Featured Gaelic and Pronunciations:

Mo nighean loidsear (moh nee-yehn loy-cheh) - my sweet lass

Thig an seo (hig ahn show) - come here

Bi làidir (bee lah-cheh) - be strong

Bi crodha (bee kroh-uhd) - be brave

Mo leanaban (moh yehn-ah-behn) - my babies


25 September, 1751

Cill Míde, Ireland

CAILEAN POV

For the last few days, Cailean had been stirring up trouble throughout Ireland, spreading rumours of the appearance of the Black Fowlis away from Cill Míde in hopes of luring the English away from there. He hid in the woods until nightfall, having been watching the English that were camped outside of his house closely. Climbing up into a tree, Cailean fired a pistol, alerting the English to a presence in the woods. "Go have a look, then!" shouted one of the soldiers to the other two, and two of them went towards the woods. Once they had passed, Cailean leapt down from the tree, running towards the back of the house as quickly as he could. Finding a candlelight in one of the rooms upstairs, Cailean scaled the tree outside of it until he could lightly tap on the window. The window opened, and Saoirse's capped head popped out, letting out a gasp when she saw her husband outside balancing on a branch.

" Ist! Ye'll alert them," Cailean hissed at her, and she stepped aside to allow him to climb into the room. Once Cailean was inside, Saoirse threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Oh, thank Mother Mary yer alive," she said quietly, and Cailean returned her embrace, kissing his wife's blonde hair before breaking the embrace to kiss her for real. He hadn't seen her since February, and holding her in his arms now, he wanted her badly .

"Ye've no idea how much I want ye, but there's no time. We have te leave," Cailean said to her, leaving the bedroom to find another window to spy on the English.

"Leave? Wait, Cailean! Where are Catrìona and Jamie?" Saorise asked him, following him with a lit candlestick.

"Jamie took her back te Scotland. Someone saw us and identified us as the Jacobite criminals te the English, tha's why they're here," Cailean replied, moving towards one of the bedrooms, where the children were sleeping.

"Jacobite criminals?" Saoirse asked as she followed him.

"Aye, didnae I tell ye? I'm the Black Fowlis," Cailean told her. "Jamie is Red Jamie and Catrìona is the Red Witch."

"Um… No, that's somethin' ye failed to mention," Saoirse replied. "What are ye doing? You'll wake the children!"

"We're goin' back te Barra. I promised Cat I'd see her children there," said Cailean as he entered the nursery. Archie, who evidently had been awake, poked his head up the moment the door opened, flooding the room with light, and he gasped.

"Uncle Cailean!" Archie exclaimed, jumping out of bed and running to his uncle to hug him. "Are Mama and Da with ye, too?"

"No, laddie, but we're goin' back home te see Grandda, isnae that great?" Cailean said to him as Archie pulled away from him.

"But… But Mama…" he said, starting to sniffle, and Cailean quickly wiped his tears from his eyes.

"Dinnae fash, laddie, ye'll see them soon. Daddy had te take Mama te a different place. Ye want yer Mama safe, dinnae ye?" Cailean asked him, Archie sniffled and nodded. "Tha's a good lad, no tears, now. As yer Da said, ye have te be strong fer yer wee sister, and yer cousins, too. Yer the auldest. If yer cryin', so will they, so chin up and be strong, all right?" Archie nodded again as Cailean affectionately squeezed his shoulders. "Good lad. Get dressed now, a ghille ruadh , while I wake yer sister and cousins." He kissed Archie's red curls before moving next to the bed that contained Brèagha.

"I'll start packin' their things," Saoirse began.

"No time, just get dressed. We'll grab a few things but only what we can carry on our backs. We need te get te a port town and quickly." Saoirse nodded and ran off to get dressed while Cailean roused the rest of the children.

"Uncle Cally?" asked Brèagha sleepily, rubbing her tired little blue eyes.

"Aye, it's me, a leannan . Come on, let's get ye dressed, aye?" Cailean said to his tired niece, lifting her up and helping her to dress. Once the two older children were dressed and bundled up, Cailean turned his attention to the two younger children. Caoimhe had woken up from the noise, her little blonde head and grey eyes peering up at him from the bed, while Cillian snoozed peacefully beside her.

"Daddy!" cried little Caoimhe, and Cailean quickly shushed her.

"Shh, mo nighean , we must be verra quiet, aye?" Cailean said to her, holding his finger to his lips, and Caoimhe nodded as she repeated the action. "Tha's a good lass. Let's get ye dressed, aye?" While Cailean dressed Caoimhe, Saoirse returned and roused Cillian, who fussed when he was awoken from his sleep.

"Shh, my darlin', we dinnae want te make the British angry," Saoirse said to her son.

"I cannae blame the lad fer wantin' te sleep," said Cailean with a soft chuckle.

"Should I get food from the kitchen, Uncle?" Archie asked Cailean.

"Aye, tha's a good plan, laddie, but hurry. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can go and see Grandda," Cailean told him, and Archie happily rushed off to collect some food.

"How will we get out?" Saoirse asked him, peering out a window again. "They're back, the other two. What can we do against three armed soldiers?"

"Easy," said Cailean, producing Catrìona's folded bow, and Saoirse's eyes widened. Cailean quietly opened the window and opened the bow, loading it and pointing it at one of the soldiers. "Get the children out of here, they dinnae need te see this."

"Come along, leanaí ," Saoirse said to the three children that remained in the nursery, rushing them out. As Cailean released the first arrow at the soldiers, he hadn't realised that Caoimhe was still in the room, watching him with fascination, and then was ushered out by Saoirse while Cailean went after the second. The third had become alarmed and immediately ran for the house, breaking the door down and demanding to speak to Mrs. Fowlis, when Cailean appeared at the top of the stairs, forcing the soldier to freeze in his place.

"Lookin' fer me, arsehat?" Cailean asked him, launching a third arrow at him and killing him - right in front of Archie. Archie had frozen in place at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at Cailean. "Not a word of this te yer mother. She'll have my bollocks fer breakfast," Cailean told his nephew after a moment.

"Where did ye learn to do such a thing, Cailean?" Saoirse asked him, reappearing from a bedroom.

"Would ye believe me if I told ye Sgàthach taught me?" Cailean asked her, and Saoirse raised an eyebrow at him. "I'll explain later. Come on, let's go."


9 October, 1751

Cìosamul Castle, Isle of Barra, Scotland

SAOIRSE POV

"What do ye mean te say the English are on yer tail, lad?" demanded the angry voice of Eairdsidh Ruadh to Cailean, who was already tense and always looking over his shoulder.

"I mean what I said. Someone recognised us and now Reynolds kens," Cailean replied to his hand father.

"Reynolds? No' the redcoat captain," said Eairdsidh Ruadh, and Cailean nodded.

"Aye, the verra same," said Cailean.

"Shit," said Eairdsidh Ruadh, and Cailean couldn't help but laugh, earning a glare from his grandfather. "What's so funny?"

"I just never thought I'd hear ye say that," said Cailean, and Eairdsidh Ruadh lightly smacked him upside the head.

"Be serious fer once in yer life, Cailean. Are ye incapable?" Eairdsidh Ruadh told him firmly, and then he lowered his voice. "What aboot Catrìona and Jamie? Where are they?"

"Gone," said Cailean. "The moment I heard we were wanted, I told Jamie te get her out of Ireland while I got the bairns back here."

"Did she go through the stones?"

"I dinnae ken. I dinnae ken what Jamie was plannin' but she might," Cailean told him. "She was pregnant, ye ken. Tha's why she had te get out, otherwise she'd have fought me tooth and nail te be the one te fetch her children."

"And likely would hae been arrested," said Eairdsidh Ruadh, and he let out a heavy sigh. "Ye did good, laddie, but ye cannae stay. Ye must go, too. I'll look after yer wife and the bairns." Cailean nodded, glancing back at the doorframe, where Saoirse was waiting for him.

"I want te go with ye," she said to him.

"Like hell ye are," Cailean replied, returning to her side and pulling her into his arms. "Yer goin' te stay here. Ye promised Catrìona ye'd take care of her bairns and yer te promise me the same as well fer mine."

"But… What if I never see ye again?" Saoirse asked him, pulling back from the embrace.

"Ye think this'll be the last ye see or hear of the Black Fowlis?" he asked her with a cheeky smile. "Dinnae fash, a ghràidh, I'll return te ye." She smiled at him, then suddenly lost her smile as she looked over his shoulder.

"Cailean!" she cried, and Cailean turned just as Captain Reynolds, followed by three other redcoat soldiers, appeared at the other end of the corridor.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Black Fowlis?" said Reynolds, giving Cailean's grandfather a shove against the wall as he passed them.

"Only a true arse would shove an auld man like that," Cailean told him as Reynolds stopped in front of him.

"Cailean Fowlis, you are under arrest for crimes committed against the Crown during the uprising. Your charges include treason against the Crown and the King's men, as well as resisting arrest," said Reynolds as his men grabbed Cailean from either side, but Cailean didn't resist.

"No!" cried Saoirse, and one of the men shoved her away.

"Keep yer hands off my wife!" Cailean snapped at him. "Saoirse, go and see te my grandsire." Standing up straight, Saoirse rushed to Eairdsidh Ruadh, helping him stand back up to his full height.

"Ye've no jurisdiction te make an arrest on my property. No' without a warrant," Eairdsidh Ruadh said to Reynolds, who produced the warrant in question - really, it was just a broadsheet for the Black Fowlis with Cailean's face on it.

"I believe this will suffice," said Captain Reynolds. "You're just lucky you're not being arrested for harbouring a wanted criminal."

"Is this fer all the times I wouldnae play with ye?" Cailean teased Reynolds, who sent a nasty glare at Cailean.

"I will be thrilled to see you soil yourself when the rope breaks your neck," Reynolds said to him maliciously. "Come, men. Bring the prisoner."

"Speakin' that way in front of a lady? And I thought ye were a gentleman," said Cailean, looking at Saoirse as he passed her. "Saoirse, O my luve's like a red, red rose That's newly sprung in June; O, my luve's like the melodie That's sweetly played in tune. As fair thou art, my bonny lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry. Tell the bairns their Da will see them soon!"

"You can tell them their father will rot in hell with the rest of the Jacobite scum," said Reynolds as Cailean was practically dragged along with him.

"Oh, yer jus' jealous yer not as romantic as I am, ye wee dried up crusty auld bastard," said Cailean, his voice carrying as they disappeared down the corridor

"What'll we do? What can we do?" Saoirse asked Eairdsidh Ruadh, who covered her hand with his.

"Dinnae fash, a leannan . I'll consult wi' my lawyers and find out if there's anythin' we can do te save him," said Eairdsidh kindly. "Fer now, we must make sure the bairns dinnae catch wind of this. We'll simply tell them he's gone te hide from the English."

"Ye think Archie will believe that? After all he's been through with his mother?" Saoirse asked as Eairdsidh began to lead her from the corridor, and Eairdsidh let out a sigh.

"Not a chance," he replied. "The lad is too clever fer his own good."


November - December, 1751

JAMIE POV

As the saber he'd snatched from one of the dead soldiers sliced through the last of the redcoats, Jamie collapsed onto his knees. The blood from the cut on his arm dripped down and puddled on and around his hand as he huffed and puffed to catch his breath. Catrìona . He looked up at the stone circle, Pobull Fhinn - she was gone, nowhere to be seen. He got up and made his way to the stone circle, silent and empty, and searched around the stones for her in case she failed to pass through, but it appeared that this time, she had succeeded. A very small and selfish part of him had hoped the stones would fail her again and she would be stuck here with him, but alas, she was gone away safely, and so was the child that she had carried inside of her. Thank Christ for that.

What to do now? Catrìona was safe and so was the bairn. Had Cailean made it to Barra yet with the children? Jamie could go back to Barra to see them, but he'd have to be careful. The English were likely lurking around the isle searching for himself, Cailean and Catrìona, so it was already risky enough for Cailean to make his way there, so would Jamie be compromising the safety of his children, as well as the residents of Cìosamul Castle, by going to Barra? It was a risk he just had to take - he needed to see his children, needed to see that they were safe. It was already hard enough not knowing for certain if Catrìona was safe - what if the rebellion in her time hadn't ended yet? What if he'd sent her from one dangerous world to another? What if she got hurt or lost the child? No, he couldn't think of that. Catrìona was smart, she'd ensure the safety of her child no matter what. Focus on Archie and Brèagha…

It took time, considering Jamie couldn't take a ship to Barra - he certainly wasn't upset by that, either. Instead, he swam from island to island when he wasn't crossing over them, taking hours to make the swim and then a day or two to warm himself back up and rest. After all, swimming for several miles was quite exhausting, and Jamie certainly wasn't getting any younger. On Eriskay, Barra was in sight, with Castlebay directly on the other side of the island. But even though the port town was nowhere near the point of the island that Jamie could see, the English were patrolling the island like sharks circling their prey. First, he swam from Eriskay to the Isle of Fuday, which put him closer to Barra, and spent a couple of days studying the English patrol. Once he'd determined a point when the English wouldn't be able to see him, Jamie swam to the coast of Barra. He still had several miles to go, and another swim, so he made his way inland, where the English were less likely to be, and hid out for a couple of days before making the rest of the journey to Cìosamul. He'd arrived in Castlebay, which was positively crawling with redcoats. The extent of the infestation concerned Jamie enough to seek out Alasdair Fowlis, who, unfortunately, had been forced to host a few of the redcoats. Jamie managed to catch him when he had gone to the cemetery to pay a visit to his father's grave.

"Christ, lad, ye nearly gave me a fright!" Alasdair said to him once he'd realised it was Jamie who had startled him and not a restless spirit. "What are ye doin' here? Are ye mad comin' here? Ye've no' brought yer wife, have ye?"

"Of course not, she's safe," Jamie said back to him. "I need te see my children."

"I cannae charter a boat fer ye, there's redcoats in the castle. Ye'll have te swim, but wait a day so I can arrange it wi' Ronald, aye?" Alasdair asked him.

"Where can I stay?" Jamie asked him.

"Nowhere with a roof, especially no' yer own house. There's more English here than England itself, I swear it. I'd suggest ye hide out in the crypt, the dead are the only ones the English are respectin'," Alasdair told him. Company with the dead, at least they'd be quiet. Alasdair found him the next day, informing him that the best time to go would be in the middle of the night, when the patrols were minimal. The Laird knew that Jamie would be coming and had arranged with the servants to get him into the castle undetected. "But he says ye cannae stay long. It isnae safe. Reynolds is aboot the place actin' like he's the Laird," Alasdair warned him. That was fine with Jamie, perhaps he could go back to his cave at Lallybroch, but he needed to see his children first.

Once he'd made the swim to the castle, it was Ronald who greeted him at the entrance to the kitchen, which was where fishing boats would deliver fresh fish to the castle. He helped Jamie up and into the castle, the servants concealing him in the servants' passages before Jamie was finally granted access to the Laird's bedchamber. "Jamie, yer a madman comin' here, ye ken that?" Eairdsidh Ruadh Fowlis said to him once Jamie had entered through the hidden chamber behind the bookshelf.

"Aye, I ken, and I'm sorry, but I had te see my children," Jamie replied.

"I cannae blame ye. Saoirse will be bringin' them shortly," said the Laird. "Catrìona, she…"

"She's gone through the stones, back te her own time. She's safe," said Jamie, and the Laird nodded, his now much whiter hair coming loose from its queue.

"Aye… I'm glad te hear it, truly, though I likely willnae ever see her again," said Eairdsidh Ruadh, a melancholic tone in his voice. "Cailean said she was with child."

"Aye," said Jamie. "Is he here?" The Laird shook his head.

"He was taken by the redcoats nearly two months ago now," he replied. "He's bein' held at Ardsmuir Prison. It seems King Geordie has gotten bored wi' hangin' Jacobites and would much rather hold them te rot fer the rest of their lives in a cell."

"Can ye do anythin' fer him?" asked Jamie, and the Laird let out a sigh.

"My lawyers have been scourin' fer loopholes and such, but I may have te resort te a good auld-fashioned bribe te get him out," he replied. There was a soft feminine knock at the door and Eairdsidh Ruadh strode across the room to answer the door, admitting Saoirse, Archie and Brèagha.

"Daddy!" Brèagha cried the moment she saw her father, bolting across the room and leaping into Jamie's open arms.

" Mo nighean loidsear ! Thank Christ yer safe, my bonny lass!" Jamie exclaimed, hugging his daughter tightly and fighting back tears of joy at seeing his daughter again. He kissed her thick red curls, inherited from her mother, and ran his fingers through them once again before looking up at Archie, who hadn't moved after entering the room. "Archie, my lad, thig an seo! Come here!"

"Where's Mama?" Archie asked him rather defiantly, eyeing his father curiously.

"I… I had te send her away, my lad… It was fer the best," Jamie told him, but Archie stamped his little foot.

"Where is she? I want te go with her!" Archie spat back at him.

"Archie, a ghille , go te yer father," Eairdsidh Ruadh said, giving his great grandson a shove towards Jamie, but Archie resisted him, fighting back until he was in tears as he hugged his grandsire.

"Oh, my lad," said Jamie, leading Brèagha over to the pair of them and kneeling down in front of Archie. He didn't look at Jamie as he buried his face in his grandsire's coat, even as Jamie raised a hand to brush a few of Archie's red curls out of his face. "C'mere, mo mhac …" Archie finally let go of his grandsire and hugged Jamie around his neck, Jamie returning the embrace and kissing his red curls before pulling back to look into his eyes - Catrìona's eyes. Jamie smiled softly at him, gently stroking his cheek as he wiped away one of the tears that rolled down his cheek. Archie was the spit of his mother, truly - they had all once thought that Archie resembled Jamie, but the more he grew, the more it was obvious that Archie was his mother's son. He had her eyes and her mouth, he had her spitfire of a personality and all the recklessness of the Fowlis within him. He had the Fowlis hair, and all he possessed of Jamie were his slanted Fraser eyes. His nose and jaw shape resembled Jamie's a little, but they were more of Catrìona's than his. Jamie bent his head a little to watch as he took Archie's wee hand in his - Fraser hands, they were, something that Archie definitely inherited from Jamie, and then he looked up to meet his eyes again. "I ken yer upset… I ken how much ye want yer mother. I… I was yer age… when I lost my mother… I cried fer her fer weeks, I did."

"Ye did?" Archie asked meekly as he wiped his other eye with his sleeve.

"Aye, I did, and everra night, I'd sneak into my father's bedchamber and lie there because it still smelled like my mother," Jamie told him. "At least, until my father started sleepin' in there again. Then he told me I had te go, but he did give me my mother's Mackenzie tartan te comfort me. I wrapped myself in it everra night, until it started te smell more like me than her, and it was the tartan I wore until I started wearin' my Fraser one again." He smiled warmly at Archie, who had looked down at his feet on the ground. "Why dinnae we fetch yer Mam's tartan fer ye, aye?"

"Is that wise?" asked the Laird.

"I'll hide it! I swear I will! And I'll put it back! I know where it is, Grandsire, and I'll put it back everra mornin'!" said Archie with more energy.

"Aye, aye, all right. We'll arrange it," said Eairdsidh Ruadh, extending a hand to calm the lad, who looked back at his father.

"See tha'? Ye'll have a piece of yer mother always," Jamie told him as he brushed another messy curl out of Archie's silvery eyes.

"Is she… is she dead, Daddy?" Archie asked him.

"No, lad… Daddy had te… put her on a ship te the colonies. Ye see… Mama had a bairn in her womb," Jamie told her, and both Archie and Brèagha gasped at this.

"Mama is goin' te have another baby?" Brèagha asked excitedly.

"Aye, she is, but I dinnae ken if… if we'll ever have the chance te meet yer wee brother or sister," Jamie told his children. "Ye see, the English want te do bad things te Mama and Daddy, the kinds of things they did te Uncle Cailean. But Mama cannae have the bairn in a prison, can she?" Both Archie and Brèagha shook their heads, their red curls bobbing back and forth as they did so. "Which is why I sent her away te the colonies. She'll be safe there."

"But she can come back, cannae she?" Archie asked him.

"I told her not te, as I dinnae ken if she'll ever be safe here in Scotland again," Jamie told them.

"But… but Mama… What aboot us, Daddy? I want Mama!" Brèagha cried, hugging Jamie's arm as she began to sob.

"Shh, no tears, mo leannan ," Jamie told her as he comforted his daughter. "Perhaps… someday, when yer aulder… Ye can go look fer yer mother."

"What aboot you, Daddy?" Archie asked him.

"The English want te do bad things te me, too," he replied. "I'll have te go into hidin'. Where, I dinnae ken yet, but it's best ye dinnae ken. That way the English cannae harass ye fer my whereaboots."

"Will we ever see ye again, Daddy?" Archie asked him, his silvery eyes wide with worry and hope.

"I sure hope so, mo ghille ruadh, " Jamie said to him with a smile. "Ye'll have te be strong fer yer sister, Archie. It's yer job, as a big brother. I never had the chance, my wee brother died before I could meet him, but I do ken that te be a big brother means ye have te be strong. Can ye do that fer me, Archie?" Archie nodded his head vigorously. "Good lad, I kent ye would. Yer verra brave and strong, just like yer mother." He turned his head next to look at Brèagha, placing a hand beneath her chin and smiling at her. "And you , Brèagha, are such a bonny wee lass, so strong and beautiful like yer mother." She smiled back at him. "Both of ye… Never forget how much yer mother and I love ye. I dinnae ken if I'll ever get te see ye again, but I hope that someday, I will again. Christ, I love ye both so much." He pulled both of his children into his arms, sniffling as he fought off tears as he said goodbye to his children. " Bi làidir… Bi crodha… Never forget where ye come from." He pulled back from the embrace of his children, looking at Archie once again. "Christ… Ye've yer mother's soul in yer eyes. No matter where we are in this world, mo leanaban , yer mother and I are with ye, always."

"Best we get them back te bed," Saoirse said quietly to Eairdsidh Ruadh, who agreed.

"Aye, the longer Jamie stays, the greater risk he poses te himself," the Laird agreed.

"No! Dinnae go, Daddy!" cried Brèagha as she hugged her father again.

"Come on, Brèagha, we need te go," said Archie, tugging on his sister's arm as he, too, wiped a tear from his eye.

"Tha's my lad," said Jamie. He embraced the pair of them one last time, kissing each of their red curls, before standing back up again and nodding to Saoirse. "Thank ye, Saoirse, fer everrathing." She smiled at him and nodded.

"Thank ye fer seein' my sister safe," she said back to him. "These two will be in good hands here, I promise ye."

"Aye, I promise ye as well, I'll keep them safe," said the Laird to Jamie. The pair of them watched as Saoirse quietly led Archie and Brèagha away, Archie meeting his father's eyes one last time, giving him a nod, before following his aunt out of the room.

"I want te leave a letter fer Catrìona," Jamie said after wiping the tears from his eyes. "I dinnae ken if she'll ever see it, but perhaps she might."

"I've stationary at the desk. Take all the time ye need, but do hurry. Reynolds is aboot the premises, havin' taken up residence here," said Eairdsidh. Jamie sat down at the desk in question, and with a piece of paper and a quill in hand, began to write a letter to his wife in Gaelic:

December 1751

Mo nighhean ruadh,

If you are reading this, then I was right to think that you would someday search for this. It has been a little over a month since we last met at the stones. I survived, much to my dismay, but I came here to Barra so I could see the children one last time and say my final goodbyes. You can rest assured that they are in good hands with your grandsire and Saoirse, they have agreed to take excellent care of them. They are both very upset that you have gone, but it is for the best. I explained to them that I put you on a ship and sent you to the colonies - what I will do in the future, I do not know. I will go to Lallybroch next and I'll likely tell Jenny the same story, but given that she won't settle for something so simple, I'll likely tell her that the ship you were on sank. That'll get her to leave me alone about the subject. I know you are safe now, and so is our bairn - all of our bairns - and that is enough for me. Perhaps we will meet again someday. I told you once, I will endure four hundred years of purgatory if it means I get to hold you again someday.

Cailean has been arrested by Captain Reynolds and is being held at Ardsmuir. Evidently, King George has 'gotten bored with hanging Jacobites', in the words of your grandsire. He is going to try to get him released, but I am not certain if he'll be able to. I am unlikely to find out, unless I am caught and sent to Ardsmuir myself.

I must end this letter now. I cannot stay at Cìosamul and must leave as soon as I am able. The English are all over the island. No matter what is to happen in my future or yours, whether you find someone else to share your soul with, I will always love you, my darling. You are my soulmate, and our souls will be tied together for all of eternity.

Forever yours,

J.


22 December, 1751

Lallybroch, the Highlands, Scotland

Jamie had journeyed for weeks back to Lallybroch, having to hide out from the English. He was able to avoid swimming thanks to the help of some extended cousins of the Laird's, who evidently had helped Catrìona get to Barra five years before. It was nightfall as he approached Lallybroch, and an English camp was visible from the road. Damn it. They're here, too , Jamie thought to himself. He made his way into the yard of the estate, finding himself looking up at a candlelit window as a shadow crossed it. The shadow paused, then the curtains were drawn and a silhouetted face peered out of the window. Jamie couldn't make out exactly who it was, but he had no doubt that it was Jenny. The figure disappeared, and Jamie waited patiently for the front door to open and Jenny's blanketed figure to appear in the doorframe.

"Jamie?" she called out into the night, approaching him slowly, and once she realised that he was, indeed, her brother as she brought the candle nearer to his face, the hopeful look in her eye faded. "Where…"

"Gone," Jamie replied quietly and without emotion. "Fer real, this time."

"How…" Jenny began, unsure of how to ask about Catrìona.

"A ship, te the colonies," Jamie replied. "It sank."

"And Archie and Brèagha?" Jenny asked him next. "Were they…"

"They're safe in Barra. It… was fer the best," Jamie replied. "I dinnae wish te talk aboot it. Can I… Can I just get some food te take back te the cave?"

"Aye… Of course ye can, mo chridhe ," Jenny told him, taking his arm and leading him quietly back into the house.