Outlander: The Standing Stones

Trouble is Coming

I undid my braid and brushed my hair, choosing to let it hang loose. I dressed for dinner in my green brocade gown, and headed downstairs to the great hall where Colin found me.

"Aha," he smiled, "Now I know why my cousin was detained."

"Is it that obvious?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, but you look delicious, I envy him." He draped his arms around my neck, his grey eyes staring into mine. "You know, I'll always be there for you if you need me. If anything ever happens to Georgie, I want you to know you can count on me, for whatever you need."

"Yes, thank you, I do appreciate that." I diplomatically withdrew myself from his embrace. As much as Georgie loved him like a brother, as kind as he always is to me, something about Colin Campbell made me nervous. I have no reason to dislike him, but sometimes he seemed too friendly, too eager to be of help. He and Georgie are close, spend much of their time together (when Georgie isn't devoting himself to me), have grown up together. They are brothers in all but fact. In spite of this, however, Colin, no matter how well-intentioned he seemed, scares me just a little.

Then men were out on the hunt the next day to try to catch the phantom raiders, which left me at home, idle once again. I decided to relieve my boredom by putting a saddle on Himself. The stallion was used to me, accepted the carrot I brought for him and did not fight me when I put him on the lead. I tied him to the ring in the wall, only giving him a little more head, then went to get the saddle. I looked at the saddle I held in my hands, wishing it was western style, but I am going to half to make do. If I get brave enough to get on his back, I won't have the familiar saddle horn to hold onto.

Holding the saddle I go up to him, speaking in soothing tones, and set it on his back. Maybe he couldn't get his head low enough to buck, but he wasn't fighting it. I removed the saddle, then retrieved the blanket I used yesterday and placed both on his back, cinching them up just tightly enough to keep him from throwing it off his back. I held my breath, waiting to see what would happen. Nothing, nothing was what was happening, but this horse was not stupid. I'd expected him to tremble, do something, but he just stood there. Feeling brave, I unhitched him from the wall and began to lead him down the walkway. I should have known it was too good to be true, he began to buck in earnest, letting me know how unhappy he was about the saddle on his back. I stood and held onto the lead, not reacting. When he quit, I put him in his stall and removed the saddle.

I shut the stall door and we looked at each other. "We will get along just fine," his look clearly said, "When you give up this silly notion of trying to turn me back into a saddle horse."

"Very well," I answered, "I think that you may be better behaved than you let on. I'll have to think about this. For now, lesson one is completed." I put the saddle in the tack room and sighed. This had taken up too little of my time. I wanted to ride, but Birdie had kicked herself in her stall and had gone lame. I am sure there were other horses I could ride, but Marsters had gone with the search party and there was no one to help me out. The barn would be deserted until the men were gone. Maybe if I asked Georgie nicely, he would take me riding tomorrow, even if it meant a break from cow thief hunting.

I headed back to the house, bored to tears. I was met by Mrs. Simms who informed me that the seamstress was here for final fittings on the dresses that had been made for me. I spent over an hour trying on dresses, petticoats, nightgowns, and my wedding gown to make sure they fit and was as pleasant as I could be as the women of the chateau fussed over me. I was grateful when I could make my escape outside. The chateau was big, but I still felt trapped within its walls. I needed to ride and felt I could not wait any longer.

I went into the barn and began to look at horses. Birdie and Himself were out of the question. All I needed was a healthy horse that could be controlled by any rider. I could eliminate any horse that had foot problems, but the rest? I sighed, realizing that I had too much of a conscience to just take a horse when I didn't know who it belonged to. All right, I would walk then. The one place I knew I could find was the barrow. If I didn't get all the way and had to turn around and go back, that was fine. This was the nicest day we'd had in two weeks. There were no rain clouds in the sky, for a change, and the ground had dried up a bit. I'd just avoid the places where the search parties had ridden and stay away from the mud. I'd be back before Georgie got back, I reckoned. Time enough for a good walk to tire me out and calm my nerves.