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Sunday, February 22, 2015

Chapter 28 - Kisses and Drawers

It's nice to see Claire feeling that she is fitting in to the routine of the estate.
...surrounded by the peaceful house and grounds of Lallybroch and the cheerful company of Jenny, Ian, and small Jamie, I felt as though I had come home at last.
The six months or so since she arrived in this time and place, Claire appears to have finally come to grips with the reality of her situation. I'm pleased to see the clarity she exhibits in her thoughts about how things are. Yet there is a bit of anxiety, belayed, in the notion of heading to Beauly, "the seat of clan Fraser" where Jamies grandfather may be able to help with passage to France in a few short weeks.

Clan politics aside, thoughts of leaving are interrupted by the work at hand: Ian mentioned to Jamie that the wheel at the mill has stopped turning. As Claire and Jamie head in that direction, they discuss their pasts and youthful experimentation with love; well, kisses, at least.

Arriving at the mill, Jamie determines that there is indeed something stuck in the wheel mechanism under the water. The early fall weather and cold water almost dissuades him, however, it must be done. As he is undressing, Claire notices the unusual and ill-fitted flannel drawers that hang from Jamies waist.
“Your grandfather’s?” I guessed, making a highly unsuccessful effort to suppress my giggling. “Or your grandmother’s?” “My father’s,” he said coldly, looking down his nose at me. “Ye dinna expect me to be swimming bare as an egg before my wife and my tenants, do ye?”
However, several attempts at diving under the mill provide no immediate solution.

The Cedar Grist Mill, Amboy WA. Not far from where we live.
(Although I never dove beneath it in my underwear.)
With Jamie's continued attempts to clear the wheel mechanism, Claire meets a local woman, Grannie MacNab. Grannie shares with Claire how she had wanted to ask Jamie if her grandson Robbie could serve as the stable lad at the estate to escape his father's unwarranted beatings.

Their conversation is interrupted by the visit of a local troop of redcoats, looking for a sack of meal from the mill. Unaware of Jamie's presence underwater, the women try their best to distract the soldiers from determining the most wanted man lurking in the freezing waters nearby.

Not sure the Frasers feel the same way about this...

As one of the soldiers determines to find the cause of the mill's inactivity, the tension builds about how soon Jamie will be found out. As dramatically as it starts, the mill's wheel starts underway again, albeit with a bit of additional cloth coming over the top in one of the wheel scoops: Jamie's father's drawers.

Satisfied the condition is rectified, the redcoats leave with their flannel souvenier "to polish tack, at least". A now-frozen Jamie emerges after they depart, with Grannie MacNab firing her request for her grandson to Jamie.
“Grannie MacNab,” Jamie interrupted, advancing a menacing half-step through the water, “whatever your wish is, I’ll do it. Provided only that ye’ll give me back my shirt before my parts fall off wi’ cold.”
C'mon, give 'em a break. Those redcoats were only trying to be helpful...
:)


1 comment:

  1. I LOVE Grannie MacNab. She was quick witted and the only one able to get Claire to keep her mouth shut. I thought for sure she'd (Claire) tell the soldiers to bugger off.

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