Inga McGillivray sits with her mother, Ute, and her sisters, Hilda and Senga, along with other women of the Ridge such as Mistresses Claire Fraser, Margaret Chisholm, Rosewitha Mueller, Rosamund Lindsay, Ruth Aberfeldy and Ismene MacEalair as they all work together making candles for the community – a task that requires a lot of hands. Several women stir heavy pots and heat the melted tallow until it dissolves. The women hold sticks terminated at both ends and dip them back into the mixture. The candles are soaked to have more layers of wax until the desired thickness is reached. An ethereal and beautiful visual process.

Another group of women including, Mistresses Johanna Richards, Marion MacLeod, Marsali Fraser and Fiona Ceallach, cut cotton strands to the desired lengths. The strands are soaked in the mixture, then removed and covered with a thin layer of tallow. The strands are tied by five or six on a stick and hung to dry.

Inga quite enjoys these moments, when they all gather together to pool their energy for large tasks such as these for the betterment of the community. The work around them on the Ridge continues at a steady pace: laundry, grass to cut, animals to feed, and the railing to paint at the Big House.

Inga looks up from her pot which she is stirring and catches sight of a lonely figure in the distance. She notices that it's Brian Fraser who's sitting listlessly. His body is stiff as he gazes off in the distance, his shoulders are slumped. His hands fiddle with some thread as he mends some clothes that Inga had seen his sister, Ellen Mackenzie, hand to him earlier, but he seems to be ignoring it. Inga wants to comfort him but she doesn't know how or if it is even wanted from her or anyone. She wants to hold him and protect him from the world. Inga blushes at the thought. Inga hears a scoff from behind her.

"Mama…" Senga whines, "Inga is staring at Brian Fraser again!"

Inga whips her head around in alarm, sending a glare in her sister's direction. The sixteen-year-old simply shrugs carelessly and goes back to her candle dipping.

Their mother turns away from talking in German to Mistress Mueller to her daughters. "Honestly bärchen, you really need to set your sights on better prospects like Geordie Sutherland."

Inga flushes and quietly grumbles. With Hilda married off and Manfred now engaged, Ute McGillivray won't waste an opportunity to encourage her younger daughters to also get married.

Lizzie Wemyss hurries out with refreshments and food from the Big House, instructing the young children around them on how they should give them out to everyone. One-year-old Joan Fraser stumbles after the Chisholm and Aberfeldy children.

"What happened to Brian Fraser being a prospect?" Eighteen-year-old Hilda questions.

"He was but now…" She looks over to Briana and shakes her head. "Now he behaves all verloren." Mama looks accusingly at Hilda. "Though I do not know why you're so worried about this. You should be focused more on becoming with child. How long have you been married to Davey Morrison, kindchen?"

Hilda winces. "Just over half a year." She murmurs shamedly. "There's still time Mama."

Their mother lets out a humph noise of displeasure. The mention of children causes Inga to glance over to Johanna Richards. The poor woman had lost two children to the croup when Inga and her family first settled last spring, but the way she stares at the children running around them and how she clutches her belly, Inga wonders if her fortunes may be already turning for the better.

"Odd family though. The Frasers." Senga remarks. "They all disappear then they all come back except the nephew and the daughter comes back with a baby with a husband who magically appears out of thin air. Interesting timings I say."

"Senga!" Inga hisses, glancing over to Mistress Fraser who's thankfully in deep discussion with Mistresses Chisholm and Aberfeldy. "Let's not take advantage of their good nature. They have given shelter and support to many families."

Their mother eagerly turns on Senga urging her to be quiet, fervently casting her gaze between Mistress Fraser and Lizzie. Inga's father, Robin McGillivray, had recently approached Joseph Wemyss on the topic of a betrothal between sixteen-year-old Lizzie Wemyss and Inga's brother, twenty-year-old Manfred. Ute McGillivray cannot risk losing this engagement. Despite all her belief that Brian Fraser is no longer suitable, Lizzie Wemyss remains so. Jamie Fraser has promised Lizzie a dowry, which consists of a section of prime land and Mr Wemyss, Lizzie's father, freed from his indenture, had a freeman's homestead claim of fifty acres as well—to which Lizzie is heir. The Wemyss land adjoins the McGillivrays' section and the two together would make a very respectable farm.

The plan is for Manfred to ply his trade in Woolam's Creek, providing he can manage a shop — one of Inga's mother hopes is that Jamie Fraser will provide the premises for as part of the agreement considering that Lizzie and her father hold a place of special esteem with Jamie and that he will in all likelihood be moved to do what he could for her — and they'd live at the farm. It had been agreed that the marriage would take place the next summer after Manfred had finished setting up his shop in Woolam's Creek.

Inga likes the girl but she doesn't believe there is any affection between the engaged couple, which worries. She watched them on the night that she and her family had joined the Frasers and the Wemysses at the former's home for a lavish supper and couldn't see much between them. Inga has brought this up with her Mother who insists it can still happen and they just need to get used to each other. She knows her mother and Lizzie like each other, the former taking the latter under her capacious maternal wing. Inga worries that while Lizzie likes her future mother-in-law, the young girl seems like the prospect of that mother-like relationship more than she likes Manfred.

"Would you like some Dundee cake, mistress?" Archie Chisholm politely asks. The four-year-old holds up a small plate of them towards Inga.

Inga smiles warmly at the boy, taking a cake and thanking him. Archie grins happily before moving along to the next customer. She looks over again to see Brian has been joined by his nephew, Germain, and Toby Chisholm, who seem to be eagerly showing him their sword fighting skills. Brian gives them a weak encouraging smile as their cries carry over to the large groups by the House.

—

A/N:

Bärchen = "little bear" and is used in its diminutive form

Verloren = lost

Kindchen: Dear child, sweetheart