An echo in the bone

Scots/Scotch/Scottish

As noted elsewhere (Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, see Author’s Notes), in the eighteenth century (and indeed, well into the mid-twentieth century), the word “Scotch” and its variants (e.g., “Scotchman”) were commonly used (by both English people and Scots) to describe an inhabitant of Scotland. The terms “Scottish” and “Scots” were also occasionally used, though less common.

Typos and Terminology

There may be an impulse to regard the term “mess-kid” (as used in Part Three of this book) as a typographical error. It’s not. A mess-kid was a shallow, circular bucket in which sailors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were served their food. A mess-kit, on the other hand, referred to the utensils carried and used by a soldier.

By the same token, while “crotch” is the usual American English term, the older form, “crutch,” would have been used in eighteenth-century English-English usage. Which is not to say there aren’t any typographical errors in this book (despite the heroic efforts of Ms. Kathy Lord, the copy editor; the alerts of various friends and translators who read the manuscript in chunks; and a fair amount of diligence by myself, these things happen) but these particular terms aren’t.

Saratoga

A tremendous amount of historical research goes into a book like this (I am often bemused by letters from people telling me they’d visited a museum, seen some eighteenth-century artifacts, and been struck all a-heap by discovering that I hadn’t just made it all up!), and while there isn’t room to acknowledge or list even a fraction of the sources I’ve used, I did want to mention one specific book.

The two battles of Saratoga were historically important, remarkably dramatic, and very complex, both in the logistics of the battles and in the troop movements and politics that led up to them. I was fortunate to find, early on in my researches, Richard M. Ketchum’s Saratoga, which is an amazingly well-done portrait of the battles, the background, and the plethora of colorful individuals who took part. I just wanted to recommend this book to those of you with a deeper interest in the historical aspects, as these could only be touched on lightly in the context of a novel.

Loch Errochty and Tu

During the 1950s and ’60s, a great hydroelectric scheme was implemented in the Scottish Highlands. The work of a great many “tu

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DIANA GABALDON is the New York Times bestselling author of the wildly popular Outlander novels—Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, and A Breath of Snow and Ashes (for which she won a Quill Award and the Corine International Book Prize)—and one work of nonfiction, The Outlandish Companion, as well as the bestselling series featuring Lord John Grey, a character she introduced in Voyager. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

www.dianagabaldon.com

An Echo in the Bone is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

DELACORTE PRESS is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

eISBN: 978-0-440-33887-1

www.bantamdell.com

v3.0

Table of Contents

Prologue

A Troubling of the Waters

SOMETIMES THEY’RE REALLY DEAD

AND SOMETIMES THEY AREN’T

LIFE FOR LIFE

NOT YET AWHILE

MORALITY FOR TIME-TRAVELERS

Blood, Sweat, and Pickles

LONG ISLAND

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

SPRING THAW

A KNIFE THAT KNOWS MY HAND

FIRESHIP

TRANSVERSE LIE

ENOUGH

UNREST

DELICATE MATTERS

THE BLACK CHAMBER

UNARMED CONFLICT

WEE DEMONS

PULLING TEETH

AE FOND KISS

I REGRET …

THE MINISTER’S CAT

FLUTTERBY

Privateer

CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE FRONT

JOYEUX NÖEL

THE BOSOM OF THE DEEP

STAG AT BAY

TUNNEL TIGERS

HILLTOPS

CONVERSATION WITH A HEADMASTER

SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT

A GUIDED TOUR THROUGH THE CHAMBERS OF THE HEART

Conjunction

A FLURRY OF SUSPICION

THE PLOT THICKENS

PSALMS, 30

TICONDEROGA

THE GREAT DISMAL

PURGATORY

PLAIN SPEECH

A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE

THE BLESSING OF BRIDE AND OF MICHAEL

SHELTER FROM THE STORM

To the Precipice

CROSSROAD

COUNTDOWN

FRIENDS

THREE ARROWS

LEY LINES

HIGH PLACES

HENRY

RESERVATIONS

EXODUS

THE BRITISH ARE COMING

CONFLAGRATION

MOUNT INDEPENDENCE

RETURN OF THE NATIVE

RETREAT

WHILE STILL ALIVE

THE DESERTER GAME

INDEPENDENCE DAY

BATTLE OF BENNINGTON

DESERTER GAME, ROUND II

NO BETTER COMPANION THAN THE RIFLE

ONE JUST MAN

SEPARATED FOREVER FROM MY FRIENDS AND KIN

A GENTLEMAN CALLER

HAT TRICK

DEATHBED

GREASIER THAN GREASE

DESPOILER

TERMS OF SURRENDER

SANCTUARY

Coming Home

A STATE OF CONFLICT

THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

ONE EWE LAMB RETURNS TO THE FOLD

TWENTY-TWENTY

SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI

BY THE WIND GRIEVED

MEMORARAE

OLD DEBTS

THE CAVE

OENOMANCY

PURGATORY II

DISPOSITIONS

COUNTING SHEEP

THE RIGHT OF IT

Reap the Whirlwind

SON OF A WITCH

VALLEY FORGE

SEVERANCE AND REUNION

RATHER MESSY

INK-STAINED WRETCH

ARMED WITH DIAMONDS AND WITH STEEL

FOOTSTEPS

INDEPENDENCE DAY, II

A SERIES OF SHORT, SHARP SHOCKS

THE PATHS OF DEATH

NUMBNESS

FIREFLY

NEXUS

MISCHIANZA

A BUTTERFLY IN A BUTCHER’S YARD

LADY IN WAITING

REDIVIVUS

BRED IN THE BONE

THE HOUR OF THE WOLF

Author’s Notes