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They were--or so Jaues, he was already pointing at objects and essaying the Indian na iht blearily; they were already telling hie of Jaht? Because I can’t stay awake to look after you Are you going to faint and fall headfirst into the fire?"

Jamie patted me absently on the head

"I’ll be fine now, Sassenach," he said Restored by food and whisky, he see ill effects fro was another question, I thought

I was beyond worrying about that, or anything else, though;from the effects of adrenaline, whisky and tobacco, and I crawled off to fetch my blanket Curled up by Jamie’s feet, I drifted drowsily off to sleep, surrounded by the sacred fumes of smoke and liquor, and watched by the dull, sticky eyes of the bear

"Know just how you feel," I told it, and then was gone

16

THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

I akened abruptly just after dawn by a tiny stinging sensation on top of ate Thehairs out ofhysterically

"Serve you right,the top ofI had been told often enough that ; perhaps there was soone Luckily, the bear’s head had gone with theers, but aside fro of the jay’s depredations, it seeood whisky, or my sense of intoxication had been due more to the effects of adrenaline and tobacco than to alcohol

My comb was in the small deerskin pouch where I kept personal necessities and those few ht be useful on the trail I sat up carefully, so as not to wake Jamie He lay a short distance away on his back, hands crossed, peaceful as the carved effigy on a sarcophagus

A lotpatch of sunshine sneaking up on hi the ends of his hair In the fresh, cool light, he looked like Adam, newly touched by his Creator’s hand

Rather a battered Adah; on closer inspection, this was a snap taken well after the Fall Not the fragile perfection of a child born of clay, nor yet the unused beauty of the youth God loved No, this one was a man full-formed and powerful; each line of face and body le, made to take hold of the world he would wake to, and subdue it

Ifor my pouch I didn’t want to wake him; the opportunity to watch hi up at any intimation of threat, and he norht, while I was still floating on the surface of ht, or he was in the deep sleep of healing, letting his body ly through my hair For once, I wasn’t in a hurry There was no baby to feed, no child to rouse and dress for school, no aiting No patients to see, no paperwork to do

Nothing could be farther froht Early birds in search of wor a cheerful racket in the forest, and a cool, soft breeze blew through the clearing I smelt a faint whiff of dried blood, and the stale ashes froht’s fire

Perhaps it was the scent of blood that had made me remember the hospital From the moment I first walked into one, I had known it to be my sphere, my natural place And yet I was not out of place, here in the ood I thought that odd

The ends of my hair brushedfeel, and the air was cool enough that the sooseflesh, ined it, I thought, with an inward smile I certainly hadn’t taken

I pushed back the thick linen blanket, and saw the flecks of dried blood, shs and belly I felt daer between theh to bring back the shadow of the dreareat bulk of the bear loo of blood, a rush of terror that keptdeath, as he nudged and nuzzled, breath hot onfor a beast