Lioness // Outlander (Completed)

The price of freedom - Chapter 6

October, 1752   .  Scotland

I go over the plan in my head again and again, perhaps for the thousandth time, kneading it into my brain as if I were making bread. The weeks have been ruthless, filled to the brim with stress, close encounters with red coats and plans almost caving in on themselves. I sit, bare feet stretched out in front of me, ma's silk robe from Paris wrapped around me to keep me snug. Sometimes, when I move in a certain way, I catch the smell of her lavender shampoo, it leaps from the folds of the plush golden fabric. It is like, now more than ever, she is cheering me on. She is here, next to me, by the open fire of the living room, she is whispering in my ear, she is kissing my red hair, she is fighting to bring da home. I close my eyes and breathe in the smell of the burning wood as it crackles in the fire. It was late August now, but the weather has gone unusually cold tonight and we needed the comfort of an open fire. If I listen to the crackle, feel the smooth silk under my fingers, catch her smell faintly in my nose, I can picture her here with us. I feel her next to me and I can imagine her reading a book or writing her healing notes. Should our plan not work and it end in tragedy, I should like to stay in this thought forever.

"What is taking those fools so long?" Aunt Jenny hisses under her breath and my eyes shoot open, the perfect image falling apart. Aunty sits in her shift, her belly round and heavy in her hands. Her hair is a mess, she looks as though she hasn't slept in days. 

It won't be long now, I think.

Let the baby hold on till all this is over, please Lord, I pray.

"They'll be home soon aunty, ye'll see" I whisper back, my voice is only just louder than the fire. 

Fergus, Ian and wee Jamie had set out early yesterday morning with the goal of retrieving the treasure from the Silky Island. It was risky, of course, we weren't sure if they'd make it across, Uncle Ian having one leg and the others being young boys themselves, but it was the best we could do. We had no one else to lean on now, no one to trust with a secret as big as this. We would need the treasure to secure payment for my da's release, the red coats didn't know it yet and neither did he, but the money would buy him his freedom. That, and the information we had about the coward Bonnie Prince Charlie. Since the war, we had kept in touch with French relatives, communicating back and fourth. It is said, Charlie escaped capture by dressing as a maid. He crossed the seas and found himself back on French soil once again. We had word he was held up in an underground library, sheltering from the eyes of the British.

The problem was, uncle Ian and his wee gang should have returned early this morning, and the letter that would change our fate should have been sent this afternoon, but it still sat hidden in the potato pantry.

"And if the English dinna accept? If they take the gems and Charlie's whereabouts and dinna let him go?" Aunt Jenny sighs, releasing some of the built up tension brewing inside of her. I wish I were strong enough to say the words she so desperately needs to hear, but I can't, I am scared. If the English do take the gems, if they betray the deal stated in the letter, if they hang my father for treason. What am I to do then? The candle flickers in the corner, it is low and will only give us light for a few more hours. It will be enough time, I hope. As I warm my toes by the fire, I think of my sweet da, lying on the hard floor of his cave. Alone and hungry, scared and fragile. I know we are doing the right thing, I would rip out my own heart, should it mean he can be a free man again.

"Wake up! Child, wake up!" Rough hands I know as well as my own push at my shoulders and catch on the soft silk covering my shoulder. Aunty Jenny can't move fast, not in the advanced stages of her state, but she now motions me awake to move quickly for her. I jump out my seat when I hear the sound of boots on the hard wood floors, walking directly towards us. I am about to grab the knife that is hidden under the mantle piece, my hands are wrapped around the handle of the blade, when uncle Ian comes strolling in. Behind him are Fergus and wee Jamie. 

"Christ!" I mutter, letting go of the knife, "you scared me half t' death!" I look angrily between them. They look tired, to say the least. Their clothes are dirty and crumpled, their eyes droop with fatigue. I look for the missing piece of the puzzle, the trunk of gems. 

Aunty struggles up from her seat, she shakes my hand away when I offer it to her.

"And where in God's name, have ye been?" She is angry, so angry she doesn't even need to raise her voice. 

"Trying not to get killed, thank ye verra much." Uncle mutters back, his tone is unusually unnerving. He hobbles forward and sits in my chair. Aunt Jenny almost keels over at his tone and I think she may start to steam with anger.

She opens her mouth, I know she is about to start screaming, but then Fergus and wee Jamie step forward. They dig around in the secret sown pockets of their breeks, and pull out three pouches each. They drop them on the round table between us, and sulk off upstairs. 

No one touches the pouches, it is clear to see they are stuffed full and heavy. I look between my now puzzled aunt and my tired, worn out uncle, waiting for someone to make the first move. Alas, it is I who must do it. 

I reach forward, plucking one of the pouches from the table. It's weight rolls in my palm, as heavy as a new born babe. I pull at the strings that keep it sealed and peak inside. I had never seen gems like it before, so dazzlingly beautiful and crisp. I pull one out and hold it to the dimming light of the living room, it glistens back, amber like honey, like my hair. I look down at the other five bags on the table, all filled with gems just as beautiful as this one.

"We have enough to free him. Enough to eat full meals again, to replenish the land." Ian groans as he leans back in the chair. "We take what we need for Jamie, now. We bury the rest, until the English leave us alone." 

Aunt Jenny is stiff beside me, I can hear the shallow sound of her breathing. 

"Aye." She whispers into the bleak silence that has grown between us. "Aye, we send word to those British pigs in the morning. It is time." 

I drop the gem back into the pouch and seal it, as if I am sealing my fathers fate with it. 

"Shall I pour ye-" I begin to say, but my words are cut off. We all hear it, uncle bolts upright in his seat, aunty clutches her stomach instinctively. 

At first, I think I am looking at my reflection in the windowpane. Long red hair that falls in curls, pearl white skin, a button nose covered in freckles. 

But then, my reflection moves without me. It turns and I see it isn't me at all.

Outside the windowpane, I hear the giggle of a child, followed by a mothers hush.