In 1968 Inverness, Claire, Roger and Brianna begin the hunt for Jamie Fraser
Brianna goes to the Highland Clans offices to photocopy a list of documents Roger compiled. When she returns to the manse, she brings Fiona Graham items from the store to make scones and jokingly asks the housekeeper if they’re having haggis for dinner. Fiona scoffs and calls her a silly Sassenach. Brianna asks if she is a Sassenach and Fiona laughs and says “yes,” but she likes her just fine.
Claire asks Bree if she found anything at the Highland Clans library, and Brianna shows her a book of Highland legends and an entry inside entitled “Leap O’ the Cask.” The legend tells of a Jacobite Laird, who after Culloden hides in a cave for seven years while the English hunted the Highlands for the supporters of Charles Stuart. The Laird’s tenants only refer to him as the “Dunbonnet” to avoid giving him away to the English patrols. One day, a boy bringing a cask of ale to the Laird’s cave met a group of English dragoons and when the boy refuses to answer the soldier’s questions, they attack him, and he drops the cask into the burn below. Brianna shows them a map of the Highlands indicating the area is near Lallybroch.
Next, they find Lord Melton’s journal where he describes how in order to repay his brother John’s honor he felt he had to spare Jamie’s life and removed his name from the list of traitors executed at the farmhouse. He arranged transport for Jamie back to his home, feeling that with his infected leg wound, he probably wouldn’t survive the journey. When Brianna mentions the Dunbonnet, Fiona tells them that she heard about the legend through her grandmother Mrs. Graham. She tells them that afterward he lived for a time in the cave, there was a great famine and even though his tenants fared better than most, they were still starving. The Dunbonnet made a bold plan to be captured by the English since there was a high price on his head since he’d been a great warrior for the Prince. They tried him for treason and sent him to prison and the Laird’s tenants were saved by the gold. Roger is happy to hear the news Jamie went to prison, because that means he can find him through the records, which he does.
They find that Jamie had been sent to Ardsmuir Prison and when it was converted into a permanent garrison, the prisoners who built it were all, except for Jamie Fraser, transported to the British colonies in America. The record indicated Jamie had been paroled to a place named online installment loan bad credit Iowa Helwater. They track the lead down and find a royal warrant of parole dated 1764 and signed by George III.
Brianna says that the Laird must be Red Jamie because of the dull brown bonnet he wore to hide his red hair
Claire leaves Brianna in Scotland as she travels back to Boston to settle her affairs. When she returns, they tell her that they found the Deed of Sassine which Jamie signed over his property to his nephew Young Jamie witnessed and signed by Murtagh Fraser and Claire herself. They also found a journal called Forrester’s published by one Alexander Malcolm, Jamie’s two middle names. The journal was published in Edinburgh in 1765, almost twenty years after Claire had left Jamie. Bree tells Claire that if time moves parallel as they believe it does, she can go back to him.
Back at the manse, Claire tells them both how much she’ll miss them and retires to her room for her final preparations
Near Samhain, the trio eats a quiet supper, knowing the time for Claire to leave them is quickly approaching. Roger asks Claire to go outside the pub with her eyes closed and then tell them what the first thing she sees is. While she does, Roger explains to Brianna that it’s an old custom at Samhain and that the first thing you see is an omen for the future. Claire runs into a policeman, and Roger says that’s a good sign. To see a man coming toward you on Samhain means you’ll find what you seek.
