment or question.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 61-62

Week 31

“Forgiveness”

Summary:  

Claire was sent to the longhouse. She examined Roger. Jamie wanted to keep some facts to themselves. Roger baptized a baby. Young Ian was adopted into the tribe to replace the man Roger had killed. He was named Wolf’s Brother and joined Works with Her Hands’ family. With sadness Roger, Claire, and Jamie left the village toward River Run. Roger learned the baby might not be his. Jamie and Claire left Roger to decide. Stephen Bonnet was arrested. Brianna implored Lord John to arrange a meeting. The mother bear roared. Lord John was injured. Bonnet made a fiery escape and asked Brianna to go with him.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 61

The Office of a Priest

An exhausted, Claire was taken to the longhouse. The air smelled of smoke and burnt things. There was singing; she wondered if it was for the dead woman. She exclaimed when she saw Jamie and Roger. Roger embraced her. He was thin and stank but seemed healthy to her. I love how Claire clinically assessed him immediately. This demonstrated how much she cared for him. He asked after Brianna immediately. She noticed his injured foot, but Jamie interrupted and asked how Claire was. Oddly he told her his arm needed to be looked at because it hurt. As Claire points out, he would never say he was in pain in front of Roger. She looked him over and didn’t think his arm was broken (p963, Nook). What do you think of Jamie’s idea? Claire went back to Roger to look at his foot. She blurted out Brianna was pregnant. Roger was stunned to learn Bree was in advanced pregnancy (p964, Nook). Claire thought Bree wanted to give Roger an escape plan since she believed the baby was Bonnet’s but moreover that she believed Jamie wouldn’t see it as a marriage without a priest, church, and contract. Claire reassured Roger of Brianna’s health and well-being. Brianna had wanted to go with Claire and Jamie to find Roger; this was a great relief to him. Jamie admitted it was a misunderstanding.

Claire inspected Roger’s foot and was alarmed at the infection. Roger explained it was infected off and on. Roger only wanted answers. Brianna had not set Jamie and Young Ian upon him to turn him away; it was Jamie’s idea (p966, Nook). In Jamie’s mind, a person can only die once, so it was safe to bring Claire with him on this dangerous trip. If the past couldn’t be changed, Jamie assumed correctly. Roger explained that was precisely why he didn’t tell Brianna about the notice (p967, Nook). Claire wholeheartedly disagreed with this idea of protection, just like Brianna had. Claire lambasted Roger for not telling Bree and trying to prevent her from going into the past. Jamie would rather have not met Brianna than for her to go through all she had since entering the 18th century. Roger had an epiphany. Brianna could not go back through the stones now. She was too far pregnant. Claire had tried to send her back early on, but Brianna wouldn’t go without Roger. Jamie felt responsible for Brianna being stuck in his timeline (p968, Nook).

Suddenly a group of Mohawks entered the longhouse. An older woman handed Roger the cradleboard. The woman knew he was the son of a priest and wants him to baptize Father Alexandre and his lover’s baby. Roger wasn’t sure at first, then Jamie reminded him any man could perform the duties of a priest in the time of need. Roger paled but decided to perform the baptism in French.

“Écoutez les paroles de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, en obéissant à la parole de notre Seigneur Jésus et sûre de sa présence avec nous, nous baptisons ceux qu’il a appelés à être les siens.Qui est votre Seigneur, votre Sauveur? Voulez-vous placer votre foi en Lui? Promets-tu de dire à cet enfant la bonne nouvelle de l'Évangile, et tout ce que le Christ commande, et par ta communion fraternelle, de renforcer ses liens familiaux avec la famille de Dieu?” Then Roger turned to Jamie and Claire, the baby passed between them. Roger finished sprinkling water on the baby’s head and said, “Je vous baptise, Alexandra, au nom du Père et du Fils et du Saint-Esprit, Amen.”

The group of Christian Mohawk left the village and Roger wondered if he was going to be next to die. Claire shared what she learned from staying in Tewaktenyonh’s house the prior night (p970, Nook). Young Ian had not been seen since the chaos of the night before. It was the following afternoon before there was a visitor to the longhouse. It was Young Ian. He was there to say goodbye to Jamie and Claire. His hair had been plucked into a Mohawk style, his ear pierced, and his face tattooed.  The adoption ceremony was to be in the evening (p972, Nook). Oh, my crushed heart. The ceremony included his whiteness being scrubbed away with sand and given a new name (Wolf’s Brother). Jamie surprised the Mohawk by placing his plaid over Young Ian’s shoulder. Are any of you crying? Imagine Jamie writing to Jenny about her son.  

They left the next morning after Jamie silently hugged and kissed Ian goodbye. The trio was quiet throughout the day and set up camp that evening. Roger spoke, asking Claire about the circle in the Indies. She was too tired to explain, so she simply said yes. Then he went on to tell Claire there was another stone circle eight days travel from Fraser’s Ridge. There would still not be enough time to get back to River Run, collect Brianna, and get back to the stone circle for them to go back to the 20th century. Jamie brought up that Roger didn’t have to stay. He could go back to his own time. Tempers and words flared (p975, Nook). Roger fired back showing the gemstone he stole from Bonnet not knowing Bonnet stole it from Claire and Jamie who had taken it from Geillis. Roger explained to them what happened (p976, Nook). Jamie mounted his horse and told Claire to come with him. Roger told her to go and he would come if he could. Claire and Jamie rode away leaving Roger with a gemstone in his hand and a decision to make.

Young Ian made a huge sacrifice but made it for love and obligation. Jamie had great anger toward Roger and treated him badly. How could a man hearing such shocking news be able to know how he felt about it? I don’t like the big deal that’s made of a child not being of one’s blood. Jamie adopted Fergus (Claudel) and loved Laoghaire’s daughters as his own. Both Claire and Roger had been adopted, and Frank had raised Brianna as his blood daughter. Roger had been through hell during the many months since Jamie had given him to the tribe, you would think Jamie having been a captive would certainly understand the difficulties Roger faced. He seemed to have little compassion for Roger and blamed him for losing Young Ian. What compelled Jamie to act in such a way?

Chapter 62

Three-Thirds of a Ghost

River Run, April 1770

Lord John dropped the bomb on Brianna that Stephen Bonnet was captured. Lord John sent the nearby servant to bed to keep listening ears away. He wanted to go to bed himself, but the information could not hold any longer. Bonnet had been caught in Cross Creek and charged with smuggling tea and brandy, but charges were added when his identity was discovered. Lord John searched Brianna’s face for signs of swooning. She was steady though pale. Bonnet was to hang the following week. Lord John was impressed by how much the baby had grown in two months since their engagement. The baby moved pressing out toward him, and he worried about the stress of knowing could cause her to go into preterm labor. His worry escalated, and he thought to get a servant, but Brianna merely said thank you. The calmness she expressed relieved Lord John to the state of her health. Brianna wants to see him. Lord John misunderstood thinking she wanted to watch the execution. He protested. She only wanted to talk to him. John choked on his drink. She went on to tell him of her outrageous plan to see Bonnet and the utter scandal it would cause. Well, Brianna knows how to take a conversation from zero to redline in one moment. I don’t think there’s enough booze to keep Lord John from shock from Brianna’s boldness.  

He asked her why she wanted to speak to Bonnet. She handed him a piece of paper written by her father (p981, Nook). Bottom line, Brianna wanted to be free whether or not Roger returned. Forgiveness was at the heart of her need to see him (p982, Nook). Before retiring to bed, he asked if he could feel the baby move. He was delighted to feel the baby press against his hand.

Lord John took Brianna to the garrison. Bonnet was being held in the basement of the warehouse. The soldier on duty, Hodgepile was bribed to allow them in.  The name was known to Brianna from Ronnie Sinclair’s description. They gained entrance, Hodgepile was startled seeing Brianna.  They passed the contents of the warehouse leaving Brianna with a sense of confinement. Hodgepile instructed her to be careful with the lantern. Fire would be especially dangerous. Once down in the basement, the dampness took over. She was determined not to panic. Lord John encouraged her. She entered the room on her own. Bonnet was chained to her relief. Brianna spoke (p985, Nook). Brianna vomited and then gathered herself. She told him her name (p985, Nook). His manner almost made her laugh. He told her the jewels had been stolen after he sold one to buy a ship. She wondered if Roger stole the two. The timing fit she thought. He reminded her she got the ring back (p986, Nook). She wanted nothing from him but had come to give him something. She told him the baby was his. What in the hell caused her to think this was a good idea and there was only a chance the baby was his anyway. She hoped the knowledge would give him ease knowing he left something behind after he died.

Enter Sergeant Murchison. He threatened her. Brianna reacted and swung the lantern at his head. Stephen Bonnet grabbed her before she could hit him again. He was not chained after all. It also looked like Murchison had killed Lord John who was sprawled on the floor in the hall. Murchison again threatened to shoot Brianna, but the cramped quarters made it impossible (p988, Nook). In the dimness of her mind, she heard her name. Bonnet was shouting at her to stop. The building was going to blow, and they had to get out. She blocked the door until he explained everything. She refused to let him leave Murchison to die, so he slit his throat to be done with it. Brianna was contracting with Braxton Hicks though, not contractions that cause labor. She, of course, did not know this fact. Bonnet ran out, and she stopped to check Lord John for a pulse. She found one weak and irregular. She calculated the risk of being in the basement if the upstairs caught fire and convinced herself it was safe while she tried to puzzle out how to save Lord John. She was about to administer first aid to Lord John when Bonnet returned yelling for her to run. She believed it was safe and he should go away (p993, Nook). She agreed to leave, but Bonnet had to carry Lord John to safety. He picked up Lord John, and she followed as quickly as she could. Can you imagine being seven months pregnant and running for your life from a building about to blow up? They made it out of the building to the wharf. The building was burning brightly. Bonnet asked her to go with him to his ship. She declined. He asked her if it was true that the baby was his while peering into her face. He reached into his mouth and pulled a gem from his cheek. He put it in her hand to help pay for the baby’s upkeep. He left, and she pondered shooting him as he ran off. She heard Jamie’s voice in her head and put the gun down. She opened her hand and found the black diamond staring back at her.

What was Brianna thinking? The woman has her mother’s penchant for rashness and not caring whether she created a scandal. Each read I have a difficult time figuring out WHY she would tell Bonnet the baby was unequivocally his. HOW did that propel her forgiving him? WHAT will happen now that he has escaped and believed he is the baby’s father? For all her engineer brain thinking, she certainly does not stop to think about the what-ifs and how they might impact the future.

Links of Interest: The anthropology blog post. 

What’s Coming up? Chapters 63-65 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

The intro and outro music segments are taken from a piece by Damiano Baldoni at URL on Free Music Archive. Curator: ccCommunity. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Join the A Dram of Outlander Community

Please share posts, join the discussions, and follow this website and social media sites listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your com

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 59-60

Week 30

“Fighting Words”

Summary: Brianna susses out a truth about Lord John. She allows herself to feel close to Roger. She hatches a plan and proposes marriage to Lord John. She threatens him. She apologizes and explains. He explains why he cannot marry her. They become “engaged.” The priest prepares for death. Roger prays for him. The priest is taken from the tent. The drumming stops and all hell breaks loose. Roger escapes the tent but is knocked on the head. A familiar face is found in the longhouse. Claire and Young Ian are missing.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 59 Blackmail

Brianna wakes to relieve her bladder and notices the ominous thunderclouds. She worries about the weather in the mountains. Had her parents found Roger? Instead of going back to bed, Brianna dons her cloak. She finds it unacceptable to have a slave empty her chamber pot. She exits through the kitchen to rain striking her in the face. Brianna made it to the necessary (privy) to empty the chamber pot and used the rainwater to rinse it out. For a moment she stands in the rain, she wasn’t sure why she did it, but she purposely stood under the gutter spout allowing rainwater to pour over her. She notices a glimpse of light coming from the slave quarters. She does not want to explain herself or be seen. The lightning, however, shows her who was leaving the slave quarters. It was Lord John Grey. She runs after him to avoid being locked out. To his shock, she bounds through the door as he is closing it. She makes a comment and goes to her room; he doesn’t follow.

She slips back into bed naked after drying herself and leaving her clothing to dry in front of the fire. Her brain puzzles out what she saw and what she has experienced from Lord John. She hadn’t felt the primal sexual acknowledgment she was accustomed to feeling. There was indifference. His sexual bell was chiming as he left the servants’ quarters. There was no way her father knew and could be a friend to Lord John because of his past. For a fleeting moment, she could feel Roger about her feeling aroused, then the hands of Bonnet rose from memory. Anger and shame replaced arousal. Needing to move, she goes to the window and looks out into the rain. It was too late to go to Hispaniola and leave for the 20th century. Maybe if Roger was with her now, and they left to the island cave, but he was not there. Was Roger even alive? Her mother would return before the birth. She does her best not to think of Jamie or Bonnet because rage swells when she does.

The inaction and helplessness of the situation bother her. She recognizes she decided to keep her baby and live with whatever consequences there would be. She is on the hearthrug warming herself. She thinks of Roger and disallows any thought of Bonnet to encroach. The only night with Roger fills her mind evoking passion and arousal (p937, Nook). She allows the sensations to ebb before moving slowly to the bed experiencing hot and cold together. As she pulls the quilt over her bare body, she knows emotions must not lead; decisions need to be made.

For three days she makes a plan. She needs to get him alone. She finds Lord John in the library reading Marcus Aurelius (a favorite of Jamie’s).  She asks him to walk with her. He agrees though it is warm and cozy inside. It is quite cold outside. As they walk in the garden, she proposes he marry her (p938, Nook). He thinks she is out of her mind from the pregnancy and wants to call upon Dr. Fentiman. Brianna vehemently disagrees with the doctor coming and ups the ante (p939, Nook). He forcefully takes her by the arm; she worries he might mean her harm. When they reach a private spot, he speaks to her (p940, Nook). She flushes and apologizes, assuring him she would not have said anything to anyone if he turned her down. She further explains, and they discuss the ins and outs of her plan (p941, Nook). Lord John explains why he cannot marry her (p943, Nook). Brianna is shocked to learn her father knows of Lord John’s sexual persuasion. They find a more sheltered spot to talk, he sneezes, and she hands him a handkerchief. He thinks it smells surprisingly of girl flesh. She asks what he meant about teaching her to play with fire (p945, Nook). Brianna tells him Claire thinks John might hurt Jamie. She asks if he has seen the scars on her father’s back. He shocks her by saying he did that to Jamie. John tells her about their relationship at the prison and Brianna thinks John flogged Jamie for not having sex with him. John is rightly affronted. John says Jamie did it to himself (p947, Nook). He does not accept her proposal, but in front of watching eyes, he puts a ring on her finger and kisses her. They are engaged to buy time and get her aunt off her back.

I have far too many thoughts about this chapter to type them all out. You’ll need to listen to the podcast to get them.

Chapter 60 Trial by Fire

Roger and the priest were alone without food or fire. The waiting was tormenting. Finally, men came in the late afternoon. The sachem did not speak to Fr. Alexandre; he simply painted his face black from forehead to chin. The men left, and the priest sat on the floor. The priest asks Roger to pray for him that he might die well without crying out. After dark, they heard the drums. Roger could feel the beat in his bones. The Mohawk men returned for the priest. He went with them without a word or looking back, wearing only his bare skin. Roger stood in the tent praying and listening. He knows what power a drum has. He was frightened. He sat without knowing for how long then the drumming stopped, and there was yelling. He made his way to the door, but the guard was still there. He stood frozen listening to the hellish noises and fighting. Something smashed into the panel of the tent and tore a hole in it. He only saw a small area of the clearing outside and figures fighting. Then he heard something terrifyingly familiar (p951, Nook). Roger was determined to get free and to the Scots. He pulled apart the bed cubicle to make a weapon from the splintered wood. Roger charged out of the tent narrowly missing being hit by a war club. He struck the Mohawk who smelled of whisky. He turned toward the fire (p952, Nook).

Roger was on the floor of the longhouse. There was someone with him. He got onto his hands and knees and squinted to see who the other person was (p953, Nook). Jamie was alive. Roger cleaned his face with his plaid until Jamie woke up, vomited, and stared at Roger with hand on his knife (p954, Nook). Jamie apologizes to Roger for doing him wrong (p954, Nook). With a truce, Roger asks what happened. Jamie didn’t know and was shocked to find out the burned man was a priest. Though the white people weren’t invited to the execution, they were not asked to leave either, so he and Claire stayed. Jamie explains to Roger what he saw and that he had tried to get Claire away for fear of being attacked next. Father Alexandre had died well. Roger was having a hard time believing the priest was dead. Pushing the thoughts away, he asks Jamie how many men he brought with him (p956, Nook). Roger gave Jamie water and sees how worried for Claire he is (p957, Nook). Jamie pressed back against the longhouse pushing Claire behind him. He was fighting then woke up in the longhouse with Roger and no notion of where Claire was.

Jamie’s arm might be broken by taking a hit from a war club. He hopes and believes Claire and Young Ian are safe. If the boy were dead, he would rather have his heart torn out and eaten than face his sister. Jamie looks for distraction from his thoughts. Jamie watches Roger (p960, Nook). Roger wants to know why Claire came with him but not Brianna. Jamie tells him Claire refused to be left. Roger doubted Brianna would be any easier to leave behind (p961, Nook).

Roger killed a man. The priest was executed. The priest’s love went into the flames to join him after handing her child to Claire. All hell broke loose. Roger and Jamie ended up in the same longhouse. In-law relations are not getting off to a good start.    

What’s Coming up? Chapters 61-62 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 57-58

Week 29

“Difficult Negotiations”

Summary:

With the help of Young Ian and his friend Emily, Jamie agreed to offer a ceilidh to be hosted by the Pretty Woman with a whisky tasting. Claire became acquainted with the Pretty Woman and her granddaughter. The conversation began with, Claire searching for the truth about the opal and soon revealed who the ghost was that saved her and his purpose in the past. The ceilidh was a hit, and no damage was done. Roger was likely going to be given to them in a few days. Brianna prevented a proposal from one of the male suitors. Brianna met a lord. An alliance was being forged. (1:20)

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 57

A Shattered Smile

Jamie was hot and heavy in negotiation with the sachem for Roger’s release for the past few days even though no one admitted Roger was at the village. Jamie believed Roger was in the village or nearby. They had whisky to exchange for him. The whisky was a challenging offer to make because of the mayhem it could cause when the men drank it. The upside is the alcohol could be used to trade by the Mohawk if they feared to drink it. Young Ian was proving a great intelligencer by sharing hearth in the village. It turns out Roger was a hot commodity among the young women, more than one wanted to take him to their longhouse cubicle (p904, Nook). Remember discord in the other Mohawk village surrounding the priest is what brought them to this village to get a ruling. A unified tribe was very important to them. Jamie and Claire discussed the opal as an alternative offering to the whisky. The response to the opal had been anger, and no one would touch Jamie while he held it. He wanted Claire to keep the gem for protection against harm (p906, Nook). Young Ian agreed with the opinion that something else was going on in the village that had nothing to do with them. There had been a disagreement in the council house the night before, and Emily, Ian’s interest wouldn’t tell him what it was (p906, Nook). Young Ian affirmed he and Emily liked each other. Emily had the idea to have a whisky sampling that night. Young Ian suggested a ceilidh to be hosted by the Pretty Woman and managed by Emily (p907, Nook). Claire asked Young Ian to ask Emily about the opal.  Jamie and Claire wondered about who’s bed he was sleeping in. (6:15)

The ceilidh began after dark with high-level council members. Jamie and Young Ian sat with the sachem. Emily sat on the whisky barrel. The rest of the women present did not take part in the tasting, only Emily. Claire could feel Roger’s presence somewhere in the village and knew the burden of importance this gathering held. Claire marveled at the manner in which Works with Her Hands served the whisky. She took it in her mouth and spat three mouthfuls in a cup as a way of portioning out the whisky. Claire wondered how much was absorbed through the girl’s mouth. A young boy came in looking ill. Claire could tell immediately he had a dislocated shoulder. She approached the wary mother and boy (p908, Nook). Claire easily relocated the shoulder with the boy surprised at the immediate relief from pain. He handed back the gemstone. Claire became aware of the ceilidh once more. Young Ian was singing in Gaelic. The others joined in. Music transcended the language barrier. (9:25)

Claire felt Tewaktenyonh (the Pretty Woman) watching her. She turned, and their eyes met. The Pretty Woman sent a young woman to summon Claire to her (p910, Nook). The young woman translated between Claire and her grandmother. The Pretty Woman asked about the opal. Claire showed it to them, and gooseflesh rose on the elder woman’s arms at the sight of the stone. The young woman asked how Claire procured the stone. Claire told them it came to her in a dream. The old woman sang and rubbed tobacco over the fire. Claire could hear the men at the hearth in the distance and wondered if Roger could get hear them too. The scent of smoke and tobacco jarred memories in Claire. She thought of battlefields and high school football games. The old woman asked Claire to tell her about the dream (p912, Nook). The description disturbed the two women. The young woman translated the story that went back forty years of the man Claire saw in her dream. His manner of speech was unusual, but he spoke their tongue. He was brave, intense, and handsome. He only spoke of coming war and to kill all the white men, the French men (O’seronni) before it was too late. He told them of the British and French fighting each other in the future, and that was when they should strike to save their people. The man’s name was Tawineonawia (Otter Tooth), and he told them they were shortsighted and lazy. He would not tell Pretty Woman how far in the future he could see. He tried to convince the tribe, but to no avail. He became more erratic and would not stop returning with his message. Eventually, the men of the village decided to kill him because they believed he had an evil spirit within. He did not understand that he remained a stranger to the tribe and he was in danger. (14:40)

Claire noticed what was going on in the ceilidh, but her spine was prickling. Otter Tooth looked like the Mohawk, sounded like them, but he was a stranger with fillings in his teeth. He hadn’t understood because he believed they were his people and wanted to save them. They had meant to harm him and did. They tortured his bare body, and he ran away. The warriors from the village followed behind and after four days; they caught him (p917, Nook). The legend surrounding the opal was told to Claire (p918, Nook). Claire who had always tried to disbelieve the supernatural was certainly steeped in it. After they ate and drank, Claire left the longhouse. Jamie was waiting for her outside. He thought progress had been made and Young Ian was right to throw the ceilidh. Claire looked at the longhouses wondering where Roger was. It had been seven months. Winter was ending, and they could get back to River Run in time for the birth. Jamie asked Claire if she learned anything about the opal. Claire said she would tell him inside the longhouse. The tika-ba had been the man’s ticket back to the future if needed; it was now Claire’s legacy. (21:50)

Chapter 58

Lord John Returns

River Run, March 1770

Phaedre brought a dress for Brianna to change into. A lord was coming for dinner, and Brianna had to hide her growing belly under heavy stays and flounce. Brianna wants to know who the lord is. She wants nothing to do with the whalebone stays (p920, Nook). This culture is completely foreign to Brianna and us. She allowed Phaedre to dress her even though she couldn’t breathe, and she worried about the baby. The lord in question was none other than Lord John Grey of Mount Josiah Plantation in Virginia (p922, Nook).  She pondered this lord being a friend of her father’s. When Brianna went down for dinner, they were a few familiar faces, but no Lord John Grey. Brianna entered the room without the whalebone stays and showed off her burgeoning belly. The group was polite if not hiding the surprise at her improper dress. Lawyer Forbes entered the courting ring with a bang. He showed her four jewels and asked which she liked best. He was clever and would present her with one as an engagement ring if she gave her preference. Brianna’s head swam, and nausea spiked. Precious gems could guarantee her passage back through the stones. Brianna knew the game Forbes was playing at and declined to say which she preferred. She wondered if she could steal the stones and run away. She could hide in the mountains and wait to hear of her parents return or go straight to Wilmington and a ship. Forbes asked her again which she preferred, and she declined under the guise of having simple tastes. Jocasta wanted dinner to proceed even though Lord John hadn’t arrived. Just then Ulysses announced the visitor. He was to sit next to Brianna at dinner. (28:50)

Brianna was surprised by Lord John’s stature. Her mother had never described it only his jobs and attributes. He was slight, delicately boned with beautiful eyes, and near a half a foot shorter than her. He startled at the sight of her (of course she knows not why). He quickly turned on the charm and clever anecdotes, but he never mentioned her father. Brianna was tired of the well-meaning visitors; she wanted to be left alone. She realized they were Scots and could never leave her alone in her current situation (p926, Nook). Brianna woke to find herself on a sofa being tended to by many. Once they left her alone, she wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. She decided in her stubbornness that they were all coming back to her. That was that, and her half-Scottishness couldn’t believe anything else. (33:20)

Jocasta came in with Ulysses and Lord John, and of course, tea. Jocasta offered to call Dr. Fentiman, but Brianna vehemently declined. Lord John wished to speak to her since he was leaving in the morning. After leaving the tray, Jocasta and Ulysses left them to chat. Lord John inquired after her well-being (p927, Nook). Brianna told him Roger wasn’t on a ship. He kept talking and planned to travel to Wilmington to make more inquiries. Brianna told him he didn’t have to go (p929, Nook). She went on to ask him if he knows what hand-fasting was and if it was legal in the Colony of North Carolina. He didn’t know but would find out. Brianna believed she was married, but Jocasta did not, hence her many attempts to find her a husband. Brianna thought he was the latest candidate when he showed up. Lord John now understood why the odd company was assembled for dinner. John explained to Brianna what Judge Alderdyce’s mother had in mind (p930, Nook). Lord John saw Brianna as blunt as her mother and full of honor like her father. Brianna’s ire rose at the idea of her father’s honor (p931, Nook). At that, Lord John decided he would stay on at River Run and they would speak again. (41:20)

There’s so much whirling in my mind about the village, the negotiation, Young Ian’s burgeoning relationship with the young woman, Claire’s conversation with the Pretty Woman and all that was revealed. Claire was right that Otter Tooth had tried to save his people from the future. He was a traveler like her. He was her people too. Hopefully, in three days Roger would be in their hands and headed back to River Run in time for the birth. Lord John showing up at River Run has shocked Brianna thinking he was a suitor like the other men, but he was only trying to fulfill her father’s task of finding her young man. His humor, charm, and kindness drew her in. It looks like friendship and alliance is forming between them.

What’s Coming up? Chapters 59-60 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 54-56

Week 28

“Prisoners of Circumstance”

Summary:

Roger met a priest. His situation became direr as he was thrown into a hut with the man. The priest was on trial. The priest was tortured. Roger became more worried and comforted the man the best way he could. Brianna was trapped at River Run in a gilded cage. Jocasta was parading her to the eligible men in the area because she didn’t think Roger would return. Brianna found out she was now the heir to River Run. She didn’t want it for the same reasons Claire and Jamie hadn’t. The priest believed the Mohawk would kill him. Roger took his confession, but the priest sought no absolution. (1:35)

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 54 Captivity I

Roger tracked his time in the Mohawk village by tying knots in his string. Nearly three months had passed. When he arrived, he didn’t know what type of tribe they were. He was made to strip bare and endure a ceremonial, ritualistic trial.  He was hit, poked, and lashed. His body was punished until he reached the longhouse and stood before them. This brutal scene highlighted the depth of his strength. They barked and laughed at him but then gave him means to clean himself and food in the longhouse. He slept with his hand over the gems his breeches still hid.  He became the longhouse slave. If he ignored them, they beat him. It was an effective tool to gain his obedience. They did, however, feed him well and give him a comfortable place to sleep. Even though they didn’t speak to him often, he picked up some of their language by listening carefully. He practiced words on a young girl and her friends. They taught him the language over the weeks. He learned from them what tribe he was with, the Kahnyen ‘kehaka, also known as the Mohawk. They called him a not so endearing term that meant dog face because of his beard. His foot was tended to by one of the girl’s mother. The women began to talk to him when he brought them supplies. He wanted to escape but the timing was wrong, so he patiently waited. His nightly dreams were of Bree or at least the smell of her. (5:00)

Late in winter, a Jesuit priest was brought to the village by another group of Mohawk. The man’s robes were tattered, and though not appearing to be a prisoner, Roger believed he did not come on his own accord. The priest was taken into the longhouse where the sachem held council meetings. He went on a hunting trip to help carry the kill back and returned to find men waiting for him. He was grabbed and taken to the small hut where the Jesuit priest was being held. Roger learned the man’s name, Père Alexandre Ferigault. They exchanged basic information, and the priest invited Roger to eat with him. Roger didn’t know why he was brought to be with the priest. They discussed Roger’s situation (p866, Nook). The priest had only been in the hut a short time before Roger. This concerned Roger. The priest told Roger they were deciding whether he lives or dies. Later Mohawk men came into the tent and made the priest strip and tormented him with a hot brand before dragging him away. Roger tried to pray for the priest as he asked of him. He could only wonder if someone would pray for him when he was taken away. (6:29)

Roger slept by the fire. The priest returned or rather was returned to the hut. He was still naked and bleeding. The priest had been tortured but was alive. Roger tried to soothe him but was helpless (p890, Nook). Roger held the man and rubbed him to provide comfort. Roger couldn’t stop talking to the priest as a way to soothe himself, and thought not even a dog would be treated so harshly as the Mohawk had treated the priest. (9:30)

Roger must be in abject terror thinking they Mohawk are going to kill him too. How did he go from guest to prisoner? What changed? He is hopeless.

Chapter 55 Captivity II River Run, March 1770

Brianna was working on a painting when Jocasta and Ulysses came up behind her. She loved the company of Aunt Jo, but she didn’t want Ulysses sharing every detail of what she was doing to her aunt. She didn’t seem to like Ulysses very much as he was her aunt’s eyes. She didn’t like being watched and reported on. She took her sketchbook with her to avoid prying eyes looking through it. There was a visitor, and Aunt Jo wanted her to change for lunch. Bree did not appreciate the number of visitors and social obligation she had to see them at her aunt’s request. The most recent visitors were men. Phaedre told her there were minimal single women in the area, especially not younger women, and women set to inherit a plantation. Bree insisted Phaedre tell her all about the inheritance (p893, Nook). Once a MacKenzie, always a MacKenzie. Since Jamie left to live in the mountains eschewing Jocasta’s proposal, Brianna was it. Brianna was slow to realization. Jocasta was trying to pick a suitable husband for her (p894, Nook). It didn’t matter what Brianna wanted; it was all about Jocasta. (15:20)

Bree opened her sketchbook; she had drawn a picture in the profile of Roger. She could bring him near when she looked at the sketch. The sketches of her parents caused fear in her. Would they come back? Ulysses came into light the candles, so Jocasta could orient herself in the room when she came in. Brianna watched him setting everything precisely, so Jocasta would know where it was.  She knew he placed furniture back in its proper location for Jocasta’s safety and movement through the house. His life was devoted fully to Jocasta (p896, Nook).  She blurted out a question to Ulysses, then was immediately embarrassed and apologized. Did he want to be free? He answered by telling her his life story. He was born free, but after his father died, his mother sold herself into slavery, and he with the money was given to a carpenter to become an apprentice later to learn a trade. When he came of age, the carpenter insisted he was the child of a slave, so he was a slave and refused to apprentice him. He was sold (p897, Nook). (20:00)

Chapter 56 Confessions of the Flesh

Roger woke without the priest near him. The priest was certain he would die soon. They would kill him. Roger didn’t believe it. Père Ferigualt asked Roger to hear his confession. He explained that in time of need any man could act as a priest. Roger agreed to hear the confession. The priest told Roger where he came from, and where his mission had been. He spent two years with the Huron. He met a chief and was invited to his village. Knowing the Mohawk resisted religious conversion he jumped at the opportunity. This was his first sin, pride. Many converted, including the chief, but the sachem disagreed with his influence. His second sin was falling in love with one of the converts. He lived with the woman for many months until one day he saw a vision while bathing in the stream. He immediately moved out of the longhouse and into the wilderness and had left her pregnant. This in itself was not an issue because the Mohawk viewed coupling differently than Christians (p901, Nook). The problem was that he refused to baptize his child because he was not in a state of grace. He offended the village chief. The village was torn by disagreement and the priest was brought to the village where Roger stayed so an impartial council could decide his fate. The priest was not seeking absolution from Roger, merely to tell his story. He believed he could not be returned to a state of grace because he refused to reject the sin of loving the woman. (27:10)

Roger taking the priest’s confession foreshadows matters of faith in the future. Roger is a man who is protective of others and wants to help whenever he can. He and Jamie are not very different, though the way they individually show this protectiveness and need to care for others differs. Both Roger and Brianna are stuck in a prison of sorts. She is no less free than he is, and as Roger faces uncertainty about the future, so does she. She could die because of childbirth, and the Mohawk could kill Roger. Why is the priest important? What is the message here? I am unsure. I love how Jocasta is patently a MacKenzie in all her manipulation and force of will to her ends. Roger is related to her. He doesn’t know the force of will he possesses. He is not done being tested. Remember Claire, Young Ian, and Jamie are in the village while Roger is sharing the hut with the priest. The situation is about to reach the denouement. (36:10)

What’s Coming up? Chapters 57-58 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 51-53

Week 27

“Betrayal and Blame”

Summary:

Roger found himself a prisoner. He was concussed and battered. He forcibly traveled with the Tuscarora for more than a week. He escaped hoping they would not pursue him. He found a stone circle. He was recaptured. Brianna was at River Run until her parents returned. She was angry and distant from Jamie. She fell into the rhythm of River Run, and Aunt Jocasta loved her company. She and Claire had a difficult goodbye. Jamie offered his promise before they left to find Roger. Claire was reunited with a familiar face. Young Ian had a heart to heart with Claire. The Tuscarora pointed them north to a Mohawk village. Jamie and Claire finally made peace with each other and themselves. They reached Snake-Town and hoped to find Roger and secure his release. (1:45)

Inside the Chapters:

Part Eleven: Pas du Tout (not at all)

Chapter 51 – Betrayal – October 1769

Roger woke with vomit in his hair, thinking he was on the Gloriana. He was tied up, in pain, and vomited again. He was on the back of a horse, lying across it on his belly. His captors took him off the horse, and he fell face first into the leaves. He grappled with memory to figure out where he was and what had happened. The pain in his head and his body was excruciating. Then he remembered. Indians. Where was he though? His memories swirled. He remembered the Gloriana and Bonnet, then Brianna and the handfasting. A face like Brianna’s came into his mind, but it was fleeting when one of the Indian men grabbed him. Roger thought the Indian meant him harm and he fought. The man had meant to loosen Roger’s hands not hurt him. He was in the mountains with four Indian men. He drank from a nearby brook. His teeth were loose; there were cuts in his mouth and upon his chapped lips. A jolt of memory, Claire, Brianna, and Jamie Fraser. He had been at Fraser’s Ridge. The face of Jamie seared in his mind. He remembered it now. The meeting, the fight, and how Jamie and the other man had meant to kill him. He thought they had given him to the Indians, but to what end? As he stood and relieved himself, he couldn’t look at the men around the fire because it filled him with rage (p854, Nook). (4:00)

As he shared dinner with the Tuscarora, he tried to speak with them in various languages, but they responded to none of them. When it was time to sleep, they tied him with a noose around neck and feet. He had a little room to move before he would choke himself. He slept restlessly as his dreams were filled with violence. The next morning, they left the camp. Roger walked with a noose around his neck and wrists tied to the horse’s harness. He thought they headed north and couldn’t have traveled very far from Fraser’s Ridge. He memorized landmarks, so he could come back this way after he escaped. Days were passing as if in a trance, so Roger made a small knot in his coat for each day. He was going back to Fraser’s Ridge no matter what it took. (4:59)

He found his opportunity to escape on day 8. He cut his hands free and ran. They called after him, but he didn’t stop. He saw them and kept going. He was terrified when he found cover. He had no idea what direction he had come. His foot was bleeding from a gash in it. He made a makeshift bandage. He found a place to rest. He slept. When Roger woke, he was hungry and thirsty. Surely, they didn’t follow him? He picked a direction and went. He cautiously listened for pursuit. Roger scrabbled around a rock face and in the clearing in front of him was another set of standing stones. He couldn’t hear them and tried to remember what the date could be. As close as he could figure it had to be near to just past Samhain. He didn’t know if this circle worked on the same dates as Craigh na Dun. He had the gems in his pocket, and if they were open, he could escape. He struggled with the thought of abandoning Brianna. Could he leave her behind? He decided if he wasn’t going to step through the stones then he had to go back to hidden safety or climb the cliff face. When he looked up, a face was looking down and a noose settled around his neck again. (6:25)

Poor Roger. He has a concussion, loose teeth, cuts, bruises, scrapes, and was a prisoner of the Tuscarora. Even though he escaped, he gashed his foot and was caught again. Even though his attempt was foiled, he found a stone circle. That might serve for future purposes.

Chapter 52 – Desertion – River Run, December 1769

Brianna stood outside of Hector Cameron’s tomb. The inscription read Semper Fidelis. Had he been a faithful man and to whom? She and Jamie hadn’t spoken to each other since that terrible day. Brianna had screamed at him in her final words of rage, and he had left the cabin and not returned that night. She wanted to follow him and comfort him even in her anger, but she blamed him for that too. Brianna hadn’t slept that night after wrangling her emotions into a tightly sealed box inside of her. In the early morning, Jamie had returned and called for Claire to come out. They brought her to River Run to be safe as they planned on going after Roger. It was winter and not safe for her to travel to the mountains or to stay at the Ridge on her own. She thought she might have had a chance at getting her mother to agree, but not with HIS stubbornness supporting her. She replayed the fight in her mind, his reproach of her (p864, Nook). She missed Frank and thought if he hadn’t died none of this would have happened (p865, Nook). She had kissed her mother goodbye and vowed to wait in the garden until she knew they were gone. She DIDN’T want to see HIM. He found her regardless of her desire (p866, Nook). (11:40)

February 1770

Brianna became accustomed to daily life at River Run. She even found ways to use her talents in drawing. It felt luxurious. A servant prepared the bath for her while she was still in bed. She should feel guilty about being waited on by slaves. She rolled over in bed and took inventory of her body to ensure she didn’t become a stranger to herself. The baby within her greeted her with a stretch and movement. She took off her flannel nightgown, feeling every part of her body. She lay back and heard the noises of the household waking up around her. The sound of Frank on the weekends or Jamie speaking outside the cabin to the horses used to make her feel safe and protected. She didn’t feel this way any longer. She was the protector now and didn’t need anyone to make her feel safe. It was her job.  She stood by the window looking out and listening to her body. She could almost hear the baby’s heartbeat and feel it separate from hers. No matter what happened, she would never be alone. (13:40)

Brianna is a Fraser through and through. Stubborn. Ill-tempered. She can hold a grudge with the best of them. How do you think the word desertion applies to this chapter? I am unsure and have many thoughts running through my mind.

Chapter 53 – Blame

They arrived at Tennago a Tuscaroran village. Jamie barely spoke since they left Fraser’s Ridge. She felt guilty, worried, and pained. The issue of blame was on her mind. She thought Jamie blamed her for not telling him the truth about Bonnet. Claire blamed herself for it. On the journey to the village, they slept separately when they camped at night. They had brought whisky with them. A king’s ransom Claire thought. It had to be enough to trade for one Scotsman. Claire hoped Roger had been taken here, but Jamie had told Young Ian to be sure Roger would never come back. Claire had brought the amulet and opal. The amulet to return to someone and the opal to supplement trade if needed. Jamie also brought along every small belonging he might use to up the trade except for this father’s ring. The ring had been left with Brianna in case they didn’t return. Having the ring gave Brianna a travel insurance policy of sorts. She could get back to her own time if needed. (16:00)

Claire replayed the last moments she’d had with Brianna at River Run. Brianna trusted Claire to find Roger but was unsure about Jamie’s intention. Claire knew Jamie would do anything to find Roger and bring him back to her. His honor wouldn’t allow otherwise. His honor. These words brought words from Brianna (p871, Nook). It was time to leave as Young Ian called for Claire. Claire and Brianna had an emotional goodbye (p871, Nook). Claire urged Jamie to talk to Brianna. He needed to say goodbye. Jamie went and returned within a few minutes. They were all mounted and left River Run. (18:10)

It was night and Jamie was still with Nacognaweto. Young Ian came in with someone behind him. He had brought Pollyanne the ex-slave woman they had freed and taken to the Indians to live. She had a child on her arm. Young Ian translated, and Claire learned the Tuscarora had taken her in as their own. She took a husband, and the baby was born a few months earlier. Pollyanne was free and happy. Claire wanted Young Ian to ask who she should give Nayawenne’s amulet to. Pollyanne said no one would want it (p873, Nook). Pollyanne wasn’t frightened by the amulet and the ghost of Nayawenne because of her past spiritual beliefs before becoming an Indian. Claire was comforted by the idea of Nayawenne walking with her. They talked until Jamie’s return surprised them. Pollyanne said her goodbyes and said something to Young Ian in a parting word (p874, Nook). Jamie and Claire barely missed preventing the death of the young woman in the sawmill. Jamie touched Claire, and she took his hand. It had been almost a month since they touched purposely. Murchison had a wife in England, and a pregnant mistress would not have been desirable. Jamie thought he might visit the Sergeant alone when they returned to River Run. Claire had a sharp response (p874, Nook). Jamie went on to share what he had learned about Roger. He was given to the Mohawk and was far to the north. Young Ian’s friend Onakara would be their guide. Jamie went to their assigned cubicle in the longhouse. Claire went to go after him, but Young Ian stopped her (p875, Nook). Quite the eye-opening conversation and shows a level of maturity by Young Ian to speak up.  (25:35)

On her way back to their cubicle Claire pondered what Young Ian said. He was right of course. Her guilt about the gold ring had kept her silent, not Brianna’s request (p877, Nook). I think Claire needs to apologize for her part in it. And yes, he could have come to her and sought her out.  Once in their cubicle she defrocked and climbed in next to him asking him to warm her. I do this very thing if I have been the distant partner. She wanted to comfort him with her body and presence. She didn’t care about herself in the wordless dark but became as needful and desperate for him, and he was for her. They were alone in the darkness surrounded by others. She could hear things like the hum of bees. This small cubicle was their singular space. It was then they talked for the first time in almost a month. She apologized. He didn’t blame Bonnet. He felt a failure as a man. He was jealous of a dead man (p878, Nook). He wants to know if Brianna could forgive him if he brings Roger back to her? Claire says she will. Then it dawned on Claire, Brianna’s words meant for Claire to bring Jamie back and not Roger. What do you think? (31:30)

The traveling north was difficult, and some days it was impossible. They finally arrived at the Mohawk village of Snake-town in mid-February. Brianna would be six months pregnant by now. Claire hoped Roger was here and they could leave quickly after negotiating his release, so they could be back well before Brianna was due to deliver. Claire worried he wasn’t here or was dead.  Their guide refused to go into the village with them. Jamie paid him with a horse, a knife, and a flask of whisky. The rest of the whisky was buried for later retrieval. Claire asked if the Mohawk would understand what they wanted. Young Ian said the Tuscarora and the Mohawk languages were similar as were Spanish and Italian.  They likely had a bit of English as well. Off they went into the village. (33:10)

What’s Coming up? Chapters 54-56 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

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Drums of Autumn

Chapters 49-50

Week 26

“Truth and Consequences”

****Warning: This podcast contains discussion about abortion, rape, and hastening death****

Summary:

Claire contemplated offering and performing an abortion if Brianna wanted it. She and Jamie fought over the mere idea of it. Brianna wanted to keep the baby. Young Ian proposed to Brianna at the behest of Jamie. Brianna refused the offer. A fight ensued between her and Jamie. Later the truth came out after Brianna described Roger, sketched a likeness, and gave his true family name. The fair fight on the mountain was discussed. Jamie and Young Ian gave Roger to the Iroquois. Jamie accused Brianna of crying wolf. The gold ring was revealed. Bonnet was the rapist. Claire felt guilty. Jamie internally raged. Young Ian was stunned. Brianna was brutally honest.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 49

Choices - November 1769

Claire was going through her medicine box that used to belong to Daniel Rawlings. She was going through the contents contemplating offering Brianna an abortion. She said something aloud but didn’t expect a response. When Jamie answered the question, she jumped and sliced herself with the blade she was holding. She told Jamie she was going to use the blade to cut up the root, but he’d only seen her use the blades on people. He asked her what she was doing (p824, Nook). She went on to tell him about her patient Graham Menzies that she helped to die. He thought of Graham as a mercy killing and even duty to help him out of his misery. He reminded her of Dougal easing Rupert after Falkirk and hastening his death. Isn’t it the duty of a doctor who cannot heal a patient and save the man from pain?  Claire agreed and tried to explain why she wanted to offer the choice to Brianna (p825, Nook).  The conversation turned ugly as they discussed the various aspects of the situation (p826, Nook). So that was it, not the question of paternity, but that Brianna would have to stay in the 18th century. They argued more. The other truth was revealed that Jamie wanted nothing more than a child of his blood. More tension arose as he grabbed her bleeding hand and held it above her claiming her arrogance believing she had power over life and death. To Claire, it was about offering the choice. To Jamie, it was about murdering his grandchild. Claire believed it was no different than Jamie acting in a manner to protect another even if it meant a death occurred. Jamie left with only the word, please.

Claire was upset by the fight. She wondered if it would be safer to take Brianna to Cross Creek, but decided her daughter was safer with her. She thought about what Jamie’s “please” had meant (p829, Nook). Claire thought about the procedure and how she would do it. Claire saw Brianna’s horse in the penfold and went to offer her the choice.

Brianna had thought about it when she figured out she was pregnant. Claire explained it would have to be surgical with the gestation of the pregnancy. Brianna asked if Claire would have aborted her (p831, Nook). Brianna went on to tell her how she felt about the pregnancy (p831, Nook). Claire explained implantation and Brianna said at the moment of implantation she knew someone else was with her. Claire remembered Faith and how she was given two miracles though no longer part of her physically had never left her completely. Claire worried Brianna didn’t know how much she loved her. Brianna knew and had always known.

Brianna could not and would not abort the baby. Claire didn’t want to offer the option to Brianna but felt compelled given all the circumstances. Claire confuses me a bit in this situation, she had never been able to perform abortions in the twentieth century but could offer it to her child out of fear and concern for her future. This chapter is meant to show us the complexities involved in abortion. It is not black and white. It isn’t a question of whether or not the fetus is living for Claire; it is her being terrified Brianna will be stuck. To Jamie, who has killed countless men, a matter of unnecessary murder in taking the life of an unborn without exigent circumstances. To Brianna, she carries a baby, her baby, and she cannot choose to part with him or her. Women carry the joy and burden of being the ones who grow and birth the children. The burden is in the physical risk, and alteration women must undergo in the process of pregnancy and birth. The burden is in the cultural, religious, governmental, and individual mindset surrounding sexuality, marriage, and procreation. The burden is in not being able to hide it. The burden is in the responsibility and consequences being held entirely by women because we get pregnant, not men. Vilifying women is easy. It is easy for men to hold no burden. A man can have children by multiple women, and it is fine, a woman to have children by multiple men is a whore. Someone is having sex with the women who become pregnant. It has happened since time began, but only women are held to an untenable standard and punished. I loathe abortion for what it is and that women feel it is the only option. I never judge the person and only offer love. I judge our culture that perpetuates the need for women to have abortions because we are held in the crosshairs of the societies in which we live.

Chapter 50

In Which All is Revealed

There was still no word about Roger Wakefield. Brianna did not discuss him any longer, but it was obvious she thought about him. Claire took stock in the pantry to hide from the mood in the cabin. The winter preparations of foraging, preserving, and stocking had been done. The pantry was full and ready for the long months ahead. Young Ian popped in and asked for a mirror and comb. He had bathed, scrubbed his skin, and slicked his unruly hair back. He wore his best outfit too. Claire wondered where he was going. He planned to court someone and needed to look good. Claire asked if she knew the girl (p835, Nook). He was doing it to give the baby a name, save Brianna’s reputation, and no, he didn’t love her. It also was not his idea; it was Jamie’s plan. Claire didn’t like this one bit. Brianna returned, and she didn’t allow him to finish his proposal. She was angry and left the cabin in a whirl of skirts. Ian was thankful Brianna hadn’t hit him. The Fraser temper was about to strike (p836, Nook). Brianna refused to marry anyone, not even for the sake of the baby. Jamie took it to a whole other level (p838, Nook). Tempers were flaring higher with Jamie angry and she (Brianna) believed he wasn’t trying to protect her. He called her reckless. She called him a bastard (p838, Nook). Young Ian told Claire she needed to throw cold water on them or let them at it. Eventually, they would become hungry.

Jamie stormed off and took a horse to Fergus’s place. Brianna stomped back to the cabin. Claire silently cursed Roger Wakefield. Brianna went to look for eggs in the bushes and returned in better spirits. Jamie returned at dinner time sweaty and also in better spirits. Jamie and Brianna ignored each other. There were glares and limited dinner conversation. Claire instructed Jamie to apologize (p840, Nook). He went over to Brianna and apologized.  The walls were broken down, they talked and made up. She planned to wait for Roger. She knew he wasn’t dead. Jamie told her how far he had sent word looking for Roger. What else could he do? He had an idea to have Brianna draw a broadsheet with the likeness of Roger on it. Brianna began to describe Roger (p842, Nook). Brianna drew the sketch. Jamie and Young Ian acted oddly (p843, Nook). THE TRUTH IS ABOUT TO COME OUT. Claire fetched brandy. Brianna explained about Roger’s adoption and asked if they heard of a Roger MacKenzie. In fact, they had (p844, Nook). Jamie further explained what happened after Lizzie told him about it. Young Ian and Jamie told her it was a fair fight. She screamed at them (p845, Nook). Brianna felt ill. Young Ian assured her it could have been worse since they had meant to kill him after all. Brianna needed to hear the whole story, including what Roger had said during the altercation (p846, Nook). Jamie was under the misguided assumption that now she cried wolf and was never raped. He could not allow himself to kill a man when he wasn’t sure if it was rape (p847, Nook). Imagine being in the room while this was going on!

Claire realized what was happening and pulled the gold ring from her pocket (p848, Nook). Jamie stood rigid in the middle of the room. Young Ian could only say the name. Claire retreated into the corner knowing she betrayed Jamie and Roger by not telling Jamie about the name of the rapist. She had betrayed Brianna having assisted in damning Roger. Brianna looked into Jamie’s face and muttered cruelty (p848, Nook).

Well, how was that for a happy family meeting? Claire feels guilty for not telling Jamie that Brianna had slept with Roger then was raped later by Bonnet. Is she guilty? Brianna felt betrayed by Jamie and Young Ian’s sense of honor and duty. Who holds the bulk of the responsibility in this horrific mess? COMMUNICATION and assumption are at the heart of all of this. What are your thoughts? Jamie should never have acted out of assumption and partial knowledge. Brianna should have said she was raped after being handfasted to Roger and consummating their marriage. She still hadn’t divulged that wee detail. Claire should have said more. Brianna and Claire should have said Roger’s full name. Was Brianna right in being so angry and saying something so cruel? Can you picture yourself in that position?

What’s Coming up? Chapters 51-53 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 47-48

Week 25

“Of Partial Truths, Protection, and Forgiveness”

****Warning: disturbing content and discussion of rape****

Summary: Jamie needed doctoring upon his return. Brianna told her news. Jamie and Brianna bonded.  Claire and Jamie walked and talked. Claire kept the rapist’s identity secret. Jamie lied and kept his secret about the man MacKenzie. A ghost from the past rose. Claire left to attend a birth. Jamie and Brianna attended a delivery in the stable. Brianna feared the future. Brianna asked difficult questions. Jamie showed her a valuable lesson. Jamie couldn’t make Brianna fully understand. Jamie surrendered and forgave. (2:00)

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 47

A Father’s Song

Claire is aggravated waiting for Jamie to return. She and Brianna were waiting to tell him Brianna is pregnant and maybe by a rapist. Claire had been pondering Jamie’s possible reactions since learning of the pregnancy and how it may have come to be. Though controlled at the moment, Brianna could let loose the Fraser temper when pushed too far. Up until then, Jamie and Brianna had been delicate with the other as they built a relationship, but this news needed to be dealt with head-on. When Jamie came in it was clear he had washed at the creek. This always seems to be the remedy in the books for returning home with something serious going on. Being clean may take the sting out of it. Jamie lied to Claire when she asked why he was out so late. He needed her to mend his hand that he damaged by dropping a stone on it. That fourth finger needed examining. Claire closed her eyes, so she could see the finger in her mind through her hands and experience. She found the fracture.  Master Raymond teaching her how to still and see the inner workings of the body has proved to be a useful gift. It is an awareness that can be learned. I do this when I examine a baby at full term or during labor. What is the baby telling me? What is going on? What is her body telling me? It is part intuition and part sight. Jamie likens Claire looking like a priest seeing past the bread to the body of Christ. It was only a minor fracture. Claire thought Jamie was giving off an odd vibe. She knew he was hiding something. (4:05)

Brianna wondered if she should tell him or not. Claire told her she needed to tell him tonight. Claire splinted his finger and Brianna placed ointment on the abrasions. She is mending him after he pummeled the hell out of Roger. Jamie spoke to Brianna in Gaelic. He’d been giving her lessons. He asked her if she was pregnant, not having enough Gaelic she answered in English.  She apologized and didn’t think it could ever be okay (p789, Nook).  Brianna sobbed into Jamie’s shoulder. Claire went out to get milk from the shed into the quiet, cold darkness. She sent a question into the dark and heard back they had each other to get through the situation. Claire gathered everything for dinner as Jamie and Brianna sat together in front of the fire. She thought about some wise advice a monk had given her about the helpfulness of a meal. She heard Jamie talking to Brianna (p791, Nook). What a beautiful moment to hold close between father and daughter. Brianna informed him that he could not sing, but she didn’t want him to stop. He then told her she weighed as much as a full-grown deer, but he didn’t want her to get up. As they nuzzled close, Claire was thankful they were both hers. (9:20)

Brianna slept after dinner, but Claire felt terrible and out of sorts and didn’t want to deal with any other the things that had to be managed. She longed for peace. She longed to bed down with Jamie, but trouble was in the air with no peace to be had. Jamie acted like a caged animal while Claire cleaned up the dinner dishes. She wanted to talk to him but had promised Brianna she wouldn’t tell about Bonnet. Both restless, he asked Claire to walk with him. She felt his tension, the anger below the surface, and finally asked what he had done to his hands (p795, Nook). They talked without giving detail. Then Claire asked what he was thinking (p796, Nook). He kissed her hard then but couldn’t be with her. He couldn’t be with her after rehashing what transpired between him and Black Jack. She understood (p798, Nook). A gentle kiss and utter stillness enveloped them. Claire thought for a while and spoke again. Jamie asked if Roger would accept Brianna and the baby. Claire hoped so. She had liked him when she knew him from the twentieth century. She asked Jamie if he would accept the situation if it was her (p799, Nook). They went back to the house as Jamie hoped Roger was a better man than him or Frank. Then Jamie said if he weren’t he would beat him. Well then, there is that. Claire asked Jamie if he knew she loved him since she didn’t say it often (p802, Nook).  (23:20)

What a complicated chapter. It is difficult to unpack and process. Jamie is not divulging what he had done. Brianna is not saying who raped her. Claire is not sharing Bonnet’s name, or the ring Brianna had reclaimed.

Chapter 48

Away in a Manger

Brianna and Jamie were in the stable. I love the description of the stable being a refuge, the scents, a safe enclosure. There was a cow in labor. She had found Jamie laying down in the straw. Claire was at a birth and hadn’t returned, so Brianna brought dinner to Jamie. He shared the food with her, though she had already eaten. She remarked on the amount of pregnant or newly birthed animals in the stable and called it a maternity ward. She explained what it was to Jamie (p805, Nook). Then she thought about all the complications that could befall a woman in the 18th century while birthing and postpartum. Jamie assured her that Claire’s stubbornness wouldn’t allow any harm to come to her. There were definite risks to women in childbirth, from what I can find the stats due to difficult deliveries, pre-eclampsia, hemorrhage, and postpartum infection made up 4 or 5 out of 1,000 births (which is a staggering number) with upwards of 24 out of 100.000 women die today from childbirth-related complications (this is considered very high for the westernized world). I don’t know where Claire got her 50% rate stats from but given she knew how to decrease infection risk and how to control hemorrhage better than most, her patients were in excellent hands. (29:25)

Brianna asked after the laboring cow, Jamie thought she would be okay, but the cow may have been too young to breed yet. The white sow had many piglets feeding on her. Brianna felt reassured by the confidence the sow displayed (p807, Nook). Brianna worried for the cow, but of course, she was thinking about her predicament of being a first-time mother just like the cow. She couldn’t understand how Jamie could whisper sweet somethings to the cow knowing if things went wrong he’d have to butcher her after trying to save the calf.  Brianna had something to ask Jamie, so she stayed at the stable instead of going back to the cabin. She asked if he killed Black Jack Randall. Startled Jamie asked where she heard that name. She said Claire told her about Wentworth. Had Claire betrayed him by telling her? She tried to explain that Claire didn’t think Brianna would ever meet Jamie. What did she want to know? Did killing his rapist make it better for him? She wanted to kill her rapist. Had she killed a man before, Jamie asked. Her anger flared. She could kill him; she knew she could. She struggled with wanting to kill him and being haunted by the rape regardless of him being alive or dead. Jamie answered (p810, Nook). The problem was Jamie didn’t know whether he killed Black Jack Randall or not. He couldn’t remember. It was true he came to consciousness with Randall, dead, on top of him after the battle of Culloden. He showed her the scar on his thigh. He recounted the aftermath of Culloden and not caring about vengeance having looked upon the field of dead men. He believed he would die within hours of the wound he sustained. Purposeful forgetting or not, he didn’t know. He assured Brianna not many die from rape, he didn’t, and she wouldn’t either. But the nagging horrors Claire had spoken of clouded her mind. Jamie again told Brianna she would handle childbirth fine. She commented on her likeness to Jamie’s mother. Ellen died in childbirth. Brianna was certain she would die when she gave birth, and nothing could be done without hospital and drugs except try and save the baby. (34:20)

She blamed herself for the rape. She should have fought harder. She wasn’t brave enough. She had been scared and was more scared now. Maybe if she killed the man, she could forget. She wouldn’t forget Jamie said, but it would be okay. He would find her a husband, so the child has a name. Or perhaps she would marry the man who got her pregnant (p813, Nook). Jamie incited Brianna to fight with him, saying terrible things about her lying about the rape. She fought and struggled against Jamie as he held her wrists and dug a thumb in between her ribs. He taunted her into lashing out at him. He finally had her in a painful position on her knees. He told her he could break her neck and kill her if he wanted. He had her at his behest (p815, Nook). The whole point of this horrific exercise was to prove to her no amount of fighting would’ve stopped the man from raping her and using her as he wanted. He had tried to tell her it wasn’t her fault, so he showed her it wasn’t her fault. Then she believed him. She realized Jamie didn’t fight back either. He did it for her mother’s life without regret. Would she never forget? Never, but it would change over time. He told her she was strong and explained it through Jenny becoming the woman of the house when their mother died. The laboring cow caught Jamie’s attention. Brianna saw how alike Jamie and Claire were in one way, compassionate and ruthless at the same time. Claire knew how to balance living after holding life or death in her hands. Jamie was more brutal to himself than anyone else could be. Jamie stripped down as he awaited the delivery and prepared to assist if needed. It comforted Brianna knowing he was there to offer the good fight of protection. (39:50)

After the calving, Jamie carried a sleeping Brianna back to the cabin. He ached and was bruised from their fighting. He found pride in her strength. Even so, he wrestled with the old hurts. He had to face the ghosts to lay them back to rest. The voice took a while to return, but then it did (p819, Nook). Jamie surrendered and let go over and over and over. He recited the Lord’s Prayer. He surrendered and let go again and again (p820, Nook). The sounds of the night returned to him. He wished he could make Brianna understand that to forget is an act of forgiveness that must happen many times over. It was a matter of conscious constancy of practice. Maybe Roger could be her refuge as Claire had been his. If Wakefield didn’t return, he would find another way to protect Brianna and the child. He wrestled with what he did to MacKenzie. He believed he did it to protect his daughter. That was that, and down the hill, he went. (42:55)

 What’s Coming up? Chapters 49-50 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Denver Comic Con 2018

An Outlandish Outlander Fan Panel

We, Karen Daugherty, Courtney Williams, and I had a good turnout and excellent attendee participation for our first ever Outlander inspired fan panel. It was incredible fun to discuss our favorite books and television series with other fans. 

We discussed the television show and the books surrounding season's 3 and 4. We gave away books courtesy of Random House and had a gathering afterward. 

Please enjoy this special live recorded episode. 

What's Coming up? Chapters 47-48 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you're reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 45-46

Week 24

“The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions”

*****Warning: There is a discussion about rape during this podcast. I have notated the time where it occurs in the podcast below.***** 

Summary:

Brianna is pregnant. She doesn’t know who the father is. The pirate raped her days after being hand-fasted to Roger. She recovered Claire’s gold wedding ring. Roger is near Fraser’s Ridge. His horse and supplies were stolen. He was on foot without a weapon. He is met in the clearing by two men. A case of mistaken identity will possibly prove deadly. (:45)   

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 45

Fifty-Fifty

Brianna and Claire were foraging in the woods. Claire was also teaching Brianna important landmarks not altered by the seasons. Claire watched Brianna and wondered what was causing her inner turmoil. This was a planned trip into the forest so that Claire could get Brianna alone. The cabin was full of people coming and going. Claire found the perfect time to ask Brianna what was on her mind. She could still read Brianna’s mind and asked her how pregnant she was. She was two months pregnant. As she looked into Brianna’s eyes, she could see the child within all grown up and relieved to share the burden. The thought of Roger startled Claire then she told Brianna she had to go back through the stones. Brianna was confused. Going through the stones was a terrible thing (p 765, Nook). Brianna is worried she cannot go to the right time with Roger in the 18th century. Claire was adamant about them all guessing how the stones worked (p765, Nook). Claire realized Brianna had already thought about going back. There might be another way, Hispaniola – Abandawe. Claire explained why she had been to the cave. Claire thought she could feel Geillis’ gaze upon her sometimes. Claire asked how Brianna got pregnant (p767), Nook). At the core of Brianna’s worries, was how Jamie would react to her pregnancy. Claire reassured her it would be okay and there was still time to find Roger. Then Brianna dropped a bombshell. She said the baby wasn’t Roger’s. (8:00)

On that interesting note, Brianna pulled something from her pocket and handed it to Claire (p769, Nook). That was a game changer. She hadn’t planned on telling them after hearing about the robbery on the river by Bonnet. She told Claire the story even though she didn’t want to. She recalled how she went to the Gloriana during the day thinking it would be safer. Bonnet was fresh-shaven, but his clothes were dirty and been worn since the day prior. He paid her a compliment about her looks. She immediately asks about the ring and if he would sell it to her because it reminds her of a ring her mother had. He was a big man and hid something behind his eyes when she asked where he got the ring. He took her by the hand and led her to his cabin. (9:15)

He offered her brandy and claimed the ring was a love token. Bree is relieved to know her mother is alive and well. Bonnet has a different payment in mind for the ring (p771, Nook) (10:20).  Brianna fights back, he slaps her hard and forces her to her knees. She nearly vomits as he forcibly presents her with his unwashed penis. He forced her to perform oral sex with threats and grabbing her hard. He suddenly pushed her away, causing her to stumble and spit. He wasn’t done with her yet. He grabbed her, kissed her, and roamed below her waist. She butted him in the face with her head and ran out of the room. The cook tripped her giving Bonnet time to reach her. Back to his cabin they went. She told her mother she stopped fighting after that. Except in her mind, she still fought. When someone is raped or sexually assaulted there are several common reactions that can occur, Bree seems to be experiencing some of them. It only took a couple of minutes, and it was over, along with his humming. She was frozen in place, then he rolled off her, leaving her dazed. He made a comment that tells us he doesn’t think he did anything wrong. He told her the ring was on the desk, as was money. She is affronted he is offering to pay her. He told her to help herself to what was on the desk because she was worth it and promptly left. Her hands shook preventing her from picking up the ring from the bowl, so she poured the contents into her pocket, and walked out. (16:00)

Let’s take a breath for a moment. Brianna tried to be safe but she was unable to prevent what took place. Even if she would have had a weapon, he was stronger and bigger than her. She couldn’t have stopped him. This is an all too common reality for many women.

Brianna had tried to pretend it didn’t happen. It had been two days since she had sex with Roger multiple times. They used the withdrawal (coitus interruptus) method. Claire said people who used that method were called parents. Properly used, withdrawal is as about as effective as condom use, BUT that is if the timing of the male partner is perfect, he ejaculates away from her genitals and washes the head of his penis before another each encounter. Did Roger wash off his penis between the several encounters? (20:20)

Brianna is traumatized by the rape. She is worried about Roger not returning. She is worried about who the father is. She didn’t have the best entrance into sexual activity given the fight she and Roger had afterward, then the rape only two days later. (21:30)

Chapter 46

Comes a Stranger

Roger was in fact, on his way to Fraser’s Ridge. He stopped for a drink of water at a spring. He was annoyed because his horse, gun, a bit of food, and water had been stolen. His clothes were a mess, and he was not clean shaven because the razor had been in his saddlebag. He was only worried about what Brianna thought of him. Claire and Jamie were not on his radar of concern. He hoped she would forgive his betrayal of not telling her about the death notice. His thoughts ran wild (p778, Nook). Roger was temporarily removed from his thoughts by birds’ dive bombing him. He had ventured too close to a nest. He hoped the encounter with the ravens was not a bad omen as Scot’s folklore depicts. He then thought about how exciting it was here, seeing history firsthand. Only for Brianna did he have regret.  He placed a hand over his pocket; he had stolen two gems from Stephen Bonnet. Of course, he didn’t know those had been stolen from Claire and Jamie by Bonnet. They had taken them from Geillis Duncan after saving Young Ian at Abandawe. The girl at the mill told him he would reach Fraser’s Ridge by sundown. His thoughts pestered him again (p779, Nook). He reached the spot as it was described. His stolen horse was there. A young man had come into view with Roger’s gun in hand. Poor Roger. There was another man in the clearing who looked familiarly like Brianna and how Claire described him. It was Jamie Fraser in all his size and fierceness (p781, Nook). Roger was confused and alarmed. What had Jamie been told about him? Roger claimed to come for his wife. The situation escalated as Young Ian weighed in with a gun in hand. Jamie asked for the truth (p782, Nook). It has gone from bad to worse for Roger. It seemed Jamie was trying to kill him. Roger fought back (p783, Nook). They continued to brawl. Jamie was besting Roger. He tried to get Jamie to stop but he wouldn’t. Roger believed he was going to die before he was born. (29:45)

It seems Jamie is working out more than anger about Brianna on Roger. His rape perhaps. Since Brianna and Claire had told Jamie Roger’s last name was Wakefield, MacKenzie was a whole different person according to Lizzie. What a horrific mess. This is one of Jamie’s biggest mistakes in all the books in my opinion. He acted without talking to Brianna or Claire. He reacted instead of making sure he had full and true information. It is a prime example of how clear communication matters. (30:30) 

Brianna’s good intention to get the ring back brought a hellish nightmare to her in the form of Stephen Bonnet. Jamie’s desire to protect his daughter placed Roger in hell. Jamie’s actions also continued Brianna’s living hell of Roger not returning. The ramifications will go far and wide. (31:00)

What’s Coming up? Chapters 47-48 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Any images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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Drums of Autumn

Chapters 43-44

Week 23

“It’s All in the Name”

Summary:

There’s a stranger inquiring about Jamie’s whisky. Worry increased over Roger not showing up yet. The small distillery was Marsali’s responsibility. Wee Germaine is a full-throttle toddler. A mysterious button was found. Brianna was a hot commodity. The winter preparations were underway. Lizzie saw a familiar man at the mill. Lizzie shared the misinterpreted event. Jamie and Young Ian went out to stop a visitor from reaching the Ridge.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 43

Whisky in the Jar

Claire is most displeased with how Ronnie Sinclair was looking at Brianna. Claire is ordering casks. Ronnie tells Claire he’s hearing the word that someone is asking around about a Jamie Fraser. Brianna reacts sharply. It wasn’t Roger; it was Hodgepile. Jamie has already put the word out that they are looking for a Roger Wakefield. Being mid-October Brianna is growing worried and anxious. She saw him in a couple of months. This Hodgepile was asking after the whisky. Hodgepile was pretending to be a fur trader, but it was obvious to the man he was talking to this wasn’t the case. Claire told Sinclair she would tell Jamie one of Murchison’s men was asking after him.

Claire left with Brianna and hoped their remoteness would be the protection Jamie thought it would be. She could not imagine soldiers coming deep into the mountains to get one low output illegal distillery.  Lizzie and Ian were outside collecting kindling from the trash. Lizzie surprised Claire by asking a question. The girl spoke sparingly. She asked if inquiries were being made after her father who should be a bondsman of someone in the southern colonies. Brianna rushed off to tell Sinclair about Lizzie’s father. When she returned she is upset, Young Ian is concerned Sinclair did something to her. It turns out he was drawing naked women on pieces of wood when Brianna interrupted him. Claire had a gentle response to the information because she understood loneliness (p741, Nook).

Claire’s mind wandered back to Brianna and what would happen to her if Roger didn’t return. Then horrified she wondered if Roger had chosen not to return. With Brianna refusing to talk about the argument she and Roger had, Claire, is worried about the months passing.

Jamie showed off his small whisky distillery to Brianna. It was placed near Fergus and Marsali, so she could oversee and work the operation. They had a bigger share than the other farmers who supplied the raw barley and helped with distribution. Meanwhile, young Germaine was trying to eat a cockroach to his mother’s dismay. Young Ian pipes in about eating them with the Indians and they're not so bad, though smoked locusts are better. They finish spreading the unspoiled raw barley. Next thing Germaine is choking on something, Brianna did the Heimlich maneuver in the nick of time. Marsali takes him to their cabin for supper and bed. The offending item looked like a button, but they couldn’t figure out who’s button it was. On their way back to their cabin, they ask after the Lindsay’s to see if the button was from Kenny’s coat. His wife said it wasn’t. Mrs. Lindsay eyeing Brianna asked if they were going to the gathering this year. Seems everyone wants to make a match for Brianna since her intended had not returned. Jamie is concerned about the button because of the information they received from Sinclair. What if it was a stranger who knew about the illegal still? They walked back to their cabin as the sun went down. They approached Claire picking beans from the garden, hair golden bright from the descending sun (p748, Nook). Brianna’s heart squeezed knowing as Jamie watched Claire with bees returning around her.

 Jamie, Lindsey, and Duncan were tasting the batch of whisky and settling on a price per cask. After performing an inventory in his head, Jamie agreed to send a dozen casks to the upcoming Gathering. In the book, Diana calls it Mount Helicon, in real life, the games are held at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina. Duncan would take the casks to the Gathering to sell or trade for the many items Claire and Jamie could use. Brianna is concerned the alcohol will go to the Indians who are known for not being able to hold their drink. Claire explained to Brianna that alcoholism doesn’t exist at the time, the only weakness of character. Jamie asked Duncan to find out about Hodgepile at the Gathering. Brianna asked him to inquire about Roger Wakefield too. ARGH! Seriously she knew he was going by MacKenzie. This frustrates me to no end. Claire added Joseph Weymss, Lizzie’s father to the list too. Kenny Lindsey asked about the name Bree (p750, Nook).

With the shortage of eligible women, Brianna is a hot commodity, pregnant or not. It means she’s fertile and will make a good wife. There are the issues of Roger not returning, the mysterious Hodgepile asking after the whisky, and the whereabouts of Lizzie’s father. Lizzie and Young Ian seem to be getting cozy. We get to meet toddler Germaine in all his feistiness and learn Marsali is heading up the distillery.  Ridge life doesn’t seem like a good fit for Fergus being a one-handed and a pickpocket by trade.

Chapter 44

Three-Cornered Conversation

October 1769

Jamie chopped wood while Young Ian went to the mill where there were three eligible Woolam daughters. Jamie thought to flirt with virtuous Quaker lassies a fair better than bold Indian lassies. It bothered Jamie knowing Indian women took men to bed at their choosing. He sent Lizzie along to the mill to get some color in her cheeks. As he stacked wood, he thought about how much he enjoyed chopping it. It was a satisfying pursuit one could quantify as the work went on. His mind wandered to Brianna and her keen sense of smell. She wrinkled her nose and said “phew” when he was sweating and fragrant. This expression and face was that of his own mother (p752, Nook). I have noticed these echoes of those who came before in my children.

He took off his shirt without a worry for who might see him and resumed chopping wood, His thoughts deepened. He loved the Murray kids, especially Young Ian. But, Brianna was his flesh and blood. The gift he and Claire had given each other. Like other times, Frank Randall came to mind (p753, Nook). Jamie gave Frank the respect he deserved. Even Jamie understood the importance of Frank. The sacrificial love he had to raise Brianna as his own and love her. To stay with Claire, who no longer loved him the way she did before meeting Jamie. Jamie had jealous and envious thoughts over Frank, but there were only respect and no hate.

By reflex, he let go of the ax into the clearing mid-swing to avoid hitting his foot as the handle broke. He crossed himself in thanksgiving as he reached for the ax head. He noticed the wilted plants because the rain lacked recently. The well was half dug, but firewood was more important to the wellbeing of the families just now. Claire and Brianna came out of the cabin with baskets in hands to go foraging. Jamie warned them about Indians hunting not too far from there. Claire assured him they wouldn’t go far. Though reluctant, Jamie thought the Indians were peacefully preparing for winter just as they were. There would be no concern if he knew which tribe the Indians came from since they were friends with Nacognaweto’s people.

Brianna looked at his bare chest for a moment and placed her hand on his bare shoulder as she kissed him goodbye. She gave no sign of recognition, question, or concern for the scars she saw or felt. Claire must have told her about Black Jack and the days before the Rising. Claire explained what food was available for snacking on and what was for dinner. He took Claire’s hand in his and kissed her knuckles before she kissed him goodbye on the mouth. Off they went as Jamie watched thankfully for their kisses on his face.

He sat on the wood stump and worked to repair the ax handle. He thought about the scent of food he smelled earlier coming from the Woolam’s cabin and of the winter to come. The Indians told him it would be harder than the last. How would hunting be during a heavy snow-laden winter? If he could kill another bear, they would eat the whole winter, and the skin would go to good use as well. He imagined Claire’s pale skin against the glossy black of the bearskin.

His mind circled back to earlier thoughts. What had Claire told Brianna? How much did she know? He and Brianna were not fully accustomed to each other and sometimes used Claire as a go-between. He thought how much he would like some privacy with Claire. It was growing tiresome and too cold for their romps in the wild, or the herb shed. If Young Ian got back soon, they could notch some of the logs. Brianna needed a cabin of her own to share with Lizzie.

Lizzie came up behind him, obvious she had something to say, but her shyness around him made it difficult. Young Ian stood near her to offer support. It turned out she recognized a man at the mill, she’d seen him before with Brianna in Wilmington. Oh no. Here it goes. His name was MacKenzie she said. He seemed educated and maybe a Highlander. Jamie asked her questions (p758, Nook). So little miss Lizzie told what she knew, but she had it quite wrong. Jamie now thought it was rape by the MacKenzie man that not only took Brianna’s virginity but got her with a child.  Jamie was angry and sick over it. He hadn’t known she was with child, but he ventured Claire had known. Lizzie told them Brianna had no cycle for two months. When she saw the man, she had to speak up in case he came to claim Brianna as his. Under the law, a man could claim a woman to be his wife under common law and use the pregnancy as evidence. Jamie’s parents had used this tactic to get married.

Lizzie and Young Ian had taken MacKenzie’s horse to prevent him from getting to the main part of the settlement quickly. Jamie and Young Ian talked about Brianna’s demeanor as of late (p761, Nook). This cannot be good. Jamie asked Young Ian to fetch his pistols and for Lizzie to lie to Claire about where they’ve gone. Lizzie watched Jamie, and Young Ian leave. Jamie had a serious menace about him (p761, Nook).

I could go on about how aggravated I am about this plot device. Of course, Lizzie would know him as MacKenzie because that’s the name he used when he found Brianna. Again, why oh why did Brianna use Wakefield to describe him? The situation is about to spiral out of control. A father’s rage. A cousin’s anger. It cannot possibly go well.

What’s Coming up? Chapters 45-46 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 41-42

Week 22

“Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition”

Summary:

Brianna and Lizzie get safely upriver to Cross Creek, though the girl had yet again become ill. Brianna borrows a mule to scout out Cross Creek. She meets Jamie. He’s dubious at first. Then filled with utmost joy. To River Run, he takes her and Lizzie. Fergus is victorious at his trial. Jamie takes Brianna to Fraser’s Ridge. Claire is shocked and happy. Jamie takes Brianna hunting. They become more comfortable with each other. Jamie is fretful. Memories are shared between Claire and Jamie in the moonlight.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 41

Journey’s End

Brianna is aggravated that Lizzie is ill again. Brianna woke after that night with Roger to cleaned clothes, a tidied space, and Lizzie fevered. She is restless knowing she only has eight days to get to Cross Creek or she could miss Jamie Fraser. Lizzie might be ready to travel in a couple of days thought a frustrated Brianna. She went down to the taproom to get tea for the sick girl and a man with roaming hands tried to grab her behind. Squeezing through the crowded tables she notices a gold ring at a gambling table. The light hit it just right and she knew the engraving pattern within. She stopped and approached the man who held it. She pretended to rub it for luck and she was right, she did know the ring. “From F. to C. with love. Always.,” it read. She was eager to find out where he, the Irishman got it from. She was worried for her mother. She planned to see him the following day in the daylight for safety. He agrees and tells her to go to the Gloriana. Yes, you remembered it correctly, it is Captain Stephen Bonnet. The man who Jamie and Claire saved from execution when he was found hidden in their wagon. The man who later stole from them when they were headed upriver to Auntie Jo’s. This cannot be a good thing Brianna ran into him.

The kind Dutch woman is in awe of the amount of food Brianna ate. She had not eaten in a couple of days. She accepted a second helping of food. Lizzie’s fever had returned two days upriver. Brianna thought she might die. They had made it to Cross Creek, tomorrow she would find Jamie Fraser. She felt the ring in her secret pocket. Knowing her mother was alive was all that mattered. The Dutchwoman was the sister of one of the men she traveled with upriver. She would take care of Lizzie while Brianna borrowed the mule for a trip into Cross Creek to find the courthouse and to gain familiarity with the city. She didn’t want to take any chances she might miss Jamie Fraser. She had not noticed anything on the second half of their journey. Her mind had been occupied with Lizzie and painful thoughts of her own. Now that she was riding, she could see the countryside and how it changed.

She wonders how it will be to meet him, Jamie Fraser. Would he be happy to see her? What might he say? She could hear the echoes of Laoghaire calling him a liar and a cheat. She rode into town. Most people were inside to escape the heat of the day. She made note of landmarks, like the sawmill and a tavern. She feels hollow after searching for money in her pocket and finding something else. She stops at the tavern and gets a beer. The landlord asks if she’s come for the trial. Brianna asks whose trial it is. Fergus Fraser is accused of attacking an officer of the Crown. The tavern owner is sure he’ll be acquitted since Jamie Fraser came down from Fraser’s Ridge to be at the trial. He is there at the tavern and should return in a minute. Brianna leapt up and ran out the door. She spies Jamie peeing against a tree. When he turned toward her from the tree, he tensed seeing her standing there thinking she was a man at first. She was wearing breeks of course. When she saw him face on, she knew without a doubt who he was though smaller, his face was her face. He speaks to her (p708, Nook). Imagine him hearing those words, “I’m your daughter.” He became flushed red, a sight she found recognizable. He stopped and looked her over more closely (p710, Nook). He reaches out to touch her stunned by her being fully grown. He thought of her as a wee bairn from the pictures (p711, Nook). Such emotion gripped them both. She had no idea how to address Jamie.  Frank was her daddy and always would be. He tells her to call him Da (p712, Nook). To be hugged by the father she had only known existed for a couple of years. I LOVE THIS SCENE TO MY CORE. Jamie is meant to be a father. He’s meant to be her father. He’s right Claire will be mad with joy. What do you love about it?

Everything was a blur from here on out. They had retrieved Lizzie from the Dutch woman’s home. As they rode toward River Run, Jamie told Brianna about the house he’s building for Claire and the glass in the back is meant as a surprise for her mother. He’s putting windows in the big house for her. It seemed a long ride down the dusty roads, but she slept with her head on his shoulder and his arm holding her close. River Run was a big house and she met Aunt Jocasta tall with a face like hers, but eyes that looked beyond her. Everything seemed to happen like magic. So many hands to help and make jobs quick. The haze of hands and faces of black slaves were in Brianna’s mind. They bathed, dried, and dressed her in a fresh cotton gown. There was food, tea, and her father’s joy-filled eyes upon her. There was a pretty blond girl who seemed familiar somehow. Her name was Marsali. Lizzie too was cleaned up and wrapped in a blanket with hot tea in hand. Barely coherent Brianna hears the names of Farquard Campbell and Fergus before strong hands of her father lifted her and took her to bed.

Fergus Fraser looked like a French noble on his way to the guillotine to Brianna (p713, Nook). That’s because he is French, and his name is Claudel. Jamie renamed him. Marsali is worried about the treatment Fergus may have gotten while in jail. There was a crowd filling the courthouse, not a seat to be had. There were soldiers guarding the doors and one seated by the Justice’s bench. The man caught Jamie’s eye with a malevolent air of satisfaction. Jamie kept his poker face seeming indifferent. The Justice arrived, and the proceedings began. Brianna thinks she has a handle on the people present, Phaedre, Marsali, Young Ian, and Fergus.

The Justice calls for the charges to be read (p715, Nook). Hugh took the stand and described the events of that day. Apparently, he was wickedly lashed by the tongue in French. The Justice gives Fergus the opportunity to speak (p715, Nook). After this exciting testimony by Fergus, the Justice asks if James Fraser is present. Jamie is sworn and answers all questions regarding the land deal he had with Governor Tryon. Brianna intently watched the proceedings and noticed the officer who leered at Jamie earlier was looking at Hugh. There was a nod of the head. As the Justice was about to acquit Fergus, Hugh stands up and objects based on no proof of the land grant deal (p717, Nook). With evidence in hand, the Justice acquits Fergus.

Before stepping down, Jamie asks the Justice if Berowne’s charge fully described the attack?  The Justice read the original complaint and had a light bulb moment (p718, Nook). After concluding the trial, they went to Jocasta’s house for a celebration feast. As they discussed the trial, it’s revealed Marsali had been the one to assault the officer. She kicked him in the face when he tried to take her from her horse. The officer took Germaine from her and she had to get off the horse. It was Murchison wanting to make trouble for Jamie that set the farce of a complaint in motion. Jocasta was annoyed that Farquard Campbell, the usual Justice in the area was taken off the trial. Jamie explains why (p719, Nook). Jamie is always a step ahead of Murchison. Jamie looks at Brianna asking her if she thinks him to be rich. It’s not something that had entered her mind. He explains to Brianna the state of life on Fraser’s Ridge (p720, Nook).

Back at the Ridge, Claire is going through her jarred stores making sure none were moldy. this makes her think of having a penicillin plantation. If she were lucky she could isolate the Penicillium mold of the hundreds that grow on stale bread.  Would any spores survive, or would she recognize it if they did? She’d had no success in over a year, but she would keep trying. She found it impossible to keep vermin out of the pantry (p720, Nook). Though she could lock all the edibles in the hutch Jamie built, the stale bread samples required air. Nayawenne came to mind as she thinks about how every plant could cure illness if only it was known what it was. She regretted not being taught more by her friend, but not as bitterly as the loss of Nayawenne from the earth. She knew she needed to keep trying to grow the elusive penicillium. Much of the year she couldn’t leave samples out because of the vermin, but in winter the air was too cold to allow for spore growth. She would try again in the spring.

The new house was taking shape up on the hill. It would be done by spring (p721, Nook). Clarence the Mule shrieked with ecstasy. Claire hastily cleans up the bottles and corks. She hoped it was Jamie returning with Fergus and Marsali.  She worried that Jamie’s confidence about the trial hadn’t come to fruition.  After placing the last of the bottles in the cupboard, she went to the door. She saw no one. She saw nothing but evidence someone had come through. She wished she hadn’t left her knife on the table. Someone was there. Jamie spoke behind her (p722, Nook). Bree knocked her off her feet with a bone-crushing hug (p722, Nook). Of course, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Poor Jamie left out again with a modern-day reference. Claire must have almost had kittens to see Brianna. I love how we are reintroduced to Marsali as a high-spirited young woman. Fergus with his French contempt is priceless. The character of Murchison is like a fever blister. He pops up when you least expect it. We meet Jocasta and the household staff through the eyes of Brianna. she accomplished her quest. She found her father, her Da. What happened to Brianna that she had painful worries? I wonder what Roger is up to.  

Chapter 42

Part Ten Impaired Relations

Moonlight

Jamie wakes Brianna in the pre-dawn morning asking her to come hunting with him. She dressed and went to the privy. The sky seemed dreamlike in quality. She could almost touch the stars. It was very early she thought as dark and quiet as it was. She gulped the fresh air as she returned to the confines of the cabin. Jamie was ready with hunting gear in tow. She watched him kiss her mother as she slept in bed. She felt like a voyeur (p725, Nook). She waited for him to come outside. With a nod of his head, she followed on the path. The quiet broke to sounds of birdsong, screeches, and other noises. Daylight rose with subtlety. They sat together eating apples and bread. Wiping her hands on her coat, she felt the presence of the conker in her pocket, a touchstone, a link to another life for the one who planted it. Were her links to the past severed for good?  She followed Jamie uphill. At the top of the steep climb, she felt she could float away (p726, Nook).

The climbing became easier as she found the “rhythm of the ground.” They reached the place he meant to take her. There was a split rock that caused her to hesitate for a moment. It reminded her of THE stones. This caused Jamie momentary distress and he had to watch her safely climb through. He touched her to be sure she was still there. His timing was perfect (p727, Nook). That gives me shivers. I love to listen to the land and see what presents. Sometimes nothing shows up and sometimes... They sat for a long time watching as the sun came to full light. Jamie said a Gaelic prayer to the spirits. Brianna speaks first (p728, Nook). He learned to value the solitude. They sat and listened to nature speaking around them. She spoke of Roger and Jamie’s heart squeezed. She didn’t think Roger understood being alone. She mentioned not minding being alone had to do with her and Jamie (p729, Nook).

Jamie thinks she had doubts about Wakefield (ahem MacKenzie), Brianna had told them about her search, the death notice, her journey, (damn Laoghaire) and this Wakefield. He knows she didn’t tell them everything though. Why and the hell did Brianna use the name Wakefield when she knew Roger was using MacKenzie?  Jamie’s mind was troubled with the thought of Frank (p729, Nook). Brianna brought him from his thoughts by pointing out two does. The does step out without fear of them. Jamie was content being along with his daughter.

Brianna asked what they are hunting for. They had seen many animals throughout the day. He replied bees and she wonders how bees are hunted. It turns out by finding certain types of flowers and watch what direction the honeybees go. They finally found what they were looking for in the late afternoon (p731, Nook). After sharing a meal, he showed her how to load and shoot the musket. She needed a little practice to get used the feel of the musket. She was a good shot. Jamie asks how she learned to shoot (p732, Nook). She moved the conversation back to the bees. He will blow smoke into the hive to stun the bees. He’ll then wrap the hive in his plaid. He’ll nail it to a piece of wood and in the morning the bees will go out looking for flowers. He said they’ll be content in the new place.

They sat in silence again until Brianna asked if Claire would worry about them. He shook his head no. He asked her about men going to the moon. She told him they will go to the moon. He was curious (p733, Nook). Brianna continues her description of the Apollo mission. (p733, Nook).  He makes a joke about the moon sounding like Scotland. She can tell he misses it. It was time to get the hive and get back to the cabin.

The night was warm enough to sleep with the window covering rolled up. Jamie had been smiling since returning from Cross Creek, but that night he wasn’t sleeping even though he’d been up before dawn. Claire reminded herself to stay away from the side of the garden where the bees would be irritable. The moonlight wasn’t keeping him awake, but something was (p735, Nook). She didn’t belong there just like Louis camel did not belong at Versailles either. Claire reiterates a child cannot be lost and asks if he remembers Faith (p736, Nook).  A bonding moment through love and tragedy.

They have Brianna, but it is a fleeting experience. They believe she must go back to her time. They grieve for something that hasn’t happened yet. What about Roger? I am aggravated they are not calling him MacKenzie. Brianna knows he was using his birth name in the 18th century.     

What’s Coming up? Chapters 43-44 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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Drums of Autumn

Chapter 40

Week 21

“Virgin Sacrifice”

Breaking News: Outlander S4 will premiere in November 2018 with 13 episodes based on Drums of Autumn and adapted for television. The television series has been renewed for S5 and S6 with 12 episodes each season. S5 is expected to be adapted from Fiery Cross and S6 from A Breath of Snow and Ashes. I will be doing a read-a-long for FC in 2019 after S4 ends. 

Summary:

Brianna and Lizzie make it to Wilmington. The girl has been sick with fever multiple times. The next stop is Cross Creek. Lizzie learns Jamie Fraser will be at his Aunt’s at River Run for a trial. Roger arrives mere days after Brianna in North Carolina and reaches Wilmington on her heels. He finds her. She is happy and upset. They are handfasted in the Scottish tradition and consummate their marriage multiple times in a shed. Brianna learns a truth. Feeling betrayed she storms back to her rented room. Roger vows to return to her. He leaves to secure a gemstone. Lizzie thinks MacKenzie raped Brianna.  

Inside the Chapter:

Chapter 40

Virgin Sacrifice

Wilmington, the Colony of North Carolina, September 1, 1769

Brianna and Lizzie are in North Carolina waiting for Lizzie to improve from another attack of illness. Poor frail Lizzie is fevered and weak. They were riding from Charleston when the illness struck again. Brianna was terrified her companion would die in the wilderness but pressed on to Wilmington the next day when the fever temporarily broke. Brianna needs to find her mother to help with Lizzie and for herself. Taking care of Lizzie helped Brianna appreciate her size and strength. Nursing is tough work. Brianna decides it must be malaria-causing the fevers. Mosquitoes were a plague upon them once the land was in sight. Brianna could feel her mother’s presence as she cared for the ailing girl (p666, Nook).  Quinine and other derivatives were the chief medicines to combat malarial fever since WWII; Claire would use Jesuit bark (cinchona bark) in the 18th century.

When they arrived in Wilmington, the landlady at the inn called for an apothecary when she saw how ill Lizzie was (p667, Nook). The man left with fright and warnings. Brianna didn’t exactly know how to care Lizzie but knew bloodletting wasn’t the answer. She reflected on how the bugs stayed away from her, and she had vaccinations for many diseases, including malaria before she went through the stones. She wondered how many other diseases were prevalent in the sweltering city and caused by bug bites.

Exhausted, she was too tired to change out of the many days worn clothing. She knew she had to find her mother as quickly as possible to help Lizzie. The small maidservant could die from another round of fever. She planned to sell the horses and take a boat upriver to Cross Creek in search of Aunt Jocasta’s home, River Run. The thought of meeting more family gave Brianna a thrill. Certainly, she would be able to tell Brianna how to find Jamie and Claire. Finally, she undressed and lay naked on the quilt on the floor, drifting quickly to sleep.  

The next morning Lizzie remained weak but fever free. Brianna pays the landlady extra money to keep an eye on the sick girl while she goes out to tend to the business at hand. Brianna managed to sell the horses and obtained the name of a man who took people upriver to Cross Creek by boat. When she returned to her room, Lizzie was dressed and eating. She is much better. Lizzie had been doing the washing and ironing. Brianna worries the girl will overexert herself and become ill again. When the girl explains the discovery, she’d had Brianna listens (p670, Nook). This MacNeil knows her father, mother, and Jocasta Cameron. Lizzie explains what the man said about Claire (p671, Nook). It turns out Jamie is in Cross Creek because of an upcoming trial he must attend. Brianna starts calculating the time needed to get upriver, so she doesn’t miss Jamie.

Roger arrived in Edenton just ten days after Brianna arrived in South Carolina. She must be in Wilmington by now, and he is determined to find her.  Roger details his journey to Wilmington (p672, Nook). He knew she was here. She had to be. It was the most logical place to secure a guide to go into the mountains to Fraser’s Ridge. He learns there are twenty-three taverns where she could have taken a room or maybe in a private residence he thinks. By the time he had reached the fifth tavern people had begun sharing their sightings of her (p673, Nook). Roger was considerably worried for Brianna after hearing the stories. He was also hungry, thirsty, and lacking funds. He decided on a place to spend a couple of pennies on dinner, and maybe, just maybe he would be allowed to sleep in the stable. He saw a newspaper office and wanted to throw a rock through the window. That damned notice is what got both into this situation.

Entering the Blue Bull, he sees Brianna sitting by the hearth (p674, Nook). Roger tries to make her come with him. A seaman from the cargo boat yells at Roger (MacKenzie) to let her be. Brianna finally tells the protective man she knows Roger. The man reluctantly backs off. Lizzie freaks out that Brianna may go with him. Brianna assures her it’s okay and she’ll be back later. Once outside, she wants to know why he’s there. He takes her to a shelter. Again, she demands to know what he’s doing there (p675, Nook). He kisses her, hard and tells her it will be alright. She is horrified that he is there (p675, Nook). Around and around they go. She has the temper of both her parents.

Instead of throttling her back, he grabbed a handful of hair and kissed her as hard as he could, she fought him, at first. Then gave in ending in tears and sobs (p676, Nook). There it is, she didn’t tell him she was going because she loved him. Now they tumble on the ground like wrestlers.  He let go of her hair, she took her arm off his neck, but Roger couldn’t stop touching her neck. He makes her say it (p677, Nook). She lay in his arms weeping. They are dirty, bruised, and he is most certainly hungry. They will find a way back to the twentieth century, somehow.

She is happy to see him regardless of not wanting him to follow her. He asks how long she’d been planning the trip, though he probably knew the answer based on the changes in her letters. Six months past when she went to Jamaica instead of to Scotland to see him. Of course, she had asked him to come with her, but he refused. She kept dreaming about her fathers, Frank and Jamie. There was one dream that stood out (p678, Nook). That dream is what caused her to go to Jamaica. Since the trail of Jamie and Claire was lost after 1766, she figured she would give it a shot. Maybe they had gone to Jamaica first. She began to search cargo ships since The Indies were a trade spot. She found the Artemis with a Captain James Fraser that “sold five tons of bat guano in Montego Bay on April 2, 1767.” She explains further finding the solution to Jamie being a Captain of a ship with known crippling seasickness (p680, Nook). She didn’t find the freed slave, but she did find the death notice dated 1776. They are there early enough to warn her parents. Roger understands at this moment why parents or a spouse would beat them (p681, Nook).

He was angry. He thought she found someone else because of her letters. He wanted to beat her because she made him think he’d lost her. She apologizes. How did he find out she’d left anyway? He tells her about the boxes arriving and the last-minute conference that had kept him in Oxford longer than expected.  She realizes he followed her even though he thought she’d found someone else (p682, Nook). He touched her under her loosened shirt. Did she mean it? The unspoken words of her body tell him she did mean it. Then her words urged him (p682, Nook).  He takes her to the nearby shed.

For a moment, Brianna thinks about Lizzie. Roger didn’t know who that was and didn’t care either. He had her in a safe, private place behind the inn. Before they go further, they are handfasted as is a Highland’s custom because a minister will be difficult to find on short notice. Roger will not lie with her unless they are married (p683, Nook). The handfasting allows for marriage for a year and a day before a final decision is made to wed or being married in the church legally. They are wed in a shed behind the Blue Bull tavern.

They explore each other in the dark of the shed. She reaches down, and humor invades the exploration (p684, Nook). She quivered in his arms, but not from laughter. She was naked, and the feel of her amazed him. He remarks how he’s never been able to kiss a girl without stooping down. Brianna’s nervous humor invades again. He couldn’t stop kissing and touching her to get undressed. She helped him out of his breeks and shocked him by reaching down to grasp him. His senses were filled with the tastes on her lips, the smell of her body and hair. He asks her to let go of him for a moment; she has a bit too strong of a grip. When she moves to her knees, he is stunned (p686, Nook). His coherency and blood leave his brain in quick order. She asks if she’s doing it right. He thinks so. This is the first time anyone has done this to him. So yeah, he thinks so. He likes it well enough. Before he completely loses himself, he disengages, pulls her to her feet, and lays her down on the straw.

He has only tried giving oral to a woman once, but she smelled of Sunday church flowers. Brianna did not. She drove him to abject lust. Instead, he kisses her on her lower belly (p687, Nook). He gets to his work enjoying the myriad of sensations and tastes. He felt a quiver move through her into him. He asks if he is doing it right (p687, Nook). He wonders how exactly she KNOWS he’s doing it right. She laughs. They work through the awkwardness of her eagerness.  Finally, she relaxes into him. He tells her he loves her. She simply puts her hand on his face and opens to him. At the point of no return, he takes it slowly, she urges him forth. She asks if he is big. He thinks average and asks if he’s hurting her a lot. She needs stillness for a minute. She reaches down his back touching his behind. She gives him the go-ahead (p689, Nook). I call this maneuver the pull and pray technique.  She declares her love for him.   

After they recover, tangled together they talk (p689, Nook). He is astonished she learned so much from a book. He tells her it’s terrible books go around telling young women how to do sexual things. How else would she learn if not for books? Roger must check his Victorian Presbyterian thoughts on female knowledge. He tells her there’s more to it than what books can say. She’s eager for him to show her more.

When she woke from a light sleep thinking about how they fit together, how he had made love to her three times through the night, how she was sore and happy (p691, Nook). What a beautiful piece of writing.  Roger apologizes for them not having a proper wedding and proper bridal chamber to consummate their marriage. She assures him it was very good for her. She reaches for him, but he needs a rest. She’s not the only one who might be sore.

She tells him she’s never been so happy and if they never get back to their own time, it is okay as long as they’re together. He tells her he thinks there’s another way and explains his trip through the stones and the diamond Fiona gave him. Gemstones might help to steer the traveler. He recited a poem from the grimoire (p692, Nook). Brianna thinks the poem is bonkers, but Roger points out insanity doesn’t mean it isn’t correct. The poem has old Celtic ritual and witchcraft within it. Roger doesn’t think the blood sacrifice is needed, but the metal and gems might be necessary. He asks Brianna what she wore when she went through. The bracelet he gave her and the pearls.

They discuss the possibilities of traveling through the stones and how the gemstones assist travel. They need to get a hold of some to help with their eventual travel back to their own time. The thing is, it is difficult to find gemstones outside of a large city, and the expense is too much as well. Roger has an idea where he can get one, but he must leave immediately to have a chance at it. Brianna cannot wait for Roger there, because she found Jamie Fraser. Roger wants her to wait instead of going to Cross Creek without him, but with Lizzie being sick she needs to find her mother as soon as possible. He agrees but asks her to wear a dress instead of her breeks.  She doesn’t want him stealing the stone, but he says it’s no big deal since the man likely stole it from someone else. The dispute was ended by one more role in the hay.

Roger speaks sometime later saying he thinks he married his great-aunt six times removed. It had just dawned on him that they are related way back through the MacKenzie bloodline. The method of birth control they used throughout the night caused him to think of Geillis Duncan becoming pregnant. Brianna figures they are sixth or seventh cousins or something near that. Brianna doesn’t care if it’s nothing near incest. Roger couldn’t give up the thought though (pp696, Nook). When Brianna learns Roger hadn’t been to Lallybroch, she wants to know how he found her. Then she becomes angry realizing he had found the blasted newspaper article and never told her. She is in a rare fury. He tries to explain when he found it and why he hadn’t told her. He doesn’t think they can change the past (p698, Nook). He couldn’t stand the idea of her being hurt. She felt betrayed that he kept it from her. It was not his place to choose whether she knew about the death notice. This reminds me of Claire yelling at Jamie sometimes.  Roger digs a deeper hole for himself (p698, Nook).

She is Fraser angry now. She pulls on her breeks while cursing under her breath. She yells at him, tells him to get hanged I he wants to and that she is going to save her parents with or without him (p699, Nook). That is a terrible way to end things. It’s not as if communication is simple in that era. Lizzie isn’t sleeping when Brianna returns in a flurry of emotion. Brianna says she’s fine, but from outside the window, Roger Mac can be heard (p699, Nook). Lizzie was frozen for a moment. She could see the change in Brianna’s expression. She looked as if she had the blood fury like soldiers had. She was a Highland she-devil. She asked in Gaelic if Brianna was okay. Brianna told her to go to sleep.

Lizzie simply lay awake worried what Brianna might do. Then she realizes Brianna is shaking and she feels guilty for allowing her to be hurt. Brianna finally fell asleep. Unable to sleep, Lizzie slipped from the bed, opened the shudders, and began to tidy things up. She picks up Brianna’s discarded clothing (p701, Nook). She thinks Roger assaulted Brianna. She smelled Brianna’s clothing, and it wreaked of a man. As she washed Brianna’s clothing with lye soap, the water turns to red. She’s sure Roger took Brianna’s virginity and thought it by rape.  

Oh, the boy has Lizzie got this wrong, but she has so little information to go by it’s a logical conclusion. Roger and Brianna fighting is no good thing with separate tasks ahead of them. Where do you think Roger is getting the stone? The seaman had called Roger, MacKenzie. This is the name he is going by in the eighteenth century. It is the name Lizzie knows the dark man by too. Will Brianna tell anyone she’s wedded by handfasting? Will she get to Cross Creek and meet Jamie in time? Four sexual encounters in a night, pull and pray or no, could she be with child? Will Roger get the gemstone? Will he return to her? As the last point, I love how Diana wrote the whole scene surrounding their coupling. Roger is a man of honor. He wants all of her forever.  

What’s Coming up? Chapters 41-42 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are from Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapter 37-39

Week 20

“A Wolf in Captain’s Clothing”

Summary: Roger learns what being a seaman means. It’s tougher and lonelier than he expected. His goodness and love for others cannot be helped. He must do what he must when others are in trouble. His good Samaritan ways are found out. The good Captain shows his teeth. The coin is flipped. Roger lives to see another day.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 37 Gloriana

Roger is quickly disabused of the idea his physical health and prowess pose an advantage over the less nourished crew members. By the end of one shift he is exceedingly hungry, bone weary with hands chapped and chaffed, and muscles incredibly sore. The work conditions were hard and difficult though others didn’t seem to take much heed of it. On the second day, his size proved to be useful (p630, Nook). Once the cargo was loaded, the passengers came aboard. Many had indenture contracts the Captain would sell once they reached the Colonies. They would be given passage, but only fed if they could pay for it during the voyage.

Roger helped passengers board. He was struck by the women layered with all the clothing they owned. The people had all their earthly possessions desperate to find a better life for their children and families across the ocean. He notices one young family of a man, woman, and baby. The woman has something different about her that tells Roger she is a fighter. His pondering is disturbed by the call to get the last of the cargo aboard.

After the initial weather departing from Scotland, the weeks passed with a smooth voyage and rhythm. Many of the passengers had been seasick. The smell of vomit comingled with all the other scents aboard the Gloriana. Roger is thankful he was able to acclimate his keen sense of smell quickly. Our 21st-century sensibilities for cleanliness are unlike any other time in history. We’re so obsessed that we over clean and disrupt proper good bacterial levels on our skin and surfaces that are there to combat the bad or dangerous bacteria. Just the body odor and bad breath might fell a modern-day person. Though Diana writes it that the travelers all have some form of illness or disease immunity, it’s not true. They likely would cause mass illness among everyone they met until their biome changed to something more like those of the period. They would all be veritable plague carriers.

He notes his crewmates are leery of him though not hostile. It could be his accent or size that keeps them slightly away from him. With the shipmates at a distance, Roger had plenty of time to think outside of his expected work. The captain is hard but fair and always turns a profit. Roger ignored the reputation of the captain and Gloriana before signing on (p633, Nook). He noticed the invisible barrier that seemed to surround the Captain. Only two crew members directly spoke to him. The other crew members did their best not to be noticed by him. Regardless of the disposition of the Captain, Roger is more interested in the passengers who came up top to the deck only a couple of times per day (p634, Nook). He fondly remembers Mrs. Graham having used dried toad as a treatment for a wart he’d once had.

A passenger asks if her children may touch the iron horseshoe. Roger agrees. He knows there is a belief to gain luck and to help heal illnesses or disease. There is a lucky iron fish that heals anemia in parts of the world where iron-rich foods are in short supply. It’s an economical and easy way for families in need to get enough iron. Roger thinks the intake of iron would prove more useful than touching the horseshoe. The limited diet offered to the passengers resulted in loose teeth, itching boils, and fever. I expect their immune systems to quite low with the living conditions, stress, lack of fresh foods, and malnourishment. The passengers did not complain about the food and water given; it was enough. Though the crew was fed somewhat better, Roger noticed the impact of vitamin deficiency because of the lack of fresh vegetables was having on his gums.

Manning the water line and doling out the provision to passengers, Morag, the young woman he noticed on the quay before she boarded at Inverness came up in line. They discussed the weather before she went to go back below. Another woman prods her to ask for more water rations since she is nursing a baby. Morag was deeply embarrassed by the public nature of the request. With the extra provision in her bucket, she gave him a warm smile in appreciation before going below. When the water line concluded, Roger was sad to see the passengers go. He envies the connectedness they seem to share. He misses Brianna each minute of each day.

He chooses the illusion of solitude after eating in the mess hall. He had the second watch, so he inhabits his small hammock inches away from the next seaman. His hammock was near the bulkhead, so he only had one other person to deal with. He reflects on the musical sounds of the ship drowning out everything else while he conjures up Brianna. He thinks of his peace of mind being taken away when she went through the stones. He remains in a state of fear, anger, and betrayal (p638, Nook). He thinks Claire understands the loneliness and made sure Brianna wouldn’t be left alone and to be loved well. He tried to love her well. Thinking of her made his body grow uncomfortable in response. His need for her ever-present. He didn’t hesitate when he realized she had gone through the stones and he had to follow her (p639, Nook).

The rhythmic sounds on the other side of the bulkhead resumed. Whoever the couple was, they had sex nearly every night after everyone else was thought to be asleep. At first, the sounds made him feel isolated because he had no access to such physical or emotional warmth. Eventually, the sounds of tender words or furtive affirmations brought him a sense of not being a voyeur, but as a participant in some way. Not knowing who it was, he liked to think it was the fair-haired man and his wife Morag because of the way they looked at each other. “He would have sold his soul to know such certainty.”    

Ah, poor Roger. Having Brianna leave without word or explanation after putting off his proposal brings up his insecurities in their relationship. He is without a doubt risking everything following her. To know he was doing the right thing. To know she would be happy to see him. To know she would accept his love and return love to him. He isn’t sure at all, yet he followed her anyway. After the years of being an only child, then losing the Reverend, Roger understood the connection love could bring. He felt that with Brianna. He is a good man.

Chapter 38 For Those in Peril on the Sea

Roger is utterly exhausted. His muscles quivered heaving the cask of water to the deck. He splashed precious water on his face fearing he wouldn’t be able to ladle the water rations without falling in. The boat rocked and pitched in the post-storm seas. The passengers coming to fill their jars and buckets looked worse off than him. The young girl he helped aboard, came to deck skipping and singing without any ill effects from the movement of the boat. She starts a conversation about the storm and the cirein-croin with Roger (p641, Nook). The girl shrieks thinking she sees a sea monster in the water, Roger assures it nothing but a shark like they ate last week. The girl calms down and must leave Roger to do chores as her mother call for her. For the most part, Roger can forget the Gloriana is merely inhabiting the surface of the vast sea that could destroy her in moments if it chose to. He worries that the Phillip Alonso didn’t arrive safely. He thinks of the prayer, “for those in peril on the deep, Lord, have mercy.”  It’s meaning quite vivid in understanding to Roger now.

As he finishes water duty, a mother asks him if the captain would rub his ring on the poor baby’s sore eyes. He hesitated because he liked to steer clear of the Captain, but he takes her anyway knowing the captain had offered such a blessing before. He found the Captain in conversation about some spoiled tea and how to salvage the rest. The Captain obliged the request rubbing the gold ring over the baby’s eyes. The ring seemed smaller than a men’s ring to Roger. Perhaps a woman’s ring. It seemed odd to see a love token on such a man’s finger.  Dixon, the mate, thinks the baby is ill even though the mother says it’s milk fever and nothing of concern.

Roger grows concerned over the length of time it might take to get to Wilmington because of the many stops Bonnet would want to make to make the most of selling his cargo. He hopes they would make North Carolina in 8 weeks because they’ve been making good progress. Roger would disembark at the first stop. Since he wouldn’t be taking wages, he thinks not finishing the offload would be a fair trade-off. Roger still had hours to go on his shift, and his exhaustion hadn’t waned. He thinks of the cargo, and something about it makes him uneasy. There was something about the smell that reinforced his desire to be off the ship at the earliest opportunity.

He was woken out of a deep sleep two nights later by shouting above. Dixon kept him from going up the ladder. Roger wonders if they’ve been boarded, but Dixon says to stay below because there are passengers with the pox. To the horror of the others, Roger insists on going above to see what is happening. He is immune and cannot become ill, so his curiosity wins out.  He discovers there is no other ship and there is no mutiny. Roger is ordered below, but he stays having had pox as a child. There is the threat of throwing an ill child overboard. A row between the shipman and the mother ensues with Roger grabbing the child. It was the baby from two days earlier who Dixon swore was ill. Someone rammed into Roger causing him to fall as men from below deck came up to join the fight. Sheer confusion and chaos overcame the deck.

Finally, after taking an injury, Roger is helped up by some of the crewmen. Roger promptly vomited over the side of the rail. He made his way below, refusing to answer questions, covering his head in his bunk. One of the men spoke to Roger (p648, Nook). The ill were being thrown overboard. Roger couldn’t stand knowing this.

Roger went down to the hold at his first opportunity. He made up a reason in case anyone asked. He was compelled to look for someone hiding out down there. There was someone there; it was Morag and her baby. Roger has no idea who Morag is, but her husband is a MacKenzie. She is frightened and fearful he’s going to kill her baby (p651, Nook). He follows her when the baby starts to cry hungrily. He tells her he will not harm them and wants to know what she’s doing down there. The baby has a rash. She’s sure it’s not the pox but is in terrible fear for his life after the prior event. She stabbed Roger when he reaches for the baby. It was life or death in her mind. They plan for Roger to help her while the baby’s rash improves. Roger examines the baby, and he doesn’t seem sick, but he does have a rash with pustules on his cheeks. She tells him a few days, and it will pass. He helps her to her feet and asks her age (p654, Nook). Roger has taken on a huge and dangerous responsibility. He cannot help himself, the son of a reverend. He must help people. This is like Brianna taking on Lizzie because of the desperation of the situation.

Chapter 39 A Gambling Man

It was a foggy morning. It seemed the Gloriana floated rather than sailed through the sunless day. Roger used the fog to his advantage to visit the hold bringing necessaries to Morag.  Diana’s description of the fog brings it to life. The baby is red-faced with pustules though not fevered and appears overall healthy. Morag looked too thin, pasty, and worn from the strain. She needed only a couple more days for the child to be completely well. Roger was sure Morag was right. The baby did not have the pox. He returned to the deck unseen.

As Roger moved toward the stern, he heard the whoosh of a whale in the water. Someone yelled whale and heard the sound again. Roger wondered how big the whales were. Again, a whale jolted the ship. Cries of fear could be heard. The voice of the Captain rang clear to Roger (p657, Nook). Roger worries Bonnet could have seen his subversive activities. He asks if the whales won’t harm the ship. Bonnet doesn’t know whether they will or not. He’d seen a ship smashed to bit from an angry whale. Bonnet refuses to worry about such things (p657, Nook). Bonnet is in full command of his ship and everyone on it. His grip tightens on Roger’s wrist. Roger breaks free, but he knows he could die right there (p659, Nook). The exchange coolly escalates. Roger waits for a punch to be thrown. Instead, Bonnet pulls a coin from his pocket (p659, Nook).

Roger’s mind goes sharp and clear. He sizes up how he would move quickly to throw Bonnet overboard. The coin is flipped (p660, Nook). Somehow, he stayed upright and walked with Bonnet. Roger drifts back to his senses realizing Bonnet is telling his life story. The Captain was orphaned in Sligo and worked as a cabin boy on trading ships. During one winter he found work in Inverness digging the foundation of a grand house (p660, Nook). He was not popular with the other workers until it was the day to lay the foundation. Suddenly he was invited to drink with them. He became drunk quickly, and they tossed him over the wall into the cellar (p661, Nook). Bonnet realized they meant to kill him (p662, Nook). Roger felt ill for the telling. Bonnet continued (p662, Nook).  Bonnet survived that day with wages in hand along with the coin. Bonnet found them all one by one and made the men pay for what they did to him. Bonnet asked Roger again if it is a fair chance (p663, Nook). Roger realized he was standing alone. Luck was with him once again.

Holy hell poor Roger Mac. He helps someone in need because he cannot help himself. He put his life in jeopardy for being kind. Twice he missed the hand of death. Bonnet is not safe in any regard. He’s the most kind of dangerous person. He has his code. He is mercenary and merciless. He’s a wolf in Captain’s clothing that Bonnet.

 What’s Coming up? Chapter 40 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

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Drums of Autumn

Chapter 35-36

Week 19

“Not So Hot on Her Trail”

Summary:

Brianna and the Murrays secure her passage to the Colonies. She shows her big heart and Fraser stubbornness when she insists on taking the contract of a young teenage girl instead of a strapping male to be her servant. She leaves Scotland with sadness and loss for the place and family she has known for such a short time. Roger experiences déjà vu as he walked through Inverness in 1769. He finds Brianna in the passenger books and secures himself passage as a seaman. He’ll be on his way to the Colonies the next day.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 35 Bon Voyage

At the port of Inverness, the desperate and needy people remind Brianna of puppies at the pound. She wants to help all of them. Young Jamie and Ian Murray are helping secure her passage and encourage her to find someone who can travel with her as a servant to keep her safe and assist her with anything she needs. Of course, she didn’t think she needed a servant. That stubborn Fraser bloodline. Though annoyed with the Fraser/Murray menfolk, she is thankful to know her mother is safe in the Colonies with Jamie, her father. He sprang to life for her when she read his letters. Young Jamie tries to get her to choose a manservant. She is not impressed with the pickings on the dock (p608, Nook).

Distracted by delicious smelling hot beef pastries, Brianna pushes her way through to buy one. Her height makes quite a stir (p609, Nook). Feeling self-conscious, she retreats to eat. The self-consciousness does not abate with her knowing she lacks undergarments as is the 18th century way. As soon as she bites into the warm bridie, she forgets about everything else (p610, Nook). She notices a slight, fair man looking to get her attention. He is looking for someone to take on his daughter as a servant. He cannot afford to keep her, and a man will ill sexual intent is going to buy her contract. The man is embarrassed by what he’s certain will happen to his daughter if he doesn’t find someone quickly to secure her contract. A veritable “pound puppy” is wheedling into her heart. She cannot say no even though her Murray relatives are unhappy with her taking on Lizzie Weymss. Clever Brianna has it her way when she has Lizzie eat some of her food. The girl owes her. Brianna presses her advantage over the men (p615, Nook). Young Jamie and Ian reluctantly agree. She too has the Fraser stubbornness (p615, Nook).  Joseph Weymss loved his daughter so much he put her on a ship to the Colonies with a stranger, so she could have a better life even though he might not see her again. 

As the ship leaves shore, Brianna is feeling sad about leaving this place and the family she barely knows. Regardless of the newness of knowledge about her paternity and culture, she feels no less grieved than saying goodbye to her mother or losing her father, Frank. Lizzie, on the other hand, was seeming not distressed in the least, though Brianna suspected deeper feeling underneath the veneer. The two shared the arisaid Jenny had given Brianna for warmth.  She knows it will be okay. She has survived all the parting of ways up until now, and she will no doubt survive this. Though she wished she could’ve stayed longer in Scotland. She would return to Scotland and Roger after she follows through with her plans. She feels the bracelet of silver Roger gave her warmed from her skin. Tears fell silently from Lizzie’s eyes. Brianna wiped them away without a word. They stood there still as could be until they could see Scotland no more.

Chapter 36 You Can’t Go Home Again

Inverness, July 1769

Roger walks around Inverness. It is different and the same. He notices the similarities and what’s missing, like Reverend Wakefield’s church and manse. Where the manse would be built the area is filled with foliage, cinquefoil, sweet broom, and a small rowan sapling. The smell of car fumes was replaced by the distant tang of raw sewage. The churches were missing, but Loch Ness looked much the same. As he walks, he notices Mountgerald a large home at the end of High Street that was built with human sacrifice in the foundation (p619, Nook).

He opens the door to a pub with a sense of déjà vu. The name of the pub was different, but it smelled like beer. His first sip was surprising in its strength. He heard the business of a port pub being done around him. He notices a ship’s captain interviewing those who wanted to emigrate to the Colonies. He listened unobtrusively to see where the ship was heading and what the different levels of passage entailed and cost. If money were an issue, people would enter indenture as a means to travel. Roger witnesses a family getting sized up for this purpose.

Roger leaves the pub and knows he doesn’t have enough funds for travel. He was only able to collect a small amount of coin before going through the stones. Roger ponders the ways he could travel to the Colonies. He could work for more passage money. Unfortunately, it could take him a year or more to earn enough. First, he must find her among the passenger lists, so he’s sure where she’s gone. The harbormaster’s office is in the same location it is in the future (p623, Nook). Roger painstakingly goes through the passenger ledgers looking for Brianna Randall. It took more than one slow read through. He wonders about some of the names he sees on the pages. If he didn’t find her in the pages, he would head to Lallybroch. Finally, he reaches a name, Brianna Fraser. She was going by Fraser. She had taken the Phillip Alonzo to Charleston, South Carolina on July 4, 1769.  Why South Carolina? No other ships went to North Carolina in July, so she must have picked the closest destination with the plan to travel overland once she arrived. He struggles with surety that it is her, but he presses forward. It was a big enough risk for him to follow her through the stones, and now to board a ship to the Colonies without knowing for certain. He’s a driven and brave man.

Roger learns there’s a ship heading to the Colonies in short order, the Gloriana. Captain Bonnet is the man to see to secure his spot as a seaman. He finds Captain Bonnet in the pub. He gives his name as MacKenzie, thinking he could do what Brianna had done. Roger finds Bonnet to disconcert him. His green eyes penetrated Roger uncomfortably. With position secured, Roger is to report for duty by sundown. Roger sizes up Bonnet as a man who seeks out and takes advantage of any weakness (p628, Nook).

Both chapters are building tension, expectation, with the action rising. We are going to see exactly what Roger is made of during his journey. We already are seeing the grit Brianna has within. Imagine Brianna’s response to

What’s Coming up? Chapters 37-39 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapter 34

Week 18

“Lallybroch”

Summary: 

Brianna did it. She went through the stones. She arrives at Lallybroch. She meets the Murrays to their surprise and happiness. She also meets a vengeful woman and her brother. Brianna stands up for herself and her mother. A lengthy letter makes it wild and worth the trip. She bonds with her Uncle. She clears the air of her intention. She connects with this place so a part of her though she's never been. To the Colonies, she will go. 

Inside the Chapter:

Chapter 34 Lallybroch

Scotland, June 1769

Brianna is on horseback. Brutus is his name. He flawlessly, if not swiftly has carried her on General Wade’s old military roads, the bad roads, and the red deer track trails on her way to Lallybroch. She looks out over the valley below and sees Lallybroch. It matches the description her mother told her, down to the kailyard. Rising smoke from the chimney indicates someone is home. She is nervous and excited. Who would she meet first? Will they believe her story of who she was and why she had come? Her story was based on as much truth as possible. She brought evidence with her. They would have to believe her. Could her parents be there right now?

A horse carrying a tall brown-haired man approaches her from behind. He was wary of her until he got close enough to realize she was a woman. She’s a big woman and looks like a man from a distance. This is to her advantage when traveling alone. She tells the man her name, he’s puzzled and shares his with her, Jamie Fraser Murray of Broch Tuarach (p576, Nook). His reaction is perfect. Jenny is going to birth some form of an animal to be sure. 

Brianna notices the carved lintel over the door, Fraser, 1716 it said. Brianna instinctively ducks while going through the door (p576, Nook). She thinks how little family she has in the twentieth century, one distant cousin of her dad Frank. Here she will have a large family connection to her. Jamie’s son Matthew goes running past being chased by his sister Janet. Matthew comments on Brianna’s choice of clothing (p578, Nook). Matthew discloses Jenny and Ian are in the back parlor with a man and a woman who are eating a large amount of food. Jamie sends the boy to get his granny, Jenny.

Jamie tries to get Janet to guess who Brianna is related to. She figures it out with great surprise. Enter Jenny Murray (p579, Nook). Just as Young Jamie is introducing Brianna, the woman from the parlor joins the group (p579, Nook). Jenny admonishes Laoghaire for her foolishness and tells her this is a lass, not a man. Laoghaire looks at Brianna for the first time (p580, Nook). The realization Jamie Fraser could have married again chills Brianna to the bone.  She thinks of her mother and is horrified she could have found Jamie with another wife when she went through the stones. She wants to run out of the house and keep on running. She is like her mother in some ways. Young Jamie steers her to a place to sit. In the room she sees two men, one asks her name. It’s Ian Murray, her uncle. She feels safer in his presence until Laoghaire comes in havering up to high heaven (p581, Nook). I need a dram or two after this scene.

Brianna asks after her mother, Ian assures Brianna that Claire is with Jamie. Laoghaire cannot help herself. She says the pearls are hers by right (p583, Nook). Brianna snatches the pearls off the table and holds them tightly.  Brianna addresses Laoghaire without success. Laoghaire calls Jamie a bastard and says he married her under pretenses four years earlier. Laoghaire explains that Jamie left her (p584, Nook). As if insulting Jamie and her mother wasn’t enough, she insults Brianna, calling her a witch’s child (p585, Nook). The Fraser anger rises in Brianna, and she lets Laoghaire have it (p585, Nook). Hobart leads a stunned Laoghaire out of the room to take her home. Laoghaire must have the last words and leaves Brianna with a parting twist of the tongue (p586, Nook). I am in love with Brianna here. She is coming into her own as a confident woman, as a Fraser daughter.

They finish dinner with the joy of Brianna, the joy that Jamie has his child. She’s thankful that Laoghaire’s accusations of Jamie were untrue. He was the man her mother said he was. Brianna asks if they know where her mother and Jamie are. They basically do, and Ian offers to show her a letter from her parents. Following Jenny, Brianna stops and notices a portrait on the wall with her father as a child in it. Jenny shows her a painting of her mother, Ellen. Brianna gasped when she saw it. Brianna looks remarkably like Ellen MacKenzie. The painting will hang in the National Portrait Gallery in two hundred years. Ellen painted the portrait herself. Brianna’s talent for drawing and painting comes from her grandmother. Jenny explains how she came into possession of the painting. Ned Gowan brought it to her from Leoch. Brianna feels a stab of grief for those lost. We learn that Jenny never saw Leoch for herself and now it’s gone.

Brianna follows Jenny into the bedroom. Jenny finds the letter and explains they live in the Colony of North Carolina but not near any towns. She explains it’s difficult for him to write since his hand was broken “that time.” Brianna knows the whole story behind the broken hand; Jenny does not. Brianna recognizes the writing. The letter is from the prior September. Young Ian sent a porpentine (porcupine) skull for Young Jamie’s boys. Jamie included a gift for Jenny. He explains Claire’s manner of communicating with the elderly Indian woman who made it (p591, Nook). He goes on to document his homesteading work and the local bear population. Fergus acquired a new large kettle, and a hearty stew was made in it (p592, Nook). Tomatoes have an interesting and rich history. The white sow is close to birth, so he placed her in the pantry. This does not please the sow or Claire. Tuscarora hunters came looking to hunt the bear. Young Ian and Rollo accompanied them on their journey. There was quite an adventure in the night of the 22nd (p593, Nook). Jenny interrupts Brianna’s reading to ask if she still plans on going to such a wild place and to show her the leather bag that Jamie sent. She is relieved Brianna is not afraid to go to the Colonies and on to Fraser’s Ridge, but she wants her to stay for a couple of days.

Now alone Brianna rereads the letter slowly, and she can almost see the man in the letter in front of her. She gets to the part she was interrupted by Jenny (p595, Nook). There were still two more pages to go. By now it was mid-October. Jamie and Ian wrote (p597, Nook). Young Ian told of his measles illness and his restored health. Brianna thought Lallybroch to be primitive, but the Colonies were indeed a more wild and dangerous place.

Ian takes Brianna on a tour of the farm and the property. She sees all is in good condition and the animals healthy. Ian was sporting his kilt to the surprise of Jenny and Young Jamie (p599, Nook). Brianna thinks about how the kilt, swords, pistols, and bagpipes were hidden away after Culloden. At first, she thinks of the items as symbols of pride conquered, but that wasn’t quite right (p599, Nook). Ian was pleased Brianna asked to see the property. She’d be leaving in a week’s time to board a ship to the Colonies. She thought it was a beautiful place. Brianna thinks she sees a cairn (p600, Nook). They walk a long way and up to the top of a hill. They can see the whole valley. Ian pulls out a stone bottle and remarks it was Claire’s doing he has teeth (p601, Nook). Ian thinks Claire knew what she was about seeing how braw Brianna is.

Ian wishes he could see Jamie’s face when he meets Brianna. She is so much like him. Ian explains there wasn’t much time during his last visit with Claire to Lallybroch to tell them about her and there was a great moil. He lets her know why Jenny is anxious for her to leave (p602, Nook). Brianna asks what Jenny had to do with Laoghaire. Oh, GIRL, your hair is going to curl when you hear what she had to do with it. Ian is surprised at how much knowledge Brianna has of Jamie’s history. He goes on to explain Jamie’s countenance when he returned from England after being in Ardsmuir and the contrast to him after Culloden (p602, Nook). They climbed up to where Jamie had lived as Dunbonnet. Brianna entered the cave and immediately felt entombed. She had no idea how Jamie lived there for seven years but thinks maybe she could if she had to. She was a Fraser after all. She sat outside the cave becoming part of the nature surrounding it. This is something her mother and father do. She connects to it and thinks she understands why Jamie could tolerate his time in the cave. One word explained it, solitude (p604, Nook). She leaves a small memory offering before heading down to Ian.

She asks Ian about the legality of wearing his kilt. Soldiers hadn’t come in a long time. There was nothing left of value to the soldiers; only the land was left. Ian asks Brianna to have a question answered by Jamie when she finds him (p605, Nook). Brianna assures him Jame wouldn’t want to change who has Lallybroch and Brianna doesn’t want it. Ian thinks she knows an awful lot about what Jamie will do even though she hasn’t met him. Of course, Claire would have told her all about Jamie (p605, Nook). Claire was indeed special.

Brianna asks about something Laoghaire said. She had used the word fetch when going on about Brianna’s mother Claire interfering with her marriage to Jamie (p606, Nook). Getting back to why Jamie married her, Ian tells her Jamie was like a ghost with no spark in him (p606, Nook). Jenny made the match with the intention of helping Jamie (p606, Nook). Brianna is relieved at hearing the tale of Laoghaire and Jamie’s response to Claire’s return.

There’s much to unpack in this chapter. First, Jamie has a child, and his family is shocked. Second, the Laoghaire incident. Brianna was brilliant! Third, the worry over Jamie wanting Brianna to have the property. Four, Brianna finding her connection and realizing she’s no longer alone. She has a huge family. Five, the letter from The Ridge and the realization it is a dangerous and precarious place she will be going. Six, Jamie and Claire are together and happy. Seven, Jenny has guilt, and she’s terrible at direct communication when it counts. Thankfully Ian is excellent at deciphering and communicating what is necessary. Eight, Jenny Murray is a sensitive person underneath her steel. Nine, Brianna has come into her own as a woman. She has matured and has the combined strength of her mother and her fathers. There are so many literary elements at play and excellent depth of character development as we see through Brianna’s eyes the family she’s only heard of and her realizing her mother did an excellent job in relaying who they are.  I think Claire prepared Brianna extraordinarily well without meaning to for her journey back in time. We cannot forget about Frank being an expert on this time in history. Brianna certainly would have read his works.  

What’s Coming up? Chapters 35-36 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 30-33

Week 17

“Wouldn’t you?”

Summary:

Roger overstays his Oxford term. Brianna isn’t coming to visit as planned. A mysterious crate arrives. Roger confers with Joe Abernathy. JHRC on toast did she do it? Yes, oh yes she did. A grimoire is revealed. Roger and Fiona make a plan. Midsummer’s Eve means time to travel.

Inside the Chapters:

Part 8 Beaucoup

Chapter 30:

Into Thin Air Oxford, April 1971

The Dean talks Roger into staying in Oxford an extra week to do a conference for some Americans even though he’s due to be in Scotland. The money is a good incentive, so Roger agrees. Roger has a disconcerting letter from Brianna in his hand (p547, Nook). She was supposed to be visiting him in July. Now she’s not coming. He thinks she’s lying (a lying bitch wee in fact) and has found someone else. He’s trying to be mad. He feels empty.

May 1971

Some boxes arrive for Roger on the last day of the conference. Remember he’s not supposed to be at Oxford right now. He’s mystified. He opens the attached envelope (p548, Nook). He takes the crate into his sitting room and looks for a tool to open it. He wonders if she would send him her history if she meant to break up with him. Good thinking Rog. She packed it with museum quality. He finds a variety of things. Photos and a large portrait of Claire, her Raggedy Ann doll, other memorabilia, silver dinner service with the history typed on each. It’s the family silver passed down from 1842; it was a wedding present to Frank and Claire. Roger places the items on the floor next to him growing ever puzzled. She sent her entire history to him. He realizes she sent it there on purpose knowing he was supposed to be in Scotland when it arrived. Last, he unpacks a jewelry box; it’s filled with brooches and earrings. He notices two items are missing, the silver bracelet he’d given her and her grandmother’s pearls (p550, Nook). Yes, she could have Roger.  

He’s beside himself over Brianna possibly traveling through the stones without telling him. Where had she gone? He phones Joe Abernathy, Brianna’s only other connection in the twentieth century. Joe thinks she’s with Roger. Joe explains the last time he saw Brianna (p551, Nook).  She left on April 27th for Scotland. Roger is panicked. Joe explains she planned to go to Inverness from Edinburgh. She would have arrived in Inverness for Beltane when the Stones would be open. Now Joe is worried too. Roger asks Joe a simple question (p552, Nook).

“Wouldn’t you?” Those two words asked by Joe Abernathy haunt Roger. He and Joe had discussed the finer points of why Brianna would have gone. She found her father and was curious. Yes, Joe did know the way of the traveling, Claire had told him (p552, Nook). Roger tells Joe he does know what the stones are like, but not everyone hears them and reflects on Claire going through at Craigh na Dun on Samhain two and a half years before. Remember Claire accidentally went through at Beltane the first time and returned to the twentieth century near Beltane on the eve of Culloden. Roger hates thinking about the sounds and the feelings at Craigh na Dun. Joe is curious (p553, Nook). He doesn’t want to go into the things he knows about Claire with Joe and explains unless someone did something BIG it wouldn’t make the historical news. Roger asks Joe if he knows how dangerous the eighteenth century is? He doesn’t but (p554, Nook).

Roger drives toward Inverness with “Wouldn’t you?” continuing its chime in his head.  He likely would (p554, Nook).

Lack of communication or purposeful miscommunication has Roger all riled up. Why not a note to say this is why I went, and this is why I need you to wait for me in the twentieth? This is a mess in the making. What would you do? I would go like Brianna, but I wouldn’t omit the lack to Roger. I wouldn’t lie. Argh, for as smart as Brianna is sometimes her common sense goes out the window and did she not think Roger would figure it out? Uncle Joe is such a good guy. I’m glad he’s a touchstone for Brianna and Roger in the twentieth.

Chapter 31:

Return to Inverness

Fiona has turned the old manse into a bed and breakfast establishment. Fiona is excited to see Roger though her betrothed Ernie is less enthused. Roger becomes a detective to track Brianna’s steps. He finds it fairly easy since there aren’t many 6-foot-tall red-haired women from America around Inverness.  Roger ponders when he should go after Brianna through the stones (p556, Nook). He must choose one of the feast days to most safely pass. Roger keeps himself busy while he quietly prepares for his departure. Some nights he even slept.

Roger and Fiona have a chat. She wants to know why he has a photo of Gillian Edgars (Geillis Duncan Abernathy) and why he’s been up to Craigh na Dun. She is not having his joke of an answer (p558, Nook). Fiona knows something about Gillian and the stones. Roger means to find out what it is. He tries to bargain with her, but she runs off saying she needs to think. His mind is racing, and he thinks of Brianna. his stomach flips and flops. He thinks of Fiona’s words, “She’s dead. Isn’t she?” She was alive when Claire went back the first time. Is she alive in the past now? The timey-wimey reality hurts Roger’s head.

Fiona is back at the sink. She’s not supposed to tell, but she’s going to tell him because she must. Roger remembers Claire telling about her and Frank seeing the dancers at the circle one Beltane morning and Mrs. Graham was one of the dancers. Fiona goes on to explain that grannie (Mrs. Graham) was the caller (p560, Nook). Fiona knows all the words; she’s the caller now. Fiona met Gillian because she had been one of the dancers. Roger asks her to go on. She asks Roger if he knows where Brianna’s gone. Roger is disquieted (p561, Nook). He tells her he must go after Brianna. Fiona is unsure if men can go through. She’s only heard of women who do. Then she discloses a bomb. She has Gillian’s grimoire. She meant to give it to the police after she’d disappeared, but after reading it didn’t think it would help them.

Chapter 32:

Grimoire

This is the grimoire of the witch, Geillis (p562, Nook). Roger thinks she’s a nutcase and a poor writer. He thumbs through the sections and notices each of the sun and fire feasts has notes and crosses. He reads the notes under Samhain (p564, Nook). She had also logged what she called case studies of dead people who were found at various stone circles in Scotland, northern England, and Brittany. There were twenty-two persons listed. Some may have known what they were doing, while others were unsuspecting. It chilled Roger to his core. Claire was right; it was no revolving door. The disappearances near the circles were also notated. The crosses signified those who disappeared near each feast. One entry, in particular, caused Roger to stop (p566, Nook). Claire was part of Gillian’s information for her casebook. Gillian did not have any record of Claire’s return three years later.  The book felt like a bomb in his hands. The last section of the book is called “techniques and preparations” (p566, Nook). He understands why the book upset Fiona when she read it. He walked toward the river but couldn’t get the last words from his mind, “Shall I kiss you, child, shall I kiss you, man? Feel the teeth behind my lips when I do. I could kill you, as easily as I embrace you. The taste of my power is the taste of blood-iron in my mouth, iron in my hand. Sacrifice is required.”

That is some CRAZY and eye-opening information right there. We know blood isn’t needed, but does it help steer?

Chapter 33:

Midsummer’s Eve

June 20, 1971

We’re getting a micro view of Roger from April to June. We haven’t seen Brianna in 18 months except for what is disclosed through Roger’s point of view. It’s Midsummer’s Eve in Scotland (p567, Nook). The description gets to me every time. I have been in Scotland during Beltane as the days were beginning to stretch. I can imagine what the Summer Equinox would be like to witness.  The stones buzzed and hummed before Roger could see them. On prior visits, the stones felt odd, but they were silent. Claire hears them all the time I think. He and Fiona stopped thirty feet from the circle. He thinks Fiona is afraid for herself, but it’s for him she scared.

Roger is dressed in eighteenth-century clothing. He suddenly feels like he’s playing dress up.

Fiona goes into the circle without him to perform her ceremonial ritual in privacy. The humming from the stones got into Roger’s body, bones, and blood. It almost felt like he had an itch to scratch within. He hears her sing with words he cannot understand. Can he make it through? Claire and Brianna both had. Geillis is his ancestor, so yes, he should be able. He likens the feeling from the Stones to being eaten by ants. He’s restless and cannot ease the feeling. Fiona’s singing was making the sensations worse. She finally came to get him, and he cannot hear her for the noise in his head. Before he enters the circle, he stops and kisses her full on the mouth requesting she not tell Ernie.

Roger smells something burning. He feels bodiless. He also smells coffee. The feeling of wrong came over him. His body hurts. What he thought was stars above him is Fiona yelling his name (p570, Nook). They try to figure out why he disappeared and came back (p570, Nook). Roger had to gather himself, so he can tell Fiona what happened. Roger had thought of his father, and he must have crossed his timeline when he saw his father.  He thanks Fiona for not letting him burn. They talk about the gemstones in his mother’s locket likely keeping him alive in the crossing. Roger realizes thinking of his dad was the problem. He decides to go again to Fiona’s horror and objection. He explains how he knows it will be okay (p573, Nook). She understands.

She places her engagement ring in his hand. It has a small diamond in the setting. She’ll tell Ernie she lost it. It’s insured after all. He’s ready to go again (pp573, Nook). Fiona waited for a long time to be sure Roger doesn’t return. She bids him well (p573, Nook).  

What’s Coming up? Chapters 34-35 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 28-29

Week 16

“Friend or Foe”

Summary:

Claire tends to the ill men. She tells the stories of their Jamaican adventure. Jamie and William are to be away for a few more days. She and Lord John make conversation. They slowly engage and begin to bond. John is on a personal mission. A visitor brings alarming news. John serves as a protector. They wish Jamie were there. Claire returns to the chores of the Ridge. John and Claire deepen their connection. Another visitor, maybe friend or foe arrives. A terrible and painful discovery is made. The village is burned. Jamie cautiously investigates. The survivors move north. Jamie makes his way back to the hiding boy.  

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 28:

Heated Conversation

Claire diagnoses Young Ian with the measles. To more easily care for him and the still-ailing Lord John, she tucks him into the trundle bed in the cabin. Claire gives a strong cup of willow bark brew to Young Ian to help ease his headache, fever, and general pain. Lord John offers to help Claire, but he is still too unwell to do anything of need, like empty a chamber pot. Claire massages Young Ian’s head in the manner Yi Tien Cho taught her (p514, Nook). Claire is glad he was never caught and prosecuted for the murder on Jamaica. Young Ian insists on hearing the story, and Lord John wants to know who the murderer is. Claire is apprehensive to tell the story, but all the players are dead or missing. She also worries for Ian since Geillis had abused him. Nonetheless, Claire couldn’t keep the information to herself with the desire in the two male’s eyes for the story.

Claire proceeds to tell the story of Rose Hall, the witch called Geillis Abernathy, Reverend Campbell, his sister Margaret, the Edinburgh Fiend, Fraser’s Prophecy, the crocodile, and the slave rebellion. Ian is stunned by the telling of the crocodile (p516, Nook). There could never be a dull life for the Frasers? Certainly not. They are locked and loaded for adventure at every turn. Claire scans the room for weapons and to ensure the door is locked. She’s on high alert caring for two sick men and Jamie away with William.

Claire is concerned over the severity of Ian’s headache. Could it be something more dangerous like meningitis or encephalitis? Ian tells Claire how Geillis used stones for different treatments (p517, Nook). Lord John doesn’t know what Geillis did to Ian. Claire offers Ian watered down wine instead of ground amethyst. He gratefully takes it. Ian explains further what Geillis wanted from the young boys. If a boy were a virgin, then a proper stone would grow in his intestines or stomach. Ian never learned what she’d wanted it for.

There’s an unexpected knock at the door. She and Lord John each grab a pistol. It turns out it’s Ian’s dog, Rollo at the door. He enters the cabin with great joy (p519, Nook). The dog dismisses Lord John at Ian’s urging. Rollo snuggles up to Ian. Claire bids them a good night. Claire moves about the cabin tidying up from the day’s work. She must be exhausted by the number of tasks she has going at once. She finally sits by the fire with her wool basket.

It’s only been two days since Jamie and William left. If nothing hinders them, they’ll be back in four days. She notes the marked contrast between the wool Jocasta spun and the wool she had spun. She reflects on Jamie’s shock over her lack of knitting abilities (p520, Nook). She is, in turn, shocked herself to find that Jamie knows how to knit (p521, Nook). Claire knows the basics now but it’s not her favored task, and it is in no way soothing like Jamie and Ian claim it to be. She decides to roll up balls of yarn. An easy enough and mindless task.

The smell of the newly dyed yarn mingling with the scents and bodies in the room is overwhelming to her. She wants nothing more than a sponge bath and bed. There’s an Englishman in her bed and a sick Ian with Rollo in the other. She gets a pallet of quilts and such to sleep on if doctoring Ian doesn’t take her attention in the night. Claire suddenly feels pity for all the work she’s putting in caring for the ill men and taking care of the Ridge on her own. Then just as suddenly she looks at Lord John, and her ill mood fades.

She sees grief and pain on his face. After he recovers, and Jamie returns with William, they will leave. Life on the Ridge will go back to normal. John and William’s life will not. His wife is dead. Claire’s ashamed of the unkind thoughts she had had toward him. She offers him tea. They sipped silently for a while. Claire breaks the silence offering condolences on the loss of his wife. He says he was thinking of her then. Claire finds satisfaction in being able to read John’s thoughts.  

John is grappling with his feelings for his dead wife. It’s why he came to the Ridge. Claire doesn’t understand. John thinks Claire is good with children and asks if she has any of her own (p524, Nook). It’s getting real up in here. John sincerely tells her his motive was not to put the boy in her face to make her jealous. She believes him, but why then did he come? John is taken with Claire (p525, Nook). They seem to have personality in common.

When the conversation lulls for a moment, she makes an infusion of valerian (for sleep), catmint, and wild ginger. It’s the same infusion she’d made for John four days earlier. He discloses they heard of Claire’s doctoring as they traveled away from Wilmington. Apparently, she’s quite well known (p525, Nook). John asks if Jamie and William will be safe (p525, Nook). Now we’re getting deep, deep. Claire thinks John is brave for having sent the boy with Jamie (p526, Nook). Jamie has known John’s secret about his sexuality for years. That’s how he has held his life in his hands.  They sit in silence while the infusion steeps. Claire winds more yarn balls.

John breaks the silence speaking of his feelings for his wife (p526, Nook). John believes his wife was content and happy in the life she had led. He further explains or tries to their lack of children wasn’t his fault (p527, Nook). The claws are out. It’s a catfight. Claire allows him to see everything she is thinking with a bold look. When his wife Isobel died, he felt nothing. They had shared a bed, a life, many years together and yet… (p527, Nook). Can he still feel? That’s powerful. Without the aid of a telephone or other means of communication, seeing Jamie would tell him if his heart still lived. She tends to a restless Ian then hands John a cup of the freshly brewed infusion. Claire wants to know now that he’s seen Jamie, does he still have feelings. He does, God help him. This admission of John’s, his need to know if he is still alive, touches me in such a personal way. I had to go through this type of exercise when I was going through a difficult divorce a lifetime ago.

Claire’s fitful sleep is interrupted by a noisy Clarence the Mule (p528, Nook). John is sitting in his shirt at the table and has a startled look in his eye when he sees Claire get up. It isn’t Jamie and Willie returning; it’s Pastor Gottfried from Salem. This must be an emergency visit since it is a two-day ride for the pastor to reach the Ridge. He asks for Jamie. He becomes more upset and starts rattling off German phrases Claire doesn’t understand. Lord John jumps in asking questions of the pastor in German. Claire is thankful he put his pants on for the conversation. The pastor is scandalized by a man being in the house. Lord John quick fires many things to the pastor. The pastor, in turn, apologizes to Claire.

John translates the Mueller baby and daughter are dead from the measles. Claire is sad and upset. The pastor wants Jamie to reason with Gerhard Mueller. Claire explains Jamie and Gerhard aren’t friends (p530, Nook). After a lengthy back and forth in German with the pastor, Lord John can translate the outbreak also entered the backcountry, Indians showed up asking for a drink and kindness. Mueller gruffly sent them away. The Indians obliged but seemed to have hexed the house on their way off the premises. Mueller believes it is the fault of the Indians measles showed up the day after their visit. When Petronella and the baby died, Mueller vowed revenge. He and his sons went looking for the Indians and brought back scalps which he hung from, his barn door. Mueller intends to come to the Ridge next.

Claire is horrified by this knowledge and becomes as pale as the pastor. After more translation, the pastor has no idea why Mueller would want to see Claire. The pastor set out after Mueller and found him by the road passed out from drink and no food. Instead of rousing Mueller, the pastor flew like the wind to Fraser’s Ridge to warn Claire and Jamie. He’s a hero this pastor. Seeing Jamie gone, the pastor is worried for Claire. The pastor urges Claire to leave right away, but she cannot because of Lord John and Young Ian. To make it worse, the pastor hasn’t had measles and is in danger if he enters the cabin. Claire thinks about the scalps on Mueller’s barn door, and her hair actually stands on end. Claire’s scalp is rippling with horror. Lord John assures the pastor he has been a soldier and will take care of Claire. The pastor will not leave without John’s assurances. The pastor blesses them as he rides away.

Claire pauses to notice the autumn morning and what nature has to offer. Who did Mueller exact his revenge against? Did he go into an Indian village? Likely those he murdered would have family who would want revenge in return. Those who might seek out the killers may only know white men were responsible. Fraser’s Ridge is between the Indian villages and the Mueller’s farm. Claire utters aloud a thought (p534, Nook). Looking at John, she orders him back to bed. He is still weak and not ready to be up and about. John doesn’t protest. Claire tends to Young Ian and listens for another announcement more company has arrived.

Claire is paranoid at every sound, but eventually, she gets into her normal routine on top of taking care of Young Ian. Lord John helps with shelling beans. Claire would like to simply walk into the woods to be surrounded by nature within its confines. She could recharge and be unafraid. She doesn’t give in to temptation as the sun sets on the Ridge with no signs of Mueller.

John asks for details about Mueller as he eats a meal, though refusing the greens. Remember Jamie pulling greens in Voyager while at Ardsmuir and John being baffled?  Claire explains Mueller’s physical and personality dispositions. She likens the man to a mule (p536, Nook). Though Claire hadn’t been present for the altercation at the mill, Young Ian had described to her what happened in detail. He had insisted Felicia Woolam, one of the daughters of the mill owner, shorted him on flour.  Young Ian unable to dissuade the man fetched Jamie to help. Jamie tried to reason with him to no avail. Jamie resorted to physical violence to stop him (pp536, Nook). After dragging Mueller outside to one of his waiting sons, Jamie spoke to him while Woolam rebagged the flour into five sacks.

Claire doesn’t believe Mueller held any ill will and was kind to her when she attended Petronella's labor and birth. She nearly chokes on her food remembering Petronella and the baby are gone. John gives her ale to drink. She counts her blessings from the small pleasures around her, the warmth of the sun, the smell in the fresh air, and the reality these things were abruptly taken from others who barely knew them. She opens her eyes and thanks John. He looks at her with sympathy. She thinks she shouldn’t be so shocked at how precarious life is there for the young especially. She finds herself with a tear rolling down her cheek. John gives her a used handkerchief to blot it away with, but she doesn’t care. John makes a statement to Claire (p537, Nook). I hope beyond hope this is shown unfettered on screen. 

The rest of the day wore on without incident. Young Ian is in full rash with a lessening fever. Claire is reminded its milking time. Up she gets and opens the door and steps right in front of Gerhard Mueller.

Mueller is looking at Claire with great intensity. He looks shrunken, older, and weary. He appears without horse or mule and standing up takes effort. They greet each other. He sounds desperate. Mueller says, “they are dead,” with tears welling in his eyes. Claire wants to reach out and comfort him. Leading her to the bench near the door, they sit. John has come out to see what is going on, pistol in hand. He hugs Claire, weeping silently into her. Claire puts her arms around him. She notices the varying stench on his person. All she can do is hold onto him even though she is repulsed. When Mueller let’s go of Claire, he starts at the sight of John.

The rash on John’s skin is what causes the alarm. Mueller frantically checks Claire’s skin. He thanks God her skin is clear. John further translates the words (pp539, Nook). Babbling in the German tongue, he places the item on her lap. John continues to translate. Mueller thinks Claire a fine woman and like a daughter-in-law. John’s voice trails off as the item is fully unwrapped. Claire shudders and cannot make a sound (p539, Nook). Claire can only hear Nayawenne’s translated words in her ears (p539, Nook).

Claire has spent the last days caring for John, Yong Ian, and the entire homestead alone. A possibly firm foundation is built between John and Claire. They now have something outside of Jamie that is solely theirs. The alarming appearance and news from the pastor further bind them together. She needs John’s translation and protection regardless of how weak he still is. When Mueller shows up broken, in sorrow, and with a gift of protection, the outcome is an utter surprise. Claire not only mourns the death of Petronella and the baby but her Tuscarora friends, especially Nayawenne. Her heart must be breaking into many pieces. The final reminder of the old woman’s prophecy rings in Claire’s head.

Chapter 29:

Charnel Houses

The smell of smoke hits Jamie before the Indian village comes into sight. He sends William to hide off the path with the horses, so he can investigate what is happening. Jamie instructs William with directions to leave if he is not back by dark. He further instructs William to leave toward the Ridge if he doesn’t meet him up in that spot by morning. William is scared but only listens. Jamie sends him on his way.

The smell of fire is something out of the norm. Jamie cautiously investigates. He sees the remnants of the village with smoke still rising from the leftover buildings (p541, Nook). His heart sinks. Who could do such a thing? The winds shift pushing the smell of burned flesh into his face. He vomits. This smell and scene are too familiar to Jamie. A known dog comes from the distance. Jamie asks him where the people are. The dog’s owner Onakara walks toward Jamie.

The man doesn’t answer Jamie, rather has him follow into the forest where survivors are a half-hour walk away. Some faces are familiar, others are not, and far too many were missing from this camp. Their faces remind him of the Highlands during the cleansing (p542, Nook). The difference is this had been an orderly exodus from Anna Ooka. Jamie finds Nacognaweto. After composing himself the old man asks after Gabrielle and Nayawenne in a descriptive manner rather than name. Jamie shakes his head. They share a strong drink. Jamie understands the customs of conversation, nevertheless, asks what happened.

The village had succumbed to the measles. Nayawenne tried to stop it and went into the woods looking for a charm or plant. Berthe and Gabrielle went with her, and none of them returned. There had been a search for the women with no results. Nacognaweto believes they are cursed. He explains the burning of the bodies and buildings. The tribe will now go north to become part of another group. Jamie leaves with grief in his heart and thankfulness his family is safe. He walks quickly to cover the distance back to William as the dark comes.

Jamie is grieving and in shock like Claire though he knows not the extent of the situation. He is lucky to have hearth and home intact. He has lost a friend in Nacognaweto as the Tuscarora move north to a new home. I wonder how he will respond when he learns the whole story from Claire and John.  These chapters show the value of openness of heart and mind. The value of friendship and family. How grief touches us on the periphery and up close. They highlight how we cannot outrun the inevitable too. Nayawenne knew her time of death and illness were coming.

What’s Coming up? Chapters 30-33 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

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Drums of Autumn

Chapters 26-27

Week 15

“Plagued”

Summary: Claire treats the ill man. John and Jamie play chess into the night. Claire is disturbed. Her feelings and thoughts run amok. She’s jealous, but of what? There’s an omen in the night. The sick man prepares to die. Claire performs the ritual. What will they do with the body? John takes ill. To keep William safe, Jamie takes him on a road trip. The journey is bittersweet and filled with the language of the heart.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 26:

Who: Claire, Tuscarora Man, Jamie, John, William, and Young Ian.

What: Measles, Claire’s doctoring, and jealousy.

Where: Fraser’s Ridge, NC.

Plague and Pestilence

Claire attends to the ill Tuscarora man. He’s stable but no better. He holds the amulet she left him and wants her to sing to him. She sings “Onward, Christian Soldiers” three times to his satisfaction. Concerned about spreading the disease, Claire pauses to rinse her hands with alcohol. She recalls Lord John mentioning a small outbreak in Cross Creek (p483, Nook). Lord John is surprised by Claire’s knowledge. He asks if she subscribes to the miasma theory. She doesn’t and changes the subject.

The evening wore on pleasantly with conversation and the boys playing chess. Young Ian and William retire to the herb shed to sleep. Claire ponders bedtime and the issue of Lord John (p485, Nook). Jamie and John play a lengthy chess match. Claire notes John is a far better player than she is. John remarks on living in the backcountry. John makes a final chess move that wins the game. Jamie fills John’s empty cup with the raw whisky he’s been making. John is astonished by Jamie having twelve barrels of it. It will take ten years before it’s truly palatable. What’s Jamie planning to do with it (p486, Nook)? Jamie knows the Indians cannot handle alcohol well, so he’s only giving it to them in small amounts. John brings up the Regulators and Jamie’s presence as a means to quell lawlessness p487, Nook).

Claire is unable to sleep as she lay awake disturbed by the conversation. She knows she’s safe in this house that Jamie built, but her jealousy is getting the best of her. She is trying to parse out the why in her jealousy (p487, Nook). She knows part of it is the presence of William, Jamie’s second born who looks so much like Brianna. She, the child Jamie would never see. And why? Why had John brought him here? Claire’s brain is running at full speed trying to figure it out. It is a risky move bringing the boy to Fraser’s Ridge. He resembled Jamie so much that even Young Ian had noticed.

Claire peeks at the chess game in progress. She describes John’s fair and attractive looks. His feelings locked down tight with no evidence of his feelings for Jamie, but Claire knows all too well what John feels for her husband. She also knows Jamie’s feelings (p488, Nook). Now Claire gets to the bottom of her emotional spiral, Frank and his actions were there. Even though Claire had no right, she was jealous of Frank’s affairs. She would demand he sleep with her after some of the late nights he spent out. Frank didn’t have a consistent lover, and there were long gaps between women sometimes (p489, Nook). It bothered Claire his attentions weren’t for her even though she didn’t want the attention. Claire finally falls asleep after hearing comforting words from Jamie’s mouth (p489, Nook).

Claire has insecurities like every woman. She rebuffed Frank and seemingly bedded him out of jealousy and anger. Could it have been loneliness? To his credit, Frank was private about his philandering. I think he loved Claire until the end. I also think some of the late nights were part of ongoing intelligence work and his research.

In the morning, Claire’s patient is preparing to die. An owl was heard in the night. It’s a sign or omen of death. Young Ian explains the death ritual of the tribe to Claire (p491, Nook). All painted up; Young Ian explains she mustn’t say his name for fear of calling demons.  She sings Tantrum ergo since he thinks that’s the style of music for such an occasion (here’s a link to a beautiful choir singing the song with the English translation close captioned). I love the blend of religions and traditions here to sooth the dying man. Claire has never witnessed a death such as this; he waited until she finished singing the song, turned his head toward the door, and simply left his body.

Jamie, Claire, and young Ian are trying to decide what to do with the body. Since he was diseased, and Claire cannot remember how long others could become infected from his body or clothing, they cannot take him wrapped to his village. The man was from a northern village, so the people could hear of the burial and think they killed him and buried him to cover it up. They decide to put him in a cave until they can get advice from Nacognaweto at Anna Ooka. Willie returns from picking strawberries explaining his papa has taken ill.

Lord John likely picked up the illness in an inn or Cross Creek where a measles outbreak occurred. Claire exams John and tells Jamie to keep Willie away. Claire forms a plan. Wait a day or two to see if either boy comes down with symptoms. If not, Jamie will take Willie with him to see Nacognaweto, while Young Ian stays behind to help Claire. Jamie agrees to the plan but is worried. Claire assures him if the boy hasn’t remembered him yet, he won’t.  Her only request is for him to get the pig out of the pantry before he goes.

Thankfully Claire, Jamie, and Young Ian are taking cultural need into account before simply doing what they would do with a dead body. This also shows how ahead of time Jamie and Ian have become because of their dealings with another culture of people. Jamie used to think they were Savages.

Chapter 27:

Trout Fishing in America

Jamie has several things to complain about before starting the journey to Anna Ooka with William. It’s raining. He doesn’t want to leave Claire. He’s worried for John. William, ninth Earl of Ellesmere just hit him (p496, Nook). William certainly has the Fraser stubbornness. After nearly having to tie William’s feet into the stirrups, they were on their way.

Riding in silence until they stopped to eat, the boy remains sullen in his defeat. The boy is still without signs of the measles. William finally asks Jamie his version of “are we their yet.” Jamie knows he needs to take it slower than usual because Claire instructed him to keep the boy away for six days. Being on horse afforded them to carry extra items along, including a gift for the Indians.

William finally breaks the silence asking if the Indians are friendly. Jamie assures him they are. They are nicer than English people. Jamie tells stories and points out the animal markings as they pass. Jamie prefers this to the quiet. He can’t help himself wondering what would happen if John died. He’d probably never see the boy again. John and Claire are the only two people who know the truth about William’s paternity even if William’s grandmother suspects. He says a prayer to St. Bride for John.

The forest smells of fresh leaves and leaf mold. Jamie points out a tree with bear slashes on the trunk. Jamie’s internal dialogue continues. If John dies, this is it. He’ll never see or hear from William again, and he’ll lose his closest friend on top of it. They continue to ride and come out into a valley. William is gobsmacked at what he sees (p500, Nook). I can imagine the mostly untouched land with a brilliant rainbow.  Do you suppose Diana Gabaldon put a rainbow here as a sign of Lord John’s impending survival or that Jamie will see William after this visit? Rainbows hold significance to Catholics and Protestants.

Jamie awakens from light sleep to the sound of William crying. Jamie could tell the boy is trying to conceal his crying, but Jamie worries something serious could be wrong. Jamie asks after his wellness and asks if his belly is griping. William calms and says that’s the problem. It’s lovely for Jamie to give him an out and accept help without bruising his pride from being overheard.  He gives him an infusion blend Claire sent with him. He wonders how she knew it would be needed. He decides he gave up long ago in questioning her ways of tending to heart and body.

The thought of Claire grips him, and he has a moment of immense gratitude for her. How must she feel seeing William in the flesh? To know he’s been in bed with another woman? She flipped out when she learned of Laoghaire, but not Geneva. What’s the difference he wonders? Maybe it’s because Geneva is dead. OMG. Dear Jamie, Laoghaire ill-wished Claire, tried to have her killed and had an unhealthy obsession with you. Geneva was a conniving young sexual aggressor who took advantage of her position (aka sexually assaulted you). Can you not see the difference? As for the boy, it makes her pang for Brianna and you not knowing her. Please put yourself in her position just a moment. Thanks. And P.S. Heck you are jealous of Frank and the time she spent with him, him raising Brianna, and YOU SENT HER BACK TO HIM. Okay, I’ll stop yelling for a minute.

Jamie’s stream of consciousness thoughts moves back to William. William’s mothers, step and real, are both dead. Now his father is gravely ill. No wonder the boy is upset.  The measles killed the Indian just days before. The boy is in a state of grief. William loves John and couldn’t bear to lose him. Love is what caused his stubbornness. Love is what caused his tears in the darkness. This thought of the love of a father stabs Jamie with a small bit of jealousy (p502, Nook).

The water is boiling, and the brew is steeping. Claire warned Jamie not to drink it because of the lavender in it. Remember Black Jack used lavender scented oil when raping Jamie? The good news is it doesn’t bother Jamie if he knows lavender is in something, only when he’s caught off guard. William is feeling better, but the signs of grief are still upon him. He tells William Claire is a fine healer (p503, Nook). William is curious what Claire did for the Indian (p503, Nook). William feels better about Claire caring for his father. He is feeling overall better as well, thinking the apples didn’t cause the problem. Jamie successfully distracted him.

Jamie brings up fishing for their dinner the next day, William is ecstatic. Jamie talks about fishing in England and instantly regrets it. He’d taken William fishing when he was only 5. Is he trying to get the boy to remember? William thinks this place is nothing like England and is excited. He’ll miss only a few things about it (p504, Nook). Jamie thinks the girls will like this lad fine. William says Claire is very pretty. Sweet boy. The infusion is doing it’s calming on William. Jamie asks if the boy would rather sleep close to him for warmth. William jumped on the offer and fell asleep snuggled next to Jamie. At the time status wouldn’t allow Jamie to take William into his arms, but for warmth, men were socially allowed to sleep near each other.

The next day, we find Jamie and William making lures for the fishing poles. Jamie says hungry fish matter most when trying to catch them. It’s the early evening, and the pond is waking up. Jamie says it’s fishing time.  Jamie shows William how to cast and waits for a fish to bite. Jamie gets a bite the first try (p507, Nook). The fish got away this time, but they kept at it. William loses his pole and uses Jamie’s. He also gets an education on how to do the small steps it takes to get a fish. In the process of casting, we learn William is left handed like Jamie (p508, Nook).

They get onto the subject that John was a soldier who fought in the Scottish Rising. William stops himself seeing Jamie’s tartan. Jamie tells William that is where he and John met (p509, Nook). William will get a full education in sword fighting when he’s a bit bigger. Casting with his left hand, William catches a fish. By the time the sun is setting, they have a nice string of fish for dinner.  William thinks the fish is delicious. The boy is naked under the blanket while his clothes dry. Jamie is still in a wet shirt trying to get warmed by the fire (p509, Nook).

Jamie watches William without seeming to look at him. Gazing upon the thin, wiry handsome boy, Jamie takes in the moment and forges a memory that would last his whole life. He has no idea why a particular moment imprints this way over any other. The phenomenon reminds him of the photographs Claire showed him. He has thoughts like this of his father, Claire, Jenny, and Ian (p511, Nook). Nature speaks to him like it does Claire. There’s an awareness of the life surrounding him. Jamie thanks the Lord for this moment, “Deo gratias,” and it startles William.

Telling William its bedtime, Jamie is surprised at a physical behavior William does that is exactly like Jamie (p511, Nook). To distract his hands, Jamie decides to make more flies for the breakfast fishing in the morning. William comes over to him and helps without being asked. Growing tired, William asks Jamie questions about the Indians. Jamie assures him there’s never been a scalping in the village though, like the Highlanders, the Indians don’t take kindly to someone harming one of their own. William starts to comment on Scottish people (p512, Nook).  Does Jamie have many children? When Jamie says no, William wonders if he had had children, but they died of an illness. Jamie explains his daughter is living in Boston, all grown up (p512, Nook). Sniff, sniff. 

Though I still don’t believe William wouldn’t recognize Jamie or at least believe he was familiar by this point. Regardless I love the dynamic here. Poor Jamie must have incredible restraint to manage not grabbing the boy and snuggling him up. He’s bonding with him and teaching him something. It’s the best he can do given the situation. He’s also helping William feel less stressed about John and the other grievances he has. I wonder how Claire is faring with John. I can only imagine their conversations while Jamie and William are away.

What’s Coming up? Chapters 28 and 29 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 24-25

Week 14

“Rattled”

Summary: Roger is baffled. He assures himself all is well. Deep down he knows something is amiss. Just maybe he’s stopped Brianna from looking back. A rattlesnake takes up residence in the privy on Fraser’s Ridge. There’s also a guest with measles taking up space in the corncrib. Claire searches for greens. A boy and his stepfather unexpectedly arrive. Claire’s emotions and thoughts go wild. It’s Lord John and Master William. William recently inherited lands in Virginia. A crappy mishap in the privy leads to much mirth and wounded pride. Young Ian doesn’t get off cleanly either.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 24:

Letter-Writing: The Great Art o’ Love

Oxford, March 1971

It’s been six months since we’ve seen Roger. With Brianna in the United States, the rainy weather of Oxford seems cold and dreary to him. He’s heading to the office to see if there are any letters for him. Among the letters, there’s one from the States.  Roger involuntarily grins. The clerk asks if Roger will be seeing his young woman soon. Roger hopes to see her in the summer. They are planning on visiting in July, but that is four months away. Roger might die from the ache of wanting her. Brianna wrote to Roger every few days, though the tone has changed. They are no longer passion filled. He thinks she is holding back in her letters. That something seems off and different (p457, Nook).

Roger absentmindedly eats his sandwich and thinks about the interest Fiona is taking in his love affair with Brianna. She sends him clippings from woman’s magazines detailing the ways a woman should be acting. Think about all the ridiculous Cosmopolitan or name your woman’s magazine articles. Roger doubts Brianna is reading the equivalent magazines in America. She’s not a game player.  She isn’t playing games, right? (p459, Nook).

He believes he’s deflected Brianna from the past, but he’s now downright obsessed with it (p459, Nook). The lady next to him annoyed told him to bugger himself. He thinks he may already have.  

This chapter brings more questions with only Roger’s point of view. We haven’t heard from Brianna for a more than a year since she visited over that fateful Christmas when Roger proposed. What has she been up to besides finishing her studies? Has Roger found any new information? This chapter succeeds in building tension, sowing doubt, and creating worry in Roger and the reader.

Chapter 25:

Enter a Serpent

Fraser’s Ridge, October 1768

If there’s one thing Claire doesn’t like is a rattlesnake preventing her from using the privy. In fact, it’s sitting on the privy seat rattling away. She spends a decent amount of time trying to figure out what to do without riling the snake to attack her. Jamie comes along and wants to know what she’s doing (p461, Nook). Jamie hits the snake with a rock and knocks it into the privy. Claire says it sounds like a “hollow thwuck.” I would be terrified to use the privy even if the snake couldn’t jump that high. Would all the human waste kill it?

Instead of hanging around, Claire runs into the woods to empty her bladder. She returns to find Young Ian and Jamie peering into the privy hole with a torch in hand (p461, Nook). Young Ian and Jamie accidentally clang heads, leaving both greatly pained. Jamie is annoyed Claire doesn’t comfort him (p462, Nook). Jamie clarifies the difference between poisonous and venomous to Young Ian. They banter about how to get the great thing from the privy. No one wants to sit on the seat with that beastie down below. Claire’s plan strikes Young Ian as funny (p463, Nook). The amount of time spent on the snake in the privy must mean it holds importance to some future event.

They have a hearty breakfast, no thanks to the white sow feistily commandeering the pantry. Jamie is reading his only book, Natural History of North Carolina, to brush up on rattlesnakes. Claire’s more interested in how to deal with a rude pig. Jamie is still hungry, but the rest of the eggs are going to the ill Tuscarora in the corncrib. He’d been part of a hunting party but became too ill and was brought back to her by his companions. Claire is sure he has the measles.  Too bad Claire doesn’t have extra vitamin A on hand. Measles is highly contagious, so the man must stay segregated from everyone who hasn’t had the disease before. The man is so ill he is barely able to eat or drink. Claire tries another tactic, appealing to the spiritual so the man might accept her aid (pp467, Nook). Claire not only doctored him, but she also helped him emotionally, and maybe spiritually. Sometimes when treating someone, all that can be done is to make them feel well cared for and understood.

Clare goes hunting for any edible or medicinal plants. She wades into the icy cold stream. The mere act of being alone in nature gives Claire a sense of peace, calm, and being grounded. She notices the abundance of life forms surrounding her down to the gnats (p468, Nook). She allows herself to become part of the natural order. I wonder how she centered herself in Boston all those years. Before she married Frank, she spent many years living rough and being outdoors traveling with her uncle. It makes sense she needs nature.   

Her communion is broken by the sound of shriek and a voice from the bank above her. There is a familiar looking frantic boy in front of her (p469, Nook). The boy has leeches all over him. And he’s mortified. Claire sits him down to remove the many leeches from his legs. She wants him to tell her where he comes from. Claire is outwardly calm, but her hands are shaking.

Asking after his stepfather, William wants to know how Claire knows him. He gives his full name (p470, Nook). They head to the cabin so that she can salt the rest of the leeches. Claire realizes Lord John left William by the stream to go ahead and warn Jamie. I sense more than an annoyance in Claire. Jealousy perhaps?

Claire is stunned to have William and Lord John surprise them with a visit. Maybe only the King would be less probable. Claire’s thoughts and emotions are careening around her head. She’s like a bomb with a hair trigger switch (p471, Nook). Claire finally reveals why she dislikes Lord John (pp472, Nook). She IS jealous. She wants to stop and stare at William. The idea of seeing the boy next to Jamie gives her a thrill of sorts. As she eyes William, she has an intense observation (p473, Nook). Poor Claire, this is a gut punch. The knowledge of a son is one thing, but to see him in the flesh is staggering. Claire doesn’t even have the solace of having Brianna near. This also brings to roost the years they spent apart. Clear admission of a life lived without her. Claire is a whirling tornado of internal feelings.

She finds Jamie and Lord John sitting on the bench conversing. Greetings commence, and she takes William into the house for final leech removal. The poor boy trembles as she takes care of the left behind wounds (p475, Nook). Claire also attends to his disheveled looks. Reluctantly he relaxes under her too familiar ministrations. She feels a sense of ownership over the boy (p475, Nook). And fresh annoyance at Lord John.

 Jamie enters seeking refreshment for their guests. Jamie looks calm, but he’s strung tight. Claire gathers the necessities, except for the butter because the white sow is holding it hostage in the pantry (p476, Nook). Lord John apologizes for the unexpected visit and hopes it’s not too much inconvenience. Claire mentally tallies the sleeping arrangements (p476, Nook). Can you feel the tension in the air? My goodness, they need a full bottle of brandy and maybe some marijuana to relax. Where’s the good Father Fogden when you need him?  

Young Ian comes in like a bull in a china shop. Claire sends him to show William around the property with snacks in hand. This is a ploy to get the three of them alone (p476, Nook). What do you get with a cheeky Englishman, an angry Scot, and an emotionally charged wife? I’d say a terrifically awkward time. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.  

John gets to the point at hand. His wife died aboard ship on the way to Jamaica. Poor Willie had been traveling with her. Claire reminds us that Lady Geneva was Isobel’s sister and the biological mother of William. Lord John married Isobel to raise William together. Claire apologizes to John for more than the death of his wife. His appointment as the Jamaican Governor was coming to an end, so settling his family there seemed a good idea. With her death and William’s grief, coming to the Colonies to distract him was in order, after John learned William now owns land in Virginia. John catches Claire thinking Fraser’s Ridge is an out of the way destination. Glass faced Claire strikes again.

The subject of William arises. John had told him Jamie is an old soldiering acquaintance. Certainly, William would recognize, the groom Mac he had loved so much? Jamie doesn’t think William will connect the groom with him. Claire suddenly inquires how John’s wife died. He calls it the bloody flux (dysentery). Claire wonders if that’s where Willie saw leeches used. His reaction to having them on his body was quite severe. 

They are interrupted by Young Ian standing in the doorway. There is a situation (p479, Nook). This scene KILLS me every time I read it. Thankfully the privy isn’t empty or full. It’s so disturbing and gross nonetheless.  Jamie and Lord John go swiftly to the privy with Young Ian and Claire not far behind. Apparently, the snake is no longer in the privy (p480, Nook).  William is unhurt except for his pride. He had fallen face first into the sewage. Lord John takes the first stab at William (p481, Nook). The jig is up. Young Ian knows exactly who fathered that boy. Jamie takes his turn adding fuel to John’s earlier remarks (p482, Nook). Everyone except for William is quivering with laughter.

Then Claire sees the Fraser rage about to come forth from William. She deftly corrects the situation with soap and direction given to water. With William off to wash, the question of the gun’s whereabouts comes up. With quick judgment passed, Young Ian is sent naked to retrieve it from the bog of eternal stench (p482, Nook).

The hilarity of this chapter does not offset the undercurrents and the gravity of the truth. It’s also worth noting there is an Indian ill with measles on the property. What is Lord John’s true aim in coming? How jealous is Claire of the life that came before she returned? What does Young Ian think of his new-found cousin? Will William ever recognize him? Can Claire accept the boy? Can Claire get along with Lord John and become his friend? What is going through Jamie’s mind? This chapter is told from Claire’s point of view. We see continued story building and character development. Humor was used as an excellent avenue to diffuse the tension and awkwardness. The privy scenario also provided an escape for the snake.

 What’s Coming up? Chapters 26 and 27 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

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Drums of Autumn

Chapters 22-23

Week 13

“Perspectives on Protection”

Summary: Roger finds a horrifying historical fact. A sin of omission is not a lie, is it? Fraser’s Ridge is growing with new tenants. Claire rides into a storm. Her traitorous horse leads her astray. A friendly ghost visits Claire’s resting place. Rollo proves himself a worthy hound. Jamie, Young Ian, and the dog find Claire well. They find a visitor upon return to the Ridge. Duncan greets them at the door. Jamie tends to Claire. He was frightened Claire was dead.  Jamie puts Claire to bed. Duncan has news to share. Claire makes a startling discovery.  

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 22:

Spark of an Ancient Flame

Oxford, September 1970

Roger’s research turns up a horrifying “fact” about Jamie and Claire. He cannot easily bring himself to believe what he’s reading. A notice in a newspaper says they died in a house fire on February 13, 1776, in North Carolina (p411, Nook). All the pieces point to this being THE JAMIE AND CLAIRE. One blessing is the assurance that Claire had found Jamie when she left Roger and Brianna that Feast of All Saints morning almost two years prior. Roger liked and loved Claire; he hopes the years were happy before the fire (pg412, Nook). Roger feels newly orphaned as he processes what he’s read. He believes he cannot tell Brianna this piece of information. He knows she will be newly devastated.

Roger wants to destroy all evidence of this revelation. He takes the page from the book. He has no idea how many of these books are in circulation, but Brianna knows how to research and if this is the only one, he can keep the information to himself. Roger is running the scenarios through his head. Roger doesn’t believe history can be changed. Brianna might.  He remembers she asked him “How do you mourn a time-traveler?” This would be the vehicle to allow her to mourn if it wasn’t for Craigh na Dun being available for transit services.

The mere thought of the stone circle gives Roger a cold chill. He shivers at the horror and remembers the day Claire went through (p415, Nook). Roger and Brianna had been unconscious and woke on the ground in the late afternoon. The impact of the event on them had been physical and psychological. Imagine how terrible it must be for the person going through the stones. When Brianna awoke, Roger promised to take care of her. He vowed to protect her. Does this remind you of someone else? He would do anything to save her from pain, grief, and those awful stones. Back home, Roger ponders the timeline. Brianna might too and could calculate the opportunity to go back and try to change things since the time jump is 202 years back. Could he convince her the past couldn’t be changed? She’s a determined and fierce sort of person. I don’t think he has a chance of convincing her to do nothing. He does not want to lose her before he ever gets the opportunity to be with her. He plans to dissuade her from looking into the past any longer. He wonders if it is okay to suppress the information (p417, Nook). He tears up the page from the 1906 book. His decision is made.

This is a pivotal moment of insight into Roger and his motivations. It’s also a point of climax for his character and how he develops from here. How might this one decision cascade into a myriad of problems or good? I don’t think he should hide it from her. He could help her make any decision based on trust and love, not only protection. Brianna is an adult and is tremendously strong-willed. Her father IS Jamie Fraser.

Chapter 23:

The Skull Beneath the Skin

Summer 1768 Fraser’s Ridge

This giant chapter opens with Claire lightly recounting the past eight months on Fraser’s Ridge. Duncan had brought 20 Ardsmuir men and their families to settle the land. Her doctoring skills are required again. She’s even catching babies as part of her duties. Her fame becomes known to the whole area, and she finds herself traveling all around the thirty square mile mountainous region. She even makes occasional visits with Young Ian to Anna Ooka to see Nayawenne. In the beginning, Jamie or Young Ian would go with Claire for safety, but as time wore on, she ventured out solo by horse to tend those in need. She was adding more cases to Dr. Rawling’s casebook. Though Claire never asks her patients for payment, something is always offered and gratefully received. Many of her patients don’t speak English or French, but body language proves to be enough for her to get the jobs done. 

Now that Claire has caught us up, it’s August 1768. She’s been at a lengthy delivery at the Mueller’s for a few days and is trying to ride through a heavy storm back to Fraser’s Ridge. Claire describes it as a harrowing task. The creek is rising quickly. Claire’s horse swims across to the other side. Claire is taking the risk because she doesn’t want to stay several more days with the entire Mueller family. She wants to go home. The language is incredibly descriptive in this section. It makes me a bit anxious reading about the storm. I don’t want Claire riding in it.

As Claire rides away, she thinks over the three-day labor and delivery she attended with 18-year old Petronella Mueller. It was a slow and difficult process, but she did it. She and her 17-year old husband now have a daughter. Claire fondly thinks of the delicious meals during her time with the extended Mueller family. Claire moves on to Jamie and Young Ian. She hopes they fed themselves decently and took good care while she was away (p421, Nook).

The terrain is getting slick and muddy in the heavy downpour. Claire reassures the horse. Apparently, he hasn’t a name yet. Jamie says it will be revealed in good time. The horse comes to a stop as the trail is washed out on that side of the mountain. Claire must find a place to crossover for safety. At this point, she thinks she would turn back if the creek wasn’t flooded. She found a place to get through and cross over to the other side of the hill before finding the trail again. The wind lessens, but it is cold and still raining. Claire describes the landscape, oak, red-berried mountain ash, and blackberry brambles. She distracts herself with thoughts of her pantry and what to make for dinner when she gets back to Fraser’s Ridge.

Hail starts to pelt her, and she finds shelter under a chestnut tree. Here’s a link to the most common trees in North Carolina. Claire talks to the horse to keep him calm. Then the lightning starts. Horses do not ever like lightning. Though the hail storm passed, the rain continued with roaring thunder and lightning (p424, Nook). The horse had thrown Claire down a 30-foot cliff. The wind is knocked out of her, but she’s surprisingly unharmed, except for a banged up knee. The horse had stopped abruptly at the edge. Claire yells at the horse, then tries to get up. She cannot go back up the cliff face. She starts to worry. No one knows where she is, and she has no food, horse, or weapons. She is determined to find shelter (p425, Nook).

She finds a place under a fallen tree (p426, Nook). Just last Christmas Claire had to find Jamie in the snow. At least she knew a general sense of where he was. He has no idea where she might be because she had to go off trail.  She sleeps after placing her wet shoes next to her. She has fitful dreams of childbirth. Frank and Jamie are both present. She continues to wake and sleep. She wakes a final time to the smell of smoke. A lightning strike had hit a nearby balsam poplar tree.

Claire cannot find her shoes, but she heads toward the warmth of the smoldering tree anyway. The tree provides her much needed warmth (p427, Nook). Now she aches and her empty belly rumbles. The horse is nowhere to be seen. Claire’s clothing is near dry, though she wishes to stay warm, they’re too many predators who could harm her, so she returns to the shelter.

She crawls in and doesn’t find her moccasins; she finds a complete human skull (p428, Nook). She wonders how the man arrived there. Was his death by violence? She concludes since the Cherokee and the Tuscarora bury their dead, someone must have disliked this man very much. She also wonders where the rest of him is. She finds a stone with a carving on it near the skull, but the rest of the remains are not there. Claire feels somehow comforted by the skull (p429, Nook). This scene brings the memory of Fr. Fogden’s coconut and his sheep skull collection. Claire names the man Yorick and for some reason thinks he was an Indian and not a European. She recites various poetry to him. She recites Ode to the West Wind insofar as she can remember.   I am curious why Diana Gabaldon chose this poem for Claire to say.

At the end of her recitation, Claire sees a light coming toward her from the ridge above (p430, Nook). She holds the skull tightly in her hands. She knows the thing coming toward her would be unaffected by weapons.  The light seems to float in the air with a steady pace of a man walking. She is terrified inside of her hiding place. She wants to run, and she sweats. She knows what St. Elmo’s Fire looks like, this is not that nor is it marsh gas. She sees the specter (p431, Nook). Though hidden, the ghost knows she is there. Claire stays still, and he looks directly where she is through the dark. His torch is steady and soundless without the wood being consumed. She calls it a corpse candle.

Claire realizes she is not scared any longer (p432, Nook). Claire experiences her surroundings anew. The four elements of earth, air, fire, and water are present, like in the Shelley poem. She asks what he wants (p432, Nook). Claire sits and cradles the skull. She decides to stay put until morning. She is cold and hungry, but not scared. She thinks about what happened and can make no sense of it. She finally falls into an uneasy and dream filled sleep (p433, Nook). Does her dream tell of how the man died? Or is she processing through cold and hunger? She wakes and sleeps again. Again, she dreams of death, pursuit, and blood.   

Something brushes her skin, and a pair of yellow eyes are staring into hers. It’s ROLLO (p434, Nook)! Jamie grabs her out of the hiding place and checks her for injury. She breathes in the smell of him. She starts to cry from the relief of being found. He picks her up and carries her toward the stream (p434, Nook). Young Ian finds the skull. Jamie tenses in response (p435, Nook). Claire drinks the Brandywine and trembles all over. Jamie asks how long she’s been there. Claire explains what happened and says the horse’s name is Judas. She asks how they found her (p435, Nook). Claire doesn’t understand how Rollo tracked her down. Jamie asks her where she lost her shoes. She points to the lightning ravaged tree (p435, Nook). Rollo couldn’t be calmed, so Jamie had Young Ian let him out in case he had gone completely mad. Her shoes were on the doorstep. Rollo ran looking for an intruder. Jamie and Young Ian searched the area around the cabin, but there was no one. Rollo came back to her shoes and ran off tracking the scent.

Jamie puts the shoes on her frozen feet (p436, Nook). Young Ian is proud of Rollo. Claire ponders the fact if Rollo could track the scent to her, someone had to have worn her shoes and walked to Fraser’s Ridge to place them on the doorstep to be found. Young Ian and Jamie saw nothing along the way, but Jamie looks exhausted and drawn. He had been worried stiff.

Jamie and Young Ian take turns carrying Claire to where the horses are. He continues to ply her with a drink (p437, Nook). She is getting quite inebriated. Rollo is too interested in the skull. Jamie wants to know what Claire plans on doing “with Prince Charming?” Should they bury him and if so how? Claire thinks the man was a pagan and shows the stone she found alongside the skull (p438, Nook). Young Ian explains his mother Jenny’s thoughts on opals and how they take on the aspect of their owner. Collectively they decide to keep the large opal because of its worth. Claire wants to show it to Nayawenne so that she can decipher the carvings. Nearing the horses, Claire feels too drunk to walk to them, so Jamie and Young Ian go to bring the horses to her (p439, Nook).    

They arrive home in the late afternoon. Claire is cold, wet, lightheaded, and starving. She is viewing everything through a haze of unreality. She thinks the smoke coming from the chimney is a hallucination. Then she realizes it’s real (p440, Nook). Claire’s horse, Judas is in the penfold without his saddle, alongside an unfamiliar horse. It must be a friend because the goat’s been milked, and the animals have been fed. Duncan Innes opened the cabin’s front door (p440, Nook).

Jamie is trying to get Claire into the cabin to bed. She insists on a bath first (p441, Nook). Jamie sends Duncan and Young Ian to do a task so that he can wash Claire properly. He must undress her because she’s so stiff and unable to do so herself. He sits her on a stool, feeds her some stale bannocks, and gathers all the necessary supplies. He washes her feet first. She’s in heaven. He eyes her seriously bruised and swollen knee (p442, Nook).

He sounds angry while they talk. He is mad because it scared him that she could have been dead. He continues to argue with her. Claire is baffled (p443, Nook). That’s how most people act when they have been terrified a loved one is hurt or dead. Claire offers him to scold her in Gaelic, so she’ll only understand some of it. She ignores him until she hears the things he would like to do to her (p444, Nook). I wouldn’t like being talked to that way in any language. Claire is certainly understanding.

Cleaned, warmed, and relaxed he sneakily rubs in the ointment of peppermint and camphor to her chest. It turns out he does it to keep her from getting ill. She explains the theory of germs to him again. He’s not totally convinced (p445, Nook). Jamie feels too good in Claire’s arms for her simply to go to bed. She rubs on him and holds onto his bum. He tries to tell her, no, but she is insistent (p446, Nook). He’s losing the battle. This reminds me of her insisting on sex in Voyager when she was fevered.

A little while later, as she stares into a cup of barley crowdie (I cannot find a reference or recipe for this), she remembers a story of the Earl of Montrose saved after a battle by ingesting something similar. She thanks, Young Ian for making it for her and asks him to go out to hunt for a squirrel or other animal for dinner. He’s delighted to go hunting. Apparently, he and Jamie haven’t been eating well while she was gone. 

Claire is highly relaxed in bed. Jamie had done a proper job of warming her up and thoroughly released her tension. He is not a candidate for hunting today. Camphor and peppermint would easily be scented by the animals. Jamie left Claire to sleep while he spoke to Duncan.

The sight of her casebook as she looks around the room reminds her she hasn’t posted the details of Mueller’s birth. Her dizzy head quickly moves on to thinking about a hearty meat broth for dinner. She does hope Young Ian catches something. She decides to get up and pour the barley stuff back into the pot. She eyes the damp barley bag and moves to spread the barley to dry so it won’t rot. This is every woman’s thought when she starts a task, sees another task, then another.

She hears Jamie and Duncan talking about the horse. Jocasta purchased the horse for Duncan. Jamie is wondering about the purpose of his aunt gifting it to Duncan (pp449, Nook). This is an interesting development. Duncan changes the subject to those of men who could settle on Fraser’s Ridge. Duncan brings up planting season, and Jamie continues to be sharp (p449, Nook).

Duncan changes the subject again. Jocasta has sent a bottle of whisky for Jamie. Jamie apologizes to Duncan for his harsh tones and accepts the offer of a dram or two. Duncan accepts the apology, and they walk together.

Claire watches from the window. She thinks what life would be like for one-armed Duncan had Jamie not found a place for him. Jamie did find him, and the Colonies are a second chance at life. The choice between a cooper and a farmer is not clear-cut. So far 20 Ardsmuir men are under Jamie’s sponsorship on Fraser’s Ridge. Claire recalls, Jamie borrowing money from several men he knew and gambled enough winnings to quadruple the amount. He proceeded to pay the men back with interest and had extra left over for his use. Claire put him to bed after his three-night adventure. She watched him sleep (p451, Nook). Fergus and Marsali with baby Germaine lived a mile away in their cabin. Claire loved having them around to help ease her heart as it longs for Brianna.

 Claire sits down at the desk to record the labor and delivery. She intermingles the dream of Brianna she had while sleeping under the tree and the true events of Petronella’s delivery. Brianna had been born in the caul (p452, Nook). There are many beliefs surrounding babies born this way. I have the special privilege of catching two babies en caul. Claire cannot think of any special powers Brianna has from her birth. Claire adds a sketch of the baby to her charting. Though competent to document medical occurrences, Claire is not an artist like Brianna.

Claire’s mama’s heart is missing her daughter. She thinks about Jocasta having no living children to leave her legacy. Claire stares out the window as twilight rises (p453, Nook). This is a time we find Claire in throughout the books. I wonder what she’s connecting to within the space between light and dark. At this moment, she misses Brianna but doesn’t want her in this dangerous place. 

The charting notes are finished, and Claire longs for bed, but dinner needs to be made. She picks up the skull finding beauty in it and has a flashback to Master Raymond’s back room filled with skulls and bones from many types of animals. She hears Master Raymond’s voice in her head (p453, Nook). She wonders if the skull summoned the ghost of the Indian man she met. She examines the skull again noticing the teeth are shattered on one side, but well intact on the other. She notices the wear and tear on the teeth; then she turns it over to examine the molars (p454, Nook). I would get the chills too at finding fillings in a skull in the 18th century. Who was he? He was a fellow traveler no doubt. Claire immediately shows Jamie her discovery. They surmise there must be another stone circle nearby.  Jamie will bury him after dinner.

Speaking of dinner, Jamie contends they can eat the leftover barley concoction. Claire refuses outright. Jamie agrees. Claire tells him the rest of the barley needs to be spread to dry. He takes up the sack. As he’s getting to the door, he asks Claire why she doesn’t think the Indian was a Christian. She cannot answer the question. Jamie responds, “Aye, well. We’ll give him the benefit o’ the doubt.”

Holy chapter batman! This could have been two chapters. So much action and discovery. Who was the apparition? Why did he help Claire? What does the stone mean? When did he travel from and why? What is Duncan up to taking a gift from Aunt Jocasta? I do love Claire needing to sexually communicate with Jamie to ground herself once safely back at the cabin. She needs his physical presence to feel secure and well. This chapter has conflict, flashback, figures of speech, figurative language, imagery, and plot. There are multiple threads of storylines being eluded to. The literary devices are leading to resolutions in the future.

What’s Coming up? Chapters 24 and 25 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 20-21

Week 12

“Oh Snowy Night”

Summary: The small cabin is completed. Visitors come bearing gifts. Claire makes a friend and receives a prophecy. Young Ian is on a hunting trip. Jamie goes to check the traps. Claire tends to the business of home. Jamie doesn’t return. Claire tracks him in the snow. Jamie has injured his back. Claire stays with him. They see a band of Mohawk. Young Ian and friends rescue Claire and Jamie. Back home they are safe and sound. Jamie has a vision.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 20:

The White Raven

October 1767

This chapter opens with Jamie and Young Ian building the cabin together. Jamie is reciting the translated version of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. Once they get to a difficult log placement, Jamie can no longer continue his recitation. Jamie wants Young Ian to be educated. Rollo alerts them to a visitor. It’s Nacognaweto, a friend of Young Ian’s, with three women in tow. They are dressed for visiting and were bearing gifts. Jamie declares it’s an ambassage and wants Claire in her finest (p372, Nook). The formal greeting ritual is performed by the men. Once it concludes the second woman acknowledges Claire (p373, Nook). Gabrielle is Nacognaweto’s wife. The elder woman, Nayawenne, is his grandmother. Claire looks her over, noticing the leather pouch hung around her neck. The younger of the three women is Berthe, Gabrielle’s daughter not by her husband it seems. The girl has the look of an American Indian and European. The introductions are complete; the girl opens the bundle she carried. There’s a variety of foods; Claire makes an exclamation about the return of Squanto. It’s about two months’ worth of food.  The bear meat was received well in the village; this is a small gift in return. The women giggle at Claire having heard the full exploits of the bear attack including Claire hitting Jamie with a fish. The old woman moves closer to Claire. She pats her all over talking to herself during the proceedings. Her reaction to Claire’s hair is pure sweetness (p375, Nook).

Jamie shows Nacognaweto the construction. The women chat. Claire learns Gabrielle is Nacognaweto’s second wife and him her second husband. Her first husband was a Frenchman and died ten years earlier. They live in a village called Anna Ooka, two days northwest of Fraser’s Ridge.  Claire and Nayawenne are having a conversation without words. Claire felt the unspoken conversation, though the woman said nothing to her. Across the clearing she sees Jamie offer a gift of brandy to Nacognaweto. It’s time to offer gifts. Claire gives an item to two of the women but has something different in mind for Nayawenne. She gives her four large ginseng roots.  The old woman hands Claire a small bag from her waist; it’s ginseng roots. This confirms she and Claire speak the same language. It takes a healer to know one. Claire asks about the amulet Nayawenne wears (p378, Nook). The woman hands Claire her amulet; the bag feels heavy and almost alive. Nayawenne offers to show Claire plants for use in the area. Claire’s impressed by the old woman’s spryness. The two younger women followed behind interpreting as needed. The old woman tells Gabrielle something astonishing about Claire (p377, Nook). The old woman is a shaman. She needed to meet Claire and give her the message. I wonder how long it will be for Claire to be in her full power. She’s almost 51. What do you think of the prophecy of illness to come that’s not Claire’s fault? I wonder what else Nayawenne knows.  

Chapter 21:

Night on a Snowy Mountain

December 1767

It’s been a couple of months since the Indians visited Jamie and Claire. The snow arrived at the end of November. Life on the Ridge takes on the rhythms of winter (p379, Nook). They had few animals to care for and no sheep to have wool to spin and no cloth to weave or dye. Myer’s had brought a small bag of useful tools. Jamie and Young Ian had gotten a roof on the cabin before the first snow. Young Ian and Jamie spent time carving wood. He already had made a stool. Myer’s had also brought a bag of woman’s tools for sewing and mending clothing. Claire’s not a fan of sewing, but Jamie and Young Ian’s clothes are in constant need of repair. Jamie sits bolt upright in bed when a drop of water hits him in the ear. There’s a leak in the roof. Jamie refuses to wait until daylight to fix the shingle (p381, Nook). With Young Ian’s help on the inside, Jamie replaces the split shingle on the outside (p382, Nook).

Claire reflects on their meager but successful existence. They have enough food to last until spring. They spend time talking, telling stories, and Jamie even carved dishes and a chess set. Young Ian and Rollo spent time going to Anna Ooka and going on hunting trips with the men. Young Ian learned to speak the Indian language. Claire is happy Young Ian goes on the trips. Threes a crowd when you ache for a feather bed, a fire, and a lover without an audience. When alone Claire and Jamie could continue deepening their relationship and knowledge of each other (p382, Nook). Jamie often asks about Brianna. Claire shares a story about visiting Brianna’s school on Career Day (p383, Nook). It turns out her school visit became quite a scene (p383, Nook). It turns out Claire had taken the job the boy’s father desired. That’s our Claire, always making friends and influencing people. Brianna has the fire of the Frasers in her.

Interested in Brianna’s career path Jamie asks about her plans. He’s surprised to find out children in the future often change their minds many times before settling on a vocation (p384, Nook). Claire goes over a litany of 20th-century occupations. Jamie’s nipple distracts her from the telling. Claire thinks Brianna chose history for the love of Frank and after he died, she stayed in the program.  She has no idea she changed her major after she left for the 18th century. Jamie says she loyal. He wonders if she sticks with history if she finds them in her research. Claire doesn’t think so. They’d have to do something worthy of widespread news. And Brianna would have to be looking for them. Jamie points out something else about loyalty (p385, Nook). Then they turned to the language of their bodies intertwined. A slow, peaceful, “knife and sheath together.” The last thing Jamie says before they drift to sleep, “She’ll look.”

A couple of days later, Jamie takes advantage of the improved weather to hunt. Claire is worried about him going, but they do need meat. Claire tends to the cauldron on the fire. They have an ingenious way of using the boiling water (p386, Nook). She sits down to reads Daniel Rawling’s casebook and mends stockings. I would find it scary having Jamie go out alone in inclement weather. As time goes on and Jamie hasn’t returned, she openly worries. The daylight is dimming, and she’s on high alert. She goes about her work but is increasingly concerned. She now takes on a more clinical view of her tasks. The way she gets the firewood and plans every step of use until morning. She’s frightened now (p387, Nook). The dinner stew is ready to eat, and the cabin has an inviting aroma. Claire’s without appetite. It’s now dark. She forces herself to eat, she smoored the fire and tries to rest. Her mind is reeling. She worries he’s injured. She also knows he can live outdoors quite capable, and yet... (p389, Nook). She cannot stop thinking of the what if’s out there in the dark. She longed for him (pp389, Nook). That sums it up right there. He’s her world. Her everything. 

She gets up, dresses, and prepares to go out searching for him. She knew the general direction he’d been planning to go. She hears him in her head reminding her how to track. She finds the snares and follows his footprints from one snare to the next. The fourth snare wasn’t empty, so he hadn’t gotten that far. She thinks he must be between snare three and four. Claire calls for him. Picks a direction and promptly loses her footing sliding down a hill. She finds him partially covered in leaves on his belly. She throws herself on him.

He groans loudly from pain. First, she assesses him for damage and injury. He tells her “back,” but she thinks he’s been shot. She looks for a wound (p393, Nook). He’s injured his back, it’s out, and he cannot move because of the pain. It should take only a couple of days to mend itself. Ahem. He’s lying face down on the frozen ground, and it’s snowing. Claire can’t think of what she can do to remedy the situation given the location Jamie crawled and ended up. She stops trying to figure out how to get him back to the cabin and alarms with a fresh concern. Hypothermia might already be setting in. Jamie could freeze to death. Claire goes into doctor mode alpha. She makes him stay awake and move whatever body parts he can. She has him moving and in a bad temper (p395, Nook). I’d say Claire’s in a bit of a bad temper too.

He tells her to cut hemlock branches to cover them. He’s warm, so she goes off to cut the branches. The task is difficult with her cold hands and the branches being fresh and spongy. Claire completes the job and snuggles in behind him. It’s her turn to shiver from “relief and fear.” As Jamie does, he tries to reassure Claire and tells her what happened (p397, Nook). She finds the area of pain. It runs from his back down his leg. She thinks it’s severe muscle spasms. She has none of the things to treat it. She offers acupuncture, but he declines (p398, Nook). To some people cooking is love, to Claire clinical care is love. Well, and sex is love (p399, Nook).

They lie together in quiet Claire asks what time it is. It’s just past solstice, so it’s one of the longest nights. It’s very late in the middle of the night. He explains to her they can sleep and be okay. The snow is insulative like a blanket. They have a serious and humor-filled moment during the discussion (p400, Nook). She tells him a Christmas story revolving around a tradition she, Frank and Briana had with A Christmas Carol.  During one Christmas the three of them were traveling to a relative’s home. They skidded off the road. They were holed up in the car until morning when they could be rescued. Frank told A Christmas Carol from memory until Brianna had fallen asleep. He and Claire finished the story while holding hands beneath the blankets. Frank had always loved her hands. Claire came to the last words of the story (p402, Nook). Claire isn’t cold-hearted. She loved Frank and still has a place of mourning for him. Jamie invites her to place her hands underneath his shirt and assures her he won’t let her freeze. The difference between Frank and Jamie is Jamie can hear of Frank and be okay. He can even be appreciative even when jealousy might rise for the time he did without Claire and Brianna. He understands Claire is made up of her experiences, including Frank. I think Frank wanted Jamie banished and refused to let him into their marriage. Claire doesn’t have to apologize for Frank or her life; she can simply be who she is with Jamie.

Claire and Jamie sleep until dawn nears. They hear voices. The men are speaking an Indian tongue, but it isn’t Tuscarora. Are these men safe or raiders? The situation could be dangerous. Their hiding place becomes less secure as snow melts and falls away. Jamie grips Claire hard. The Indians are across the grove. The men come closer to their shelter. Claire’s fear rises. There are several armed men in the party. Jamie and Claire are sweating with worry. They are upwind from the men, so their adrenaline scented sweat is not going to be detected. As the last man comes through the grove, another large chunk of snow falls from their makeshift shelter. The last man is a Jesuit priest. Claire thinks it’s safe to call them men as they are Christian. Jamie doesn’t believe these Indians are safe. The men pass without incident, but Jamie and Claire receive no help.

After the danger passes, Claire inquires about Jamie’s back. It’s not in good shape, and he has no idea how to get down the mountain. Then the matter of hungry bellies makes their needs known. He wants Claire to go to the cabin; there’s the small issue of Claire not knowing how to get back (p405, Nook). It turns out Jamie had shot an elk before hurting his back. He thinks anything dangerous is eating the elk. Claire thinks it’s crazy to leave him here on his own. She insists she’ll get supplies and return. She’s not leaving him alone. He agrees for her to come back if she returns with whisky.

She snuggles up to him kissing the hollow of his throat (p.406, Nook). He tries nibbling on her to see what will happen (p407, Nook). Then she goes into an explanation about vampires and their seductive qualities. He finds it completely disgusting. Claire wants him to nibble some more. Jamie changes his mind and would like her in the flesh, cold or not. In the process of getting busy, Claire gets the sense of being watched. She looks out of the shelter. He doesn’t want her to stop, but now she hears something (p408, Nook). Hallelujah, they’re rescued by Young Ian and some Tuscarora.

They come across the dead elk. The sight of its frozen form assures Claire she’d done the right thing going out in the night to find Jamie (p408, Nook). The Tuscarora would help Jamie get back to the cabin for a share of elk meat. After the animal is properly prepared, they set out with Jamie is dragged on a travois. Claire asks Young Ian about the other band of Indians who had a priest along. He and the Tuscarora were following them when they found Jamie and Claire. The Indians were Mohawk from the north. The young Mohawk men were looking for wives (p409, Nook). Jamie wants to know why Young Ian and the others were following them (p409, Nook). Nacognaweto is a smart man.

They return to the cabin by sunset and are joyously greeted by Clarence, the mule. He’s a very social creature. Everything looks normal. Claire wants to get into the cabin. They invite the Tuscarora men to stay, but they decline (p410, nook). It’s Christmas evening, and after a few drams of whisky, Claire and Jamie lay in their own bed listening to Young Ian snore (p410, Nook). So, it seems Jamie travels in his dreams. I think he astral projects. This is important to note. Tuck it in your cap or pin it in your mind.

This section tells us again of the very real dangers Claire and Jamie face settling in the mountains. This chapter is filled with figurative language, rising action, conflict, and resolution.  Diana Gabaldon’s use of bantering humor bring their relationship off the page into reality.

 What’s Coming up? Chapter 22 and 23 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

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Drums of Autumn

Chapters 18-19

Week 11

“Of Lust and Blessings”

Summary:

Roger attends Mass with Brianna and survives it. He proposes marriage. She turns him down. They argue. She explains herself. He’ll wait for her. They declare love for the other. Claire, Jamie, and Young Ian are living in the mountains. Jamie is taking the offer. They build small outbuildings. Provisions arrive. Duncan becomes Jamie’s agent. They receive a blessing from Jocasta. They, in turn, bless their hearth. Duncan leaves to procure settlers. The white pig is a jerk. 

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 18:

Unseemly Lust

After being raised by Reverend Wakefield in the Presbyterian church, Roger is trepidatious of going to the Christmas Eve Catholic Mass with Brianna. Brianna dons a small circle mantilla instead of a full-size mantilla or chapel veil after they enter the church. She tells Roger it follows the tradition of women not being objects of unseemly lust while in church (p341, Nook). If you click on the link about veils, there’s an FAQ that explains it more fully. By the way, I chose that site because Lily is someone I know. Brianna kisses Roger to the surprise of two parishioners (p342, Nook). Two women Roger has known his whole life are surprised to see Roger attending a Catholic service. To them, his intentions are apparent to set foot in such a place. He introduces Brianna to the elderly ladies. She seems unaware of the importance of his attending mass with her. Maybe. Brianna crosses herself after dipping her fingers in holy water. Roger remembers a hill-walking day with the Reverend (p343, Nook). The reverence and the beauty in the use of water to bless or to prepare for prayer. Roger finds himself unsettled during parts of the service before it moves into a service he has familiarity. He’s enthralled by Brianna’s hair (p345, Nook). As images of Brianna’s bare skin and snakelike hair in the hallway of the manse return to mind, he thinks that Saint Paul may have been on to something in respect to women’s hair and unseemly lust. He focuses on the priest giving communion. Brianna goes to partake in communion, and Roger realizes he’s praying in a wordless way of the heart. He yearns to be worthy of her, to love her right, and to care for her. He describes her face. It’s strong and changeable. Brianna sang “We Three Kings” as they walked home.

They lightly talk about religion, and she hopes she hasn’t damned him for taking him to Mass. The fog thickens as they walked along the River Ness. Roger is feeling vulnerable without the comfort of the church, knows it’s time to ask her. Looking at her wide eyes, he senses secrets lurking. She reminds him of a kelpie (p347, Nook). He takes the plunge and asks her to marry him. She doesn’t respond the way he expects. He tries to play it off that it’s nothing. Saying his name, he turns to her with difficulty, not wanting to hear platitudes. She grabs his face and kisses him hard. This reminds me of how Jamie kisses Claire sometimes.  He pushes Brianna away, confused (p348, Nook). He’s angry at her suggesting she just wants to bed him. He yells at Brianna he could’ve had her anytime during the last summer. She slaps him. They have a row reminiscent of Claire and Jamie. Roger kisses her hard and long, while she fights him. Just to prove the point, he could’ve had his way with her had he wanted to (p348, Nook). She has confused and frustrated him to no end. His Scottish accent thickens when he’s upset (p349, Nook). I cannot understand why people think Roger is boring. He's every bit as strong, protective, smart, devoted, and loving as Jamie. Then they get into the territory of her being a virgin and him not being one. He didn’t want to marry the women he’s bedded nor loved them. He loves Brianna and wants to marry her.  She thinks she loves him too. Claire loving Frank then falling in love with Jamie and breaking her promises and vows is something Brianna wants to avoid (p350, Nook). Knowing it’s more than a year they can be together, she worries she could meet someone else or he could. He wants to know if she loves him. She responds by opening his coat and putting her arms around him tightly. As Roger and Brianna kiss, the two women from Mass comment and walk by them. Roger tries to let go of Brianna, but he cannot (p352, Nook). He wants her body, mind, and spirit.

He gives her the present he bought. An engraved silver bracelet (p352, Nook).

Phew! That was uncomfortable and passionate. They needed to hammer it out. To get on the same page. Brianna is wise in not saying yes at this point. Her mother did break her vows to Frank even though she didn’t mean to do it. She did fall in love with someone else. Roger will wait the year out. They’re still working on communication and expectation. I wonder if being only children make it more difficult to speak up?

Chapter 19:

Part Seven: On the Mountain

Hearth Blessing

July 1767

Claire compares sleeping under the stars with a lover to sharing a cramped lean-to with a wet husband, a wet nephew, and a large wet dog. One is a bit more romantic than the other. Pungent male odor overpowers, and Claire needs air. She makes her way into the cold air. The rain stopped, but it was high humidity with everything covered in water. She is going to the creek to wash and fill the kettle. She describes the pre-dawn morning (p354, Nook). It sounds like one of two magical times of day, the other being twilight. At Jamie’s suggestion, they’d stayed on the mountain to take advantage of the decent weather. It would be snowing soon, and the two months would be enough time to get a small cabin built and dry meat they hunted. Claire is scared. She thought they’d return to Cross Creek for winter and come back in the spring. They are far away from any other settlers.It's a dangerous prospect considering the lack of tools and supplies. Claire misses the safety and security River Run offers. Jamie is getting out from under Jocasta’s hospitality, and thumb is necessary to keep out of her Machiavellian web. Claire likens her to a blind spider. Diana Gabaldon uses this theme of spiders weaving and webs throughout the series. Being out of sight from Sergeant Murchison is also exceedingly wise. Given all of the reasons Claire can think of, she believes none of them, are the reason Jamie chose to stay. He needs the land to need him. A place to build and shape. He needs the burden and responsibility. He needs to lead something. He needs to have a mountain. Claire trusts him with her heart and life.

Myers went back to Cross Creek to give instructions to Duncan, assure Jocasta all is well, and gather all the stores the rest of their money would buy. He’d return before first snow if he could. Otherwise, he will come back in spring with the supplies. Young Ian is staying with Claire and Jamie. He’s needed to help build the shelter and with any other needed work. For now, they were managing on what Claire could gather. She splashes her face and swishes her mouth with the creek water (p358, Nook). Once the deer disappear, Claire sees a large cat. It gazes in her eyes after drinking its fill but leaves her alone after it cleans its ears. The cat is six feet long. Claire was terrified after the cat left. She shakes and can barely manage to fill the kettle. She trusts Jamie and this time stayed alive (p359, Nook). They are settling in the unspoiled wilds of North Carolina.

When Claire returns, Jamie is pacing out a shed. Young Ian had started a fire. The shed is going to be for curing and smoking meats as the Indians do. The second shed is for Claire’s herbs and plants. The first shed is built in two days, though the roof was crude, it is fit for sleeping the three of them and Rollo. As they lie together, Jamie critiques his workmanship. Claire tends to his splintered hands while he talks (p361, Nook).  He turns his attention to telling her his plans for a big house on the hill where the strawberries grow. It will have a surgery for Claire and a library for Jamie. He only owns one book at present, “The Natural History of North Carolina.” It will be a grand house.

Myers returned within the month bringing three pack-mules with many necessary items, and Duncan Innes. They now had two sheds and a pen built for the animals they might acquire. Currently, they only have a small white piglet as their total stock of animals. She slept in the shed with them. Jamie shows Duncan the layout of the land and tells his plans. Jocasta sent a feather bed along with pens and paper. Claire is thrilled. Young Ian and Myers return from successfully hunting squirrel and a wild turkey. They will eat well over the next several days. This shows how fertile the land and offerings are.

Jamie needs to write the Governor to accept the offer and give the details of the land he chose. They eat a nice meal, but Claire hopes Myers will stay to help fill their meat shed, so they don’t need to eat dried fish all winter. After dinner, Jamie wants to walk with Duncan so he can choose his plot of land in exchange for acting as Jamie’s agent. Duncan is stunned. He’s been penniless since Culloden. Every emotion runs through him, and he accepts. He’s to oversee finding settlers, particularly to find those transported from Ardsmuir. The second job is to help his Aunt Jocasta run her plantation.  He’s hesitant, but Jamie explains that Jocasta knows the business end, she simply needs a man to speak for her. Young Ian is going through the packs Myers brought; Aunt Jocasta sent a piece of iron as a hearth blessing. The gift moves Jamie.  It’s rooted in pagan tradition. It’s a blessing for protection and prosperity to put the iron on the entry door, in this case under the hearth. It is also Jocasta saying she blesses and accepts the new venture while forgiving Jamie for not returning. Two days later they bless the hearth (p367, Nook). I would love to participate in such a blessing. Outside the cabin, Duncan offers a blessing of his own (p368, Nook). This brings tears to my eyes to have Duncan offer something so beautiful in prayer to their home. He’s a good man who has found a family with Mac Dubh. He’s not alone.

Myers and Duncan left to attend the large Scots gathering at Mount Helicon. Jocasta and Farquard Campbell would be there. It’s the best place to start searching for the transported Ardsmuir men. Scots came from other colonies to attend. Jamie wrote Jocasta a letter but gives a message to Duncan to pass on to her (p369, Nook). Claire feels a sense of loss with Duncan leaving. He feels like a link to civilization. They are not alone. Young Ian is still there will Rollo, the pig, three horses, and two mules. Claire feels better thinking of what they’ve done so far. As soon as Claire is feeling encouraged, Young Ian tells her the pig ate all the nutmeal. That act could be a foreshadowing of hard times to come, or simply the pig’s devil may care attitude.

What’s Coming up? Chapter 20 and 21 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 16-17

Week 10

“At the Abyss”

Summary: Jamie surveys the land. Claire follows behind. They hike for miles until Jamie finds a suitable spot. Wild strawberries fill their bellies. They christen the land. Claire speaks her fears. Jamie’s confused then hears her heart. They are each the half to their whole. Their love is the first law of thermodynamics. A decision is made. Brianna joins Roger for Christmas. He’s about to lose his home forever. She soon will too. Brianna is conflicted. The past is a frightening place to search. Everyone needs a history. The fire burns between Roger and Brianna. He wants it all from her. He has a plan.  

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 16: The First Law of Thermodynamics

Claire wakes to a large gray jay pulling hairs from her head presumably to make a nest. As a point of reference, gray jays are not found in the southern US. They are largely found in the northwest US and western Canada due to their like of spruce trees. Claire finds this apropos since she thinks her hair looks like a bird’s nest when she wakes. Except for some soreness, she is unharmed by the pulled hairs. The Indians are gone, as is the bear’s head. She looks upon sleeping Jamie, and he seems like Adam, though a rather battered Adam well after the Fall (p308, Nook). She combs meditatively through her hair. There’s no place to be, no one to care for; it’s slow. Simply time and the nature surrounding her. There lacks confinement in this place of wild. She thinks it odd she felt at home in the hospital, and she is ls at home here in nature. Her duality. The hospital was a place of control and regimented precision. A place solely for her to practice healing.  Nature takes its path, but it is a place of life incarnate, a place she draws her healing from and through it. She finds herself chilled, nipples standing at attention. She is naked but hadn’t taken her clothes off before retiring. She’d encountered Jamie in the night, like a dream event (p309, Nook).  The post-battle arousal had hit Jamie. Claire took the brunt of it and had enjoyed it from what she remembers. (7:20)

The Indians left a portion of bear meat for their later use. They eat breakfast and quickly bathe in the creek before planning their travel direction for the day. Jamie points out the treaty line in the mountainscape ahead of them. Before leaving Wilmington, Jamie made certain he knew which lands were available for settling. He also confirmed his information with the Tuscarora they had met and dined with the night before. Together they ride. Jamie is shirtless with his torn shirt drying behind him on his saddle. Claire notices the scratches are not inflamed nor causing him any problems. He seems less troubled, lighter in the mood than when they started the journey. Their encounter with the Tuscarora hunters had been civil and comforting. One piece of the unknown has become a known entity. She thinks the trees and landscape play a part in his mood change. This is his place, unlike the coastal plain of River Run. When the forest becomes too dense to ride, they hobble the horses and climb on foot. This is untouched land (p311, Nook). They reach a ridge, Jamie walks with ease, she follows behind gathering interesting plants along the way. She doesn’t know what he wants in the land to settle upon. They walk, turn back when they cannot go further, and find a way down. The description is enthralling. I want to hike here. It’s seductive in texture, sound, and color. Claire calls it enchanting (p312, Nook). (11:05)

She catches a glimpse of white streak above one of Jamie’s temple. It brings her back to the cave, Abandawe where he was shot by Geillis. It’s a place she cannot forget. They continue to climb. She’s overwhelmed by the beauty (p313, Nook). When they stop for a rest by a spring, she finds wild strawberries. She gathers handfuls into her cloak. The strawberry juice stains went together with pine pitch, soot, leaf smudges, and dirt. She gorges herself on the tart berries. Jamie asks if she likes this place (p314, Nook). He’s thinking of taking the Governor’s offer. He thinks the strawberries are a sign this is the place they are to settle (p314, Nook).  The Frasers were also farmers. Culloden killed the clans. Any survivors fragmented. Jamie stood tall, warrior and farmer both (p315, Nook). He explains how strawberries are a rare plant (p315, Nook). Though I cannot find the definition Jamie gives, there are several ways the strawberry is considered important religiously and otherwise. Lastly, the fruit is shaped like a heart. Claire tears up. He wipes it away then drops his plaid and breeks. They are alone. They had been under threat the past days; now together, they are alone without the need to hold the wilderness away. Jamie claims this is the old way to give fertility to the fields. Claire sees no fields, yet, but she strips down to her nakedness too. They managed the fertility rites, blessing the land in his joy. (19:15)

Claire sees Jamie clearly for who he is. It terrifies her. She tries to keep it to herself, but he hears her thoughts as if she has spoken them aloud (p317, Nook). She must tell him the truth of her fear. Clinging to him, she speaks. He reminds her of his promise (p317, Nook). Her fear is he’ll die. She’s uncertain if she can survive without him again. He makes a joke. She hits him angrily. He doesn’t understand what she’s on about (p318, Nook). She stomps away. She steps on cockleburs. Limping carefully back to her clothing, she dresses. She fusses about, making nonsensical comments. Finally, she speaks up (p320, Nook). He understands her worry about him going to Scotland, but not why she thinks he’ll be going there. She’s exasperated explains that where he’ll get the settlers for the land. He returns the exasperation. He has no money to travel, the gems are gone, and the money he does have is borrowed (p320, Nook). He thinks of her words. He walks. He has a solution for the settlers he needs. The men he was in prison with were transported to the Colonies. Claire thinks if he can find them they won’t want to pick up and follow him. He reminds her she did this very thing. Claire relaxes, her fear easing, then she thinks of the huge task of tracking the men down. She asks after Aunt Jocasta’s offer. He explains why his answer is no (p321, Nook). She needs to know he won’t die and leave her (p321, Nook). “We are neither of us whole, alone. Do ye not know that Sassenach?” This line is why I believe this is a book about them as a couple more than the ultimate telling of his story, even though they end up in his time and we learn more about his history than hers. After she left him at Culloden, he was dead. She was in the future 200 years. Claire remembers the vast despairing pit she had to climb from after her return to the 20th century. They loved each other even while dead to the other during their separation (p322, Nook). This is the love I think we all strive for. This is unending devotion of the heart and spirit. Take a moment to breathe in the beauty of those words. People wonder why Outlander readers hold the books and characters so dear. If the naysayers would only read them, they would know we are not crazy. We are merely in love. “Nothing is lost, Sassenach; only changed.” “That’s the first law of thermodynamics.” “No, that’s faith.” (26:40)

Part Six: Je T’aime

Chapter 17: Home for the Holidays

Inverness, Scotland, December 23, 1969

Roger frets while waiting for Brianna to arrive. He wished Mrs. Graham and the Reverend could be here. He thinks of their advice when he thought he was in love as a teenager (p324, Nook).

December 24, 1969

Fiona is there giving him last minute reminders of the meal she prepared. She asks if he’s sure they don’t want to come along to Ernie’s mother’s house. Roger assures her they’ll be fine and to enjoy their holiday. She turns and kisses Roger right on the lips. Then wishes him a Happy Christmas before leaving with Ernie. Somehow Brianna and Roger make lunch without blowing up the manse. The house is nearly cleared out. Roger is relieved. There is a stack of books on the table. They’re Frank Randall’s books. All autographed. She takes the books and places them in a box for herself. Roger is going to miss the place. He grew up here. The church owns the manse. His dad lived there for more than fifty years. The new minister has his own home, so Ernie and Fiona are going to live there after the wedding. Brianna is concerned Roger’s home will be gone. Brianna is in a similar situation. She plans on putting her parent's house on the market in the summer. Roger clues into her emotions surrounding packing up and losing her house for good. The house is too big for her to keep. He suggests she might get married. Maybe she thinks she’d live in the manse with him. There’s something for frankness. He blurts out asking if she wants children. She does. He does too. He wants to practice making babies with her just now. They kiss (p329, Nook). The nosy postman breaks the moment. It’s a letter for Brianna. The postman is snooping instead of putting the letter in the slot. He meddlingly wants to know if they're alone. Well, a fictitious Uncle Angus is napping upstairs. Uncle Angus is a stuffed Scottie. They finally get the postman to leave. The letter is from the library at her university. A book she wants is not available. Roger says he could help her look for “him.” She knows how to research. She used to help Frank. Roger insists she needs tea even though she hates it. She also really hates whisky too. He doesn’t want to drink alone and wants her to join him. When she gets up to pour the hot water in the teapot, he tells her she has a right to know who Jamie Fraser was. He’s her father. To Brianna Frank Randall, daddy was her father (p332, Nook). Roger knows what it means to miss a father. He needed to make him real when he was young. He made stories up about him. The Reverend understood and started to tell him the real stories of his dad, Jerry MacKenzie. He told the little things. He made him real for Roger. Even though it made Roger miss him more, he was glad to know.

She lets him splash some whisky in her teacup. She asks after his mother (p333, Nook). Roger’s correct, everybody needs a history. She drank and held her cup out for more. She’s afraid to look for Jamie and her mother (p334, Nook). She wants to find her and them but worries Claire didn’t make it or died along the way, or any number of things. More whisky is poured into her cup. She felt guilty when she saw Frank’s signature in the books. Is it wrong for her to look? He thinks she should look, and he’ll help her, but she needs a nap just now. She makes it upstairs only to vomit in the bathroom. The whisky was a bit much. She sleeps. Roger works, checks on the soup, and cleans up from their tea. (36:20)

Roger is sad his home will be gone for good. That’s why it’s taken him so long to go through the Reverend’s things. The reason it’s getting done now is that Fiona plans to move in. He unpins the paper from the cork board. It’s his genealogy written in the Reverend’s hand. The generations of MacKenzies listed. He thinks he may change his name back to MacKenzie. The Reverend hadn’t known the story of the woman Roger gets his green eyes from. She’s nowhere on the list. William Buccleigh MacKenzie, the changeling, given to foster parents to raise is on the list. He was the illegitimate child of Dougal MacKenzie, Clan War Chief, and the witch, Geillis Duncan (Gillian Edgars, Geillis Abernathy). Geillis wasn’t a witch, but a dangerous woman. Did he inherit the ability to travel through the stones? He knows the fine line between curiosity and ambivalence in searching for those in the past. That’s the last box. The room now stands empty. (37:45)

He stops at the stairs. Brianna had bathed. She was in the hall in nothing but a towel. She didn’t see him. His heart thuds and hands sweat (p338, Nook). He’s mesmerized by her. She looks him straight in the eyes. He knows what she’ll feel like, what she’ll smell like. The towel falls from her hair (p38, Nook). They kiss. She presses against him; he can imagine how her breasts look by how they feel about him. Becoming off balance, they tumble to the floor (p339, Nook). He yearns to touch her. She urges him on, but he doesn’t want to bed her like this. He wants it to be good their first time. Better than this. The burning soup is the distraction they need. He runs to get it; she goes to get dressed.

In the kitchen, his guilt rises. He shouldn’t have acted how he did toward her. He’s concerned she’ll think he took advantage. She had wanted him to (p340, Nook). The soup is ruined. They’ll eat in a pub before church services; then she’ll say yes. When they come back to the manse, love will be a sacrament (p340, Nook). Roger is a traditionalist, a romantic, he’s a good man. He’s quite like Jamie. We haven’t seen his strength and grit yet, but I have no doubt we will. (43:15)

Jamie has made his decision. Claire is on board though concerned. Roger is hopefully in love with Brianna. She seems to share his feeling, but we don’t see her internal dialogue, only his. We cannot be sure of what is going on inside her head and heart. She’s torn about looking into the past. What if she finds her mother and its bad news? What about her love and devotion to Frank? What is Roger planning after the evening mass?

What’s Coming up? Chapter 18 and 19 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

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Drums of Autumn

Chapters 14-15

Week 9

“Into the Backcountry”

Summary:

With much haste, they leave Cross Creek by night to take Pollyanne to safety. They ride until dawn. Claire learns a new method of tick removal. They come across a spooky abandoned Indian village. They make camp near a stream. Myers tells the story of the Tuscarora. Claire hopes Pollyanne will be accepted by the Indians. Myers and Young Ian part with Jamie and Claire to take Pollyanne north. Jamie and Claire head southwest to survey the offered lands. Jamie fights and kills a bear. Claire tends his wounds. They become acquainted with three native hunters.

Inside the Chapters:

Part Five: Strawberry Fields Forever

Chapter 14: Flee from Wrath to Come

August 1767

Pollyanne had been hiding in a tobacco shed on the edge of Farquard Campbell’s property. Claire notes the lavender sky and the ghostly nature of the woman as she exited the building cloaked. Pollyanne is frightened of the horse and refuses to take the reins. Claire offers to have the woman ride with her, so she feels safer. It’s difficult to swap her to Claire’s horse, but eventually, they get it done. The poor woman is terrified. She clings tightly to Claire. The woman shivers behind Claire as if chilled. Poor sweetie. She’s new from Africa, and now she’s to be given to the Indians (Native Americans) for her safety. The appearance of Rollo adds another dimension of fear for Pollyanne and Claire’s horse (p277, Nook). Claire and Jamie try to determine if she understands where they are taking her. Not knowing what tongue she might understand, Jamie reaches out, squeezes her foot, and says freedom. This she understands and sighs in relief. (1:20)

Myer’s leads them in an unspoken urgency. Pollyanne is becoming accustomed to the riding and feeling less afraid. She even dozes, leaning onto Claire’s shoulder occasionally. Claire is tired and being lulled by the sound of the horse’s hooves and the forest surrounding them (p279, Nook).

At dawn, they stopped to rest during the light and heat of the day. They woke covered in ticks. Though Claire, as usual, doesn’t attract the appetite of the 18th-century bugs. She did, however, carefully checks Jamie and everyone else after they slept. Pollyanne has a different method of tick removal (p280, Nook). The seeds she chewed are called paw-paw and are toxic if swallowed. Pollyanne’s stature reminds Claire of African fertility images. After dinner, Pollyanne is willing to ride on her own. She is more comfortable with Claire and excitedly communicates the best she can. Claire understands her better than she understands Claire. Apparently, Claire isn’t so skilled with body language communication.

They enter a clearing with grassy mounds. Pollyanne is disquieted. She believes this place is evil. Myers explains this place likely used to be a Tuscarora village. He isn’t sure what happened. Illness or warfare could be the culprit. They rode on. They are climbing higher into the mountains. The landscape changes to chestnut trees, oak, hickory, dogwood, persimmon, chinkapin, and poplar. The air is lighter and fresher. They have left the smothering heat and humidity of the lowlands. Claire is connecting with nature with every joyous breath.

On the sixth day, they are deep into the mountains when they come across a large waterfall. Young Ian is surprised to hear Myers say it’s not the biggest one he’s ever seen. They camped near a stream hoping for a dinner of fresh trout. Pollyanne brings a bucket of water to make a batch of corn dodgers. They are delicious when fresh and edible for a few days though they lose flavor.

Pollyanne is not her normal exuberant self. This is the last night they are all together. Myers will take her into the Indian territory the next day. Maybe she is worried about her uncertain future. Pollyanne makes the batter; Claire tends the fire, Myers goes to smoke a pipe, while Jamie and Young Ian continue fishing. Claire wonders what type of place Pollyanne is from and what things could be going through her mind. It’s a great unknown.

Rollo joins them by the fire. He noses both Claire and Pollyanne. Pollyanne is not wanting his attentions, turns and spit in his eye (p285, Nook). The corn dodgers are cooking, filling the area with comforting smells. The fire seems a place of refuge in this wild place. She wonders if the fire had held back jungle darkness protecting Pollyanne and her people from leopards. Was it comfort in her land or just an illusion of safety? It had to be an illusion since she was taken and brought to the Colonies. Claire dared not ask.

The fishing is very good. Jamie and Young Ian are ecstatic for their catches (p285, Nook). The mere mention of Indians by Myers has Young Ian asking questions. The conversation turns to the abandoned village they’d passed through earlier. Myers explains about the Tuscarora War from forty years earlier. The result was a devastation to the Tuscarora nation with only seven villages left.  The Mohawk had adopted the Tuscarora, or they would have been completely wiped out. This helped the Tuscarora because they were allowed entrance into the Iroquois League. Jamie wants to know why the fierce Mohawk would want to adopt an ailing tribe (p287, Nook). Myers explains further how the Indians cannot hold their drink. Even the first drop is too much for them. Also, their numbers need replacing, so with their similar languages, the Mohawk took in the Tuscarora. These are the people Myers means to have Pollyanne adopted to as their own.

Claire asks if the Tuscarora have seen a black woman before. He thinks there are many who’ve never seen a white person before. He thinks they will like her just fine (p289, Nook). Claire and Jamie aren’t sure if this exchange would be a good thing or not. They have eye conversation about it. Jamie speaks up and puts a hand on Myers (p289, Nook). Young Ian jumps in and says he’s going with Mr. Myers to the Indian village. He told him. He didn’t ask for permission. The clever boy knows Jamie can’t say it’s too dangerous or why are they taking a woman and leaving her there?

The mating ritual is in full swing between Myers and Pollyanne. Without words, she blatantly invites him to bed with her. As they all bed down for the night, Claire wonders if she would do differently? If she was dependent upon a man to get her to safety, would she not do anything to ensure he protected her? When a snapping sound alarms Jamie to take his hand from under Claire’s shirt, then replace it with a squeeze of her breast knowing there’s no danger, no difference at all. Her future isn’t certain either, and she depended upon Jamie, a man bound to her in part by a desire for her body. She describes the cool night, the wind, and the sky. Ultimately, there were differences between her dependency on Jamie and Pollyanne being with Myers. She and Jamie were bonded beyond the flesh, and above all simply for the fact that she had chosen to be there.

Chapter 15: Noble Savages

After making plans to meet in ten days’ time, Jamie and Claire turned southwest, while Myers, Young Ian, and Pollyanne turned to the north. Claire takes in the vastness of this place. Beautiful, rich, and wild. Claire said nothing to Jamie about her worries about anyone being able to live in such a place. She simply followed along behind him. When something new is going to happen, her thoughts are often filled with all the what ifs, the things she’s scared of before she comes to a sense of okay. She must allow the chaos and worry to make itself known before settling into the certainty of a decision.

They make camp near a stream. It’s twilight. The fireflies are out. Jamie loves this time of day. It’s when he would leave the cave after Culloden (p292, Nook).  Claire remembers Father Anselm from the Abbey. He always said there was a time of day when time seemed to stop. He thought it could be the hour one was born. Jamie thinks the Father is right (p292, Nook). Claire doesn’t know the hour of her birth. It wasn’t written on her birth certificate. She knows when Brianna was born though, 3:03 a.m. Jamie is surprised to learn Claire was awake for the birth because she had told him of twilight sleep (p293, Nook). After hearing this, Jamie explains all the ways he’s almost died; he’d be okay dying in his sleep, in bed next to her when he was very old. 

Jamie tended to the fire while Claire went fishing. It was dark when she returned with the gutted fish. She asks Jamie what he thinks it’s like to die (p294, Nook). Jamie set to cook the fish. Claire thinks about the hours she has sat where time stops. It’s peaceful without a name. If death lies there, she’d be okay with it. Her eyes were closed; she feels Jamie brush her shoulder. Then she hears Jamie eight feet away exclaim from cutting himself (p295, Nook). It is a large black bear. Jamie was brawling the bear. It is quite a fight. Jamie is holding his own. Jamie tells Claire to run. She must do something. She finds the fish that had been flung into the clearing. She thought she was hitting the bear on the nose with it. The bear notices Claire, and it goes after her with Jamie clinging to its neck with a death grip. Claire moves fast. She heard growling and Gaelic screeches among the rolling mass.  She was yelling for Jamie. She smells blood in the air. Jamie finally crawls into the clearing (p297, Nook). Yes, she had hit Jamie in the head with the fish, not the bear. Claire assesses for injury. There’s nothing broken, but he has terrible bruising. Claire goes to calm the horses. When she returns, Jamie has the fire rekindled. He does have scratches on his back from the bear claws.  As she looks at his back, they discuss why a black bear would attack. Usually, provocation caused them to do so. Claire peels his shredded shirt away to see four gouges (p299, Nook). She needs to cleanse the wounds. She remembers seeing arrowhead by the stream. She gives him a bottle of ale, he assures her he’ll be fine, and goes to get the medicinal plant.

The stream is cold. As she collected the plant, frogs sang around her, it felt so peaceful, until the stress of what just happened hit Claire. She shook so violently she needed to sit down. Death could come anytime. The thought of losing Jamie in a blink of an eye terrified her. She splashes cold water on her face and heads back to him. She can fight any infection that might occur. His care is in her hands now. As she returns to him, he’s sitting bolt upright (p300, Nook). So, they were correct; the bear had been provoked. The three Indians sized up Jamie and Claire, while they did the same. The men didn’t speak French or English. They rely on gestures and body language. One of the young men mimics a bear. Jamie points to where it lies. Jamie understands they are hunters and have no ill intention. Then he thinks he’s going to faint. Claire won’t let him. The men drag the bear over near the fire. The men are impressed that Jamie killed the near with his bare hands and the dirk. One of them decides he can treat Jamie’s wounds (p302, Nook). Jamie is pale and barely holding to consciousness. He asks for a whisky. This is risky knowing how alcohol is dangerous for Indians to drink. If he didn’t offer to share it, they would just take it. The older man appreciated the bouquet of the whisky. He doesn’t drink from it though; he has another purpose in mind first (p303, Nook). The man then handed the pipe to Jamie. When it was Claire’s turn, she inhaled instead of only allowing the smoke to enter her mouth.

One of the men comes up to Claire to ensure she’s a woman. To her surprise, he reaches out and grabs her breast. He gestures if she and Jamie are together. Jamie says she’s his. They were going to skin the bear, but Jamie claims the right to do so. Before he begins, he says the gralloch prayer. The men were impressed by his praying over the bear. It’s hard work skinning an animal. Jamie offered his knife to one of the men. This meant he is offering part of the meat as well. Claire wants to know what the older man did with the whisky (p306, Nook). Claire forgets how formidable Jamie is and what he must look like to others. She can see the air of savagery in him. It’s not just the English who think Highlanders are barbarians it seems. These men understood quickly he was a fellow hunter and a civilized man.

Jamie was gesturing and acting out the bear attack. He included Claire hitting him in the head with a fish mid-fight. They eat dinner together under the watchful dead eyes of the bear head. They were sharing stories. They exchange names. Claire’s name came out “Klah” which they found exceedingly funny. These men are Tuscarora. One is named Nacognaweto. Jamie asks the names of the items surrounding them. He is quickly picking up their language.

Claire is too tired to stay awake for any more of the conversation. Jamie is well enough. She curls up by his feet under the watched by the dead bear eyes, and she sleeps.

What an adventurous week they’ve had. They take Pollyanne from the near grip of the law to the backcountry. While Young Ian and Myers took her to the Indians, Jamie and Claire headed toward the land the Governor offered him. The bear attack scared the daylights out of them both. This land is wild and dangerous. Death could easily come at any time. Do you suppose people valued the moments more than knowing there were so many ways death could come? I think we believe death is far away in our westernized lives. There is a sense of delayed mortality. We’re always shocked when death or major illness occurs. It’s an illusion of safety just like Pollyanne had in her African village. It’s a good reminder to make time for the truly important things in life. I am always captured by how Jamie and Claire talk about things. Their conversations are meaningful yet seem easy. They’ve fallen back into their voiceless and verbal communication with barely a re-learning curve. I do think the Outlander series is a marriage manual.

What’s Coming up? Chapter 16 and 17 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapter 13

Week 8

“An Examination of Conscience”

Summary: Jamie and Claire go for a stroll. Jamie speaks frog somewhat fluently. Claire wants to know what the hell is going on. Jamie shares Jocasta’s big plan. They take a boat ride onto the river. Claire can’t be Jamie’s conscience. The overseer is dead. They arrive at the sawmill and discover a dying woman. Jamie and an old for cross paths. They plan to take a woman to safety.

Inside the Chapter:

Chapter 13 – An Examination of Conscience

Claire and Jamie are out for a stroll. A frog joins them on the path. Apparently, Jamie speaks frog, though not fluently. They were lost in their thoughts as they continued to walk. As they sit down near the dock, Claire wants to know what’s going on (p235, Nook). It is easy for her to envision how it would have played out if not for John Quincy Myers providing the incredible distraction. Claire thinks the plan is thoroughly MacKenzie like in all ways, “audacious, dramatic, and taking no account of the wishes of the persons involved.” If Jocasta would’ve been able to make her offer in such a public way, it would’ve been very difficult for Jamie to turn his Aunt down. Ulysses is not so happy that Jocasta plans to have Jamie take over the running of the estate. Since Hector died, he is Jocasta’s eyes, ears, and the one who oversees all the accounts. He’s honest and faithful, but likely doesn’t want to lose his position to a stranger. At first, Claire assumes Jamie will turn down the offer, but then she realizes he might say yes. She equates the scents of ripening apples in the air to the temptation with a worm hidden below the shiny surface. I love how Claire draws from the natural world to make her assessments and conclusions. The temptation is for Jamie to be restored to the head of a family, to have something to care for, and people to be responsible to. Claire knows caring for his men in prison is what kept him alive and enduring. Could he own people? As they walk Claire remarks on the plant life. It’s fragrant and abundant. She calls River Run, “a garden of earthly delight.”  She struggles with the reality if Jamie takes over as the heir to River Run, they will own slaves (5:00). She thinks of Joe Abernathy, her friend and the person she’d left Brianna’s care. For Claire, Jamie is her temptation. Could she not stand by him if he said yes to Jocasta even if that means owning slaves? If not this offer, then Governor Tryon’s to go to the back county might be chosen. Jamie must do something productive. She feels the pull of two planes of time p238, Nook). She worries he will die when he returns to Scotland. Before they go for a moonlit boat ride, he answers her unspoken questions with an “I don’t know.”

Jamie rows the boat, and they make their way onto the river. Neither are speaking. Jamie breaks the silence by asking Claire if she means to have nothing to say (p239, Nook). Claire understands what he means. Could she live every day, maybe for years, or forever owning slaves? If Jamie owned the slaves, so did she. She wouldn’t be a guest as she is now. She couldn’t pretend otherwise. I couldn’t live with it. I wouldn’t be able to stay permanently in that scenario. Jamie discloses even after Jocasta dies he may not be able to free the slaves. The Assembly must agree to it. Claire is incredulous hearing it. Jamie explains further (p240, Nook). She realizes Jamie has thought about the possibility of being named an heir and saying yes to the offer. Claire hadn’t consciously thought about it. Jamie believes his Aunt would use him to do her bidding but give him little true authority. As he puts it, he’d “be no more than her cat’s paw.” Aunt Jocasta likes the power too much to give it up to Jamie. She needs a man to do her bidding, while she maintains the reins. She seems not to want another husband, yet Ulysses cannot do the work required because of his status. Jamie is the distinctly perfect option (9:45).

Claire knows she could not live as a slave owner, yet if he rejects the offer, she’ll be sending him to Scotland to find suitable men to fill the land the Governor is willing to give him. She cannot tell him what to do. Finally, he finds a place to stop for a bit (p241, Nook). Even though Claire tells Jamie he’s a good man; he finds himself concerned he’s a man like Stephen Bonnet. The only thing that separates the two is the sense of honor Jamie has. Jamie’s worried he has nothing to show for his 45 years of living (p243, Nook). The rub in all of this, is so many depend upon him, even Laoghaire (p243, Nook). I love how Claire uses humor and tenderness. Her emotions ran the gamut over the course of the past hour. She takes his hand in hers, leans into him and says, “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. Be it Scottish hill or southern forest.” She’ll be there. She doesn’t need finery. She needs him alone. (13:35).

As they move along upriver, Claire listens to Jamie’s breathing and thinks. She knows Jamie also has the MacKenzie will; he can stand up to Jocasta. She has a twinge at remembering Dougal as Jamie’s dirk took his life. She also knows, Jamie had some key differences from Stephen Bonnet beyond honor: “kindness, courage, and a conscience.”

Jamie had taken them to the sawmill. Claire had never been by water. She thinks it’s an apt place for Jamie to battle his demons. Claire thinks it is spooky at night. Jamie doesn’t like it in the daytime either. He tells her the overseer, Byrnes is dead of lockjaw (tetanus). He died that afternoon. It’s not a nice way to die. Claire is upset Jamie saw the ailing man and didn’t take her. She says it wasn’t for him to decide for her to go or not. He was protecting her (p247, Nook).  She’s mightily angry. Jamie apologizes. He goes on to explain why and he knows she would’ve gone no matter what. People were talking about what happened at the mill. Had Claire killed the slave? Jamie trusts the actions Claire took (p249, Nook). Arriving at the sawmill, Jamie states he told Mrs. Byrnes, he would retrieve her husband’s items. Claire understands Jamie is using this opportunity to size up the whole of the property, the people, the life it would mean if he says yes to Jocasta (p.250, Nook). The area surrounding the mill near the slave huts have an utterly quiet stillness to it. Claire struggles to keep her good footing, but Jamie never falters.  Claire reflects in her mind the difference of Jamaica to here. There would have been some form of lament for the dead slave. As if to read her mind, Jamie says they are afraid. Claire and Jamie are afraid too. (19:30).

As they enter the mill, Claire thinks she can still smell the blood from the altercation. No, it is fresh blood she smells. Jamie covers himself with his plaid and silently moves. Claire thinks she’s going to hallucinate that terrible scene, then a groan is heard. She manages not to scream and bites her lip hard. This sounds immensely frightening. I don’t know if curiosity to know what’s going on would keep me from running outside. She is frightened. She wonders if it could be Jamie making the wretched sound. Finally, she can’t take another moment and calls to him. He answers beckoning for her to come. She enters the small room. It’s stifling, and the reek of blood is heavy. On the bed lies a woman slowly exsanguinating (bleeding to death). Claire goes into doctor mode. She talks to the woman and examines her to find the source of the bleeding. The woman is weak and tries to speak. The woman is dying (p.253, Nook). Jamie tells her God will forgive her and to go in peace. She died from a botched abortion. Who is the sergeant she wants to be told? They return to the scene the next morning with Farquard Campbell. In the light of day, it’s even more horrifying. The heat, still air, and buzzing flies create a disturbing and stomach-churning atmosphere. Claire is sure of the reason for death. She left the foot-long kitchen skewer where she’d found it between the woman’s legs. Farquard’s job is to decide whether the woman did it to herself or someone else helped her. Claire lies and says she believes the woman did it by herself because of the laws of the colony. The dead woman is not known by Farquard. Jamie intervenes sharing the woman spoke the word sergeant. Claire provides a distraction to more questions by Farquard. She needs air and is feeling faint. Jamie stays behind to attend to the removal of the body. (22:30).

Enter Phaedre to the scenario. She’s waiting near the wagon outside the mill. She tells Claire she smells and looks awful. The reason Jamie and Claire lied about no one else being involved in the abortion is revealed. Phaedre found out who the other party was. A slave named Pollyanne. She ran away during the night. Claire is left to wash and prepare the body. Jamie went to keep Farquard company. As Claire and Phaedre cleaned the body, her thought ran to the night before. She feared Pollyanne would be put to death if found for inadvertently killing the woman while trying to help her. Phaedre cautions that Pollyanne needs to be found quickly. She doesn’t know the woods and is only a year from Africa. Claire’s use of herbs lent ceremony and gravity to the cleansing and preparation for burial. There was no minister to give her rites. Might there be people to miss her? When they finished, Jamie placed her shrouded body in the wagon. They need to find the sergeant the woman spoke about.

Before they could go to the military warehouse, they had to get cleaned up, drop off Phaedre, check in on John Quincy Myers, and fill in Jocasta with the news. It so happens, she finds Farquard and John in the morning room eating and sipping tea with Jocasta. It appears someone bathed John while he was unconscious. Jocasta invites Claire to sit and have some nourishment. Claire asks John how he is doing (p262, Nook). His comments amused everyone. Jocasta laughingly assures him she knew his mother and it’s unlikely his father was a bear. His mother liked a hairy man because it was a comfort on a cold night. The Native American women seem to like it too, but it might be the novelty since the Native American men are virtually hairless. Claire sipped the delicious tea, thankful to push away the events from her mind for a moment. Jamie returns clean and shaved. He needs Duncan, but Jocasta sent him and wee Ian to fetch a package for her. She expresses her favor of Duncan. Farquard leaves and Jamie asks after the package (p263, Nook). Farquard explained the basics of what happened and how the woman is a stranger. Jamie takes some offense to how Jocasta is acting as if the woman doesn’t matter (p264, Nook). Claire leaves with him. (26:45).

They arrive at the Crown’s warehouse. It’s guarded. Apparently, there are many items of value inside, but the liquor is the most valuable. They discuss the complexities of the situation and Jamie believes Farquard won’t cause any trouble for Jocasta. Jamie feels the need to see the woman properly buried. They both feel a responsibility to do it. Claire feels a stab of guilt over Brianna. She’s about the same age as this young woman with no family in her time. They find the sergeant in the taproom. He obviously knows Jamie by sight (p296, Nook). The sergeant is abjectly rude. Jamie tells him Mistress Cameron is his kinswoman. He introduces Claire as is wife. Jamie takes a moment to get a jeer in (p267, Nook). The sergeant gets angry and stomps out of the taproom. They follow saying it’s a matter of bringing him a corpse. The sergeant knows the woman. He wants to know what happened. She was a laundress named Lissa Garver. The sergeant is emotionally moved. Jamie explains she tried to slip a bairn. Murchison will not tell Jamie if she had a husband or family, he simply says she has someone, and he’s not to trouble himself further. He requires a statement from Jamie, so he and Claire go to the office. (30:30).

The office is empty when he and Claire arrive. He takes the opportunity to explain to Claire the nature of his history with Murchison (p269, Nook). Jamie tells how the twins were a great menace, monsters at Ardsmuir. Claire asks if both are here. The other died at Ardsmuir. Claire notices Jamie wore his kilt to speak to the sergeant. This is not a coincidence. It’s an act of purpose. He continues to explain that the other twin died at the hands of an inmate. Sergeant Murchison enters before Claire can ask Jamie if he killed the brother. Murchison demands Jamie write down his statement, date, and sign it. Jamie’s crippled hand makes it an arduous and painful task to write. He doesn’t write in front of others if he can help it. Claire offers to do it, but Jamie demands the clerk meet him at his aunt’s house later to take the statement. They leave before the sergeant can answer.

Duncan Innes and Young Ian found Pollyanne after searching for three days in the forest. She is safe at the moment. She refuses to ride a horse. The group of them, including Jocasta, discuss what must be done. Murchison had gone to the mill and declared it was murder. Claire doesn’t think it was murder or suicide. It was an accident. Jamie already had it arranged with Myers to take Pollyanne to the mountains and have her adopted into a tribe of Indians. They are to leave in three days’ time. (35:30).

Phaedre assisted Claire in getting provision together. Claire fashions herself proper riding clothes. Jamie is curious as to her undergarment (p274, Nook). As if the brassiere isn’t enough of a shock, she means to wear breeks when riding. He is aghast she wore trousers in her time (p274, Nook). This banter leads to Jamie being induced to ravishing Claire telling her to take the breeks off.

 What’s Coming up? Chapter 14 and 15 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

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Drums of Autumn

Chapters 11-12

Week 7

“Of Cruelty and Kindness”

Summary:

A party is planned. Fergus goes to Jamaica to await the birth of his child. There’s an altercation between a slave and the overseer. Jamie, Claire, and Farquard Campbell head to the sawmill. The overseer is injured but alive. The slave is hanging by a hook above the platform. Remarkably, he’s alive and not in mortal danger from his wounds. The laws of North Carolina state if a slave draws the blood of a white man he is to be killed. Claire takes matters into her own hands. Jocasta declares the party must go on. Claire is fitted and fussed over. Jamie is gussied up too. Jamie needs a distraction. Unexpectedly, Claire successfully performs hernia surgery in the salon. The alcohol flows.  

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 11 – The Law of Bloodshed July 1767

The last podcast had much to do with Jamie and Jocasta. This set of chapters focuses much on Claire and her place at River Run and in the 18th century. She is uncomfortable with Jocasta owning slaves. She does her best to do everything for herself and asking the least amount from them. The “simples” room at River Run was stocked poorly and underutilized (18th-century medicine). Jocasta gave Claire her blessing to use it. During their chat, Claire was trying to learn how to spin wool. She’s not a natural at it. Jamie spent his time going over all the books and learning from Jocasta’s butler Ulysses. He’d been overseeing her accounts since Hector’s death, but since he wasn’t a white man, he couldn’t formally take over for her. Jamie easily steps into the role of overseeing the plantation operations. Jamie showed up at just the right time.

Jocasta decides she needs to throw a party to introduce Jamie and Claire to the local society people. Jamie doesn’t see the need, he’s met nearly all the men of importance in the area, but come to think of it, Claire hasn’t met the influential ladies yet. Claire admits to wanting to meet more people (p206, Nook). Jocasta is correct, Claire is getting restless with so little doctoring to do at River Run. She thinks of Marsali and her impending delivery. Fergus had left headed to Jamaica to be with her. He planned to return in the springtime with her and the child.

They were interrupted by Ulysses and Farquard Campbell. Farquard had hurried to reach them; there’d been an accident at the sawmill. He’d come to ask Claire for her medicines that Jamie could use. He has concerns it would be too much for a lady to witness. The situation involved a white man and one of her slaves. He calls it a matter of bloodshed (p208, Nook). He goes on to explain the law of the colony to Jamie (p209, Nook). He isn’t sure of the full situation, but he’s been called to judge the situation and oversee the execution of the slave if necessary (p210, Nook). She doesn’t want Jamie to go in Jocasta’s place, but he must, he feels already part of the situation since the man in question is her property. Claire insists on going too. She gets her physician’s box, and off they go.

Jamie must explain to another man that Claire has seen war, and if he is wanted, she comes too. As they continue to ride, MacNeill offers up the full explanation (p211, Nook). They learn of a ghastly practice of nearby plantation owners sending their slaves to watch an execution as a form of deterrent and behavior control (p211, Nook). MacNeill blames Jo for the situation because Byrnes is not fit to be the overseer. Campbell reminds him Hector hired him, not Jo. Further, how could she simply dismiss him unable to run the operations herself since she’s blind and a woman? MacNeill makes an off-hand remark that Claire takes issue with (p212, Nook). It didn’t matter that Byrnes was terrible at the job, regardless of why the slave drew his blood, he would die for it. Claire is outraged and wondering what Jamie will do. Would he stand by and allow the execution? What did he mean he was already part of it? Claire is concerned with what he will or will not do. The other men believe it was his problem to handle. Claire knows what Jamie is made of. He’s educated, cultured, and traveled, and he knows her thoughts on the matter. When she catches a glimpse of his face, she is quite alarmed to discern he has no idea what he is going to do when they get to the sawmill.

As they rode, the landscape changed to that of pine forest. Claire has the feeling of being submerged into the depths of the ocean from the surface. She takes security in the doctor’s box. She could perhaps repair wounds. As a note to the story tell how the story is being told, Claire is brought out of her thoughts by voices that sounded like angry bees. DG often uses the imagery and example of bees and other parts of nature to relay what’s happening in a scene. The sound of a gunshot caused them all to sprint toward the sawmill. She relates to the people in the area panicking like termites. The activity surrounding her isn’t enough to hold Claire’s attention when she sees a man hanging from a crane hoist by a huge hook.

The men pushed their way to the platform where the injured overseer and slave were. Claire finds herself unable to move. The scene is chaotic and charged.  Jamie has to threaten those surrounding the overseer to keep them calm. He has the slave brought down to the platform. Claire’s clinical senses kick in, and the rest of the scene is muted while she focuses on the injured slave. The man is alive. Claire runs her hands over him in assessment. She finds the hook missed perforating his lungs, diaphragm, abdominal aorta, and renal artery. She vaguely hears the argument of men behind her. Jamie comes up beside her. She realizes the man’s injuries may not be mortal. She is quite unsettled at this idea (p217, Nook). Claire chooses because this man would not be allowed to live (p218, Nook). She poisoned him with aconite. The symptoms are what he would experience if his injuries were mortal. A more humane death? Could you do what she did? Remember the ill Scottish patient she helped to die before she went on sabbatical in Boston? Jamie supports her choice.

Chapter 12 – The Return of John Quincy Myers

Though upset by what happened at the sawmill, Aunt Jocasta decides the party must go on.  Phaedre will make a repurposed gown for Claire. American Duchess has many resources if you’re interested in 18th-century dress and life. With Claire being shorter and buxomer than Jocasta, Jocasta wants the bodice slashed and filled with Valenciennes lace and green silk to show off her bosom. Claire remarks how Jocasta must remember color well (p220, Nook). Claire is uncomfortable when Phaedre and Jo discuss how she looks and her coloring (p221, Nook). The repurposed dress fit Claire like a glove. She refused her hair to be rice powdered and only wore the most modest of jewelry much to Phaedre’s annoyance. She came across Ulysses and caught him openly admiring her. She smiled back at him, and he is stunned and horrified. In this time, an African American servant caught ogling or admiring one of the household, could be punished. It took Claire a moment to realize why he ran off. It’s so disturbing to see people treated as not fully human. I shudder at this country having been built on slavery. Claire thinks he had become used to a blind mistress and no master. He forgot to keep his face blank. Claire is glad it was her he looked upon and not another woman. He is safe with her. Hearing footsteps, she looks up to see Jamie all rigged out in Highland glam (p222, Nook). Jocasta gave him Hector Cameron’s kilt. He seems troubled but can’t talk to Claire now. He wants her to be ready to make a distraction during the dinner if needed. Jamie leaves as he spies Jocasta. She greets Claire. Claire says Jamie has gone to greet the guests (p224, Nook). Jocasta is dressed beautifully in dark blue silk embroidered with dragonflies.  There is quite a bit of symbology surrounding dragonflies; I wonder if the blue dress with the embroidery speaks of the traveler’s aura color? Ulysses comes to accompany Jocasta into the party. Claire follows noticing part of the dinner fare (p225, Nook). I think Jamie is also being presented.

The Who’s Who of Cape Fear is present. A variety of Scots from the Isles to the Highlands. Jamie, however, is nowhere to be seen. Jocasta sends Ulysses to look for him. There is also a few notable non-Scots present as well. A Quaker named Herman Husband, a gentleman named Hunter, and Phillip Wylie (he was at the dinner party the Governor attended) (p225, Nook). Claire is annoyed by his attentions. It turns out he is merely 25 years-old. Claire tells him she is old enough to be his mother. She makes sure Ulysses sits Phillip by her at dinner. She’s thinking she can use him as the distraction that Jamie might need.  Claire could be getting herself into hot water. Phillip is clearly smitten and flirting with her. Might he read her the wrong way regardless of what she says to him? At the dinner, Claire is seated with Wylie and Husband. They “formed a small island of English in the midst of a sea of swirling Scots.” Jamie shows up at the last moment. He’s at the head of the table with Jocasta to his right. Claire is dying to know what’s going on and is ready to stab Wylie if needed. Even so, the third course comes without issue.  Wylie continues his flirtation by pressing his thigh to Claire’s. It’s an odd bit of conversation between Wylie and Herman Husband. Herman then further discusses a question Claire asked him prior to the interruption (p227, Nook). Claire has the Governor’s offer on her mind and she is seeking intel on the backcountry. As the conversation is getting heated between Wylie and Husband, Claire hears noises from outside then she sees a drunk John Quincy Myers trying to enter the room (p229, Nook). Absolute hilarity. Then Jamie’s response (p229, Nook). So, Wylie suggests she show her skills off in front off witnesses. Claire is wondering if she can do the surgery, even with him drunk almost to the point of being poisoned. Myers had asked her to do it. What timing! Looking to Jamie for advice, he tells her she should do it (p230, Nook). He did want a distraction. This is an amazing and unexpected one. So, the salon is being used as her operating theater (p231, Nook). Claire donned a butchering apron to cover her dress and Phaedre pinned up her sleeves. An exorbitant number of candles are used to light the space. She proceeds to douse his genitals with several shillings worth of brandy (p231, Nook). Claire sterilizes her blade with alcohol, while two strong men were told to hold John’s legs. Farquard Campbell and Andrew MacNeill were holding his arms. Young Ian oversees additional candlelight and Jamie is the anesthetist ready to pour whisky into John as needed. Claire is poised to begin (p232, Nook). Claire does one final sterilization of her scalpel and makes the cut. She sees the intestine bulging through the tear in the muscle layer. She dips her hands in the disinfecting bowl then presses the loop upward. Jamie administers whisky as Myers threatens to wake up. Claire visualizes the muscle layer and becomes one with Myers’ body. She tunes into his rhythms and tunes out everything around her (p232, Nook). This happens to me when a baby is imminently coming. I take notice of nothing around me and focus purely on the mother’s body and the descending baby. It’s not until I have placed the baby in the mother’s arms do I notice anything else around me. I have looked up to see ten other people in the birthing space and hadn’t noticed them enter. It’s like being in a bubble that only encompasses the mother, baby, and me. It’s an intense connection and focus. Diana describes it with perfection. The spectators erupt in applause when she finishes, so Claire turns and gives a deep curtsy.

Over the next hour, Claire is toasted multiple times and needs to escape the throng. She heads upstairs o check on her patient. She stops and looks down onto the party below (p234, nook). Again, she sees nature in the actions of humans. Her connection to the natural world is amazing. I agree with her; it was a momentous distraction even though it likely won’t completely put off whatever Jamie is avoiding.

Betty, one of the house slaves, had been sitting with the comatose Myers. Claire can see his pulse and notes he is cool and not fevered. Jamie asks how Myers is (p234, Nook). As capable as Claire is, I don’t recommend doing drunk rounds.

She notices the smell and feel of Jamie, and he asks her to meet him outside and to take care not to break her neck on the stairs.  

John Quincy Myers was the perfect distraction. He’s undoubtedly going to have a hangover to end all hangovers, but his hernia will be perfectly mended. This surgery scene is one of my top ten favorites from all the books. I wish to be at that dinner party. What is Jamie trying to escape? Jocasta should be happy her party will be the talk of Cape Fear for weeks. Claire’s reputation as a physician will be well known by all in the area. We met a new character, Betty. I wonder when we will see her next. What will come of Phillip Wylie’s flirtation? What about the Regulators and the backcountry being in political unrest? Is Jamie still considering the Governor’s offer? By the way, YouTube has several hernia surgeries for your viewing. I couldn’t find one like what Claire did.  

What’s Coming up? Chapter 13 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 10

Week 6

“Consider River Run Yer Home”

Summary:

Down but not out, they dress in their best to meet Aunt Jocasta. River Run is a beautiful and large plantation. Jamie shares their woes. Ian and Rollo meet a scary skunk. They tour the turpentine works. A meeting takes place. There’s a pitch explosion. An awkward luncheon ensues. Contracts are signed. The charade is explained. Three letters arrive. Young Ian is put into their keeping.  

Inside the Chapter:

Chapter 10 – Jocasta

Cross Creek, North Carolina, June 1767

Cross Creek was a bustling town, and it smelled heavily of turpentine. The pitch, turpentine, and tar were used by the shipyards. The British Navy was a huge purchaser. Underneath the resinous scents, was another familiar odor, rum and perhaps other distilled spirits. His nose for such things was still in good order even though it had been twenty years since he worked for his cousin Jared in Paris (p174, Nook). Of course, Young Ian must take a deep breath to see if he can distinguish any other scents. No, he only smells turpentine. Jamie has a great concern he looks like the beggar he is as the time draws near at meeting Aunt Jocasta. Claire looks him over carefully. He looks tidy and appropriate except for the shoes. There hadn’t been time to have any made. She notes the coat and waistcoat with sober pewter buttons made him look like a prosperous Quaker. She tells him he’s beautiful. Young Ian, on the other hand, looked quite a grubby mess. Once his coat was brushed and hair combed, he looked a bit more suitable. He wants to know if Jamie’s going to tell Aunt Jocasta about the pirates (p175, Nook). River Run was several miles up from Cross Creek, so Claire was able to tend to her cleanliness after ensuring the men were tidy. She had no choice but to put on the cream gown she wore to the dinner with the Governor. She thought it might be a bit fancy for daytime, but her other options were too grubby or threadbare. She tied her hair back and shined up her silver ring. She couldn’t look at her left hand missing the gold ring. When her ablutions were complete, they were nearing the River Run dock.  A young boy was keeping watch and ran to announce their arrival.

Claire was in awe of the grandeur of the grounds and house. She decided her dress was not too much at the sight of it. People were coming out of the house toward the boat, but Claire spotted Jocasta easily. She has the bold Viking face of the MacKenzies. She is tall and striking, with long white hair. She heard some of the young boys speaking Gaelic. Jamie steps up to Jocasta and simply says, “Aunt, it’s Jamie.” Jamie had a look about him that tells Claire Jocasta must look like his mother, Ellen. Aunt Jocasta was touching him with tears in her eyes (p177, Nook). He introduces Claire. Her hand reminded Claire startlingly like Brianna’s. Claire notes she smells like mint and verbena. Interestingly she felt like she “had come under the protection of some beneficent deity.” Do you get the idea that Jocasta will simply be charitable and kind? After introductions to Fergus and Young Ian, she calls for her butler, Ulysses to escort them back in for tea and food.

The house was large and airy on the inside. It appears Hector Cameron must have been quite successful. They went into Jocasta’s private parlor. It is a more intimate and homey space, but just as well furnished as the other rooms, they passed by. Jocasta is already seated. She offers them a dram of whisky. Hector had taken it in trade, but it became illegal for anyone but the Crown to sell spirits. They ended up with two hundred bottles.

Jocasta toasts them hoping they’ll find River Run home. Keep your eye out on this. Is she simply trying to be courteous? The whisky is very good. Claire enjoys the warming effects as it hits her belly. Jamie also relaxes a little. Jocasta mentions she’ll have Ulysses write to Jenny to tell her of their safe arrival with Young Ian. Jamie takes this as the opening to tell her about the pirates and the problems with their finances because of it. She has the proper response to the tale and wants them to consider River Run their home (p180, Nook). Jamie is thankful for his aunt’s reply but is also embarrassed.

The house was furnished simply with everything beautiful and well made. Young Ian had been moving about the room touching objects to the annoyance of the butler, then he remarked on a painting (p181, Nook).  That is the third time she mentions she hopes River Run will be their home.

Rollo becomes agitated. There’s a skunk outside in the garden. Jamie and Young Ian’s reactions are priceless (p182, Nook). Rollo had chased the skunk into view. Young Ian is not impressed there’s anything dangerous about it. Before Claire could get Young Ian to call Rollo off, the skunk sprayed them. Claire heard Jocasta rise from her chair. She wants to know what is going on. Claire realizes Jocasta is blind. Jocasta handles the situation with utmost grace (p183, Nook). She is well humored and practical it seems.

In the morning after being soaked in the river then scrubbed with tomato from the garden, Young Ian and Rollo sat at the far end of the table near the open door. Jocasta takes this in stride. Claire notices her remarkably nice teeth.  Jocasta suggests they take a ride “out to the turpentine works in the forest above River Run.” It will take the day to go out and return to the house. The plantation must be very large. She says the bees give a hot and fair report for the weather. Bees come up throughout the Outlander books. Fergus asks to borrow a horse to go into town to post a letter to Marsali in Jamaica. Jocasta mentions for a fourth time to consider River Run your home. In the short span of twelve or so hours, she has brought it up. I believe she has a plan. She is a MacKenzie after all. When Phaedre, Jocasta’s body servant ties a cloth around Jocasta’s eyes, Claire can’t stop wondering what caused her blindness. She’d love to get a peek into her eyes. She can’t help herself. She is a doctor.

When they get to the stable, Claire expects they’ll take a coach to the turpentine works, but Jocasta is planning to ride her horse alongside the rest of them. She asks Jamie to confirm the horse’s leg is healthy. She had gotten spooked by a snake and injured herself. The Auntie has a plan. The horse groom tells the story of the snake and subsequent injury. Just like the young boys speaking Gaelic, his Aberdeen accent and verbiage are fascinating, though he’s not Scottish (p185, Nook).  

River Run IS a very large plantation; its longleaf pine forest covered a third of the colony. Tobacco, indigo, timber, pitch, and turpentine were among its production. It hosted its sawmill and river rights. The largest contractor of River Run was none other than the British Navy.  Jocasta explained all the businesses in great detail to Jamie as they rode. They came upon a turpentine tree, and she explains the processes of getting the sap out. One of her workers appears utilizing the help of a mule. Clarence the mule to be exact who brayed happily in greeting. If you haven’t read past DOA yet, he has importance. The worker had been disfigured by a pitch explosion. Jocasta says he’s lucky to be alive.

They arrived at the sheds at the turpentine works. Three uniformed British Naval officers and another man were waiting for them (187, Nook).  This particular friend of Jocasta seems too happy and agreeable in meeting Jamie. He knows something odd is going on (p188, Nook). Jocasta says it’s too hot for her to go back outside. She stays while the men conduct business. Claire heads out for a tour of the grounds. Claire takes in the processes. Turpentine is cooked down to pitch and takes many workers to accomplish it. It can be a dangerous undertaking. Claire looks back at the shed. The naval men, Campbell, and Jamie are all in deep discussion over the papers, while Jocasta stands in the corner listening intently (p190, Nook). Chaos erupts behind Claire. There’s an underground explosion. Thankfully no one was hurt. Apparently, pitch explosions are commonplace.  It’s a dangerous business. I wonder if this is a foreshadowing of something Claire is going to be doing in the future. Poor Jocasta was left in the shed without anyone giving her detail. Farquard steps in to explain all that has happened. 

Jamie diffuses the awkwardness by pointing to lunch. Wolff needs to sign the contracts. Claire learned much about how the contracts work. She also learned that Wolff is bigoted against Scottish people (p193, Nook). Even after the younger ensign interrupts the horrid line of thought Wolff comments on Claire’s beautiful, non-Scottish accent. Getting Wolff drunk on the good whisky is the way to his signature on the dotted line. Jamie was helping get the area cleaned up after the explosion. As another form of lubricating the deal, Jocasta has a second bottle of whisky put in the Lieutenant’s saddlebag. Campbell puts the papers in front of the man to sign, and he does. Doesn’t Wolff know you should never go shopping when inebriated?!  

Jamie is worse for wear after helping re-order things after the explosion (p195, Nook). He doesn’t care about being dirty; he wants to know what the heck is going on and why he was put into the position of business without consent. After a drink, the explanation gets down to business (9196, Nook). So this Wolff was spurned by Jocasta after Hector’s death adding to the delicacy of the business matters (p197, Nook). Jamie wants to know what intent Farquard has toward Jo (p197, Nook). Jamie comes into play because the overseer is a drunkard and mismanaged the contracts once. The physical side of running the estate and business is difficult because she is sightless. Campbell shares a proverb that explains it deftly (p199, Nook). Farquard was going to help Jocasta, but Jamie’s timely arrival had her come up with a better plan of action (p199, Nook). She hoodwinked him into helping her because she wasn’t sure if he would agree with the deception. Cunning Auntie Jocasta is a MacKenzie through and through (p200, Nook). Jamie may have found his match in her.

Fergus returns from town looking as if he’s been up to no good. He met with some French fur traders he helped translate for, and they gave him a meal. When he was at the postmaster, there was an envelope waiting for Jamie. Three letters were inside. One from his sister and two others. He chooses to read brother-in-law Ian’s letter first. Jenny’s letter will require whisky. Claire sits next to Jamie to read it with him. He calls Jamie brother as the salutation. Jenny no longer wants to harm Jamie (p201, Nook). He tells of Lallybroch life and the hardships. He gives a word of his children and a new grandchild. Simon of Lovat visited them. He’s looking for regimental recruits. He’s making a name for himself in the Colonies. The grandchildren were so enamored with his stories they played Indians (Savages) and included some of the adults to act as the Highland Regiment. Scots were emigrating at epidemic numbers to the Colonies.

The second letter from Ian was marked private and had a wax seal. This letter is not to be shared with the larger letter. He asks if Young Ian can stay with Claire and Jamie (p203, Nook). They are worried Young Ian will get pressed into military service. Poverty is rampant, and there’s little hope for anything better in the Scottish Highlands. Even if it means serving the German usurper (p203, Nook). It’s heartbreaking. He can say things to Jamie he doesn’t want to verbalize to Jenny. He goes on to say the other boys Young Jamie, and Michael will not be tempted by a soldier’s life, but undoubtedly Young Ian would with his adventurous spirit (p203, Nook). Jamie had been correct on how there is worry over Young Ian’s future. The letter stopped and started. Ian writes of the look in Simon’s eyes since Culloden. He fears for him. He goes on to say he has seen the same in Jamie’s eyes and feared for his soul since Culloden (p204, Nook). He further states Simon’s only link to humanity is the care he must take of his men. He closes his letter (p204, Nook). We don’t often hear from Ian Murray like the some of the other characters. These two letters give great insight to him as a man, husband, father, friend. He’s often the quiet behind the bold Jenny. He’s a good man. He’s a brother to Jamie.

Jocasta proves she’s a MacKenzie in her opening play. The woman is good. I’d say she’s even dangerous. She clearly wants Jamie to “take over” the running of the estate. She has no heir or husband. I imagine she’s a woman who nearly always gets what she wants. Claire doesn’t have much to do with this chapter; she’s the observer. I would love to be a fly on the wall when she and Jamie go to bed and talk. It looks like Young Ian is staying with Claire and Jamie. He’ll be thrilled to pieces over the news.     

What’s Coming up? Chapter 11-12 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 8-9

Week 5

Of Promises and Pirates

Summary:

Jamie hates boats. Aunt Jocasta fancies Cameron men. Fergus fancies himself a landowner. Marsali prepares for the birth in Jamaica. Young Ian is not a scholar. Claire receives a tremendous anniversary gift. Jamie worried for Young Ian’s future. They prepare to meet Aunt Jocasta. Claire reminisces. Pirates board. Bonnet lacks honor. Rollo is injured. Claire tries to swallow her pride and joy. The gems are gone. They survive the robbery. Tomorrow isn’t solid, but home is where the heart is.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 8 – Man of Worth

Jamie hates boats. Selling the Ruby afforded them to keep the horses and wagon. Duncan set off with the heavier goods by land with Myers as a guide. The rest were aboard the Sally and with Captain Freeman to Cross Creek. Sally Ann was not a large boat. The quarters are cramped, and it floated mere inches above the water line.  The waters of the Cape Fear are described as peaty brown.  Nonetheless, Claire is happy to be away from the Governor and his offer. Claire reminds us of Jamie’s severe seasickness. It’s his one true physical weakness. She offers the acupuncture needles. He declines and asks her to distract him with conversation instead. She asks about Aunt Jocasta. Jamie hasn’t seen her since he was two. Jamie can’t give a decent description of her. His mind wanders, wondering if Troklus needs help with the steerage of the boat. Though elderly, he seemed to know what he was doing without aid. Jamie doesn’t like feeling useless and unable. He then gives the background he knows of Jocasta. She married Cameron of Erracht before his mother and father married. That husband died, and she married his cousin Black Hugh Cameron of Aberfeldy. When he died, she married Hector Mor Cameron of Loch Eilean. As Claire points out, she had quite a taste for Camerons. Jamie recalls the Camerons to be wordsmiths, specifically the one who was part of the Rising. They were still in the harbor, working to clear it. She recalls how she last slept upon Jamie’s knee in a taproom during final preparations. He begins to massage her neck while telling the story of the Camerons. He moves to sit behind her (DOA, p132, Nook). Cameron had prepared himself for the disaster of Culloden. He escaped the battle, made it home, loaded all he could in a coach and fled to Edinburgh for a ship bound for North Carolina. They made it out of the Crown’s pursuit. When Hector died, he was 73. Jocasta had not seen it necessary wed again, yet (DOA, p133, Nook). (6:00)

The river travel was slow going. Young Ian let his annoyance known before going to speak to the Captain. Jamie tries to wink at Claire lewdly, but since he cannot wink…Young Ian butts back into the sexually charged conversation (DOA, p133, Nook). His teenage energy is driving Jamie bonkers. It was also very hot and sticky. Claire and Fergus talk. Fergus is thrilled at the idea of 50 acres to homestead. Claire is dubious about Fergus’ ability to farm with only one hand and his background. He’s keen to have a house built so he can send for Marsali and the baby. He left her in the protection of friends and his patron saint in Jamaica to birth their first child.  Claire wants to know if they will call the baby Dismas after the saint (DOA, p135, Nook).  She asks why he’s not in Jamaica. He doesn’t believe he would be of any help in Jamaica, with childbirth being woman’s work. At Fergus pondering the dangers in this new place, and Jamie needing his help, they pass a corpse of a man hung on a stake. This is how pirates were dealt with if they couldn’t be taken for hanging in the city. (11:00)

The next sighting of interest is an alligator gliding into the water. The Governor had given Jamie the book, The Natural History of North Carolina. Fergus launches into a Lawrence Stern story (DOA, p138, Nook).  Leave it Fergus to discuss copulation in such a way. Poor Young Ian is stunned. (13:00)

Cape Fear is a tidal river; the tide surge moved them along faster giving the freedman relief from the pole and reduced anxiety over the slow pace. Everyone relaxed into the rhythm of the boat moving swiftly. Jamie presents Claire with a present (DOA, p140, Nook). Claire is thrilled with the luxurious doctor’s kit. Instruments, bottles, microscope. She’s in clinical heaven. Turns out this amazing box and the clinical notebook was owned by a Dr. Daniel Rawlings. He never came back for them like he was supposed to. The woman he lodged with went to the sheriff, the justice, and the constable. No one could find him.  He disappeared the year prior. Claire remembers the doctor’s bag she left in the 20th century (DOA, p142, Nook). Jamie found the box at the goldsmith’s shop. He intended to buy her something else; then he saw this.  Claire thinks he was trying to make up for having to send money to Laoghaire (DOA, p.143, Nook).  He’s a romantic and Claire has no idea what day it is. It’s not been a year since she’s been back. (19:00)

Claire notices the plantations and the greenery as they ride the tidal surge. When the tidal surge ran out, they stopped and ate by the river, but slept on the boat because of the water moccasins (agkistrodon piscivorous), that like to snuggle with campers on the shore. In the morning, Claire awoke with Jamie drowsy and aroused behind her (DOA, p144, Nook). He means to take his time of it when they finally can get sexy time. Claire spent her time going over the clinical casebook, while Jamie tried to give Young Ian a Latin lessons. It wasn’t going at all well. Young Ian was adept at mathematics, but not at languages like his uncle, who spoke several languages. Claire was thankful Dr. Rawlings preferred English to Latin in his clinical writings.  As she reads, she gives a proper diagnosis to a patient entry (DOA, p146, Nook). Jamie continues his frustrating lessons with Young Ian, while Claire reads further. The lessons reach a loud end with Jamie yelling at Young Ian and him back (DOA, p147, Nook). Claire peeks around the corner and is swiftly brought into the conversation by Jamie (DOA, p148, Nook). Jamie is concerned for Young Ian’s future. He should be at the university. Young Ian says his father was fighting in France at his age. Jamie recounts joining Ian Murray four years later when he was outlawed. This would have been after his flogging by Black Jack Randall. They fought in Flanders with a Scottish regiment (DOA, p149, Nook). Young Ian has never been told tales of his father’s time in France. He thinks his mother babies him. Though admittedly she’d skelp him if he went home at that moment. Jamie goes on to explain what his parents would want for him (DOA, p151, Nook). As always Young Ian pushes back and wants to know if Jamie did what his parents wanted him to do. Jamie puts him in his place while letting the boy off the hook (DOA, p151, Nook). Jamie takes his turn at the pole, but unlike Troklus or anyone else, he wouldn’t take off his shirt. Instead, he takes off his breeks then ties his shirt between his legs. Jamie will not show the scars on his back openly. He flashes Claire a smile, hands her his breeks, and recites a poem (DOA, p151, Nook). A wee bawdy and getting the lessons across to young Ian. 

Jamie is a man of worth in his choices and actions. He wants what’s best for his nephew, but the boy has wanderlust and adventure is where his heart leads. He is also the baby in his family; his mother wants to hold him more tightly because of it. He terrifies her. Claire is well pleased to have Dr. Rawlings medical box and journal. She can treat more effectively and efficiently with the tools of her trade. We are seeing how their paths with form, by Fergus speaking of the land grant and Jamie providing this useful box. (31:00)

Chapter 9 – Two-Thirds a Ghost

Everything in the opening paragraphs of chapter 9 describes the landscape and processes as the alchemy of water and trapped sun with the heat soaking into the ground and water. Jamie comes alongside her. His brief touch causes sweat to erupt. The air is thick with moisture. Claire thinks it smells wonderful though, of all the green things and sun-warmed wood (DOA, p152, Nook). Rollo settles down next to them while Young Ian is learning how to cheat at cards. Jamie knows Ian is a young man and knows his own business, even if it might cause trouble or send him the devil’s way. Claire thinks he listens to Jamie, but he’s still with them and not in Scotland as he was meant to be Jamie reminds her. Near the narrowing river, an opossum with babies on her back appears, Jamie and Rollo both wonder if they can catch her.  Claire hands Jamie roasted peanuts to try. He likes them. He’s amazed at how easily crops grow here. Claire isn’t sure and reminds him of events to come (DOA, p155, Nook). Claire tries to convey it might be their fight if they stay in that region. The war is coming. She reflects on Jamie’s age with thankfulness. He’s still in his prime, but no longer young. He may be tempered now not to run off into every battle that presents. North Carolina is big, and perhaps they could find a place that could remain untouched by future events. Jamie cautiously thinks of Claire as a planter’s lady (DOA, p156, Nook). Jamie worries he hasn’t given Claire enough material goods. Brianna is enough for her. This is Brianna’s country in her time. She’s an American. Jamie is willing to fight if he can make it a better and safer place for her. Claire left the heirloom pearls with Brianna. All she needs is the silver wedding band (DOA, p157, Nook). I love how they return to the simple truths between them. The inscription inside her ring is part of the love song by Catullus. These moments continue to strengthen and bond them. He wants so much for her, and she needs so little. She only needs him.  I couldn't put my finger on why I dislike the ring in the TV show so much. As I podcast prep chapter 9 of Drums of Autumn the reason for my dislike hit me. The Catullus inscription reminds us of their connectedness and foundation. It's a reminder of their beginnings. There's no specific promise the ring or their relationship hangs upon, except their vows, what they are to each other. Therefore, this is why I dislike the ring in the show. It’s not only unattractive to me; it holds brokenness as it's lasting meaning. Lallybroch was barely his to give her when they married. He was an outlaw and only laird in name. It was a promise of a home he couldn't return. Then once he signed it over to Young Jamie because of the Rising, the ring becomes a broken promise. He had no home or place to give her. He was no longer a laird. The key was to someone else's door. The inscribed Celtic ring from the book never alters with the passage of time or events. I know others see it as special because it’s all Jamie had to give her.  (39:00)

As they rest for the night, Claire contemplates the Highland notions of hospitality and kinship, the family line, and what Jocasta MacKenzie Cameron Cameron Cameron would be like. Jocasta was the baby of the five siblings. Claire, of course, had known Dougal and Colum quite well. She thinks Jocasta will be tall and maybe red-haired. Claire ponders what Jamie will say when asked about the last time he saw Dougal or Colum. Remember Jamie had killed Dougal in her defense before Culloden. Colum had died of his disease just before. She joined Jamie in sleep after remembering his ease of sleeping anywhere. (40:00)

Claire wakes to them being boarded by pirates. Rollo tried to bite one of them. He was injured. Claire told one of the masked men she wanted to help the dog. He waved her on with his pistol. Rollo was conscious and whining. Claire found him to have a strong pulse. He’s not seriously injured. Ian even has to hold him back from going after the pirates once more.  The leader of the pirates is none other than Stephen Bonnet (DOA, p161, Nook). Claire is hearing bottles breaking leaps up to go after her medicine box (DOA, p162, Nook). After being drug back on deck, the robber she’d hit pulled at her rings. She was reluctant, but Bonnet told her she must. She took off Frank’s gold ring, but Jamie’s silver ring was more difficult to release from her finger. Instead of handing them over, Claire decides to swallow the rings. Ouch! Going down and coming out will not feel pleasant. Jamie crushes Claire to the deck to protect her. Bonnet stops the other man from mortally harming either of them. Bonnet’s version of debt repayment is a skewed and honorless one (DOA, p154, Nook). Bonnie came for the gems he’d heard about, and he also claimed one of her rings off the deck. Everyone scrambled to get things back in order after the men left. Claire likely had a concussion, as well as a few other cuts and bruises. Jamie is angry and according to Ian enough to do physical violence, though he doubted he would raise a hand to Claire. Claire made the situation worse by trying to swallow the rings and clubbing the robber on the head for messing with the doctor’s box. She tended to Rollo with Ian’s help. Her throat was sore; she had no idea which ring she maintained possession of.  In an unusual move, Jamie took off his shirt to help the freedman use a pole to move the boat. When they were sufficiently moving, Eutroclus took the pole from Jamie. (45:45)

Jamie turns his attention to a nervous Claire. He means to help her dislodge the ring (DOA, p167, Nook). Every time I read this passage my guts roil, and I get nauseated.  His method worked, though Claire is none too happy with him (DOA, p168, Nook). Stephen Bonnet has Frank’s ring. The deck is back in order, and Claire holds a cup of applejack near her face. She’s unable to drink anything just yet but finds it comforting nonetheless. They had gone from potential riches to rags, and the only goods that remained were a bag of beans and her medicine box. Claire felt powerless like she was falling down a well having their circumstances and even future altered so swiftly and unexpectedly at the hands of Bonnet. Jamie must feel even worse. He was responsible for so many. He’d sent Laoghaire money, and she was far better off than they were now. What would Jamie do to Bonnet for this injustice? Jamie had allowed Bonnet to escape. He had helped him. Was Jamie concerned over the countless others that might be harmed by Bonnet being loose? Jamie thinks himself a fool, though Claire tries to say he was kind and is not to blame. Someone had told Bonnet of the gems they were trying to sell. Likely one of Lillington’s servants. He apologizes for Claire losing her other ring. She tries to say it’s okay but can’t (DOA, p171, Nook). They stood without talking, the rain waiting to break over them. Her hand looked frail and pale without the ring, in Jamie’s larger hand. Her hand the same as it ever was an instrument of healing, but different somehow without it. She lifted her ringed right hand and pressed it against her heart to reassure Jamie.  The rain began (DOA, p171, Nook). (51:30)

Claire is momentarily comforted by what she still has. The safety and comfort of the silver ring and Jamie. How might she feel in the future? Remember back to the attack by the soldiers after they were wed and she had to kill a man. She felt okay at the time but later felt that Jamie didn’t protect her. That he put her in a bad position. Will the loss of Frank’s ring be brought up again? What else might it mean to her? She’s an honorable and loyal woman. She never took Frank’s ring off when she married Jamie. He mattered to her. She never took Jamie’s ring off when she returned to Frank pregnant with Brianna. They represented all that was dear to her upon the instruments of her work. How with this effect Jamie in the future? What will he do to Bonnet? How will they arrive at Jocasta’s? Will she accept them seeming like beggars? Will the loss of the gems and their lowered circumstances press Jamie to accept the Governor’s offer of land even knowing what it means? These are pivotal chapters indeed. The title of this chapter leads me to think Stephen Bonnet is the one who’s two-thirds a ghost. He should be dead.

What’s Coming up? Chapter 10 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 6-7

Week 4

“Oh, What an Offer”

Summary:

They arrive in Wilmington smelling of peaches. They require a boat to get to Cross Creek. A man tries to show Claire his wares. Jamie meets a cousin. To a dinner party, they go. Claire distracts. A ruby necklace shines. Jamie receives an intriguing offer.

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 6 – I Encounter a Hernia – June 1767

Jamie hates boats. For expediency sake, it’s the preferred mode of travel to Cross Creek where Jamie’s family, the Cameron’s reside. Hector Cameron is his Uncle by marriage to his Aunt Jocasta. Claire tries to assure him that rivers don’t have waves like the ocean. She also still carries the acupuncture needles if he does become motion sick. They had been traveling their way from Charleston north to Wilmington. They’d come across a peach orchard on an abandoned homestead, they heartily ate and sold what they gathered to earn money along the way (DOA, p98, Nook, 3:00).  Claire is tasked with getting provisions, while Jamie and Duncan must sell the wagon and horses to secure boat services. Young Ian sends Rollo along as an added security measure.

Fergus is eyeing the goods Claire picked up, except for the item of lace and ribbon. Claire is certain it’s necessary, so they can look presentable when they arrive at the Cameron’s. Fergus gets on board with the idea and states Claire needs a ribbon color too (DOA, p99, Nook). Jamie and Rollo return. Rollo, like Jamie, can’t go unnoticed (DOA, p100, Nook). A very tall man named John Quincy Myers. He’s seeking a healer and wondering if Claire might be one (DOA, p101, Nook). They talk about what he might need. He’s not ill precisely, but he seems to have grown a third testicle (DOA, p102, Nook). Enter Jamie to the conversation (DOA, p102, Nook, 8:15). The men are evaluating each other like two dogs sniffing each other’s backsides. This assessment included Fergus, Young Ian, and Rollo. He can help them get to River Run but turns out hector died the Winter before (DOA, p103, Nook). He turns his attention back to his testicles; Claire is sure she knows what it is without seeing it. It’s an inguinal hernia (9:00).  Claire explains she could repair it, but he would need to be unconscious for her to do so. There’s no way for her to do it. He takes in her words then says he know the right person to sail them upriver. Jamie’s response to this whole episode is patently Jamie (DOA, p. 104, Nook).

In another twist of goodness, Jamie found a potential gem buyer. They’re heading to a party where the Governor William Tryon and other influential people will be. It turns out the Governor’s wife’s Secretary is a cousin to Jamie. Now they have to look the part. With an advance from cousin Edwin on the gem sale, Claire goes shopping for an out of date but a decent gown. The seamstress was unimpressed with Claire’s fashion tastes (DOA, p106, Nook). Jamie swoops in with a bauble for her bare chest.  He’d also bathed, had his coat brushed and rented beautiful buttons for the occasion (15:00). Claire’s a fine distraction for the evening’s dinner plans. There will be movers and shakers at this dinner party.

Chapter 7 – Great Prospects Fraught with Peril

At the dinner, Claire was unnerved by the sturgeon staring at her from the plate (DOA, p109, Nook). Claire is not too happy with the companions near her or the conversation, Mr. Stanhope and Phillip Wylie.  Then the topic of taxation erupts at the table, including the repeal of the Stamp Act.  Claire dives in to make amusing conversation, momentarily diffusing the situation. She inquires what the current tax rate is, and the dandy Wylie fills her in (DOA, p111, Nook, 19:00). Claire’s cleverly trying to find out about local business, the printing business. Perhaps Jamie can get his Bonnie out of storage in Edinburgh. The Committee of Safety is brought up as well as discussion of Jamie’s political leanings. Alarms were going off in Claire’s head. Jamie was seated between the host and the Governor. Jamie’s family connections become the topic of conversation. Dinner parties were the social networking of the time. FaceBook, but in person. The ruby around Claire’s neck was getting attention from the Baron. Claire thinks of Geillis and her good taste in gems. Remember this came from the cache Geillis had with her to travel in the cave at Abandawe. Claire accomplished the task of being a distraction. 

After the dinner, she escaped to the room they’d been given. Defrocked and naked, she sat in the dark of the open window, enjoying the breeze. The ruby still hung about her neck. She notices it’s as warm as her temperature. She could hear the conversation as the guests waited below for their carriages. She caught pieces of the Wylie’s and Stanhope talking (DOA, p115, Nook, 24:00). Now holding the stone, it felt even warmer than her temperature. It seemed almost alive to her. All the guests had left, but Jamie hadn’t come to their room. She decided to put her dress back on and go looking for him. He and the Governor were talking. She stayed outside the room listening, staying as quiet as possible. The Governor is pitching Jamie an interesting offer for settlement (DOA, p117, Nook). They discuss the details of who he might recruit to settle land (DOA, p119, Nook).  The issue of him being a Papist (DOA, p120, Nook). That blasted oath they all had to take after Culloden. They conclude their meeting. Claire makes her way as quickly as she can back to the room. She’s fascinated with the offer and Jamie’s ability to run a settlement. To regain what he lost in Scotland. Remember Lallybroch is his nephew Jamie’s property now.  Claire is pondering all it could mean to find men to help settle any given land. Her biggest fear was Jamie’s gravestone in Scotland (DOA, p122, Nook). Jamie returned noting how light on her feet Claire is. As she helps him undress she notices the odors about him, brandy, cigar, and nicotiana (flowering tobacco) from his walking in the garden. She surmises he’s in an excited mood to go for a stroll at this hour.

He mutters about the amount of clothing in the heat, thinking the natives are smarter for wearing a loincloth and apron. Claire is not so sure if it would play out well in reality (DOA, p122, Nook). The Baron agreed to purchase the stone for 300 pounds sterling. Jamie thanks Claire for being such a wonderful distraction at dinner keeping Stanhope, Wylie, and the Baron occupied so he could speak with the Governor. Jamie’s protectiveness rises as he recounts Stanhope’s eyes were falling into Claire’s bosom (33:45). 

The idea of discretion came up and well; Claire thinks Scots are not a discreet bunch. The conversation turns to Jamie’s grandfather Old Simon. The meeting with the Governor must have brought the memories to the surface. The Jacobites, Culloden, or Stuart are not things Jamie ever speaks of (DOA, p.123, Nook). Then she asked about THE OATH he swore (DOA, p123, Nook, 35:00). Heavy words. Heavy oath. Imagine the emotional damage uttering such an oath could being regardless of saying it under duress or freely. The gravity of words and what holds the meaning to die for is discussed. “What about- ‘I love you’? Aye, That’ll do.”

Claire is disturbed and unable to sleep. Her mind restless, even after sex and release. She envied his sleep. She looked at him then tried counting sheep (DOA, p125, Nook). Jamie asks her what the trouble is. She tries to feign being fine, but he can hear her thinking (DOA, p125, Nook, 32:15). They discuss the Governor’s offer. Why had it been made? He wants to understand both sides of the bargain before he agrees. Why ask Jamie. He’s a Jacobite, lacks wealth, and is a Papist. Jamie in a newcomer with wealthy family ties, but no loyalties of his own yet. He’s a soldier too. The Governor knows this. There have been difficulties in the backcountry with men calling themselves the Regulators (DOA, p127, Nook). Jamie could be placed in the backwoods as an experienced soldier who might be of service and help to the Governor if the Regulators cause further trouble. He would be purchased for 100 pounds and some acreage. Claire claims the Governor is sneaky and practically Scottish. He could use the knowledge of Jamie being a Catholic to rescind the lands if he wanted to in the future.

As dawn approaches the smell of mud, river water, and faint pine fill the room. Time for some sleep.

Claire’s mind calms momentarily. She is terrified he’ll die if he goes to Scotland. That damned gravestone is a relentless reminder of Jamie’s mortality. Jamie has much to think over. It’s quite the offer albeit with grand strings attached from the Governor. What about his Aunt? Surely, she’ll have something to ask of him. So much for Claire and Jamie trying to play under the radar. Certainly, they will be topic of much conversation among the who’s who in North Carolina.

What’s Coming up? Chapters 8-9 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Chapters 3-5

Week 3

Summary:

Brianna takes an unexpected early morning call. Roger plans a visit. Brianna sends confusing signals. There's a sweet airport reunion. After his week-long conference, off to the Scottish festival they go. Brianna struggles with the past, grief, and healing. A kilted Roger performs to an appreciative crowd. Brianna’s wounds are exposed. Roger passes Uncle Joe’s assessment. The Apollo 11 mission prevails. “Yeah, it’s like that,” for the both of them. 

Inside the Chapters:

Chapter 3 - The Minister’s Cat - Boston, June 1969

Roger calls Brianna from Scotland and gets the time difference wrong. She is dead asleep and wakes with a humorous start. They haven’t seen each other in some time, and Roger is nervous and unsure of her because she hasn’t answered his letter. There’s a conference he can attend the following month, and does she want to see him? He nervously talks, worrying she’ll reject him. They speak over each other. Of course, she wants to see him. He laughs as their words collide once more. He understands her now, warming her through. She acknowledges he’s the only other person who can understand her. She’d been dreaming about Jamie when he called her. She was trying to catch up to him while they hiked in the mountains. She’d used to do that with Frank. Roger brings up bagging Munros* in Scotland and explains the hobby of hiking mountains over 3000 feet. His laugh brings the memory of his parting kiss last upon her lips. Roger and Brianna like to play games with each other. She guessed he was in Inverness, Scotland and not in England because his accent was thicker when there. He playfully rolled his r’s for her (DOA, p66, Nook). She wished he was there now. Bree admitting wanting him catches Roger off guard. She tries to explain why she didn’t write, but he says there’ll be time to discuss it when he’s there in a month. He’s happy she said he could visit. She’s happy remembering her hand upon his chest. 

Now sleepless, she goes to the kitchen for a glass of milk. While peering into the refrigerator, the contents become the standing stones in her mind’s eye. She shivers. She knows why she didn’t write, yet she has no idea how to explain it to Roger. He was part of the devastation and loss of learning about Jamie Fraser and her mother leaving. Though her mother wasn’t dead, there was nothing to do but grieve the loss. She was utterly lonely without her mother. Brianna’s Catholic upbringing shows as she hears an ambulance and crosses herself. She says a small prayer for those who need it. She also prays daily for her mother and father. Even though Uncle Joe Abernathy knew everything that happened, only Roger could hear the stones too. The experience had marked them after Claire had gone. She needed to heal and rebuild her life, away from Scotland and stone circles. When Roger was present, she couldn’t forget any of it, not even for a moment. Had he cared and protected her only because her mother had asked him too? She doesn’t want a future based on crushing obligation. Was she presumptuous he wanted a future with her? She thinks if she left and came back again to him, they could do it right at their choosing. If they were to take the relationship further, it would need to be their choice. Bree sits down to her mathematics work, soothing and controlled (DOA, p.69, Nook). Like in Voyager we see the image of a spider weaving. Above all, she was glad she’d said yes to his visit.

The following month she’s at the airport with her friend Gayle to pick Roger up. Gayle sounds vapid and unworldly, but able to fill conversational spaces. She thinks England and Scotland are the same. Brianna clears up the misconception of England versus the United Kingdom and Scotland. Nosy Gayle wants to know if Bree and Roger have had sex yet. Bree is aghast at the question but tells her no. At this moment, Roger appears. Gayle is impressed by him, while Bree stiffens at the sight (DOA, p70, Nook). He does sound a bit like a pirate, doesn’t he? Bree’s body reacts at the sight of him; perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to have him come after all. He sees her and lights the room; she runs to him without thinking. He meets her halfway, nearly picking her up from the ground and squeezing her hard. Can you hear the music playing in the background? I do. It’s funny how Brianna thinks she hasn’t already chosen him. He kisses her. She doesn’t want his whisky flavored lips to stop. Breathlessly, they stop. Gayle breaks into the reunion scene (DOA, p.71, Nook). Gayle fauns over Roger’s accent. Brianna finally remembers to introduce her friend. Roger plays along rolling his r’s in a most undignified fashion. Bree is not amused. He explains that in addition to the conference; he’s playing at a Scottish Festival to earn money while he’s in town (DOA, p.71, Nook). He sometimes does Scottish folk singing at ceilidhs* and highland games*. Funny that Gayle knows about kilts, but is unaware Scotland is a separate country. Bree is once again not amused. Gayle remarks about the big box, it’s Roger’s bodhran*, a Scottish drum. She also offers to drive Roger to the festival, which Bree quashes. Gayle again presses her about them having sex and thinks Bree is crazy if she doesn’t. It’s 1969. I think young adults have always been the same, no matter what outward social mores would say.

As Brianna drives Roger to the Scottish Festival, they play The Minister’s Cat*. Roger says it’s a Scottish game, but it’s a Victorian parlor game. They play for a while (DOA, p.73, Nook). These two are a brainy and vocabulary laden duo. They reach the turn for the festival; Roger is apologetic at how far it is from Boston. Brianna says it isn’t far. She scoffs at the 150-mile drive (DOA, p.73, Nook). The conversation takes a turn while using The Minister’s Cat as a conversational pathway. She becomes aloof and thoughtful. Roger decides tea is the answer, but Bree hates tea. She’s no English woman indeed. Roger reflects upon Brianna. She looks like her heritage but seems MORE.  She begins to explain what she’s thinking. Roger is thinking of all the ways he likes her. She tells him how great he was after her mother left and wanted to know if he’s been back to Craigh na Dun. He hasn’t been back. Is he scared of it (DOA, p.75, Nook)? She points out how much he helped regardless of being scared. She tells him though she’s not spoken of her parents in half a year, she can’t be around him without talking about her parents immediately. She blushes (like Jamie) when she talks to him. She also says, she had a crush on him and didn’t know he was just nice to her for her mother. He assures her he wasn't just nice. She wasn’t sure what to do (DOA, p.75, Nook). He kisses her after asking permission. Always a gentleman. He’s a combo of Frank and Jamie. After parking, Roger suddenly realizes where he brought her and is horrified. A Scottish festival with all the trappings would remind her of Jamie.

Chapter 4 – A Blast from the Past

Roger finds the dressing area to be luxurious in comparison to what he’s used to in Scotland. This leads him to husband thinking. Would he be financially able to equal the level of comfort Brianna is used to? She is driving a brand-new Mustang. In 1969, that vehicle MSRP was from $2740-4798 for the various models. The average American made $5900 in 1969. It was a pricey car. He is not stupid for wondering what income level she expected. He also had an envelope for her. He’s hesitant to give it to her based on their earlier conversation and her reaction to seeing the 78th Fraser Highlanders’* pipe-band in the flesh, made him worry about her. Incidentally, the 78th Fraser Highlanders’ pipe-band did not come into existence until 1982. Diana’s timey-wimey writing! The Fraser motto* is Je suis prest! (I am ready!). He’s worried about her as he’s getting ready for two performances and mulling over what he’ll do based on the audience. He’s donning his kilt while she is off entertaining herself. He decides to go full Scots in his kilt and eschews the underwear (DOA, p.78, Nook). On his way out, he asked for luck from his father. The appearance of him made Brianna sit up and take notice. Her mother was right about a man in a kilt. It makes them sexy indeed. She asks him if he’s hungry and goes over the available food options (DOA, p.79, Nook). He’s sorry for bringing her since it’s been such a shock, but she’s okay with it. She thinks the festival is so Scottish. Roger decides it is, “the Scots’ age-old talent for survival-the ability to adapt to anything and make a profit from it.” He hugs her, noticing she smells like fresh grass. Claire smells like herbs and green things when Jamie hugs her. He points out she’s Scots too, but she doesn’t want to eat haggis*. Roger thinks the food vendors are quite unusual. Apparently, the festival changes and the vendors stay the same. The vendor asks about his kilt to a bland-faced response (DOA, p.80, Nook). Brianna gives her version of an over the top Scottish accent. They look around at all the merchandise. Brianna asks why he’s using MacKenzie*. He explains Wakefield is his adopted father’s name; his family name is MacKenzie. Roger Jeremiah MacKenzie is his given name. Jerry was his father. His nickname was Jemmy when he was young. He explains why Jeremiah was the best family name to choose from (DOA, p.81, Nook). Their conversation veers to Claire explaining sex in Brianna’s health courses in school. Yes, one can get pregnant the first time or while having sex only once. She explains to Roger the word health is a euphemism for sex in America. Roger is thankful his sporran is holding down the kilt fort with this frank conversation. She backwardly asks if he’s had sex and a steady girlfriend (DOA, p.83, Nook). She’s no steady boyfriend. He kisses her fingers. Roger don’t be a too shy man.

It was time for him to perform, he hands her the envelope. His voice is lovely, to her and the crowd. He’s very good. He sings a variety of songs from the always popular choices to those of war. The song about Prestonpans, ”Hey Johnnie Cope"* struck Bree as she realizes her mother and Jamie were both at that battle. She had an epiphany about herself and Roger (DOA, p.85, Nook). Roger shifted from the music of the ’45 with a piece from 1715 rising*. Brianna took this as her opportunity to open the envelope. It’s pictures of Claire and Frank happily married. It’s their wedding day. Roger is singing another Jacobite piece as she discovers the details of these wedding photos. Roger’s set ends with “The Bonnie Banks o’Loch Lomond*,” Brianna is overtaken with emotion looking at her mother so sure and happy on her wedding day to Frank.  This is one of the issues she has loving Roger. What if she changes her mind? What if she finds someone else like her mother did?

A bit later without discussing her departure from his performance, he needs to leave her for a bit during the calling of the clans*. This is where all the clans present are called and accounted for. They wandered the festival spending the afternoon together. Pay attention to the description of the people and families at this festival for the later gathering in the book. As the Clans were called during the torchlight ceremony, Brianna pondered the existence of clans today (DOA, p.89, Nook).

Chapter 5 – Two Hundred Years from Yesterday

Snapped back into reality, it’s Roger’s final day in Boston. The moon landing is anticipated as several people gather at Joe Abernathy’s house. Uncle Joe is frustrated over the TV not working, so he asks Bree to figure it out after she introduces, the boyfriend, Roger to him. Joe and Roger have a chat over some Lagavulin* whisky Claire gifted him with before she left. Joe jumps right in since Claire and Frank are both gone. He wants to know what Roger’s intentions are (DOA, p.92, Nook). Thankfully the television interrupts for a moment before Joe dives in for more (DOA, p.93, Nook). Ultimately he sees Roger is in love with Brianna, that it isn’t a fling to him. “It’s like that.” They all anxiously await the Apollo 11* landing. Bree is pressed against Roger. In the safety of people, they can have close contact.

Roger thinks of the drive back from the festival, their conversation, the long drive back with Roger at the wheel, and unable to figure the way back to her apartment, took her to his hotel room, where he inhabited the floor. When dawn broke, he sat in the chair wrapped in her sweater, the scent about him. He simply watched her sleep. “Yeah, it was like that.” Apollo 11 landed, the rest of the room gripped by the television. “It was a fine day to be an American.” Roger felt it was two hundred years from where they were yesterday at the festival (DOA, p.95, Nook).

Interesting Links*:

What’s Coming up? Chapters 6-7 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Hover over picture for attribution and click for link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Week 2

Chapter 2 - In Which We Meet a Ghost

Summary:

The Merry Fraser Band bury a friend in the creepy kirkyard. They get a terrible fright. They meet the fugitive prisoner and reluctantly help him to freedom. Claire takes a much-needed river bath. Jamie joins her. They swelter in love and heat. Their future is wide open like the vast wilderness before them.

Play by Play:

They have the funds* to bury poor Gavin Hayes thanks to Fergus’s quick thinking and hat passing in the tavern. They need to figure out what to do with Gavin now it is late at night. The priest will not be awake, but they cannot take him into the woods with them to sleep or leave him in the town. Jamie decides they’ll bury him themselves in the church cemetery.

Claire notes the funeral procession (the cortege) is less dignified than usual with Duncan repeating unsavory parts of the lament. Fergus sourly mumbles about the likelihood of getting thrown in jail for disturbing the peace.

The churchyard is quiet and remote. In fact, it’s as dark as a crypt due to the overhanging Magnolia* branches. Moving through the air is described as “pushing aside curtains of black velvet” (DOA, p 35 Nook). If you’ve never been to the southern United States, this is an apt description when the weather is warm. The air is a palpable force. Though nothing like the crisp Highlands air, the mist reminded Claire of the tannasq in the story, Jamie told.

They roamed the graveyard for an open space to bury the body. The men are all well lubricated by alcohol, leaving Young Ian emotionally tender. The effects of the dark cemetery are not lost on Claire either. She feels she’s a ghost herself with the remoteness and isolation of this place.

Industrious as ever, Jamie had taken a candle from the tavern. He says it will be like an Easter vigil. He saw one once at Notre Dame in Paris (DOA, p.37 Nook). Requiescat in pace* is Latin for rest in peace (DOA, p37 Nook).

Young Ian and Jamie take turns digging the hole. Claire recounts how medical students used to steal fresh bodies to practice dissection. “Did they or do they?” Jamie asks. One of Claire’s not uncommon inadvertencies (unintentional or not focusing the mind, in her case eluding to things out of time or referencing now as the past). She remembers the difference between an embalmed body in a clinical setting to this reality. Young Ian injects a story about his father Ian being mistaken for dead and almost taken away by doctors while in prison. Ian always regarded doctors as ghouls henceforth. Claire had been a skilled surgeon in her own time; here she’s merely a wise woman. Claire could never be anything but a physician regardless of title.  

Jamie not fearing the ghoulies himself, leans down to kiss Claire. They both have an unexpected sexual response. Per Claire, it’s common for a surge of lust to accompany the presence of death. I was unable to find quality information on this; however, it does make sense the need for release, connection, or feeling good, much like how lust surges after a battle or fight*. Have any of you experienced this phenomenon?

Claire is encouraged to sit because her leg is not long healed from the tibia fracture. Claire is in lust, he touches her, and she envisions dragging him down to the earth and having her way with him. Jamie is no better off getting gooseflesh where she touches him. The spell is broken for the moment as Rollo eyes Claire narrowly.

They go to fetch Gavin. Young Ian is scared in the dark from the story Jamie told. Claire most assuredly tells him it will not be coming for Gavin here. They reach the cart; Claire is happy they will be done with this soon so that they can go to the woods and sleep. Suddenly all hell breaks loose with shrieks of horror. A figure was sitting up from the wagon bed.

Rollo launches at the figure, and the ghost screams. Fergus clubs the figure with the spade, yelling at him to stop, pig (DOA, p42 Nook).

It turns out the figure is the prisoner who escaped from the gallows earlier that day. He’s not from hell, or is he? He's described as a man around 30, muscular, and powerfully built with fair hair. He’d been waiting in the wagon since midafternoon. His name is Stephen Bonnet. He’s no stranger to a fight and likely attracts women easily.

Jamie is sizing up this criminal. He wants to know why he was sentenced to hang. Smuggling and piracy he says. Jamie is trying to decide if he is a good risk to turn in or let go his way. He invokes Gavin’s name to negotiate for them to help him to safety out of town.  Jamie agrees, but Gavin must be buried first. 

They made a simple gravestone and cairn. The lit candle was left behind to give Gavin a light to guide his ascent. They leave him with a simple blessing (DOA, p45 Nook).

They were helping Bonnet get passed the military checkpoint. Unlike the prior checkpoints they’d come across during their travels, this one was highly fortified due to the missing prisoner.

They go through the checkpoint process, one of the soldiers stabs the “corpse” to make certain it’s dead. They’re allowed through in the nick of time before Bonnet starts to bleed.

Bonnet has the balls to ask them for some provisions before they drop him off at a set point a few miles away. This sets the tone for the type of man he is. Is there honor among thieves? He's very mercenary barely grateful for them not turning him in, he insists on the taking him to safety and giving him provisions. They need to watch out for this guy. They discuss his trade in smuggling. Duncan has a dislike for him, and Jamie is suspicious but agreeable to get him on his way.

As they ride along, Claire leans into Jamie, feeling the safety and security of him, she drifts into uneasy sleep. I adore this picture of him pulling her in, and she releases the weight of the world for a moment of relaxation against him.

Jamie urges her to go lie down on the wagon bed; he’s afraid she fall into the road. She changes places with Bonnet and lays her head upon a leather bag of salt. After more uneasy sleep, she wakes to Bonnet and Jamie talking. Jamie explains why he saved him (DOA, p51 Nook). Bonnet calls Jamie an asgina ageli or a half-ghost. One meant to be dead but living with one foot on earth and one in the spirit world. These half-ghosts are supposed to be able to communicate with spirits and with the little people or the Nunnahee (faerie folk or the auld ones). I cannot find Native American Cherokee connection for this concept, except for one Wiki page that needs additional citations.  If any of you are more versed in Native American Lore, please email contact@adramofoutlander.com or call 719-425-9444. They discuss similar Highland lore, though Jamie contends he’s not a savage.

Claire wakes as the wagon stops, Young Ian and Jamie are going to tend to the horses. Claire insists on bathing before finding a place to sleep. She heeds Jamie’s cautions about the currents. She turns finding Stephen Bonnet in front of her. He bids her adieu and she wishes him luck. He mentions how a man makes his own luck. As he leaves she remarks on his walking the ghost of a crippled bear. Another ghost reference for this chapter.

Jamie hopes he didn’t make a mistake in allowing him freedom, saying to Claire, “The crown doesna always pick the wrong man to hang, Sassenach.” He worries he helped a villain go free. (DOA, p53 Nook).

Claire kisses him before her bath in the river; he wants her to stay awake just a bit longer. Someone is still lustful it appears.

Claire disrobes and enters the water. It’s much cooler than the hot night air. The water is fresh and sweet. She drinks. She splashes her body and rinses her hair several times and scrubs her body all over with the fine sand until she glows (DOA, p54 Nook). The imagery is such a relief. Cleansed from the days on the road. Rinsed until fresh. Lying upon the warm rock, she feels tingly and alive. her lustfulness hasn’t left either.

Rollo catches his dinner nearby; Claire is reminded of a wild Rousseau painting.  Her mind wanders to the primitive nature of the New World. It’s vast wilderness and dangers. Freedom and adventure are also out there in that wild.

Her mind continues to wander to Brianna safe in her own time, to the bugs and how she combats them daily (DOA, p56 Nook). Pennyroyal is a mosquito repellant along with basil, peppermint, and others. If Claire went to another time, insects, viruses, and bacteria would indeed affect her just like anyone else. She would not have some time traveler’s immunity by nature or inoculation.

Her mind goes back to Jamie. They hadn’t been intimate in some days with traveling roughly with others near. Claire talking about her dislike of having sex when others were close by affirms my idea that Claire is a bit prudish unless she is having sex with the person she loves. No holds barred in the circle of trust. Following her thoughts, she begins to masturbate wondering out loud where Jamie is. He is of course there watching her silently. She opens her eyes to him six feet away (DOA, p.57 Nook).

We get the full impact of the heat, the sweltering humidity in this delicious sex scene. Always the wordsmith, “Christ your mouth is slick and salty as your quim.” That’s a much nicer word than some he could’ve used. Jamie surmises people would die if they had sex in this heat all the time. Always a Highlander.

They take a dunk in the water before returning to the rock shelf to dry off. He reads Claire’s mind, thinking of the vastness of out there. She talks about how it is in her time. Jamie’s impressed there’ll be Scots in America including the inventor of asphalt, a Scot named McAdam. Claire shares there will be people all the way to California. They also discuss the plight of the Native Americans.  To Jamie, it seems not a problem to kick them off their lands and kill them since they are savages. Claire has a difficult time getting through to him and even brings home the point to the Scots being kicked off their lands.

Deeply happy and content, Claire wonders how long this bliss can last. What will their life be like? Will they be able to stand each other when the day in and day out takes root? Hearing her thoughts again, Jamie asks, “Will ye grow tired of me, do ye think. Once we’re settled?” He won’t tire of her in the flesh because he never did when she was a ghost. He wanted her more on the last day they were together before sending her back. She agreed (DOA, p60 Nook). He was surprised to see her masturbating. He had no idea women did such a thing. He’s in wonderment over the whole thing concerned a woman wouldn’t need a man then.  It’s a sweet exchange between them. She assures him it’s better with a man. This pleases him.

I love the next bit saying making love like this is like being slippery eels (DOA, p62 Nook). Jamie’s a man who aims to please his woman. Laoghaire missed out on some good loving. Their pillow talk or rock talk, in this case, is always interesting and entertaining. It gives us additional insight into the two of them.

Stephen Bonnet is one to watch for. Was the crown right to sentence him to death? I think so. They should've listened to their inner voices and turned him in. 

This chapter rounds out with more references to stars, life itself.

Links of Interest*:

What’s Coming up? Chapters 3-4 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you’re reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Drums of Autumn

Week 1

Chapter 1

Before we begin, we left off Voyager with Claire and Jamie et al. find themselves blown off course and landing in Georgia. Claire had suffered a broken leg. Duncan Innes, Fergus, and Young Ian were with Claire and Jamie. Marsali is in Jamaica pregnant and waiting for the birth of their baby. John Grey is the Governor of Jamaica. The Porpoise sunk during the harrowing storm as it followed the Artemis. Yi Tien Cho stayed on Jamaica. Archibald Campbell was the fiend and murdered the woman YTC was accused of murdering. He is dead. Geillis is dead at the hand of Claire after she and Jamie found her in the cave at Abandawe where she was set to sacrifice Young Ian to go back to the future to have the prophecy fulfilled through Jamie’s line.

Summary: They are in the New World. Claire is recovered. It's hot and muggy in Charleston. A friend is hanged. A prisoner escapes. Young Ian stays put. A fur friend is procured. Ale all around. A lament is sung. Plans are made. Claire wants a bath. Jamie is the leader and protector. They need to bury the body, then go north.

Chapter 1 A Hanging in Eden

Charleston, June 1767

They are in Charleston, South Carolina. As indicated by the title of the book and the opening line to this chapter, drums are an important theme.

It’s a hot day and men will be hanged. It is crowded with spectators. A friend of Jamie’s from Ardsmuir Gavin Hayes was among those set to hang. He was mightily drunk per Jamie’s help. He stole 6 pounds 6 shillings worth and would die for it. That’s about $1072 in American dollars today. Can you imagine losing your life for a $1000? When Gavin was hung, Jamie made sure he saw him and was comforted by his presence. A loyal friend is Jamie Fraser.

Claire and Fergus watched the hanging too. It’s not a pretty business. It's not efficient whether or not the hangman knows his job.

One of the other prisoners makes a break for it. All hell breaks loose, and he seems to get away. They escape the chaos to find Young Ian. Fergus is told to claim Gavin’s body. The Merry Fraser band is rounded out by Duncan Innes being alongside.

Jamie expects to be sending Young Ian back to Scotland as he promised his sister Jenny and Ian.

He’s concerned about their money. Claire cleverly sewed her pocket shut, and Jamie is hiding his portion in his pants. Hopefully, no tart of a harlot tries to pick his breaks.

Young Ian finds them, and he’s exceedingly happy. Jamie intent on getting Young Ian passage to Scotland heads with everyone in tow toward the docks. He attracts attention from the ladies along the way. He's mindful of his extra package. Turning gems into money was difficult. They were wealthy on paper and functionally poor.

The atmosphere was stuffy, hot, windless, and filled with all sorts of the stench.

The Olivier’s who had helped them after the shipwreck gave them modest transportation and provisions for their trip to South Carolina.

It turns out Young Ian has been playing dice and winning. He also has procured a rather wolfish dog named Rollo.

Jamie playing animal whisperer makes acquaintance with the beast. Ian has it all sussed – the dog hunts for himself. Jamie doesn’t think the captain of the ship he intended to send Young Ian home on would want a dog aboard. Looking all too happy turns out the ship left three days prior.  Jamie is worried what Jenny will say.

Off to a tavern they go. Jamie needs a drink.

Making plans stay and try to sell a stone and secure alternate passage or head north to Cape Fear, NC where Jamie has family relations. Young Ian thinks it’s grand to go north – he can help be of protection – the boy who trouble finds. In his excitement, he names all the things he hopes to meet – Indians, bears, panthers, and the foul creature – the skunk.

In this unfamiliar place, Jamie is very worried about being able to protect themselves against whomever and whatever they come across. It’s wild and much untamed. He knows people tell stories and they might be fodder for conversation. Word could be out about the gems.

He’s acting as leader of his wee clan of people.

They would feel safer in Cape Fear because of the large Scottish Highlander settlement.

Claire can only think about bathing and removing the clothing she’s been wearing in that scorching heat and sleeping rough in for eight days.

Soldiers come into the pub no doubt searching for the escaped prisoner. Jamie and Duncan were ill at ease with it. Jamie’s tell is a hand curling into a fist or tapping with his fingers.

Fergus arrives aggravated. He’s unhappy with how much the priest/pastor wants to charge to bury Gavin. He’s such one for the insult. It’s hilarious. They have very little money, and that would put them too near pennilessness.

A rag woman made a bargain with Fergus to take the clothing and wash the body. He’s in the cart waiting to for burial.

Duncan is on his way to drunkenness. Poor Gavin. Slainte.

They discuss where to bury Gavin since the priest wants too much money. The wood will not do.

They go on to tell a lengthy story of a night Gavin came across a spirit while looking for an escaped cow. He was mortally afraid of the dark ever after. Until he left home to follow the Bonnie Prince, he never went out after dark.

The cow was waiting outside the croft in the morning looking as if she’d been ridden to hell and back.

Gavin never knew what happened to his wife or son after Culloden. His son had been on the field next to him when the fighting started.

Even with lists kept it would be impossible to find any other existing transported family or those who may be alive in Scotland.

They made the point it might be best to never know for certain what happened to your child, hope could remain.

Jamie and Claire knew Brianna was safe and sound in the 20th century. They had that between them.

With Rollo lying under the table the serving maid was careful to avoid him. 

Duncan is drunk and grieving Gavin. Duncan decides they will indeed sing a lament for the man. The taproom responds to his opening notes with near violence until they realize he is singing. Even the dog lets out a woof. He sings the lament in Gaelic.

The other tables joined into the chorus – realizing violence wouldn’t happen – but they didn’t know Duncan was saying disparaging things.

Fergus savvy as ever took a hat to pass around, and the drunken patrons filled it with many coins.

Claire went out to relieve her bladder and spied the cart – seeing an outline of a body she presumed it to be Gavin. She hoped he’d enjoyed the lament.

Claire heard a familiar tune coming from inside the taproom – The Anacreon Song which was written sometime in 1770 -1771, 3-4 years after the year in the book. It’s a drinking song – the tune was used for the Star-Spangled Banner.

This opening chapter sets the tone for life in the new world. The weather is hot; there’s not much money in circulation to exchange gemstones with, they are outsiders, it’s unfamiliar and potentially dangerous from gossip and all the wild things of the vast wilderness. Jamie is reasserting himself as the leader. Young Ian is staying at least for a little while. Fergus is the faithful if salty sidekick. Marsali is in Jamaica waiting for the baby to be born. Claire is recovered from her broken leg. They have to start over yet again. Jamie and Claire as a recommitted couple stepping into their future. Though near penniless, Jamie’s aunt should be able to assist them.

Links of interest:

What’s Coming up? Chapter 2 Drums of Autumn (DOA).

How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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Eye of the Storm 313

Written for television by: Matthew B. Roberts and Toni Graphia

Directed by: Matthew B. Roberts

My play by play thoughts are below. To hear my deep and complete musings, you’ll need to listen to the podcast. Enjoy.

Starz Synopsis: Claire is forced to play a game of cat and mouse with an old adversary as she searches for Young Ian. The Frasers race through the jungles of Jamaica to prevent the unthinkable.

My Summary: Claire is in danger. Young Ian mans up. Unhinged Geillis confronts Claire. The prophecy riddle is solved. Lord John saves Jamie’s neck. Leonard is crushed. Young Ian is being hauled off. Claire is locked up. Jamie frees Claire. They find a dance party. Yi Tien Cho declares his love. Margaret prophecies and channels a child. Yi Tien Cho kills Archibald. Abandawe is reached. Geillis chooses her sacrificial lamb. Jamie gets beat up. Claire stops the traveling. Young Ian is saved. The gems are recovered. Claire remembers the bones. Back to sea, Claire and Jamie play. A storm rises. Woman overboard. Jamie goes in after. They wash up ashore. It’s the New World.

How it played:

What coming up? Week 1 Drums of Autumn read-a-long December 17, 2017. Chapter 1. There will also be a bonus Season 3 wrap-up podcast coming up.

How can you participate? To have your questions/comments added, email (contact@adramofoutlander.com) or call the listener line (719-425-9444) by Friday each week. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous podcast using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/Sony. 

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments

The Bakra 312

Written for television by: Luke Schelhaas

Directed by: Charlotte Brändström

Starz Synopsis: The Artemis finally reaches Jamaica bringing Jamie and Claire that much closer to their goal. During a lavish ball on the island, the Frasers encounter old allies, as well as former adversaries who threaten to derail their mission.

My Summary: Flashback to Young Ian’s capture. Young Ian and the Artemis arrive at Jamaica. Young Ian is given to The Bakra. She’s Geillis Duncan risen from the dead. Young Ian is drugged, questioned, and sexually assaulted. Claire and Jamie et al. just miss the Bruja. They meet an ally. Misadventure and horror in the slave market. They purchase a slave. The plan the release. Geillis needs a reading and a third sapphire. To the Governor’s Ball Team Fraser go. They meet an old patient. They see a ghost, Lord John Grey. Lord John meets Claire. The third sapphire is found. Claire sees a ghost, Geillis Duncan. Claire and Geillis catch up. Geillis agrees to help find Young Ian. The prophecy reading is done. Yi Tien Cho might get the girl. Thomas Leonard arrives. Jamie and Claire escape. Freedom is given. Jamie is arrested.

How it played:

My final thoughts: Absolute episodic whiplash. How many things can be thrown into one episode? I can imagine the writers' room buzz, “We’ve only 2 episodes left. Jam it all in here or we’re not going to make it.” It feels overwhelming at times having everything occur over the course of one day. The episode had no time to breathe and create a realistic pace. I also wonder why Jamie wasn’t in full disguise? A wig is certainly not enough to make him less visible. The wigs and Claire’s atrocious hair were their own characters. I half expected the wigs to animate and something alive coming out of Claire’s coif. A sweet twist giving Yi Tien Cho and Margaret a connection. It may be love at first sight for them. I hope the finale is less jam-packed with the presumed release of Jamie and rescue of Young Ian.

What’s Coming up? Episode 313 Eye of the Storm: Claire is forced to play a game of cat and mouse with an old adversary as she searches for Young Ian. The Frasers race through the jungles of Jamaica to prevent the unthinkable.

How can you participate? To have your questions/comments added, email or call the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest episode using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are the property of Starz/Sony. Retrieved from Outlander-Online screen captures.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Uncharted 311

Written for television by: Karen Campbell and Sharon Goss

Directed by: Charlotte Brändström

As always, my initial thoughts and links of interest are below. You’ll need to click and listen to the podcast to hear my full and thoughtful commentary. Enjoy! I did.

Starz Synopsis: After making a leap of faith, Claire washes up on a seemingly deserted island where survival is her only option. Navigating treacherous waters has crippled the Artemis, so Jamie devises a joyful moment for his crew in the midst of devastating setbacks.

My Summary: Claire washes ashore after jumping overboard. After her clothes dry, she walks, and walks, and walks. She sleeps until fire ants wake her. She walks some more, she sleeps, a giant snake wakes her. She walks and passes out near a home in the jungle. She’s wakes tied to a bed. An angry woman gives her water. She sleeps. She wakes to meet a priest, who unties her. She’s told she cannot travel yet. Mamacita (angry woman) sends her to bathe. They have a meal. The priest is defrocked and Mamacita is his mother-in-law. His wife is dead. The Artemis is dead in the water, some of the crew are dead. Jamie and others are mending the mast. A roasted Arabella gives Claire hope. She runs through the jungle toward the beach. She injures her arm. She sees the Artemis about to set sail. The mirror she stole attracts attention. Jamie comes to shore for her. Yi Tien Cho sutures her arm while Jamie drinks wine. A small peace is made between Claire and Marsali. There’s a beach wedding. Fergus is formally adopted by Jamie. Claire eats turtle soup while fevered. Injects self with penicillin. Drunk on soup she won’t take no for an answer. Yi Tien Cho is pleased at the soup’s after effects.

What happened:

It’s good to see stable Jamie back in fine form. Claire is strong and able without being overwrought. Yi Tien Cho is honorable and dependable. Finally, Fergus and Marsali (FergAli) are married.

For Book Readers: Seamless changes to make it fit this week. Finally, a Jamie who looks familiar.

What’s Coming up? Episode 312 The Bakra

The Artemis finally reaches Jamaica bringing Jamie and Claire that much closer to their goal. During a lavish ball on the island, the Frasers encounter old allies, as well as former adversaries who threaten to derail their mission. Bakra means slave master and is also a goat.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest episode using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the official website. All photos are property of Starz/Sony. Retrieved from Outlander-Online screen captures. 

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Heaven & Earth 310

Written by Luke Schelhaas

Directed by David Moore

My first impressions (with some links of interest) are below, to hear my deeper thoughts, you'll need to click and listen to the podcast. Enjoy!

Starz Synopsis:

Claire races to discover the source of an epidemic aboard a disease-stricken ship before hundreds of sailors die. And as Jamie locks horns with Captain Raines, Fergus finds himself torn between loyalty and love.

My Summary:

Due to the typhoid outbreak, Claire is pressed into service aboard The Porpoise. Fergus is a romantic. The Porpoise sets sail. Jamie loses his mind at the captain for not pursuing the ship and winds up in the brig. Claire gets a keen helper and turns The Porpoise into a floating hospital. Fergus refuses to help milord escape. Jamie is frantic and once again vomiting. Claire finds patient zero. Claire meets goat lady. Claire learns an arrest will be made. Claire threatens a man. Claire’s first escape is foiled.  Jamie is an arse to Fergus. Fergus still refuses to help with the cockamamie scheme. Claire loses helper. Marsali has a plan to free Jamie. Jamie gives his blessing. Claire escapes.

How it played:

Besides Claire’s mad skills, Elias Pound, Fergus, and Annekje are the clear heroes of this episode. Jamie was like Godzilla stomping and burning down Tokyo. Claire jumps. Jamie is freed. Marsali and Fergus get the blessing. What about the one-eyed man? How will Claire warn Jamie?

Learn all about Typhoid from Outlander Medicine, here.

What’s Coming up? Episode 311 Uncharted

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

All pictures are the property of Sony/Starz. Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter,Instagram,Facebook, and the official website.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

The Doldrums 309

Written by Shannon Goss

Directed by David Moore

Another excellent offering. I enjoyed it. Great flow and storytelling. You'll need to listen to the podcast to hear what I really think.  

Starz Synopsis: Claire and Jamie leave Scotland, sailing to the West Indies on an urgent quest. But when the superstitious crew looks for someone to blame after a string of bad luck, rescue comes from an unlikely source.

My Summary: They obtained a ship to search for the lost nephew, Fergus brings a stowaway, seasickness overwhelms Jamie until needles save him, Claire doctors those who need it, superstitious sailors create suspicions during weeks of windless standstill, the china man and Jamie win the day, the weather returns as does the passion, a plague ship commandeers Claire. The End.

Setup: Jamie and Claire have secured the Artemis, cousin Jared’s ship to take to the West Indies. Jamie will be the supercargo (a representative of the ship's owner on board a merchant ship, responsible for overseeing the cargo and its sale). The ship Young Ian was taken on is the Portuguese flag, the Bruja (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhvFVpp6sDc). It’s late in the season for taking a ship, the seas will not be calm. Jared makes not of Jamie being prone to seasickness. Jared is upbeat about their ability to find Young Ian.  Jamie has sent a letter to Jenny and Ian explaining everything. They won’t get it until the ship is far from Scotland. Fergus is up to something. Jamie vows he won’t return to Scotland unless he has Young Ian with him. He’s a man on a mission. Superstition is high among the men on the ship. Women and redheads are bad luck. Enter Fergus with Marsali they’re hand fast (http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/tying_the_knot_handfasting_through_the_ages.shtml). Stepdad Jamie is not a happy man about the surprise.  Marsali is a firecracker of a young woman. He refuses to allow Fergus and Marsali to consummate their marriage and puts Marsali in Claire’s cabin. Jamie’s in the doghouse with Claire now. Jamie also mentions the wind as being necessary to catching up to the Bruja quickly.

State of Mind:

Jamie is worried he’s being punished by God because he wanted Claire so much and needed the treasure to pay Laoghaire her hush money. Claire seems distant from Jamie and maybe questioning staying. He’s questioning whether they’ll be happy. He says he’ll take her to the stones if she doesn’t want to stay. He’s insecure in the state of their reunion. They haven’t settled in after the Laoghaire event or her wondering if they should be together on the cliff top. There’s tension and unease between them.

Episode Quotes: You'll need to listen to find out. 

What’s Coming up? Episode 310 Heaven & Earth

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

All pictures are the property of Sony/Starz. Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter,Instagram,Facebook, and the official website.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

First Wife 309

Written by Joy Blake

Directed by Jennifer Getzinger

I loved this episode. It could've gone sideways on so many levels, but delightfully did not. It's emotional, deep, funny, heartbreaking, hopeful, painful, connecting, and raw. The characters are spot on. The direction is beautiful. We meet favorites and a someone we'd rather forget. We see their hearts out in the wide open. This episode is near flawless.   

Here's the outline to the podcast this week. I warn you, it IS a rather lengthy listen at 92 minutes. There is so much to cover I couldn't do it in any less time. 

Enjoy!

Starz Synopsis

Claire returns to Lallybroch with Jamie, where she does not receive quite the reception she was expecting. Unbeknownst to her, Jamie's made some choices in their time apart which come back to haunt them with a vengeance.

Key Players

Claire, Jamie, Young Ian, Jenny, Ian, Young Janet, Laoghaire, Joan(ie), Marsali, and Ned Gowan.

Key Scenarios

Favorite Quotes from Episode (you need to listen to fdind out)

Excellent direction, music, writing flowed well, it felt cohesive and not rushed, even though much ground was covered. A promising and marked improvement over the missteps in 307. Follow Outlander Medicine to get details on the surgery.

What’s to Come

 Their wild adventure officially begins.

What’s Coming up? Episode 309 The Doldrums

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

All pictures are the property of Sony/Starz. Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter,Instagram,Facebook, and the official website.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Creme de Menthe

Written for Television By: Karen Campbell

Directed By: Norma Bailey

Claire is back for just over 24 hours and all hell is breaking loose.  Listen to my podcast to get my in-depth thoughts!

Welcome to the party pal back to safety of the 18th century Claire. 

And fade to black. 

Snippy. Sullen. No kisses. Frustration. Who the hell are you anyway? Who do you think you are? Is this worth it? 

What’s Coming up? Episode 308 First Wife.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

All pictures are the property of Starz. Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter,Instagram,Facebook, and the official website.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

A. Malcolm

Written for Television By: Matthew B. Roberts

Directed By: Norma Bailey

It's roughly a 24 hour period in this episode. There's humor, chastisement, laughter, tears, restraint, vulnerability, love, sexy sex, birth control advice, and so much more. I adored this episode. Jamie and Claire finally reunite after 20 years apart. They fall back into intimacy, while knowing there's so much more they must learn about each other.

It's a slow burn to the sexy parts. It's emotions brewing at the surface, but held at bay. It's the ease of conversation after years of not opening up. It's being seen and accepted. It's revelations shared. 

It's worth the watch. Let it burn. 

What’s Coming up? Episode 307 Creme de Menthe.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

THE REUNION IS ALMOST HERE!

A. Malcolm

#PrintShop

The highly anticipated Outlander episode 306, "A. Malcolm," will air Sunday night 10/22 at 6pm PT/8pm ET. After 20 years apart, Jamie and Claire will finally be reunited. And all the fans do an exuberant dance while letting out a squeal. 

Jamie and Claire have both experienced great loss and life since they parted company at the onset of the Battle of Culloden. They never stopped loving each other, we know that for certain. Yet I wonder, how have the years apart shaped and changed them? How will the twenty years of living behind walls of self-preservation be slowly shed and peeled away? What secrets or stumbling blocks might exist to hamper their reconnection?

Claire is many things, a trailblazing physician, mother, and friend. She's also a wildly passionate and physical woman when she's with a man she loves. She's lived without sex and emotional intimacy from the time Brianna was very young. When Frank challenged her for being only physically present in their marriage and their bed, the fragile link between them broke. Though, she followed the letter of her agreement with Frank to leave the past behind, but couldn't let go of Jamie in her mind and heart. Ultimately, she put her energies and efforts into her work, motherhood, and keeping up the Randall family facade.  After Frank died, the world re-opened to her, yet she was hesitant. Roger found Jamie working as a printer in Edinburgh in the precise timeframe traveling through the stones would land her. It took much cajoling and prompting from Brianna for Claire to agree to leave the 20th century behind. With quick preparations, she went back through the stones. The hope, worry, and excitement cling to Claire as she opened the print shop door. She took an incredible risk for the sake of love reborn.

Jamie had everything stripped away after he sent Claire through the stones back to Frank. He meant to die on the field of Culloden, but didn't. He survived as a prisoner on his own land, a prisoner of the Crown, and a parolee at Helwater before being freed to return home. The men of Ardsmuir, including his Godfather Murtagh, were lost to him when they were relocated to the Colonies for 15 years indenture. His losses continued to grow as he left his biological son, William by Lady Geneva, behind to be raised by Lord John Grey and Lady Isobel Dunsany. Years of pain, separation, and living behind walls of self-protection. Jamie is a shell of a man. He's a ghost of himself. We don't know what he has done in the years after leaving Helwater and Roger finding him as A. Malcolm in Edinburgh. Is he married? Does he have other children? We have no idea what he's up to, except surely not only the mild life of a printer. 

I expect to see tender, humorous, and awkward moments as Claire and Jamie start to connect.  I imagine the episode unfolding as a slow burn toward their physical reunion, with plenty of interruptions along the way. 

I don't know who we'll meet in the episode, but my best guesses are Madame Jeanne, adult Fergus, teenage Young Ian, Old Ian, Mr. Willoughby, several working women, and Geordie. Claire will likely be mistake for a whore once again. 

This season has given those who haven't read the books the many reasons to love these characters. We are getting to see them in such raw reality and brokenness. They are lacking without the other. 

Let me know what you expect, are pondering, or what you hope to see in this upcoming episode. Email contact@adramofoutlander.com or call 719-425-9444. 

What’s Coming up? Episode 306 A. Malcolm.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Of Rogue Vegetables

A Conversation with Theresa Carle-Sanders, Outlander Kitchen

Episode 105

I am so happy to bring you my recent conversation with Theresa during this hiatus week of Outlander Season 3. She's the professional chef behind the Outlander inspired recipes of the Outlander Kitchen website and Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook. Whether you dabble in the kitchen or are an aspiring chef, the recipes are doable and delicious. 

Each week during Outlander Season 3, Theresa pairs a recipe to go with the episode. I tried my hand at the Goat Cheese and Bacon Tarts this season. They weren't as pretty as the photo in the cookbook, but they were quite tasty. Be on the lookout for the culinary pairing!

During our conversation, I found out she would love to invite TV Murtagh over for dinner, she thinks book Bree is the most picky eater, she adores imperfect rogue vegetables, and she has a surprising guilty pleasure. 

In this fast-paced world, we often don't slow down enough to cook a meal from scratch. Outlander Kitchen recipes inspires us to slow down, try a recipe, share the love and food with our family and friends.  It's heartwarming to Theresa that mothers and daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters are entering the kitchen once again because of the recipes she's designed. The bonding and family memories that are created over cooking and eating together are priceless. The wonderful memories from her kitchen experiences growing up are put into each website and cookbook offering.

I hope you enjoy listening to our conversaton, as much as I had recording it with her. Be prepared to laugh (a lot) and learn some kitchen wisdom along the way.

Eat. Drink. Be merry. And watch Outlander. 

Go to all of Outlander Kitchen's social media and like or follow! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. 

Theresa will be speaking at the upcoming Food Bloggers of Canada conference October 20-22, 2017. 

What's Coming up? OMG THE REUNION EPISODE, A. Malcolm 306.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Freedom & Whisky

Written for Television by: Toni Graphia

Directed by: Brendan Maher

This week's episode slows down to cover a short period of the Christmas season 1968. Don't for one second think you can put away those tissues for holiday cheer. The struggles are real. The fear is spoken. The complexities of adult child and parent relationships are navigated. 

We see Claire's foundational determination and skill as a physician. We see her fragile and vulnerable, when she acknowledges herself as a woman with needs and desires. We see her as mother bear, fierce, tender, loving, and the willingness to be sacrificial. She's been hurt and shut off the passionate and sexual side of herself. She's lived for her daughter and her work. It's time for her to live whole once more. She's been "living half a life," according to good friend Joe Abernathy. He's correct. Go get him, Claire. Insert that fuzzy ear worm, Let It Go for Claire here.

Brianna has matured and grown through her father Frank's death and the revelations in Scotland. She's no longer the bratty girl. She sees herself as a woman in her own right. She sees her mother as a woman separate from being her mother. She knows she is grown and not only urges her mother to go, she asks her to go. Jamie deserves to know who she is. 

Roger is not a knight in shining armor, he's an orphan like Brianna. He's a friend and future lover. He understands Brianna in a way no one else can. He understands her mother in a way no one else can either. He's a kind, generous, and brilliant man, who happens to be falling in love with Brianna.

Joe Abernathy is a friend and wingman. Claire's only friend throughout her medical school and hospital career. He is trustworthy and an advocate for Claire to live a full life. I expect, he will be there for anything Brianna needs. He can be like an uncle in my estimation. Did Claire tell him EVERYTHING about Jamie and her 18th century adventure? I think she must have. 

The zinger in this episode was Candy, um Sandy, confronting Claire at an event to honor Frank Randall. She accuses Claire of being selfish and making Frank and Bree live a lie. She should have let him go. Claire offered Frank his freedom more than once. Does Sandy know this? Or is it her grief talking? What was the point of this confrontation? I think it's a vehicle for Brianna to ask who the woman is. Also, for Claire to have clarity on what she needs to do. 

There were some three beats to cement ideas in this episode.

I adored how Roger and Brianna looked like ghostly images in the window when Claire looked up as she left for Scotland. Then the light plays on Claire as she was in the cab making her look like she was transitioning to a new place from the 20th century. Finally, the puddle from the cab to Edinburgh was a brilliant transition. Combined, those images created a feeling of time travel without literally needing her to go to the stones onscreen. Bravo!

Lastly, Jamie and the print shop. You didn't think I would forget about that did you? Claire makes it to Edinburgh and finds her way to Carfax Close. Outside the printshop you can feel her apprehension and excitement. She opens the door and he questions who is there. Following his voice, she says who it is. He looks up, she seems a ghost, and he faints. #DunbonnetDown. He crashes to the floor. She gasps. Fade to black.

SHE DID IT! She found him! We know he couldn't have died from a coronary because there's more episodes this season. And this isn't Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin might have killed Jamie off in front of Claire.

We laughed. We cried. We cheered. We grabbed smelling salts for Jamie. Anyone else out of your mind excited for episode 6? 

What’s Coming up? Interview with Theresa Carl-Sanders, chef/author of Outlander Kitchen Cookbook.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Of Lost Things

Written for Television by: Toni Graphia

Directed by: Brendan Maher

This week's Outlander episode is brought to you by boxes of tissues and excellent tunes. Shout out to Bear McCreary the musical mastermind. 

You must listen to the podcast to get my full thoughts and rantings. 

Long story short, Jamie is protective of those he loves. He's willing to do what he must for their gain or to prevent their harm. He's a man of deep compassion and honor. When faced with blackmail and coercion, he rises the occasion. He wins the Dunsany's over when he saves their grandson. Jamie's a hero. His sense of normalcy and place, is shattered as the boy begins to resemble him. The man is given his leave and heads back to Lallybroch after 8 years serving his parole at Helwater. He adds the young Ellesmere, the son he cannot claim, to his list of lost things as the episode closes. He never expects to see the boy again.

Lord John Grey and Lady Isobel are to be married. They will raise young William together. It's a beautiful friendship they have developed. Hopefully we will see John soon.

Claire is at her end. Roadblocks since Ardsmuir, Jamie seems nowhere to be found. Brianna and Roger try to be uplifting and supportive, but she calls it quits, saying it's time to go home.

Brianna and Roger share a kiss. The relationship is budding, but Brianna leaves with her mother. With they become more in time?

There were a few misses with social status all but forgotten and that damned snake was just weird. Anyone remember the dragonlfy in amber paperweight Claire gave to Jamie at the stones in season 2? 

This episode is full of bittersweet joy and sadness. It's life affirming, yet loss is great. 

Will home be what it once was for Jamie or Claire? Can they go back?

This is the gorgeous Bob Dillon cover that brought us all to tears. A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall

What’s Coming up? Season 3 Episode 5.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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All Debts Paid 303

Written by: Matthew B. Roberts

Directed by: Brendan Maher

Oh, the many feels this episode brings up. To my husband's annoyance, I may have clapped excitedly at the beginning of the airing and muttered under my breath, "We get to meet Lord John." My enthusiasm didn't stop him from enjoying the episode with me though.

I had many thoughts watching it through the first time. You need to listen to the podcast to get my further insights and deep thoughts.

What’s Coming up? Season 3 Episode 4.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Surrender 

Directed by: Jennifer Getzinger

Written by: Anne Kenney

Podcast Episode 101

That's a whole lot of storytelling to digest. Anne Kenney did an amazing job with the material given, but it definitely felt like too much for one episode. I wanted it to slow down to a more comfortable pacing. Overall, I liked it. There was a good flow to it. The direction was thoughtful as well.

Here are my basic thoughts on Jamie, Claire, and Frank. To get my deep thoughts and ideas, you'll need to listen to the podcast. 

It's 1752 at Lallybroch. Six years since the Battle of Culloden. 

Jamie Fraser, aka Dunbonnet and Red Jamie, showed us a desolate, purposeless, and wounded man. He was emotionally isolated and barely spoke when he was amongst the family. He was a ghost of a man, until he again found a purpose to live for. He looked dirty and without care for his own comforts or needs. Jamie's relaxed posture when Mary McNab shaved him was a subtle beauty. When he shed a tear as she gifted him with wholeness the night before he left for prison, was gut wrenching. Sam Heughan can convey emotion without much speech or overacting.  

I wanted to know more about his time in the cave though. I wanted to see him dream of Claire, as she did of him to give layers to his desolation. I want to know why he wore his hair down underneath the brown hat.  

Claire is trying her best to re-integrate into married life with Frank and to mothering Brianna. She's also desolated and emotionally isolated. She thinks she can be one place in her mind and heart, while going through the motions in real life. She cannot. At one point, she wakes Frank to have sex with him saying, "I miss my husband." That is top level cold right there. I am dumbfounded they would write that depth of disconnect into Claire. That was downright mean. She thinks Frank won't notice her lack of intimacy while he is connected to her body, ultimately her internal betrayal sinks Frank's ability to be close to her. It is awful to watch play out. I don't like to think of Claire as so selfish. Hurt, grieving, acting out...sure, but cold like this, it's too much. In the end, being a stay-at-home mother and wife isn't enough and she enrolls in medical school. On her first day, she meets her soon to be BFF Joe Abernathy. 

The heavy handed play of her being a feminist is over the top. Claire goes to medical school because she must. It's not to further a feminist agenda. She can't not be a doctor. She finds her deeper purpose there. 

Frank Randall is a good man who keeps hoping Claire will open to him and be his honest to goodness wife. He loves her. He wants her. After the dinner party, the jig is up. He knows for sure she is thinking of Jamie while giving her body to him. It's too much. Something broke revealing that truth. He chose to stay. I feel so terrible for him. 

I wanted to see more of their everyday interaction to reveal what type of husband he was overall. what were his expectations of home and hearth? I think it's a missed opportunity to flesh him out more than Claire being a cold bi*ch to nice guy Frank. 

The shot panning back from their twin beds was an absolute acknowledgement of the type of relationship they moved into, after that fateful night. 

Jamie surrendered in a literal sense to the British, for the betterment of his family. He went from one prison to another to serve a greater purpose. 

Claire surrendered to her different life, different marriage, and found purpose in going back to medical school. She found a lifeline. 

Frank surrendered to being a father to the only child he would ever call his own, and to be a husband in a loveless marriage.

All pictures are the property of Starz. Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter,Instagram,Facebook, and the official website.

What’s Coming up? Season 3 Episode 3.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Outlander Starz

The Battle Joined

S3 E1

Ep 100

Written by Ronald D. Moore

Directed by Brendan Maher

Listen to the podcast to get my fully realized coherent thoughts on the episode. Bottom line: Ron did us a solid. I LOVED it. 

For fun, here are my thoughts while watching the episode the first time through. 

OMG OMG OMG shhhhh it’s time to watch…. Squee. Sings along nervously. Is he going to wake up dead? Oh, damn dead bodies in piles. Seriously everyone shhhhhhh. Dude that’s harsh – killing them where they lay. Jamie wakes up, someone’s lying dead on top of him. Jamie don’t let them notice you. Don’t move damn it. Disordered battle memories flood his mind. MARK ME Someone get him a medic! Gut punch he remembers smelling Claire’s wrap. SHE’S GONE. Murtagh…sigh BRRRRR anyone else freezing while watching this? NOOOO you’re running the wrong way – not towards the redcoats. Uh oh he sees HIM. BJR is in his line of sight. Double uh oh BJR sees Jamie too. IT’S ON bitches. Soooo many dead. BJR is liking this proximity…. personal space bubble please… Is he going to lick him? Kiss him? Ummmm boys there’s a fight going on. Death match BJR vs Jamie. Advantage BJR thigh slash move. YES, Jamie went for the gut. “Stand right there Jamie so I can finish you off, please, I’m just so tired now.” Ew BJR don’t you touch him. Slaps hand away. He just fell into his chest. WHAT IS HAPPENING? Ashes to ashes they all fall down. BJR dies on top of Jamie. He must have been thrilled. Little bunny foufou… what?! Enter Claire hallucination. Are you alive? It’s RUPERT. Hey old buddy. Another gut punch, he wants to be left to die. Tortured let me be. Atta boy Rupert. The dragonfly in amber is left on the ground. Boston 1948. Huge home. Frank is trying so hard. It’s sad and desperate. Frank don’t wait for meals. She’s not so domestic these days. Modern appliances screw that. She looks so cute pregnant. She’s going to do it. Cook in the fireplace. Nosy neighbor for the weirdness. Of course, it’s all about the husband. Side eye. Snort, he LOVEs surprises. FTS Claire is thinking. Look pretty for the boss. Jamie needs Claire to patch him up. So painful to watch. Holed up in the farmhouse waiting for death. Rupert abides. Claire is one unhappy feminist, erm housewife. Smash the patriarchy! Pompous ass. Oh, the little lady has an opinion. Smug douche canoe. Frank way to speak up for your wife. Atta husband. She IS a badass. SMASH THE PATRIARCHY! Insert sarcasm emoji. Thems fighting words. Yes, Harvard Medical… That’s the ticket Frank. Good you are checking how she is after that BS. Two days later on the moor… Where’s Murtagh? We want to know too Jamie. The redcoats are here. It’s HAL! LJG’s brother. “No milord, traitors all.” We need a Rupert sarcasm emoji. Hal is not impressed. And you get a soldier’s death, and you get a soldier’s death. Claire, master of the stove! Bad milk is a bad omen. The bird, what does it mean. Frank, man, you’re trying too hard. Tea bagged American style. Claire’s been thinking, egad. I want to be an American!!!! That was a bone throw to Frank, “our child”. No touchy the belly! AWKWARD. Well that breakfast went south quickly. Can of worms opened and flung all around. Frank eke. Heartbreaking desperation. Oh Frank. Oh Claire, dayum woman. You went there. DUCK FRANK. Why you shocked man. Calling her a cheater. WHOA nelly he’s giving her an out. Rupert may have a job as a motivational speaker in the afterlife. It burnses seeing Jamie so busted up and invalid. No, you’re crying. STOP talking about Angus. Where’s the damn tissues? Rupert Thomas Alexander MacKenzie – noooooo It’s a lonely night on the timeout couch. Dear Reverend can wait… her waters have broken. Oh hell. Not Red Jamie. God’s Blood. “Shoot me or go away.” LMAO Freaking debt of honor. Jamie proves once again he’s hard to kill. It’s labor time! Claire’s doulaing herself. Enter Doctor Dirt bag. Oh, second child I see. Frank didn’t think he could be shocked again. Way to take a case history and decide it complicates things. Sweet Frank wants to go with her to delivery. I love you. They put her under after she says no… grrrrr. Paging Doctor Misogyny. You bastard is spot on Claire. HE’s HOME! Jenny and Ian greet him. Claire wakes up in a panic over her baby. She’s alive! In the afterglow of holding her live baby Claire wants to try, Frank loves her so. Another I love you gone without response. No, you didn’t just ask that! Damn way to break the mood.

All pictures are the property of Starz. Visit Outlander Starz on social media, like or follow: Twitter,Instagram,Facebook, and the official website.

What’s Coming up? Season 3 Episode 1.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for email or call in to the listener line by Monday morning after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Voyager

Chapters 54-63

Overview

Part 3

The hunt for Young Ian is on, but after Claire tells Jamie why the Porpoise is docked at Jamaica and who the new governor is, Jamie says they must go to the reception at the Governor's mansion first. Jamie dresses in disguise for the event and uses a nom de guerre. 

Claire meets and greets the influential women, Mr. Willoughby charms the ladies, and Jamie disappears in to the Governor's office with Lord John. She misinterprets the embrace she happens upon, flustered she retires to the ladies’ lounge where she finds a dead body. Willoughby's footprints are tracked to the window. 

Everyone is questioned, including Jamie, since he brought Willoughby to the party. Claire is put in the Governor's office to wait. Lord John returns and they have a most eye-opening conversation. She is jealous of John and he of her. She has all of Jamie, but he spent time with Jamie while she was away. John drops a child sized revelation at her feet.

Jamie finally returns and they head back to Jared's estate. Jamie discloses William to her without her prompting. He further explains his relationship with John, his marriage to Laoghaire, and what happened with Geneva. It was his fear that kept him from telling her sooner. He assures her, she is the only one he has ever loved. She believes him.

They go to Rose Hall and discover Mrs. Abernathy is none other than Geillis Duncan, aka Gillian Edgars. She should be dead. Geillis explains how she escaped after she blackmailed Dougal to help her. There's something not quite right going on at the estate. After she pulls out the box of Seal Island gems, Claire and is sure she is lying about having no knowledge of Young Ian.  She is connected to the Bruja. Jamie is sure Young Ian is on the property, being held under the sugar mill. 

They leave the estate with Reverend Campbell shows up with some business, on the way back to Jared's they discover a photo of Bree is missing. This cannot be a good sign. Geillis is always up to something terrible.

They make the rescue plan and head back to Rose Hall under the cover of night. Claire is supposed to stay with the boat. As if she EVER stays put. Seeing a shadowy figure through the window of Rose Hall, she goes to investigate. It's not Young Ian, but none other than Reverend Campbell. He's upset and ranting that Mrs. Abernathy up and left with all her slaves. He tells Claire what his business with Geillis had been. Claire sees the paper that talks about the Fraser Prophecy. 

The Reverend gets angry when Mr. Willoughby shows up and accuses him of murdering the prostitutes in Edinburgh and the woman at the governor's house. He was the fiend. Willoughby kills him. Then he disappears back in to the jungle.

Claire searches the house and finds a ritual pentagram with Bree's picture inside of it. She fears Geillis was going to use Bree to anchor her back to the 20th century. 

Claire returns to the boat hoping Jamie and the men have returned, they haven't. Instead she meets a crocodile and several escaped slaves, including, Ishmael. They kill the crocodile and he wears it on his head. Into a clearing they go where a voodoo ceremony is taking place. Margaret Campbell is the oracle who the spirits speak through. In the end, the voice of Bree comes from her as she talks to Claire and Jamie. Ishmael sends her to go with his people and reluctantly tells Claire and Jamie where Geillis and Young Ian have gone. 

They retrieve Lawrence Stern and trek to Abandawe, the spiritual cave. Claire feels standing stones within and senses Geillis. They arrive in time to find Young Ian still alive. It's a fight and Claire kills Geillis. Young Ian is saved. 

Back on the small ship, they find the escaped slaves have stolen the Bruja and while pursued by the Porpoise have been beached and are under fire. They have no way of escaping the English man o' war. They are followed and nearly caught, when a huge storm rises sinking the Porpoise and causing Claire to be thrown overboard and injured. Jamie jumps in after her, willing her to live. 

Claire is unconscious when they wash up on a beach. She wakes up dead, not unlike Jamie at the beginning of the book. Her leg is broken, but they are alive and safe.

The storm had sent them far off course, they are in the American Colonies. Freedom is theirs.

The End.

WHAT A WILD RIDE! I cannot wait to see it unfold onscreen. All the clips are fantastic. It looks like this will be the best TV season yet.

The next podcast episode is number 100. An absolute fantastic milestone. 

What’s Coming up? Season 3 Episode 1. 

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line by Monday morning after the show airs. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

All photos are wiki, please click on photo for attribution. 

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Voyager

Chapters 27-53

Overview

Part 2

It's ON! Jamie had to save Young Ian from the burning printshop. It turns out, someone is after Jamie and trying to connect his legit work with his smuggling life. 

With Edinburgh being unsafe, it's decided they will head to Lallybroch to return Young Ian after picking up a shipment of smuggled goods from a ship in Arbroath. That plan goes haywire too when excise men appear at the meeting site. Jamie and his smuggling crew het away, but they find a hung exciseman on their exit. This means whoever is after Jamie is trying to frame him for murder, as well as, smuggling, and creating seditious materials. Someone means SERIOUS business. 

They continue to Lallybroch. All seems well after smoothing out Young Ian's return and coming up with a fit punishment for uncle and nephew. Claire is reunited a little coolly with Jenny Murray, Jamie's sister. 

This is about the only place Claire has ever felt like home. She's so happy to be back. A wonderful night spent in Jamie's arms, until morning comes and three riders could be seen coming onto the property. Claire and Jamie are getting in some pre-breakfast lovin', when a ferocious knock at the door and entry into the room shockingly break the mood.

A young woman takes in the scene and asks Jamie, "Daddy! WHO is THAT woman?" This is Claire's worst nightmare...Jamie has a family. He has a wife and children. Jamie's face turns white, the same shade as Claire's thighs. He gets dressed and follows the young woman downstairs, leaving Claire to stew. She gets dressed and fumes with rage. 

When he returns, they have an all-out knockdown, drag out, row. We learn the young woman is Marsali, Laoghaire's daughter. Laoghaire is Jamie's wife. Jenny breaks up the fight, sends Jamie away, and tends to Claire. 

Claire leaves without saying goodbye to Jamie. She plans on going back to the stones. She is devastated to her core. 

Before she can get back to the stones, young Ian catches her up and says Uncle Jamie is dying. Reluctantly, Claire returns to treat him. She hits him up with penicillin multiple times and he survives. They work out their problems, and get Jamie properly divorced.

They need money to pay off the fees he owes Laoghaire for the divorce. They plan to use a gem from the Seal Island box he found back when he was at Ardsmuir. The plan goes awry and they must go after the Bruja who took the gems and young Ian.

To sea they go. Seasickness. Sharks. Pirates. Turtle Soup. A man o' war. Separation. Typhoid. Storms. All this, before they both end up on Hispaniola.

Claire meets Lawrence Stern and Father Fogden. Jamie pretends to be a French Captain. Then they are reunited.

Fergus and Marsali are married in a fantastic midnight wedding by the inebriated and nutty Father Fogden. 

They get a lead on Young Ian after Claire accidentally must buy a slave after starting a melee at the slave market. 

That is certainly an enormous amount of adventure!

What's Coming up? Voyager roundup chapters 54 to the end and the current S3 news. We're counting down to the September 10th Season 3 premiere of Outlander.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line by Thursday. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All photos are wiki, please click on photo for attribution.

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Voyager

Chapters 1-26

Overview

Jamie wakes up on the moor of Culloden thinking he is dead, but he is not. He survives only to be secretly sent back to Lallybroch by Lord Melton to honor a family debt.

For seven years Jamie lived in the cave as Dubonnet to avoid the English soldiers. After a close call, he decides to have himself turned in for the reward. Off to Ardsmuir he goes where he becomes the chief of the Jacobite prisoners.

The incoming Governor is none other than Lord John Grey arriving under scandal for a cooling off period away from society.

John is forced to ask Jamie to help him. He does and keeps the spirit of the agreement while running away to seal island to find out if there are clues of Claire.

From there they resume the weekly meals to go over the needs of the Highland men, play chess, and chat about cultured things. 

John makes a grave error and Jamie takes drastic measures.

Back in 1968, Claire, Roger, and Brianna are searching high and low for Jamie. He is found as the legend of the Dubonnet, then on a prison roll. Continuing they find an A. Malcolm printer who's writing matches that of Jamie's on the deed of sasine. 

It's a go for Claire. Preparations complete, Roger and Brianna send her back to through the stones on Samhain. 

Claire makes the journey from Inverness to Edinburgh, finally finding her way to Carfax Close. 

There she enters the printshop. She scares Jamie into a faint when he realizes she is real.

The reunion is sweet, tender, awkward, and too short.

They are off on a misadventure, retrieving an associate Mr. Willoughby from the World's End. Such a raucous occurs they must flee down the backstreets to the safekeeping of a brothel.

Jamie has a standing room and is friendly with Mme. Jeanne the proprietor. Claire is suspicious until she learns the nature of their relationship. 

They share a wonderful reunion of flesh and soul.

The morning comes and it's a free for all of people coming and going. Claire has no clothes, so it's a tad bit unusual.

She ventures out wrapped in a quilt to find a dress and food. Brunching with the whores, her appetite is sated. Madame Jeanne is none too pleased to find her in the company of the working girls. 

Another misadventure awaits before Jamie returns. Fergus, Willoughby, and an exciseman are involved. It ends badly.

Jamie is a printer AND a smuggler, and who knows what else at this point. They have A LOT of catching up to do.

What’s Coming up? A Voyager roundup chapters 26-roughly 50 counting down to the September 10th Season 3 premiere of Outlander.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line by Thursday. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Seven Stones to Stand or Fall 

A Fugitive Green podcast series

Chapters 16-18

Mortimer, Wilhemina Rennie, Snyder, Wattiswade, Bleeker...We find out exactly "What's in a Name," in this final podcast of A Fugitive Green. 

Minnie hides out at her Aunt Simpson's home until she can head back to Paris, back to her father. She's bringing more than books and information with her. She practices her speech, her responses, and tries to decide how her father will react. All her neatly rehearsed words dissolve as he greets her with tears and a hug. He knew she was no longer a virgin. She would never tell him it was Pardloe. She would protect him. She reveals she met her mother and she herself is pregnant. She is overcome and vomits in the alley. Returning she swishes tea and spits into the aspidistra plant.Her father, as always, responds with love and protection. No one would hurt her as her mother had been hurt. 

Attribution

Hal scored a huge victory. The Secretary of War gave him a signed and sealed document from the crown to reinstate the regiment. He is on cloud nine. He and Harry Quarry go to celebrate at the Beefsteak and discuss the details of the meeting. As he thinks it through, he recognizes how odd Sir William was. Then the eel pies bring Minnie to mind and the hearth rug...where had she gone? He continues discussing the meeting with Harry, to realize Harry isn't telling him something. Harry confesses he knew Minnie and had hired her to find another way to expose the affair without using the letters. She must have been able to prove Hal's reason for the duel. They have no idea how. We know the poem was the ticket. At the conclusion, Hal asks Harry to help him find her. 

Attribution

We find Minnie in advancing pregnancy living in Amsterdam with her father in January 1745. She's always ravenous and baby "Mortimer" is letting himself known. She's enjoying her day while going over the books. The doorbell sounds and in comes Hal. He's surprised to find her pregnant, but this is not getting in the way of his plans. He picks her up and takes her out of the house. With the help of Harry, he deposits her into a waiting carriage. Her father is left shouting behind. Harry arranged for a wedding ceremony at The Stuffed Goose pub. Not a nice place, but the co-owner is a pastor and agrees to marry them. Minnie finds out that Hal's full name is Harold Patricius Gerard Bleeker Grey. He finds out her real name is Minerva Cunnegunda Wattiswade. Their parents were deft at unusual names!

Minnie internally addresses Esme and says she'll take care of them both...

How much do you LOVE them??????

Links of interest:

Attribution

What's Coming up? A Voyager roundup counting down to the September 10th Season 3 premiere of Outlander.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line by Thursday. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

 All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution.  

Follow A Dram of Outlander

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Seven Stones to Stand or Fall 

A Fugitive Green podcast series

Chapters 13-15

"Shall I Prove It," has Minnie becoming securely Team Lord Melton. She finds a way to stave off the request by Edward Twelvetrees commission to obtain the letters that prove the affair between his deceased brother and Esme Grey, Hal's wife. She gets a hold of the letters, through the O'Higgins's gaining access to Argus House. She is stunned to have Esme's, Nathaniel's, and Hal's letters in her possession. She reads them all. Esme was a cruel woman. Nathaniel is an uninspired writer. Hal is a broken, angry, and passionate man who loved his wife deeply.  

She is deeply horrified by the contents of these letters and realizes Hal is correct in not using them to save face and honor. She hatches a plan. She needs to find the poems Nathaniel had written two poems to Esme. She deduces the poems are in Esme's bible. With the help of the O'Higgins's cousin posing as a chamber maid to get hired at Argus House. She finds the bible and the letters, pockets them and leaves never to return. 

She puts her best hand forward to write a poem ostensibly from Nathaniel to Esme as proof that can be sent to the Secretary of War. She gives it for delivery. Then needs to put the letters back in Hal's desk. 

Opportunity struck three days later when she's invited to a ball at Argus House in honor of Hal's mother's birthday. It doesn't matter that his mother is in France, it's a strategic opportunity for him to be seen in society as normal and healthy, to gain support of his mother's friends and family, and to complete his task of getting HRH the prince on board with supporting his efforts to rise the regiment. 

Minnie gets into his office, replaces the letters, then...Hal discovers her. From here they become intensely intimate...but you need to listen to hear all about that.

Let's just say, she proved it...thoroughly.

Attribution

What's Coming up? The Fugitive Green chapters 18-18, from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall collection.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line 3 days prior to airing for inclusion. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution.  

Enjoy A Dram of Outlander?

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Seven Stones to Stand or Fall 

A Fugitive Green podcast series

Chapters 10-12

Minnie Rennie certainly has her hands full in this week's episode, Where Her Work Leads." She is so busy with work and socializing, she barely has a moment to herself. Her father has sent her a new prospective client and Colonel Quarry have given her additional jobs to complicate her schedule even more. 

She is diligently trying to find any whiff of the affair between Esme Grey and Nathaniel Twelvetrees. It turns out the amorous couple were quite discreet. She does learn much about the Duke of Pardloe aka Lord Melton and his marriage though. Unable to scrounge up detail, she meets with Colonel Quarry and works on a new plan. 

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The new customer is set to meet her at The Prince of Wales residence at Kew. She dresses all in green so "Mr. Bloomer" will recognize her as the hired agent. After spying a striking soldier who reminded her of a bantam cock, she and her client meet. They walk through the glasshouses (greenhouses) chatting about the plants until they arrive in the last one. It is empty. They exchange the agreed upon business before being interrupted by Lord Melton coming in to the quiet glasshouse. 

"Mr. Bloomer" makes a hasty exit after imploring her to go distract His Grace. 

She and Lord Melton have a most unexpected and intimate conversation after she helps him gather his breath post asthma attack. They have great chemistry. 

You'll have to tune in next week to see what happens.

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Links of interest:

What's Coming up? The Fugitive Green chapters 13-15, from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall collection.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line 3 days prior to airing for inclusion. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

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All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution.  

Enjoy A Dram of Outlander?

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Seven Stones to Stand or Fall 

A Fugitive Green podcast series

Chapters 7-9

This episode, "Forgiveness," centers around Minnie learning the truths about her mother. It's a painful and sad story of how her mother came to be sequestered under the care of a family in the country. She learns the meaning of the hours and prays alongside her mother. Minnie shows utmost grace and love toward her mother, even knwoing she can never have the one thing she hoped to gain, the assurity of her mother's love. With the wisdom and forbearance of a much older woman, Minnie extends her forgiveness before she leaves that day.

Prie-Dieu 

Hal must excise his own demons. He must begin to heal and this means going back to normal behaviors, such as sleeping in a bed, at night. He's takes stock of his home, of the fourteen rooms he has refused to sleep in during the night hours. He recalls staying up all night since Esme's death, either in the library reading or walking in Hyde Park, even sharing time with the homeless by their fires. He collects himself and with determination, enters Esme's chamber. He puts on the perfume he had made for her. This springs her to life inside the room. It is the two of them together. He weeps. He grieves. He asks her forgiveness. He sleeps. 

Links of interest:

What’s Coming up? The Fugitive Green chapters 10-12, from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall collection.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line 3 days prior to airing for inclusion. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Attribution 2

All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution. 

Enjoy A Dram of Outlander?

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Minnie on the other hand is making social connections and getting new work as she becomes known in London. She has two appointment books, one the "chuppointment" book for her everyday activities and calendar, the rougher artistic sketchbook for the meetings that require subtlety and no mention out loud. The listing of her activities for one week could make even the busiest of person's head spin. She is buying and selling books, as well as, information. I adore how Diana Gabaldon finds real and applicable books and people to weave into the story.

The two largest developments in these chapters are Harry Quarry hiring Minnie to find proof of the affair between Nathaniel Twelvetrees and Esme Grey, and Mrs. Simpson turning out to be her Aunt Miriam instead of her mother. 

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Links to the interesting facts within the pages and podcast:

What’s Coming up? The Fugitive Green chapters 7-9, from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall collection.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line 3 days prior to airing for inclusion. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook

Attribution 2

All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution.  

Enjoy A Dram of Outlander?

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

With this podcast episode, "Their Course is Set", we delve into the brand-new novella by Diana Gabaldon, A Fugitive Green. It is one of seven novellas within the recently released Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. This novella features the stories of Minerva Wattiswade aka Minnie Rennie and Harold "Hal" Grey, Lord Melton/Duke of Pardloe, and how they came to be the dynamic and fascinating long wed couple we meet in the Outlander series and other novellas. I hope you enjoy the six to eight-part podcast series. 

Minnie Rennie, daughter of book and information dealer Andrew Rennie, finds herself going to London alone in the spring of 1744. She is there to do work for her father, find her mother whom she's never met, and make social connections. 

Due to her unconventional upbringing, she's a worldly, savvy, clever, and self-assured young woman of 17-years. She's been working in her father's business her whole life. She's never met her mother. Our Claire also had an unconventional upbringing after the death of her parents. This seems to be a building block for strong and culturally challenging women. London is not a safe place for a single young woman. Her father has set-up two bodyguards (the O'Higgins'), and a safe place to stay. He's also arranged for a marriage broker to get her in to society and find her a proper Englishman to wed. This was a surprise to Minnie and she is impressed by her father's trap.

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Hal on the other hand is an absolute mess. His life is in turmoil after the death of his wife Esme and child during a too early labor, he kills Nathaniel Twelvetrees in a duel for having an affair with his wife Esme, and the continuing shadow left from his father's suicide on the eve of being arrested for being a Jacobite and traitor to the Crown. Hal is in his early twenties, but he's lived a lifetime already. He's emotionally fragile and physically unwell. He's also the target of a job meant for Minnie. 

This takes place during Dragonfly in Amber when Jamie and Claire Fraser are in Paris post Wentworth and pre-Jacobite uprising. We meet some familair and new characters along the way. 

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Here are the links I promised for what I found extra interesting within the pages of these first chapters.

What's Coming up? The Fugitive Green chapters 4-6, from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall collection.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line 3 days prior to airing for inclusion. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Attribution 3

All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution. 

Enjoy A Dram of Outlander?

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

Karen Daugherty of Outlander Medicine joins me to wrap up The Scottish Prisoner with Author's Notes and overall thoughts, in this week's podcast episode, "Let's Get Pixilated."

Pixilated is our favorite word from the Author's Notes section. It means to get drunk. I think we need a t-shirt or shot glass with the title phrase on it. It's more intriguing than hammered or trashed.

We muse over Diana Gabaldon's other favorite words to use: miasma, alacrity, ozone, inexorable...can you name any more?

Even well-read readers sometimes require a dictionary!

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We laugh, go down rabbit holes, and come back to Jamie, Lord John, Claire, Laoghaire, Voyager, and how almighty stinky the 18th century must have been. We are ever thankful for daily showers, and the oh so magical, anti-perspirant and deodorant stick. 

What were your favorite parts of The Scottish Prisoner?

What's Coming up? The Fugitive Green chapters 1-3, from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall collection.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line 3 days prior to airing for inclusion. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Attribution 2

All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution.  

Enjoy A Dram of Outlander?

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

 Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+

To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page.

Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

The Scottish Prisoner comes to an end after 43 chapters. In this podcast episode, "Persistence and Peace," we find secrets kept, kindnesses extended, obligations honored, the passing of a King, and threads that forever will bind Jamie Fraser and Lord John Grey together. They simply don't know the extent of it yet.

Lord John and his valet Tom Byrd return to Argus House in London. John helps Hal in quietly dispatching of the Irish Brigade involved in The Wild Hunt plot and attend George 2's state funeral. John feels a sense of accomplishment having made use of Charlie Carruthers' information. The Crown is safe and the people never knew anything happened. It was closed and done. John returns home to find a sweet and small gift from his friend Stephan, the graf. One that holds future adventures for them together. 

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Jamie fell in to the clockwork of Helwater. He worked in the open and helped in his small way, William grow. The boy loved his groom Mac. The sweet moments of Yule are recounted when young Willie helps gather all the wood and branches for the bonfire celebration. He was a bonnie lad indeed. Jamie could burst from the love he felt for the boy. The bittersweet knowledge of this boy with another's name and his child with Claire in the unknown future. He can claim neither, yet is bound to both. Jamie becomes known by Helwater and his past places fall away. This is where he belongs, prisoner or not, this is his home for as long as it can be. If only Claire could see the boy. Would she approve and love him too? Would his parents? The voices of his dead infiltrate the air around him and his dreams. A heartbreaking and beautiful time for Jamie. 

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For both John and Jamie, their friendship is reduced to the formality of the time, by their statuses as prisoner and jailor, but it remains intact for future resurrection. They each hold an important secret for the other. Only a true friend would extend such a faithful courtesy. 

What's Coming up? The Scottish Prisoner week 22 will cover the Author's Notes and be a wrap-up show. Watch for the announcement on the next read-a-long to tackle.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line 3 days prior to airing for inclusion. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Attribution 3

All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution. 

Enjoy A Dram of Outlander?

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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"It's All About the Honor," in this 20th installment of The Scottish Prisoner podcast series. Jamie honor's the boy with a request. Jamie acts with honor in saving the maiden. John treats Jamie with honor with his continued friendship. John honors the young woman with his assistance. Lady Dunsany honors her daughter by not falling for what's being sold to her. Lord Dunsany honors his family by discreetly altering his will with another lawyer. Betty Mitchell honors the young lady Isobel by sending Jamie to fetch her and keep her from harm. John honors the culture by finding a suitable means to speak to Jamie. Jamie honors his own heart by loving the boy. 

It's a theme indeed. 

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Within all this honoring, poor William is teething hard and gets lost in a fast encroaching fog. A new groom is broken in, along with a young colt. Jamie thinks Betty might want to marry him and responds to his own classist bias. He and John continue their verbal chess game, and perhaps their friendship. Lady Isobel is restored to her home unharmed. 

As within each chapter, nature plays a large role in creating the emotional and palpable landscape to draw from. The sky can be seen, the grass felt, the oppression of the fog coming…Diana Gabaldon has a way of description that leaps from the page.

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What’s Coming up? The Scottish Prisoner week 21 covers chapters 42-43. 

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line 3 days prior to airing for inclusion. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Attribution 3

All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution.  

Enjoy A Dram of Outlander?

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

In this week's The Scottish Prisoner episode, All Are Returned, Jamie finds himself the sole mourner as he returns Tobias Quinn to Ireland and buries him near the thrice killed man. He takes on the task completely alone, as he understands how Quinn could take his own life after losing the only thing worth living for...the doomed Irish Jacobite uprising. Jamie understands that despair, only his ties to the earth, have kept him from the same fate.

He not only returns Quinn to the earth, but the Druid King's Cup. He meets "them" in the process, the Wild Hunt, the old gods. They horns’ blast three times, sounding like wild geese honking. After hurling the cup into the bog, he finishes the burial, and runs. What a harrowing supernatural experience. 

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The next chapter time jumps with Lord John returning Jamie to Helwater. John is troubled over this. Jamie had insisted on being returned to Helwater and not being pardoned, under the guise of wanting to court Betty Mitchell. This is a lie.  John thinks about how the relationship he and Jamie had forged, must return to the formal, jailer and prisoner. They could no longer act like equals. John hopes he’s returning Jamie to contentment. His brain cannot let go of the puzzle over Betty Mitchell though. Maybe to fit in better with the people of Helwater, for companionship, out of loneliness, Jamie wants to marry her. Nothing sits right in this matter with John though.

Once back at Helwater, the daily rhythm of farm life envelops Jamie. He has his place in the stable, fresh air, and the people. He finds a sense of peace here, even if not a true belonging of home. He informs Betty of Quinn’s dying (remember she was his sister-in-law). He speaks to her privately. She takes it badly. She’s wanting to say more things to Jamie. Of her interest in him. He escapes the more personal inquiries in the nick of time. He knows he could fall prey to her. He is lonely. He is an outsider. He likes her. She’s a good woman.

John is getting his share of interesting news. Lord Dunsany wants to amend his will for John to be guardian over Willian when he dies. There are no other suitable males in the family. John being like an adopted son, since their own died at Culloden, agrees to this arrangement. He has no idea who William’s biological father is.

He wonders if he’ll speak to Jamie before he leaves. Jamie wonders the same.

They will miss the friendship they had built, no matter the challenges.

The cogs of future storylines are turning.

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What's Coming up? The Scottish Prisoner week 20 covers chapters 39-41.

How can you participate? To have your questions, comments for the regular read along, email or call in to the listener line 3 days prior to airing for inclusion. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6pm PT/9pm ET to discuss the previous latest podcast chapters using the hashtag #ADoO.  Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post.

The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Attribution 3

All images are Wiki Commons. Click link for attribution. 

Enjoy A Dram of Outlander?

Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below!

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Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.