Voyager

Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian make their way to the remote island where the treasure lies, and, eventually, they send Ian to swim to the island. From a nearby beach, Jamie and Claire watch as two men on the island emerge—one with the box of treasure and one with Ian—and a ship full of others begin shooting at them. When the ship and the men disappear into the mist, Jamie admits he does not know what to do, stunning Claire. Though Jamie did not recognize the ship, he believes his cousin Jared in France might know whose ship it is. Jamie blames himself for Ian’s abduction and begins to think it was wrong to try to use the treasure selfishly rather than to help others.

When they arrive in France, Jared Fraser believes the ship his cousin described must be the Bruja. Jamie asks to borrow a boat from his cousin, despite his profound seasickness and the fact that the Artemis is likely heading toward the Caribbean, a journey that will take at least two months. Jared and Jamie both believe that the people who took Young Ian would have kept him alive to sell into enslavement, and they plan to set sail in a week with some of Jared’s cargo. Jamie writes to Jenny to tell her what happened to Ian and share their plan to find him. Jamie meets with an ancient coin merchant named Mayer, who helps him figure out that the Duke of Sandringham—a dubious man with no loyalties to either cause—was the owner of Charles Stuart’s treasure 20 years earlier. While Claire is preparing for the trip, she runs into Reverend Campbell, whose sister is somewhat improved. Mr. Willoughby, who accompanied Claire, mentions that he saw the reverend at Madame Jeanne’s. During dinner, Claire learns that Jamie has become a Freemason, and she is reminded of all the things she missed in their 20 years apart. Claire visits the grave of her first daughter, who was stillborn.

Claire and Jamie sail back to Scotland to meet Fergus and a few of Jamie’s smuggling associates, but Fergus is late, and another crew member says he is on business. Just as they are about to set sail, Fergus arrives with Laoghaire’s daughter, Marsali, announcing that they are now married. Jamie tries to get the captain to turn the ship around, but when he is unable to, he makes plans to drop Marsali off at the next port. When Marsali refuses to go, Jamie makes her and Fergus agree to be married in a church rather than a handfasting ceremony.

As they set sail on a ship called the Artemis, Claire reassures Jamie that he will return to Scotland again, as she has seen his grave near Inverness. Claire is forced to share a room with Marsali, as Jamie will not let her and Fergus share a bed until they are officially married, and Claire feels some pity for the girl. Jamie is violently seasick the next day and fears he will die, and though Claire assures him he cannot die of seasickness, Jamie tells her to ask Fergus what he means. Fergus tells Claire of Jamie’s suspicion that one of his smugglers is a spy who is trying to kill him, and Jamie fears the spy might be on board. Claire befriends Murphy, the ship’s cook, and they try to cure Jamie’s seasickness, but only Mr. Willoughby’s use of acupuncture is able to ease his nausea.

Jamie’s official job on the ship is managing the supercargo, a job that has few tasks, and Claire is not busy with the small crew as the ship’s surgeon, so they have time to talk and learn about what they missed in the last 20 years. They talk about Brianna and whether Claire should have left her alone, but Claire is sure Bree can fend for herself. Claire recalls the letter she wrote to Bree before leaving, where she told her she did not regret leaving Jamie to save her. She tried to impart motherly advice, but Claire felt she could not put into words the enormity of her love for her daughter.

Claire starts to suspect that whoever was trying to kill Jamie is not actually on board. As she treats the crew members, she learns that Murphy isn’t feeding the crew members the same thing as the chef and the Frasers, thus making their diet insufficient. One of the men, Innes, who was with Jamie at Ardsmuir and lost an arm, asks if Claire can do anything to help with his phantom limb pains. While Claire doesn’t know of anything, she enlists Willoughby’s help, and he cures Innes’ pains with his Chinese medicine.

Jamie tells Claire about his experiences at Ardsmuir and how lonely and shackled he felt. He tells Claire a bit more about his acquaintance with Mr. Willoughby, who is hated by many of the crew members. The crew sees a shark in the water and tries to shoot it for food after it jumps to eat a pelican. Suddenly, Willoughby jumps in the water to grab the bird, and Jamie jumps in after him. The pelican and Willoughby are saved while the shark is killed and prepared for dinner. The next day, Claire learns that Willoughby saved the pelican—whom he named Ping An, the peaceful one—to teach it to hunt fish for him, impressing the crew.

One day, one of the men asks how Mr. Willoughby came from China, and Jamie helps to translate his story. Mr. Willoughby was a highly regarded writer, so revered that the emperor’s wife asked him to become a member of her household. However, it was the condition that all members of the royal household were eunuchs, and while Willoughby did not want to refuse the honor, he loved women too much to let himself be castrated. Willoughby fled the country, sacrificing everything he had to save his manhood.

Claire believes that Marsali is trying to work up the nerve to speak to her. One day, Marsali approaches her and asks her how to avoid getting pregnant, as she doesn’t want to worry when having sex with Fergus. Laoghaire told her sex was unpleasant but necessary, and Marsali thinks that it is because it leads to children. Claire and Marsali talk about sex, children, and the few options she has for contraceptives, and Claire can feel the girl warming to her slightly. Suddenly, they hear a warning shot from another ship, and a young man boards the Artemis asking if there is a surgeon on board, as there is a plague on their ship. Claire agrees to go aboard, but Jamie doesn’t want to risk losing her either to the British soldiers on the ship or the plague Claire believes is only typhoid. Claire tells Jamie about her Hippocratic oath before she boards the ship called the Porpoise. Claire confirms that the men of the Porpoise have typhoid and advises them on how to proceed, but as she is helping, the ship sets sail. The head of the Porpoise, Captain Leonard, ensures she will be safe, and they will provide for her until the two ships reach Jamaica, but he needs her. Claire is furious but somewhat understands his desperation. She can do little else to get back to Jamie. Later that night, she hears Leonard talking to another crew member named Tompkins, who believes he recognized Jamie.

Two days after boarding the Porpoise, Claire still hasn’t had another chance to speak to Captain Leonard to figure out the source of the typhoid. With the help of a crew member, Elias Pound, and the gunner’s wife, Annekje Johansen, the typhoid slowly begins to contain itself. Claire finally speaks to the captain—who nearly calls her “Mrs. Fraser” instead of “Mrs. Malcolm”—and when he leaves the room, she looks in his journal and sees the name “Fraser” again. The journal reveals that Captain Leonard knows who Jamie is and intends to have him arrested when they arrive in Jamaica. Later, Claire asks Elias who Tompkins is, and she learns he is a customs agent who boarded in Edinburgh. She figures he works for Sir Percival. Two days later, Tompkins is brought to Claire with an injury, and she immediately knows that he is the one-eyed man Young Ian saw asking about Jamie. Claire coerces Tompkins to tell her that he works for Sir Percival, who has ambitions that would be helped by Jamie’s arrest. He also reveals that an Englishman betrayed Jamie and that Sir Percival tried to frame Jamie for the death of the customs officer who was hanged on their way to Lallybroch.

Though Claire gets into the routine of helping the men on the Porpoise, they continue dying, and she feels guilt, knowing they could all be saved with penicillin. One day, when she is grieving her friend Elias Pound, she sees a well-dressed man on board whom she has never seen before. The man tries to console her about the men she has lost, mentioning he was a soldier and has seen death. As he returns to his quarters, Claire asks a crew member about the man, and he reveals that the man is the new governor of Jamaica, and his name is John Grey.

As they get close to land, Claire confides in Annekje that she needs to get to land without the captain knowing. She plans to get off at a small island called San Salvador, but Captain Leonard finds her before she can get off the ship. He reveals that he will write to the governor and the king’s commissioner about her help, hoping it will help her once Jamie is captured. Claire is unsure why Captain Leonard is telling her he knows about Jamie, and he tells her it is because he made it official by writing his name in the captain’s log, and he can’t take it back now, which he regrets. A few days later, the ship is hit with a large gust, and the main mast breaks, making them stop for a few days at a small island, where Annekje forms a plan for Claire’s escape that involves jumping off the boat.

Claire jumps off the Porpoise near Hispaniola with a makeshift life preserver and lets the current take her to shore. She fights her way to dry land as the tide comes in and a storm begins, and she is forced to sleep in a mangrove tree to avoid being pulled back to sea. As she makes her way the next day, she is surprised to run into a man, Lawrence Stern, who is studying the local wildlife. He takes her to a nearby friend named Father Fogden, an Englishman, and a woman he calls Mamacita, who provides her with food. While the servant, Mamacita, is rude, Claire finds Father Fogden gentle yet eccentric. In talking with Lawrence Stern, Claire learns he knows Jamie and wonders if Lawrence is the Englishman who betrayed him. The two discuss the natural history of the island and the fact that there are hidden caves in Hispaniola, including one that is rumored to be cursed. Claire also learns that Mamacita is Father Fogden’s mother-in-law, who detested the fact that her daughter married a reprobate priest. As Claire and Lawrence are to leave for Jamaica the next morning, Fogden mentions that a group of sailors killed one of his sheep yesterday. The leader of the sailors had a hook for a hand, as Fergus does, and the ship is still grounded on the nearby beach. Claire runs to the beach and sees that the ship is indeed the Artemis. She learns from Fergus that yesterday’s storm hit the Artemis, and the captain was killed, leading to the wreck. When she asks for Jamie, Fergus says he assumed Jamie was with Claire, as he followed her onto the Porpoise.