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"You can’t have been more than twelve!" I said
"No," he replied, one eyebrow lifted "Eleven My birthday was the next day, though"
I choked back whatever I ht I had lost my capacity to be shocked by the realities of the past, but evidently not Someone had shot hie No chance of one awry in the heat of battle The man who had shot him had known it was a child he ht as I exa, and not deep; the fractured ball had lain just below the surface Good, it wouldn’t need stitching I pressed a clean pad to the wound and moved in front of him, to fasten the linen strip that bound it in place
"A reed "I was lyin’ on the ground, and Murchison’s face over me, and I--"
"Murchison!" The exclamation popped out of me, and I saw a flicker of satisfaction cross Hayes’s face I had a brief pre what Jaht before He thinks more than he says, does wee Archie--and he talks quite a lot Be careful of him, Sassenach Well, a little late for caution--but I doubted it could matter; even if it had been the same Murchison--
"You’ll ken the naland that a Sergeant Murchison of the 26th was sent to North Carolina But the garrison at Cross Creek was gone e reached the town--a fire, was it?"
"Er, yes," I said, rather edgy at this reference I was glad that Bree had left; only two people knew the whole truth of what had happened when the Croarehouse on Cross Creek burned, and she was one of them As for the other--well, Stephen Bonnet was not likely to cross paths with the Lieutenant anytime soon--if Bonnet hiarrison," Hayes pursued, "Murchison and the rest--where have they gone, d’ye know?"
"Sergeant Murchison is dead," said a deep, soft voice behind me "Alas"
Hayes looked beyond me and sht come to your wife, sooner or later I’ve been seekin’ ye the morn"
I was startled at the name, and so was Jamie; a look of surprise flashed across his features, then disappeared, replaced by wariness No one had called hi
"I heard," he said dryly He sat down onHayes "Let’s have it, then What is it?"
Hayes pulled up the sporran that dangled between his knees, rued for a moment, and pulled out a square of folded paper, secured with a red wax seal, nized My heart skipped a beat at the sight; I so me a belated birthday wish
Hayes turned it over, checked carefully to see that the name inscribed on the front was Jamie’s, and handed it across Toit, eyes fixed on Hayes’s face
"What brought ye here?" he asked abruptly
"Ah, duty, to be sure," Hayes answered, thin brows arched in innocent astonishht for any other reason?"
"Duty," Ja "Aye, well Duty inia, but there are quicker ways to get there"
Hayes started to shrug, but desisted at once, as the
"I had the Procla, from Governor Tryon"
"The Governor’s no authority over you or your reed, "but why should I not do the man a service, and I could?"
"Aye, and did he ask ye to do him the service, or was it your own notion?" Jarown a bit suspicious in your auld age, a Sheuly
"That’s how I’ve lived to grow as auld as I have," Ja Hayes "Ye say it was a man named Murchison who shot ye on the field at Dru; Hayesfor pain
"Why, ye kent that, surely, a Sheumais ruaidh D’ye not recall the day, ed subtly, and I felt a small tremor of unease The fact was that Jamie had alhter that had left sothem I knew that sain in his sleep, fraghtmare--but whether it was from trauma, injury, or simple force of will, the Battle of Culloden was lost to him--or had been, until now I didn’t think he wanted it back
"A great deal happened then," he said "I dinna re, no" He bent his head abruptly, and thrust a thuhly that the wax seal shattered into fragments
"Your husband’s a modest man, Mistress Fraser" Hayes nodded to me as he summoned his aide with a flip of the hand "Has he never told ye what he did that day?"
"There was a good bit of gallantry on that field," Jamie muttered, head bent over the letter "And quite a bit of the reverse" I didn’t think he was reading; his eyes were fixed, as though he were seeing so else, beyond the paper that he held
"Aye, there was," Hayes agreed "But it does seem worth remark, when a man’s saved your life, no?"