All right, I said, only slightly reassured. I wont ask.
He laughed at that, and the dappled light made his worn face young again. Well tell you, he assured me. But most of its really Brees story; you should hear it from her. I wonder what theyre hunting, she and Jamie?
Probably each other, I said, smiling. Sit down. I touched his arm, turning him toward the high stool.
Each other? He adjusted himself comfortably on the stool, feet tucked back under him.
Sometimes its hard to know what to say, how to talk to each other, when you havent seen a person in a long timeespecially when its a person whos important to you. It takes a bit of time to feel comfortable again; easier if theres a job at hand. Let me look at your throat, will you?
You dont feel comfortable talking to me yet? he asked lightly.
Oh, yes, I assured him. Doctors never have trouble in talking to people. You start by telling them to take off their clothes, and that breaks the ice. By the time youve done poking them and peering into their orifices, the conversation is usually fairly animated, if not necessarily relaxed.
He laughed, but his hand had unconsciously grasped the neckband of his shirt, pulling the fabric together.
To tell you the truth, he said, trying to look serious, we only came for the free babysitting. We havent been more than six feet away from the kids in the last four months. He laughed, then choked a little, and it ended in a small coughing fit.
I laid my hand on his and smiled. He smiled backthough with less certainty than before, and, pulling his hand back, he quickly unbuttoned his shirt and spread the cloth away from his neck. He cleared his throat, hard.
Dont worry, I said. You sound much better than you did last time I saw you.
Actually, he did, and that rather surprised me. His voice was still broken, rasping, and hoarsebut he spoke with much less effort, and no longer looked as though that effort caused him constant pain.
Roger raised his chin and I reached up carefully, fitting my fingers about his neck, just under his jaw. Hed recently shaved; his skin was cool and slightly damp and I caught a whiff of the shaving soap I made for Jamie, scented with juniper berries; Jamie must have brought it for him early this morning. I was moved by the sense of ceremony in that small gestureand moved much more by the hope in Rogers eyes. Hope he tried to hide.
I met a doctor, he said gruffly. In Scotland. Hector McEwan was his name. He was one of us.
My fingers stilled and so did my heart.
A traveler, you mean?
He nodded. I need to tell you about him. About what he did. But that can wait a bit.
What he did, I repeated. To you, you mean?
Aye. Though it was what he did to Buck, first
I was about to ask what had happened to Buck when he looked suddenly into my eyes, intent.
Have you ever seen blue light? he asked. When you touch somebody in a medical way, I mean? To heal them.
Gooseflesh rippled up my arms and neck, and I had to take my fingers off his neck, because they were trembling.
I havent done it myself, I said carefully. But I saw it. Once.
I was seeing it again, as vivid in my minds eye as it had been in the shadows of my bed at LHôpital des Anges, when I had miscarried Faith and been dying of puerperal fever. When Master Raymond had laid his hands on me and I had seen the bones in my arm glow blue through my flesh.
I dropped that vision like a hot plate and realized that Roger was gripping my hand.
I didnt mean to scare you, he said.
Im not scared, I said, half truthfully. Just shocked. I hadnt thought about it in years.
It scared the shit out of me, he said frankly, and let go of my hand. After he did what he did to Bucks heart, I was afraid to talk to him, but I knew I had to. And when I touched himto stop him, you know; I was following him up a pathhe froze. And then he turned round and put his hand on my chesthis own hand rose, unconsciously, and rested on his chestand he said the same thing to me that Id heard him say to Buck: Cognosco te. It means, I know you, he clarified, seeing the blank look on my face. In Latin.
He knewwhat you werejust by touching you? The oddest feeling was rippling over my shoulders and down my arms. Not exactly fear but something like awe.
Yes. I couldnt tell about him, he added hastily. I didnt feel anything strange, just then, but I was watching closely, earlier, when he put his hand on Bucks chestBuck had some sort of heart attack when we came through the stones
He came with you and Bree and
Now Roger made the same helpless gesture.
No, this was earlier. Anyway, Buck was in a bad way, and the people whod taken him in had sent for a doctor, this Hector McEwan. And he laid his hand on Bucks chest andand did wee thingsand I sawI really did, Claire, I saw ita faint blue light come up through his fingers and spread over his hand.
Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ.
He laughed.
Aye. Exactly. Nobody else could see it, though, he added, laughter fading out of his face. Only me.
I rubbed the palms of my hands slowly together, imagining it.
Buck, I said. I assume he survived? Since you asked if wed seen him.
Rogers face changed at that, a shadow passing behind his eyes.
He did. Then. But weseparated, after I found Bree and the kids Its
A long story, I finished for him. Maybe it should wait until Jamie and Bree come back from their hunting. But about this Dr. McEwandid he tell you anything aboutthe blue light? The words felt strange to say, and yet I could envision it; my palms tingled slightly at the thought, and I looked down at them involuntarily. No, still pink.
Roger was shaking his head. Not much, no. Not in words. Buthe put his hand on my throat. His own hand rose, touching the ragged scar left by the hangmans rope. And something happened, he said softly.
4
The Women Will Ha a Fit
WOULD YE COME ASIDE to the cabin, cousin? Ian said, looking uncharacteristically shy. In case Rachel might be back. Id like ye to meet her.
Id love to meet her, Bree said, smiling at him, and meant it. She lifted an eyebrow at her father, but he nodded.
It will be good to put this lot down for a bit, he said, wiping a sleeve across his perspiring face. And if ye milked the goats as your mother asked ye to this morning, Ian, I wouldna say no to a cup of it, either. He and Ian were carrying the usable remains of the deer, bound into an unwieldy package inside the mostly intact skin and hanging from a stout pole that they bore across their shoulders. It was a hot day.
Someone was home at the cabin in the aspen grove. The door stood open, and there was a small spinning wheel standing on the front stoop amid the darting leaf shadows and a chair beside it with a flat basket piled with brown and gray puffs of what Brianna assumed must be combed clean wool. There was no sign of the spinner, but women were singing inside the house, in Gaelicbreaking off every few bars in laughter, with one clear voice then singing the line over again, and the second after it, stumbling over an occasional word, then laughing again.
Jamie smiled, hearing it.
Jennys teachin wee Rachel the Gàidhlig, he said, unnecessarily. Set it down here, Ian. He nodded at the pool of shade under a fallen log. The women will ha a fit if we bring flies into the house.
Someone in the house had heard them, for the singing stopped and a head poked out of the open door.
Ian! A tallish, very pretty dark-haired girl popped out and hopped off the porch, grabbing Ian round the middle in exuberant embrace, this instantly returned. Thy cousins have come! Does thee know?
Aye, I do, he said, kissing her mouth. Come say hello to my cousin Brianna, mo ghràidh. Ohand Uncle Jamie, too, he added, turning round.
Bree was already smiling, moved by the obvious love between the young Murrays, and glancing at her father she saw the same smile on his face. Saw it broaden as he looked beyond them to the open door, where a small woman had come out, a baby wearing nothing but a clout in her arms.
Who she began, and then her eyes fell on Brianna, and her mouth dropped open.
Blessed Bride protect us, she said mildly, but her eyes were warm, blue, and slanted like Jamies, smiling up at Brianna. The giants have come. And your husband, too, they say, and him even taller than yourself, lass. And yeve bairns, too, they sayall of them springin up like weeds, I reckon?
Toadstools, Bree said, laughing, and bent down to hug her diminutive aunt. Jenny smelled of goats, fresh wool, porridge, and toasted yeast bread, and a faint scent in her hair and clothes that Bree had long forgotten but recognized instantly as the soap Jenny had made at Lallybroch, with honey and lavender and a Highland herb that had no name in English.
Its so good to see you, she said, and felt tears well in her eyes, for the soap brought back Lallybroch as shed first seen itand with that ghost, another, stronger one behind it: the ghost of her own Lallybroch.
She blinked back the tears and straightened up, a tremulous smile pasted on her face. This vanished at once, though, as she remembered.
Oh, Auntie! Im so sorry. About Uncle Ian, I mean. A new wave of loss washed through her. Even though Ian Murray the elder had been dead all of her life, save for a few brief years, and she had met him only once, the loss seemed fresh and shocking now.
She blinked back the tears and straightened up, a tremulous smile pasted on her face. This vanished at once, though, as she remembered.
Oh, Auntie! Im so sorry. About Uncle Ian, I mean. A new wave of loss washed through her. Even though Ian Murray the elder had been dead all of her life, save for a few brief years, and she had met him only once, the loss seemed fresh and shocking now.
Jenny looked down, patting the babys tender back. He had a downy head of brown-blond fuzz, like a guinea hens chick.
Ach, she said softly. My Ians wi me still. I can see him in this weeuns face, clear as day.
She turned the baby deftly so he rested on her hip, looking up at Brianna with big round eyeseyes the same warm light brown of her cousin Ianand his father.
Oh, Brianna said, charmed and comforted at once. She reached out a tentative hand and offered the baby a finger. And your name is Oggy?