CHAPTER 20

At long last, after endless months of sailing, the Artemis docked in Jamaica. Skylar stood at the side of the ship as she waited for the gangplank to be lowered. She knew he wasn't here in the harbor, but still, she slowly scanned each face for as far as she could see to see if maybe Ian was among the crowd.

"Not quite the Jamaica you're familiar with, I imagine," Claire spoke as she came up next to her.

Chuckling, but not moving her eyes, she said, "Yeah, there are no resorts or tacky gift shops anywhere."

"No vacationers with little umbrellas in their cocktails."

The port they had arrived in was not the dream tourist destination Skylar had seen in pictures or on TV. It was packed with people and vendors lined the road selling different foods or handmade goods. It was not bright and fun and colorful as it was depicted in the 21st Century. The village immediately behind the port looked poor and dirty. The colors that made up the houses and vendor tents were bland, not what you would expect to see in what was called the "Jewel of the Caribbean." But the lackluster of the country didn't even resonate with Skylar. Now that they were finally here, finding Ian was the only thing that she could think about and nothing would distract her from that.

"He's here," Claire told her, sensing her heightened anxiety. She put her hand on top of Skylar's, which she hadn't even realized she had started tapping rapidly on the railing. "We're going to find out where exactly and we're going to find him and bring him home. He's going to be alright, Skylar. We almost have him." Skylar just nodded in response, still not looking away from the busy scene in front of her. She took in a shaky breath and let it out sharply.

When they got the all clear for them to leave the ship, Skylar was the first one on solid ground. She very nearly took off into the village to immediately start looking for any sort of signs that would lead them to Ian, but Fergus caught up with her quickly.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "You cannot go off on your own. We need to wait for Milord. He will have a plan for what we should do."

"I'm not gonna go far. I just want to-"

"Skylar, you are not going anywhere by yourself. Wait for Milord to give us instructions. I know how badly you want to start looking, but we need to have a plan. This is a whole new world for us."

I've been basically on a different planet for a year now. I'm sure I can handle this one too, she thought, growing frustrated.

But she also knew Fergus was right. They didn't know this country at all or anyone in it. They couldn't tear into this blind. They needed a game plan. So, Skylar let Fergus lead her back to the group. They rejoined with Marsali, and Fergus bought himself and his new wife a piece of an exotic looking fruit neither had ever seen before; which Skylar recognized right away as pineapple. Fergus bought one for her as well and handed it to her.

"No, thanks," she said, simply.

"You barely ate yesterday and nothing today. I'm sorry but I will not be taking no for an answer," he told her, continuing to hold the fruit out.

She held back a groan and reluctantly took it. In the last few days, with the closer they came to Jamaica, Skylar's feelings of disquiet and restlessness had risen to the worst they had been throughout the journey. Her mind wouldn't shut off, which made her unable to sleep. She would just stare out her window until she saw the sun start to rise. She would go 2 days with no sleep, and then her body would basically shut down and collapse from exhaustion. She would sleep for a full day, and then that cycle would repeat. That went on the last 10 days of their trek. She also ate next to nothing during those 10 days. She did try to. She would try to choke down a bannock or a piece of fruit or the smallest cut of meat, but her anxiety had gotten to such a horrible point that no matter what the food was, it would always come right back up. So she gave up trying. Everyone around her was extremely concerned about her. They all prayed that they would find Ian quickly. Of course because they wanted him back and have him safe with them, but also so that Skylar could start to recover.

She just stared at the piece of pineapple in her hand. She didn't want to eat it. Not just because she knew she would throw it up, but because she felt dreadfully guilty over it.

Why should I be able to eat this fruit that I know is sweet and delicious when Ian's captors are probably starving him or giving him scraps?

She got out of having to think about it more when Jamie and Claire approached the three.

"Fergus," they heard him call. "Once the casks are stowed, have Baxley take the ship out of the harbor te that wee cove we saw on the way in. Canna risk bein' moored here if the Porpoise decides te show herself."

"Aye, Milord," Fergus agreed.

"Maybe the Porpoise has already come and gone," Marsali suggested.

"No. No, Leonard wouldna have time te refit, find crew and provision his ship before departin'," Jamie told her.

Claire had filled them all in on what had happened on the Porpoise. One of Captain Leonard's crew, who ended up being the one eyed man who attacked Ian at the printshop in Edinburgh, had recognized Jamie and told Captain Leonard about the seditious papers that he had been making and distributing. Leonard was determined to find Jamie and arrest him for treason. "We may still have a chance te find Young Ian and slip away before he arrives," Jamie went on. "Skylar, ye'll stay on the ship wi' Fergus and Marsali until we send fer ye all. Claire and I will start tryin' te find out anythin' we can as to Ian's whereabouts."

"I will not," Skylar fought. "I'm going with you. I'm done with doing nothing. I need to be involved with this."

Jamie was about to argue back, but Claire said to him, "It might be easier to get some information with three of us instead of just two." Skylar kept her stare on Jamie as he looked to his wife. Claire knew it would do no good for Skylar to be kept on the ship, letting her mind get the best of her, and her face told Jamie that. He didn't like it, but he agreed.

Fergus and Marsali went back onto the Artemis as Jamie, Claire and Skylar started into the village.

"Perhaps we should split up," Claire suggested. " Skylar and I'll take some of the crew and search the town, and you can ask about the Bruja."

"I will not part, Sassenach. I'm not losing ye again. We'll search the town together."

"Beggin' yer pardon, but have ye recently disembarked the Artemis?" a man asked, stopping in front of them.

"And ye are?" Jamie asked suspiciously, not knowing if he had some involvement with Captain Leonard.

"My apologies. I'm Kenneth MacIver. The Artemis is my employer's vessel," the man explained. Skylar saw both Jamie and Claire physically relax.

Now smiling, Jamie introduced himself. "James Fraser, your employer's cousin, supercargo of the Artemis. My wife, Claire Fraser. And this is Skylar Kelley." Kenneth nodded to both women in acknowledgement. "We brought ye French wine and brandy."

"Jared's cousin? Why, I wasn't expectin' te receive goods til summer. Though it is fortuitous timing, I must say. I'm expected te bring four casks of wine te the new governor's residence." Skylar crossed her arms and pressed her lips together, getting impatient and increasingly antsy to continue on. "He's havin' a grand ball tenight. Ye'd be welcome to join us. Me wife would be delighted te host Jared's kinsman." Skylar held in a loud HA!

As if we'd waste time going to some party right now, she thought.

"Thank you for the invitation," Claire replied. "But I'm afraid we have a more pressing matter at hand."

"I see. May I be of service in that matter?"
"Aye, maybe. Show us where we might find lodgin' and I'll apprise ye of our search along the way," Jamie said. Kenneth gestured for them to follow him.

As they walked, Jamie told Kenneth the whole story of how Ian had been kidnapped from Scotland by pirates and how they believed they were going to Jamaica. But Skylar barely heard him. She was too busy looking all around her, trying to see if there was any sign of Ian, any clue to where he was.

Her mind was beginning to play tricks on her. She was starting to see him everywhere. At first glance, every tall thin man with light hair she saw made her heart stop because she thought it was him. Then a millisecond later, she would realize it wasn't and her heart would break all over again.

Not wanting to cause herself anymore pain for now, she stopped looking and tuned back into the conversation.

"A frightening tale, te be sure," Kenneth commented after Jamie had finished explaining everything. "I do hope ye find yer nephew."

"The ship that took him was the Bruja," Jamie added.

"Do you know if she's been moored here?" Claire asked.

"I do. I took a hogshead of vinho do porto from her a week ago. She departed the next day," Kenneth told them.

"I knew it," Skylar muttered under her breath. As silently as she could, she tried to keep her breathing under control.

In through the nose, out through the mouth. Do not panic.

"She's gone? Where?" Jamie questioned.

"Likely Portugal. Perhaps Africa."

Nose, mouth. Nose, mouth. Keep breathing.

Skylar felt bile start to rise in her throat, but she pushed it down. She felt Claire put her arm around her shoulders, having noticed how stressed she was getting. Skylar didn't look at her, but held onto to one of Claire's hands with both of her own.

"Did she sell any slaves?" Claire asked, keeping her arm around the younger girl. "We were told that if Young Ian survived, that they'd attempt to sell him at the slave market here."

"I do not know, Madam. I'm sorry. Ye'll be wantin' te make inquiries at the slave market te be certain."

"Aye, we will." It was easy to see in Jamie's face how disappointed he was at the lack of information they had received. And that the only thing they now knew for certain was that the Bruja had already left, possibly with Ian still on board.

Kenneth stopped, causing the others to do so as well. "Ye'll find fair lodgin's here," he said, motioning to the building they were in front of. A sign on it read Black Cat Inn. "I'll send some of me men te fetch yer belongin's from the Artemis."

"Thank ye, sir," Jamie said. Kenneth nodded once more, then took his leave. "Wait here," Jamie told Claire and Skylar. "I'll go inside and see about some rooms." He looked at Skylar, who was still holding tight onto Claire's hand. Her face was very tense, looking straight ahead at nothing.

"We'll be alright. Go ahead," Claire said, letting him know that she had Skylar and would make sure she was okay. Jamie took a breath and went inside. "Do you want to sit down?" she asked Skylar. She shook her head vigorously in response.

"Africa? Portugal?" she repeated what Kenneth told them. "I knew it. I fucking knew that we had missed the Bruja. We took too long and now it's gone again, and they could still have Ian. And what now? We're gonna sail around the whole damn world? But I mean, if that's what it takes, fine. I'm not gonna just…I can't-I can't…I-I need…" She could feel the sobs trying to burst from her body, but she couldn't let herself breakdown in the middle of this big a crowd. Claire could feel her fighting it too, and pulled Skylar tight against her with her face into her chest, allowing her to cry and keep it muffled. She stroked the back of the young girl's head, feeling her shake fiercely as she sobbed.

Claire's heart broke for her. She knew too well what it was like to be ripped apart from the person you loved the most; not knowing where they were or if they were alive, and feeling like you wouldn't survive without them. She had felt that way for 20 years, and, other than when Brianna was born, the day she reunited with Jamie was the first time in those 20 years she had felt truly happy. Though Skylar had never told her out loud in words how she felt for Ian, Claire knew without any single doubt that the love she felt for Jamie's nephew went far beyond friendship. And it had been exceptionally clear in the short time she saw the two together that Ian returned those feelings. She wanted so desperately for Skylar to have the happiness she deserved, and had more than earned after the months of unrelenting anguish she had just been through.

She felt Skylar start to calm down, and once she stopped shaking, Claire gently pulled from her and looked at her, getting down to her level to face her. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and her face was bright red.

"He's here," Claire stated. "We are going to find him here in Jamaica. I am promising you that. We did not come all this way for him to not be here."

Skylar nodded. "I know," she said in a whisper, not able to talk at her normal volume yet. She wiped away the tears that were still falling and cleared her throat. She spoke a little louder, "I know he's here. I don't really know how, I…I just do."

Claire smiled sweetly at her and kissed her head, feeling how warm she had got from crying so hysterically.

Jamie reappeared, following a middle aged Jamaican woman who said she would lead them to where they would stay.

She led them to an area where long rows of huts stood, one next to the other. The woman stopped in front of one of them, telling them that this one was theirs. Jamie thanked her, and she curtsied and walked away. Jamie opened the door and stepped inside, Claire and Skylar right behind him.

When they walked in, the first thing Skylar noticed was that it was very plain. There was not much decoration. The walls were a dark green on which hung only a couple of pictures. The bed had four posts with a simple blanket covering it. There was a desk on the opposite side of the room and some chairs were scattered around. She didn't care though. She was hoping she wouldn't be spending much time in here anyway. She wanted to be able to look for Ian until it was past dark, maybe even until the sun rose in the morning. She knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway, so why waste time not searching as much as she could.

"We should stop at the ship before we go inte the slave market. Tell Fergus where we're stayin'," Jamie said, directing it to Claire. "We can bring Lesley and Hayes with us." He then turned to Skylar, "Stay here and wait fer Fergus."

Skylar's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me? Stay here? Did you really just tell me to stay here? Did you not hear me earlier when I said I wasn't going to do nothing anymore? Absolutely not!"

"The slave market is a place filled with brutality, cruelty and pain. It is no somethin' a young lass should see or be around."

"I'm not some fragile little flower that's going to break when I realize the world isn't all just sunshine and rainbows. I learned that a long time ago. Did you forget I'm from the 21st Century? I've witnessed horrors in my own time and world that you couldn't even imagine! I can handle this."

"Skylar," Claire started, taking a couple steps towards her, "I'm sorry, but I agree with Jamie on this. I know that you learned about slavery and slave markets in school, but to study something and to live are two very different things. I don't want to go to it because I know already how much it's going to hurt me to see it. I don't want to subject you to that as well. Please, wait here."

"You can't just shield me from everything bad about this time. I'm a part of it now too," Skylar argued.

"I know that. But I'm going to try my damndest to keep you from it as long as I can."

Skylar grit her teeth and looked away from them. She let out a sigh of exasperation and turned back to Jamie. "Fine," she said in a harsh tone. "But please, let this be the last time I have to sit out."

"We'll be back wi' anythin' we can find." As he started out, he stopped next to her and added, "Dinna leave this room on yer own. Wait fer Fergus." He could read Skylar's mind and had known that she had planned to go look by herself when they left. She just crossed her arms and let out a sharp exhale through her nose in response. Taking that as a "I'll do it but I don't want to," he walked outside. Claire touched Skylar's arm tenderly as she followed him.

"Fuck!" Skylar yelled when she knew they were gone. She ran a hand through her hair. She needed to calm down. Being angry and annoyed at Jamie wasn't going to do anything to help Ian. She decided to lay on the bed. It wasn't the softest mattress she'd ever been on, but it sure as hell was more comfortable than the paper thin pallets laid on top of the wooden beds on the Artemis. She stared at the ceiling, her mind blank except for thoughts of Ian.

We're here, Youngin'. We're going to find you. Just hold on a little bit longer.