Outlander Book Club: A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 44 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
The chapter starts with Jamie getting to Bird and bargaining for Light’s wife. That didn’t take too long to do, but it later comes up that Bird is curious what Jamie will do with her. It’s not like he takes any of the women who Bird does send to him.
This conversation is with Alexander Cameron, a Scot known as “Scotchee” to the Cherokee people. He has been with the Cherokee since he was 15, and it’s clear that he has become part of the tribe. He is what Young Ian was starting to become.
Cameron explains that there are a few pockets of Tuscarora people. Light’s wife isn’t going to be the first taken. Light’s village isn’t the only one burned with people killed or taken as slaves. It really is the way of the land.
During the chapter, Jamie thinks back to Culloden. He gets a memory of a man called Alistair MacAllister dead on the battlefield. There’s also a vision of a hand, but Jamie can’t piece it all together just yet. He tries to forget what he can, and his brain is clearly trying to bring up some memories.
Later on, Jamie decides it’s time to tell Bird about what’s to come in the future. He’s able to pull it off that people he knows have some sort of “Sight.” They have shared that the Native American tribes will be taken away and promises broken. It won’t be King George’s people, but it will be white men. It’s the best way that Jamie can describe it without being too specific. If he’s too specific, there will be a lot more questions and Jamie could end up in some danger.
Bird and his people wonder if it will be French or Spanish. However, Jamie is settled that they are warned of something.
At the very end, Jamie is resting for the night. Bird sends women to him again. One decides to comb out his hair and encourages him to talk. The language and words don’t matter, but he needs to unburden himself. And so he does, talking of Culloden in Gaelic to people who don’t understand. There’s this sense of him being freed by the burdens and memories he’s carrying knowing that he’s speaking to people who will not judge.