Drums of Autumn

On a hot day in the British colony of South Carolina, Claire, her husband Jamie, and his adoptive son Fergus, watch a group of prisoners proceed to the public gallows. As they watch the neck of Jamie’s friend Gavin Hayes break cleanly, another prisoner escapes.

Two months earlier, Claire, Jamie, and a group of family and friends from Scotland landed on the coast of Georgia during a hurricane while trying to flee from a British ship that was following them. They made their way to South Carolina when they heard that a friend of Jamie’s cousin had a ship that was bound for Scotland, where Jamie wanted to send his nephew, Ian, to return to his family. Though Claire and Jamie have with them several precious gemstones, they have had trouble changing the jewels into cash in the colonies, and worry they won’t have enough to book Ian’s passage home.

When they meet with Ian, he tells them that he won a pet dog named Rollo by gambling, though Claire believes the large beast is a wolf. When Jamie questions how Ian will take the dog on the ship, he reveals that the ship they were looking for sailed three days ago. Claire, Jamie, Ian, Rollo, and their friend Duncan Innes all go to the Willow Tree tavern to figure out a new plan. They want to go north to Cape Fear, where Jamie has Scottish kin, but they are afraid of crossing possibly dangerous terrain with the lack of weapons they have. They also fear they have attracted attention in Charleston by their association with a criminal and their attempts to sell jewels.

Before they leave Charleston, they must bury Gavin, but they don’t want to bury him in the woods because Gavin was afraid of tannasq or spirits, like one he had seen once in the woods of Scotland. After more drinking at the tavern, Duncan and Jamie sing a Gaelic lament for Gavin, and the patrons of the bar join in, donating a few coins when Fergus sends around his hat. Claire hears British soldiers singing what she knows is the melody that was repurposed for the Star Spangled Banner.

Before heading to sleep in the woods, the group decides to bury Gavin in the churchyard themselves. When they go to get the body from where they left it outside the church, they are all shocked to see a ghostly pale figure who is not Gavin inside their wagon. Fergus attacks the ghost with a shovel, then they see it is actually a man whom Jamie recognizes as the prisoner who escaped from the gallows.

When he recovers, the man introduces himself as Stephen Bonnet, an Irishman who was arrested for smuggling and piracy. Bonnet asks for Jamie’s help, saying he was also a friend of Gavin’s, and they agree to help him pass through British checkpoints if he helps them bury Gavin. When they reach the checkpoint on the road, Jamie admits that they are carrying a body, but pretends it is Gavin, and they can pass.

Bonnet is aware that Jamie wants to get rid of him, and mentions that if he gives him some provisions and carries him a bit further, he can meet up with his associates who are coming that way. As Claire falls asleep in the back of the wagon, she hears Bonnet telling Jamie about the Asgina Ageli, the Cherokee term for someone who should have died but still lives. They stop to let Bonnet go on his way, and Jamie worries whether or not they did the right thing by helping him.

Claire goes to take a bath in a nearby river, where Jamie finds her and they have sex. Afterward, Claire tells Jamie about the Indigenous people who live in the wilderness beyond, and while Claire tries to compare the way they were forced off their land to the way the Scottish Highlanders were, Jamie is still prejudiced against them.

The narrative shifts its focus to Claire and Jamie’s daughter, Brianna, and the time period Claire left in the 20th century. Her good friend Roger Wakefield calls her from Scotland and tells her he is going to a conference in Boston next month and wonders if she wants to see him. Brianna thinks of how Roger kissed her before she left Scotland, and tells him she wants to see him. Since Roger and Brianna saw Claire pass through the stones at Craigh na Dun the year before, Brianna has continually debated writing to Roger, who had asked her to stay in Scotland. Brianna had worried that Roger was only interested in her because Claire asked him to protect Brianna, rather than being interested in her for herself, so she returned to her home in Boston to pursue an engineering degree.

The next month, Brianna goes to pick Roger up from the airport with her friend Gayle, where they reconnect immediately and kiss again. Roger reveals that he is there for an academic conference, but is paying his way through his job as a musician and performing at a Celtic festival at the end of the week.

Bree drives Roger to the festival, where they skirt around the topic of their feelings for one another. She admits that seeing Roger reminds her of her parents, but also confesses her crush on him, which Roger reciprocates.

Roger feels bad for taking Brianna to the Celtic festival, knowing that she is trying not to think of her father, Jamie. Roger tells Bree about his Mackenzie heritage before he performs his set. Roger gives Brianna an envelope he found in Inverness that contains old pictures of Claire and her first husband, Frank, at their wedding in Scotland. Brianna gets emotional and flees Roger’s performance.

Later, Roger takes her to the calling of the clans, an event where members of various Highland clans announce their presence. Brianna doesn’t know what to do when the Fraser clan announces their presence.

Bree takes Roger to meet her “uncle,” Joe Abernathy, Claire’s best friend. Joe questions Roger as to his intentions toward Brianna, making sure they are honorable. Though they had spent the night together after the Celtic festival, they did not take their physical relationship any further, knowing Roger was leaving the next day. They are gathered to watch the first moon landing on TV, and everyone is overwhelmed with pride and hope for the future. Roger reflects how Bree’s role as an engineer and his as a historian have them facing toward the future and the past, respectively, but isn’t concerned that it will affect their relationship.

Claire, Jamie, and their friends reach Wilmington, from which they must travel by boat to a plantation called River Run, where Jamie’s uncle Hector Cameron lives. Jamie and Duncan go to sell their horses and wagon to book passage on a boat, and they take Rollo after Ian warns them about the sketchy people who hang around the docks.

Claire, Fergus, and Ian go shopping for provisions, including lace, so they look presentable to Jamie’s relatives. The group meets with a man named John Quincy Myers, whom Jamie was told could help arrange passage to his uncle’s house. However, Myers lets them know that Hector Cameron—whom Jamie had never met, as he was an uncle by marriage—died last winter, but his widowed aunt is still at River Run. After correctly guessing that Claire is a healer, Myers explains to her a medical issue Claire believes is a hernia, and asks if she can operate on it if he finds them a captain to take the group to River Run.

Through very distant family connections to a Highlander he met in a tavern, Jamie is able to get an invite to dinner with Governor Tryon, whom he believes would buy their jewels. Claire and Jamie get new, clean clothes, and he buys her a necklace made from one of their rubies to wear for the governor’s dinner.

At dinner, several of the governor’s guests discuss all the new taxes in the American colonies. When Claire asks if there is a local newspaper, a man named Phillip Wiley seems to know of Jamie’s printing business in Edinburgh. Jamie’s distant cousin, Edwin, mentions that Claire has connections to River Run to Baron Penzler, who knows Jamie’s aunt Jocasta Cameron well.

At the end of the night, Claire hears the others talking about her ruby as they leave. Once the other guests have left, the governor talks to Jamie about a program that encourages wealthy men to settle land in North Carolina, though the program technically excludes Catholics like Jamie, something the governor can overlook. The governor also mentions that anyone who settles the land will need to swear an oath to the British crown, as many pardoned former Jacobites have had to do since Culloden.

Claire is ecstatic when she overhears this, as it means that Jamie would regain the land and lairdship he lost after Culloden. Claire knows that there would be plenty of Scottish immigrants willing to come and settle with him in the North American colonies, but fears that getting them to come would force Jamie back to Scotland, where Claire had seen his tombstone in the 20th century. When Jamie returns to their room, Claire asks him about the oath he swore, but Jamie admits that he is not willing to die for those words.

The next morning, Jamie wonders why the governor asked him in particular to settle the land of North Carolina, thinking he has some ulterior motive, such as winning Jamie and the Camerons’ loyalty, something that would be important as tensions are rising between the Crown and the colonies.

After selling Claire’s ruby at the dinner, they get the money to buy fare for their passage to Cross Creek, near River Run. Claire tries to distract Jamie from his seasickness by asking about his aunt Jocasta, whom Jamie hasn’t seen since he was two years old. Jocasta had married a string of Cameron men after her first husband died, and later immigrated to North Carolina with her third Cameron husband. Claire also talks with Fergus about his pregnant wife, Marsali, whom he left in Jamaica and will send for if he settles land in the colonies. The captain of their small boat spots the body of a pirate who was tied to a post and left to drown in the river, and Jamie sees an alligator heading toward it.

Later, Jamie brings out a present he got for Claire: A surgical kit. She is especially excited that it contains the relatively new invention of the microscope. He also gives Claire a book that belonged to the doctor who had the tools, Dr. Daniel Rawlings, who mysteriously disappeared a year ago. Claire reads the doctor’s notebook over their journey and is fascinated by the outdated medical practices. Jamie tries to educate Ian on Latin and Greek on the boat, knowing his parents want him to use his intellect rather than become a soldier like his father had been.

Jamie asks Claire what she thinks about settling in the colonies, and they both worry about the revolution she knows is to come in the following years. They consider the fact that they can avoid the war in the vast new land, and Jamie thinks of staying for Brianna as well, since this is the country she was born in.

They rest at the shore on what they believe will be their last night of travel, and Claire wakes up to see that pirates have boarded their boat. One of the pirates shoots Rollo, and Claire goes to help the dog while they are held hostage. Claire recognizes one of the masked pirates as Stephen Bonnet, and the pirates leave with one of Claire’s wedding rings—though she swallowed another one—along with their last jewels. The pirates sail away quickly with the morning light, after getting Claire to throw up the silver wedding ring Jamie gave her.

Claire worries about their great financial loss, while Jamie is more concentrated on the loss of his honor, still regretting helping Bonnet in the first place.

They finally make it to River Run, where Aunt Jocasta greets them all graciously and has a tearful reunion with Jamie. Jamie is embarrassed as he tells Jocasta about the pirates and their pennilessness, but she reaffirms that they are all welcome at her home. Only after a few moments of conversation does Claire realize that Jocasta is blind and often relies upon her butler, Ulysses, for help.

The morning after their arrival, the party rides out to a nearby turpentine works on the plantation, one of many goods they supply to the town and the royal navy. Claire is surprised to see that Jocasta is riding her own horse; she mentions how the horse, Corrina, was recovering from a recent scare from a snake. They run into some of the enslaved people Jocasta has enslaved, and Jocasta’s friend, Farquard Campbell, who is excited to meet Jamie. They are also introduced to a Lieutenant Wolff with the British Navy, and Claire learns that Jocasta has been having trouble managing them.

They witness a pitch explosion, though no one is hurt, and the party carries on with lunch outside. Lunch is slightly awkward as Wolff professes his hatred for the Scots, but they are able to get him to leave early. Once the Navy men are gone, Jamie asks Jocasta what is actually going on with Wolff and the plantation. Jocasta and Campbell reveal that Hector Cameron had managed Wolff in the past, but things have been complicated since Wolff proposed marriage to Jocasta after Hector’s death. Though Jocasta is perfectly able to run the plantation, she is unable to manage the physical aspects of running the turpentine works and mills on the property, and the overseer currently in charge of them is unreliable. She told Wolff that Jamie would be taking over the management of River Run to get Wolff off her back.

Earlier that day, Fergus went to town to send a letter to Marsali and brought back a few letters for Jamie from his sister Jenny and her husband Ian. Ian gives Jamie good news about the family and Lallybroch, but asks Jamie to keep his son Ian in the colonies, because young men in the Highlands are being recruited as soldiers to fight in Canada and the colonies for the British. Ian also speaks about their kinsman, Simon Fraser, who is in this militia, and whom he worries has become too hardened.

Claire adjusts to life at River Run, though she is uncomfortable around the enslaved people. Jocasta wants to throw a dinner party to introduce Claire and Jamie to the people of the county. Campbell comes one day with news of an altercation at the sawmill, likely between a Black man and a white man, though he is not yet sure what happened. He relates that there is a law in the colony that calls for the death of any Black man who spills the blood of a white man, and Jocasta begs Campbell to overlook the matter, since he is a local judge, but he refuses to do so. He rides off to the sawmill with Jamie, and Claire follows behind despite Campbell’s protestations.

Andrew MacNeill meets them on the road and informs them that an enslaved man has attacked Byrnes, a cruel overseer, and that all the enslaved people from local plantations will be summoned to watch his execution. Though everyone agrees that Byrnes deserved what he got and that the law is bad, the men still believe that the enslaved man must be executed. Claire is worried about what Jamie will do, knowing that what she says as a woman will have little effect.

Just before they arrive, they hear a gunshot and race toward the sawmill, where they see the body of a Black man impaled and hanging from a crane. Upon arrival, it is clear that Byrnes is to blame for this gruesome act, and Jamie immediately holds a pistol to his head, threatening to shoot him if one of his accomplices doesn’t lower the man down. Meanwhile, Campbell threatens legal action against Byrnes and his friends—overseers from other plantations—and lambasts their blatant disregard of the law.

Claire pays no heed to the others as she rushes toward the Black man with her medical kit and sees the large hole in his stomach. It slowly dawns on her that the man is not fatally injured, but she also knows that if she saves the man, the others will not let him live. Though she knows she is making the decision for him, Claire gives the man the fastest-acting poison she can to show him mercy, and he dies a moment later.

Though shaken by the events at the sawmill, Jocasta is still intent on hosting a party. Jamie asks Claire to make a diversion when he gives her a signal. Many local Scots attend the party, as well as Phillip Wylie, whom Claire met at the governor’s party. Claire speaks to the guests about the Regulators of the Crown to figure out more about what Governor Tryon wants with Jamie. To everyone’s surprise, John Quincy Myers arrives with Duncan Innes, whom they had left in Wilmington. Myers has come to get his operation for his hernia, and got drunk to numb the pain.

Wylie suggests Claire should operate, as everyone has heard about her skills as a healer, and Jamie tells her they can use it as a diversion. With a crowd of interested spectators, Claire quickly operates on the man, and drinks several toasts in her honor afterward. While she is checking on Myers, who recovers well, Jamie finds Claire and tells her to meet him outside in the herb garden.

When they meet outside, Jamie finally confesses to Claire that Jocasta had planned to announce that Jamie would be taking over the management of River Run, which is why he wanted a diversion at dinner. This would make Jamie heir to all of her property, including 40 enslaved people. Jamie would have found it awkward to publicly decline the offer. He learned of all this from Ulysses, who is practically managing River Run at the moment— something especially significant as a Black man.

Though Claire knows this would be another way for Jamie to own land and virtually return to his position as a laird without Governor Tryon’s ulterior motives, she also knows that Jamie would struggle with his conscience about enslaving people. Jamie asks Claire if she could live with the reality of oppressing enslaved people and stay with him if he chose to become heir to River Run. Jamie has learned that individual plantation owners cannot legally free enslaved people without the consent of a governing body, and besides, Jocasta does not want to free them and would likely live a long time after Jamie was made heir.

Claire thinks deeply about this issue, but continues to return to the fact that she knows Jamie will eventually be buried in Scotland, and fears it will be sooner rather than later if he accepts Governor Tryon’s offer. Jamie worries about his own conscience and everything he has done in the past, but Claire still believes he is a good man. Ultimately, Claire tells Jamie to do what he has to do, and she will stand by him regardless.

Claire and Jamie go to the sawmill, where he tells her that Byrnes died that day from his infected injuries. Though Claire initially dressed his wounds, Jamie didn’t tell Claire about Byrnes’s worsening tetanus. They fight about this; Jamie admits he was wrong for trying to keep her from going to Byrnes, especially as he knows how seriously Claire takes her role as a doctor. Jamie feared that, when he inevitably died, people would question whether she killed Byrnes.

At the sawmill, they see that a group of enslaved people has gathered around a fire, and nearby, they smell fresh blood. In the dark overseer’s quarters, they find a dying white woman with blood between her legs, who is only able to mutter something about telling a sergeant before dying. When they return the next morning with Campbell, they see a kitchen skewer between her legs and speculate that she was attempting to terminate a pregnancy. Claire asks Phaedre, an enslaved woman close to Jocasta, to discover if any of the enslaved women at the plantation were missing, and she finds that a woman named Pollyanne disappeared the previous night.

As Claire and Phaedre clean and dress the body for burial, Claire speculates that the woman came to the sawmill to seek help from Pollyanne, who fled when the pregnancy termination didn’t go to plan. She wonders if the law of bloodshed that applied to the man who attacked Byrnes will apply to Pollyanne, whom she knows was only trying to help the dead woman.

When Claire returns to River Run, she sees that Campbell has told Jocasta of the morning’s events and that Myers is healing well. Jocasta tells them that she sent Duncan to find Pollyanne to hide her away, and Claire and Jamie are surprised that Campbell was willing to help an enslaved woman after the previous events at the sawmill.

Claire and Jamie go to find the sergeant that the dying woman mentioned at the Crown’s warehouse. They find the man at a nearby tavern, and Claire is surprised when Jamie recognizes him as Sergeant Murchison—a cruel guard who worked at Ardsmuir prison during Jamie’s imprisonment there. Though the two clearly have animosity toward one another, Jamie tells Murchison about the corpse they have brought him, whom he recognizes as Lissa Garver, a laundress. Murchison says that the woman has someone to bury her, and that Jamie needs to see the clerk at his office to make a statement about her death. The clerk has gone out, and Jamie refuses to sign a statement for Murchison alone, so he says the clerk can find him at River Run. By the time they leave, the corpse is gone.

Duncan has found Pollyanne and hidden her at River Run, where Murchison has been searching around the sawmill for her. Jamie has arranged with Myers to take Pollyanne to a local Indigenous tribe where she can hide from Murchison. Three days later, Jamie, Claire, Ian, and Myers leave to hide Pollyanne away.

The group leaves at night to take Pollyanne into the woods. The woman is terrified, especially as she speaks little English. As the group progresses, Pollyanne warms up to Claire. Ian asks Myers endless questions about the Indigenous people of the area, and they learn about the local Tuscarora tribe, which the Mohawk tribe adopted. Without Jamie’s permission, Ian announces his intention to go with Myers and Pollyanne to the tribe’s village.

Claire and Jamie separate from the others as they go to the Tuscarora village, and discuss what they think it will be like to die and what comes after. As they make dinner over a fire, a black bear attacks the couple, but after a struggle, Jamie kills it. They wonder why the bear attacked, as Myers told them they don’t do so unless provoked. A moment later, they see three Indigenous men who were hunting the bear. They seem to respect Jamie for killing the bear, and begin to dress his wounds before attending to the bear. As Jamie begins to skin the bear, the men seem to recognize the Gaelic prayer he recites beforehand.

Claire, Jamie, and the three men roast the bear’s meat and have dinner together. They discover that the men belong to the Tuscarora tribe, and they all become friendly.

When Claire wakes up in the morning, the Tuscarora men have left, and Jamie and Claire continue on toward the spot where they agreed to meet Myers and Ian in a few days. They pass over land that they might settle if Jamie takes Governor Tryon’s offer, and when they see wild strawberries—the emblem of the Frasers—Jamie takes it as a sign to settle this land. Though Claire knows this must happen, she still fears and foresees Jamie’s death in Scotland.

Claire brings up the grave she saw in Scotland, but Jamie doesn’t think he needs to go to Scotland to get settlers, and can instead rely on the men who were with him in Ardsmuir prison, who were loyal to him. Jamie is now firmly set on this idea, especially as he has decided that he cannot accept having enslaved people at River Run. Jamie promises that, even when he eventually dies, he will always be with Claire.