We’re at the castle and Jamie and Claire are getting to know each other. Claire has shown her gift for healing, and so the Laird of the castle, Colum MacKenzie has made her the healer of the castle so to speak. She’s learning a lot about the medicinal uses of herbs, and roots, and such. What a difference from the medical background she had as a nurse in the 1940′s. She seems resigned to this new life in this new time…for now.               Claire immerses herself in life at the castle and while on a fruit- picking expedition meets a woman from the nearby village, Geillis Duncan. She enjoys the companionship and Geillis is quite a talker. Claire likes her, but I feel wary of  her. What about you?

There’s a very important ceremony that everyone has been preparing for. It’s an oath swearing to the Laird of the castle. Claire thinks about an escape plan, reasoning that the celebration would be a great time to slip away unnoticed. The night of the ceremony she makes her way to the stables in the dark…and literally stumbles over Jamie who was hiding out himself. He’s a Fraser remember and is trying to avoid the oath swearing. He takes Claire back to the castle and is forced to go to the ceremony. How does he handle that? Keep reading….O and in the next chapters Jamie and Claire will be going on a journey…in more ways than one See you soon.