An echo in the bone - Gabaldon Diana (читать книги TXT) 📗

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Diana convertfileonline.com

201408_19_13_34_16_744

Also by Diana Gabaldon

(in order of publication)

THE OUTLANDER SERIES

OUTLANDER

DRAGONFLY IN AMBER

VOYAGER

DRUMS OF AUTUMN

THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION

(nonfiction)

THE FIERY CROSS

A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES

THE LORD JOHN SERIES

LORD JOHN AND THE PRIVATE MATTER

LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE

LORD JOHN AND THE HAND OF DEVILS

To all my good dogs:

Penny Louise

Tipper John

John

Flip

Archie and Ed

Tippy

Spots

Emily

Ajax

Molly

Gus

Homer and JJ

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It takes me a good three years to write one of these books, during which time I constantly ask people questions, and during which time helpful people offer me fascinating bits of information that I didn’t think to ask for. I’ll never remember them all, but think of them all with enormous gratitude.In addition, I wish to offer grateful thanks to …

… John Flicker and Bill Massey, my editors, both gentlemen of gall and kidney, who coped nobly with a book written in pieces (lots of pieces), and an author who lives dangerously.… Danny Baror and Russell Galen, my literary agents, two gentlemen literally worth their weight in gold—which is saying something in these recessionary days.… Kathy Lord, heroic copy editor, and Virginia Norey, book designer (aka “the book goddess”), who are jointly responsible for the beauty and read ability of this book.… Vincent La Scala and the other cruelly used members of the production crew, who succeeded in getting this book into print on time against looooong odds.… Steven Lopata for his vivid description of being chased overland by a cottonmouth—as well as the poetic description of what copperheads smell like (“A combination of that snakehouse smell from the zoo and rotten cucumbers”).… Catherine MacGregor and Catherine-Ann MacPhee for Gaidhlig translations and help in the subtleties of Gaelic usage. Also Katie Beggs and various unsung but much appreciated members of the International Gaelic Mafia.… Tess the nurse, Dr. Amarilis Iscold, Sarah Meir (Certified Nurse Midwife), and a number of other helpful medical professionals, for advice on matters medical, picturesque maladies, and horrifying surgical details.… Janet McConnaughey for OEDILF (Omnificant English Dictionary in Limerick Form) entries, being the Muse of Bloody Axes, and drawing my attention to exploding cypress trees.… Larry Tuohy (and others) for telling me what a Spitfire pilot’s flight jacket looked like.… Ron Parker, Helen, Esme and Lesley, for ’elp with the ’airy ape.… Beth and Matthew Shope and Jo Bourne for useful information regarding the Religious Society of Friends. Any inaccuracies are definitely my fault.… Jari Backman, for his detailed time lines and excerpt listings, and for help with the night sky and which stars are visible in Inverness and Fraser’s Ridge.… Katrina Stibohar for her exquisitely detailed lists of who was born when and What Happened to Everybody then. Also to the hordes of kindly trivia freaks who are always on hand to tell me how old someone is, or whether Lord John met Fergus when he had the measles.… Pamela Patchet Hamilton (and Buddy) for a nose-wrenchingly vivid description of a close-range skunking.… Karen Henry, Czarina of Traffic, who keeps my folder in the Compuserve Books and Writers Community tidy and the inhabitants diplomatically herded. (http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=start&webtag = ws-books)… Nikki Rowe and her daughter Caitlin, for the wonderful YouTube channel they created for me (http://www.youtube.com/user/voyagesoftheartemis—for those who want to see whether I really do sound like Donald Duck when I talk).… Rosana Madrid Gatti, my web-mistress, for prompt and faithful updates and imaginative design.… Susan Butler, for constant logistic support, dog sleepovers, keeping me supplied with black-ink cartridges, and for her brilliant suggestion regarding Jem.… Allene Edwards, Catherine MacGregor, and Susan Butler, for proof reading and Extremely Helpful (if eyeball-numbing) nitpicking.… Shirley Williams for the Moravian cookies and vistas of New Bern.… Becky Morgan for the historical cookbooks.… my greatgrandfather, Stanley Sykes, for Jamie’s line about marksmanship.… Bev LaFrance, Carol Krenz, and many others for help with French. Also Florence the translator, Peter Berndt, and Gilbert Sureau for the nice distinctions between the French Lord’s Prayer of 1966 (accorde-lui) versus the earlier, more formal version (accordes-lui).… John S. Kruszka, for the proper spelling and pronunciation of “Kosciuszko” (it’s “kohs-CHOOSH-koh,” in case you wondered; nobody in the Revolution could pronounce it, either—they really did all call him “Kos”).… the Ladies of Lallybroch, for continuous support and Really Interesting Gifts.… my husband, because he knows fine what a man is for, too.… Alex Krislov, Janet McConnaughey, and Margaret Campbell, sysops of the Compuserve Books and Writers Community, and the many, many, many helpful people who roam through the site daily, offering observations, information, and general entertainment.… Alfred Publishing for permission to quote from the lyrics to “Tighten Up,” by Archie Bell and the Drells.“The White Swan,” taken from Carmina Gadelica, is reproduced by kind permission of Floris Books.

Contents

Prologue

PART ONE

A Troubling of the Waters

1. SOMETIMES THEY’RE REALLY DEAD

2. AND SOMETIMES THEY AREN’T

3. LIFE FOR LIFE

4. NOT YET AWHILE

5. MORALITY FOR TIME-TRAVELERS

PART TWO

Blood, Sweat, and Pickles

6. LONG ISLAND

7. AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

8. SPRING THAW

9. A KNIFE THAT KNOWS MY HAND

10. FIRESHIP

11. TRANSVERSE LIE

12. ENOUGH

13. UNREST

14. DELICATE MATTERS

15. THE BLACK CHAMBER

16. UNARMED CONFLICT

17. WEE DEMONS

18. PULLING TEETH

19. AE FOND KISS

20. I REGRET …

21. THE MINISTER’S CAT

22. FLUTTERBY

PART THREE

Privateer

23. CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE FRONT

24. JOYEUX NOEL

25. THE BOSOM OF THE DEEP

26. STAG AT BAY

27. TUNNEL TIGERS

28. HILLTOPS

29. CONVERSATION WITH A HEADMASTER

30. SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT

31. A GUIDED TOUR THROUGH THE CHAMBERS OF THE HEART

PART FOUR

Conjunction

32. A FLURRY OF SUSPICION

33. THE PLOT THICKENS

34. PSALMS, 30

35. TICONDEROGA

36. THE GREAT DISMAL

37. PURGATORY

38. PLAIN SPEECH

39. A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE

40. THE BLESSING OF BRIDE AND OF MICHAEL

41. SHELTER FROM THE STORM

PART FIVE

To the Precipice

42. CROSSROAD

43. COUNTDOWN

44. FRIENDS

45. THREE ARROWS

46. LEY LINES

47. HIGH PLACES

48. HENRY

49. RESERVATIONS

50. EXODUS

51. THE BRITISH ARE COMING

52. CONFLAGRATION

53. MOUNT INDEPENDENCE

54. RETURN OF THE NATIVE

55. RETREAT

56. WHILE STILL ALIVE

57. THE DESERTER GAME

58. INDEPENDENCE DAY

59. BATTLE OF BENNINGTON

60. DESERTER GAME, ROUND II

61. NO BETTER COMPANION THAN THE RIFLE

62. ONE JUST MAN

63. SEPARATED FOREVER FROM MY FRIENDS AND KIN

64. A GENTLEMAN CALLER

65. HAT TRICK

66. DEATHBED

67. GREASIER THAN GREASE

68. DESPOILER

69. TERMS OF SURRENDER

70. SANCTUARY

PART SIX

Coming Home

71. A STATE OF CONFLICT