Something happens where William saves Mandy. He realizes how much it would hurt him if anything happened to her causing realizations about family.
Homecoming - Part Eleven
Book 9 speculation; William arrives at the Ridge with his cousin Dottie the same day that the MacKenzie family has made their unexpected return.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten
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William wasn’t completely sure how it happened, buy Mandy had become his shadow. Which turned out to be a good thing, because he found her easier to be around than any of the others at the Ridge… aside from Mother Claire, perhaps. And his cousin, Dottie, but he didn’t spend as much time with her as he knew he ought. Though he had come to terms with Rachel’s marriage to Ian and he was happy to be on speaking terms with them again, there remained an awkwardness between them that had yet to fade.
He still wasn’t sure what he felt about Jamie, it changed too often and too quickly. He could talk over things with Brianna, but the success of those endeavors depended on both their moods (Mother Claire said that was because of their Fraser blood, as likely to pick a fight as support each other). Roger… William didn’t have the faintest idea what to make of the man and it seemed Roger suffered the same conundrum.
It warmed his heart to see how Fanny continued to thrive in the care of the Frasers. She had grown into her own person in a way he hoped would make her sister proud. She was often away with the Murrays helping Rachel and Dottie care for their babes. Germain and Jem were as close as brothers and could rarely be found outside of each other’s company. And Mandy was too often the odd man out. Too young (and uninterested in babies) to join Fanny, the boys didn’t want her slowing them down.
Rather than acknowledge any hurt at being left out, Mandy had taken in interest in William instead. He’d earned her admiration and captured her curiosity when he’d joined them playing hide and seek. She hovered around him the rest of that day and then he noticed her watching him the next day. When he asked her if there was a particular reason why she was doing so, she surprised him by launching into a string of questions.
“Why do ye talk like Grannie Claire?”
“If ye didna play hide and seek as a bairn, what did ye play?”
“Is it true ye were in the army? Grandda fought in a bunch of wars.”
“How long are ye stayin’ here? Will ye stay till spring so we can play in the snow? I used to make snow angels wi’ Jemmy when we lived at Lallybroch but it didna snow there so much as it did in Boston, or that’s what Mam says.”
William found himself laughing at the enthusiastic questions and then crouching to take the young girl’s hands when she seemed hurt by his amusement.
“My apologies, Miss Mackenzie. I’m afraid you’re going a little too quickly for me to be able to answer properly. And for it to be a true conversation, you must allow me to ask questions of you as well,” he told her.
She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, then nodded and thrust her hand out to him. “Deal. I go first though.”
He took her hand but rather than shake it, he bent his head and gave her a peck on the back of it.
“Well, what’d ye do that for?” she asked, baffled.
“Because I felt like treating you as the lady you are,” he told her with a playful smile that failed to register with her.
“I am not a lady,” she informed him. “Now, what sorts of games did ye play as a bairn if ye didna play hide and seek and can ye teach me how to play them?”
“Ah, but it’s my turn. You already asked me your first question and I answered,” he teased, looking down and the hand by her side, which quickly repositioned itself on her hip.
“That wasna a real question!” she objected.
“Oh, but it was,” he insisted. “I laid out the rules and you agreed to them, did you not?”
A triumphant smile lit her face. “Yes I did, and tha’s yer first question answered. My turn again.”
William chuckled and moved to sit beneath a nearby tree. “Fair enough. Go ahead.”
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They played their question game while William went about various chores, while he wandered and explored the area surrounding the Ridge, and while they sat out in the yard doing nothing.
He went about seeing to his horses one afternoon, and examined the cart he’d brought with him and Dottie. One of the wheels needed to be tightened before it could be taken out again but instead he put the cart into one of the disused stalls of the barn where it would remain out of the way and protected from the elements. Mandy fed hay one piece at a time to the horses until they grew tired of waiting for a proper mouthful and snorted in her face.
He’d stayed long enough that it would be foolish to try and leave the mountain. There was no telling when the snows of winter would start and he had no intention of being caught in the middle of the woods during a blizzard with only the barest sense of where he should be headed.
He was stuck on the Ridge until spring. But he wasn’t as disappointed by the idea as he’d thought he’d be. It was actually a relief to have the decision made for him. Perhaps he’d just been putting off making up his mind precisely so he wouldn’t have to.
While he was in the barn with Mandy, Jamie came through and asked if William would like to accompany Brianna and himself on a hunt the next day.
“We’ll be needin’ more stores before the snows come and I ken ye’re a fair shot,” Jamie explained.
Though he was surprised (and not at all surprised) that Brianna would go on the hunting trip, William agreed. After Jamie left, he then had to explain to Mandy why she wouldn’t be able to go with them.
“Even Germain and Jem won’t be joining us, so you’re not the only one who’ll be staying behind,” he told her. The scowl furrowing her brow was enough to know that line of reasoning didn’t matter. “How about, I do my best to get something for you while I’m out? Some rabbit fur to line a hat or some gloves for you perhaps?” She began to perk up. “And while I’m gone, you need to figure out something to surprise me with as well. See if you can find any berries or nuts for a snack — I’ll be hungry by the time I get back.”
She was smiling by then. “I ken just what I’mma find for ye, but I’m no goin’ to tell ye or it’ll no be a surprise.”
*******************************************
William woke and left early with Jamie and Brianna, taking only as much as they might absolutely need to make the journey back — hopefully laden with at least a hundred pounds of meat apiece — as easy as possible.
The three of them spoke little on the trip, partly due to the necessities of their making the trip, but also because they didn’t need to talk. They fell into similar rhythms, trading taking the lead as one of them spotted a trail and lead the others in pursuit. It was… surprisingly companionable and enjoyable. With the settled goal before them, the pressure fell on the task rather than how they would be around one another. He was amazed by Brianna’s skill and humbled by the pride in Jamie’s face whenever William caught their father watching them.
Brianna took down two large turkeys and a pheasant. Jamie downed a buck and had the two of them go on ahead a ways while he butchered and packed the meat as best he could. They’d swing back to help him after another hour on their own. William had begun the day targeting rabbits and smaller creatures, successfully bagging three with similar coloring that would line some boots and a hat for Mandy. On the final stretch with just Brianna, he managed to take down a young doe. It was more easily carried whole and butchered at the Ridge than trying to rush the job with the day advancing and ominous clouds descending. They left more of Jamie’s buck behind than they were happy with but as snow began to fall, they wished they had asked someone else to join them only so they would have more help carrying everything back.
They expected everyone to come rushing out of the cabin to help when they hallooed the house but only Germain and Jem emerged and ran to help them.
“Mandy’s missing!” they hollered. “Gran and Da and Uncle Ian went to find her. They thought she was playin’ wi’ us but we came back when the snow started and told ‘em she’d no been wi’ us,” Jem rambled, his fear prominent. “Fanny’s watchin’ the fire and gettin’ food ready but they’ve been gone longer’n they should be and–”
“Quiet, now,” Jamie ordered. “Which direction did they go?”
“They split up,” and the boys talked over one another pointing every which way.
“William, you stay here and take care of all this,” Jamie instructed, gesturing to their haul. “Bree, dinna fash. It’s likely they’ve already found her and are just havin’ a time getting back through the snow.” At least two inches had already found their way down through the treetops to coat the ground around the cabin.
“No,” William objected. “I think… I believe this is my fault. I think she got the idea to wander off because of something I said yesterday. I’d like to help look for her.”
“What did you say to her?!” Brianna yelled, her maternal fear boiling over. Jamie grabbed hold of Brianna to keep her from physically doing anything to William.
“It doesn’t matter. I might have an idea of where to find her,” he insisted, looking to Jamie.
“Go,” Jamie nodded. “We’ll take care of this and then we’ll join the rest of ye if ye’re not back already.”
William handed his gun to Germain and turned the sack with the three rabbits over to Jem. He dumped the doe on the ground and headed back up the hill into the trees.
He didn’t know where she would look for the sorts of nuts he’d suggested, but he couldn’t stay behind wondering where she was and not doing anything to help. Not when he blamed himself. He should have known that she would wander off on her own, would go further than she ought to without someone like himself with her. And with the snow coming in… He should have told her to have Mother Claire help her with something, or just let her be disappointed and frustrated without trying to soothe and placate her. It was irresponsible on his part and if anything happened to her…
He spotted the tree where he’d encountered the children playing that first time he’d joined them.
There were footprints beneath it. Too small to belong to Germain or Jem.
He followed the trail along a circuitous path leading back in the general direction of the cabin. Disturbances in the path and additional footprints from smaller, more local creatures, told William that Mandy had endeavored to try her hand at trapping. She’d gone along with him, checking traps before, and had undoubtedly watched her father, grandfather, and even her brother and cousin fiddling with different snares.
The trail ultimately led him to the doors of the barn and relief washed through him. He knocked gingerly before going in. It was warm thanks to the large bodies of so many beasts.
“Mandy?” he called quietly and heard a rustling from the corner where his cart was stored.
“Ye’re back!” she cried, rushing out to pounce on him, a dead mouse held awkwardly by the tail in her hand. “I caught ye somethin’ too, see.”
He took it from her to examine it, trying to hurry things along so they could get back. He desperately wanted Brianna to calm down and forgive him. He wanted Mother Claire and the others home safe rather than out in the cold and the snow. He wanted to sit and hear Jamie sharing their stories from the day’s hunt while everyone enjoyed a warm dinner in the cosy safety of the cabin.
“How did you manage to catch it?”
“Well… I didna so much catch him as find him,” she confessed. “But I had to make sure he was dead and he is.”
“Well, you’ve done a fine job. I’ll have to have you help me with the traps again after the storm’s passed and we’ve found a way to line your boots with some of the rabbit fur I brought back with me.”
“I wanna see!” she exclaimed, rushing past him back outside through the snow to the glow of the cabin.
He trailed behind, noticing that Mother Claire, Roger and Ian were gathered in the yard with Jamie. Mandy barreled down toward them and the cry of joy and relief that went up when they spotted her warmed him even as the snow began to make its way into his boots. Jamie clapped him on the back and bent to whisper, “Well done, lad,” while the others questioned Mandy about where she’d been and why.
William felt color rise in his cheeks at the praise and the welcome. Mother Claire embraced him and relieved him of the dead mouse, the two of them chuckling over it.
I would love to see a sweet scene or two of William at Fraser's Ridge (circa book 9) bonding with Mandy and/or Jem. What do the kids think of their Uncle Willie?
Homecoming - Part Ten
Book 9 speculation; William arrives at the Ridge with his cousin Dottie the same day that the MacKenzie family has made their unexpected return.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine
With so many people about the big house—and with so many of them watching him—William felt the need to get away. He couldn’t retreat to the room he’d been given upstairs. It was too close and would feel too much like hiding. They’d be waiting for him to come down and then he’d have to watch them restrain themselves as the impulse to bombard him with questions seized them all. Well… maybe not Mother Claire. But her gentle kindness and understanding would leave him feeling coddled and he didn’t need that either.
He just needed some space and some time to adjust to… everything.
He slipped out the back, picked a direction, and began walking. The children were having something to eat and with so many of them about, it took a large number of the adults to get them sorted. He also thought he heard Jamie and Brianna discussing plans for some sort of building they hoped to start work on soon.
William soon felt the tension in his head and limbs loosen. The air was crisp and had that clean feeling that can only be found when you remove yourself far enough from a habited space. The forest wasn’t too dense but there was plenty of shade keeping the area cool. He could find no discernable path and paused to take in and mark his surroundings. The last thing he needed was to get himself too lost to find his way back and require a search party. He would never manage to escape being watched if that were to happen.
There appeared to be a clearing to his right, so William headed in that direction. He knew he wasn’t close to the big house, but he could — perhaps — pretend he’d been sent on an errand to one of the other houses on the Ridge and get a sense of just how far off he’d gotten.
But there was no cabin or farm when he reached the edge of the clearing. Instead, the trees opened as they approached a steep dropoff. William kept to the treeline and safely away from the edge. When he looked up and out, a quiet and calming sense of awe overtook him.
A corner of the valley lay before him. He’d seen more stunning views in his travels through the colonies. He was momentarily thrust back into a memory of visiting the Ridge as a boy and Jamie taking him on a hunting trip. There had been a remarkable view along a cliff like this — though, that one had been steeper, the view stretching further. It must have been at a higher point on one of these mountains.
It wasn’t the vast wilderness that William found incredible here. It was the columns of rising smoke. It was the empty spots among the trees along the mountainside. There had to be more than two dozen of them. The homesteads of settlers who had followed Jamie, trusted him with their lives and their families. Settlers who had built something for themselves in the wilderness — who were still building and would build long after Jamie was gone.
William felt a stab of admiration for the man who’d fathered him. He had heard enough of Jamie Fraser’s history to know he hadn’t had an easy life — especially after the Jacobites were defeated — so to see how much he’d accomplished…
It was difficult to make out but William was pretty sure he could tell which of the cleared spaces belonged to the Frasers. Marking it in his memory, he headed back into the forest and oriented himself in the right direction once more.
As he walked, William’s thoughts traveled to his sister, Brianna, and all that she’d said about her own upbringing, how she hadn’t known Fraser was her father until she was grown. She’d certainly come to embrace Jamie Fraser. Hearing her talk, she’d clearly adored the man who raised her — and who’d lied to her. Somehow she’d managed to make peace with the two men and their roles in her life.
He’d asked her about that too. What had she done to find that peace within her or had she just woken up one day and felt different. She’d said it wasn’t until she became a mother herself that she had really been able to come to terms with it all, as much as she ever would.
“I looked at my baby and knew I’d do anything for him. I would never do anything to purposely hurt him. And I knew that all of my parents must’ve felt the same way,” she’d said. “I never would have imagined how many lies I’ve told my children — to keep them safe, to keep them innocent… Mostly small lies that won’t mean much in the long run, but little betrayals of their trust that they would be horrified by if they learned the truth now. And then there are larger lies, though they’re fewer and mostly lies of omission. Those are the ones I worry about,” she confessed. “I guess… because those are the ones that hurt me the most. But that’s why I give my parents a great deal of slack now, for what they kept from me.”
William had let the subject drop, preferring to mull it over on his own. Where was the line between outright lies and lies of omission in his case? And how much did it matter? It didn’t change the love he’d received from his mother, his grandparents, or Papa. How much had they done it to protect him and how much had they done it to protect the memory and reputation of the mother who’d borne him? Again, did it matter? What would he have done in their situation?
What might things have been like if he’d been raised by Jamie Fraser? That had to be a question that Brianna had asked herself too. Of course, she was Jamie Fraser’s daughter by Mother Claire, and anyone who saw the two of them together… Whereas, he…
Jamie had told him several times that whatever regrets he had about William’s mother, he didn’t regret William’s existence. But that could mean… too many things.
Laughter. Not just any laughter, but the laughter of children. It was so light and happy it distracted William from his thoughts.
Brianna’s children were playing in the woods. At least, those were the two he could see. William suspected the other children weren’t too far away. Fanny or, perhaps she was too old to bother with children’s games. But the older boy with the French name; he would be involved. He didn’t seem the type to miss out on mischief and fun. Right now Mandy was following a few steps on Jem’s heels as he crept through the underbrush to peek behind a tree. Mandy jumped and squealed but Jem shook his head.
William turned his path to approach them slowly, continuing to watch them.
There was a great commotion that involved Mandy shrieking with terror and Jem and another child laughing.
Mandy didn’t seem amused. She turned on her heel to stomp away but stopped dead when she spotted William watching. The boys stifled their laughter and smiled benignly at William.
“What have you three been playing at?” William asked. “It looked like you were enjoying yourselves.”
“We were just playin’ hide and seek,” Jem answered. “But I think Mandy’s had enough.”
Mandy turned back around to glare at her brother. “Wha’ I’ve had enough of is you and Germain playin’ against me. I wanna be seeker.”
“And we dinna want ye gettin’ tired part way through and goin’ off to pick flowers and leavin’ us hidin’ till dark,” Jem threw back at her.
Mandy’s face grew red at the accusation.
“Perhaps you can explain the game to me,” William intervened.
All three children looked at him with the same puzzled expression.
“Have you never played it then?” Germain asked.
“I didn’t have anyone to play with,” William explained. “No one my own age. I had tutors until I was old enough to go to university and then I went into the army.”
Mandy’s mouth gaped open. “Ye’ve never played before? At all?”
William chuckled, a little self-conscious under the gaze of the older boys. “I didn’t have the opportunity to play games very often, but I did play… And I rode horses a lot. It was uh… it was your grandfather who taught me to ride when I was about your age,” he told Mandy.
“Grandda’s great wi’ horses,” Jem agreed.
But Mandy was still focused on the fact William had never played hide and seek before.
“You can be seeker wi’ me,” she declared, turning to Jem and Germain to see if they would challenge her or let her have her way.
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“They should have been back to the house by now,” Brianna remarked, anxiety overflowing.
Claire tried to soothe her but knew it was pointless given all Brianna had been through the last few months.
“They’re children, Bree. If they’re having fun, they won’t be thinking about how worried you might be or how late they are. Remember Germain is with them and he knows these mountains as well as your father does.”
Brianna’s arm suddenly shot out across Claire’s chest, forcing her to stop in her tracks.
“I hear someone,” she whispered.
Claire rolled her eyes and gently maneuvered around Brianna’s arm.
“It’s William,” Claire said, keeping her voice quiet so their presence might remain unnoticed. “He’s got Mandy with him. I think… I think he’s playing with them.”
“Playing what?”
Mandy was on William’s shoulders, her hands in his hair guiding him. He had a grip on each of her legs and was leading her around from tree to tree so she could peer up into the branches from a higher vantage point.
“Found you!” Mandy hollered, pointing up at Jem whose leg was just visible on a branch.
Claire felt Brianna breathe a sigh of relief beside her, and then giggle as they watched William fighting to keep Mandy properly balanced amidst her excited flailing. At one point, she leaned forward over William’s head to peer at him upside down. The smile that broke out on his face at whatever she said caused Claire’s chest to tighten.
“Shall we leave them to continue playing?” she suggested to Brianna. “I think they’ll find their way back on their own and I’d hate to disrupt them.”
Hello ladies! I would love to read a fic in a book 9-ish setting, to see wee Mandy meeting her grandparents, and Jem seeing them again and being reunited with Germain/the Ridge in general, as well! Thank you <3
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight
Homecoming - Part Nine
Brianna set Mandy down on the bench alongside the long main table. Claire was directing Jem and Germain to clean themselves up before she’d allow them any of the bread or honey. Both boys being in good spirits thanks to their reunion, they obliged while Mandy watched with wide eyes.
“Jemmy did wha’ she said,” Mandy remarked quietly to her mother, “and didna put on a fight first.”
Brianna gave an un-amused laugh as she used a damp cloth Claire provided to wipe Mandy’s face and hands.
“Why?” Mandy pressed.
“You’ve heard me and Da and Jem talk about Grandda and Gannie before,” Brianna reminded Mandy. “When we’re here, they help Da and me to take care of you, so when they ask you to do something, you need to listen to them and do as they say. Understand?”
Mandy looked over at Claire who was slicing a loaf of bread at a small table next to the doors that led through to the kitchen. Jem and Germain burst through a moment later, their hands, faces, and hair still dripping from their scrubbing.
“Go back through and make sure that floor is clean,” Claire told both boys, holding the eye of each of them long enough to ensure they heard the steel behind the instruction. There were giggles as soon as the door closed behind the mischievous pair.
Mandy turned back to her mother and nodded.
Claire carried the sliced bread over on a large plate and handed Brianna a napkin to spread on the table before Mandy.
“Fanny, will you fetch the honey from the pantry?” Claire requested before settling in at one end of the table across from Brianna and Mandy. “Better take what we want now because there won’t be a chance for seconds.” She put a slice of bread on the spread napkin in front of Mandy, smiling at her before handing a slice to Brianna and taking one for herself as well.
“Mam says yer my Grannie,” Mandy informed Claire, “and tha’s why Jemmy listens to ye.”
Claire chuckled. “I am. You were just a baby when I saw you last. A little bigger than the baby you saw earlier, but not much bigger.”
Mandy turned to Brianna for confirmation of Claire’s claim.
“Grannie was the first one ever to hold you when you were born,” Brianna assured her daughter, the girl’s surprise at that causing her mouth to fall open. “And you know how one of your middle names is Claire? That’s cause it’s her name.”
“Is tha’ why my hair’s got curls too?”
Brianna and Claire fought to suppress their laughter and Claire nodded. “The color’s from your father but I do believe the curl traces back through your mother to me.”
Fanny returned with a ceramic pot of honey and a spoon, offering them to Claire.
“Would you like to do it yourself, Mandy?” Claire suggested with a questioning glance at Brianna.
“If you do, you’re gonna do it sitting in Grannie’s lap, not mine,” Brianna said, already rising and lifting Mandy over the table to hand her to Claire. “I’ll eat it but I have no desire to wear it.”
Claire settled Mandy in her lap and handed her the spoon to dip into the pot while Claire held it and adjusted it as necessary to minimize how much dribbled onto the tabletop. When there was a large pool of honey on the bread, seeping into the air pockets and leaking to soak the napkin beneath, Claire eased the spoon from Mandy’s hand and handed the pot down the table for Fanny and the boys to negotiate (Jem had grown tired of waiting and had already eaten the crust off his bread).
Mandy tried to lift her slice of bread to bite into it but had to blow her curls out of the way first. Claire struggled to hold back her granddaughter’s hair but when Mandy pulled back, chewing happily, a strand of honey trailed back to the end of a ringlet. She whipped her head around to look up at Claire over her shoulder, flinging the honey into the older woman’s face.
“I like this honey better’n wha’ we have at home,” Mandy told Claire. “Ours comes from a bear.”
“A bear?” Fanny frowned. “Bears don’t make honey. Bees make honey.”
“I didna say they make it,” Mandy challenged the older girl with a roll of her eyes.
“Mandy,” Brianna scolded.
Fanny backed down as well, turning her attention to Germain and Jem who were seeing how high they could hold the spoon of honey and still dribble it on the slice of bread below.
“Where did you get the bears in Scotland?” Claire asked Mandy quietly.
Mandy was pleased to see that even if the girl didn’t believe her, Grannie did.
“Mam had a friend who sent them to us cause they’re Mam’s favorite.”
Brianna mouthed ‘Joe’ to her mother who smiled at the thought of her old friend.
The boys and Fanny had finished with their snack and were smearing the remnants of the honey across the backs of their hands as they raced to the door—Fanny demonstrated a little more decorum than that, taking care to wipe her face on her napkin and leave it neatly folded before floating out of the house and toward the garden where William was talking with Ian, Rachel, and Roger.
“And did you ever get to meet your mother’s friend?” Claire asked, her eyes fixed on Brianna who nodded.
“Ah huh. When Da was missin’ Mam took us to see ‘im in Boston. She said it’s where she grew up and tha’ he was a friend of yers first. He’s the one helped with my heart when I was a wee bairn,” Mandy explained, her voice pitching high at the end before she stuck her fingers in her mouth to lick them clean.
“And did you have fun in Boston?” Claire asked, giving Mandy a small bounce in her lap
Mandy giggled. “Ah huh. We did ‘speriments drivin’ round the Common and Mam took us to a big park but it was inside and we werena allowed to play on the grass cause someone else was havin’ a game.” Mandy’s excitement cooled and she whispered accusationally to Claire, her eyes darting back to Brianna, “I wanna go back an’ visit but Mam says we cannae do that. She says we cannae go home to Lallybroch again neither.”
Claire sighed and reached for the damp cloth Brianna had left on the table, using it to wipe the stickiness from Mandy’s face. Brianna looked up as a door opened and Jamie came in with as large a piece of paper as he had in his study. A quill was in one hand, his fingers stained with ink.
“I’m sorry you can’t go back to Scotland and Lallybroch,” Claire said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure you’re happy here. You’ll have playmates nearby and some cousins.”
“Uncle Ian and Aunt Rachel,” Brianna reminded. “Baby Brian.”
“And I ken ye’ve been bouncin’ about for a time wi’ no place that’s been yers since Lallybroch,” Jamie spoke up, spreading the paper on the table. “But why don’t ye come over here and help me and yer mam make a start of fixin’ that?”
Claire let Mandy down so she could scamper around the table and climb into her mother’s lap.
“Wha’s this?”
“This is goin’ to be yer new house,” Jamie told her, using the quill to point at the diagram he’d started sketching. “It’ll start wi’ just this big room here—tha’s about as much as we’ll be able to build before the snows come—but then in the spring, we start framing this part out here and before summer arrives we can knock out this wall and it’ll be the kitchen for the larger house.”
“Ooooh,” Brianna purred, reaching over and taking the quill from her father’s hand. “If we take the larger part of the house and move it to this side of the cabin instead, the kitchen chimney will help heat it along here. Then, a second chimney on the far side here…”
“Jem’ll get plenty of practice splittin’ kindling if ye want a house wi’ two chimneys like that,” Jamie remarked.
“I wanna practice too,” Mandy piped in.
“I’ll see the smith about a wee hatchet for ye,” Jamie promised, blinking at Mandy with a smirk on his face before glancing up to see Brianna struggling to hold her tongue. “If ye’re goin’ to be helpin’ yer mam and me wi’ the new house, ye’ll need to start wi’ the right tools.”
Claire reached over to the pot of honey and ran her finger around the rim, gathering the drips and dribbles on her finger and popping it in her mouth while she smiled at Brianna with a look that teased, It’s our right as grandparents to spoil them.
“Did ye build this house?” Mandy asked Jamie, her jaw dropping when he nodded. “All of it? By yerself?”
“I had help, though… I’m sure it would ha’ gone that much faster did I have you helpin’ too.” Mandy slipped from Brianna’s lap and shuffled across the bench to climb into Jamie’s lap.
“How’d ye do the map?” She reached for the quill from Brianna. “Show me?”
“It’s no a map the way most folk think of maps,” Jamie explained, guiding her hand as the tip of the dry quill traced the lines of the sketch. “It’s no even a proper plan—that would have the measurements marked here…”
Hi! I'd love to see more Homecoming! Maybe William can have that conversation with Bree... or maybe he can stop avoiding Rachel ^^ Thank you so much for all your work!
Book 9 speculation; William arrives at the Ridge with his cousin Dottie the same day that the MacKenzie family has made their unexpected return.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven
Homecoming - Part Eight
“Would ye no rather be helpin’ yer sister-in-law and her bairn to settle?” Roger asked of Ian and Rachel as they followed the children through the woods back to the big house.
“Mam has it all in hand and… if I’m bein’ honest…” Ian confessed quietly, “it’s a relief to have a break from her. I love her dearly but I’m no used to bein’ the only of her bairns wi’ her attentions. I think she’s in need of a wee change too and cleanin’ the cabin for Dottie while she and the bairn rest are as good for her as us.” Ian glanced briefly at Rachel who was preoccupied with Brian who’d sneezed. “Give her some time to adjust to what ye told her last night,” he added in a whisper.
“Well, I thank ye for letting me and the kids stay wi’ ye last night. Easier’n havin’ the carry ‘em all the way back.”
Germain and Jemmy had run ahead and were seeing who could climb a nearby tree fastest while Mandy hurried after and jumped to try to catch the lowest branch. Fanny appeared to be offering Mandy a lift but the youngest Mackenzie stubbornly refused the help.
“I am happy to have had the chance to meet thee and spend time coming to know thee,” Rachel said as she patted Brian’s back in the sling she wore across her front. “My husband has told many stories of thee and thy wife. I know he was sorry not to have thee with us when we were wed.”
“Aye well, there were many days when we would ha’ liked to have had him and the rest of ye wi’ us as well. Glad to see he’s found himself a wife and settled down proper,” Roger teased. “Puttin’ down roots.” The relief of being with family again was as heady and intoxicating as the whisky they’d shared the night before.
“Mama!” Roger heard Mandy shriek as the big house came into sight.
Brianna was in the yard with Claire and William, a basket over her arm already overflowing with greenery from Claire’s garden.
“Who’s that then?” Germain asked, dropping to the ground with a plop.
Jem dropped too, and landed right in front of Roger so that he jumped back before reaching out a hand laying it heavily on his son’s shoulder. Jem looked back at his father and gave him an apologetic smile.
“That… is a… visitor,” Roger answered awkwardly. He wasn’t sure how William would want to be introduced and hedged against his own inclination to call him the lads’ uncle. Germain frowned and looked to Jem who shrugged, still uncertain about how the young man was related to them himself.
Fanny recognized William immediately and was torn between running to him in her excitement and showing how she’d grown in his absence by demonstrating the proper decorum.
“Are ye sure ye dinna want to turn back?” Ian asked Rachel. “We’ve seen them safe back and Uncle Jamie and Auntie Claire willna mind.”
Rachel gave her husband an unamused look that Roger recognized well. He turned his attention to the children and his own wife, politely pretending to ignore the marital exchange happening beside him.
“If thee does not wish to see him then hurry thyself home,” Rachel retorted. “I believe that avoiding him will only prolong and call undo attention to any awkwardness there may be.”
Another sneeze from Brian punctuated his mother’s point and Rachel strode toward Claire, Brianna and William with greater purpose, quickly outpacing Roger and Ian. Roger watched William glance up from Fanny’s excited chattering and spot Rachel approaching. The color rose in the young man’s face as he bowed a greeting to Rachel then looked out to find Roger and Ian still making their approach at a leisurely pace. He nodded to the pair of them as well.
“I take it there’s history between ye?” Roger prompted.
“Aye, and a long one dependin’ on how far back ye wish to go,” Ian explained. “Strictly speaking, I was partly to blame for an embarrassing incident when he first visited ten years or more back.”
“Tha’s a ways alright,” Roger said with a snort. “Ye think he holds a grudge that long?”
“Well, it’s more to do wi’ the fact he fancied Rachel for a time… and likely still does. That I can tell her tales of his childhood humiliation doesna help.”
“What in heaven’s name did ye do to the lad?” Roger asked, glancing across at Ian who couldn’t conceal his amusement at the memory.
“All I’ll say is it ended wi’ him landin’ at the bottom of the privy and me down there soon after, though wi’ a wee bit more of my dignity intact,” Ian chuckled.
Roger snorted. “There’s nae dignity to be had if ye wind up covered in shite, no matter how it happened.”
“Mother Claire did a wonderful job,” William agreed with Fanny as she rattled off some nonsensical tongue twisters to demonstrate her newfound command of speech. “And you appear to like it here,” he added, a hint of question in his voice.
Fanny beamed. “I do. It can be as mad as the brothel and as loud, but I know Jane would have liked it here.” The girl’s smile faltered and her eyes shone as she looked away and took a deep breath.
“I’m glad,” William told her, reaching out and mussing her hair in a playful attempt to bring her back to lighter spirits. “Do you play with the other children or are you in charge of keeping them in order?”
“There’s none will keep Germain in order,” she muttered and Brianna snorted behind her.
“I’m afraid with Jem here it’ll only get worse,” Brianna apologized.
“Fanny, this is Mrs. Mackenzie,” William said by way of introduction. “She’s Mr. and Mrs. Fraser’s daughter.”
“I saw you last night,” Fanny noted. “You came down with Jamie and some others.”
“That’s right,” Brianna nodded.
Fanny turned to William. “Is she your sister? You call her mum ‘Mother Claire,’” Fanny pointed out.
Clearing his throat, William looked to Brianna and caught her smirking with satisfaction. It made him want to laugh as well as groan but the warmer of the two won out.
“Yes, she’s my sister… in a way. Not the same way that Jane was your sister,” William struggled to explain.
“Friend Claire,” Rachel called as she approached the house and garden with Mandy straggling beside her on tiny, tired legs.
Claire rose from a patch in the corner where she’d been weeding and wiped the back of her hand across her forehead, smearing a bit of dirt over one eye like a second eyebrow.
“Rachel! I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” Claire exclaimed, wiping her hands on her apron and scooting around the edge of the fence. “I thought you’d be helping Dottie and Minnie to get settled.”
“My husband’s mother took it well in hand and I was eager to meet thy daughter as thee has told me so much about her,” Rachel explained and smiled at Brianna. “And I must apologize to thee for neglecting thee in my duties as hostess last night. Sister Dottie and the baby took more of my attention than I expected. But I’m glad to finally meet thee… and to see thee again, Friend William,” Rachel added, turning and smiling at him.
“You’re looking well… Mrs. Murray,” William greeted her awkwardly. “And it would appear congratulations are in order,” he nodded to the squirming bundle swaddled against her chest.
“I thank thee. It took us time to settle on a name for him. Brian James Hunter Murray,” Rachel cooed as she looked down at her contented and slumbering son.
“Named for our grandfather,” Brianna said quietly, coming up beside William, Mandy on her hip. “Same as me.”
“Issa bairn,” Mandy informed her new uncle. “He’s too wee for me to hold him yet.”
“It’s more that you’re too wee and not quite gentle enough to hold him yet,” Brianna corrected Mandy.
“He’s no too wee to hold him, is he?” Mandy asked, glancing to William. “Have ye ever held a bairn before?”
William wondered if the child was trying to see how dark a shade of red his face would go.
“As a matter of fact, I have,” he told her. “I brought my cousin and her baby daughter with me yesterday, do you remember?” Mandy nodded. “Well, she couldn’t carry Minnie the whole way by herself.” William thought back to the first terrifying moment Dottie had handed Minnie to him while she’d gone off to relieve herself behind a tree and the way she’d laughed finding he hadn’t moved a muscle in her absence. He had grown more comfortable with practice, however, though he remained paranoid that he would cause some sort of damage to the delicate and vulnerable baby. Every whimper and cry Minnie let out in his arms felt like an accusation.
But they’d been alone then, he and Dottie with the baby, either in unfamiliar towns and settlements or in the wilderness where he was their only source of protection. The weight of that responsibility had been heavier than he realized.
“Would thee like to hold Brian?” Rachel asked, surprising him. She was already pulling the baby free of his sling, his legs pulled up to his belly and his feet curling with what William saw as reluctance.
“Oh… That’s… I don’t…” William sputtered.
“Go on,” Brianna urged with a light bump from her elbow. “I don’t think Mandy’ll believe you till she sees it done.”
“He will be fine with thee,” Rachel insisted, gently settling the baby in William’s arms. “He’s not so breakable as he might seem and I have faith in thee.”
Brian peered up at William with a wariness that suggested he wasn’t as sure about William’s abilities as his mother. But he didn’t fuss or wriggle, just watched William and relaxed as the tension in William began to loosen as well. Brian was heavier than Minnie and longer, but then both Rachel and Ian were taller than Dottie and Brian might be a week or so older than his cousin.
“It would appear you are a natural,” Claire remarked with a smile and rested a reassuring hand on William’s shoulder.
“Mam, I wasna tha’ small too,” Mandy stated, peering down at Brian with skepticism.
“You absolutely were,” Brianna contradicted. “Smaller even. Jem too though he was less inclined to be agreeable at that size. Hungry all the time and hollerin’ for me to feed him.” She gave Rachel a look of commiseration.
“Jem does ‘at now,” Mandy said inspiring a chorus of laughs.
“Wha’s funny?” Jem panted as he and Germain reached the group.
“Nothing. Had enough of climbing trees?” Brianna asked with a tone that told her son what the correct answer to the question should be.
“Aye. Gran, is there anythin’ in here we’re allowed to eat?” Jem turned to Claire, eyeing the stems of some carrots that were in one of the baskets on the ground.
He didn’t seem to notice the renewed laughter as Claire ushered the children to the house with the promise of bread and honey, Brianna following with Mandy still on her hip.
“I can take him back if thee would like to go inside as well,” Rachel offered but William shook his head.
“We’re fine for now,” he assured her, watching the baby blink at him and yawn. “You probably already know this,” William mused quietly, not looking at Rachel who had stepped closer and was leaning over her son to watch him, “but he has your eyes.”
She smiled though he couldn’t see it. “That’s what Ian says. My eyes and his father’s disposition.”
“If tha’s the case ye’ll be in trouble before long,” Roger said, teasing Ian who walked beside him. “Or should I say, he’ll be in trouble before long?” He elbowed Ian lightly in the ribs.
“Tis a trait Friend Claire says men with Fraser blood share,” Rachel agreed with a laugh, smiling at William to show she was including him in her generalization.
“Perhaps tha’s so,” Ian conceded, striding over to William’s side and putting an arm around his shoulders in a familiar and jovial way. “It’s why we must find ourselves women as will follow us in our trouble gladly—or those wi’ a knack for helpin’ us find our way out of it once more. If we’re lucky.”
“It’s clear you have been,” William said with a sincerity that altered the mood. He offered Brian to his father who took him with a confidence born of practice.
“Ye will be too… cousin,” Ian replied, confident in the first sentiment and hesitant in the latter.
William didn’t rebuke him or walk away. Instead he smiled. “I can only hope to be half so lucky.” He glanced to Rachel who beamed at them.
Ian took hold of Brian under his arms and lifted him up to look him in his pouting face. “That would be lucky indeed, would it no?” he asked in a sing-song tone.
Brian sneezed in his face. William watched Rachel as they both laughed and realized he was genuinely happy for her and for Ian.
Imagine Claire overhearing Jamie and Germain having a heart to heart about Henri Christian.
***HERE THERE BE MOBY SPOILERS***Claire gently dabbed at the torn knuckles of Germain’s filthy, bloody hand. The boy hissed at the sting of alcohol, but did not cry out. He wouldn’t - not with Jamie sitting beside him, anyway - but he was young enough to not be too shy to squirm in his seat.“Why were you hitting the tree, Germain?” she asked quietly, using a small pair of forceps to remove a piece of bark.Germain pursed his lips and shrugged - one of his father’s mannerisms. Clearly he just wanted to suffer the indignity of his grandmother tending him - because a true man had no need for such doctoring - and then get back to his chores.
“Ye’ll answer your grannie when she speaks to ye,” Jamie softly chided, holding the boy’s hand steady as Claire continued to rinse his knuckles of grime.
Germain glared up at his grandfather, but obeyed. “It was Aidan and Orrie,” he said after a while. “Mrs. Higgins told them to mind wee Rob, because he’s not old enough to be out in the woods on his own. Only - we were all walking up a hill and Rob was behind us, and I asked if we could slow down so he could catch up, and his brothers said there was no need, he must learn how to climb hills on his own.”
He swallowed and took a deep, shuddering breath. Jamie lay a hand on his shoulder, encouraging.
“So I argued with Aidan - it isna right to leave a wee brother behind. It’s the duty of the older brother to always care for the younger brother - to teach him the ways of the world, to make sure he’s safe. That’s what I promised Maman and Papa I’d do, when Henri-Christian was born.”
Claire wordlessly wrapped a thin linen bandage around the worst of the knuckles. Germain’s fingers trembled within her grip.
“But why were ye punching the tree, then? Because ye were mad at Aidan, for not tending wee Rob?” Jamie’s voice was patient, understanding.
Germain’s blue eyes swam with tears. “No, Grandpere. I was punching the tree because I’m mad at myself. Because I couldna care for Henri-Christian - I couldna protect him. I broke my promise. And now he’s dead.”
Stricken, Claire wrapped an arm around Germain’s, his bony shoulders shaking with thin sobs. She worriedly met Jamie’s gaze over Germain’s blond head, and Jamie scooted closer to her on the bench, wrapping an arm around them both, holding them close.
“Germain?” Jamie whispered after a long while.
He met Jamie’s gaze and straightened his shoulders. Trying so desperately to act like the strong man beside him. “Yes?”
“Did ye know that I had a brother, too?”
The boy blinked. “You did? In Scotland?”
“Aye, in Scotland. He was older than me, took care of me when I was a bairn. Showed me the ways of the world, kept me safe, was my best friend. My Mam and Da made him promise to protect me.”
Germain wiped his running nose on the back of his hand, fascinated. “What happened to him?”
Jamie sighed. “He died of the smallpox when I was six.”
Germain lowered his gaze to the smooth polished wood of the kitchen table. “That’s verra sad,” he said softly.
Jamie nodded. “It is. But I’ve learned something since then. My brother is no longer here - but he’s still looking out for me, still taking care of me. Do ye understand?”
Germain nodded.
“Weel. Ye were such a good brother to Henri-Christian - ye took such good care of him - so, why wouldna he now take that burden, looking out for you and taking care of ye, from his place up with the angels?”
Tears slipped down Claire’s face as she watched Germain, thunderstruck, wordlessly collapse into his grandfather’s arms.
