Outlander Book Club: Book 2, Chapter 36 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

We start with Claire and Jamie on the road, heading out with men from Lallybroch to meet Charles’s army. During the night, a young boy attacks Jamie and attempts to kill him. That boy is William Grey, who doesn’t seem all that important right now.

Jamie has to figure out what to do with this guy. After all, they can’t let Grey head off back to his men, but Jamie also doesn’t want to kill him. Jamie also wants some information. So, he pretends that Claire is a hostage and Jamie will hurt her if Grey doesn’t talk.

With the information, Jamie sends a couple of men to take Grey towards where he said his men were with orders to tie the boy up if he’s right. Of course, in the night, Jamie’s men can’t help but head out to dismantle some of the cannons and make it harder for the Englishmen to reach Sir John Cope’s army at Prestonpans.

After that is taken care of, Jamie’s men head out to Prestonpans, where they meet with Lord George Murray. Jamie is off with Lord George, leaving Claire to figure out what to do. She writes to Jenny Cameron, who is around with her own men, and they arrange for a battlefield hospital to be set up ready for any of the injured.

Fergus has been told to stay with Claire, but he’s delighted when he gets to head off with someone to find Jamie. That someone knows the land, so will be able to help the Scots get around the boggy area to take on the English in a dawn assault.

There are still injuries, though. Claire tends to the wounded, some of them English and some of them Scottish. Jamie is injured with a horse stamping on him, so Claire needs to check that his kidneys are okay. He’s also been hit with a saber, but it’s not a life-threatening injury. When Charles sees the injury, he pales. This reminds Charles that he could lose friends during battles.

After the battle, Claire heads out to where the dead have been placed. She knows one man was sent to a church. He was alive when found but Claire knows that he will die of his injuries, so they get him to the church to allow him to give his last confession. Claire finds Jamie with Alex Kincaid out in the stars, where Jamie was with him. Jamie didn’t want Alex to die alone.

It’s a heartbreaking moment for the Frasers. However, as a reader, I did feel detached from the death. It’s something that I appreciated was changed slightly so the death felt more emotional on the screen. I’ll get to that.

Now it’s time to hear about the battle, which involved with Jamie nearly being caught by English centuries. Fortunately, Jamie had others around him. Jamie doesn’t recall much of the battle itself, but recalls the smells, the sounds, and how it was like an out of body experience for him. I think this foreshadows something, and I’ll get to that soon.

Once dawn arrives (something they’re waiting for to know it’s all over), Claire and Jamie are able to sleep. Before that, they have sex, which is something Jamie needs after a long battle.

This is just the first stage of the Jacobite rising.