• “The smartest historical sci-fi adventure-romance story ever written by a science Ph.D. with a background in scripting 'Scrooge McDuck' comics.”—Salon.com
  • A time-hopping, continent-spanning salmagundi of genres.”
    —ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
  • “These books have to be word-of-mouth books because they're too weird to describe to anybody.”
    —Jackie Cantor, Diana's first editor

BLOODY MEN

Y’all have asked some good questions in the comments to the last post, but most of them will require a bit of time and thought to respond to properly. Since I’m working madly this weekend to fill up the remaining holes in the new website (which I _hope_ to reveal to public view sometime next week), I thought for today, I’d just give you a bit of Book Eight, which I notice a number of people had asked for, too. {g}

Book Eight

Copyright 2010 Diana Gabaldon

“Stay,” he said sternly to Rollo, turning back for an instant. The dog, who had not stirred from his comfortable spot at Rachel’s feet, twitched one ear.

William was standing by the roadside, looking hot, tired, disheveled, and thoroughly unhappy. As well he might, Ian thought with some sympathy. William was likely bound for England—if he was lucky—or for parole in some rough lodging somewhere far to the south. In either case, his active role as a soldier was over for some time.

His face changed abruptly at sight of Ian. Surprise, the beginnings of indignation, then a quick glance round, decision clamping down upon his features. Ian was surprised for a moment that he could read William’s face so easily, but then remembered why. Uncle Jamie guarded his own expression in company—but not with Ian. Ian’s own face didn’t show his knowledge, though, anymore than William’s now showed more than an irritable acknowledgement.

“Scout,” William said, with the briefest of nods. The officer to whom he had been talking gave Ian a brief, incurious look, then saluted William and plunged back into the trudging stream.

“What the bloody hell do you want?” William drew a grubby sleeve across his sweating face. Ian was mildly surprised at this evident hostility; they’d parted on good terms the last time they had seen each other—though there had been little conversation at the time, William having just put a pistol-ball through the brain of a madman trying to kill Rachel, Ian, or both, with an axe. Ian’s left arm had healed enough to dispense with a sling, but it was still stiff.

“There’s a lady who’d like to speak with ye,” he said, ignoring William’s narrowed eyes. The eyes relaxed a little.

“Miss Hunter?” A small gleam of pleasure lit William’s eyes, and Ian’s own narrowed slightly. Aye, well, he thought, let her tell him, then.

William waved to a corporal down the line, who waved back, then stepped off the road after Ian. A few soldiers glanced at Ian, but he was unremarkable, the double line of dotted tattooing on his cheeks, his buckskin breeches, and his sun-browned skin marking him as an Indian scout—a good many of these had deserted the British army, but there were still a good many left, mostly Loyalists like Joseph Brant who held land in Pennysylvania and New York, though there were still some ranging parties from the Iroquois nations who had come down to fight at Saratoga.

“William!” Rachel flew across the little clearing and clasped the tall captain’s hands, beaming up at him with such joy that he smiled back at her, all irritability vanished. Ian hung back a little, to give her time. There hadn’t been any, really, what with Rollo roaring and tearing at Arch Bug’s miserable auld carcass, Rachel sprawled on the floor, frozen with horror, himself lying on the floor pouring blood, and half the street outside screaming bloody murder.

William had pulled Rachel to her feet and thrust her into the arms of the first woman available, who as it happened, was Marsali.

“Get her out of here!” William had snapped. But Rachel, Ian’s nut-brown maiden—her brownness much splattered with blood—had pulled herself together in an instant, and gritting her teeth—he’d seen her do it, bemused by shock as he lay on the floor, watching things happen as though in a dream—as she stepped over auld Arch’s body, had fallen to her knees in the mess of brains and blood, wrapped her apron tight about his wounded arm and tied it with her kerchief, and then with Marsali, had dragged him bodily out of the print-shop and into the street, where he’d promptly passed out, waking only when Auntie Claire began stitching his arm.

Ian hadn’t had time to thank William, even had he been able to speak, and he meant to convey his own thanks as soon as he might. But clearly Rachel wanted to talk to him first, and he waited, thinking how beautiful she looked, her eyes the clouded hazel of thicket and green-brier, face clever and quick as flame.

“But thee is tired, William, and thin,” she was saying, drawing a finger disapprovingly down the side of his face. “Do they not feed thee? I’d thought it was only the Continentals who went short of rations.”

“Oh. I—I haven’t had time of late.” The happiness that had lit William’s face while he talked with Rachel faded noticeably. “We—well, you see.” He waved an arm toward the invisible road, where the hoarse chants of the sergeants rang like the calling of disgruntled crows above the shuffle of feet.

“I do see. Where is thee going?”

William rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth, and glanced at Ian.

“I suppose he oughtn’t to say,” Ian said, coming across and touching Rachel’s arm, smiling at William in apology. “We’re the enemy, a nighean donn.

William looked sharply at Ian, catching the tone of his voice, then back at Rachel, whose hand he was still holding.

“We are betrothed, William—Ian and I,” she said, gently pulling her hand out of his and putting it on Ian’s.

William’s face changed abruptly, losing its look of happiness altogether. He eyed Ian with something remarkably close to dislike.

“Are you,” he said flatly. “I suppose I must wish you every happiness, then. Good day.” He turned on his heel, and Ian, surprised, reached out to pull him back.

“Wait—“ he said, and then William turned and hit him in the mouth.

He was lying on his back in the leaves, blinking in disbelief, as Rollo hurtled over him and sank his teeth in some soft part of William, judging by the yelp and the brief cry of startlement from Rachel.

“Rollo! Bad dog—and thee is a bad dog, too, William Ransom! What the devil does thee mean by this?”

Ian sat up, tenderly fingering his lip, which was bleeding. Rollo had retreated a little under Rachel’s scolding, but kept a yellow eye fixed on William and a curled lip raised over bared teeth, the faintest rumble of a growl coming from his huge chest.

Sheas,” Ian said to him briefly, and got to his feet. William had sat down and was examining the calf of his leg, which was bleeding through his torn silk hose, though not badly. When he saw Ian, he scrambled to his feet. His face was bright red and he looked as though he meant either to do murder or burst into tears. Maybe both, Ian thought in surprise.

He was careful not to touch William again, but stood back a bit—in front of Rachel, just in case the man meant to go off again. He was armed, after all; there was a pistol and sword at his belt.

“Are ye all right, man?” he asked, in the same tone of mild concern he’d heard his Da use now and then on his Mam or Uncle Jamie. Evidently it was in fact the right tone to take with a Fraser about to go berserk, for William breathed like a grampus for a moment or two, then got himself under control.

“I ask your pardon, sir,” he said, back stiff as a stick of rock-maple. “That was unforgiveable. I shall…leave you. I—Miss Hunter…I–” He turned, stumbling a little, and that gave Rachel time to dart round in front of him.

“William!” Her face was full of distress. “What is it? Have I—“

He looked down at her, his face contorted, but shook his head.

“You haven’t done anything,” he said, with an obvious effort. “You…you could never do anything that…” He swung round toward Ian, fist clenched on his sword. “But you, you fucking bas— you son-of-a-bitch! Cousin!

“Oh,” said Ian, stupidly. “Ye know, then.”

“Yes, I bloody know! You could have fucking told me!”

“Know what?” Rachel stepped round Ian, looking from him to William and back again.

“Don’t you bloody tell her!” William snapped.

“Don’t be silly,” Rachel said reasonably. “Of course he’ll tell me, the minute we’re alone. Does thee not wish to tell me thyself? I think perhaps thee might not trust Ian to say it aright.” Her eye rested on Ian’s lip, and her own mouth twitched. Ian might have taken offense at this, save that William’s distress was so apparent.

“It isna really a disgrace…” he began, but then stepped hastily back as William’s clenched fist drew back.

“You think not?” William was so furious, his voice was nearly inaudible. “To discover that I am—am—the…the get of a Scottish criminal? That I am a fucking bastard?”

Despite his resolve to be patient, Ian felt his own dander start to rise.

“Criminal, forbye!” he snapped. “Any man might be proud to be the son of Jamie Fraser!”

“Oh,” said Rachel, forestalling William’s next heated remark. “That.”

“What?” He glared down at her. “What the devil do you mean, ‘that’?”

“We thought it must be the case, Denny and I.” She lifted one shoulder, though keeping a close watch on William, who looked as though he was about to go off like a twelve-pound mortar. “But we supposed that thee didn’t wish the matter talked about. I didn’t know that thee—how could thee not have known?” she asked curiously. “The resemblance—“

“Fuck the resemblance!”

65 Responses »

  1. It has been nearly a year since I picked up my first Outlander book. I finished the entire series in two months. Not a fast reader, really, but an obsessed one at that. I estimate I have read at least 100 books since…seriously. What am I searching for? Sara Donati came close. I finally figured it out today. As I have made yet another attempt to begin the series for the third time (usually make it 3/4 through Outlander), my endeavors become thwarted by getting too emotionally involved with characters to the point of distress. Silly, especially for me. (Thank you for making my menopause such a freaky time, Diana!) But, here’s my epiphany. I have never in my life, read tales that weaved so much every day reality in such a captivating way. I can’t find them by any other author, no matter how hard I try. Kindle in hand, I search book after book. By the way, I truly enjoyed your story about Roger’s parents in the book, “Songs of Love and Death.” I am a paragraph skipper. “Get to the point…” I say. But your words MAKE me read every line. You talk to the reader (me) as if the character is sitting across the kitchen table sipping coffee, and I’m at the edge of my tipping seat saying, “And, and, and…” So, thank you, I guess. For tears and torture. This is why your fans screech for more. Think I will have to read Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade. Need to fill my void…

    ––Karen

    (By the way, being a redhead myself and coming from a family full of them…as we age, it just gets lighter and eventually turns a shade of white…just saying, if Jamie wants to “keep it real”…I am 53 and never had a gray hair yet…)

    • Ditto to Karen.

      I am a constant reader and you have ruined every other author for me. I have searched for anything that can compare and they all come up short.

      Diana, you truly are blessed with a gift. I have so many paragraphs highlighted for rereading and whole chapters that I have read countless times just for the beauty of your writing. Thank you for sharing your gift. I pick up my Kindle with happy fingers knowing they are going to transport me to beautiful writing. :)
      -Beth

  2. Dear Diana,
    Could you please explain your use of “thee” when you write dialogue for your 18th century Quakers? Is there something about the way they spoke that you researched? We don’t generally use the thees and thous and thy and thine in our time, but I have some familiarity with it and the way you’ve used it in your books seems odd to me. Generally “thee” would be like “you” today (I understand you was used at the time as well and we just dropped the “thee” form of the second person in modern speech), “to you” would translate to “to thee”, “your word” would be “thy word” and “yours” would be “thine”. What confuses me is that you write “thee is” instead of “thou art” for “you are” when you write the dialog (yet I noticed you do use “thou art” in the bits where that wording is used by the church, for example for weddings). Wouldn’t saying “thee is” be like saying “you is” (or even more confusing being that such a form of you doesn’t even exist as the difference between thee and thou)? Is this a mistake or are you trying to purposefully make your Quakers sound like backcountry hicks or is there historical records of 18th century North Carolina Quakers speaking like that? I’m having a hard time reading those sections without cringing.

    • Dear Shoshana–

      You can stop cringing–at least on _my_ account. Yes, the 18th century version of Quaker Plain Speech was indeed carefully researched (like just about everything else in the books…). I’m aware that this version looks ungrammatical by contrast with Elizabethan forms of English, but you’ll have to take that up with the 18th century Quakers. [g] If you read the Author’s Notes in AN ECHO IN THE BONE or WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD, you’ll find both the historical explanation for the shift and (in WRITTEN) a couple of scholarly references describing it. (Have you by chance read Jessamyn West’s very entertaining historical novels? She’s a Quaker by birth, very well read in the tradition, and her early-19th century Quakers all talk the same way mine do.)

      Best wishes,

      –Diana

  3. Friend Diana,

    I know this is an old thread in your blog, but it seems to be a place that you talk about Quakerism a bit.

    I am on my second reading (actually listening) of your series. I am struck this time by your description of members of the Society of Friends in your books. It seems as if you are pretty familiar with Quakers, though probably not one yourself. I don’t think that just reading about Quakers would lead you to portray Rachael and Denny in such a playful and yet earnest manner. I would be interested in how you came to this understanding. Do you have Quakers in your family?

    And on a side note, I live in NC and am of Scott-Irish decent. I have been to so man of the places that Jamie and Claire go. I was born in Philadelphia, and have visited Edinburgh and Inverness. I really enjoy knowing so many of the areas that I hear about in the series. I laughed today when Brianne was suddenly in Redondo Beach, CA (though I still don’t know why she is there). I can’t say that I remember it, but I lived there as a baby.

    Finally, I just love the perfect narration by Davina Porter. I am having a bit of a hard time with the tv show since it is her voices of Jamie and Claire that I know.

    Julia McMullan Cleaver

    • Hi, Julia,

      No Quakers in my family that I am aware of! My scientific background honed my research skills, which I use extensively in my writing. Plus, I visit many of the places that I use in my writing when I need more information and background.

      I’m a third generation native of Flagstaff, Arizona, in fact. I wrote a little bit about about my parents in my essay titled “Myth and Mountain Birthdays.”

      -Diana

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