An Echo in the Bone Read online

  To all my good dogs:

  Penny Louise

  Tipper John

  John

  Flip

  Archie and Ed

  Tippy

  Spots

  Emily

  Ajax

  Molly

  Gus

  Homer and JJ

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  It takes me a good three years to write one of these books, during which time I constantly ask people questions, and during which time helpful people offer me fascinating bits of information that I didn’t think to ask for. I’ll never remember them all, but think of them all with enormous gratitude.

  In addition, I wish to offer grateful thanks to …

  … John Flicker and Bill Massey, my editors, both gentlemen of gall and kidney, who coped nobly with a book written in pieces (lots of pieces), and an author who lives dangerously.

  … Danny Baror and Russell Galen, my literary agents, two gentlemen literally worth their weight in gold—which is saying something in these recessionary days.

  … Kathy Lord, heroic copy editor, and Virginia Norey, book designer (aka “the book goddess”), who are jointly responsible for the beauty and read ability of this book.

  … Vincent La Scala and the other cruelly used members of the production crew, who succeeded in getting this book into print on time against looooong odds.

  … Steven Lopata for his vivid description of being chased overland by a cottonmouth—as well as the poetic description of what copperheads smell like (“A combination of that snakehouse smell from the zoo and rotten cucumbers”).

  … Catherine MacGregor and Catherine-Ann MacPhee for Gàidhlig translations and help in the subtleties of Gaelic usage. Also Katie Beggs and various unsung but much appreciated members of the International Gaelic Mafia.

  … Tess the nurse, Dr. Amarilis Iscold, Sarah Meir (Certified Nurse Midwife), and a number of other helpful medical professionals, for advice on matters medical, picturesque maladies, and horrifying surgical details.

  … Janet McConnaughey for OEDILF (Omnificant English Dictionary in Limerick Form) entries, being the Muse of Bloody Axes, and drawing my attention to exploding cypress trees.

  … Larry Tuohy (and others) for telling me what a Spitfire pilot’s flight jacket looked like.

  … Ron Parker, Helen, Esmé and Lesley, for ’elp with the ’airy ape.

  … Beth and Matthew Shope and Jo Bourne for useful information regarding the Religious Society of Friends. Any inaccuracies are definitely my fault.

  … Jari Backman, for his detailed time lines and excerpt listings, and for help with the night sky and which stars are visible in Inverness and Fraser’s Ridge.

  … Katrina Stibohar for her exquisitely detailed lists of who was born when and What Happened to Everybody then. Also to the hordes of kindly trivia freaks who are always on hand to tell me how old someone is, or whether Lord John met Fergus when he had the measles.

  … Pamela Patchet Hamilton (and Buddy) for a nose-wrenchingly vivid description of a close-range skunking.

  … Karen Henry, Czarina of Traffic, who keeps my folder in the Compuserve Books and Writers Community tidy and the inhabitants diplomatically herded. (https://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=start&webtag = ws-books)

  … Nikki Rowe and her daughter Caitlin, for the wonderful YouTube channel they created for me (https://www.youtube.com/user/voyagesoftheartemis—for those who want to see whether I really do sound like Donald Duck when I talk).

  … Rosana Madrid Gatti, my web-mistress, for prompt and faithful updates and imaginative design.

  … Susan Butler, for constant logistic support, dog sleepovers, keeping me supplied with black-ink cartridges, and for her brilliant suggestion regarding Jem.

  … Allene Edwards, Catherine MacGregor, and Susan Butler, for proof reading and Extremely Helpful (if eyeball-numbing) nitpicking.

  … Shirley Williams for the Moravian cookies and vistas of New Bern.

  … Becky Morgan for the historical cookbooks.

  … my great-grandfather, Stanley Sykes, for Jamie’s line about marksmanship.

  … Bev LaFrance, Carol Krenz, and many others for help with French. Also Florence the translator, Peter Berndt, and Gilbert Sureau for the nice distinctions between the French Lord’s Prayer of 1966 (accorde-lui) versus the earlier, more formal version (accordes-lui).

  … John S. Kruszka, for the proper spelling and pronunciation of “Kościuszko” (it’s “kohs-CHOOSH-koh,” in case you wondered; nobody in the Revolution could pronounce it, either—they really did all call him “Kos”).

  … the Ladies of Lallybroch, for continuous support and Really Interesting Gifts.

  … my husband, because he knows fine what a man is for, too.

  … Alex Krislov, Janet McConnaughey, and Margaret Campbell, sysops of the Compuserve Books and Writers Community, and the many, many, many helpful people who roam through the site daily, offering observations, information, and general entertainment.

  … Alfred Publishing for permission to quote from the lyrics to “Tighten Up,” by Archie Bell and the Drells.

  “The White Swan,” taken from Carmina Gadelica, is reproduced by kind permission of Floris Books.

  Contents

  Prologue

  PART ONE

  A Troubling of the Waters

  1. SOMETIMES THEY’RE REALLY DEAD

  2. AND SOMETIMES THEY AREN’T

  3. LIFE FOR LIFE

  4. NOT YET AWHILE

  5. MORALITY FOR TIME-TRAVELERS

  PART TWO

  Blood, Sweat, and Pickles

  6. LONG ISLAND

  7. AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

  8. SPRING THAW

  9. A KNIFE THAT KNOWS MY HAND

  10. FIRESHIP

  11. TRANSVERSE LIE

  12. ENOUGH

  13. UNREST

  14. DELICATE MATTERS

  15. THE BLACK CHAMBER

  16. UNARMED CONFLICT

  17. WEE DEMONS

  18. PULLING TEETH

  19. AE FOND KISS

  20. I REGRET …

  21. THE MINISTER’S CAT

  22. FLUTTERBY

  PART THREE

  Privateer

  23. CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE FRONT

  24. JOYEUX NÖEL

  25. THE BOSOM OF THE DEEP

  26. STAG AT BAY

  27. TUNNEL TIGERS

  28. HILLTOPS

  29. CONVERSATION WITH A HEADMASTER

  30. SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT

  31. A GUIDED TOUR THROUGH THE CHAMBERS OF THE HEART

  PART FOUR

  Conjunction

  32. A FLURRY OF SUSPICION

  33. THE PLOT THICKENS

  34. PSALMS, 30

  35. TICONDEROGA

  36. THE GREAT DISMAL

  37. PURGATORY

  38. PLAIN SPEECH

  39. A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE

  40. THE BLESSING OF BRIDE AND OF MICHAEL

  41. SHELTER FROM THE STORM

  PART FIVE

  To the Precipice

  42. CROSSROAD

  43. COUNTDOWN

  44. FRIENDS

  45. THREE ARROWS

  46. LEY LINES

  47. HIGH PLACES

  48. HENRY

  49. RESERVATIONS

  50. EXODUS

  51. THE BRITISH ARE COMING

  52. CONFLAGRATION

  53. MOUNT INDEPENDENCE

  54. RETURN OF THE NATIVE

  55. RETREAT

  56. WHILE STILL ALIVE

  57. THE DESERTER GAME

  58. INDEPENDENCE DAY

  59. BATTLE OF BENNINGTON

  60. DESERTER GAME, ROUND II

  61. NO BETTER COMPANION THAN THE RIFLE

  62. ONE JUST
MAN

  63. SEPARATED FOREVER FROM MY FRIENDS AND KIN

  64. A GENTLEMAN CALLER

  65. HAT TRICK

  66. DEATHBED

  67. GREASIER THAN GREASE

  68. DESPOILER

  69. TERMS OF SURRENDER

  70. SANCTUARY

  PART SIX

  Coming Home

  71. A STATE OF CONFLICT

  72. THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

  73. ONE EWE LAMB RETURNS TO THE FOLD

  74. TWENTY-TWENTY

  75. SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI

  76. BY THE WIND GRIEVED

  77. MEMORARAE

  78. OLD DEBTS

  79. THE CAVE

  80. OENOMANCY

  81. PURGATORY II

  82. DISPOSITIONS

  83. COUNTING SHEEP

  84. THE RIGHT OF IT

  PART SEVEN

  Reap the Whirlwind

  85. SON OF A WITCH

  86. VALLEY FORGE

  87. SEVERANCE AND REUNION

  88. RATHER MESSY

  89. INK-STAINED WRETCH

  90. ARMED WITH DIAMONDS AND WITH STEEL

  91. FOOTSTEPS

  92. INDEPENDENCE DAY, II

  93. A SERIES OF SHORT, SHARP SHOCKS

  94. THE PATHS OF DEATH

  95. NUMBNESS

  96. FIREFLY

  97. NEXUS

  98. MISCHIANZA

  99. A BUTTERFLY IN A BUTCHER’S YARD

  100. LADY IN WAITING

  101. REDIVIVUS

  102. BRED IN THE BONE

  103. THE HOUR OF THE WOLF

  Author’s Notes

  PROLOGUE