Outlander Book Club: An Echo in the Bone Chapter 37 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
The chapter starts with William trying to survive. He’s still lost in the swamp, and he’s suffering to tell the difference between truth and reality. This is his purgatory, and I love that he thinks about it as purgatory when this is a Catholic thing. He’s been raised Protestant, so you would think that he wouldn’t consider it all that much. Jamie did have a role in this in the past.
The past is about to come back, too. While out in the wilderness, a snake attacks. William manages to get rid of it, but then some Indians turn up. They’re the ones who want to kidnap and sell William, and fortunately, the snake coming back puts a small stop to that. William is able to get away, but then he runs into a wolf and an Indian.
That’s okay! Young Ian and Rollo are the two he runs into, and we see this great reunion as Ian realizes who he has come across. It’s all just in time, too. The Indians catch up to William as he runs off. Ian is able to get the Indians away, and now we get a real reunion.
William doesn’t immediately recognize Young Ian, but Ian definitely recognizes him. There’s this reminder of Drums of Autumn when William fell into the privy and of the man at Fraser’s Ridge, but it’s going to be some time before William gets to meet Jamie.
Ian has turned up just in time. He’s able to treat William’s wounds, removing the splinter from the previous chapter to help the body heal. There is also some great conversation between the two of them as they talk about William screaming and his stubbornness. There is also a comment about William’s beard, which is red. It turns out that while most of his hair is chestnut, his beard and private areas are red. We all know what that means. I can’t remember if Ian knows the truth at this point, but I think he is figuring it out if he doesn’t.
William immediately trusts Ian during this chapter. He knows Ian has a connection to Mac, the groom from his past, and he’s already met Ian before. I love that we see that there is a chance he doesn’t have to be lonely if he doesn’t want to be.
There’s also a chance for William to ask Ian questions about the Mohawk and Sir Henry Washington. We get more details of William’s tasks and the lies he’s been told so far. There’s more of this to come.
In the end, they come across an Indian called Glutton. This is a friend, and William is told to choose his spirit animal. I’m not sure why he’s told to choose it when this hasn’t been the case in the past. He ends up choosing a bear, though.