By: Supafly
Claire recites a poem to the lake and one of the Scotsman recognizes John Dunn, surprising her. The others shout at each other in Gaelic and wrestle about. Willy is enjoying a rough rite of passage, getting tossed about. The Scotsman is Mr. Gowan, a lawyer she’s seen before. She looks at his beautiful horse as he tells her about some of the items that he’s collected in the past for taxes. He has a bad cough, which concerns Claire. His lungs bother him yearly and Claire thinks that she can help him with the smoking of a pipe, as she diagnoses him with asthma. The pipe helps and Dougal calls them back to the road.
It’s a long journey, giving Claire time to get to know Mr. Gowan better. He’s always wanted a life of adventure, and found himself traveling up north, joining the Colum’s father. It was a less civilized time then. Although she was enjoying the company, she could not let it stray her intentions of returning home.
Dougal tells a bawdy story and the men talk in Gaelic. Claire wasn’t offended by their stories and jokes, nor was she too delicate to sleep on the ground and eat the fresh game, but what did bother her was that they were clearly using Gaelic to exclude her. Jamie offers her some bread, and some company. She thinks that the men hate her, and Jamie tells her it’s just that they don’t trust her, except maybe Angus, because he hates everyone. He doesn’t think that she’s a spy, but he knows that she’s hiding something.
The next day, the taxes are collected. Dougal visits with some of the people and Claire sits behind Mr. Gowan, watching it all. A pig comes through and Mr. Gowan is not happy at all, for he has a thing against pigs. Claire steps away, drawn by girls singing. She runs into one of the villagers, and is introduced to the other ladies and invited to help. They pour hot piss onto the wool and get to work setting the dye. Claire happily joins in as the women sing and work. After they finish, the ladies invite her in for a drink, a very strong one. The baby awakens, hungry and unwilling to nurse, and they had to give their goat to the Laird. Claire asks about Crag na Dun. The ladies all know of it, but it’s about three days’ ride. There’s more work to be done and they need more hot piss. Claire gets the honor of supplying it, and as she readies herself over the bucket, Angus comes crashing in. He’s been looking for her, and he’s not pleased. He roughly hauls her back to the group. He’s angry that she’s been drinking and smells like pee, but she points out he smells much the same. She spies the goat and unties her to take her back to her new friends, but Rupert stops her. They struggle over the goat. Dougal isn’t pleased that Angus let her slip away from him. Jamie watches the whole exchange as Claire challenges Dougal, questioning him about letting a child go hungry. The goat goes with them, he says, and he addresses the crowd in Gaelic, obviously referencing the fact that she’s English and drunk. A man asks her if everything is alright, if he may be of service. Dougal points out that she is a guest of Clan MacKenzie, and things look to be getting ugly as the young man doesn’t back down, asking if they treat all their guests as well as they’re treating Claire. Jamie draws closer, and all the clansmen puff up. He finally thinks better and walks away. The MacKenzies prepare to leave and the man grabs his red coat.
Around the fire, the MacKenzie Clansmen toast to the good year they’ve had with the people of the village. Drinks are passed to all, except Claire. Again Dougal speaks in Gaelic, but this time he gets serious. He goes to Jamie and rips open his shirt, exposing his scars to all around the fire. Many are shocked. Coins are given to Mr. Gowan; everyone tosses a few in. Afterward, Dougal counts it up; he used Jamie’s scars for a few extra coins. He tosses Claire the shirt, telling her to mend it, but she refuses, but Dougal couldn’t care less. He’d let the beautiful boy run about shirtless. Claire cares more and will mend it, but Jamie will have none of it, snatching his shirt from her hands. He’ll mend it himself.
Claire sits at the riverside and Mr. Gowan comes offering her some blood pudding. Claire asks how Colum feels about Dougal stealing money collected from the townspeople and using Jamie to do it. Gowan is surprised that she picked up on it. She doesn’t think they teach common thievery in Edinburgh and says it’s unfortunate that they don’t let women practice law, with how sharp her mind was. Only two more centuries until that would happen. Claire felt like Dougal could read her mind, like he was daring her to run. She thought that she had earned some measure of trust, but she felt it slipping away along with her chance to escape. As the journey continued, she felt hopeless and trapped, possibly forever stuck in the past.
They come across another village, this one burning. The Watch is burning the house of a family they suspect are working with the Redcoats. Dougal gets his cut of what’s left. Claire notices that Jamie is missing. With a price on his head, he cannot let the Watch spot him, as they’d turn him in as well.
Claire turns down the chicken meal. The food was taken from the burning house and Angus takes offense to it, drawing a knife on her. Jamie calms him, and Claire looks for some quiet. The men carry on like nothing happened, and only Jamie goes to check on Claire. He wonders what gotten into her, and she’s feisty as ever. She doesn’t want to stand by and watch, and Jamie suggests that she not judge things that she doesn’t understand, to stay out of it.
Another village, another day. Claire watches more rent collected. Things are far tenser at this stop. Dougal isn’t nearly as jovial and the village is much poorer. A man stands apart; he doesn’t have the rent. The Redcoats came through a few days ago, taking his goats. Dougal gives the man food and invites everyone to dinner. Claire thinks that he’s doing it to collect more for himself in the evening. He calls it Clan business and makes it clear it’s none of hers.
That evening, by the fire, it’s much the same performance as the last time. Though Claire felt bad for Jamie, it was the same. Pay the MacKenzies to protect them from the Redcoats. Claire picked up another bit of praise: “Long live the Stuart.” It jogged her memory about a losing Jacobite war. She realized that Dougal was stirring outrage against the British, raising money for a Jacobite army. After the show, Claire overhears Dougal telling Jamie that he wants their king back where he belongs. Jamie’s neck and back are his own concern. He doesn’t like being put on display, but so long as he’s traveling with Dougal, it’s his. Jamie tries to blow off some steam, punching a few trees. Claire points out that Dougal will continue to use him. A man has to choose what’s worth fighting for.
The next morning, she saw the men in a different light, no longer criminals, but on the losing side of a war. There was no way to tell the proud, passionate men that they would never succeed. The traveling party comes across a pair of men, traitors strung on X’s. The work of the Redcoats. Dougal orders them cut down and a proper Christian burial given.
That night’s speech is extra remorseful, more passionate. He doesn’t even have to use Jamie’s scars to get the contributions to come in.
In bed, Claire hears noises outside. She goes to investigate it and finds Jamie bumping about. He was sleeping outside to protect her virtue. With the men in their cups, he was concerned, though she was unconcerned, being English and all. She invites him in, but he doesn’t think it proper. Claire points out that they’ve slept together outside before, with ten other men even, but it isn’t the same. She offers him a blanket at least, that he accepts. Ahh, the fireworks, and it was just a blanket offered.
Claire greets Jamie in the morning, but he runs off to see the horses as the other men enjoy their breakfast. Claire asks Gowan why he let her think that they were thieves. He didn’t think that she knew Gaelic, but she knew enough to pick up just one phrase. She tries to talk some sense into Gowan, telling him that he’s on the losing side of the war. He thinks it’s a matter of opinion, but she knows her history, even if he won’t listen. The men get rowdy and a fight breaks out around Angus. Claire calmly gets out of the way along with Gowan. A bevy of injuries color the men. The fight broke out over Claire and her honor, Murtagh reveals. One of the men called her a whore, and although they may insult her, they won’t stand for anyone else doing it.
Rupert tells a bawdy story in English this time, and Claire has a witty comeback, surprising everyone. Jamie plans to ride ahead, bringing back another memory of Frank’s history lessons. Culloden was a hugely bloody battle, and there it was the end of the clans, the end of MacKenzie. Three years from now, many would be doomed to die at the hands of the English on that battlefield.
Claire struggles with a binding, and Angus actually goes to help. One little fight and it seems that it’s brought them all closer. Claire announces that she’s headed to the river to wash and there’s no arguing. Dougal asks who she is. She has some strong political opinions, and that concerns him. She’s not a spy, she just wishes to save his life. A band of Redcoats arrive, the young man from the village in command. He asks again if everything is alright. They’re surrounded, and he asks if she’s being held against her wishes and, MacKenzie land or not, her answer could be Dougal’s doom.
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