Outlander Book Club: An Echo in the Bone Chapter 36 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

We start with William heading to the Dismal Swamp. He’s been here before, and his memories lead to him not really accepting the dangers of the place. It’s only while he’s there that he’s able to separate the good memories he has with the realities of the journey.

While on his journey, William thinks about how lonely he is. He’s always been lonely as an only child, and he’s just had to accept that. It does mean that he’s happy in his own thoughts, but he often finds ways to distract himself. He uses women to do that, which is so very much like a young adult male that I adore it. Of course, men haven’t changed throughout the years.

As he goes around the Dismal Swamp, he ends up losing his horse and everything that he’s come with. He’s lost and now completely alone, wandering through the woods. There’s a moment when he’s injured by a splinter, but he’s able to stop the bleeding for the time being. He decides to curl up in the roots of the trees for some sort of safety as the storm passes.

One of the benefits of being in the swamp before with Lord John Grey is that he knows that there is game. While he’s alone, he’s not completely helpless. He can catch some food, and that’s what he decides to do. He even thinks of Jamie at one point, although it’s as the groomsman on the estate and not as his father.

Fog causes a problem, though. It’s so thick that William can’t move forward. It’s like he’s trapped with just his thoughts and himself. However, we learn something interesting in this chapter. He can hear the rocks talking. This is something he’s heard before, and there was something about him hearing a noise in the past. Is it possible that William is a time traveler through his mother’s side, or is this a development of the gift that Jamie has?

The chapter ends with William still trying to survive. He knows that game means drinkable water. Now he needs to find that.