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"You are!" I punched hiain, harder, and before I knew it, was haainst his plaid He grabbed for my hand, but I ducked my head and bit him on the thumb He let out a cry and jerked his hand away
He examined the toothmarks for a ered in his eyes, but at least he’d stopped laughing, the bastard
"Sassenach, ye’ve seen me damn near dead a dozen times, and not turned a hair Whyever are ye takin’ on so now, and awked at him in furious amazement "You think I wasn’t upset?"
He rubbed a knuckle across his upper lip, eyeing me in some amusement
"Oh Well, I did think ye cared, of course But I never thought of it in just that way, I admit"
"Of course you didn’t! And if you had, it wouldn’tI could think of to call hi no more words, I turned and sto has relatively little effect when executed in bare feet on a grassysharp, uttered a s to stop
I had stepped on some sort of cocklebur; half a dozen vicious caltrops were stuck infrom the tiny punctures Precariously balanced on one foot, I tried to pick the under ht me under the elbow and steadiedout the spiny burs I pulledon ood dealthe cloak on the ground, I proceeded to dress, hat dignity was possible Ja me without comment
"When God threw Adam out of Paradise, at least Eve ith hi of reed, after a cautious pause He gave ain
"Ah--ye havena been eating any o’ the plants ye picked this , have ye, Sassenach? No, I didna think so," he added hastily, seeing ive ye the nighthtmares," I said, withthe truth I was having waking nightenic plant substances had nothing to do with it
He sighed
"D’ye ht out what ye’re talkin’ about, Sassenach, or do ye ht as usual between the urge to laugh and the urge to hit him with a blunt object Then a wave of despair overcaer My shoulders slu about you," I said
"Me? Why?"
"Because you’re a bloody Highlander, and you’re all about honor and courage and constancy, and I know you can’t help it, and I wouldn’t want you to, only--only daet you killed, and there’s nothing I can do about it!"
He gave h I’d said sorave is!"
He rubbed a hand slowly through his hair, looking down the bridge of his nose at o to Scotland, I must die there, since that’s where I’ll be buried Is that it?"
I nodded, too upset to speak
"M to Scotland?" he asked carefully
I glared at him in exasperation, and waved an arm at the expanse of wilderness around us
"Where the hell else are you going to get settlers for this land? Of course you’re going to Scotland!"
He looked at me, exasperated in turn
"How in the naht have, when I had the gems, but now? I’ve maybe ten pound to my name, and that’s borrowed Shall I fly to Scotland like a bird, then? And lead folk back behind ," I said ave me a queer look, then looked away and paused for several ht I was God Alhty, Sassenach," he said at last
"I don’t," I said "Moses, maybe" The words were facetious, but neither one of us was joking
He walked away a bit, hands clasped behind his back
"Watch out for the burs," I called after hi for the location of my recentHe walked to and fro across the clearing, head bent in thought At last he came back, to stand in front of ht about that But I dinna think I need go to Scotland for my settlers"
"What else?"
"My men--the men i’ me in Ardsmuir," he said "They’re here already"
"But you haven’t any idea where they are," I protested "And besides, they were transported years ago! They’ll be settled; they won’t want to pull up stakes and come to the ends of the bloody earth with you!"
He smiled, a little wryly
"You did, Sassenach"
I took a deep breath The nagging weight of fear that had burdened my heart for the last weeks had eased With that concern lifted, though, there was now roo difficulty of the task he was setting himself Track down men scattered over three colonies, persuade them to come with him, and si of land and planting of crops To say nothing of the sheer enor soin wilderness
"I’ll think of sohtly as he watched doubts and uncertainties flit across my face "I always do, aye?"
All of h
"You do," I said "Jamie--are you sure? Your aunt Jocasta--"
He dismissed that possibility with a flick of his hand