Basically a whole walking report of one of my favourite mountains, Schiehallion. Enjoy :D

I give ye my  B o d y , that we Two might be One.

I give ye my  S p i r i t , ‘til our Life shall be Done.

Atonement, Chapter 32

Previously: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18 , Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: Scars

Until the moment the Uber pulled up to the curb in front of her flat, it truly hadn’t occurred to her: 

She hadn’t been back in a car since the night of the accident. 

She wasn’t even sure it was intentional; there had been no strict need to drive anywhere, as her flat was within easy walking distance of the hospital and the corner market where she bought her groceries. But judging by the way her blood chilled at the sight of the idling vehicle, Claire had to admit that perhaps there had been an element of subconscious avoidance in play. 

Which was absolutely ridiculous, she scolded herself, as she watched Jamie sling her duffel into the boot and climb into the back seat without a second thought.

Jamie, who had been thrown through a windshield and spent six weeks in a hospital bed. 

Jamie, who had bled out his entire vascular volume three times over. 

Jamie, who had been septic, untouched, and morphine-dependent, even when it made him so sick, even when the retching ripped at the gashes and the road burn and his fresh graft sites, and—

And yet she was the one who was hanging back, wringing the straps of her handbag and chewing her lip until she tasted blood. It wasn’t until he ducked his head to look at her, an eyebrow quirked inquisitively, that Claire climbed in beside him. 

Her hand was pale and shaking on the door handle as she pulled it shut.

No child lock on this one, she reassured herself, and forcibly exhaled the breath she’d been holding.

She discovered rather quickly that keeping her eyes squeezed shut only heightened her awareness of her other senses: the rumble of the engine, every bump and curve in the road, the whoosh of other cars passing too close, Jesus H. Christ, too close… 

So, when the glare of Jamie’s mobile screen brightened the black-red of her eyelids, Claire slowly peeled one eye open, then the other, needing to focus on something else — anything but the drive itself. She watched him scroll through his contacts, texting his close friends and family members one at a time to give them the heads-up that she would be accompanying him home. 

As the responses began to flood back in quick succession, he immediately dropped his mobile lower in his lap and angled it away from her, making a valiant effort to shield her from every cutting remark that flashed across his screen. 

For his benefit, Claire feigned oblivion. 

But she saw.

Keep reading…

Je prends mon temps • I’m taking my time • /ʒə pʁɑ̃ mɔ̃ tɑ̃/

On this day (21 August) in 1920, Daphne Milne–wife of writer A.A. Milne–gives birth to a son, who the couple name Christopher Robin Milne. Christopher Robin will be immortalized in A.A. Milne’s books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.

Atonement, Chapter 31

Previously: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18 , Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: Steady

He used the stopwatch on his mobile, at first, as a reminder to prompt Claire to drink. Every thirty seconds on the dot, he’d nudge her head gently with his nose, and she’d obediently lift the straw to take a few sips from the bottle of Pedialyte resting against his side.

By about the tenth round, he didn’t even get the chance to remind her; she did it on her own, with surprisingly accurate timing — almost to the second mark. After she’d repeated the trick four times in a row, he tilted his head back to look at her with mingled awe and amusement. 

“How are ye doing that?”

He felt her smile a little. “You breathe like a metronome,” she said softly. “Sixteen times a minute. I’ve taken your vitals enough times to know.”

A radiant, glowing warmth spread through his chest, and he pressed his lips to her hairline, humming contentedly. “Aye. S’pose ye have.”

They were both quiet for a long time after that. Jamie tried not to think about his breathing overmuch, lest he disrupt her wee metronome; he shifted his focus instead to the sensations beneath his fingertips as he drew absent circles over her back. Gradually, the amusement drained from his face as he began to map the sharp ridges of her spine from her nape to the small of her back. 

Christ, she was so painfully thin.

With each jut of bone he traced, he felt guilt rise like acid in the back of his throat until he thought he might be sick. If he closed his eyes, he could see her exactly as she’d been that last night — just there, not five feet from where they lay now — her face contorted with sobs, begging him…

“Jamie… P-please…”

She’d been drowning. 

She’d been drowning, and she’d reached out to him for help. 

And he might as well have put his foot on her shoulder and kicked her further underwater.

His eyes burned savagely at the thought, and he hitched her higher, tighter against his chest.  

He would never leave her again. He swore an oath to himself, then and there — would have promised aloud, if Claire hadn’t been measuring her sips against his breathing.

There would be time for that later; time for that vow, and any number of others. He’d swear them all with his whole heart, and mean every word. 

But for now, he needed to see her safe.

Keep reading…

Lavender Field’s of Kinross-shire, situated on the banks of Loch Leven

…some people are merely words…others are poetry…

— Irvin D. Yalom

#murtagh being the fandom

Sam Heughan Makes Unsexy Phrases Sound Sexy - Stir Crazy with Josh Horowitz

These two!!!!

Why do I love this so much 😂

— Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

GIF REQUEST MEME » requested by anon: Pride and Prejudice (2005) + dancing

Coming soon...

As well as writing the last couple of chapters for Mint & Thistles I’ve been working on a new fic that I’ll start posting in a few weeks. Hope you’ll enjoy xx

The Scottish Manny 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Dr Claire Beauchamp’s life revolves solely around her job, but when a close friend passes away and names the busy surgeon guardian of her six year old son, she becomes a mother overnight.

Clueless about kids and desperate for help, she hires a nanny. Expecting a sedate older woman who spends time baking and embroidering, she’s thrown for a loop with the arrival of James Fraser. Young, fun and carefree, he’s exactly what Claire’s new son needs - could he be just what she needs, too?

Claire. Her name was Claire.

Atonement, Chapter 29

Previously: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18 , Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: The Gates of Eden

The intercom crackled mere seconds after he’d pressed the wee silver button next to her name. 

“Hi, come on up. I left your tip on the entry table, just leave the food there, please,” her voice said through the speaker.

Jamie stood motionless as the front door unlocked with a buzz, every one of his muscles clenched tight to the bone. 

Christ, he wasn’t sure he could do this. 

Just that brief interaction — not even meant for him — and already he felt bile cresting in the back of his throat.

Still, he didn’t see that he had much of a choice. 

Even when he’d been dying before her very eyes, Gillian Edgars had barked out orders with the cool precision of a military commander. The lass could be flippant and irreverent and downright obnoxious at times, but he’d never once seen her rattled.

She’d been rattled tonight.

He knew from personal experience that she was fiercely loyal, and would have done a great deal to help a friend in need. But to risk her nursing license, break privacy laws to go back through his chart and hunt down his home address… that was something else entirely.

So he’d listened, with his wame in a knot, as she told him of Claire’s plans. 

Convinced that Frank Randall would not see the justice he deserved if he were to have his day in court, she’d set her mind to taking all the blame herself. It would mean not only a twelve-year prison sentence, but the end of her nursing career; with a felony charge on her record, Claire would never be able to work in health care again. 

Apparently, Gillian had tried everything she could think of to make her see reason, but the stubborn wee Sassenach would have none of it. 

“The lass would throw her whole life away to try to make this up to you,” she’d told him accusingly, her eyes raw and gleaming. “If ye let her.”

Not a choice, then, at all.

Keep reading…