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.”
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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.”
Jemmy adores his Granda. They are very close. I imagine he'll become close to Mandy also now that they are back in 18th century. Frank may be important to Bree but he's unlikely to be of any importance to Jemmy and Mandy. Imagine a scene where Jemmy is disinterested in Frank or dismisses him in some way. Maybe Jemmy says something to upset Bree? Maybe Jamie has a word with Jemmy about being sensitive to his mother's feelings towards Frank but is secretly delighted by his words and loyalty?
Mandy was asleep in Roger’s arms and Jem stood beside him kicking at a pebble in the path.
They stayed back while Brianna stepped forward to lay the wreath at the base of Frank Randall’s headstone. She rested her hand on the top and after a moment, eased herself down to sit before it.
Roger couldn’t make out what she said but could hear the rise and fall of her voice as she spoke to him. She must be filling him in on all that had passed. Not Claire returning to Jamie—she’d have told him that after her mother had gone when she’d been left in Boston on her own. No, Brianna would be telling Frank about her own decision to pass through the stones. He knew she’d been conflicted in her feelings for Frank—the hurt and betrayal of learning he’d kept the truth from her, the yearning to be able to ask him why, the undying desire for his approval and love.
Roger understood better now he was a father (twice over) himself, especially with everything they’d had to sacrifice for Mandy. He thought that must be part of why Brianna had wanted to come and do this before they left to go back to Scotland.
Jem groaned with boredom and Roger hissed through his teeth to catch his son’s attention.
“Show some respect,” Roger whispered when Jem looked up at him.
“But I didna ken the man,” Jem objected but at least kept his voice low.
“It’s no about him,” Roger insisted. “It’s about yer mam and what he meant to her.”
“But he wasna even her real da.” Jem flinched as Roger’s hand shot out to administer a light smack to the back of Jem’s head.
“Be thankful yer mam didna hear that,” Roger scolded sharply.
“She seems sadder about him than she does about leavin’ Granda and Gran,” Jem muttered resentfully.
“If ye dinna shut yer mouth, ye’ll be regrettin’ it,” Roger warned. “Ye ken yer mam and I didna make the decision lightly, any more so than yer Granda did when he sent Mam and yer Gran away all those years ago. What d’ye think he’d make of yer attitude just now, eh Jemmy?”
Jem blinked as his face turned red, then he hung his head. “He’d tell me to think of Mam,” he replied in a sheepish voice.
“So if ye’ll no bide me and wha’ I say, bide what ye ken Granda would say.”
They were quiet for another few minutes while Brianna finished at Frank’s grave, pressing her fingers to her lips and then the headstone before rising and wiping her eyes. Roger shifted Mandy from one shoulder to the other, his neck sweating from the heat radiating off her sleeping head.
“Jemmy? Are you alright, honey?” Brianna asked, sinking to her knees in front of him and lifting his chin with her fingers.
“I miss Granda,” Jem whimpered, throwing his arms around her neck and giving in to his tears. “And Gran and I wanna go home.”
Brianna lifted him off his feet when she rose, fresh tears shining in her own eyes as well.
“I miss them too,” she said. “And I know it would mean a lot to him to hear you say that, but he’d also want you to have what fun here that you can, and be happy if you can. Neither he nor Gran would want you crying for them—not much, anyway.”
Jem laughed at that but it soon turned into a loud sob that threatened to wake Mandy.
“You know, Da and I were talking about what we’d do now Mandy’s well again—where we’d go and where we’d live,” Brianna explained as she followed Roger toward their parked car. “We were thinking of going to Scotland. What d’you think Granda would make of that?”
Jem sniffed and quieted his sobs long enough to respond, “He says he wants to see it again before he dies… and that a Scot’s no a true Scot wi’out seein’ it wi’ his own two eyes.”
“And he’d want ye to be a true Scot, no?” Roger chimed in.
“So maybe you’re alright with us goin’ there?” Brianna checked.
Jem nodded then rested his head against her shoulder, nuzzling to her neck the way he had when he was a baby.
Hello. :) Can I please have a prompt where Bree overhears Fergus call Jamie and Claire mum and dad? Please and thanks! :)
Brianna jerked awake – limbs and mind flailing amid thestrange, scratchy sheets and lumpy mattress –
Ah. The loft in Fergus and Marsali’s printshop - *new*printshop, she mentally corrected, heart clenching at just the thought ofHenri-Christian.
They had arrived late last night on an emissary from theRidge – coming to not only see Fergus and Marsali and the girls in person, butalso to bring word of Germain and Ian and Rachel and Oggy and general goings-onin the backcountry.
And, of course, to learn whatever Fergus could tell them whathe had learned from the secret, tangled web of relationships he had socarefully crafted – what news of the war, of the generals, of the Loyalists,that would interest her parents.
But all that was for today, and tomorrow, and the nextday – she and Roger and Fergus and Marsali had barely spoken last night, theyhad arrived so late. Today was for catching up – for savoring time with peopleshe never thought she would see again.
Roger snored beside her. A glance to the pallet on thefloor to their right confirmed Jem was still out. But there was a telltale gapbetween her and Roger on the mattress…
“Bonjour, mademoiselle Mandy,” Fergus’ sleepy voicefloated up from the main floor of the printshop. “Did you climb down thatladder all by yourself?”
“Esmerelda helped,” she insisted. “And I’m big enough todo it.”
Fergus laughed softly. Brianna couldn’t remember the lasttime she had heard that sound.
“Do you remember me, from when you were small?”
“No. Mama said I was just a baby when we went back. Yeken about the stones?”
Did he? Surely he knew *something* - Ian knew, and AuntieJenny knew –
“Yes, I know about them. You are very special – you andyour brother and your parents, that you can travel.”
Brianna could almost hear her daughter shrug. “Granniecan do it too.”
“Yes, she can. You know I met her not too long after shecame through, the first time?”
“You *did*?”
“Yes – in France.”
“But the stones are in Scotland.”
“So they are – but your Grandda and Grannie travelled toFrance. I met them there.”
Roger reached a warm hand to caress her shoulder.
“Were you born in France?”
“Yes.”
“But you’re Mama’s brother. *She* was born in Boston.”
Roger’s hand stilled. Brianna silently took in a breath –of *course* that’s how Mandy would see Fergus – the father of her cousinGermain. Half-siblings, adopted siblings – none of it mattered, as they wereall family. But did Fergus see it that way? She knew Da had given him theFraser name, but –
“I’m – I’m not *really* related to her. I don’t know whomy parents were.”
A long pause. “That’s verra sad.”
“It is – and it made me sad for a long time. But it doesn’tmatter anymore.”
“Why?”
Roger scooted closer on the bed, curving his front alongher back.
“Because your Grandda and Grannie are my true parents.They care for me, and love me, even when they did not need to.”
She turned to face Roger, nuzzling against him. Heart sofull with love.
“Why?”
“Because they are the best people I have ever known. Whenyou are big one day, you will understand.”
Mandy huffed.
Roger kissed Brianna’s forehead.
“What happened to your hand? Are you a pirate?”
“I think I’ll go rescue him,” Brianna whispered.
“He’ll be just fine,” Roger murmured. “Let them get toknow each other, aye?”
“A pirate?” Fergus’ voice was exquisitely patient.
“A pirate!” Mandy exclaimed. “Only pirates have hooks forhands.”
“No, *ma petite* - I am a printer.”
“A printer? That’s so *boring*.”
“Well, Mandy – tell that to your Grandda the next timeyou see him. He will tell you otherwise.”
Imagine a French family (couple, kids and a granny) arriving to the Ridge. They recognised the gran as Suzette, the Paris maid and making counts about her son age they noticed he could be also Murtagh's son.
“Are you sure this is the right place, grandmére?” a small child’s voice floated over the fields. At the sound, I looked up to see the unknown visitors.
My heart leapt to my throat as I caught sight of the child, dark curls and a furrowed brow that belonged on an older face, a face that I knew.
“Murtagh?” I whispered and set off through the fields to where the family approached.
An elderly woman, her hair pulled back in a cap held the hand of the small child who bore stunning resemblance to my husband’s kinsman. Behind the two, a man slightly older than Brianna walked ladened down with parcels as a woman with light brown hair carried a sleeping infant in her arms.
My heart was in my throat as I ran from the fields towards the big house, trying desperately to make it there before the family arrived. I had to warn Jamie. I had to find him.
“Granny!” Mandy squealed as I tore through the house.
“Hello lovie, have you seen Grandda?” I asked sweetly, yet impatiently. My breaths were short and I felt as though I might pass out from the effort to stand.
Mandy’s curly head bobbed enthusiastically. “Oh yes Granny! He took Da and Jem to the stream to catch fish.” She tilted her head and stared at me curiously. “Why are you breathing so hard? Is something wrong?” Her bright green eyes grew to the size of saucers. “Did something happen to Mama? Granny…”
“Shh, darling,” I comforted. “Granny is out of breath because she ran all the way down from the fields and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with your mother.”
The little girl seemed to collapse onto my stomach in relief. “I can go find Grandda if you like?” came the muffled sounds of her voice in my dress.
I smoothed down her dark curls in comfort. “Would you please do that? Tell him Granny has something very important to talk to him about and that we have guests.”
Her head perked up. “Guests? Oh Granny, really? Did Uncle Fergus come to see us?”
“No, darling, but we do have some special people to host, now scoot. Go find your Grandda.”
Mandy sprinted toward the woods at the back of the house; just as her skirts disappeared around the corner of the trees, a booming and heavily accented “Hello” came from behind me.
More cries of hello and bonjour greeted me as I turned and went to the front door.
“Hello,” I greeted hesitantly. “Can I--”
My eyes locked on the elderly woman. Her hair was peppered with white but still a rich black and her face--though lined with smile, worry and laugh lines--did not hide the resemblance to the young lady’s maid I once knew.
“Suzette?”
“Ah! Oui Madame Fraser!” She spoke in a flurry of French to her family, chastising them from what I caught. I stifled a smile as I heard her tell the man who was clearly her son that of course I had remembered her and that he should listen to his mother no matter what age he is.
“Please, won’t you come in? I’m sure I can find something for your family to eat and drink. Perhaps some honey water for the baby?”
“You are too kind, Milady.”
“Please, it’s Claire, Suzette. We’ve known each other long enough and you are no longer my lady’s maid.”
Suzette grabbed my arm and blushed furiously. “Oui, Madame--Claire. I have much to ask of you and your husband.”
“Come in and we can talk. Jamie is out just now but should be back soon.”
Leading them to the study, my mind raced with the various requests she may have of us.
“Would you all like something to drink?”
“Non. Thank you, Madame Fraser,” Suzette’s son said, seating himself next to the young woman and taking the sleeping child from her arms. “We are very grateful that you will speak with us. I know you have known my maman but not seen her in many years. We were not sure we would be..how do you say...a accueilli.”
Before I could say anything, he held up a hand and smiled. “This was mine and my wife’s fear, not my Maman’s. She insisted you would speak with us.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“Claire?” Jamie’s breathless voice called out.
“In the study!” I answered as I heard the heavy and quick clumps of his boots in the hall.
“Mandy said you needed--Mon Dieu,” Jamie stammered as he took in Suzette’s son and grandson then in a broken whisper, croaked out, “Murtagh?”
Suzette’s smile dimmed but she nodded. “Oui, Milord. My son is his.”
The son in question looked startled and wary, but stood and bowed low to Jamie. “My name is Gabriel Murtagh Fraise, and this is my wife Emilie, our son Lucas and our daughter Madeleine. We are at your service, Milord.”
Jamie quirked an eye to Suzette at the mention of their last name but bowed back to Gabriel in equal respect. “Welcome to our home. Family is always welcome here, so you may refer to me as Jamie.”
Gabriel bowed again. “Thank you. We are honored with your kindness.”
“Suzette, you said you had something you wished to ask of us?”
“Oui, Mi--Claire. We have come to ask if we may stay with you. We know that we gave no warning and come with only what we carried on our backs, but we are willing to work for our place on your land.” Suzette’s eyes fixated on the floor at Jamie’s feet as she spoke.
“Suzette?” Jamie said softly. “I do not have an available cabin for you or your family to live in.”
She nodded her head and the crushing look of dejection crossed her features. “We understand. We’re sorry to have bothered you.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t welcome. I simply do not have a standing establishment. If you wish to stay here in the big house for a short time and build your own home then I would be happy to have you. We run a large farm and could use all the help we can get with planting and harvesting. You’ll owe a rent, but that we can discuss once your home as been built and how you will pay it.”
Suzette sobbed as she threw herself at Jamie hugging him. “Thank you. Thank you! You do not know what this means to us!”
Jamie nodded stiffly and patted Suzette on the back. “So your last name is Fraise?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Non, but I couldn’t give him the name Fraser without causing scandal with Monsieur Jared’s wine business, but here may we be safe to use it?”
Grinning, both Jamie and I nodded. “Anyone who has known Murtagh could see that he is here in your son and grandson.”
“Thank you!” Suzette sobbed again.
“Does this mean we have to start talking funny like they do Papa?” Young Lucas whisper yelled, eliciting laughter from the room.
Imagine Brianna gets shot some time when they're at their place in America and Claire has to save her
Claire was in her garden pulling up weeds, enjoying the silence and solitude. Brianna and Roger had gone to visit Fergus and Marsali for a few weeks, intending to take care of several errands while there—and they’d taken all the children with them. Germain was eager to see his parents again and Claire thought it was good for Fanny to get some time away from the Ridge and see more children her own age—she’d spent too little of her childhood playing with other children and though having Mandy as a playmate helped, Joanie and Félicité were much closer to her own age.
Weeding her herb garden was a task Claire constantly meant to do but hadn’t yet gotten around to accomplishing. Fanny and Mandy had both taken an interest in helping Claire with little chores about her surgery so she had begun educating them both regarding the different herbs she grew but they still had a long way to go. There had been too many times when one or both of the girls had mistaken the weeds for the plants themselves and rather have them assist her in tidying the garden—which she feared would result in the far more upsetting prospect of her garden being plucked of herbs with the weeds left behind to flourish—Claire had chosen to take advantage of their absence to finally complete the task to her satisfaction. Jamie had even made up little markers for the different sections to help prevent future catastrophe.
The silence was abruptly broken by a high voice screeching, “Grannie! Grannie, come quick!”
Claire started from her kneeling position and got to her feet, dusting dirt and plant matter from her skirt and hands.
“Mandy?” she called.
The dark-haired girl had been running up the path toward the house as fast as her little legs could carry her but she stopped abruptly when she heard her grandmother’s voice. Claire hastened over all too aware of how stiff her knees and hips were from her time kneeling—one of the good things about having the girls around was that they prevented her from getting so bogged down in a task she forgot to move and stretch.
“Grannie!” Mandy exclaimed breathlessly as she collided with Claire’s legs. “Ye have to come right away. Mam got shots!”
It took a moment for Mandy’s words to sink in but as soon as they did, adrenaline burst through Claire’s system. She tore up the path to the house and into her new surgery. It was a long ways to carry her heavy medical box if she were to go on foot—and there was no way she was going to waste the time it took to saddle a horse when the distance could easily be covered on foot regularly. Luckily, she wouldn’t need everything from the medical box and once she had Brianna stabilized it would be easy to send Roger or one of the boys back to fetch it. She would need a scalpel and forceps for retrieval, sutures and a needle to close the wound, bandages and distilled alcohol to dress and disinfect it.
“Where, Mandy?” she pressed the child who had followed her into the house. “Where’s your mother shot?” Even the a general idea of where Brianna had been struck would help Claire to know what to expect, what materials could safely be left behind as unnecessary.
“At home,” Mandy answered with an uncertain look on her face.
Claire cursed under her breath—it wasn’t the information she was looking for but pressing Mandy further might waste valuable time and it wouldn’t help to frighten Mandy as Claire would lose more time trying to calm her down again.
Claire settled on a bottle of laudanum—ether would be better but it was far too dangerous to attempt to move it so far and in such haste. She slung the bag over her head and arm so that the strap cut across her chest leaving her hands free to hold her skirts out of the way.
Mandy was too slow to keep up with Claire as she flew down the path towards Roger and Brianna’s cabin. It was difficult to strike the right balance—on the one hand, trying to prepare herself for what she would find might enable her to reach that space of detachment she would need in order to do what was necessary medically to save Brianna; on the other hand, any attempt to picture what had happened to her daughter and how she might be injured caused a new wave of fear and panic to wash over her.
It obviously had to have happened while they were making their way back—and close to home if they managed to get her all the way to the cabin. Thieves on the road, perhaps or a raiding party waiting for preoccupied travelers—and with the children there, Claire had no trouble believing Brianna would willfully put herself in harm’s way to protect them. Jamie… someone would have to go fetch him—and Ian—from the fields—Germain would likely be quickest.
Finally the cabin was in sight. The lack of visible activity caused her chest to constrict with terror before plunging ahead, refusing to even consider the fact that she might be too late.
She burst through the door, her eyes going to the table in the middle of the room that offered the most promising workspace.
Brianna stood at the table unpacking crates of wares from the shops—most of them supplies they couldn’t get at the Beardsley trading post, items only available in a city. She turned at the commotion of Claire’s entrance and grinned.
“There you are, Mama. I was wondering… wait… where’s Mandy? Why do you have your bag with you?”
Claire crossed to Brianna and took hold of her upper arms, turning her from side to side in disbelief as she caught her breath from her hasty flight along the path.
“You’re… you’re not hurt? You haven’t been shot?” Claire panted.
“What? No. What’re you talking about?” Brianna helped Claire sink into a chair before moving to fetch her a drink. Claire set her medical bag on the floor beside her.
“Mandy,” Claire remarked looking towards the door. She could see a small speck running along the path. “She said I was to come quick and that you’d been shot.”
“Shot? What… why would she say such a thing?” Brianna moved out to the yard to meet her daughter and question her.
Claire swallowed the water Brianna had given her, the cup trembling in her hand as the sense of urgency faded and her system sought an outlet for the nervous energy that remained. Roger soon joined her in the yard with another crate of goods in his arms. He brought it into the house with a nod of greeting for Claire.
“The lads went off to find the Higgins boys to show their haul and Fanny followed after ‘em,” Roger explained to Claire when she asked why he seemed to be unloading everything himself. “I wager folk’ll be round soon after that to pick up the odds and ends they asked us to fetch them. But I hear Mandy had something to do with why you came by so quick.”
The lass in question had reached her mother and a scolding, the voices of the two rising but not carrying far enough for Claire and Roger to make out how Mandy chose to defend herself. Then they heard Brianna’s rich laugh as she scooped her daughter from the ground and carried her to the house.
“Apologize for scaring your grannie,” Brianna gently encouraged Mandy as she set her down on the floor.
“I’m sorry if I scared ye, Grannie,” Mandy said mechanically. Her attention was on her mother, the girl seemed upset by her mother’s amusement over the whole situation.
“It’s all right, Mandy,” Claire assured her as she reached out to pull the girl to her for a quick hug. “I just don’t understand—”
Brianna set a small wooden case down on the table before Claire, the sharp rap of the wood on the tabletop interrupting her thought.
“Open it,” Brianna instructed.
The case was relatively new and the latch opened smoothly. Nestled securely inside was a pair of carefully wrought hypodermic syringes—Brianna had helped Claire draw up the designs so that when an opportunity to have them made arose, they would be ready.
“When I mentioned having them made, Marsali was able to point me in the right direction,” Brianna explained.
“I told ye Mam got shots for ye,” Mandy insisted.
Claire smiled at her granddaughter as she closed the lid to the case. “You are absolutely right, Mandy. And you remember these from going to the doctor, I bet.”
The curly head nodded. “When we stayed with Joe before looking for Da. He gave us lots of shots because Mam asked him to,” Mandy turned to look at Brianna who was trying very hard to contain her mirth—the girl didn’t like the idea of the grown-ups laughing at her when she wasn’t trying to be funny. “She said we’d need ‘em where we were going.”
“Well, thank you, Mandy for coming to tell me,” Claire thanked Mandy graciously. “You’ll have to help me find a safe place in the surgery to put these—somewhere Adso won’t be able to get at them.”
“I ken just the place, Grannie,” Mandy exclaimed as she jumped up. “Come and I’ll show ye.” She started to run to the door again but Roger caught her before she could make it out.
“I’m afraid I need to rest a bit more first,” Claire entreated. “Let your mother show me the rest of what you lot got while you were visiting with Uncle Fergus and Auntie Marsali, then we’ll head back up to the house and my surgery.”
Mandy takes to Claire easily, but is deathly afraid of Jamie.
Brianna rocked her daughter to the rhythm of the electronic shrieks of the hospital.
“It was two hundred years ago,” she said, if only to block out the noise. It’s always two hundred years in the old stories.
“There was a woman then, two hundred years ago, and she was a bonnie thing, with skin like pearls and hair the colour of the water in a peat burn, dark and light and wavy over the stones and eyes like a hawk- golden and fierce.
“For all that she was beautiful, and men loved to look at her, no one really understood her for women then were meant to be quiet and gentle and to say little and do as they were bid. This woman was none of those things. She was stubborn and clever and spoke her mind, even when it made people angry.
“She didn’t care if she made people angry though, or if she scared them, so even though people thought it dangerous, she learned to take care of the sick. Even though people thought it mad, she healed the injured with plants and honey and other natural things. She was so good at it that people called her a witch, and even that she chose to ignore.
“One day, when she was out searching for herbs, however, she got lost, though she thought she knew the woods as well as she knew her own house. She wandered for what seemed like two hundred years, but she could not find her way home, so she lay down and slept there in the woods.
“When she woke there was a beast with her- a bear the likes of which she had never seen. He had a red mane and blue eyes and was taller than any man she had ever known. The witch was sore afraid, but she saw that he was injured and, being a kind woman and a healer, could do nothing but help him, and so she did.
“When the witch tried to leave the forest, however, the bear followed her, and when she got lost, still he stayed with her, and when night fell, he laid down beside her to keep her warm. This went on for many days for the witch was very lost, and she came to rely on the bear who would catch food for her to roast over her fire at night and who always seemed to listen when she talked of how strange people thought her and how out of place she felt at home.
“One night, the bear woke to the witch’s screams to find that they were being menaced by a pack of wolves. He roared and fought them, keeping them away from the witch, keeping her safe. He killed them all and then, when they thought everything was safe, a snake bit the bear, and the witch had to use her healing to save him. And so they saved each other that night.
“After time, as time goes, they did finally find the witch’s old home and were forced to part from each other, though the witch knew that she would never forget the bear who had been so good to her and kept her so safe.
“Time moved forward as time does, and the witch always wondered about her bear who she had loved so much. She would look to the forest and think that she saw a flash of red fur, but it was never there when she looked a second time.
“Her time in the forest made the other people even more afraid of her than they had been before. They thought she must only have survived by making a pact with the faeries, a very dangerous thing to do. In spite of the fact that she could heal even better than before, they were afraid and were cruel to her, and she missed her bear desperately.
“One spring, the trees in the forest did not leaf out as they were supposed to. It seemed that the forest had died. The people all whispered that the spirit of the forest must have been killed- the harvests had been smaller and smaller every year and the forest grew darker and more twisted. Now it seemed that it would die.
“The witch, fearing for her bear and having nothing to hold her to the world, returned to the forest to find him. She did, lying in a clearing where first they had met, weak with loneliness and despair.
“The witch wept over him for she loved the bear more than she loved any person in the world, and her tears not only revived her bear but transformed him into the man he was. As kind and gentle and brave and fierce as ever the bear had been. And the witch and her bear lived together happy ever after.”
Brianna sighed and prayed it was true.
~?~?~?~?~
Jamie and I flew down the hill toward the family at the bottom, shouting their names.
“Brianna, Roger!” I called.
“Jemmy, Mandy!” cried Jamie.
And then we fell together, laughing and hugging and desperately happy.
It took some minutes for me to realize that there was a small individual tugging at my skirt, looking up at me from a curly mop of hair out of green eyes that I knew very well indeed.
“You’re the witch, aren’t you?” she asked.
I was shocked. “I…” I began, unsure how exactly to answer that, and making Jamie chuckle low in his chest.
This brought wee Mandy’s attention to him, and suddenly she was hidden behind me, clutching my skirts around her.
“The bear!” she said, sounding terrified.
“I told you you shouldn’t have made him a monster,” Roger said to Bree, as though this were a common argument that meant anything at all.
“He wasn’t a monster, darling,” Brianna said, directing the statement at both daughter and husband. “Don’t you remember? He only looked like a bear. He was actually a man.”
She scooped her daughter up to be able to see her grandfather’s face more clearly.
Mandy still looked unconvinced and leaned out of her mother’s arms toward me. I gathered her up into my own arms willingly, and she hid her face against my shoulder, only peeking at Jamie out of the corner of her eye.
“Faerie tales?” I asked Bree, surprised.
“Of course. Only in mine, they always end up happy ever after.”
Imagine Jem and Mandy when they are teenagers in the 18th c. (If they would be teens still in that time, which I think hey would)
My heart stopped to see him. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and straight-backed atop a large sorrel horse, red and gold as an autumn leaf with a green-and-brown plaid thrown negligently across his shoulder and affixed with a running stag broach that I recognized all too well.
He grinned, a flash of white teeth in that wide, sensuous mouth, slanted blue eyes sparkling and I was in Scotland again. At Leoch. At Lallybroch. At Preston and Falkirk, and Culloden. Fifty years fell away in an instant and I was falling in love again with a young warrior that I never should have met, and it was all beginning again.
Then, with a brush of wind and the sound of birdsong, those years returned in a rush with all the pain, loneliness, and the wondrous, bitter joy of them and I grinned back at my grandson.
“Hello, Darling,” I said, lifting my cheek for him to lean down and kiss once he swung down from the saddle to stand beside me. “And how was Salem?” He and Germaine had left for the Moravian settlement a week before. Germaine was not with him, but I thought he had probably gone straight back to his new wife, Frances, before looking in on Jamie and I.
“Salem was just fine, Granny,” he said, laying a hand on my shoulder. “Your soaps fetched a fine price, and I was able to get everything you asked for, and a gift for Mandy’s birthday besides.”
“Oh?” I said, interested. Mandy would turn thirteen the next day, and Bree, Rachel, Amy, and I had been cooking up a storm in preparation.
“Aye, see here.” He opened the saddle bag he’d been holding and withdrew a wooden device for my perusal.
It was a small wooden dulcimer, painted fancifully with birds. Thrushes, I realized, drawing my spectacles from my pocket to fully appreciate the item.
Mandy, in addition to her father’s dark colouring, had inherited his musical gift. She had a lovely voice, sweet as a songbird, and her interest in learning to play had finally forced Roger (who had avoided it for years) to pick up his guitar and bodhran again.
“It’s wonderful, darling!” I cried, completely honestly. I glanced at him from under my lashes, however, shrewedly assessing. “And was your time in Salem spent entirely in buying and selling then?” I asked, keeping my voice as innocent as possible.
Jem’s eyes narrowed at me. “Da and Granda sent me with a mission. What else might I spend my time doing, Grandmother?”
“Nothing at all, I’m quite sure. You’re such a dedicated lad. Is the Holst family well? Miss Miriam in particular?”
Jemmy’s ears flamed and I grinned up at him in delight. The growing romance between our Jeremiah and the lovely Miss Holst had been a topic of teasing (by his cousins and siblings) and interest (among his parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents) for months.
Jem made a Scottish noise in the back of his throat, and with a narrow blue glare at me, snatched the dulcimer from my hands, shoved it back into its bag, and stalked away toward the stable.
