Title: Charlotte's Tumbling Time Travel

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on Outlander.

Author's notes: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! Here is chapter 12. I'm going to start working on chapter 13 during the holidays and I think I'm planning on Lottie being back in school in the next one.

Chapter 12

"And remember the time and place, Lottie," Claire reminded the girl.

Lottie rolled her eyes as she packed her things in her bag and threw it over her shoulder.

"I know, Claire, I promise. I mean it's not like I don't know where meat comes from even when it is presented in a store."

"And please listen to Ian and Jamie and do what they say. Jenny isn't completely wrong about hunts being potentially dangerous, you know. You could run into a bore or a bear or…"

"Dinna fach, Sassenach. She'll be safe. Won't ye, lass?" Jamie said from behind his wife.

Lottie nodded. It felt good that Jamie wasn't worried about her coming along. He seemed really calm about the whole situation and it was nice to see he didn't fret or think up scenarios he needed to warn her about before they'd even left Lallybroch grounds.

"I'll try not to worry."

Jamie gave her a kiss and she caressed his cheek.

"It's nice that ye worry, Sassenach. Means ye care. Right Lottie?"

Lottie shrugged and grinned crockedly.

"Yes, I guess so. There's no need to though. We'll be back tonight."

They had been on horseback three hours when they finally dismounted. Jamie and Ian had done most preparations before leaving home but Jamie wanted to show Lottie how to load and prepare a rifle during their hunt. He called her over and she eagerly ran over to him.

"Have ye ever loaded or cleaned a rifle before, lass?"

She shook her head and beamed up at him.

"Today I'll teach ye to load a rifle and how to clean it. Ye'll also learn how to set traps fer animals."

She peered expectantly at him like she expected him to say something more.

"And...fire the rifle, right? That's somewhere in between those things?"

Jamie exchanged a look with Ian and Ian hid a grin behind a cough and a hand.

"No, lass. I'm sorry but ye'll not be learning how to shoot today. Ye need to be a bit older than ye currently are fer that, unfortunately."

Lottie's shoulders sank and she frowned confused at him.

"But I'm old enough, Jamie" she objected. "I mean; I'm not going to trip and shoot at either one of you or anything."

"It's not about that, Lottie." Ian jumped in to support his brother in law. "When ye fire a rifle it gives quite a heavy kickback. A recoil. The person doing the shootin must be strong enough to hold the rifle back, otherwise that person might lose a couple of front teeth."

Jamie nodded. He grabbed his rifle from behind his saddle where it lay secured with rope and handed it to Lottie. She weighed it in her hands.

"Heavy?" he asked.

She nodded and carefully handed it back to him.

"Dinna fash, lass. I promise to teach ye how to shoot in time. But we'll need to wait until ye're ready."

"Yes, Sir," she said and her mood seemed leightened right away.

"We'll tie up the horses here and head on foot, " Ian said.

It wasn't very easy for him in the terrain but he managed as long as Jamie and Lottie didn't move too fast. He insisted on carrying his own rifle, even though they offered to carry everything. Jamie carried his rifle and Lottie carried the traps. They walked thirty minutes until they found a good spot to stop.

"Come here, Lottie, so I can teach ye how to set a trap," said Jamie and put his rifle down against a tree.

"What kind of trap?"

"Well, since we have limited time today we will set snares. What do ye think we can catch with snares, lass?"

Lottie thought for a while.

"Perhaps...rabbits and squirrels?"

"Good answer!" Ian called from over by a big rock where he had taken a seat to rest for a spell.

Next Jamie proceeded by taking Lottie further out into the bush to teach her how to set a snare. He tied a thin rope around a trunk and put two sticks in the ground next to it. Between the sticks he put a noose which was meant for the animals to walk into and get trapped. He half expected Lottie to protest on the behalf of the animal, but she didn't.

"I take it this isn't the way you usually get food in yer time," he said with a wink at her.

"No. It's not. But it's different here, like you and Claire always say."

"That's true indeed."

About two hours and several traps later Jamie, Ian and Lottie sat down by a fire to have some food. Jamie was starving. Ian had shown Lottie how to load a rifle and it was time for a break. Looking around the campsite he could also see that she had had time to practice her setting of traps. There were at least five traps spread out over the place. He was very proud of the interest she showed.

"So, how's school, Lottie?" Ian asked after they had had their packed lunch and chit chatted about life in general for a while.

Lottie shrugged without emotion and took another zip of the cold water in her cup.

"Made any new friends there perhaps?" Jamie chipped in with a question of his own. He didn't have all that many positive memories himself of his years in school as a lad after all, so he hoped Lottie would have more good experiences than he had had. Perhaps he was naive judging by the attitude she'd had when she started.

"One. His name is Bearnard."

"Bearnard? Bearnard who?" Jamie asked and exchanged a confused look with Ian. "I canna recall anyone with a lad named…"

"That would be Alasdair Miller's wee lad, Jamie. About seven years old, I believe."

"Yes, he's seven, " Lottie filled in. "I spend time with him during recess. He needs some protecting sometimes, being so small and all. And also Fordyce is after him a lot in class, which is completely unfair. But that's so like him, so it's not like you should be surprised or anything," she added.

Jamie cleared his throat in warning.

"I didn't mean I fight Fordyce when he's being an ass so Bearnard. But it's not wrong to console him afterwards, is it? Bearnard, I mean. Not Fordyce. That'd be a sight."

Jamie sighed and ran a hand tiredly over his face. Ian just laughed.

"Sometimes I dinna ken what to do with ye, Lottie. How many times do I have to tell ye to talk respectfully about schoolmaster Fordyce, huh?" Jamie asked and tried to playfully get a hold of Lottie's ear but she ducked out of the way with a grin.

"Yes, I know. But it's really hard."

"Ye want some coffee?" Jamie asked Ian and got up to grab the kettle hanging over the fire.

Ian gave a grateful nod and held out his cup.

"So, ye're not friends with a certain lad named Coinneach Shaw then by any chance?" Ian asked with a twinkle in his eye.

Lottie put her hands on her hips and met Ian's brown eyes straight on.

"No. Why would I be friends with that boy of all the kids that are in school? He's annoying and obnoxious and …"

Ian held up both hands in front of him like a shield, chuckling.

"Okay, okay, lass! It's fine! I understand. The two of ye are not friends. That's very clear."

"Definitely not, no," said Lottie and pressed her lips into a thin line.

Jamie took a seat on the log again and took a zip of his coffee, accidentally burning his lips a little on the hot liquid.

"Good, " he muttered quietly, making Lottie's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Well, I just thought he's a bonny lad after all," Ian said.

"Ahem," Jamie said, giving his brother-in-law a short glare before he went onto a more appropriate conversation. "Ye should have seen the progress the lass made with her spelling earlier today before we went out, Ian."

"Oh? Ye practice yer spelling, lass?"

"Yeah, Jamie made me," Lottie mumbled and drew with a stick absentmindedly in the dirt by her feet.

"She did a real good job with it. Showed a lot of progress. Show him with the stick, Lottie."

Lottie looked up with a frown.

"What do yo mean show him?"

"Write feagamh (perhaps) on the ground with yer stick. Go on."

He tried to sound as encouraging as possible knowing spelling wasn't exactly something she adored. He did want her to feel proud of the work she had done this morning though. She had come a long way compared to where she had been yesterday when she did her spelling test at school.

Lottie looked up at the two men and sighed with exasperation. She then wrote with the stick on the ground: feghm

Jamie stared at the word, secretly hoping she would change it to something at the very least more similar to the correct spelling, but she didn't. Instead she looked expectantly at him for approval or disapproval. He was very surprised. He was absolutely positive she had known the correct spelling of feagamh this morning. She had written it correctly at least six times when he'd asked her to at the end of their lesson together. They had practiced for an entire two hours and Lottie herself had said she felt like she knew the spelling of the words she had been tested on the day before in school.

"Try this instead," Jamie said with a clear of his throat. It felt dry and he zipped his coffee some more. "Write curran dearg (carrot)."

While she wrote he exchanged another look with Ian who was also noticing the mistakes she was making and had leaned forward, observing her scribbling attentively. This time she wrote coran derag, which was exactly the same mistake she had made when they first started their spelling lesson this morning. Jamie frowned and rubbed his chin.

"That's a very good try, lass," Ian finally said.

Lottie's eyes watered a little and she tried to blink it away.

"It's not correct, is it? It doesn't matter. I know I'm hopeless when it comes to spelling anyway."

Jamie bent forward and grabbed her chin, turning it up so she faced him.

"Ye're not hopeless, mo chridhe. Yer spelling just needs a little more work, is all. What ye cannot do is give up. We never do that in this family, understand?"

He wiped away a tear from underneath her left eye.

"Jamie's right, lass. We never give up. Because nothing is ever as hopeless as it seems if ye work hard, "Ian added and glanced at his pegged leg so Lottie would get the hint.

She understood what Ian meant and wiped away her tears.

"Yes, sir."

"All right, no more talk of spelling. Let's do some singing instead!"

And they did. Ian spent the next half hour teaching both Jamie and Lottie a new song in gealic. Afterwards she went and checked the traps and Jamie and Ian cleared away their things.

"It's the most curious thing, Ian. I swear she knew them by heart this morning," Jamie whispered, referring to the words.

"Aye, I think ye're right. Strange indeed, Ian responded.

A/N: Please send a review and tell me what you think of the chapter you have just read. Is Jamie handling her troubles at school and her spelling struggles correctly? Should Lottie perhaps refuse to go back to school? What do you wish should happen?

To be continued