The Fiery Cross

by Diana Gabaldon

  "Yes, so I am told."

  "Well, then. That's frigging cannibalism, isn't it?" Anstruther's bulk popped up again, enthused. "I know that's against the law! Why not let this bugger do his bit of hocus-pocus, and we'll arrest the whole boiling lot of 'em, eh? Get ,shut of any number of the bastards at one blow, I daresay. "

  Mr. Goodwin emitted a low moan. He appeared to be massaging his face, no b

  doubt to ease a recurrent ache from his tooth.

  Mr. Lillywhite exhaled strongly through his nose.

  "No," he said evenly. "I am afraid not, Sheriff. My instructions are that the priest is not to be allowed to perform any ceremonial, and shall be prevented from receiving visitors."

  "Oh, aye? And what's he doing now, then?" Anstruther demanded, gesturing toward the darkened tent, where Jamie's voice had begun to speak, hesitant and barely audible. I thought perhaps he was speaking in Latin.

  "That is quite different," Lillywhite said testily. "Mr. Fraser is a gentleman, And the prohibition against visitors is to insure that the priest shall perform no secret marriages; hardly a concern at present."

  "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned." Jamie's voice spoke in English, suddenly louder, and Mr. Lillywhite started. Father Kenneth murmured interrogatively.

  "I have been guilty of the sins of lust and impurity, both in thought and in my flesh," Jamie announced-with what I thought rather more volume than was quite discreet.

  "Oh, to be sure," said Father Kenneth, suddenly louder too. He sounded interested. "Now, these sins of impurity-what form, precisely, did they take, my son, and upon how many occasions?"

  "Aye, well. I've looked upon women with lust, to be starting with. How many occasions-oh `, make it a hundred, at least, it's been a time since I was last to confession. Did ye need to know which women, Father, or only what it was I thought of doing to them?"

  Mr. Lillywhite stiffened markedly.

  "I think we'll not have time for the lot, Jamie dear," said the priest. "But if

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  ye were to tell me about one or two of these occasions, just so as I could be formin' a notion as to the ... er ... severity of the offense ... ?"

  "Och, aye. Well, the worst was likely the time wi' the butter churn." "Butter churn? Ah ... the sort with the handle pokin' up?" Father Kenneth's tone encompassed a sad compassion for the lewd possibilities suggested by this.

  "Oh, no, Father; it was a barrel churn. The sort that lies on its side, aye, with a wee handle to turn it? Well, it's only that she was workin' the churn with great vigor, and the laces of her bodice undone, so that her breasts wobbled to and fro, and the cloth clinging to her with the sweat of her work. Now, the churn was just the right height-and curved, aye?-so as make me think of bendin' her across it and liffing her skirts, and-"

  My mouth opened involuntarily in shock. That was my bodice he was describing, my breasts, and my butter churn! To say nothing of my skirts. I remembered that particular occasion quite vividly, and if it had started with an impure thought, it certainly hadn't stopped there.

  A rustling and murmuring drew my attention back to the men on the path. Mr. Lillywhite had grasped the Sheriff-stil leaning avidly toward the tent, ears flapping-by the arm and was hissing at him as he forced him hastily down the path. Mr. GoodAin followed, though with an air of reluctance.

  The noise of their departure had unfortunately drowned out the rest of Jamie's description of that particular occasion of sin, but had luckily also covered the leaf-rustling and twig-snapping behind me that announced the appearance of Brianna and Marsali, Jemmy and Joan swaddled in their arms and Germain clinging monkeylike to his mother's back.

  "I thought they'd never go," Brianna whispered, peering over my shoulder toward the spot where Mr. Lillywhite and his companions had disappeared. "Is the coast clear?"

  "Yes, come along." I reached for Germain, who leaned willingly into my arms.

  "Du nous allees, Grand-mre?" he inquired in a sleepy voice, blond head nuzzling affectionately into my neck.

  "Shh. To see Grand-pre and Father Kenneth," I whispered to him. "We have to be very quiet, though."

  "Oh. Like this?" he hissed, in a loud whisper, and began to sing a very vulgar French song, chanting half under his breath.

  "Shh!" I clapped a hand across his mouth, moist and sticky with whatever he'd been eating. "Don't sing, sweetheart, we don't want to wake the babies." I heard a small, stifled noise from Marsali, a strangled snort from Bree, and

  realized that Jamie was still confessing. He appeared to have hit his stride, and was now inventing freely-or at least I hoped so. He certainly hadn't been doing any of that with me.

  I poked my head out, looking up and down the trail, but no one was near. I motioned to the girls, and we scuttled across the path and into the darkened tent.

  Jamie stopped abruptly as we fumbled our way inside. Then I heard him say quickly, "And sins of anger, pride, and jealousyoh, and the odd wee bit of lying as well, Father. Amen." He dropped to his knees, raced through an Act of

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  Contrition in French, and was on his feet and taking Germain from me before Father Kenneth had finished saying the "Ego te absolvo."

  My eyes were becoming adapted to the dark; I could make out the voluminous shapes of the girls, and Jamie's tall outline. He stood Germain on the table before the priest, saying, "Quickly, then, Father; we havena. much time."

  "We haven't any water, either," the priest observed. "Unless you ladies thought to bring any?" He had picked up the flint and tinderbox, and was attempting to relight the lamp.

  Bree and Marsali exchanged appalled glances, then shook their heads in unison.

  "Dinna fash, Father." Jamie spoke soothingly, and I saw him reach out a hand for something on the table. There was the brief squeak of a cork being drawn, and the hot, sweet smell of fine whisky filled the tent, as the light caught and grew from the wick, the wavering flame steadying to a small, clear light.

  "Under the circumstances Jamie said, holding out the open flask to the priest.

  Father Kenneth's lips pressed together, though I thought with suppressed amusement, rather than irritation.

  "Under the circumstances, aye," he repeated. "And what should be more appropriate than the water of life, after all?" He reached up, undid his stock, and pulled up a leather string fastened round his neck, from which dangled a wooden cross and a small glass bottle, stopperedArith a cork.

  "The holy chrism," he explained, undoing the bottle and setting it on the table. "Thank the Virgin Mother that I had it on my person. The Sheriff took the box with my Mass things." He made a quick inventory of the objects on the table, counting them off on his fingers. "Fire, chrism, water-of a sortand a child. Very well, then. You and your husband,,Aill stand as godparents to him, I suppose, ma'am?"

  This was addressed to me, Jamie having gone to take up a station by the tent flap.

  "For all of them, Father," I said, and took a firm grip on Germain, who seemed disposed to leap off the table. "Hold still, darling, just for a moment." I heard a small wbish behind me; metal drawn from oiled leather. I glanced

  back to see Jamie, dim in the shadows, standing guard by the door with his dirk in his hand. A qualm of apprehension curled through my belly, and I heard Bree draw in her breath beside me.

  "Jamie, my son," said Father Kenneth, in a tone of mild reproval.

  "Be going on with it, if ye please, Father," Jamie replied, very calmly. "I mean to have my grandchildren baptized this night, and no one shall prevent it." hook his head.

  The priest drew in his breath with a slight hiss, then s

  "Aye. And if you kill someone, I hope there'll be time for me to shrive you again before they hang us both," he muttered, reaching for the oil. "If there's a choice about it; try for the Sheriff, will you, man dear?"

  Switching abruptly to Latin, he pushed back Germain's heavy mop of blond hair and his thumb flicked deffly over forehead, lips, and then-diving u
nder the boy's gown in a gesture that made Germain double up in giggles-heart, in the sign of the Cross.

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  "On-behalf-of-ti-s-child-do-you-rcnounce-Satan-and-afl-his-works?" he asked,

  speaking so fast that I scarcely realized he was speaking English again, and barely caught up in time to join with Jamie in the godparents' response, dutifidly reciting, "I do renounce them."

  I was on edge, keeping an ear out for any noises that might portend the return of Mr. Lillywhite and the Sheriff, envisioning just what sort of brouhaha might ensue if they did come back to discover Father Kenneth in the midst of what would surely be considered an illicit "ceremonial."

  I glanced back at Jamie; he was looking at me, and gave me a faint smile that I thought was likely meant for reassurance. If so, it failed utterly; I knew him too well. He wanted his grandchildren baptized, and he would see their souls safely given into God's care, if he died for it-or if we all went to gaol, Brianna, Marsali, and the children included. Of such stuff are martyrs made, and their families are obliged to lump it.

  "Do-you-believe-in-one-God-the-Father-the-Son-and-the-Holy-Ghost?" "Stubborn man," I mouthed at Jamie. His smile widened, and I turned back, hastily chiming in with his firm, "I do believe." Was that a fooffall on the path outside, or only the evening wind, making the tree branches crack as it passed?

  The questions and responses finished, and the priest grinned at me, looking like a gargoyle in the flickering lamplight. His good eye closed briefly in a Nvink. "We'll take it that your answers will be the same for the others, shall we, ma'am? And whatlArill be this sweet lad's baptismal name?"

  Not breaking his rhythm, the priest took up the whisky flask, and dribbled a careffil stream of spirit onto the little boy's head, repeating, "I baptize thee, Germain Alexander Claudel MacKenzie Fraser, in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen."

  Germain watched this operation with profound interest, round blue eyes crossing as the amber liquid ran down the shallow bridge of his nose and dripped from its stubby tip. He put out a tongue to catch the drops, then made a face at the taste.

  "Ick," he said clearly. "Horse piss."

  Marsali made a brief, shocked "Tst!" at him, but the priest merely chuckled, swung Germain off the table, and beckoned to Bree.

  She held Jemmy over the table, cradled in her arms like a sacrifice. She was intent on the baby's face, but I saw her head twitch slightly, her attention drawn by something outside. There were sounds on the path below; I could hear voices. A group of men, I thought, talking together, voices genial but not drunken.

  I tensed, trying not to look at Jamie. If they came in, I decided, I had better grab Germain, scramble under the far edge of the tent, and run for it. I took a preparatory grip on the collar of his gown, just in case. Then I felt a gentle nudge as Bree shifted her weight against me.

  "It's all right, Mama," she whispered. "It's Roger and Fergus." She nodded toward the dark, then returned her attention to Jemmy.

  It was, I realized, and the skin of my temples prickled with relief. Now that I knew, I could make out the imperious, slightly nasal sound of Fergus's voice, raised in a lengthy oration of some kind, and a low Scottish rumble that I

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  thought must be Roger's. A higher-pitched titter that I recognized as Mr. Goodwin's drifted through the night, followed by some remark in Mr. Lillywhite's aristocratic drawl.

  I did glance at Jamie this time. He still held the dirk, but his hand had fallen to his side, and his shoulders had lost a little of their tension. He smiled at me again, and this time I returned it.

  Jernmy was awake, but drowsy. He made no objection to the oil, but startled at the cold touch of the whisky on his forehead, eyes popping open and arms flinging wide. He uttered a high-pitched "Yeep!" of protest, then, as Bree gathered him hastily up into his blanket against her shoulder, screwed up his face and tried to decide whether he was sufficiently disturbed to cry about it.

  Bree patted his back like a bongo drum and made little hooting noises in his ear, distracting him. He settled for plugging his mouth with a thumb and glowering suspiciously at the assemblage, but by that time, Father Kenneth was already pouring whisky on the sleeping Joan, held low in Marsali's arms.

  "I baptize thee, Joan Laoghaire Claire Fraser," he said, following Marsali's lead, and I glanced at Marsali, startled. I knew she was called Joan for Marsali's younger sister, but I hadn't known what the baby's other names would be. I felt a small lump in my throat, watching Marsali's shawled head bent over the child. Both her sister and her mother, Laoghaire, were in Scotland; the chances of either ever seeing this tiny namesake were vanishingly small.

  Suddenly, Joan's slanted eyes popped wide open and so did her mouth. She let out a piercing shriek, and everyone started as though a bomb had exploded in our midst.

  "Go in peace, to serve the Lord! And go fast!" Father Kenneth said, his fingers already nimbly corking up bottle and flask, frantically whisking away all traces of the ceremony. Down the path, I could hear voices raised in puzzled question.

  Marsali was out the tent flap in a flash, the squalling Joan against her breast, a protesting Germain clutched by the hand. Bree paused just long enough to put a hand behind Father Kenneth's head and kiss him on the forehead.

  "Thank you, Father," she whispered, and was gone in a flurry of skirts and petticoats.

  Jamie had me by the arm and was hustling me out of the tent as well, but stopped for a half-second at the door, turning back.

  "Father?" he called in a whisper. 'Pax vobiscum!"

  Father Kenneth had already seated himself behind the table, hands folded, the accusing sheets of blank paper spread out once more before him. He looked up, smiling slightly, and his face was perfectly at peace in the lamplight, black eye and all.

  "Et cum spiritu tuo, man," he said, and raised three fingers in parting benediction.

  WHAT ON EARTH did you do that for?" Brianna's whisper floated back to me, loud with annoyance. She and Marsali were only a few feet in front of us, going slowly because of the children, but close as they were, the girls' shawled

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  and bunchy shapes were scarcely distinguishable from the bushes overgrowing the path.

  "Do what? Leave that, Germain; let's find Papa, shall we? No, don't put it in your mouth!"

  "You pinched Joanie-I saw you! You could have got us all caughtr

  "But I had to!" Marsali sounded surprised at the accusation. "And it wouldna have mattered, reallythe christening was done by then. They couldna make Father Kenneth take it back, now, could they?" She giggled slightly at the thought, then broke off. "Germain, I said drop it!"

  "What do you mean, you had to? Let go, Jem, that's my hair! Ow! Let go, I said! "

  Jemmy was evidently now wide awake, interested in the novel surroundings, and wanting to explore them, judging from his repeated exclamations of "Argl!" punctuated by the occasional curious "Gleb?" ,

  "Why, she was asleep!" Marsali said, sounding scandalized. "She didna wake when Father Kenneth poured the water-I mean the whisky-on her headGermain, come back here! Thig air ais a seo!-and ye ken it's ill luck for a child not to make a wee skelloch when it's baptized; that's how ye ken as the original sin is leaving it! I couldna let the diabhol stay in my wee lassie. Could I, mo mbaorine?" There were small kissing noises, and a faint coo from Joanie, promptly drowned by Germain, who had started to sing again.

  Bree gave a small snort of amusement, her irritation fading.

  "Oh, I see. Well, as long as you had a good reason. Though I'm not so sure it worked on Jemmy and Germain. Look at the way they're acting-I'd swear they were possessed. Ow! Don't bite me, you little fiend, IT feed you in a minute!"

  "Och, well, they're boys, after all," Marsali said tolerantly, raising her voice slightly to be heard above the racket. "Everyone kens that boys are full o' the devil; I suppose it would take more than a bit of holy water to drown it all, even if
it was ninety-proof. Germain! Wbere did ye hear such a filthy song, ye wee ratten?"

  I smiled, and next to me, Jamie laughed quietly, listening to the girls' conversation. We were far enough from the scene of the crime by now not to worry about being heard, among the snatches of song, fiddle music, and laughter that flickered through the trees with the light of the campfires, bright against the growing dark.

  The business of the day was largely done, and folk were settling down to the evening meal, before the calling, the singing, and the last round of visits started. The scents of smoke and supper trailed tantalizing fingers through the cold, dark air, and my stomach rumbled gently in answer to their summons. I hoped Lizzie was sufficiently restored as to have begun cooking.

  "What's mo mbaorine?" I asked Jamie. "I haven't heard that one before." "It means 'my wee potato,' I think," he said. "It's Irish, aye? She learnt it from the priest."

  He sighed, sounding deeply satisfiedMth the evening's work so far.

  "May Bride bless Father Kenneth for a nimble-fingered man; for a moment, I thought we wouldna manage it. Is that Roger and wee Fergus?"

  A couple of dark shadows had come out of the wood to join the girls, and

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  the sound of muffled laughter and murmured voices-punctuated by raucous shrieks from both little boys at sight of their daddies--drifted back to us from the little knot of young families.

  "It is. And speaking of that, my little sweet potato," I said, taking a firm grip of his arm to slow him, "what do you mean by telling Father Kenneth all that about me and the butter churn?"

  "Ye dinna mean to say ye minded, Sassenach?" he said, in tones of surprise. "Of course I minded!" I said. The blood rose warm in my cheeks, though I wasn't sure whether this was due to the memory of his confession-or to the memory of the original occasion. My innards warmed slightly at that thought as well, and the last remnants of cramp began to subside as my womb clenched and relaxed, eased by the pleasant inward glow. It was scarcely a suitable time or place, but perhaps later in the evening, we might manage sufficient privacy I pushed the thought hastily aside.

  "Privacy quite aside, it wasn't a sin at all," I said primly. "We're married, for goodness' sake!"

  "Well, I did confess to telling ties, Sassenach," he said. I couldn't see the smile on his face, but I could hear it well enough in his voice. I supposed he could hear mine, too.

  "I had to think of a sin frightful enough to drive Lillywhite away-and I couldna confess to theft or buggery; I may have to do business with the man one day."

  "Oh, so you think he'd be put off by sodomy, but he'd consider your attitude toward women in wet chemises just a minor flaw of character?" His arm was warm under the cloth of his shirt. I touched the underside of his wrist, that vulnerable place where the skin lay bare, and stroked the line of the vein that pulsed there, disappearing under the linen toward his heart.

  "Keep your voice down, Sassenach," he murmured, touching my hand. "Ye dirma want the bairns to hear ye. Besides," he added, his voice dropping low enough that he was obliged to lean down and whisper in my ear, "it's not all women. Only the ones with lovely round arses." He let go my hand and patted my backside familiarly, showing remarkable accuracy in the darkness.

  "I wouldna cross the road to see a scrawny woman, if she were stark naked and dripping wet. As for Lillywhite," he resumed, in a more normal tone of voice, but without removing his hand, which was molding the cloth of my skirt thoughtfully round one buttock, "he may be a Protestant, Sassenach, but he's still a man."

  "I didn't realize the two states were incompatible," Roger's voice said dryly, coming out of the darkness nearby.

  Jamie snatched his hand away as though my bottom were on fire. It wasn't-quite-but there was no denying that his flint had struck a spark or two among the kindling, damp as it was. It was a long time before bedtime, though.

  Pausing just long enough to administer a brief, private squeeze to Jamie's anatomy that made him gasp sharply, I turned to find Roger clasping a large wriggling object in his arms, its nature obscured by the dark. Not a piglet, I surmised, despite the loud grunting noises it was making, but rather Jemmy, who seemed to be gnawing fiercely on his father's knuckles. A small pink fist

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  shot out into a random patch of light, clenched in concentration, then disappeared, meeting Roger's ribs with a solid thump.

  Jamie gave a small grunt of amusement himself, but wasn't discomposed in the slightest by having his opinion of Protestants overheard.

  " 'All are gude lasses,' " he quoted in broad Scots, " 'but where do the ill wives come frae?' "

  "Eh?" Roger said, sounding a bit bewildered.

  "Protestants are born wi' pricks," Jamie explained, "the men, at least-but some let them wither from disuse. A man who spends his time pokin' his ... nose into other's sinfirtness has nay time to tend his own."

  I converted a laugh into a more tactful cough.

  "And some just become bigger pricks, what with the practice," Roger said, more dryl,., still. "Aye, well. I came to thank you ... for managing about the