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“Rising Bread”


This is an excerpt (aka "Daily Lines") from GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE, the ninth book in the OUTLANDER series of novels. Note that excerpts contain spoilers…

Social media hashtags: #DailyLine, #BookNine, #RisingBread, #Wealreadyknowshecancurdlemilk

"He’ll be all right," Claire said, handing him a plate of scrambled eggs mixed with onions, dried apples, and sliced sausage, fried together. He took it, stomach rumbling at the smell despite his unquiet thoughts.

"And how did ye ken I was thinking of him?" he asked, raising a brow at her. She could normally tell if something troubled him, but he was reasonably sure his face hadn’t grown so transparent from long acquaintance that she could tell what it was.

"That’s his favorite breakfast," she said, reaching across with her own fork to steal a bit of sausage. "You sighed before taking a bite, and I know you’’e hungry."

"Mmphm." He took the bite now, savoring it. "Your cooking is getting better, Sassenach—or maybe it’s only that I’m hungry."

She gave him a narrow look, but saw that he was jesting, and relaxed, reaching for a slice of partially charred toast. She was in fact a decent plain cook, though she couldn’t make bread rise to save her life.

"They say that witches make rising bread dough fail," he remarked.

"And cows run dry," she replied, scraping the char off the oddly flattened toast. "Your point?"

"Only I wondered just now— can Brianna make bread?"

She stopped in the act of cutting a pat of butter, and stared at him.

"What— you think that being—" she waved the knife, dislodging the butter, "what we are— affects yeast?"

"How should I ken that?" He drizzled honey on his own toast and passed her the pot. "I only wondered."

Return to my Book Nine webpage.


This excerpt (aka "Daily Lies") was first posted on my official social media pages on Wednesday, November 18, 2016.

This page was last updated on Monday, July 11, 2016 by Diana’s Webmistress.