Oh. He looked at the book with interest, and opened it, though I could see he didnt yet grasp its full importance. Controlling the spread of E. histolytica requires preventing access of human feces to the mouth, he read, and looked up. Oh, he said softly, seeing the look on my face, and smiled. Its what folk will have found outthen. Things about healing that ye dinna ken yet, yourself. Though Im guessing ye do ken not to eat shite?
I nodded, and he closed the book gently and handed it back. I clasped it to my bosom, overwhelmed with anticipation. Thirteenth editionfrom 1977!
Roger coughed, and when Brianna looked at him, he tilted his head toward the bag.
And she said, smiling at Jamie. For you, Da. She pulled out a small, thick paperback and handed it to him. And for you A second book followed the first. And this ones for you, too. The third.
They all go together, Roger said gruffly. Its all one story, I mean, but printed in three volumes.
Oh, aye? Jamie turned over one of the books gingerly, as though afraid it might disintegrate in his hands.
Its glued, is it? The binding?
Aye, Roger said, smiling. Its called a paperback, that sort of wee book. Theyre cheap and light.
Jamie weighed the book on his hand and nodded, but he was already reading the back cover.
Frodo Baggins, he read aloud, and looked up, baffled. A Welshman?
Not exactly. Brianna thought the tale might speak to ye, Roger said, his smile deepening as he looked at her. I think shes right.
Mmphm. Jamie gathered the trio of books together andwith a thoughtful look at the sticky fingerprints Mandy had left on her cupput them on the top of my simples closet. He kissed Bree and nodded toward her bag.
Thank ye kindlyI ken theyll be braw. What did ye bring for yourself, lass?
Well mostly small tools, she said. Mostly things that exist now, but of a better quality, or that I couldnt get here without a lot of trouble and expense.
What, nay books at all? Jamie asked, smiling. Yell be the only illiterate of the family?
Bree was already flushed with pleasure and excitement, but grew noticeably pinker at this question.
Um. Well just the one. She glanced at me, cleared her throat, and reached into the almost-empty bag.
Oh, I said, and the tone of my voice made Jamie look at me, rather than at the hardbound book in its plastic-covered dust jacket. The Soul of a Rebel, it said. The Scottish Roots of the American Revolution. By Franklin W. Randall, PhD.
Bree was looking at Jamie, a small anxious frown between her brows, but at this, she turned to me.
I havent read it yet, she said. But youeither of you, she added, glancing between me and Jamie, are welcome to read it anytime. If you want to.
I met Jamies eyes. His brows lifted briefly and he looked away.
BRIANNA AND ROGER took the sticky cups, mixing bowl, spoon, and milk pitcher outside to rinse, and I sat down beside Jamie on a large sack of dried beans to gloat over my Merck Manual for a few minutes. He was turning Franks book over in his hands with a ginger air indicating that he thought it might explode, but put it aside and smiled when he saw me fondling the blue pebbled cover of my new baby.
Dye mean to read it through from beginning to end, like the Bible? he asked. Or will ye just wait til someone comes to ye with blue spots and look that up?
Oh, both, I assured him, weighing the chunky little book in my hand. It may have new treatments to suggest for things I recognizebut it undoubtedly describes things Ive never seen or heard of, too.
May I see it again? He held out a hand, and I carefully laid the book in it. He opened it at random, read Trypanosomiasis. His eyebrows rose. Can ye do anything about trypanosomiasis, Sassenach?
Well, no, I admitted. Buton the off chance that I should encounter trypanosomiasis, at least Id know what it was, and that might save the patient from being subjected to an ineffective or dangerous treatment.
Aye, and give him time to write his will and summon a priest, too, he said, closing the book and handing it back.
Mm, I said, not really wanting to dwell on the possibilitywell, the dead certainty, in factof diagnosing fatal conditions I couldnt treat. What about your books? Do they look interesting? I nodded toward the stack of thick paperbacks, and his face lit up. He picked up the first volume and riffled the pages, slowly, then turned back to the first page and read in a husky voice:
Concerning Hobbits. This book is largely concerned with Hobbits, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history.
Thats just the Prologue, I assured him. You could skip that, if you like.
He shook his head, eyes fixed on the page, smiling.
If the author thought it was worth his writing it down, then its worth my reading it. I dinna mean to miss a single word.
A sharp pang struck me then, seeing the reverential way in which he handled the book, turning over pages with a delicate forefinger. A bookany bookhad a meaning well beyond its contents for a man whod lived years at a time with little or no access to the printed word, and only the memory of stories to provide him and his companions escape from desperate circumstances.
Have ye read these, Sassenach? he asked, looking up.
No, though Ive read The Hobbit, by the same author. Bree and I read that one together when she was in the sixth gradeabout twelve years old, I mean.
Ah. So ye wouldna say these are lewd books?
What? No, not at all, I said, laughing. Whatever gave you that idea?
Nothing, from the coverIve never seen so much printing on the outside of a bookbut ye canna tell, can ye? He closed the book with obvious reluctance. I was thinking, we might read these in the evenings, maybe everyone taking it in turn to read a chapter. Jem and Germain are old enough to manage it. Dye think Frances can read?
I know she can. Her sister taught her, she said. I rose and came over to him, leaning against his shoulder to look at The Fellowship of the Ring. Thats a wonderful idea. We had done that with Jenny and Ian during the brief months of our early marriage spent at Lallybroch: passed firelit hours of peace and happiness in the evenings while one person or another read aloud and the others knitted stockings or mended clothes or small bits of furniture. The rosy vision of such evenings here, our own family in our own home, made my heart glow in my chest.
He made a low Scottish noise indicating content and set the book down, next to the hardcover book Bree had brought for herself. Franks book. My already tenderized heart squeezed a little, at once happy and sad that she had brought it to remember him, to bring him with her into this new life.
Jamie saw me looking at the book and made another Scottish noise, this one indicating cautious interest. I nodded at The Soul of a Rebel. Are you going to read that one?
I dinna ken, he admitted, glancing at it. Have you read it, Sassenach?
No. I felt a small qualm at the admission. The fact was that while Id read all of Franks articles, books, and essays during what I thought of as our first marriage, I hadnt been able to bring myself to read any of the books hed written during our second go, save a brief look at one that dealt with the aftermath of Culloden, when I began to search for the men of Lallybroch.
This one was published after I came back, I said, my throat tight. It was the last book he wrote. Ive not even seen it before. I wondered, for an instant, whether Bree had picked that one because the photograph of Frank on it was what hed looked like the last time she saw him, or whether shed chosen it mostly because of the title.
Jamie caught the tone of my voice and looked sharply at me, but he said nothing, and picked up Mandys Green Eggs and Ham for further perusal. Jem had taken his own special book, The Scientific American Boy, off to bed with him. He was probably reading it to Germain and Fanny by firelight. Nothing I could do about that, other than hope it didnt include step-by-step instructions for building a trebuchet.
10
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
IT WAS A WEEK later when we heard the rest.
Fanny and Germain had gone up to Ians place to help comb Jennys goats. Jemmy, being barred from this occupation on account of a sprained thumb, and never liking to be a bystander, had decided to stay at home and play chess with Jamie.
Roger was picking out Scarborough Fair on a simple sort of dulcimer that hed made, a counterpoint to the similarly rudimentary conversations that swirled slowly through the kitchen. By the time Bree and I had kneaded tomorrows dough and put it to rise, set a haunch of venison to soak in herbs and vinegar, and debated whether the floor need be mopped or only swept, the room had grown quiet, though. The chess match had endedJamie, by heroic effort, had managed to losethe dulcimer had fallen silent, and Mandy and Jemmy both had fallen asleep, slumped like bags of dried beans in the corners of the settle.
By unspoken consent, the four adults gathered together around the table, with four cups and a bottle of decent red winethe gift of Michael Lindsay for my help in stitching up a couple of long wounds in the flank of his horse, these the result of a run-in with a bear.
Your dulcimer sounds bonnie, Roger Mac, Jamie said, raising his cup toward the instrument, this now laid on top of the simples cupboard for safety. Roger raised his eyebrows, surprised.
You can make it out? he said. I meanye ken its a song?
No, Jamie said, surprised in turn. Was it a song? The sound it makes is nice, though. Like wee bells ringing.
Its a song from our time, Brianna said, a little hesitant, and glanced at the children.
Its all right, Roger assured her. The lyrics to that one could have come from any time from the Middle Ages on.
Thats good. We have to be careful, Bree said, with a half smile at me. Wed just as soon not have Mandy singing Twist and Shout in church.
Well, not in our church, Roger said, though there are certainly more um athletic churches now in which that would be more or less appropriate. I wonder if there are any snake-handling churches in the area, he added, suddenly interested. I dont know when that started.
Snakes in church on purpose? Jamie said dubiously. Why the devil would anyone do that?