Outlander Book Club: Voyager Chapter 30 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
Everyone heads to Arbroath. Jamie needs to do the bit of business that has clearly been in the works for a few months considering how long it would take for letters to pass between everyone.
Jamie wanted Claire and Young Ian to wait in an inn not too far from the spot for the business. However, that inn has been burned to the ground. Nobody really talks about why that happened or even wonders about whether anyone was in there. It’s just stated that the inn no longer stands there and Claire and Young Ian won’t be able to stay there for safety. They’ll have to go with him.
It turns out Young Ian was hoping for this. Jamie smells gunpowder and it’s not long before we find out why. Young Ian has brought a pistol with him.
Jamie is angry. Nobody has pistols or even a knife. It’s a hanging offense to fire against the Crown’s men, and there is a chance excisemen will show up. They don’t want anyone risking their necks. Young Ian says that because he’s so young he’d probably just be transported. Sure, but that’s not a good thing either!
We get this look at how naive this young boy still is. However, it’s also clear that he wants to do more than just work on a farm all his life. He’s one of those who wants to experience the world, and the idea of transportation to the Colonies doesn’t seem all that bad to him.
Young Ian is told to look after his auntie, although Jamie gives Claire a look to make sure she looks out for Young Ian. There’s a moment in this chapter that makes me think back to the first Outlander book when there’s the raid during the rent party. Jamie gives Murtagh a look that means watch out for Claire.
Jamie puts Claire’s life in Murtagh’s life in the first book and now puts Claire’s life in Young Ian’s hands. It shows that he knows Young Ian is somewhat capable. If he can’t look out for his wife then he wants someone he knows the way of the world to get her back to Lallybroch.
Of course, things do go wrong. Everyone is forced to flee, with Claire and Young Ian running off together. While they’re on the run, they hear voices of two men waiting in an ambush. The two men talk about the abbey, and Young Ian shares that it’s where everyone will meet up at the end of this now they’ve been split up.
Young Ian needs to get to the abbey to warn everyone while Claire deals with the two men in the trees. And that’s where we stop.