Ian Rutledge Appreciation Blog

A dream of what was. Rutledge finds himself looking at a familiar pair of shoulders.

Book Time

fan art

“Hamish had been saying something, but Rutledge found it hard to make sense if it - he himself was silenced by the doleful state of the child. This, then, was Ian Hamish Mcleod. Rutledge felt his heart turn over. A handsome child, this was. A small, lost child. Rutledge dropped to one knee, and the man holding the boy’s hand stepped forward, tense and prepared to intervene. But something in Rutledge’s face stopped him; he stepped back again. "Hello, Ian,” Rutledge said, trying to speak through a constricted throat. This might have been Hamish’s child if he’d lived. This might have been Jean’s if she and Rutledge had married in 1914 - “Going to see your cat, are you?” Ian nodded. His eyes solemnly moved across Rutledge’s face and then to McKinstry’s. McKinstry must have smiled as he said “Hallo, Ian,” because the child smiled and it was as if the sun had come out. The eyes filled with light and with warmth, the sadness vanished.“

-Legacy of the Dead

“With an angry shake of her head, she added, "Why am I telling you this!” Hamish said, “Its the way you listen, I’m thinking. People forget you’re a policeman - I did mysel’ many and many a time!”“

Conclusion: what is truth, Chuck

“Ian Rutledge woke with a start, breathing harshly from shock. He was sitting upright, knees raised, head flung back, drenched with sweat and with horror, terrified of the heavy, suffocating blackness that surrounded him, that made him blind. Frantic, he put his hands to his face to claw the viscous mask away and touched - not the thick mud of the trenches but his own flesh.”

He detec......

“He thought for an instant she was going to embrace him. There was such warmth in her face that it seemed to reach out to him. He put his arms around her instead, and she let him, then pushed him away with a “Pshaw! You’ll muss my gown, lad! Give o’wer!”