Outlander: The Standing Stones

Castle Leoch

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies." 'Hamlet'...William Shakespeare

It seemed like we rode and rode, like it was never going to end. There were too many of us now to sleep in the small farms, so we took to sleeping in the forest, safe from all eyes. But not frequently enough.

For me, I could have kept on riding until I reached Inverness. I wanted to try to return home, my home, before my pregnancy became too advanced. What was going to happen, anyway? Would I still be pregnant when I came through to my time, or would I lose my baby in the process? How would time travel affect it-it had been conceived in 1746, and I would be returning to 2014.

I didn't want to risk my pregnancy, I wanted to carry Georgie's baby to term, and raise him. I could afford to raise a child on my own, I could give him a good life, a rich life. My child would know England and Belgium and Egypt and the U.S. He'd see life beyond his own culture, learn how alike we all are, while still different. I love Egypt, love the people, love my work, yet I look forward to teaching in Chicago every year, too. I was fortunate in my life, now I wondered if I would lose it all.

As if by common consent, Mary and I always rode together. We were the only two women, and it was nice to have her to talk to. She'd give them a hard look if they stared too long at me or made an inappropriate remark, it was nice having her for a bodyguard. She waited on me, even though I didn't want her to, but I appreciated every little thing she did. When we reached Castle Leoch it would be nice to have her there, a familiar face in the midst of strangers.

It was almost noon, I think, and we'd been riding since sunrise when she took my arm and said, "Look miss, we're almost there. Can you see it in the distance? It's Castle Leoch, the seat of the McKenzies. We'll have our first hot meal in days, and I will get you a nice hot bath and you can get into some clean clothes. Ah, it's going to be good to stay in one place, get off these damn horses. Just think, you can sleep all you want, eat decent food. We can even get some dresses made for you, it's too bad you had to leave behind all your pretty things."

Well, not all. He hadn't given me many, but I had jewels from Georgie that I hadn't left behind, including my wedding pearls. I became suddenly melancholy, missing the Campbell lairds and Lady Campbell. Were it not for Colin, I could have felt at home there, but for the fact that I didn't belong. Besides, I was closer to Inverness now, and the standing stones-and maybe home.

I felt the baby kicking and tears started welling in my eyes. I wiped them away with my fingers so no one would see. I wanted to be in Georgie's arms again, but his body lay in the cold earth far away from me now. I could have been happy with him, I think. We had a wild, abandoned, kind of love; two crazy people who somehow found each other and could not get enough of each other, ever.

Mary looked at me, reached over and squeezed my hand. "Don't worry miss, it will take time, but some day it will be all right. Before you know it, you'll have your baby, and you'll think more of him than the one you lost."

I didn't think that was possible, and I didn't want to have my baby here. I wanted a modern hospital that could take care of any problem that came up. Women had had babies for centuries without the benefit of modern medicine, I would just have to resign myself to it.

It took another hour, I think, to finally reached the castle. Compared to the elegant chateau, Castle Leoch seemed like a hovel, but there were people milling around, passing in and out. These were the things I never saw much of at Chateau La Mere, as the junior lady I was isolated from it, plus it had been winter and most of the inhabitants had stayed inside. Leoch was old, built to be more fortress than residence from the looks of it. In another two, two hundred and fifty years, who knew what it would look like.