Chapter 25 - Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch to Live

What an amazing chapter! I was absolutely drawn in from the opening scene until the unbelievable ending.

Starting with Geilie and Claire being tossed in the Thieves' hole, I was off-base as to where I thought that whole mob scene was going. I thought for sure that Geilie had just set Claire up, and she was going to get off scot-free (if you'll pardon the pun). Nope, not happenin'. As the girls "share" just because of the close quarters, Geilie ultimately reveals she is pregnant by Dougal.

As it turns out, Arthur Duncan had suspected all along that he was being poisoned by his wife, and the last straw came when he had seen her undressed...and six months pregnant. A whole other side of Geilie is revealed: the scheming power monger who we now find out is a Jacobite raising money for the war effort. It's small wonder she and Dougal hooked up. One of my favorite comments came as Claire offers to summarize Geilie's lack of regret:

“Whatever happens with the examiners, I have no regrets, Claire.”
“I regret only that I have but one life to give for my country?” I asked ironically.
“That’s nicely put,” she said.
“Isn’t it, just?”

And now being accused as a witch seems to be the least of Geilie's problems.

Within a few days, the ecclesiastical examiners arrive in town and set up the formal "hearing" for evidence against the accused witches. I can only imagine how every woman reading this next section cringed at the idea of being in a similar situation, having those same false charges read against themselves with ultimate guilt hanging in the balance. Diana does a great job recreating an historical "witch hunt", complete with mob scene and dramatic "eyewitness" accounts.

One of the scariest things to me was how she conveyed the skewed perception of how the priest relates his encounter with Claire after the dog attack at the castle:

“At noonday on a Tuesday, two weeks past, I met this woman in the gardens of Castle Leoch. Using unnatural powers, she called down a pack of hounds upon me, such that I fell before them, and was in mortal peril. Bein’ wounded grievously in the leg, I made to leave her presence. The woman tried to lure me wi’ her sinfulness, to go awa’ in private with her, and when I resisted her wiles, she cast a curse upon me.”

That, unfortunately, has the ring of historic authenticity. I'm sure many an innocent woman was condemned on twisted testimony such as this. And sadder yet, the eyewitness may well believe the truth of their own biased perspective.

I was happy to see that a least one of Claire's acquaintances was prepared to stand in the gap for her: Ned Gowan. While his true-to-form lawyering was long-winded and drawn out, he succeeded in causing the blood lust of the crowd to die down; a perfect ploy. He also managed to have Claire's case considered separately from Geilies; another win. Although, as it turns out, even a good lawyer can't take the place of a bold and committed husband.

Testing the "innocence" of a woman accused of witchcraft.
From a woodcut of the Hartford, Conn. witch trials of 1647.

As the expected does-a-witch-float scenario begins to play out at that Loch, Claire figures she has little, if anything, to lose. She decides to resist with every last ounce of rebellion in her, which succeeds in getting her nothing more than stripped and flogged. In rushes Jamie to rescue her against the odds and the mob (not the mafia, the frenzied crowd, I mean). Standing fiercely agains the crowd and her accusers, Jamie is given some wonderful lines:

The judge blinked once or twice, as though unable to credit this behavior, then surged to the attack once more.“You have no place in the workings o’ this court, sir! I’ll demand that ye surrender the prisoner at once. Your own behavior will be dealt with presently!”...

“As to that, sir, I swore an oath before the altar of God to protect this woman. And if you’re tellin’ me that ye consider your own authority to be greater than that of the Almighty, then I must inform ye that I’m no of that opinion, myself.”

That is a great quote.

Surprisingly, even Geilie rises to the occasion to create enough of a diversion to allow the couple to get away. At this point in the story, I'm not sure whether to hate her or like her. She's opportunistic, yes, but also demonstrates concern as well. Just like at the Fairy Mountain with the changeling, she was trying to protect Claire from interfering (and it did indeed come back to bite Claire at the sentencing).

Jamie's showmanship culminates with him tossing a rosary made of jet onto Claire's neck, demonstrating that she's not a witch. Nope, no "Exorcist" moments here. Just pure, unadulterated love and guts. What every true marriage should be made of, right? In the diversion created by Geilie, the couple forces their way through the crowd and escapes.

Okay, now this is where this chapter gets unhinged. With Claire in such a fragile state, physically beaten and still in shock, Jamie seeks to protect her, but questions her directly: is she really a witch?

This is where Claire loses it, and spills out all of it: the time travel, the future, everything; I did NOT see this coming. Jamie, while initially frightened (or at least on edge) listens patiently as she raves and gushes and pours out everything about Frank, her past (future?) life, and the stones at Craigh na Dun that made it possible. Then, my favorite lines from the whole chapter:

Do you really believe me, Jamie?”
He sighed, and smiled ruefully down at me.
“Aye, I believe ye, Sassenach. But it would ha’ been a good deal easier if you’d only been a witch.”

To make things more unimaginable, Jamie takes her back to Craigh na Dun! He wants to see first-hand some of the mysterious happenings there. Sure enough, for Claire, the stones still have the ability to take her away (although to who-knows-where) as she partially starts the process, but then Jamie pulls her away at the last second.

Resigned to the reality of it all, Jamie commits to letting her go back. Claire, now with the freedom to do what she has wanted to do all along for the past several months...sits and thinks about it! I thought maybe at this point she would go back to Frank, and then the story would start going between both timelines with Claire in the future and Jamie moving on; or Claire going back and forth between both times. But no, after all of her efforts to go back, she decides to stay.

And then, to top it off, Claire describes how she had seen on Geilie's arm the same scar she has on hers: a smallpox vaccine! She's not the only one! And now Jamie knows Claire's real past! I feel relieved (for her) that now she has a new base from which to operate in this time, and that there are many more things she needs to learn about the process that took her there. And how is Jamie going to process all of this information, now that she has told him about how the Jacobite uprising ends?

Chapter 24 (part 3)

As Claire decides to head to Colum's study to borrow a book, she overhears a conversation between Colum and Dougal regarding  the Duke possibly helping Jamie regain his freedom. She maneuvers her way in by bearing a tray that Mrs. Fitz had sent by Laoghaire, who ran frightened when she dropped a cup. I couldn't help chuckling at the image that popped into my head when Claire said she had to hide behind the curtains on the landing as Laoghaire approached, and all that was sticking out was her feet. All I could think of was Mary Poppins, and those horrendously pointed boots she wears.

These are all I could imagine sticking out
below the curtain where Claire was hiding...

In the process of actually being in the room and rummaging for books of interest, Claire glances out the window and witnesses Hamish attempt to jump a low wall with the horse Cobham, who stumbles and topples over onto the young boy, knocking the wind out of him. Claire notices the concern that Colum has for the young lad, "as if he were your own." "Yes," is all Colum replies. This is like the fifth time that a reference is made to who's son Hamish is...for crying out loud, Diana, just tell us plainly!

At dinner that evening, Claire recounts the physical features of the characters seated around the dinner table. These descriptions belie Diana's astute knowledge of physiology, and of tribal traits among the various indigenous people. During the dinner, Jamie recounts his past encounter with the Duke of Sandringham. His explanations of the Duke's unusual fetish for young boys, and Jamie in particular, set the group laughing with ribald comments.

The next day, Alec and Jamie rush in and enlist Claire's assisitance in helping one of the fillies give birth, as the foal had turned. This required Claire to reach inside and physically turn the foal so the delivery could proceed. As Diana describes the process, I had the impression this is something she had either done first hand, or had researched thoroughly enough to make it seem as though she had. For me, not being raised on a farm or tending to livestock, this simply demonstrates the commitment a good "husbandman" (farmer) has to those entrusted to his care. I'm sure my arm would not be long enough. Yup, I'm sure of it.

Geilie invites Claire to gather moss in the foothills out away from the village, and in the process of their harvest they come across a small baby left to die on a "mountain of the fairies". The legend of the changeling was that the Wee Folk would come and replace the sick child with the human child they had previously stolen. Claire will have none of it, but Geilie actually points out a bit of "wisdom" (or is it a set-up?) before she leaves to head back to the village:

“Claire,” she said urgently, shaking me by the arms. “Listen to me. If ye go near that child and it dies—and it will, believe me, I’ve seen them like that—then the family will blame you for it. Do ye no see the danger of it? Don’t ye know what they say about you in the village?”

Claire decides to risk being counted a witch for the sake of saving the child, but it's too late. Alone in the dusk, Jamie, concerned for her welfare, comes to her aid to help her return to the castle. While Jamie admits he doesn't believe the fairie stories, he imparts a statement that struck me about our lives in general, and why people are prone to believe "fairie stories" in the first place:

“They’ve ne’er been more than a day’s walk from the place they were born, except for a great thing like a clan Gathering, and that might happen twice in a lifetime. They live among the glens and the lochs, and they hear no more of the world than what Father Bain tells them in kirk of a Sunday. That and the old stories.”

How true that is for our own lives, as well. We fall into our routines and conduct "business as usual" all the while life is passing us by.  As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." In that context, the "fairie stories" of our lives are what provide a deeper meaning to the callous and bitter world that we can sometimes experience in the process of making a living and raising a family.

Upon returning to the castle they find the Duke has arrived. For all that was said about the man, Claire finds him a boisterous character and takes pleasingly to him.

As Geilie had promised, she makes good on her offer to Claire to help her discover who left the ill-wish in their bed. At least that's what she says. In the process of the "summoning", she actually drugs Claire with opium to find out what secrets she might be hiding about where she comes from.

“Who sent you here?”
“I came.”
“Why did you come?”
“I can’t tell.”
“Why can’t you tell?”
“Because no one will believe me.”
The voice in my head grew still more soothing, friendly, beguiling.
“I will believe you. Believe me. Who are you?”
“Claire.”

 At least now we know for sure why everyone says she is a witch.

"Really, I'm not a bad witch. Wait, I guess
that does start with a "b" and and with "itch".
But you have to admit I look stunning in this bodice..."

True to form, this bears out when Geile's husband is overcome at the banquet hall, gasping and dies on the floor, despite Claire's  best efforts to save him. Witch, indeed. This long chapter ends on the portent of only further harm for Claire from Geilie, as she arrives at Geilie's under false pretenses, and the threat of being named a witch herself.

Chapter 24 (part 2)

As Claire  starts to settle back in to her routine at the Castle, she busies herself with her duties in the surgery: hunting for herbs, grinding and sorting them into their bottles and generally keeping things in order. In the course of all this busy-ness, she begins to wax phoilosophic:

The apothecary’s cabinet had been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and now held stores of dried leaves, roots, and fungi, neatly packed in cotton-gauze bags. I took a deep breath of the sharp, spicy odors of my sanctum and let it out in a sigh of contentment. Then I stopped pounding and set the pestle down. I was contented, I realized with a shock. Despite the myriad uncertainties of life here, despite the unpleasantness of the ill-wish, despite the small, constant ache of missing Frank, I was in fact not unhappy. Quite the contrary.

Certainly, as she has been in one new adventure after another, any sort of routine that has a ring of familiarity to it would be welcome. I think this is just human nature.

For me, driving in Portland is always an adventure. We live in a quiet suburb about 20 minutes away from "the city", and any time I have to go "downtown" for a meeting for work, I always feel like a cat in a bathtub. (Well, at least how I think a cat in a bathtub would feel; i.e., GET ME OUTTA HERE!). Pedestrians don't watch traffic signals; they just walk out into the street whenever they want; streetcars drive on tracks on the same road where I'm driving. (Something about driving across tracks sends a signal to my brain that says, "trains drive on tracks, therefore, you should not be anywhere near them when you're driving a vehicle!") Mazes of one-way streets take me everywhere but the direction I want to go. Then, when I do find the place I want to be, that section of street is under construction, and I have to loop around another five blocks, dodge more pedestrians and streetcars to get back to the overpriced parking garage where I need to be.

But then, blessed relief, when I am done with my meeting I can head back out of the city environs and onto more familiar roads back to my humble abode in the 'burbs.

Familiarity, thou art my friend.

All of this digression to make the simple point of how familiar surroundings and routine can be comforting in the most unpleasant of situations, which is where Claire finds herself now.

What about Frank? Her guilt kicks in with the inevitable realization that Frank must be beside himself with not knowing her fate:

How could I bring myself to be happy, when Frank must be demented with worry? Assuming that time was in fact continuing without me—and I couldn’t see why it wouldn’t—I must have gone missing for upwards of four months. I imagined him searching the Scottish countryside, calling the police, waiting for some sign, some word of me. By now, he must nearly have given up hope and be waiting, instead, for word that my body had been found.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of Jamie, leaning on the sturdy shoulder of Old Alec, the stablemaster. Jamie was wincing because of a swollen ankle from having been thrown off of the (demon) horse Donas (please see my previous post for my misgivings about anything to do with demon horses). Nailed it.

The next day, as Jamie is "laid up" while his ankle heals, he and Claire steal away to the roof of the castle during a rainstorm and dream about heading out to Lallybroch, away from the craziness of the castle and clan politics. When the topic of the Duke of Sandringham comes up, Claire tries to hide how she knows about him, but is relieved to find out that Jamie knows about him also. However, later on we find out just how much Jamie knows about the Duke and his, um, preferences.

Their trip back down from the roof is interrupted by a visit from the village priest, Father Bain, who is attacked by the mongrel pack that wanders around the castle. As Jamie chases the dogs away, Claire offers to assist the priest with some rather obvious wounds, to which the priest replies:

“What, a man o’ God to expose his pairsonal parts to the handling of a wumman? Weel, I’ll tell ye, madam, I’ve no notion what sorts of immorality are practiced in the circles you’re accustomed to move in, but I’ll have ye to ken that such’ll no be tolerated here—not sae long as I’ve the cure of the souls in this parish!” With that, he turned and stumped off, limping rather badly and trying unsuccessfully to hold up the torn side of his robe.

I don't blame him. I gotta say, seeing a woman doctor about anything to do with, um, privates, is a bit unnerving. When I had my vasectomy, there was a woman doctor "observing" the procedure. I remember the doctor (a male) asking me if I would be okay if she came in for training. Of course, I think he purposely waited until after the drugs had kicked in to ask me. In my drugged haze, I didn't see a problem with it. As an afterthought, though, the idea of a woman staring at my privates with my legs spread wide still makes me wonder how every woman who's ever had a baby deals with the casual nature of people just wandering in and out of the room while she's essentially in the same vulnerable state! You ladies rock!

Afterwards, Alec comes in to Claire's surgery seeking relief from his "rheumatism". I really enjoyed this scene and getting to know a little bit more in the background of Alec. As Claire works through the knots in the tired body of this old war-horse, she encourages him to relax a little:

“A good slug of whisky and a deep massage is the best I can recommend. Tansy tea will do only so much.” He laughed, shawls slipping off his shoulder. “Whisky, eh? I had my doubts, lassie, but I see ye’ve the makings of a fine physician.”

During the massage, he relates a little more insight into the background of Jamie's mom and dad. Learning some more of this mysterious past comes with it's own bit of scandal. Alec relates the legend of the "silkie": how seals were thought to come ashore and assume the forms of men, forsaking their former lives. He alludes to the mysterious  nature of Jamie's dad, Brian, and how they only came to know of him at the games. More intriguing still is that Alec appeared to know both parents very well. Claire tucks this info away for further reference which I'm sure will come to light in the not too distant future.

More to come... (Hey, I can't help it if Diana writes super-long chapters).

Chapter 24 - By the Pricking of My Thumbs (Part 1)

Whew! This is one...long...chapter. Actually, it was kind of funny as I read it. Not the story; just the way I was reading it. I was reading it on a new e-reading device, and each time I hit one of the scene changes I was thinking maybe my digital copy of the book didn't have chapter headings listed...? So I would scroll down a ways and...nope, it just kept...on..going.

Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't boring or anything. I just didn't expect to finish half of the book in one sitting. Okay, hyperbole aside, it actually IS just under 10% of the entire book. I know, I know, a lot of you are saying right now, "...and that's a problem, because...?" That's right, I'm sure you're the same ones who read MOBY straight through from start to finish with only three fast-food meals, two two-liter bottles of Diet Coke, five bags of chips, four bathroom breaks and three boxes of tissues. Mmm hmm, I see how this works.

At any rate, when we last left our intrepid explorers (are there any other kind?), they were being welcomed back to Castle Leoch with congratulatory toasts to their new marriage, and Geilie was warning Claire about the possibility of poison in her food for marrying the only real eligible bachelor at the castle. Tough crowd.

Here we learn of the death of Dougal's estranged wife, Maura, and Dougal and Ned head out to make arrangements. This spurs a little more background on Jamie's parents and their closer-than-usual marriage:

“It was different wi’ my own folk, ye ken. Dougal’s was an arranged marriage, like Colum’s and a matter more of lands and business than the wanting of each other. But my parents—well, they wed for love, against the wishes of both families, and so we were…not cut off, exactly; but more by ourselves at Lallybroch. My parents didna go often to visit relatives or do business outside, and so I think they turned more to each other than husband and wife usually do.”

It is this longing for a similar simple life at Lallybroch for himself and Claire that draws in to Jamie's thoughts. Although "longing for Lallybroch" just sounds a bit off, but you get the meaning.

Then with Jamie and Claire literally having a roll in the hay in the stable loft, young Hamish wanders in, intent on trading his pony for Donas (the demon horse), in order to prove to his friends he is man enough to handle a "real" horse. From my experience, demon horses are never usually a good idea.

*Uncomfortable silence*

That was a joke, as I've ridden a horse, like, maybe three times in my life. Some of that was even for fun. But I digress.

This scene between Jamie and Hamish is really quite charming, what with "the talk" and all. Poor Jamie only just recently figured out how all the equipment is supposed to work, and here he is trying to ensure Hamish has a better understanding than he did.

“Do ye mind being married,” he said, staring at his cousin. “Getting into bed every night with a lady, I mean.” “No,” said Jamie. “No, in fact, it’s verra pleasant.” Hamish looked doubtful. “I dinna think I should like it much. But then all the girls I know are skinny as sticks, and they smell o’ barely water. The lady Claire—your lady, I mean,” he added hastily, as though wishing to avoid confusion, “she’s, er, she looks as though she’d be nicer to sleep with. Soft, I mean.”

Indeed. My Pocket Claire, standing dutifully to the side of my computer screen, looking on and making sure that I am representing this story faithfully, confirms this.

Pocket Claire, the Ever-Vigilant Vanguard of my blogging

Later that evening, as Claire makes preparations for bed, her mind wanders to the thoughts of her troubles with conceiving, and how fortunate they are that her cycle has not been unduly interrupted. Me, being the conscientious reader that I am, totally missed that boat. It had never crossed my mind how much more complicated this whole thing could become with children entering the picture. (No immediate spoilers, please. And yes, I have an idea of what comes up later in the series).

As Jamie and Claire are settling in for the night, they discover an unusual omen in the bedding:

We found it under my pillow. “What on earth…?” I picked it up, and promptly dropped it. “Ouch! It has thorns!” “It was a small bundle of plants, plucked up roughly by the roots, and bound together with a bit of black thread. The plants were wilted, but a pungent smell still rose from the drooping leaves. There was one flower in the bouquet, a crushed primrose, whose thorny stem had pricked my thumb.

The ill-wish leads to further questions about who left it. A little online research about this superstitious custom makes it easy to understand it was intended to wish the marriage ill, and possibly prevent children.

"The withering of plants has long been regarded ominous, and, according to a Welsh superstition, if there are faded leaves in a room where a baby is christened, it will soon die."  The Folk-lore of Plants By Thomas Firminger Thiselton Dyer, 1889 

Awesome. What a pleasant thought. Aren't there any happy superstitions like, "If the plant in the house dies, you win the lottery", or "If the moon shines in your window in the month of May, your family takes you on an all-expenses paid cruise to Bermuda"? Sheesh. Lighten up, superstitious crazies.

And this, in my humble opinion is where this chapter SHOULD have ended. Well, at least it's where this post ends. Part 2 to follow in a few days...

Chapter 23 - Return to Leoch

As we catch up with the tired couple at the Red Boar, Jamie considers options of where he might go now that he learned from Horrocks that it was indeed Randall who had shot the sergeant-major that he was accused of killing. Being able to prove it, though, was another thing entirely. Should he flee to France? America?

“You’re right,” he agreed, “we could go to France.” I started, having momentarily forgotten that whatever he decided to do, I was now included in the decision...."I might be able to go back to Lallybroch.” His face clouded, and I knew he was thinking of his sister. “For myself,” he said softly, “I wouldna go, but it isn’t only me anymore.” He looked down at me and smiled, his hand gently smoothing my hair. “I forget sometimes, that there’s you now, Sassenach,” he said.

I like how his circle of consideration had widened to now include Claire in his decision-making calculations. Even though she felt awful and traitorous for practically having abandoned him for the run she made trying to get back to Frank.

I felt extraordinarily uncomfortable. I felt like a traitor, in fact. Here he was, making plans that would affect his entire life, taking my comfort and safety into account, when I had been doing my best to abandon him completely, dragging him into substantial danger in the process. I had meant none of it, but the fact remained. Even now, I was thinking that I should try to talk him out of going to France, as that would carry me farther away from my own goal: the stone circle.

I especially like how the Duke of Sandringham has been weaved back in to the story as a potential noble who could potentially provide amnesty for the falsely accused Jaime.

Arriving back at the castle, the weary travelers are immediately met by the inqusitive inhabitants, and a forward Mrs. Fritz.

“Why, what’s the matter wi’ the poor child?” she demanded of Jamie. “Has she had an accident o’ some sort?” “No, it’s only she’s married me,” he said, “though if ye care to call it an accident, ye may.”

I hate it when I get accidentally married. Although, now back in the routines and associations of castle life, Claire's realizations about the stability of her newlywed status take an ominous turn.

We had grown very close in the month of our marriage, but I had felt that closeness crack under the strains of the last few days, and thought it might now shatter completely, back among the practical realities of life at Castle Leoch.

Claire's paranoia at the sight of Laoghaire spirals into a self-inflicted frenzy of emotion directed scattershot at Jamie when he returns to the room. Jamie, not knowing what to make of this odd turn of events, lashes out in anger...and passionate - uh, passion. He reveals he had not just married her for his share of the rents (as it was a paltry sum), yet provides the gift he had meant to give her all along: the wedding ring he had contracted for with Ewan the armorer.

Okay, just want to keep the record straight, they had been riding for two days with hardly a stop to make it back to Castle Leoch, and yet, here they are, arguing, increasing blood pressures, and then...well, increasing blood pressures some more. The sheer wildness of this passion drips with unrestrained emotion at the recent events they had both shared while on the road: the dangers and the adventures combine in one heated strain of loosing of all fleshly restraint.

All I can say at this point is, "Frank, buddy, I'm pretty sure you're screwed."