The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [58]
“Her husband is dead. Whether she was fond of him or no, she is mistress here now, with none to answer to. And she enjoys the taste of power too well to spit it out.”
He was plainly correct in this assessment of Jocasta Cameron’s character, and therein lay the key to her plan. She needed a man; someone to go into those places she could not go, to deal with the Navy, to handle the chores of a large estate that she could not manage because of her blindness.
At the same time, she patently did not want a husband; someone who would usurp her power and dictate to her. Had he not been a slave, Ulysses could have acted for her—but while he could be her eyes and ears, he could not be her hands.
No, Jamie was the perfect choice; a strong, competent man, able to command respect among peers, compel obedience in subordinates. One knowledgeable in the management of land and men. Furthermore, a man bound to her by kinship and obligation, there to do her bidding—but essentially powerless.
Reaching the edge of the river, Jamie helps Claire into a small boat and rows up to the creek where the sawmill stands— taking a troubled survey of the kingdom he is invited to rule, and reminding both himself and Claire of the difficulties that rule entails.
Disembarking at the sawmill, the Frasers find it standing eerie in the darkness, disquieting with the memory of blood. The mill is haunted by more than ghosts, though, and the smell of blood is real. A dying girl lies in the overseer’s bed, evidently the victim of a botched abortion … or of deliberate murder.
Investigations into the girl’s identity and her presence reveal that she is an army laundress, without family or connections. The public assumption is that, finding herself inconveniently with child, she would have sought to rid herself of the burden—but alone, or with someone’s help?
A step ahead of the investigation, Claire deduces the presence of a slave-woman known for her medical skills—a woman named Pollyanne, who has fled from her shack to hide in the woods, obviously afraid that she will be blamed for the death of the girl—and die in turn, a victim of the bloodshed law.
Jamie’s efforts to establish the girl’s identity take him into Cross Creek, to the garrison headquarters there, where he meets an old enemy—Sergeant Murchison, who, with his twin brother, was once an officer at Ardsmuir Prison. The Sergeant is no more pleased by the meeting than is Jamie, and his temper grows no better when he finds what errand has brought the Frasers to his office.
Returning from this acrimonious encounter, the Frasers discover that Duncan and Ian have succeeded in finding the slave-woman Pollyanne, whom they have hidden in a remote tobacco barn. Still, there is an urgent need to smuggle her away from the district, and Myers, nearly recovered from his public surgery, suggests a plan: He has friends among the Tuscarora tribe, and is sure that the Indians would accept the woman into one of their villages, where she would be safe.
Myers’s plan offers not only safety for Pollyanne, but advantages for Jamie—he can remove himself from his aunt’s scheming long enough to make up his own mind without pressure, he can avoid the antagonistic presence of Sergeant Murchison— and in the process of delivering Pollyanne to her refuge, he can survey the mountainous backcountry land offered to him by Governor Tryon, in order to weigh the possibilities afforded.
A small expedition accordingly sets off for the mountains: Myers, Pollyanne, Jamie, Claire—and Young Ian, who is keen to see adventure and Red Indians. Duncan remains behind to help Jocasta with the business of the estate.
Once into the mountains, the party separates; Myers and Young Ian make their way into the Tuscarora’s territory, to deliver Pollyanne, while Claire and Jamie make their way upward into the mountains.
As they travel, Claire is torn between joy in Jamie’s evident delight—he is at home in the free air