Brianna and Roger are settled into the ridge. There is a trailer outside where they’ve been living for the past two years. Their contractor has news about the bedrooms upstairs. They’ve changed the estimate because there is a lot more work to be done than they thought. It’s well beyond their means.

They need to consider the Jacobite gold!

Jamie, Ian, and Claire are camped out on the road. He eats an apple, but she brought cheese as well. Ian is out getting wood when he hears a sound. He thinks it’s Arch Bug, calling him out to settle it now. Jamie says it’s in his head. Bug wants it to eat him up inside. Bug wants to kill someone Ian loves, and he loves nobody at the moment more than Jamie and Claire.

William is with a friend who is vomiting. William rips the Declaration of Independence from its post for his buddy to use as a napkin. The arrogance of the declaration, the boy says. He’s William’s cousin. They spot a guy tossing a woman out the door. He says she has pox and tried to kill him. William is aghast as the man sets the woman ablaze, his fellow soldiers laughing. William finally tosses his coat over her to put out the flames, but she’s nearly dead already. William leaves his coat behind.

Roger is fondling the musket ball that was in the box of letters. The coating comes off, and it’s gold. Jemmy believes that there are pixies in the house, taking apart Brianna’s clock radio to ward them off.

Brianna still isn’t interested in asking Jemmy about the Spaniard. Roger is writing a book about their family. Brianna thinks he looks like a laird behind the desk.

Captain Richardson gives William accolades for attempting to save the woman. He speaks to William about intelligence in the States. He wants William to deliver letters to three gentlemen down there. Once the letters are delivered, he’s to head to New York to join the Captain.

Brianna is on a job interview when the man interviewing her asks her to fetch him a cuppa. When she begins offering what she’s got to offer, he says it’s a secretary. Nonetheless, she’s applying for the job of plant inspector and goes about impressing him with what she’s noticed about the plant and its needs.

William’s horse gets spooked by a snake on his travels, and he winds up with a branch through his arm. Once he wraps his arm, he screams for Jupiter.

Mr. Harnett calls to Jamie in a town they’re passing through. He wonders if Jamie is heading north to join the cause. They desperately need leaders at Fort Ticonderoga. Jamie begs off, but Harnett plans on conscripting someone. Jamie is that someone. He has to fight, not for freedom or liberty but for her and Brianna and Jemmy and Mandy. At the very least, Claire can assure him that the war will be won.

Claire will be going with Jamie. They’ll need doctors. Ian loves this land and wants to fight for it, so he’ll go too.

It’s very quiet, and Roger wonders where Mandy is hiding. Jemmy locked her in a hold with a bouncy ball. Brianna returns with her good news. She’s got the job. She’s displeased with his lack of enthusiasm. He didn’t think they’d give the job to a woman. He wants to be the breadwinner. She wonders why he’s still not interested in being a minister. It’s because they changed history, saving her parents.

Roger’s last words to Claire and Jamie were that he would take care of the family, and he feels like he’s failing. Brianna assures him he is not. He more properly gives her kudos for the job.

William is stumbling around the woods. He’s not even on the road any longer but stomping through the swamp. Miraculously, Ian finds him in the water. William says he’ll pay for some food. Ian notices the wound and asks his name. William’s arm is a mess. Ian sets about getting the wee bits of wood out of it, and they chat about Ian’s time with the Mohawk. William heard the Mohawk don’t show fear in the arms of captors. He finds that impressive, but he’s also worried about dying.

Rollo lays down next to William. Ian says he likes him and already thinks of him as family.

Claire bumps into someone. It’s Tom Christie, who grabs her face and kisses her on the lips. They marvel at each other that they thought the other dead. He’s happy that they are not dead. He accompanies her back to the inn. Tom wonders whether Jamie knows Tom loves her. As it turns out, Governor Martin used him as his secretary.

If she hadn’t fixed his hand… We’re taking turns saving each other’s lives, he says. After he heard about Allan leaving the Ridge never to return again, he decided not to return, either. He was the one who placed the obituary. He couldn’t stand the thought that they would all vanish from the earth without a record.

Tom tells her that he’s loved two women. One was a witch and a whore and others think she’s a witch, too. He was at peace with Claire dead. He shall have no peace while she lives. But he doesn’t regret it.

Jamie wonders if Claire enjoyed Tom’s kiss. And he worries that Tom touched her against her will. Jamie trusts that if it came to it again, Tom would lay down his life for her again. But Tom wants her without knowing anything about her. They tease each other as they make their way to the bed.

William is not doing well. Ian takes him to a nearby doctor, where Ian eyes a woman named Rachel. They’ve got to remove his arm. William would rather die, but Ian says it’s got to happen. Before they take the arm, the boil ruptures, and his arm is saved.

Ian and Rachel chat before he plans on leaving. He compares her to Claire and thanks her again for her help. The sparks are flying between them.

Jemmy is causing problems, but Roger says it’s expected since he’s traveled through time and knows magic is true. Roger doesn’t want to stifle his imagination to the point he forgets his own story.

Rachel shaves William while they chat. His wound is almost entirely healed, leaving behind a star like that the wise men followed. Denzell and Rachel will be leaving soon to join the fight for independence. William is a little confused but not angry. He hears the name, Samuel Cartright. He wonders if he could accompany her and Denzell on their journey north.

Claire says that you have to believe in telepathy when you go to war because feelings and thoughts bounce from man to man in a time of war as each man tries to stay alive or hopes to die well.