Featured Gaelic and Pronunciations:
- Greas ort (grees orsht) - hurry up
- Bha e an-còmhnaidh thu fhèin no mise (vah ey ahn coh-nee oo heyhn noh mee-sha) - It was always you or me
- Tha mi cho duilich, uncail (hah mee hoh duy-lihk un-cayl) - I am so sorry, uncle
16 April, 2131
Castlebay, Barra, Scotland
It started out as just a white speck, possibly a bit of dust or a feather, even a dandelion seed. I couldn't be sure, but curiosity got the better of me. I followed the little speck down to the beach as it sailed out over the ocean. I watched, suddenly, as it began to change form. It grew in size until it resembled a white, smoky humanoid figure. It beckoned to me then, urging me to follow it out to sea…
"Catrìona!" It was Calum, coming to fetch me to take him and Cailean out on the boat to check the lobster traps. "Come on, a phiuthar, greas ort!"
"I'm coming," I called to him, watching as the smoky figure dissipated into nothing.
16 April, 1746
Culloden Moor, Inverness, Scotland
JAMIE POV
"You are my Thomas." Charles had found Jamie standing on a hill overlooking the battlefield, a solemn expression on his face. "It was the Apostle Thomas who doubted the Lord who had risen from the dead. Not until he felt the wounds, pressed his fingers where the nails had been. The Lord said to him, 'Because you have seen, you believe, but blessed are those who have not seen and yet, believe'. But today is the day, James. And mark me, before this day is over, I will make a believer of you."
"Take no offence, Yer Highness… I believed in this cause once. But my men are starvin' and ill, MacBean's men are the same, and MacDonald's, MacGillivray's, Cameron's men, too. I dinnae see their heart anymore," Jamie replied.
The prince was right - today was the day. As Jamie travelled through the camp, he looked around at the men around him. Many of them were thin and pale, may have lost toes or fingers to the cold. They looked bleak, they had coughs, they fell asleep standing up. How could anyone win a battle in this condition? And against one of the most powerful armies in the world? Across the way, he saw Young Simon chatting with the son of MacGillivray, who must have been somewhere near his age. Would Young Simon live to see the end of this day? He heard Seàrlas MacBean's chuckle as he chatted away with Grant. Would either of them live to see another sunset? Kincaid and Rupert, two men who had each lost their closest friend, were huddled close beside a fire. Would they live to feel the warmth of a hearth again?
Outside of the front of the house, one carrying a basket and the other carrying a fidgety Archie, were the Fowlis siblings. Catrìona, with the basket resting on her hip, was conversing quietly with Cailean, who was trying to get Archie to stop wiggling in his grip. Archie, meanwhile, was very interested in his queue and kept trying to pull at it. "Remind me te cut my hair," he heard Cailean say as he fought off another grab from Archie. As Jamie approached them, both Fowlis siblings turned their attention to him, their icy, storm grey Fowlis eyes reflecting the conflicted feelings they felt inside.
"It's a blessin' Colum didnae live te see this dark day," he said to the two of them.
"I never had the privilege te meet him. He sounds like an interestin' man, from what Catrìona tells me," Cailean replied.
"Aye, he was," Jamie told him. The three of them shared a moment of silence before Catrìona broke it next.
"So. The Battle of Culloden will happen today, just as history foretold it," she said. "The end of highland culture, the clearances… all of it starts today."
"Sentries have spotted the advanced guard four miles out," Cailean said to them. "Cumberland's broken camp. His army is now marchin' on the south side of Kildrummie Moss."
"Does Lord George ken?" Jamie asked him, and Cailean shook his head. "Go inside and inform him."
"Aye," Cailean replied. "Here's yer laddie." Jamie willingly took Archie from Cailean's hands, raising him up to kiss his face and then settling his son on his hip.
"There's only one thing left," Catrìona said suddenly, watching her brother enter Culloden House. "One possibility."
"Aye? And what's that?" Jamie asked her, and she turned her attention to him, shaking her head.
"Not here. Follow me," she said, setting the basket down on the front steps of Culloden House and leading him away. With Archie on his hip, he followed her into a barn.
"Hay! Want hay!" Archie cried, seeing the haystack in the corner of the barn.
"Aye, dinnae get yerself lost in there, mo ghille ," Jamie told his son, setting him down onto the ground and watching as Archie ran off to play in the hay. "So, one possibility?"
"Of stopping the battle," she told him. "This battle, this bloody war… All of it depends on Charles."
"Aye," Jamie said, cocking an eyebrow.
"So what if he were te die? Right now?" she asked him rather brashly, taking him off guard.
"Then… the battle wouldnae happen…" Jamie said curiously.
"And the whole bloody rebellion would die with him," she finished, crossing her arms across her chest. "Last October, when I used my last nanomed pod on him… I didnae have te. I should have just let him die, but the damn Hippocratic oath… I suppose back then, it didnae seem quite so real, but now, this battle is starin' me right in the eye and rearin' it's ugly head. The stakes are different now." She reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a tiny vial, showing it to him. "This is yellow jasmine. It's verra poisonous. Colum, he… he asked me fer… a solution. A permanent solution. This is what I gave him."
"Colum?" Jamie asked, his eyes wide with shock. "What do ye mean?"
"He begged me te help him. He kent his time was near and he was sufferin'," she defended herself.
"He took his own life?" Jamie asked with alarm. "Catrìona, that's mortal sin! I ken ye dinnae practice Catholicism, but-"
"He wanted a quick and peaceful death and I gave it to him. If ye want te pray te God and tell him I killed Colum te save his soul or whatever ye believe, then go ahead. My ledger's drenched," she told him. "Look, that isnae the point of this. Charles has been sufferin' with scurvy fer weeks and I've been treatin' him with tinctures, regularly. I could slip some of this into his tea."
"Ye mean… kill Charles Stuart," Jamie asked her, and she nodded.
"Aye… It would be like fallin' asleep fer him," she told him.
"And… he wouldnae ken?"
" No one would ken." Jamie nodded subtly, his hands on his hips as he briefly glanced at Archie, who seemed to be having a blast in the haystack.
"Make no mistake… this would be cold-blooded murder yer carryin' out," he told his wife.
"Te stop a slaughter. What difference is it te kill a war leader than te kill a soldier?" she asked him. "If we kill the prince… we'll be takin' one life te save thousands."
"Aye, I suppose so," Jamie told her. "The men are startin' te form lines."
"So we'll need te move quickly," Catrìona replied. "I'll slip this into his tea and-"
"Traitors," a voice said suddenly from the doorway, alarming Jamie and Catrìona. "Traitors, both of ye! You! Ye ungrateful son-of-a-bastard," Dougal Mackenzie shouted at them, pointing first at Jamie, and then next at Catrìona. "And you , ye filthy, whorin' wench!"
"Dougal!" Jamie exclaimed, most of his concern being for Dougal's rage being directed at his wife and son. He was surprised to see Dougal already; he must have rode like the devil was on his tail. "It's no' what ye think."
"No? Not what I think ?" Dougal spat at him, entering the barn. "What that woman - that witch - was urgin' ye to was foul murder ! The murder of yer prince!"
"Quiet down! Ye have te listen!" Catrìona spat at him.
"I kent ye were a liar when I first clapped eyes on ye," Dougal hissed at her.
"Easy, now," Jamie said, holding up a hand.
"Ye see, Jamie… Ye place yer trust in someone ye ken, someone ye give yer heart and soul te, and fer you te plan the murder of our beloved prince…" Dougal muttered rather incoherently.
"Dougal, please," Jamie begged, but Dougal wasn't having it. Whatever string that had been holding him together had snapped, and he was dangerous.
"I'd rather be hanged, drawn, and quartered! " Dougal snapped at them. "Oh, Jamie… ye've betrayed us… Ye have, all of us. Yer people. And worse than that, all of Scotland herself." Catrìona made a motion to head towards the haystack. " You! Dinnae move!" He pulled out his dirk and pointed it at the pair of them.
"Dougal!" Jamie shouted at him.
"Yer nothin' but a lyin' slut! Ye'd lead a man by the cock te his doom with yer claws sunk deep into his balls!" Dougal shouted back.
"Ye'll no' speak ill of my wife, even in anger!" Jamie spat at him angrily, now holding out an arm in front of his wife and pushing her behind him.
"Anger?" Dougal asked, now speaking much more calmly. "Oh, no… What ye've done te me, we're past anger."
"Dougal. Yer tired, cold, and hungry. Leave now, before ye do somethin' ye'll regret," Jamie said to him, watching Dougal's face carefully, but it wasn't enough to prepare him for Dougal's lunge towards his wife. Catrìona bolted and ran to the haystack, scooping up Archie in her arms while Jamie fended off his uncle. "Enough of this!"
"Dinnae fash, lad, I'll kill ye quick, fer yer mother's sake!" Dougal spat at him in Gaelic, taking a swipe at Jamie, but missing.
"We can talk this through!" Jamie spat back, nearly wrestling with Dougal on the floor, but Jamie was both stronger and taller than his uncle, eventually pinning him to the floor.
"I will kill ye… and all that matters te ye…" Dougal muttered through gritted teeth as Jamie fought for control of his dirk. Jamie had maneuvered it to point right at Dougal's heart, and taking his threat of killing his family seriously, Jamie realised he had no choice. He pushed even harder on the blade, piercing the skin of his chest. " Bha e an-còmhnaidh thu fhèin no mise…" It was always you or me. Jamie threw his weight onto the blade, piercing Dougal's heart with his own dirk, and he bowed his head down onto his uncle's chest.
" Tha mi cho duilich, uncail, " he muttered quietly into Dougal's lifeless chest. I am so sorry, Uncle.
CATRÌONA POV
I held Archie in my arms tightly as I watched Jamie come to terms with what had just happened. He has just killed his own uncle, and he was battling with himself to determine if that was the right decision. "It was right," he said after a moment, looking back up at Archie and me. "He'd have killed ye both… It had te be done." I didn't answer verbally, but only nodded instead.
"Oh, God," said another voice from the doorway, and both Jamie and I whipped our heads in the direction of the entrance to see Rupert standing there, blocking out most of the light. It was hard to see his face, but he was clearly very shocked by what he had seen. "Oh, Christ…"
"Rupert," Jamie said, standing back up quickly.
"I'd have torn out my good eye if it could have stopped me from seein' this," Rupert said solemnly. "But seen it I have."
"Aye, ye have," Jamie answered him. "Rupert, I have one service I must ask of ye. Give me two hours. There are some things I need te tend to. Ye understand?"
"And then?" asked Rupert, an expression of betrayal in his one good eye.
"And then I'll come back and answer fer what I have done," Jamie told him. "Grant me that, before ye speak. Please… two hours." He looked back over his shoulder at Archie and me, Rupert following his gaze before his eye settled back on Jamie.
"Fer the memory of the friendship I once had fer ye, which ye have now murdered as certainly as ye did my chieftain… I'll give ye two hours, and then I'll damn yer soul te the fiery pit," Rupert warned him. He looked back up at me again, then at wee Archie in my arms, who was very confused about what was even going on, and nodded to me, then left the pair of us alone.
"So," I asked him. "What's yer plan?"
"I have te find Murtagh," Jamie told me. "And yer brother." We were lucky to find them both in the same spot, pretty far off from the rest of the camp, which was bustling with pre-battle energy to prepare for war. They were conversing about what was to happen after Culloden when Jamie and I joined them. "Murtagh," Jamie said urgently, giving both of the men a bit of an alarm. "I've just killed Dougal Mackenzie."
"Christ, man!" Cailean exclaimed as Murtagh's eyes widened.
"Hmph," said Murtagh. "Cannae say I'm surprised, only that it took ye so long. What's te do, then?"
"Find Fergus and meet me at the officers' tent. It'll be empty. Cailean, come with us," Jamie told him.
"Aye," Cailean agreed. Murtagh went off in search of Fergus while Cailean followed the pair of us. When we got to the officers' tent, it was empty, and Jamie went to the table and pulled out a piece of rolled parchment, laying it flat on the surface of the table. "What's that?"
"A deed of sasine," Jamie answered him. "It conveys the title of Lallybroch te James Jacob Fraser Murray." He looked at Archie, who was sucking on his thumb. "I'd have liked Archie te have it… but he is the son of a traitor. They'll take it from him."
"Won't the English just take it anyway? Yer still a traitor. They'll ken yer tryin' te protect yer land," Cailean chimed in.
"No, it's dated te a year ago, from before I was a traitor," Jamie told him. "This'll protect Lallybroch and keep the estate in the family, safe from the Crown, te be held in trust by Jenny and Ian until Wee Jamie is auld enough. I just need the signature of two witnesses. You two."
"Two more traitors? Aye, clever," said Cailean sarcastically.
"My wife and my good brother, future chief te Clan Fowlis of Barra," Jamie told him.
"Technically theoretical," Cailean replied. "Aye, I'll sign. Fetch me the ink pot." Jamie brought the ink pot over for us both to sign. Cailean signed his name first as the first witness: Cailean Eairdsidh Hamish Muirreach Fowlis .
"Lookin' at yer full name now after all that we ken, it's easy te see why the Archie Fowlis of this time is our father," I told him. "Yer named fer his father and grandsire."
"And you fer his mother," said Cailean, handing me the quill. I dipped it into the ink pot and scribbled my own name below his: Catrìona Mairead Alba Muirreach Fowlis Fraser. "Who's te take it?" Right as he spoke, Murtagh and Fergus entered the tent, a little pink and out of breath.
"Fergus will," Jamie said, causing Fergus to perk up.
"Me, Milord?" he asked. "What will I be doing?"
"Takin' this verra important document back te Lallybroch," Jamie told him, blowing on the ink so it would dry faster and then rolling it back up, then he handed it to Fergus. "Yer te leave now. This must reach Madame Murray without fail. It is worth more than my life or yours."
"I… I don't want to leave you, Milord," Fergus said meekly, unwilling to accept the document.
"Ye must," Jamie told him. "No' just fer the deed, but no matter what happens here today, it's important someone remembers." Fergus stared at the document in his hand, then nodded and accepted it.
"I will not fail you, Milord," he said, tucking the document into his little coat.
"I ken ye won't," he said with a smile. "Off ye get then, and hurry. I want ye well clear of here before the fightin' starts. Stop fer nothin' but sleep. Yer a soldier now, mon fils . We love ye like our son… Take care."
" Oui , Milord," said Fergus, and then he glanced at me. "Milady."
"Be careful, Fergus," I said as he turned and ran out of the tent.
"What's te do now? They're formin' lines, preparin' fer battle," Murtagh said as Jamie pushed his way out of the tent, Cailean and I following.
"Gather the Frasers of Lallybroch together and get them out of here," said Jamie. "There'll be pell-mell on the moor, wi' troops and horses movin' to and fro. Nobody will try te stop ye with the English in sight and the battle aboot te begin. Tell them the order comes from me and they'll follow without question. Lead them off the moor and away from battle, set them on the road te Lallybroch and home."
"Are ye sure?" Murtagh asked him.
"Aye, this battle is already lost. No matter how righteous, it was doomed from the start," Jamie replied. "We've done all we could. I'll no' have my kin die fer nothin'. Cailean!"
"Aye?" Cailean replied, and Jamie urged him to approach and pulled him aside, speaking to him in a hushed whisper. Cailean glanced at me, then back at Jamie and nodded.
"Go and find Young Simon. Urge him te do the same, if he will," Jamie told him.
"Aye, I will," Cailean replied, and then he approached me, a strange look in his eye. "The battle might begin before… before I return. If it does…"
"Then I'll see ye after," I told him. "This is not where we say goodbye. Not forever."
"I'd like te think not, but it verra well might be," he said to me, then pulled Archie and me into a firm hug. "Be safe, mo phiuthar . Make sure at least one person in this godfersaken worlds remembers me." He pulled back from the embrace and kissed my forehead, then gave me a subtle nod before he left, his back disappearing into the crowd and his Fowlis tartan swaying in the breeze behind him.
"So what'll you do?" Murtagh asked Jamie once Cailean had left.
"See Catrìona and Archie te safety," Jamie told him, drawing my attention back to him. "Then I'll turn back, back te Culloden… and fight till it's done."
"I'll guide yer men te safety and set them on the path home, but ken this: when ye return, I'll be waitin' here te fight by yer side," Murtagh told his godson.
"No," Jamie replied firmly. "No, I'll not have ye dyin' fer nothin'."
"I won't be… I'll be dyin' with you," said Murtagh. He then turned his attention to me. "Take care of the lad, lass."
"Oh no, not you too," I said. "All of us, this isnae the end."
"It is," said Murtagh. "Ye'll do good, lass." He gave me a nod, and a rare smile, and then he, too, was gone, leaving Jamie and I alone. He held out his hand to me, a firm look in his eyes.
"Come with me," he said.
"Where?" I asked him, and he grabbed my hand when I didn't take it, dragging me in the opposite direction that all the highlanders were running. "Jamie, where are we goin'?" I demanded from him as he dragged me to a grey mare that was tied up to a tree. "Jamie!" I stopped in my tracks, forcing him to stop with me. "Answer me!"
"Red Jamie willnae get far," he began to say.
"Oh, and ye think the Red Witch will?" I demanded from him, letting go of his hand to tighten my grip on Archie as a highland soldier ran by us.
"I can save ye," Jamie told me. "And I will." I knew that look in his eye. Every man on this moor wanted to save their family if they could, but only Jamie could send his where he could guarantee the English could never touch them.
"Well… We can leave now, together. We could… we could sail somewhere, anywhere! We could go te Barra, te my family…" I began to protest, but Jamie's mind was already made up, and there was no changing it.
"The country is roused, the ports are closed… I'm no' afraid te die, mo nighean . A musketball, maybe a blade… it's better than the hangman's noose or the wrath of the Mackenzies. I'm a dead man already, so I choose the battlefield."
"But… but we dinnae even ken if Archie can travel," I said to him, looking into the face of my sweet young son.
"We'll have te try," Jamie told me.
"I want te stay here with you," I told him. "At the witch trial, if I'd had gone te the stake, would ye have left me?"
"Ye ken the answer te that already, mo ghràidh. I would have gone te the stake with ye, te Hell and beyond, but… I am not the mother of yer child," Jamie told me, and I quickly cut him off.
"But ye are his father!"
"And I wasnae carryin' yer child, either," he said to me, placing his one hand on my abdomen, and my eyes widened. How could he know? I didn't even know!
"Wh-.. What? Ye… No, ye… It's much too soon, it… Ye cannae ken that…" I stuttered, my mind frozen by shock.
"Oh, mo chridhe … Ye say yer courses are irregular, but I can assure ye, they arenae as irregular as ye think. I've kent that ever since ye first took me te yer bed," he told me, a sad smile on his face as he looked down at his hand on my abdomen, my free hand covering his.
"You… Ye kept track ? In the middle of this bloody war, ye kept track ?" I demanded from him.
"Aye," he told me. "How long have ye kent?"
"I… I didn't," I said to him. "How could I? I… It's been so much. Randall, Dougal, Colum, the bloody prince… Archie… I thought nothin' of it when I didnae see my courses again." With one hand still resting on my abdomen and the other touching Archie's back, Jamie raised his blue eyes to meet my silver ones.
"These two children will be all that is left of me," he told me. "Ye must keep them safe. Ye promised me ye would keep them safe. We must go, Catrìona…"
"No… No, I cannae leave ye!" I cried, grabbing onto his arm with my free hand.
"Ye made a promise to me, Catrìona, that if I were te spare Randall's life, that if it were te come te this, where we are now… ye'd go back through the stones. Back home," he told me.
"But you are my home!" I said to him, begging him not to go through with this.
"And you are mine," he said. "You, and Archie, and now, this wee bairn… But this home is lost. And you, Archie, and the bairn must go te a safe place, te a man who… who could care fer ye."
"I… No, I…"
"Catrìona, there isnae time," Jamie told me a bit more firmly. "Come." He took my hand in his, then led me to the horse. He took Archie from me as I climbed up into the saddle and then handed him back before climbing on himself, then he gave the horse a kick in the sides and turned, headed for the woods that concealed Craigh Na Dun from the battlefield.
Behind us, the sounds of the military camp faded, the shouts fizzling out into nothing. Jamie's arms were wrapped tightly around me, and mine were wrapped tightly around Archie. "If he cannae hear them, I'm no' going," I told Jamie firmly. "I willnae leave him behind."
"He'll hear them," Jamie told me, kissing the top of my head. The tops of the stones soon appeared, and Jamie brought the horse to a stop at the base of the hill, swinging off and then reaching up to help me down.
"No," I told him.
"Catrìona, ye must! Ye promised," he replied firmly.
"How can I?" I asked him. "How can I… how can I explain where I've been all this time? How can I even go back? Te Tom…"
"I'll leave that to ye," said Jamie, urging me to hand him Archie so I could dismount the horse. Unwillingly, I handed our son to him, then accepted his hand and slid off of the horse. Rapidly, he dragged me up the hill, and when the roaring of the stones began, I stopped, pulling my hand from his.
"The buzzing… it's so loud," I said, staring with fright at the stones, where the terrifying abyss awaited me behind them.
"Catrìona… it's time," Jamie told me calmly.
"No," I muttered, tears beginning to threaten my eyes, and I grabbed onto his coat and held on tightly. "I'm not ready, Jamie! I'm not ready! Please, come with me! Come with me through the stones!"
"I cannae, Catrìona. Ye ken that," Jamie told me.
"Ye could try," I whispered. "Don't ye hear it? The buzzing?"
"I dinnae hear anything," he replied with a disheartening tone. "And even if I could… it isnae my place."
"Your place is wherever I am, as my place is wherever you are," I told him.
"No, mo ghràidh… My destiny lies on Culloden Moor," he said. He then tightened his grip on Archie and turned, climbing the hill and expecting me to follow. Hesitantly, I did, and as Jamie neared the top, Archie covered his ears and whined.
"Loud!" he cried, causing Jamie to stop and turn to face me.
"He hears them," he said, meeting my gaze, and then he turned his attention back to Archie. "Archie, mo mhac … I want ye te ken that yer Da loves ye verra much. I'll be with ye, always. Never forget me, my son." He pressed his lips to Archie's forehead, then embraced him tightly. "Goodbye, my son… mo chuisle ."
"Daddy!" Archie said, his little hands touching his father's face. The look on Archie's wee face told us both that he knew what was happening. He knew that his father was saying goodbye, that he'd never see him again.
"He's so smart," I muttered quietly.
"Aye," Jamie replied. "He'll do great things in his life."
"Jamie… What if the rebellion isnae over? What if… What if I'm leavin' the destruction of one war just te step foot into another?" I asked him.
"Ye'll have Tom te protect ye," he told me. "Tell him what ye will aboot me… Aboot us. It's likely he'll no' want te hear, but if he does… Tell him I'm grateful. And tell him I trust him, and tell him I hate him te the verra marrow of his bones." He kissed Archie's face one more time, then set him down on the ground. "Go play with the flowers, mo chuisle. I need a word with yer mother." Archie did as he was told, obeying a command from his father for the final time, and Jamie closed the distance between us, taking my hands into his. "I'll find ye… I promise. If I have te endure four hundred years of purgatory… four hundred years without ye… then that is my punishment fer my crimes, for I have lied, killed, stolen, betrayed… broken trust…"
"Oh, Jamie," I cried, pulling his face closer to mine and kissing him passionately.
"But when I stand before God, I'll have one thing te say te weigh against all the rest," he told me, giving me a subtle smile. "'Lord, ye gave me a rare woman… and God, I loved her well.'" He kissed me again, pulling me closer and more tightly against his chest. He pulled me down onto the ground with him and rolled us over so that I was on my back, pulling up my skirts and freeing himself underneath his kilt. He entered me in one thrust and we both let out a grunt.
This sex… it wasn't lovemaking; It was pure need. We needed this, needed each other one last time. A wife giving her husband comfort before sending him off to war, and a husband giving his wife comfort before saying goodbye forever. It was over almost as quickly as it began, and he took a heavy breath, then spoke in a hushed whisper: "Come and let us live, my dear. Let us love and never fear. Then let amorous kisses dwell, on our lips, begin and tell a thousand and a hundred score, a hundred and a thousand more." I kissed him again, and again, and what felt like a hundred more times. We were interrupted by the sound of a cannon blast and we both froze, looking towards the trees that concealed Culloden Moor. "It has begun…" He stood and helped me up, then I began to dig around in my pockets for a cloth-wrapped hard object, placing it in his hands. A little confused, he opened the wrapped package, his eyes widening when he saw the gleam of the orange amber with a dragonfly tucked inside.
"Our wedding gift from Hugh Munro," I told him. "Keep it with ye." He nodded, then tucked it into the inside pocket of his coat. I pulled him closer to kiss him one final time. "Blood of my blood…"
"And bone of my bone," he recited.
"As long as we both shall live," I said. His thumb raised to wipe another tear from my cheek as another cannon blast sounded.
"Come… it's time." He took my hand in his, then called Archie over. He came obediently and took my offered hand, and the three of us approached the tallest stone in the middle. The sounds of the stone were overwhelming, but it wasn't loud enough to drown out Jamie's voice. He placed a ring into my hand. "This belonged te my father," he told me. "Give it te Archie, when he's old enough. Give the bairn a good name." I sniffled and nodded, staring at the stone, then turned to meet his piercing blue eyes, getting one last look at his face, his soft red curls, his wide-set jaw, his perfectly soft and plump lips…
"I love ye, James Fraser," I told him. "I love ye so much…"
"I love ye, too, Catrìona Fraser," he said.
"Touch it with us," I said, and he nodded. Together, Jamie, Archie and I approached the tallest stone. My palm was open and flat, Jamie's hand behind mine. My other hand held Archie's palm out so that we would touch it at the same time. "Goodbye, Catrìona," Jamie Fraser whispered into my ear, and we pressed our hands against the coldness of the stone.
The warmth of his body was gone, and I was surrounded by nothing.