Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 18 breakdown
Just looking at the Outlander chapter
We start the chapter with Claire wondering about Dougal telling Black Jack Randall that Claire has married Jamie. Of course, Dougal probably won’t give up the details of who Jamie is exactly, but it’s enough to make it clear that Claire is no longer a Scot.
When she finds out that Black Jack Randall isn’t going to cause too much of a racket about it, Claire muses that it wouldn’t be wise to cause a problem considering who she has now married. It makes her niece to Colum and Dougal and granddaughter to Lord Lovat. They are powerful people Black Jack Randall will not want to make major enemies of.
It doesn’t take long to move onto Claire spending time with the men. There’s a comfort within their storytelling and it feels like Claire is now becoming one of the group. She’s got a lot of good to say about them, including Murtagh’s singing voice and Rupert’s storytelling.
This is when the waterhorse story comes up. While telling the story, the horses become restless and Jamie notes that it means people are nearby. All the men start to move towards their weapons, ready to strike should they need to. And they do!
We find out in the chapter that the Grants have attacked. They’re only there for a bit of raiding and not really to harm anyone, so it’s all a bit of fun for the men. It is the most action they’ve seen throughout the rent party and they possibly needed to let off a little steam through the fight. And it may have been in retaliation of Rupert stealing the Grants’ cattle.
One thing I love during this chapter is the look Jamie gives Murtagh. Claire realizes during the fight that the look was to tell Murtagh where Claire was going to hide and to look out for her. There are no words needed. The two have a bond that is strong, and Murtagh is more than willing to take orders to protect Jamie’s wife.
I also love that Claire gets to see Dougal and Jamie fighting together. She sees how they have each other’s back and will keep protecting one another. We learned earlier in the book that Dougal taught Jamie how to fight, and that’s definitely clear in this chapter.
Claire has to bandage and stitch Dougal back up, giving us some essence of his weaknesses. He doesn’t mind blood, but not his own. However, he will remain calm and collected, even when in pain.
When the fighting is over and they all get some sleep, Ned learns that Claire has a knife that she doesn’t know how to use. This is when the men teach Claire how to stab a man, and it’s Rupert that does most of the teaching.
While they do laugh at her inabilities to use a knife and her attempts, it doesn’t feel like they’re going it to be mean. They are all having fun with the lesson, and it’s clear that they consider Claire one of them now. They trust her not to kill them all in their sleep. And it probably helps confirm that Claire definitely isn’t a spy because she would have known how to use a knife.