Of Chaos and Change

The Fiery Cross

Installment 12

Chapters 21-22

Chapters:

21 – Twenty-Twenty

22 – The Fiery Cross

Summary: Claire administers an eye examination. Mrs. Bug takes ownership of the running of the big house. A family with a sordid past comes to visit. Claire worries. Claire struggles with the changes to come. Fight. Fight. Fight. Solace is found outdoors. Jamie ceremonially prepares for the changes ahead. The men Jamie calls to arms must come of their own volition. A family member is asked to join Jamie in the fight.

Setting: The settlement of Fraser’s Ridge, NC - Fall

Active Characters:

Claire Roger Brianna Jamie Bug The Muellers Chisolm

Events:

Claire exams Roger’s eyes. Roger doesn’t have binocular vision. He isn’t able to shoot at moving targets. He has eyes like a hawk! But the real question is, is it genetic? Mrs. Bug is in her element cooking and caring for Jamie, Claire, and those staying at the ridge or in the big house. The Muellers being at The Ridge is challenging since Gerhard is the one who scalped the local Tuscarora who he thought cursed his family with the measles. Claire does careful math of the stores to ensure Mrs. Bug isn’t being too elaborate with the feeding. Claire cleverly hides the special foods, so they won’t get gobbled up. She also worries about vitamin deficiency over Winter.   Claire’s botched penicillin experiment and the catfight between Mrs. Bug and Mrs. Chisolm. Claire yearns for the predictability of home, hearth, and her surgery. Everyone present is at their wits end with the overcrowded spaces and rowdy children. Brianna snaps. Claire decidedly finds the male folk easier to be around than a bunch of women. The echoes of Nayawenne visit Claire as she walks with Jemmy. Claire having unsuccessfully visited the malting shed to find some helpful whisky for Jemmy’s sore gums, happens upon Jamie bathing by the spring. He is in the act of ritually cleaning himself. After Jamie’s prayer reached its conclusion, Claire and Jemmy join him. Of course, Jamie has a flask of the holy water to soothe his sore gums. Jamie explains the calling of the clans for war as he had seen Dougal perform. There is a deep understanding that he is not clan chief or laird of the peoples on The Ridge or in the backcountry. The men must come by free will. Jamie walks a fine line of a loyalist who will have to turn traitor. Jamie shares it was his Uncle Dougal he was seeking for help when he prayed.

 

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The entire Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

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