Outlander Homepage Originals
It wasn’t what she had planned…
It wasn’t what she had planned.
She remembered the 1940s
And the train that had pulled away from the station
Parting her from her husband, even as she promised to return.
In the new reality of her 18th century life
The plan of telling her real story
Became a daydream not worth the risk.
So she began her work as a healer
Curing the ills of the folk at Leoch.
It wasn’t what she had planned.
But the talk in the kitchens revealed the death of a child
A visit to the Black Kirk his last boyhood adventure.
And she learned of the superstitions that those around her believed,
Crossing themselves against demons and the Devil himself.
It wasn’t what she had planned.
But she answered the Laird’s summons,
Having no choice but to be of service
As she plotted her next move.
She watched the tailor cower under angry words and threats
All for the sin of making a frock coat that hid an infirmity.
Hesitantly, she began her own work
Massaging a spine which eased the pain
And led to an invitation.
It wasn’t what she had planned.
The Laird’s guest at a concert from the Bard
And a meeting with a young girl infatuated by a man who ignored youthful flirtation.
A threeway conversation began
But she drank too much Rhenish
And was grateful for his gallantry
As he escorted her back to the surgery
To protect her reputation.
It wasn’t what she had planned
But she found herself suddenly attracted
When checking his wound brought them close together
Intense looks and slow smiles the beginning of a delicate dance.
It wasn’t what she had planned
But news of an exorcism
Led to a troubling mystery
Illness or possession?
Magic explaining all was a difficult pill to swallow.
Yet she soon witnessed superstition at work
As a boy lay at the mercy
Of the fervent incantations of Father Bain.
Her own offers of help falling upon deaf ears.
It wasn’t what she had planned
When she teased the man the next morning,
He had succumbed to young charms after all
And she found herself admonished by his Godfather
Subsequent guilt released her emotions
But her tears were interrupted by an unexpected offer.
It wasn’t what she had planned
But while visiting in the village
She watched feminine wiles at work
A boy’s hand saved, the punishment still too strict
Soon her own story became the curiosity
With the wiles put to work on her instead,
As she was pressed to tell all.
It wasn’t what she had planned
But after he came to collect her
They freed the boy and visited the Kirk.
There at the German ruin,
The mystery was solved amidst conversation
Not demons at all, but poison
Lily of the valley mistaken for wood garlic.
It wasn’t what she had planned
But she quickly made an enemy
Confronting the Father
And curing the boy in front of his grateful family
A warning issued amongst relatives’ tears: the vapours of Hell were upon her.
It wasn’t what she had planned.
For now she had a reputation
Too great for her to easily escape
Hopeless feelings led to more Rhenish
And the wish for oblivion amidst the bard’s song.
But as she sat next to him in the candlelight,
He translated the tale that was somehow her own
And hope bloomed anew.
