The Fiery Cross

by Diana Gabaldon

  The horses, thoroughly roused by the commotion, were stamping and snorting in their boxes, and the air was full of floating chaff.

  "Ye dinna want to trifle with her when she's in a temper," Jamie told Wylie, with a wary glance at me. "She's dangerous, aye?"

  Wylie glowered at me, but his scowl altered to a look of uncertaintywhether because of the empty coffee jug, which I was now holding by the neck like a club, or because of his memories of the night before, when he had discovered me in the midst of Betty's autopsy. With an effort, he swallowed whatever he had been going to say, and sat slowly down upon the other stool. He pulled a kerchief from his stained waistcoat pocket, and blotted a trickle of blood that was running down the side of his face from a cut above the brow.

  "I would like," he said, with exquisite politeness, "to know what is going on here, please."

  He had lost his wig; it was lying on the floor in a puddle of coffee. Jagnie bent and picked it up, holding it gingerly, like a dead animal. He wiped a smear of mud off the side of his jaw with his free hand, and held the wig out, dripping, to Wylie.

  "We are in agreement, then, sir."

  Wylie took the wig with a stiff nod of acknowledgment and laid it on his knee, disregarding the coffee soaking into his breeches. Both men looked at me, with identical expressions of skeptical impatience. Evidently, I had been appointed mistress of ceremonies.

  "Robbery, murder, and heaven knows what else," I said firmly. "And we mean to get to the bottom of it."

  "Murder?" Roger and Wylie spoke together, both sounding startled.

  "Who has been murdered?" Wylie asked, looking wildly back and forth between me and Jamie.

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  "A slave woman," Jamie said, with a nod toward me. "My wife suspected ill doing in her death, and so we meant to discover the truth of the matter. Thus our presence in the shed when you came upon us last night."

  "Presence," Wylie echoed. His face was already pale, but he looked slightly iR at the recollection of what he had seen me doing in the shed. "Yes. I ... sec." He darted a look at me from the corner of his eye.

  "So she was killed?" Roger came into the circle of lantern light and set the bucket back in place, sitting down at my feet. He set the remains of the cake on the floor. "What killed her?"

  "Someone fed her ground glass," I said. "I found quite a lot of it still in her stomach."

  I paid particular attention to Phillip Wylie as I said this, but his face bore the same expression of blank astonishment as did Jamie's and Roger's.

  "Glass." Jamie was the first to recover. He sat up on his stool, shoving a disordered hank of hair behind his ear. "How long might that take to kill a body, Sassenach? "

  I rubbed two fingers between my brows; the numbness of the early hour was giving way to a throbbing headache, made worse by the rich smell of coffee and the fact that I hadn't gotten to drink any of it.

  "I don't know," I said. "It would go into the stomach within minutes, but it might take quite a long time to do enough damage to cause major hemorrhage. Most of the damage would likely be to the small intestine; the glass particles would perforate the lining. And if the digestive system were somewhat impaired-by drink, sayand not moving well, then it might take even longer. Or if she'd taken a lot of food with it."

  "Is this the woman that you and Bree found in the garden?" Roger turned to Jamie, inquiring.

  "Aye." Jan-tie nodded, his eyes still fixed on me. "She was insensible wi' the drink then. And when ye saw her later, Sassenach-were there signs of it, then?"

  I shook my head.

  "The glass might have been working then-but she was out cold. One thing-Fentiman did say she woke in the middle of the night, complaining of griping in her guts. So she was certainly affected by that time. But I can't say for sure whether she'd been given the ground glass before you and Bree found her, or whether perhaps she roused from her stupor in the early evening, and someone gave it to her then."

  "Griping in the guts," Roger murmured. He shook his head, mouth grim at the thought. "Christ, what a way to go."

  "Aye, it's black wickedness," Jamie agreed, nodding. "But why? Who should wish the woman's death?"

  "A good question," Wylie said shortly. "However, I can assure you that it wasn't L"

  Jamie gave Jiim a long stare of assessment.

  "Aye, maybe," he said. "If not, though-how came ye to the shed last night? What business might ye, have there, save perhaps to look upon the face of your victim?"

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  "My victim!" Wylie jerked bolt upright, stiff with renewed outrage. "It was not I in that shed, red to the elbow with the woman's gore and snatching bits of bone and offal!" He snapped his head to the side, glaring up at me.

  "My victim, indeed! It is a capital crime to defile a body, Mrs. Fraser. And I have heard things--oh, yes, I have heard things about you! I put it to you that it is you who did the woman to death, for the purpose of obtaining-"

  His words ended in a gurgle, as Jamie's hand jerked his shirtfront tight and twisted it hard about his neck. He punched Wylie in the stomach, hard, and the young man doubled up, coughed, and spewed coffee, bile, and a few more disagreeable substances all over the floor, his knees, and Jamie.

  I sighed wearily. The briefly warming effects of the discussion had faded, and I was feeling cold and mildly disoriented again. The stench didn't help. "That's not really helpffil, you know," I said reprovingly to Jamie, who had

  released Wylie and was now hastily removing his own outer garments. "Not that I don't appreciate the vote of confidence."

  "Oh, aye," he said, voice muffled in the shirt as he pulled it over his head. He popped out, glaring at me, and dropped the shirt on the floor with a splat. "D'ye think I'm going to sit idle and let this popinjay insult ye?"

  "I don't suppose he'll do it again," Roger said. He stood and bent over Wylie, who was still doubled up on his stool, rather green in the face. Roger glanced back over his shoulder at Jamie.

  "Is he fight, though? About it being a capital crime to tamper with a body?" "I dinna ken," Jamie said, rather shortly. Stripped to the waist, stained with blood and vomit, and with his red hair wild in the lantern light, he looked a far cry from the polished gentleman who had gone off to play whist.

  "It scarcely matters," he added, "as he isna going to tell anyone about it. Because if he does, I shall cut him like a stirk and feed both his ballocks and his lying tongue to the pigs." He touched the hilt of his dirk, as though assuring himself that it was handy if wanted.

  "But I am sure ye dinna mean to make any such unfounded accusations regarding my wife, do ye ... sir?" he said to Wylie, with excessive politeness.

  I was not surprised to see Phillip Wylie shake his head, evidently still incapable of speech. Jamie made a noise of grim satisfaction and stooped to pick up the cloak he had dropped earlier.

  Feeling rather weak-kneed after this latest exhibition of the male sense%of honor, I sat down on the bucket.

  "All right," I said, and pushed back a strand of hair. "Fine. If we've got all that settled, then ... where were we?"

  "Betty's murder," Roger prompted. "We don't know who, we don't know when, and we don't know whythough for the sake of argument, might I suggest we assume that no one amongst the present company had anything to do with it?"

  "Verra well." Jamie dismissed murder with a brusque gesture and sat down. "What about Stephen Bonnet?"

  Roger's expression, hitherto one of interest, darkened at that. "Aye, what about him? Is he involved in this business?"

  "Not in the murder, perhaps-but my aunt and her husband were assaulted

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  in their chamber last evening by two villains. One of whom was an Irishman." Jamie wrapped his cloak about his bare shoulders, bending a sinister glance on Phillip Wylie, who had recovered sufficiently to sit up.

  "I repeat," he said coldly, hands still pressed against his stomach, "that I have no acquaintance with a gentleman of
that name, whether Irishman or Hottentot."

  "Stephen Bonnet is not a gentleman," Roger said. The words were mild enough, but carried an undertone that made Wylie glance up at him.

  "I do not know the fellow," he said firmly. He took a shallow breath by way of experiment, and finding it bearable, breathed deeper. "Why do you suppose that the Irishman who committed the outrage upon Mr. and Mrs. Innes should be this Bonnet? Did he leave his card, perchance?"

  I laughed, surprising myself. In spite of everything, I had to admit to a certain amount of respect for Phillip Wylie. Held captive, battered, threatened, doused with coffee, and deprived of his wig, he retained a good deal more dignity than would most men in his situation.

  Jamie glanced at me, then back at Wylie. I thought the corner of his mouth twitched, but it was impossible to tell in the dim light.

  "No," he said. "I do claim some acquaintance with Stephen Bonnet, who is a felon, a degenerate, and a thief. And I saw the man with ye, sir, when ye happened upon my wife and myself at the shed."

  "Yes," I said. "I saw him, too-standing right behind you. And what were you doing there, anyway?" I asked, this question suddenly occurring to me. Wylie's eyes had widened at Jamie's accusation. At my statement, he blinked.

  He took another deep breath and looked down, rubbing his knuckles beneath his nose. Then he looked up at Jamie, the bluster gone.

  "I do not know him," he said quietly. "I had some thought that I was followed, but, glancing behind me, I saw no one, and so paid it no great mind. When I ... saw what lay within the shed"-his eyes flicked toward me, but would not quite meet my own-"I was too much shocked to give heed to aught but what lay before my eyes."

  That, I could believe.

  Wylie lifted his shoulders, and let them fall.

  "If this Bonnet was indeed behind me, then I must take your word for it, sir. And yet I assure you that he was not there by my doing, nor with my recognition."

  Jamie and Roger exchanged glances, but they could hear the ring of truth in Wylie's words, just as I could. There was a brief silence, in which I could hear the horses moving in their stalls. They were no longer agitated, but were getting restive, anticipating food. Dawn light was filtering through the cracks beneath the eaves, a soft, smoky radiance that leached the air inside the stable of all color, and yet revealed the dim outlines of harness hanging on the wall, pitchforks and shovels standing in the corner.

  "The grooms will be coming soon." Jamie stirred and drew breath, drawing up his shoulders in a half-shrug. He glanced back at Wylie.

  "Verra well, sir. I accept your word as a gentleman." "Do you? I am flattered."

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  "Still," Jamie went on, pointedly ignoring th6 sarcasm, "I should like to know what it was that brought ye to the shed last night."

  Wylie had half-risen from his seat. At this, he hesitated, then slowly sat again. He blinked once or twice, as though thinking, then sighed, giving up. "Lucas," he said simply. He didn't look up, but kept his eyes fixed on his

  hands, hanging limp between his thighs. "I was there, the night he was foaled. I raised him, broke him to the saddle, trained him." He swallowed once; I saw the tremor move beneath the frill at his neck. "I came to the stable to have a few moments alone with him ... to bid him farewelV)

  For the first time, Jamie's face lost the shadow of dislike that it bore whenever he looked at Wylie. He breathed deep, and nodded slightly.

  "Aye, I see," he said quietly. "And then?" Wylie straightened a little.

  "When I left the stable, I thought I heard voices near the wall of the kitchen garden. And when I came nearer to see what might be afoot, I saw light shining through the cracks of the shed." He shrugged. "I opened the door. And you know better than I what happened then, Mr. Fraser."

  Jamie rubbed a hand hard over his face, then shook his head hard. "Aye," he said. "I do. I went for Bonnet, and ye got in my way."

  "You attacked me," Wylie said coldly. He hitched the ruined coat higher up on his shoulders. "I defended myself, as I had every right to do. And then you and your son-in-law seized me between you, frog-marched me in there"-he jerked his chin at the box stall behind him-"and held me captive half the night! "

  Roger cleared his throat. So did Jamie, though with more dour intent. "Aye, well," he said. "We wilina argue about it." He sighed and stood back, gesturing to Wylie that he might go. "I suppose ye didna see in which direction Bonnet fled?"

  "Oh, yes. Though I did not know his name, of course. I expect he is well beyond reach by now," Wylie said. There was an odd note in his voice; something like satisfaction. Jamie turned sharply.

  "What d'ye mean?"

  "Lucas." Wylie nodded down the dim aisle of the stable, toward the shadows at the farther end. "His stall is at the far end. I know his voice well, the sound of his movement. And I have not heard him this morning. Bonnet-if that was who it was-fled toward the stable."

  Before Wylie had finished talking, Jamie had seized the lantern and was striding down the stable. Horses thrust inquiring noses over their stall doors as he passed, snorting and whuffling in curiosity-but no black nose appeared at the end of the row, no black mane floated out in joyous greeting. The rest of us hastened after him, leaning to see past him as he held the lantern high.

  The yellow light shone on empty straw.

  We stood silent for a long moment, looking. Then Phillip Wylie sighed and drew himself up.

  "If I no longer have him, Mr. Fraser-neither do you." His eyes rested on me, then, darkly ironic. "But I wish you joy of your wife."

  He turned and walked away, stockings sagging, the red heels of his shoes winking in the growing light.

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  OUTSIDE, DAWN WAS BREAKING, still and lovely. Only the river seemed to move, the spreading light flashing silver on its current beyond the

  trees.

  Roger had gone off to the house, yawning, but Jamie and I lingered by the paddock. People would be stirring within minutes; there would be more questions, speculations, talk. Neither one of us wanted any more talk; not now.

  I At last, Jamie put his arm about my shoulders, and with an air of decision, turned away from the house. I didn't know where he was going, and didn't much care, though I did hope I could lie down when we got there.

  We passed the smithy, where a small, sleepy-looking boy was blowing up the forge with a pair of bellows, making red sparks float and flash Ue fireflies in the shadows. Past the outbuildings, around a corner, and then we were in front of a nondescript shed with a large double door. Jamie lifted the latch and swung one door open a bit, beckoning me inside.

  "I canna think why I never thought of this place," he said, "when I was looking for a spot to be private."

  We were in the carriage shed. A wagon and a small buggy stood in the shadows, as did Jocasta's phaeton. An open carriage like a large sleigh on two wheels, it had a bench seat with blue velvet squabs, and a scroll-like singletree like the prow of a ship. Jamie picked me up by the waist and swung me in, then clambered up after me. There was a buffalo robe lying across the squabs; he pulled this off and spread it on the floor of the phaeton. There was just room for two people to curl up there, if they didn't mind lying close together.

  "Come on, Sassenach," he said, sinking to his knees. "Whatever comes next ... it can wait."

  I quite agreed. Though on the verge of unconsciousness, I couldn't help drowsily asking, "Your aunt ... do you trust her? What she said, about the gold and all?"

  "Oh, aye, of course I do," he mumbled in my ear. His arm was heavy where it lay over my waist. "At least as far as I could throw her."

  DEDUCTIONS

  T LAST FORCED FROM OUR REFUGE by thirst and hunger, we made our way out of the carriage shed and past the tactfully averted

  Aeyes of the yard slaves, still busy clearing up the debris from the wedding feast. At the edge of the lawn, I saw Phaedre, coming up from the

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  mausoleum with
her arms full of plates and cups that had been left in the shrubbery. Her face was swollen and blotched with grief, and her eyes were red, but she was not crying.

  She saw us, and stopped,

  "Oh," she said, "Miss Jo be lookin' for you, Master Jamie.

  She spoke dully, as though the words had little meaning for her, and appeared to find nothing odd in our sudden appearance or disheveled dress. "Oh? Aye." Jamie rubbed a hand over his face, nodding. "Aye, I'll go up to her. "

  She nodded, and was turning to go when Jamie reached out and touched her shoulder.

  "I'm sorry for your trouble, lass," he said quietly.

  Sudden tears welled in her eyes and spilled over, but she didn't speak. She dropped a brief curtsy, turned, and hurried away, moving so fast that a knife fell from the stack of crockery, bouncing on the grass behind her.

  I stooped and picked it up, the feel of the knife's handle reminding me suddenly and vividly of the blade I had used to open her mother's body. For a disorienting moment, I was no longer on the lawn before the house, but in the dark confines of the shed, the scent of death heavy in the air and the proof of murder gritty in my hand.

  Then reality readjusted itself, and the green lawn was covered with flocks of doves and sparrows, foraging peacefully for crumbs at the feet of a marble goddess, bright with sun.

  Jamie was saying something.

  ". . . . go and wash and rest a bit, Sassenach?"

  "What? Oh ... no, I'll come with you." I was suddenly anxious to have this business done with, and go home. I had had enough society for the moment.

  WE FOUND fOCASTA, Duncan, Roger, and Brianna. all together in Jocasta's sitting room, digging into what looked like a substantial, if very late, breakfast. Brianna cast a sharp look at Jamie's ruined clothes, but said nothing, and went back to sipping tea, her eyebrows still raised. She and Jocasta both wore dressing gowns, and while Roger and Duncan were dressed, they looked pale and scruffy after the adventures of the night. Neither had shaved, and Duncan sported a large blue bruise on the side of his face where he had hit the hearthstone in falling, but he seemed otherwise all right.

  I assumed that Roger had told everyone about our tte-a-t&e with Phillip Wylie, and the disappearance of Lucas. At least no one asked questions. Duncan silently shoved a platter of bacon in Jamie's direction, and there was no sound for a bit save the musical tinkling of cutlery on plates and the sloshing Ases of tea being drunk.

  At last, replete and feeling somewhat restored, we sat back and began hesitantlY to discuss the events of the day-and night-before. So much had happened that I thought perhaps it might be best to try to reconstruct events in a logical sort of way. I said as much, and while Jamie's mouth twitched in an an-

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  noying manner that suggested he found the notion of logic incompatible with me personally, I ignored this and firmly called the meeting to order.

  "It begins with Betty, don't you think?"

  "Whether it does or not, I suppose that's as good a starting point as any, Sassenach," Jamie agreed.

  Brianna finished buttering a final slice of toast, looking amused.

  "Carry on, Miss Marple," she said, waving it at me before taking a bite. Roger made a brief choking noise, but I ignored that, too, with dignity.

  "Fine. Now, I thought Betty was likely drugged when I saw her, but since Dr. Fentiman stopped me examining her, I couldn't be positive. But we are reasonably sure that Betty did drink drugged punch, is that right?" I looked round the circle of faces, and both Bree and Jamie nodded, adopting solemn expressions.

  "Aye, I tasted something in the cup that wasna liquor," Jamie said.

  "And I talked to the house slaves after I left Da," Brianna added, leaning forward. "Two of the women admitted that Betty tipples-tippled-from the dregs of drinks at parties, but both of them insisted she was no more than what they called 'cheerful' when she helped serve rum punch in the drawing room."

  "And I was in the drawing room then, with Seamus Hanlon and his musicians," Roger confirmed. He glanced at Bree and squeezed her knee gently. "I saw Ulysses make the punch himself-that was the first time during the day that you made it, Ulysses?"

  All heads swiveled toward the butler, who stood closed-faced behind Jocasta's chair, his neat wig and pressed livery a silent reproach to the general air of exhausted dishevelment.

  "No, the second," he said softly. "The first was all drunk at breakfast." His eyes were alert, if bloodshot, but the rest of his face might have been chiseled from gray granite. The household and its servants were his charge, and it was clear that he felt recent events to be a mortifying personal reproach to his stewardship.