Voyager

As the Artemis is being repaired, the small crew is attacked by a group of 10 well-armed soldiers. Before the men can strike, however, the leader of the soldiers tells his men to halt and reveals himself as Jamie. Jamie summons Fergus and tells them that the French soldiers from the local town will help them to launch the Artemis. Claire and Marsali, who hid when they saw the soldiers, remain in hiding: Claire understands that Jamie must have a plan. However, she briefly shows herself, and Jamie tells her to keep waiting. A few hours later, the French soldiers are gone, the Artemis is afloat, and everyone gets aboard. Jamie assumes the role of the captain aboard the ship, and Claire tells him about Lawrence and Fogden. Marsali comes to his quarters and tells Jamie he needs to keep his promise that she and Fergus would be married once they reach the Caribbean. Marsali has befriended Fogden, who can marry them, and Claire helps her get ready for the wedding. Fogden marries Marsali and Fergus, and they take the last name Fraser.

As the Artemis continues to Jamaica, Fergus takes on 10 tons of bat guano, or fertilizer, to deliver to the island. Claire, Fergus, Marsali, Murphy, and Lawrence go to the slave market on one of the islands to ask about Ian, and Claire is outraged at how the enslaved people are treated. When she sees an auctioneer sexually assaulting a one-armed enslaved man, she attacks the auctioneer and nearly starts a riot before Jamie arrives and purchases the one-armed man to quell the crowd. They learn that they burn the bodies of enslaved people who don’t survive the voyage to the island, and Claire and Jamie fear Young Ian may be there. Jamie goes to see the burn pile and becomes ill, but Ian isn’t there.

Jamie and Claire debate what to do with the enslaved man, fearing he would be recaptured or killed if they set him free in Hispaniola and shunned if they helped him return to Africa. Pirates attack the Artemis, and Claire and Marsali go deep below deck to hide, where they are attacked by a pirate and successfully fight back with the help of Ping An, the pelican. The crew of the Artemis fights off the pirates, and Claire finds that Jamie is okay, but she is bleeding from a deep cut in her arm from the pirate’s sword. Willoughby, Fergus, and Jamie help to disinfect Claire’s wound and stitch her up. Fergus finds the pirate Claire killed and sees that he carried some of the ancient coins that were in the treasure box stolen by the sailors on the Bruja.

While Claire is in bed healing from her injury, a man jumps off the Bruja, and the crew of the Artemis takes him prisoner. They believe the man has escaped from enslavement, and Jamie wants Claire’s help because he is hurt. When Claire meets the man, he doesn’t want to speak to her or Jamie, but he understands English. Claire sees both fresh and old wounds on the man as she tends to his injuries. When Jamie unbinds the man and brings him to dinner, the prisoner says his name is Ishmael, and he is not a pirate but a cook. Jamie promises to drop Ishmael off with gold at any port of his choosing if he tells them about the people on the Bruja. As Ishmael speaks, Claire sees a resemblance to her friend Joe Abernathy, whose son had renamed himself Ishmael after an African ancestor. She sees a patch of newly torn skin that matches the branding Temeraire—the enslaved man she and Jamie purchased—has on his arm. She learns from Temeraire’s papers that he came from the plantation of a Mrs. Abernathy, who used a Jacobite symbol to brand those she enslaved.

Claire tries to get Jamie to give her a shot of penicillin, but he is afraid to hurt her, and she does it herself. She remembers a patient she had at the hospital in Boston whom she was going to help die by suicide at his request, but she ultimately couldn’t push the plunger into the morphine syringe that would kill him, so he did it himself. Jamie and Claire talk about the nature of pain and helping others, and how it is easier to be brave when it comes to hurting yourself than others. They discuss what they want to do when they find Ian. Claire thinks they should go to the colonies in North America, but Jamie is afraid it is too primitive.

Jamie is concerned that the Porpoise is still following them to Jamaica, but Claire mentions that they need to drop off the new governor of Jamaica, John Grey, whom Jamie notes is a good friend. Ishmael says he wants to get off the ship and go with Temeraire, but Jamie asks Temeraire what he thinks before sending the two off in a small boat. They reach Jared Fraser’s plantation at Sugar Bay, Jamaica, where they are welcomed by a Scottish couple called the MacIvers. Jamie asks the MacIvers about Mrs. Abernathy at Rose Hall, and they tell her that a minister named Reverend Campbell was also recently asking about her. They say that there are rumors about Mrs. Abernathy killing her husband, and Reverend Campbell was going to go see her before his sister Margaret suddenly disappeared after her nurse died on the voyage over. The MacIvers also tell them that the new governor is having a reception, and everyone is invited.

Claire, Jamie, Fergus, Marsali, and Mr. Willoughby get ready to go to the governor’s reception, and Jamie hides his red hair in a wig to conceal himself. John Grey recognizes Claire when she greets him at the reception but turns white when he sees Jamie, who introduces himself as a French businessman, Etienne Alexandre, and says they will speak later. As Claire and Jamie are introduced around the party, they subtly ask about Mrs. Abernathy and confirm some of the rumors they heard from the MacIvers. Claire runs into Reverend Campbell, and as they discuss his sister, Claire learns that Campbell believes Margaret was seduced to the cause of the Jacobites by “James Fraser.” Claire follows from a distance as she sees Jamie and John go into a room, and she spots the look of lust on John’s face and wonders what their true relationship was. She runs to the retiring room to calm herself, but she sees a woman on the chaise lounge who has had her throat slit, and there are bloody footprints heading toward the window.

Claire and Marsali are sequestered in the governor’s office as Jamie and Mr. Willoughby are taken away. Willoughby was flirting with the dead woman earlier in the night, and the party guests suspect he killed her. As they wait for Jamie, Claire sees Captain Leonard coming her way and pretends to faint with a handkerchief over her face while the admiral he is with speaks to John. Once gone, Claire and John talk about Jamie, and John brings up Willie, whom Claire immediately recognizes in a photograph as Jamie’s son. John explains his friendship with Jamie, Geneva’s death, and his later marriage to Geneva’s sister. John and his wife Isobel took in Willie once Jamie returned to Scotland, and as a repayment for this favor, Jamie gave John one kiss. John tells Claire this is the only time Jamie willingly touched him before tonight but also mentions he believes he will want Jamie for the rest of his life. John reminds her of the first time they met before Culloden, and Claire remembers setting his arm after Jamie broke it. The two come to an understanding before Claire returns to Jamie’s carriage. On the way back to the plantation, Claire feels as if she doesn’t know Jamie again. They talk about Willoughby, and Jamie is unsure what Willoughby is capable of when he is drunk, as he was tonight. Jamie confesses that he has a son and knows he should have told her before, but the only one who knows about him is John. Claire asks if he loved Geneva, but Jamie says he didn’t and feels guilty for her death. They reconcile and tell each other they love each other.

Willoughby had not been found a few days later, and the people in town have all locked their doors and taken up arms in fear of him. Claire and Jamie go to Rose Hall to meet Mrs. Abernathy, and an enslaved woman escorts them into a salon filled with Jacobite memorabilia. When Mrs. Abernathy comes in, Claire is shocked to see that she is Geillis Duncan, a former friend and fellow time-traveler Claire met in different eras. Claire and Geillis were both thought to be witches when they first met in the years before Culloden, and Geillis was a staunch Jacobite in the 18th century and a Scottish nationalist in the 20th century. Her obsession with the Stuart lineage led her to time travel to the past in hopes she could change the outcome of the Jacobite uprising. A few months before returning to the past, Claire, Roger, and Brianna saw Geillis (going by the name Gillian Edgars) go through the stones at Craigh Na Dun.

Geillis tells them about how she escaped being persecuted as a witch by revealing she was pregnant. After she gave birth, Dougal MacKenzie (Jamie’s uncle and the father of her child) helped her escape to France with their son. When Geillis asks why they are there, Jamie mentions Ian, and Claire feels that Geillis is lying when she says she doesn’t enslave white men. Geillis mentions she has two enslaved people who are sick and asks for Claire’s help in treating them. Claire helps one person but is horrified by the state in which Geillis keeps the people she enslaves. Claire feels uncomfortable as she speaks with Geillis about going through the stones, something Claire has done three times, but Geillis only once. Geillis always believed there needed to be a human sacrifice to time travel and killed her first husband to do so. Geillis tells Claire how she believes certain gemstones can also help with time travel, and Claire recognizes one as part of the treasure stolen by the sailors of the Bruja. Claire also learns that Geillis had once enslaved Ishmael. Claire believes that Geillis wants to travel again.

When Jamie returns from looking for Ian, he asks Geillis if she knew the Duke of Sandringham. When she confirms she did, he connects Geillis to the treasure left in Scotland. As they leave Rose Hall, Jamie tells Claire he believes he knows where Ian is but will need help in getting him. They get caught in a rainstorm on their way back from Rose Hall, and Jamie realizes Geillis stole one of the photographs of Brianna that he carries. They see Reverend Campbell coming up the road to visit Geillis and wonder what such a puritanical man wants from a woman who is suspected of witchcraft. Jamie plans to come back with several men to get Ian, but he will need John’s help in procuring weapons.

Claire and several men return to Rose Hall, and the land is suspiciously quiet. As the men look for Ian, Claire goes to the house and finds Reverend Campbell inside. He tells her that Geillis left and doesn’t know where she went, but before Claire can leave, he asks her what her husband’s real name is, as Mrs. Abernathy said he was James Fraser. As Campbell steps closer to Claire, she sees Ping An, the pelican, out on the veranda of the house and believes Willoughby is nearby. Claire pretends Jamie is still in Kingston while she is staying with Mrs. Abernathy for the next month. Campbell notes that he is studying Scottish history with Mrs. Abernathy, and Claire sees that they have been consulting the Fraser family tree. He tells Claire that Geillis is interested in a prophecy that mentions the Frasers, so she requested his presence from Edinburgh to discuss it. The prophecy states that a new ruler of Scotland will come from the Fraser line and, as Geillis has always been interested in restoring a Scot to the throne above all else, Claire believes she wants to find a Fraser heir to do so.

Suddenly, Claire sees Mr. Willoughby at the door, and Campbell accuses him of being a murderer. Willoughby accuses Campbell of being the murderer of the woman at the party and several sex workers in Edinburgh. Claire uses the pistol Jamie gave her to hold Campbell at gunpoint, but Campbell tells her that Willoughby is the one who betrayed Jamie to Sir Percival. As Campbell lunges at Claire, her finger slips on the trigger, but she doesn’t hit him. When Campbell comes at her with a knife, Willoughby knocks him out and admits he was indeed the one who betrayed Jamie. Insisting Claire call him Yi Tien Cho, he tells Claire that Jamie took his life when he named him Willoughby, and he has since felt like a ghost. He disappears into the night.

After confirming that Campbell is dead, Claire goes upstairs to Geillis’s workroom, where she sees that Geillis had been performing a ritual with the picture of Brianna. She realizes that Brianna is the Fraser heir Geillis is looking for. As Claire leaves the house to look for Jamie, she is attacked by a crocodile, but a group of enslaved men help her, and she sees that the leader of the men is Ishmael, who kills the crocodile. Ishmael takes her to an outbuilding and tells her that Geillis is gone, likely with Ian. Claire is surprised to see Margaret Campbell there, and though she recognizes Claire and seems better, Claire sees she is not entirely aware of her surroundings. She takes Claire and Ishmael outside to a bonfire where they will roast the crocodile. It is clear that Margaret is well-respected among the group. Claire watches as the group performs a ritual with a rooster, and Margaret bites the head of the bird off. When Ishmael begins singing, Claire hears Joe’s voice, and Margaret begins to speak in different voices. Claire believes she is inhabited by a spirit. Everyone asks Margaret different questions, and she tells them their future. Ishmael calls Margaret Bouassa and says Bouassa is blessed with Loa and has told them that they all will leave the plantation soon, and Geillis will die in three days.

Jamie appears suddenly, but when Claire turns back to Bouassa, she hears Brianna’s voice. Ishmael says they should go and tells Jamie that Geillis has Ian and will likely kill him. Ishmael says Geillis has gone to Abandawe, which Claire recognizes as one of the magic caves on Hispaniola. Ishmael warns them against getting involved with Geillis, who is soon to die and only brings death with her. When Margaret spots Jamie, they recognize each other as old friends, but Claire tells him she will be better with her new friends. As they are leaving, Claire and Jamie see Rose Hall and other nearby plantations set ablaze and several enslaved people coming down from the mountains and away from their captivity.

Jamie and Claire borrow a boat from John, but they don’t tell him about the formerly enslaved people they saw escaping to sea on the Bruja last night. They leave Fergus and Marsali in Jamaica but take Lawrence and the Scottish smugglers to Hispaniola; all but Jamie, Claire, and Lawrence stay by the boat. As they move toward the cave, Claire sees a stone circle like the one at Craigh Na Dun, and Jamie warns her not to go near them. Yet when she touches a nearby stone, Claire can hear it and senses Geillis’ presence. They leave Lawrence at the entrance of the cave, and Claire fears that the sounds she hears coming from the stones may signal her return to her time. Claire and Jamie agree that if one of them must be sacrificed, it will be Jamie, but if Geillis goes through the stones again, Claire will have to follow her. They share a tearful kiss before they begin to see a light in the cave.

They see Geillis with a pistol and an axe and Ian lying within the center of a pentacle. Geillis mentions that she will have to take Brianna once she returns to the present, and Jamie attacks her, causing her to shoot Jamie, who falls on top of Ian. Enraged, Claire grabs the axe and swings the blade at Geillis’s neck. When she turns around, she sees Jamie, bleeding from the head, trying to free Ian from his bonds. As a storm begins, a gust of wind extinguishes the flames in the cave, and they all rush out in the dark. Ian thinks he can hear Geillis coming, and Claire does too, though she knows it is just the wind. Claire feels detached as she leaves the cave and later helps to get the bullet out of Jamie’s scalp. She feels whole again when Jamie reassures her that everything will be fine.

Ian tells them about his journey to Jamaica, and though it was comfortable, he and the other boys with him had no idea why they were there. When Geillis questioned him and discovered he was not a virgin, she had sex with Ian rather than using his virgin blood in one of her spells. Jamie plans to head to the Dutch territory of Eleuthera and send for Fergus and Marsali there, sending Ian back on the first ship bound for Scotland, whether he likes it or not.

When they reach the shore, they see the Bruja has been shipwrecked, but the Porpoise is behind them. They head toward their own boat and barely escape while the Porpoise attacks both boats. They see the Porpoise firing at the escaped enslaved people, and Ian says a prayer for them. Later that night, they see the Porpoise at a distance again, and the ship continues to follow them wherever they go and eventually begins to fire. Caught in a storm, they see the Porpoise sinking before they are thrown by the waves. Claire doesn’t know how long the storm lasts, but it is fierce and eventually passes. A strong wind carries them toward land a few days later, and no one knows where they are.

As Claire leans over the ship’s railing to see the pelicans heading toward land, she hears a crack and feels a pain in her leg before she falls into the water. Jamie jumps in after her, and for a while, they can only see the waves as they are tossed around in the water. Claire begins to lose consciousness, but she feels peace as Jamie tries to keep her above water. Claire believes she is dead until she feels the pain in her leg and the saltwater in her nose. She is shocked to see that she is on a bed, not a boat, when she regains consciousness. They believe Claire broke her leg when the mast snapped and knocked her overboard, and she was caught in the ship’s rigging, which pulled her under. Jamie held onto her until they got to shore, where a few men found them and brought them indoors before fetching the men on the ship that had run aground. Claire sees she has lost her clothes and worries that Jamie has lost the pictures of Bree and Willie, but he reveals he managed to get away from Geillis. Later, a woman comes in and tells them the men from the ship are in the kitchen. She introduces herself as Patsy Olivier and says that they are in Les Perles, Georgia, much further north than they thought they were. Knowing that they are safe in the American colonies, Jamie introduces himself and Claire by their true names.