Outlander Book Club: An Echo in the Bone Chapter 52 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter starts with Whitcomb returning. He has news about the British. That leads to Jamie being summoned to St. Clair’s house. It turns out that the scouts got a British prisoner, and this person is related to Jamie. It’s Brigadier Simon Fraser.

Fraser has given up some information about Burgoyne’s impending attack, and St. Clair decides it’s time to evacuate. He also wants to slaughter or free the animals. The idea is to make sure there are no supplies for the British in the fort, which would mean they would need to wait for supplies to come from Canada. It was a common tactic in war.

Jamie isn’t going to work with St. Clair on this. He’s choosing to stick with Claire. He refuses to see her wandering the wilderness with Mrs. Raven. He’s even willing to get into a boat if he has to.

The evacuation doesn’t go all that smoothly. There are thunderstorms and fires. It creates havoc for everyone.

Within all this, Claire wants to look out for her patients. She starts with Stebbings and Guinea Dick, who are happy to be able to go freely. Then she turns to Mr. Ormiston to give him tips on how to look after his leg. Ormiston asks her to give the boy Abram his lucky piece, but I really can’t recall who this boy is. It seems like something that should be big since the piece is 30 years old, but I don’t remember anything.

The two eventually come across Mr. Marsden during the chaos. He offers to steer the boat that Claire and Jamie will get on, but his men have disappeared. In the end, 18 people get into the canoe and off they go.

The ending is quite somber. Claire looks over at a bridge. Four volunteers need to destroy the bridge as the British come across it, and Jamie knows exactly what that means for everyone involved. It’s not good, and it’s a reminder of the darkness of war.