Voyager: Part Six

Edinburgh

Chapter 24: A. Malcolm, Printer

© Diana Gabaldon 1994


Courtesy warning: All books up to and including Voyager are open for discussion. For books beyond Voyager and discussion related to it, please visit the spoiler thread:

SPOILER THREAD HERE


Cold and dishevelled Claire opens her eyes, and despite her incoherent thoughts, concludes that as it’s raining, she must be in Scotland. With no notion of how long she has lain amongst the rowan trees, Claire takes stock of her surroundings, and using Jamie as her anchor, makes the decision to go forward, regardless of the outcome. The coach journey from Inverness to Edinburgh takes four days, and despite the unwanted attention from her travelling companions, Claire focuses on finding Jamie in Edinburgh – Alighting from the coach at the edge of the Royal Mile, and nimbly giving her troublesome travelling companions the slip, Claire is able to make good her escape into the market throng, and is soon lost amongst the pickpockets and oyster sellers. Pausing for breath, she stops at the fountain, eats the remains of her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and then pensively watches the plastic wrapping float away from her –

With some small measure of trepidation Claire stops a passing boy, and enquires after A. Malcolm’s print shop - she is given an address in Carfax Close, just off the Royal Mile. Recognising an apothecary’s shop Claire checks her reflection in the window, and tries to tame her hair which has sprung into unruly curls. Fretting over her appearance, Claire is heartened to discover a woman coming from the shop, who despite being twenty years Claire’s junior, manages to look much older – time has been kind to Claire –

Taking a deep breath, Claire enters Carfax Close, and sees ahead of her a neat white sign - A. Malcolm, Printer and Book Seller. Touching the letters, Claire pushes open the door, and sees Jamie bending over the printing press –

“Is that you, Geordie?” he asked, not turning round...-
“It isn’t Geordie” I said, my voice higher than usual. “It’s me” I said. “, Claire “-


Claire notices that the rich, red hair is tied with green ribbon, and as Jamie slowly turns to her, she is aware of his face, his dark blue eyes, the Viking cheekbones, and the long, mouth which is, as always, just on the edge of smiling. Visibly trembling, Jamie is unnerved by Claire’s appearance, at first thinking she is a ghostly apparition, but he is no less frightened when he realises she is “real” ---- he slumps into a faint, landing with his backside in the ale pot.

“That bad, is it?” I said smiling down at him with the same words he had used to me on the day of our wedding, holding my head in his lap, twenty-odd years before.
“That bad and worse, Sassenach,” he answered, mouth twitching with something almost a smile.
“God in Heaven, you are real!”


There are tears aplenty as twenty years of love, loss and sheer longing come to the surface, and with hands caressing forgotten places, Jamie and Claire acknowledge each other in shyness, and in half remembered intimacy.
Seeing that Claire still wears her silver wedding ring, Jamie bends his head to her knuckles and says,

“I want verra much to kiss you” he said softly “May I do that? “
and with exquisite tenderness he set his mouth on mine


Despite shared memories they were still strangers, barely touching, equally afraid, and yet complete in their familiarity - Claire and Jamie were quite simply afraid to look at each other.

“I’ve seen ye so many times,” he said, his voice whispering warm in my ear. “Ye’ve come to me so often. When I dreamed sometimes. When I lay in fever. When I was so afraid and so lonely I knew I must die. When I needed you, I would always see ye, smiling, with your hair curling up about your face. But ye never spoke. And ye never touched me.”
“I can touch you now” I reached up and drew my hand gently down his temple, his ear, the cheek and jaw that I could see. My hand went to the nape of his neck, under the clubbed bronzed hair, and he raised his head at last, and cupped my face between his hands, love glowing strong in the dark, blue eyes.
“Dinna be afraid” he said, softly. There’s the two of us now.”


When Geordie returns to the print shop, he is dismayed to find Jamie in a state of undress, and quits the business, much to Jamie and Claire’s amusement. Taking advantage of being alone, Jamie decides to close the print shop for the afternoon, and invites Claire upstairs into his private quarters. Claire is relieved to find that the rooms are sparse, and show no sign of a female presence. Their awkwardness returns, leaving them shy, and unsure of each other.

“It’s verra fine to see, ye Claire, he said softly “I thought I never.....well

There is desperate hope, and fear as he asks the inevitable question “The child “___


- and Claire taking a small packet from her clothing, is able to show Jamie photographs of their beloved daughter, from the chubby pictures of babyhood, through to the charm of adolescence – Brianna - a fine boned, and delicate replica of her father.

“Your daughter sent you this”, I said. I turned his blank face toward me and gently kissed him on the mouth.
______ “Her name?” “What did ye name her? _“Brianna” I said proudly_“Brianna, what an awful name for a wee Lassie”

"Brianna," he said softly. " Ye say it wrong, Sassenach. " Her name is Brianna". He said it with an odd Highland lilt, so that the first syllable was accented, the second barely pronounced. Bree-anah.


Emotions are running close to the surface; Jamie is confused, startled and completely overwhelmed by Claire’s appearance. And whilst Claire has had months to get used to the idea of her possible return, Jamie hasn’t, and it shows – but quietly, together at last, they share the child they have made, and take their first tentative steps into a shared future.....


Just a few thoughts on this emotional chapter :-

• Claire ever independent - shuns her travelling companions, and travels more like an independent 20c woman – she just can’t help attracting attention.
• Checking her reflection in the shop’s reflection was typically female – Claire isn’t normally worried about her appearance –but in this situation she obviously made an exception, and pandered to her vanity.
• Jamie was shocked and terrified at Claire’s startling and unexpected appearance – this reunion is probably more cataclysmic than their first meeting twenty years ago.
• Claire risked bringing the photographs of Brianna through the stones and thus brought the 20c into the 18c.
• Twenty years is a long time to be away from someone – what do you notice first –the similarities, or the differences that time has wrought?


I have to end this enormous summary with pure indulgence –my favourite quote from Voyager:

“He splayed a hand out over the photographs, trembling fingers not quite touching the shiny surface, and then he turned and leaned toward me, slowly, with the improbable grace of a tall tree falling. He buried his face in my shoulder and went very quietly and thoroughly to pieces.



Share your thoughts.

Sassenach, Thank you for a great summary.

if readers bookmark any passage in any of DG's books, this chapter must be one of them. Claire finds Jamie again! The emotions for Claire and Jamie run very high in this chapter for good reason.

Notice that DG inserts several humorous passages to relieve the tension.

The character of "Claire's hair" tries to steal the spotlight again!

How much symbolism should we attach to Claire tossing the used plastic wrap into the wind to be trampled in the traffic of Edinburgh? (I am not a Scot, but my thriftiness would have cautioned me to hold the plastic for some future use!)

I have often wondered "what if" about this chapter more than any other. What if Claire's arrival was two days later? (I could go on and on, but I'll let readers make up their own list.)

I have been separated from my spouse and children for a year as well as for shorter times. The 20th C (short of the instantaneous 21st C) did allow for communications to maintain our relationship. I cannot imagine finding the love of your life after a twenty year absence with no communication.

Sexual tension underlies their activities as they get reacquainted. They sit on his cot, but only to talk. (Just as well, the cot would hardly be adequate for amorous activities.) Each has a past. Each wonders what this discovery will mean for the future. Claire has made a commitment to share her future with Jamie, without knowing his present circumstances. Will the Jamie that she once knew commit to her again? Jamie for his part has secrets to protect and to be revealed only with great care. How fitting that Claire has brought pictures of Brianna which become the focus of their first conversation in twenty years!

If they can find the time, they have a lifetime to catch up on a lost lifetime!

What a beautiful summary, Sassenach - good thing the kleenex box was nearby, as I read the chapter and then your summary back to back - a sunshower, to be sure!

Repoman, I'm with you on the plastic wrap and keeping it, I would've probably tried to do the same thing!

What a lovely thing, that Claire could actually bring pictures of Bree to share with Jamie, and see his reaction (love the quote you included, at the end) to seeing her face, as she grew from a baby to a lovely young woman.

There are many more thoughts going through my mind, will have to come back soon and re-read and enjoy when my computer screen isn't so blurry . Thank you again for a lovely summary!

sass, this is probably my favorite single chapter in the series - definitely in this book. Thank you so much for including the wonderful quotes and I have to agree with your indulgence. When I was listening to the audio a week or so ago, I had tears streaming down my face.

I love that Claire checked her hair. And to be honest, I am thrilled that she saw the younger woman and gained her own confidence. She looked amazing for a woman at the time. It just goes to show what good nutrition, and modern conveniences such as moisturizer do for the appearance. She was pretty unsure to that point.

repo, I have this chapter bookmarked in very one of my books.

I think they each noticed what had changed in the other - they were both a bit older, hair maybe had a few gray strands, a few more lines on the face but what hadn't changed is even more relevant. They still felt the same passion and deep love, no matter the years. The spark just stayed lit over time and space and years...

Favorite chapter/favorite book,hands down . However, when Jamie says to her how many times he thought of seeing her in fever and lonliness, etc., you have to think that it crosses his mind why she didn't return sooner, No? He can't be thinking that time exists on the same parallel and she could have returned at an earlier point in his life without the conflict of Brianna's upbringing. That has to cross his mind as everything swirls around in it.

I love how Diana prepared us for this scene in an earlier chapter, when Joe Abernathy talks to Claire about the experience of going to a high school reunion:

"... you see all these people you haven't seen for twenty years, and there's this split second when you meet somebody you used to know, when you think, 'My God, he's changed!,' and then all of a sudden, he hasn't -- it's just like the twenty years weren't there. I mean ... you see they've got some gray, and some lines, and maybe they aren't just the same as they were, but two minutes past that shock, and you don't see it anymore. They're just the same people they always were, and you have to make yourself stand back a ways to see that they aren't eighteen anymore."

I'm sure, after the first moment, Claire didn't even notice Jamie's broken nose or deeper lines anymore. It was just Jamie, just himself, exactly as she wanted. (Sigh...)

I'm so glad to be rereading this. On my first pass through, when I gulped it all down as fast as possible, I lost sight of the fact that Jamie had no warning, no preparation, and no expectation that he'd ever see Claire again, and repeatedly felt rather annoyed with Jamie (um, you just got your wife back after 20 years and you're running out to see Mr. Willoughby? Really?) I wanted so badly for them to leave the world behind and have a completely romantic (and sexy!) reunion, never leaving each other's arms for days on end. But of course, Jamie has a life when Claire reappears. There's Mr. Willoughby and all the other aspects of his world that won't go away just because he has Claire.

I think the little things like Claire checking out her reflection are part of what makes us all relate to these books so deeply. Who wouldn't feel the need for some reassurance in those circumstances? 18th century, 20th century, or 21st century, I guess some things are universal.

Great summary and comments everyone.

I finally managed to finish the chapter (not a lot of reading time today!). I cried again reading about the reunion. I also loved the line you included at the end. And, some of the other humor lightening up a very emotional scene.

One thing that has always bugged me is that Claire ate the last PB&J just a bit before finding Jamie. I kept thinking that she should have saved a bit to let him try it because he would undoubtedly have enjoyed the chance to taste it. That and keeping the plastic. I know she wanted as little as possible that might make people suspicious of her, but since she had the photos, the plastic and sandwich were hardly that big a deal.

Loved the comment about landing under the rowan tree - "the Highland protection against witchcraft and enchantment" since she has had troubles with being thought a witch and now has a few things that might convince people of that again.

I thought DG did an excellent job of balancing the shyness and shock with the desire because this had to be an awkward, if wonderful reunion after 20 years, especially on Jamie's completely unexpected part. Claire at least had some time to think about it.

Beautiful summary, Sassenach! I cried more than a few tears reading it.

Jamie again proves his resilience and ability to roll with the punches, without having numbed and hardened his feelings and emotions. I love how he struggles to accept what must seem spooky-supernatural with Claire (her sudden appearance, photographs, her tales about 20th century life) because he loves her and wants to understand.

I am trying to picture an 18th century Scot finding the plastic wrap and wondering what kind of fearsome spider could have woven such a tough web.

I have never been able to forgive Mr. Willoughby for needing Jamie's attention at such an inopportune moment. Maybe if he appears in a future book and does something heroic (in addition to providing the acupuncture needles) I will warm up to him.

I've often wondered about the symbolism of the plastic wrap -incidentally it's called Cling Film in the UK -

When I first read the book I just thought - oh shame, about the wrap, that could have come in useful. and it's not like Claire to throw anything away -

but on re kilting - I am sure that DG wanted the plastic wrap to symbolise the future being thrown away in the wind -