Brianna gets home to tell Roger about the tunnel in Outlander Book 7, Chapter 28
Outlander Book 7, Chapter 28 starts innocently enough, but it takes a bit of a darker turn when we get Roger alone.
Something that I love about this chapter is that we see Bree and Roger together. It’s not often we get these quiet and intimate moments between them, but we know that Roger once asked Jamie how to make sure he still wanted Brianna in the future. He wanted to turn “in love” to “love.” And that does take continuous effort.
Bree often seems aloof, though. In this chapter, we see that she sometimes does think of Roger. She just has a lot on her mind at the moment, just like any working mom.
Aftre their time together, we see Roger on his own. There’s a sense of danger within this chapter, and I do think it foreshadows things to come for the MacKenzie family. I’ll get to my thoughts on that matter in the foreshadowing section.
What about adapting this for the TV? I get a sense we’ll get some of the chapter adapted, and I’ll share my thoughts on that in the adaptation section.
Let’s dive into An Echo in the Bone Chapter 28.
Just the Outlander chapter
The chapter starts with Bree returning home after the day in the tunnels. She learns all about what happened to Jem and Mandy, and is understandably angry about both situations. Bree wants to find out why Jem was physically reprimanded, although Roger makes it clear that he should be the one to discuss the matter.
As for Mandy, Bree is angry that Roger would give her the champagne bottle. However, she also wonders why Mandy would throw it at the window. What prompted her to take such action? Roger didn’t consider this at first, but now he needs to.
However, their thoughts are interrupted with their own intimate moment. We get a chance to see them connect on a physical level, which is when we find out that Bree only wears underwear for Roger’s liking.
After this, Roger heads out. It’s when he feels a presence in the broch and thinks of spirits. He decides he’ll get a new hinge and padlock for the door at the broch.
We then get some time with Roger at the Dunbonnet cave, which he finds strangely inviting. There is an emptiness to the cave, but something is calling him in to offer protection. Could this be Jamie’s ghost? Roger certainly starts to think about his in-laws, and I love that he thinks of them as alive. One of the great things about time travel is that Roger knows somewhere in time they are alive. He imagines them then.
He then gets to the top of a hillside and thinks about the Iron Age fort Bree had told him about. It does lead to him seeing a sightless statue. There’s what looks like something that used to be a niche in the statue, and it certainly offers a sense of foreboding.
Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter
This chapter certainly seems to foreshadow the trouble that is to come. It’s not just about Roger’s searching and that need to find somewhere comfortable and safe. It’s also about Mandy and why she threw the champagne bottle.
With Roger not thinking too much about it, neither did we as a reader. It’s only as Bree mentions it that we start to wonder what was on the other side of the window. Jamie has already sensed danger coming through the window, and now we get it with Mandy. The MacKenzies aren’t safe.
Adapting An Echo in the Bone chapter
I would love to see some of this chapter adapted. I think we need to so that we get a sense that someone is watching the MacKenzies. I feel like it’s going to be important to set the scene for Rob Cameron’s inclusion in the story—and we know Rob Cameron is coming into the story.
I would also like to see the moment between Roger and Bree. We need those intimate moments between couples just to see that they still have a spark and some love for each other. We don’t get to see many between Roger and Bree, so I’m hoping some sense of safety in the 1980s will allow them to do that in Outlander Season 7.
What did you spot while reading An Echo in the Bone Chapter 28? Let us know in the comments below.
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