Mo Leannan | Jamie Fraser |

1.01 - Redcoats & Scotsmen

Chapter 2

Episode 1 

"It seemed that up until this moment she had been only half alive."

― Kathleen Winsor

I rush to my feet and scan my surroundings. They seem to be the same as they were previously but there is something different; how could I black out and simply wake up in the span of minutes?

There is something missing. A crucial part that is absent.

Claire.

I turn and check to see if the car was still where she parked it.

It isn't.

Great! A missing car and a missing cousin!

My mind swirls with hundreds of questions.

Where is Claire? Did she leave? Why wouldn't she wake me up if she wished to leave? She has had no qualms with awakening me from slumber in the past.

What if she were taken? Or was overcome with the same thing I was. Except she was transported elsewhere.

Was she kidnapped? Why would they specifically take Claire? She has not done anything questionable! Besides who she married but that is besides the point!

I run in a random direction whilst screaming Claire's name at the top of my lungs. My voice echoes in the forest and several trees clear of birds from my loud screeches.

I have just entered the thick of a forest near a stream when I spot a figure. They are facing away but seem to be focused on their surroundings.

"Claire!"

I move to approach them but stop when I realise what they are wearing. The style? The colour? The hair even?

Why in God's name would someone be wearing a redcoat's uniform in the woods of Scotland?

A loud bang erupts through the air breaking the silence. In my years as an army nurse I know those sounds to be those of gunshots and immediately drop to the ground. The sounds of footsteps by the Redcoats around me cause me to turn every which way but I am surrounded by them. I continue to sprint through the forest avoiding stray branches, roots and trees as I do.

My mind is hazy from the sudden adrenaline rush so, I try to push that aside to think rationally for a moment. A gunshot sounds to the left of me causing me to flinch and divot to the right.

I stumble upon a bumbling creek filled with hiding spots for me to tangle my limbs into. I stop mid-step when I see a man in a coat covered in a bright red crouched down with his hand in the stream. His beady eyes are staring right at me and I am struck by the achingly familiar face. Though this face is covered in filth and has hair so grown out and greasy one could fry an egg.

"F-frank? Why in god's name are you here? What- What the hell are you wearing?"

He stands and approaches me; his demeanour is off. His eyes look at me as though I am a stranger. Which is impossible. How could someone look identical to my cousin's husband and not be him?

"You're not Frank."

Frank-but-not looks me up and down, filling my body with a feeling of disgust.

"No, madam. I am not."

"Then who the hell are you?"

Not Frank approaches me in a few broad strides. I instinctually backup to escape his musty aura causing me to trip over a root.