The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [49]
A few days later, the Frasers and several of Jamie’s Scottish smugglers sail quietly up the Yallahs River toward Rose Hall, in a small ship provided by Lord John Grey.
Arriving at night, they mean to steal ashore, attack the refinery by surprise, and retrieve Young Ian—liberating any of the other Scottish captives in the process.
Jamie leaves Claire near the boat, armed with a pistol and with strict instructions to stay put and wait for them. However, within minutes of his departure, Claire sees a tall, thin shadow in the window of Rose Hall; it can’t possibly be Geilie, but may very well be Young Ian. The men are already too far away to catch; she will have to go and see herself. Creeping up onto the veranda, Claire finds the front door standing open, and noises of someone in the study. She goes quietly in, hoping to find Young Ian, but instead discovers that the owner of the shadow is the Reverend Campbell. Geillis herself is nowhere to be found; the Reverend complains that she has disappeared, leaving him alone.
In the ensuing confrontation, a number of things are revealed, including the fact that the Reverend is convinced that Jamie was responsible for the traumatic events that stole his sister’s wits; Jamie, he thinks, was “the Hieland man” whom his sister left her home to find, in the midst of the Rising. Despite Claire’s assurances that Margaret’s lover was in fact a friend of Jamie’s, Ewan Cameron, the Reverend is adamant in his hate.
This is sufficiently disturbing to Claire. Somewhat more disturbing is the knowledge that Geillis Duncan has been in correspondence with the Reverend as a scholar of Celtic prophecies, with particular reference to the “Fraser Prophecy,” a mysterious prediction left by the Brahan Seer, to the effect that a ruler “of Lovat’s line” will one day lead Scotland.
Obsessed as Geillis Duncan is with the rulers of Scotland, this knowledge gives Claire a sickening feeling that she knows where Geilie might have gone—at least in general terms. “Lovat’s line” consists of the descendants of Simon, Lord Lovat, chief of clan Fraser, who was executed following the Rising. While Lovat left a number of children, the direct line died out in the 1800s—or so Geilie thought, until she saw the pictures of Brianna, and realized that Lovat did indeed have a direct descendant, living in the future.
Whether Geilie wishes to find Brianna for some sinister purpose, or only to use her photograph as an anchor point for her travel through the stones, the conclusion that the witch of Rose Hall is embarked on a journey to the future seems inescapable.
Claire’s questions are interrupted, though, by the unexpected appearance of Mr. Willoughby. Considerably the worse for wear from days of hiding in the jungle, the Chinese man has not emerged to seek assistance from Claire— but to confront the Reverend.
“Most holy fella,” he said, and his voice held a tone I had never heard in him before; an ugly taunting note.
The Reverend whirled, so quickly that his elbow knocked against a vase; water and yellow roses cascaded over the rosewood desk, soaking the papers. The Reverend gave a cry of rage, and snatched the papers from the flood, shaking them frantically to remove the water before the ink should run.
“See what ye’ve done, ye wicked, murdering heathen!”
Mr. Willoughby laughed. Not his usual high giggle, but a low chuckle. It didn’t sound at all amused.
“I murdering?” He shook his head slowly back and forth, eyes fixed on the Reverend. “Not me, holy fella. Is you, murderer.”
“Begone, fellow,” Campbell said coldly. “You should know better than