Voyager: Part Five

Chapter 31: Smugglers' Moon

© Diana Gabaldon 1994


Please discuss Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager ONLY in this thread. Thanks!

The SPOILER Thread can be found HERE



Walking alone in the dark, Claire is aware of the strangeness of her surroundings, and is therefore not surprised when she is grabbed. However, she is fully able to defend herself, and does so with considerable panache, much to the consternation of her would be attackers. A well aimed kick in the testicles temporarily debilitates one of them, and yet Claire is not particularly surprised when she hears Jamie’s voice in her ear, but then realises that she has incapacitated one of her attackers – Fergus is lying in a heap on the floor.

Claire seeks to warn Jamie that there are excisemen in the vicinity, and is somewhat surprised when Jamie shouts out in to the dark the names of some his men. Shuffling shapes appear from their hiding places and Claire feels foolish that she has mistaken these for excisemen. Claire recounts her night’s experience, and Jamie taking a lighted torch goes off to search the area. After a long wait he is heard to call out to the waiting crew to “Come along, then” –


Jamie was found to be standing near a large Alder, and behind him was a ghastly vision of man hanging. The man is identified as Thomas Oakie, an exciseman with a warrant for the arrest of Jamie and his men. Realising that he will probably be blamed for the impromptu hanging, Jamie offers his men money in lieu of the failed cargo, and loss of earnings. - “We’ll tarry no longer “–

The smugglers melt away into the night, leaving behind Jamie, Claire and Fergus.

Claire suddenly remembers that Ian was making for the abbey, and amuses Jamie and Fergus when she tells them which direction Ian headed. It was the wrong way, and Jamie decides to head out to meet him when they all hear a sudden rustling in the shrubbery - Ian emerges, eyes wide with excitement, calling out a warning that there are excisemen about – with an arm around young Ian’s shoulder, Jamie gently moves him so he won’t see the gruesome sight of the hanged man and makes a declaration...


Let’s go”, he said, his voice calm in the dark. “Mr Willoughby’s down the road wi’ the horses, we’ll be in the Highlands by dawn”.



• Claire is as usual willing and able to defend herself against her would be attackers – is she foolhardy or brave?
• Here again we see Jamie in control of a situation that has escalated beyond the ordinary, and yet his main concern is for his men, and how they will cope with loss of earnings.
• His gentle handling of young Ian by turning him away from the gruesome hanging shows Jamie in paternalistic mode yet again.
• Off to the Highlands – Jamie must have considered what this may uncover but surely realises for the moment that home is the lesser of several evils.


When the going gets tough ......the tough go to Lallybroch.......




More about Alders HERE


More about Smugglers HERE

Thanks for the recap!

Your question:
• Claire is as usual willing and able to defend herself against her would be attackers – is she foolhardy or brave?

finally made something click for me. When Claire started off down the road, it reminded me of how she left the grove in Outlander (when Jamie told her to stay put) to try to make her way back to Craigh na Dun, which didn't end so well for her.

Brave? Well, yes... but wandering off alone and not following Jamie's instructions generally doesn't have good consequences. I often think that Claire perceives herself to be more indestructible than she actually is, and doesn't stop to think through where she may end up (and who will have to risk his handsome neck to rescue her).

I have mixed feelings about how Jamie handles the situation with Ian. He obviously wants to protect Ian, so he guides him away from the hanging man... and yet he took him to a potentially dangerous rendezvous...

Further, he let Ian stay in Edinburgh where Jamie KNEW there would be trouble. He clearly cares for him, but I think sometimes his actions toward Ian are a bit misguided...

Although Jamie acts like he is treating Ian as his own son, you have to wonder if he would want his own son in the situations that Ian finds himself. As for Claire, the whole walking through time has to make her feel a little surreal in this new environment/time.

It really is only a few days (a week?) after Claire has returned through the stones, so things are undoubtedly a little surreal still. Especially with all the rather unexpected changes (smuggling, brothels, etc).

I think Claire is definitely brave. If I remember from the previous chapter, she was walking down the road to try to distract the excisemen to allow Jamie's men to get away safely. That was likely foolhardy, but I think she felt she had to do something to give Ian time to warn the men (although, alas, he went in the wrong direction).

Also, in the previous chapter, there were two excisemen talking, right? Has enough time passed that one of them hanged the other, and if so, why? Or is this a different guy? If the latter, then where are the original two? There are so many little details that are confusing with the whole smuggling, excisemen stuff. Like the guy Mr. Willoughby killed back at the brothel (who was he?). And, what's the deal with the hanged man?

To be fair, Jamie did not intend to have Ian in the middle of this. Ian and Claire were intended to be waiting at an inn, which should have been reasonably safe. It's just that the inn no longer existed and there wasn't anywhere else to leave them.

ABL, Jamie NEVER intends that anyone will be unsafe...

Jamie is a danger magnet- he attracts danger and bad things always seem to happen around him. He generally handles the situations well- but still- wouldn't he realize that he attracts danger?

I think the same could be said of Claire - she's a danger magnet and things seem to happen around her. And, Jamie indicated that about Young Ian too. So, maybe with those three in the same general area, there really is no help for it.

Yep, the three of them together create quite a stir. Portent for things to come?

But things only happen to Claire when she is in the past with Jamie! When she is in the 20th century with Frank, things seem relatively calm.I can see that the 18th century is exponentially more dangerous than Claire's original time...and maybe she doesn't view it with the proper gravity. But still, you'd think if she were the magnet, bad things would happen to her in both times?

I wonder if Claire is really such a danger magnet in Jamie's time, or it's just by contrast with 20th century standards. It was so much easier, for example, to die of injury or illness in the 18th century, not to mention no modern standards of law enforcement, no protection from ethnic or religious discrimination, no women's rights. Probably most women in the 18th century encountered some form of violence or peril pretty regularly in their lives... and that's not to mention the dangers from seemingly simple things like poor nutrition, childbirth, infections, etc.

Not to downplay what Claire goes through at all! I do admire her for walking into the past intentionally, as opposed to her first, accidental trip through the stones. This time around, she was fully aware of not just the conveniences like running water, but also the safety net of modern medicine, that she'd be leaving behind. It's just that I'm not sure that she encounters more than her share of danger, given where, when and with whom she's living. (I hope this makes sense -- it does in my head, but I'm not sure if I'm expressing it all that well...)

Claire's plucky nature saw her through a most unusual childhood (coping with being suddenly orphaned and then flat refusing to be placed at boarding school, adventures all over the world with a bachelor uncle). Add to that the horror and danger of being in England and a combat nurse during WWII with bombs constantly falling. If not for this background, she would likely have not been able to cope with the dire straits of 18th century life and the wild adventures she faced with danger-magnet Jamie. Their marriage wouldn't have amounted to much if she had been tucked away somewhere relatively safe while he had these adventures without her.

I'm always amazed by Claire's actions. I'm usually thinking her actions are "foolhardy" but then things always work out for her, thus brave(?).

I have to agree with ABL on the amount of confusion in that scene. During my first read of that scene I had to accept everything at face-value because I had no idea what was going on. Hahaha!

• Off to the Highlands – Jamie must have considered what this may uncover but surely realises for the moment that home is the lesser of several evils.


When the going gets tough ......the tough go to Lallybroch.......

That could be a very good t-shirt logo, Sassenach! Thanks for the great summary!

Claire sure is a trouble-magnet, especially when combined with Young Ian now that I think of it, great obso, Yolie! Combine those two in a situation with Jamie, and "Boom"!

Taking to the heather, like a true Highlander, must have been instinct for Jamie - he already knew the good hiding places, and where better to hide than in plain sight...plus he set a whole 'nother set of things into motion, but that comes later! Getting Claire out of Edinburgh, plus getting Young Ian home safely to Jenny looked like they were high on his priority list.

The way that Jamie, Claire and Young Ian are bonding together is wonderful, it's as if she's been his Auntie right along with his Uncle for years.

Ian probably loves Jamie so much that he would love anyone that Jamie did. Also, I can see that Ian would have been fascinated to finally meet and get to know this woman of mystery that is probably legend in his family, no?