CHAPTER 24
They spent almost a week in Georgia to allow themselves to recuperate after the shipwreck. They then began their trek up to North Carolina.
Though Jamie and Claire told them that they had done more than enough for them all already, Joseph Oliver and his family persisted in giving them some more provisions that they would need for their travels. They ended up giving them a wagon, 2 horses, some extra food and clothes, as well as a good bit of money. Jamie gave them one of their larger gems in exchange to thank them.
With some of the money from the Olivers as well as a couple of the smaller gems, they were able to buy one more horse. As they traveled, Jamie and Claire drove the wagon, Ian and Fergus both were on horseback, Lesley and Hayes switched off with one being on the third horse and the other in the wagon, Marsali rode in the wagon, and Skylar went back and forth from being in the wagon to riding with Ian.
As they went on, Skylar would look around and be in awe that this was the country where she had been born and grown up in, though 250 years in the future. In the 21st Century, other than when she was taught about it in school, she never really thought about how America had a time before it was truly America. And now here she was, riding through what would become the southern states in the pre-Revolutionary War era.
I kinda wish we didn't have to go back to Scotland, she thought. It would be so amazing to actually see us get our freedom from England.
Each day, the group would go on for as long as they could, and then they would find a place to camp for the night. Though sometimes if they passed through a small town, they would find a cheap tavern to sleep in. Whenever they did this, Jamie would find the nearest pub and play cards with the locals in order to secure them more money. And being very cunning and clever with cards, he always managed to win a hefty amount. Ian tried to convince Jamie to let him take part in card games as well, but his uncle always sent him away, not wanting him to get taken up with gambling. But when he wasn't able to join Jamie, it just meant he and Skylar could be with each other; which, of course, neither had any complaints about.
Skylar and Ian were spending every waking moment together. They spent the days almost permanently at each other's sides and always seemed to be touching in some way, be it holding hands, having their arms around each other, or sitting so close they were nearly on top of one another. Then at night, they always fell asleep holding each other. They felt they needed to make up for lost time, not just from having been kept apart unwillingly for months, but also for the amount of time they had wasted claiming again and again they were just friends with nothing more between them.
They tried to find opportunities when they would sneak away from everyone else to be alone; not to do anything, but just to be together without being under Jamie's watchful eye. But Jamie would always find them almost straightaway and drag Ian to help him with something he very clearly did not need help with.
It was definitely annoying whenever Jamie, or Fergus as well, would try to separate them to "protect Skylar's virtue" whenever they were caught kissing beyond a chaste peck. But they didn't let it bother them. Finally being together, they both felt the happiest they had ever been. Every day that went by, they fell even more in love with each other.
Unfortunately though, there were some moments they had during their journey north that weren't as blissful. Not every night, but close to it, Ian would wake up in the middle of the night from terrible nightmares. Skylar would wake up when he did and would see him shaking and very obviously upset. He didn't tell her any details of the nightmares and she wouldn't ask, though she had a general idea of what they were about. She would just hold him close to her and do what she could to comfort him until he was able to fall back asleep. She would sing to him sometimes, as that always relaxed him. She would sing Lavender's Blue, since that was his favorite, and also You Are My Sunshine, another that her mother would sing to her when she was little. Her mom would also sing it during her last few months.
All in all, the two months they were on the road to North Carolina were relatively uneventful, which they all welcomed heartily. The most exciting thing that happened was when Ian came to understand what a period truly was.
They had camped in a small opening in the woods one night. In the early hours of the morning, Skylar woke up and felt something was off. She moved slightly and realized she was wet with something.
Oh no. No no no. Please no. Not now, she thought, right away knowing what it was. She looked under the blanket and lifted her dress skirt. She inwardly groaned when she saw her shift was stained with red.
Fuck. Seriously?
She knew she needed to take care of this now, before everyone else woke up. She looked over at Ian to make sure he was still sleeping, and carefully stood up. As silently as she could, she grabbed a few rags that she and Marsali each had, and an extra dress and shift, then made her way to the river they had found the day before that was just a two minute walk away.
She first cleaned herself off and, when she was dry enough, she wrapped one of the rags around herself so that there would be something to soak up the blood and put on the fresh shift and dress.
I never thought that there would be a time in my life where I would miss tampons, she thought as she scrubbed the thin piece of clothing in the river water, trying to get as much of the stain out as she could. Not much had gotten onto her actual dress, so that was easy to take care of.
She had always been pretty irregular when it came to her cycle. She was never one of those girls who could tell you the exact date and time down to the hour and minute she would get it. It never started on the same day and there had even been times where she would skip a month. She had really been hoping her next one wouldn't happen until they reached North Carolina. But, of course, she had been wrong.
When she had first arrived in the 18th Century, her period hadn't even crossed her mind. But when the day came, she had no idea what to do. She had been living only with Jamie and Fergus and there had been no way in hell she was going to ask them for help with this. She ended up having to go to Madam Jeanne for help, her being the only woman some way in her life at the time. She told Skylar about the rags, and let her come to her business to wash her clothes when she had to.
Then, on the Artemis, it had been even more difficult. She was so thankful she had Claire and Marsali to help, Marsali going through it each month as well. But being able to find ways to clean their clothes and rags surrounded by dozens of men was a challenge. The two ended up syncing during the sea voyage, and so when their times came, they would volunteer to help with the ship's laundry for that week to discreetly do their own.
As she finished washing, she didn't hear Ian come up behind her.
"There ye are, Sky," he said, sighing in relief. She turned her head to him, not thinking about what she was currently doing. "I woke up and ye were gone. I thought that ye-" He stopped when she wrung her shift and red water ran from it, and he saw the remaining blood when she put it on the ground. His eyes went wide in fear and he started to freak out. "Skylar, what happened?! Are ye hurt?! Did something' attack ye?! This is why ye canna go out on yer own! We need te get ye te Auntie Claire! She can help te-"
"Ian! Calm down!" she exclaimed. He had never been around her when she was on her period during his time in Edinburgh, and obviously never saw her on the Artemis. But she was so confused how he could possibly not know what was going on. "You have four sisters, Youngin'. How have you never seen a girl on her period?"
"A period? What the hell is-" He paused, and looked between the now faint red stain and Skylar, how she was looking at him like, 'do you understand now?' "Oh." His face flushed, blatantly uncomfortable. "It's just yer…courses?"
"Yes." She made a mental note that her time of the month was called her courses in this century, not her period.
"Well, that-that's good, that yer not hurt, I mean." Skylar couldn't help but laugh at how awkward he was acting.
God, men really can't talk about these things in any century, can they?
"It's not something that exactly gets talked about in a household, ye ken. I-I know what it is, I've just never…seen it," he explained.
She folded her still wet shift and dress, and held them under her arm as she stood up.
"Welcome to actually knowing a girl, Ian. You're going to learn so much." She smiled at him and walked past him, heading back to camp. He caught up with her and walked beside her, taking her hand, trying to move past that awkward moment as quickly as possible.
When they showed up back at their site, everyone else was awake and packing up their things. Jamie saw them first, and, having already been worried when he noticed they weren't there when he woke up, he immediately became suspicious.
"Where were ye two off at?" he asked them, sending a warning look directed, as usual, more towards Ian than Skylar.
"Don't worry, Jamie. I was the one who walked off. He was just looking for me," Skylar told him.
"And where were ye then?"
She hesitated for a second, then answered, "Just…had to do some washing." She glanced subtly at Claire and Marsali, who instantly knew what she meant.
As she collected her things, Claire brought her one of the blankets to wrap the shift and dress in to hide them.
"Thank you," Skylar whispered. Claire smiled in response.
They then continued on their way.
After another couple days of traveling and Skylar riding with Ian, either holding onto him or Ian sitting behind her holding the reins, Jamie came up to her and said, "It's time ye learn how te ride a horse, lass. Ye canna hold onte Ian ferever."
"I dinna mind, Uncle," Ian said as he took some of the packs off of the horse he and Skylar had just dismounted.
Jamie gave him a hard, knowing look. "I ken verra well ye don't, lad. But she needs te ken how te fer herself." He looked back at her and went on, "If it ever happened that ye were in danger and none of us were around, bein' able te ride may be the difference between survin' and not."
So, for a couple hours every day for the next week or so, Jamie would give her riding lessons. Skylar was already comfortable with being on a horse in general, and getting on and off. It was the actual riding of one by herself that was more complicated. Jamie would explain to her what she needed to do: squeeze the horse's sides with her legs to get it to walk, how to use the reins and her body to direct it, and using the reins to get the horse to stop. She would try to do it, but seemed to get something wrong each time.
She would squeeze the horse and it wouldn't move, or she would somehow signal it to go faster than she wanted and Jamie had to pull it back. She thought she would be telling it to go left but would end up going right, and she would start just going in circles. She was also having a lot of issues with her position on the horse. Jamie had to keep reminding her to keep her back straight, saying that there should be a straight line from her ear through her shoulder and hip down to her heel, which needed to be settled directly under her hip. Her legs kept pointing out, and Jamie pushed them in whenever he noticed.
After three days of barely making any sort of progress, Skylar voiced that it was pointless and Jamie was just wasting his time.
"Ye dinna learn how te ride overnight," he told her. "It takes practice, like wi' everythin' else. Ye'll get this, I ken it. Now, again."
After a full week of lessons, she was finally getting the hang of it. The horse would move and stop when she wanted it to, and she got it to go in the right direction. As she got better, Jamie started having Ian or Fergus sit in the wagon while they traveled on to allow Skylar to practice for real. And by the time they arrived to North Caroline, it was like she had been riding a horse her whole life.
She was a little sad when Jamie told her that she was competent enough at riding that he didn't need to teach anymore. With her dad having left when she was so little, she never had the experience of a father teaching his daughter important life skills. So Jamie teaching her how to ride a horse replaced, in her mind, being taught how to drive a car; and she honestly liked this so much better.
Jamie had very much enjoyed the lessons as well. Having missed out on the opportunity of teaching Brianna to ride, he wanted to do everything he could to help this young girl, who he had come so quickly to truly care for and love as his own, survive in this world. And successfully instilling this skill in her gave him the sense of paternal pride he thought he would never have.
They arrived in the town of Wilmington in late May. The town wasn't that different from Savannah, Georgia. There were buildings all connected one to the other and made of brick or wood and painted different colors like yellows or blues. Vendors had small shops set up where they sold various foods and goods. Businesses such as barbers, black and silversmiths, taverns, and pubs were everywhere you looked. It wasn't as packed with people as Edinburgh, but there were still crowds gathered in the streets.
The group took up in a tavern called The Willow Tree for the time being. Jamie started to make inquiries about ships that were headed for Scotland, but was told that nothing was going that way until mid-June. So, they bided their time and were getting along well in the town.
Skylar was really liking Wilmington. She thought it was kind of similar to Plimoth Plantation, where she had been on many field trips to in elementary school. It was fascinating to see how early Americans made lives for themselves in the New World. It was funny, in a darker comedy kind of way, to think that none of them knew what was coming. That in less than 10 years there would be one of the most important wars of American history and change the world as everyone knew it.
Skylar also enjoyed watching how Ian reacted to this new place. Every time he learned something new about the country, be it about animals he had never heard of, foods that were foreign to him, or anything about the Native Americans that lived more in the backcountry, his face would light up and he would ask a million questions. And she absolutely loved it when he would ask her if she knew certain things that he had heard, since she was American. She would give him answers as best she could, and he would listen to every word and take it all in like she was teaching him in a class. He was overjoyed to be here and whenever their plans to go home were brought up, he would get noticeably quiet and disheartened.
However, as they were embracing Wilmington and were starting to get comfortable there, a terrible tragedy struck that none of them could ever have foreseen.
During their early weeks in North Carolina, Hayes had met a woman while at a pub one night and had quickly become infatuated with her. As he spent more time with her, Lesley and Jamie warned him to be careful. He did not know this woman and had no what she could be hiding. Hayes ignored them and stayed with her. One horrible day, the woman's husband caught them together. He attacked Hayes with a pitchfork and Hayes, in self-defense, kicked the man down a set of stairs, killing him. Hayes was arrested and tried. He was found guilty and sentenced to hang. Everyone had been at the trial, including Skylar. When she heard the verdict, she stood up and screamed, "NO!" She tried to run after her friend who was being led out of the courthouse, but Ian stopped her and pulled her into him as she continued to scream and sob hysterically.
The next day, she went to see Hayes in the jail he was being kept in. She looked at some of the other prisoners in cells as she passed them, some of them not much older than she was.
As she stood outside of Hayes' cell waiting for the guard to let her in, she felt someone watching her. She looked over her shoulder and saw a young man in the cell behind her staring intensely at her. Something about his look made a shiver go down her spine, but she couldn't look away from him; it was like he had her in a trance. She snapped forward when the guard came out to bring her into see Hayes'. She forced a friendly smile on her face and walked in.
She knelt in front of him and gave him some whiskey that she told him she had flirted her way into getting and he chuckled at that. Seeing him right now, all Skylar wanted to do was cry. But she held back her tears. She had to put on a strong front for him. She didn't want to make him any more afraid or sad than he already was.
They just talked, remembering Edinburgh and the printshop and that little asshole Geordie.
At one point though, Hayes got quiet and said, "Ye must promise me somethin', Skylar."
"Anything."
"Dinna come tomorrow."
She blinked, not understanding what he meant. "What?"
"Do not come te see me sentence carried out. Ye must promise me ye won't."
She stared at him, in complete shock. "Don't…no. No! I can't do that! I won't!"
"Ye can and ye must." He took her hands in his that were cuffed with iron shackles. "Lass, ye've been such a kind friend te me since ye arrived te us. A better friend than I ever deserved. And I want yer last memory'a me te be a good one. Somethin' pleasant. I will no have ye rememberin' me hangin' from a rope. Will ye do that fer me, Sky? Grant my final wish?"
She was now openly crying, not holding it in anymore.
"Your time is up, Miss," the guard told her.
"Another minute! Please!" she shot back. He gave a single sad nod, and walked back out.
She looked back to her friend. His face was begging her to agree to his request. It broke her heart but she needed to honor it.
"Okay," she said softly. "I promise. I…I won't come."
He gave her a small smile. "Thank ye, lass."
And she kept her promise.
The next day, she stayed at the tavern while Jamie, Claire, Lesley and Fergus went to witness the tragic event. Ian and Marsali stayed behind as well. Marsali, not feeling well, kept herself in her and Fergus' room. Ian was with Skylar, wanting nothing more than to comfort her and make her feel okay.
They were on their bed. Ian was sitting up with Skylar lying down with her head in his lap. He stroked her hair continuously as she sobbed. It tore him apart to see her in so much pain. He wanted only to take it from her and put it on himself.
He knew this was something small, but she did it to comfort him when he was upset, so he wanted to try to use it for her.
"Ye are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Ye make me happy when skies are gray. Ye'll never know dear, how much I love ye. Please don't take my sunshine away."
Her sobs quieted slightly at the song. She took the hand that was playing with her hair in her own and held onto it tight. That's when they heard the drums start. She let out a large sob and squeezed his hand hard. He flinched at some quick pain, but he didn't mind it at all. He just sang it again.
"Ye are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Ye make me happy when skies are gray. Ye'll never know dear, how much I love ye. Please don't take my sunshine away."
They heard a rousing cheer from the crowd outside and they knew it was over. Skylar stopped crying. She inhaled sharply and didn't let it out. Her body felt cold and numb. She couldn't move, speak, breathe or think. For a moment, she thought she had died.
But then she felt Ian lift her and bring her to sitting on his lap. She curled her body into his and he just held her, rocking them back and forth.
She wasn't making any noises akin to crying, but tears flowed freely down her face. She could hear and feel Ian's heartbeat and tried to focus fully on it to distract her mind.
They didn't move from this position until Jamie walked in. Skylar didn't look up when he spoke, but Ian did. He could see how heartbroken and hurt his uncle was.
All he said to them was, "Come meet us in the dinin' room." Ian nodded and Jamie walked out.
Gently, Ian lifted Skylar to sitting up, still on him. Her face was ghostly white and she was looking at the floor. She had some remaining tears left on her cheeks which he tenderly wiped away.
"Let's join the others, aye?" he said delicately, tucking her hair behind her ear. She nodded slowly. She turned her eyes to him and saw him looking at her with such love and care, it helped to calm her down. He gave a long kiss to her shoulder, then helped her stand up. He took her hand and they went into the dining room of the tavern.
They all sat at a table as they waited for Fergus and Lesley. Skylar hadn't let go of Ian's hand since they left their room, and he was absolutely fine with that. They started talking about their plans to return to Scotland.
"I spoke with the harbormaster," Jamie said. The Campagnias sets sail fer home in three weeks, allowin' us time te visit my Aunt Jocasta at River Run."
It seemed like Claire was going to say something when Marsali interrupted with, "Fergus?"
They all looked up as they saw him and Lesley walk in and join them.
"Did you speak with the minister?" Claire asked them.
"Thievin' wretch," was all Lesley answered with.
"He will not have a convicted felon in his graveyard. Not without a good deal of recompense for his sins," Fergus added.
"An immoral wretch as well. He's willin' te take a bribe," Jamie commented.
"That's such bullshit," Skylar spat. "A good man who was wrongfully executed for, what, defending himself isn't allowed a proper burial? How dare this piece of shit call himself a priest?" She could feel herself starting to cry again but she held it back. She just grit her teeth and exhaled angrily through her nose.
Not knowing what to say, except that she was right, Ian kissed her hand affectionately.
"Did ye bring Hayes?" Jamie asked.
"Aye. He's in our wagon," Lesley told him.
"We could bury him in the wood," Ian suggested.
"No. No, Gavin wouldna care fer bein' alone in the woods," Jamie replied.
"He was mortally scared of spirits," Lesley added. "D'ye recall, Mac Dubh, at Ardsmuir, how he told us of the tannasghe he encountered?" The two men laughed softly at the memory.
Everyone was quiet for a minute, remembering their friend and not believing he was actually gone. Skylar's guilt over not being there for his last moments was eating her alive. She kept telling herself that he told her to stay away, he didn't want her to see him like that. She had done what he wanted. But part of her still wished she had gone anyway. She felt a squeeze on her hand and she looked over. She saw Ian giving her a kind smile. He could obviously tell she was distressed and wanted to help her in any way he could. She was so grateful to have him with her. She rested her head on his shoulder and he dropped her hand, which she laid on his knee, to put his arm around her.
"We'll not lay him in unconsecrated ground," Jamie decided. "We'll lay him to rest tonight, in the company of other souls."
"It's a good idea," Claire agreed, touching his arm with compassion.
Marsali then spoke up with, "I'm verra tired."
"Might I take her up to her room to rest?" Fergus asked Jamie.
"Aye, we'll manage wi'out ye," he said.
"Are you alright, Marsali? You've been sick for a while," Skylar questioned, raising her head.
"Aye, I'm fine, I promise ye. Just a little, uh, nauseas recently," she explained. Skylar saw her and Fergus exchange a quick glance, like they knew something no one else did. Whatever it was though, they weren't going to say and Skylar was in no mood to push.
Lesley started talking again before they could stand up to go. "A man such as Hayes should never have met wi' such an end. Without so much as a proper lament sung fer him. Well, he shall have a caithris."
He took a breath in and started singing.
"Och nan och thas sinn fo mhulad. Dh'fhag thu Gabhain sin fo leon. Mac Sheumais Mac Louisa dh'fhag thu 'n tait rinn d'arach og."
The others, minus Claire and Skylar, joined in for what seemed to be the chorus.
"Eisd ris eisd ris Dh'fhag thu ganhainn sinn fo bhron. Eisd ris eisd ris. 'S truagh nach eil thu fhathast gle og."
As the song went on and the other patrons in the pub started to join in as well, Skylar let her tears fall. She didn't understand a word of what they were singing, but hearing them sing it with such passion and sentiment and an unwavering love and respect for Gavin Hayes, it almost made her feel happy to hear it. Though she couldn't participate in the song, listening to it gave her catharsis and some sense of closure.
This is exactly how Gavin wanted us to think of him, with joy and comradery.