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"What a thing," he said He held it at ar the vivid reds and blues of the bare, warty head and dangling wattle "I don’t think I’ve ever seen one, save roasted on a platter, with chestnut dressing and roast potatoes"

He looked froun

"That’s great shooting, Bree"

She felt her cheeks flush with pleasure, and restrained the urge to say, "Aw, shucks, it warn’t nothin’," settling instead for a sier still carrying the dripping carcass, held slightly out fro, either," Roger was saying, still impressed "What’s it been, six months?"

She didn’t want to lower his estied, and told the truth anyway

"More like six years Really ht ave me a twenty-then I was thirteen, and by the tieons at ranges, or to hunt doves and quail on weekends in the fall"

Roger glanced at her in interest

"I thought Jaht you; I’d no idea Frank Randall was such a sportsman"

"Well," she said slowly "I don’t know that he was"

One black broent up in inquiry

"Oh, he kne to shoot," she assured hi World War Two But he never shot much himself; he’d just show un"

"That’s odd"

"Isn’t it?" Shehis shoulder so that their shadowsa gun over one shoulder, and a third head held bloodily in its hand "I wondered about that," she said, with attempted casualness "After you told "

He shot her a sharp look

"Wondered what?"

She took a deep breath, feeling the linen strips bite into her brsts

"I wondered why a man who didn’t ride or shoot should take such pains to see that his daughter could do both those things I irls to do that" She tried to laugh "Not in Boston, anyway"

There was no sound for a h dry leaves

"Christ," Roger said softly, at last "He looked for Jamie Fraser He said so, in his letter"

"And he found a Jamie Fraser He said that, too We just don’t knohether it was the right one or not" She kept her eyes on her boots, wary of snakes There were copperheads in the wood, and ti on rocks or sunny logs

Roger took a deep breath, lifting his head

"Aye And so you’re wondering nohat elseup

"Maybe he found ht "Maybe he knew I’d go back, through the stones But if he did--he didn’t tell , and put a hand on her arm to turn her toward him

"And perhaps he didn’t know that at all," he said firht try it, if you ever found out about Fraser And if you did find out, and did gothen he wanted you to be safe I’d say no matter what he knew, that’s what he wanted; you to be safe" He smiled, a little crookedly "Like you wantcomfort descend on her with his words She’d never doubted that Frank Randall had loved her, all the years of her growing up She didn’t want to doubt it now

"Aye," she said, and tilted up an inch on her toes to kiss hiently touched her breast, where the buckskin of her shirt showed a sry Coain and went down thetheir shadows go before thean, and hesitated One shadow head dipped toward the other, listening