A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Marsali names her new son Henri-Christian. Many people try to come see the baby and gawk, but Claire keeps Marsali and her other children protected at her house. Fergus has stayed away since the birth.

Ian comes one day and tells Marsali about his own child. While living with the Mohawk, Ian’s wife, Emily, became pregnant. One night, he knew something was wrong, so he took her to the village elder women to help. Fearful of losing her, Ian ran into the woods, nearly naked. A wolf pack hunted him; Rollo helped defend Ian, and together they killed a wolf. They realize their pursuers aren’t a pack, but a pair, the pregnant female of which he’s just killed.

Eats Turtles, another Mohawk, finds Ian and tells him Emily is alive, but the baby girl has died. He tells Ian to take the wolves’ skins to wrap his son in someday. Ian ends the story by handing Marsali the wolf skins of the unborn pups to wrap Henri-Christian. He assures Marsali that Fergus will return.

Claire feeds her goat and finds Fergus sleeping in her stable. She tells him his son is perfectly healthy and of normal intelligence, but he remembers how dwarves were sold as babies to the brothel he grew up in. Those who escaped the brothel begged on the street and often met untimely deaths; their body parts were poached. Claire assures Fergus that neither she nor Jamie will let anything bad happen to his son.

But the child will be a dwarf forever […] At worst, they are seen as monstrous, children born of some demon who has lain with the woman. People stone them, burn them—sometimes the woman, too. In the mountain villages of France, a dwarf child would be left for the wolves (481).

Claire realizes that the prejudice and superstition around dwarves runs very deep, even within her own community. Fergus becomes hysterical, swinging his stump of an arm around, yelling that he is useless, and his son will be useless, as well.

Brianna sits with Marsali and Henri-Christian. Marsali works the loom Brianna has “invented” while Roger carves more “vrooms” for the kids. Fergus has been fighting men who say awful things about the new baby. Some have even wanted to burn Marsali and the rest of the children, too. A knock at the door brings one of the new tenants’ children to fetch Roger to get a devil out of the milk.

Roger follows the child to the McCallum residence. The father had fallen down the mountain while building the shaky cabin, leaving a pregnant Mrs. Amy McCallum and their children behind. Claire gave them some milk, noticing their near starvation. The Protestants didn’t trust her and had likely never seen cow’s milk before. To make matters worse, the young McCallum boy, Aiden, put a bullfrog in the bowl, which is why Mrs. McCallum thought there was a devil in it. Roger comforts her as she weeps, wondering why God took her to this place and then took her husband. Winter is upon them. Claire meditates on the dark time of year, the time of fire and wrestling chaos into comfort.

In November 1773, Crombie wakes Roger and Brianna at the crack of dawn; his mother-in-law, old Mrs. Wilson, has passed during the night. He wants Roger to say some words at her burial and wants Brianna to help lay out the body. They have breakfast at the Big House (Jamie’s and Claire’s) and borrow Jamie’s Protestant Bible. Old Mrs. Wilson was only five years older than Claire; a fact Claire carefully keeps hidden from her community of 18th-century emigrant colonizers. They already think of her as a witch.

As they approach, they hear the wailing of a bean-treim, a traditional Scottish mourning tradition. They go to the house where Mrs. Wilson is laid out and pay their respects. Roger gives a brief sermon and prayer. Claire wonders why they aren’t having a wake, as is usual custom. Jamie and Arch remark that Crombie didn’t like his mother-in-law and wants her in the ground as soon as possible. Towards the end of Roger’s prayer, Mrs. Wilson opens her eyes, to everyone’s shock.

Claire quickly examines her and determines she has an aortic aneurysm—explaining her lack of consciousness and coldness—that will burst at any minute. Mrs. Wilson rants at her son-in-law’s cheapness and the lack of a wake. Roger tries to calm everyone. The sounds of the bean-treim soothe her, and the sin-eater arrives. He’s an unknown man with an old injury to his eye and ribs. Claire and the sin-eater share a moment of odd connection before he does his duty, eating the bread and wine, and leaves. Mrs. Wilson forgives Crombie with her last words and dies. Claire feels the death within her and almost passes out.