"Samantha!" Rebecca opened the door and smiled when she saw her friend. "Come in, come in. I wasn't expecting you."
Just then the dark haired woman reached the door. "I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" she asked.
Rebecca looked at her in surprise, not recognizing the woman and she'd thought she'd met most of the women in the area. "Uh no, of course not. Are you interested in having a dress made?"
"Probably more than one", Janet smiled, smoothing her skirt. "I'm afraid I haven't been in for a fitting for too long, so my clothes are starting to look kind of worn."
"Well then -" Rebecca looked at Sam. "Did you -"
"It's okay", Sam stepped back. "Go ahead ma'am, I just came by to say hello." She gave the stranger a smile. "You can't go wrong here. Rebecca makes wonderful clothes."
"I feel badly about interrupting. I can come back later." The woman turned to Sam and smiled.
"Look", Rebecca laughed. "Why don't you both come in? I'll fix some tea and we can chat while – I'm sorry, I don't know your name?"
"It's Janet – Janet Henderson."
"We can chat while Janet looks at material. It's always nice to meet another woman around here. Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by farm hands and cowboys!"
"If you're sure that's okay?" Sam said, looking at the woman called Janet – that gave her a bit of a pause – to make sure she was okay with Rebecca's plan.
"Absolutely! Actually, I am surrounded by cowboys all the time. It's been a while since I've even seen another woman."
As Rebecca ushered both women in she turned to Janet. "I haven't seen you before, have I? Are you from around here?"
"My ranch is actually a bit closer to Tulelee, so I don't often come to Mariscola. But I heard about you – and there really isn't anything over there except cowboys and saloons."
"Well, I'm glad you decided to come! It's lovely meeting another woman. Did you come with your husband?" Rebecca was insatiably curious and Sam had to hold back a grin. She wondered how long it would be before her friend started to ferret out some information.
"Uh – I'm not married", Janet said with a bit of a grimace. "I'm afraid I looked after my father until he passed away so didn't have much time to find myself a husband."
"Really? Oh – that's too bad. Well, there are a few good-looking ones around. We'll just have to introduce you to some!" Rebecca handed her a cup. "Samantha here just found herself one. She's getting married soon to a local man."
Janet almost sprayed a mouthful of tea across the room upon hearing the other woman's name.
"Are you alright?" Sam patted her gently on the back.
"I'm sorry, it went down the wrong way, but I'm fine now. Uh, did you say – your name is Samantha?"
"Yes, although I usually go by Sam." She looked at Rebecca at that. The other woman refused to call her by her nick name, claiming it sounded too masculine.
"Can I -" Janet hesitated, not quite sure whether to continue. "Uh, can I ask who you are marrying?"
Sam paused, not quite sure what to say, but before she had a chance to say anything, Rebecca jumped in.
"His name's James – James Knightly – and he's so handsome, and nice and rich too. Samantha got real lucky capturing him. Women have tried for years without any luck." She leaned forward conspiratorially "There were even rumors that maybe he was – you know – one of those men who – didn't like women."
"Rebecca!" Sam scolded. "I'm sure Janet's not interested in James. Please", she turned to the woman who eerily reminded her of her own Janet, "tell me about your ranch. I just inherited one – and I'm trying to learn all I can."
Janet had been struggling with whether to say something to the blond haired woman sitting across from her the moment she'd had found out that this was the woman that James was to marry. From what she had seen of Samantha – or Sam – she got the impression that she was a pretty strong woman. That could either mean she'd listen – or that she'd end up running Janet out of town!
She began to tell about her life on the ranch, although half her mind was still on whether or not to say anything. Before she had the chance to decide, Rebecca had begun to bring out some material and to talk dresses. Oh well, she thought, there was always later.
"I think I'd better leave you two to get on with deciding on material and patterns", Sam stood up. "It was lovely meeting you Janet. I'm sure we'll run into each other again."
"Oh, do you have to go Samantha?" Rebecca asked. "You can stay and help Janet make up her mind."
"Thanks, I'd like to, but I have to go and see James. He was out when I called earlier but his men said he'd be back this afternoon."
"I know", the dressmaker grinned. "Love – you can't keep away from him!"
Sam frowned and almost said something, but then decided it wasn't fair to James. No, she'd have to tell him the wedding was off before telling her friends. She gave a small smile. "Thanks for the tea. Maybe I'll stop by later before we head back."
"We? Did you bring Charlie with you?"
"Yes, he's over at the store picking up some things and then he was checking out one of Joss Weldon's horses."
"Horses? I didn't know you were in the market for a new horse?" Rebecca said in surprise.
"He - took – Sweat-Pea", was all Sam replied softly.
"Oh Samantha, I'm sorry – I wasn't thinking." Rebecca gave her friend a quick hug. "I'm sure he's okay you know."
Sam just smiled and said another goodbye and then left. Rebecca stared after her for a few moments.
"I hope everything is alright?" Janet asked, curious about that last bit. "She had a horse die?" she asked.
"What?" Rebecca turned quickly, having forgotten about her customer. "Oh – not die", she explained. "She had a friend staying with her. He was – he'd been – well, he wasn't right in the head, but Samantha cared a lot about him. I think she'd known him for a long time. Anyway, one day he just up and left and took her horse – Sweat-Pea."
"Oh – that's too bad", Janet commiserated, trying hard to look as if she didn't know any of this.
"Yeah – she was really devastated about Jack – that's her friend's name. She looked for him for a long time. I was actually surprised she said yes to James because I kind of thought she -". She suddenly stopped, seeming to realize she'd said too much to a virtual stranger. "So, what do you think of this material."
Janet turned her mind to picking out material and patterns, but she couldn't get out of her mind the look on Samantha's face. Suddenly she wondered about Jack – and Sam. Was she the woman he was in love with? It fit, especially if they'd known each other for a long time. He hadn't said anything like that, although to be fair his memory was bad. But if she was the one he loved, why had he left? And who could possibly have shot him?
She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She'd thought that just maybe there was a chance for her. She'd hoped that eventually he'd forget this other woman and learn to love her. If the other woman was this Sam – then she knew she had no hope. But her mind came back to why Sam would be marrying James if she was in love with Jack.
It was all so confusing and she didn't know quite what to do. Maybe the best thing was to do nothing. She could let Samantha marry James and then even if Jack was in love with her, he'd have no hope. She, Janet, would be there, waiting. There was still a chance for her. She loved him and could make him happy – she knew she could. Samantha had made her own bed – she hadn't been able to keep Jack with her and now she was marrying another man. No, that was it Janet – just let it alone. She didn't have any responsibility to the blond woman.
"I'll take these three", she smiled at Rebecca. "How long until they'll be finished?"
Sam walked slowly down the street. She was dreading the pending confrontation with James, but she was convinced, more than ever, that she was doing the right thing. She'd been sitting at Rebecca's, and had almost convinced herself to let things stand, to go ahead with the marriage – and then her friend had mentioned him. That had done it. There was no way she could do this to Jack. The child she carried was his and deserved to have his name – not someone else's. She would simply let it be known that she and Jack had been married, but thinking he had died she had decided to marry out of – fear – of being alone. She grimaced at that thought but knew people in this society would believe that of a woman.
No – she couldn't marry another man, no matter how nice he was. She was in love with Jack and always would be.
"Samantha! What are you doing here?"
James voice hailed her from across the street. She stopped and waited while he crossed over. He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I didn't expect to see you. What brings you into town?"
"Well – Charlie had a few errands so I decided to come with him. Actually James, I wanted to speak to you anyway. Could we go somewhere to talk?"
"Sure", he frowned. "Is everything okay?"
"Please – can it wait?" The last thing she needed was to break off her engagement in the middle of the street.
"Sure. Come on – we can go into the hotel restaurant. I doubt if there will be anyone there right now."
She wasn't that thrilled with meeting there, but knew she couldn't go into James' office or home without causing a scandal. Some days she really hated the constraints of this society. Then again, she half smiled to herself, it hadn't been that much different when she was dealing with the Colonel. They'd been bound by restrictions because of their ranks and Air Force regulations.
They sat down and ordered and once their tea had arrived James took her hand from across the table. "Okay, so tell me. What's wrong?" He smiled at her gently, looking nothing but caring and compassionate.
God – she hated this, she thought. She didn't want to hurt him. "James", she gently pulled her hand away. "I've been thinking about -"
"About?" he frowned.
"About us. I – you'll never know how much your kindness has meant to me. You've been a real friend and have helped me through these past months. But I'm afraid -" She looked up into his eyes and was startled to see a flash of – something, something dark and foreboding. Still, she was no coward, so she continued. "I'm afraid that I have to call off our engagement. I realized that it wasn't – fair to you."
"What?" he hissed, his eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying I can't marry you. I thought – you were so kind – but I'm, I'm not free." There, she'd said it!
"Not free? What the hell are you saying Samantha?" He looked at her angrily. "You can't just come in here and tell me it's off. Oh no, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to accept that."
She jerked back – shocked at his reaction. "Well, you're going to have to", she replied. "I'm telling you it's over. I'm sorry if I hurt you -"
His crack of laughter cut her off. "Hurt me?" He laughed again. "Oh, you haven't hurt me Samantha, because it's not going to happen. You see, you are going to marry me, even if I have to carry you to the altar."
For the first time in months – in fact, for the first time since she and Jack had been captured on that distant planet, she felt anger. Real, honest to god, blazing, don't f—k with me anger. She was a soldier, an officer, and for months she'd acted like some helpless woman. In fact, she'd acted just like she'd been born and raised in Mariscola rather than far away in the good old USA. She was a strong, smart, tough soldier and like hell was this ass going to try and tell her what to do.
"Go to hell", she hissed. "I am telling you I am not marrying you and that's the end of it. You can stay away from me and from my property from now on." She stood up and went to leave when his arm shot out and he grabbed her.
"You agreed to marry me", he said calmly, although his hand was digging viciously into her arm. "And I'll file a complaint for breach of promise. I'll end up with your ranch and property."
She had no doubt that he would – and that he could end up winning. She was pretty sure he had the local judge in his pocket. At least, they were drinking and card-playing buddies. She jerked her arm away – it hurt but it was worth it. "Go ahead and try", she said. "I'll simply claim duress – and that I wasn't in my right mind after thinking my husband was dead. But I've heard news that he isn't dead. So you see, I couldn't marry you even if I wanted to – which believe me – I don't."
"Your husband?" He looked at her shocked. "You don't have a husband you bitch!"
"Oh ho", she laughed. "So you're not such a gentleman, are you? And yes, I do have a husband. His name's Jack – and I've been married to him for years."
There was a pause as James digested what she was saying. He felt so furious he wanted to hit her, but knew he could do nothing in a public place. Husband! Who the – "That imbecile? He's your husband?"
"Yes", she said simply.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"There was no need", she said. "Henry knew – that's why he left him the house and some money. Why else do you think he'd do that?"
"You're lying."
"No – I'm not", she said. "Why else do you think I looked after him the way I did? Do you think I would do that for just – anyone?" Actually – she would and did do it for a friend – but she knew that James would never even think of such a thing. She could tell that he was starting to believe her – and that he was livid.
"You bitch", he repeated. "You did this intentionally."
"Did what? Agree to marry you? I did it because I thought you were an honorable man – and I thought that – Jack was dead." She had trouble saying the words, but knew she had to make this look good. The fact was – she had thought he was dead.
He suddenly laughed, the anger draining from his face. He lowered his voice. "Actually my dear", he said, "he is dead. You see, I had my men kill him."
She could feel the color drain from her face and would have fallen over except he grabbed her and guided her back into a chair. She felt sick and placed her hand over her roiling stomach. "What -?"
"Yes", he leaned down and whispered into her ear. "You see, I knew you'd never agree to marry me if that mad man was still around, so I sent my men after him. They did find him - but I'm afraid they shot him in the head and threw him over a cliff. By the time anyone finds the body it'll be nothing but bones!"
That did it. She could feel the bile rise in her stomach and the next thing either of them knew she had vomited all over James chest. He pulled back in disgust, but not in enough time to save himself or his clothes.
"Oh God!" he shouted. "Look what you've done!" He turned and shouted for a waiter, standing with his arms held out so he wouldn't touch his dripping clothes.
Sam just watched him, feeling like everything inside of her was frozen. She slowly reached over and took a glass of water and rinsed out her mouth. Without giving it a thought she spit the water out – aiming directly for James' pants. With that she stood up – shaking terribly – and began to walk towards the door.
The waiter passed her and gave her a startled look but she just kept going. All she knew was she had to get to Rebecca's before she collapsed. She walked through the dusty street – her mind only able to deal with one thought and that was to get to her friend's.
She reached the dressmaker's door and collapsed against it. With a hand that was shaking badly she reached up and knocked. She didn't think she even had the strength to open the door.
"Yes – Samantha! Oh God, what happened?" Rebecca put her arm around her and led her inside, carefully shutting the door.
"What's – what happened?" Janet had just been gathering her things to get ready to depart. "Samantha! Oh dear, what is it?"
The two women managed to get her seated on the small settee. Rebecca ran and got a cloth and wiped her face. "Samantha, please tell us. What's wrong?"
"He's dead", she whispered.
"James? Oh – you mean Jack?" Her friend looked dismayed. "How do you know?"
"James – he – he killed him."
"What? You're talking crazy", Rebecca cried. "Why would James do that? He loves you and he tried to find Jack when he left."
"He told me", Sam said, still feeling numb. "I went to break our engagement. I told him I couldn't marry him and he – he got angry – told me I had to, that he'd force me. That's when – I – oh God Rebecca, he's dead!" She curled up and began to cry – a terrible keening sound.
The young woman looked frightened and turned to Janet. "I – I don't know what to do. There's no way James would kill someone -"
"Yes, yes he would", Janet said. "Sam – please – tell me exactly what happened." She shook the crying woman but when that got no response she frowned. "Damn – here goes." She reached down and gave Sam a sharp slap on the face – not enough to do damage but enough to sting. "Stop it!"
Sam looked at her in shock, but she managed to get her crying under control.
"Now tell me exactly what happened with James. And yes, I believe you. I've known James Knightly for a lot of years and he's totally capable of killing someone. So tell me – what happened."
Sam managed to pull herself together, at least enough to explain to the other women what had transpired. "He told me his men – shot him in the head and threw him over a cliff -"
"A gully actually", Janet interjected. She almost wanted to laugh at the look of shock on the other woman's face. Damn, she said to herself – there goes any chance of getting Jack. Still, looking at Samantha she knew she couldn't do that to this woman. And anyway, if it was true they were married that really meant he was out of reach. "Jack isn't dead", she told her. "He was shot – and I can believe it was James' men. My foreman and I found him almost three months ago. He had been thrown into a small gully. Fortunately his horse was still there so we knew someone was around."
"He's not dead?" Those were the only words that seemed to make sense.
"No", Janet gave a small half-smile. "He was very much alive when I saw him this morning."
"Oh God." Once again Sam curled up – her hands wrapped around her stomach. "I thought – how is he?"
"He's fine", Janet said. "It took him a little while to get over the injury, but it was just a crease from the bullet. I think his former injury – he said he'd had a head injury – was the main problem, although he's getting better all the time."
"He said?" Sam sat up slowly, and looked at Janet in shock. "But he can't speak."
"Yes he can. Oh, he found it a bit difficult at first, but for the most part he's speaking quite clearly now. He's also a lot stronger and he's been helping out on the ranch."
Sam was stunned. The relief of finding out he was alive was beginning to fade and anger was beginning to take over. She'd spent the last few months thinking he was dead or hurt and here he'd been recuperating a few hours away and hadn't even bothered to let her know.
Did he hate her that much? Was their one night together so awful – or maybe he'd been so hurt that she'd left and he hadn't forgiven her. She closed her eyes and could feel the hot tears begin to squeeze through.
"He really is okay", Janet said, reaching out to the other woman. She was surprised when Sam pulled herself away.
"That's nice", Sam sniffed and wiped her face. "Tell him – no, on second thought, please don't say anything to him. I'm glad he's not dead but he's obviously happy where he is and I don't want to bother him." She stood up. "I should find Charlie and head back to the ranch Reb -"
"Sam!" her friend interrupted her and for once used her nickname. "What are you doing? You can't just leave. You know where Jack is. You need to go to him – find him – bring him back."
"No – no, he's happy where he is. Why would I destroy that?" Sam headed towards the door, wanting desperately to get back to the ranch, where she could collapse on her bed and – and what? She didn't even know what she was going to do.
"Sam." Janet's voice broke into her thoughts. "He's not happy", she told the other woman. Sam turned to her in surprise. "He's okay – getting stronger, like I said. But he misses – you." She knew, even as she said the words that she was right. This was the woman he loved and for some reason he'd left. But Janet was pretty sure he'd left for her, rather than because of her. "He told me – he was in love with someone and I'm pretty sure it's you."
"He has a funny way of showing it", Sam answered angrily, wiping her face again. "To leave me for weeks and months thinking he was dead. That doesn't sound like love to me."
"Doesn't it? With the little I've gotten to know him since he's been with – us – I think that is exactly like him."
Sam just looked at her, still too angry to want to figure out what the woman was trying to say.
"I think he thought he was a burden. He indicated something of the kind to me shortly after he began to talk to us. I often caught him – staring into the distance – and I'm sure he was thinking of you."
Sam slowly sank back down on a chair and tried to hear what the other woman was saying. A burden? He wasn't a – she stopped herself. What if – what if he had been much more aware than she'd thought? If that was the case, he would have hated being a burden to her – he would have hated feeling helpless. And then there was that last night. He'd made love to her and – she suddenly sucked in a breath and covered her mouth. Oh God – what if it had been him? What if he was in there – and had known what he was doing? And she'd gotten up and just – left.
"He hated himself", she said out loud. "He felt guilty and knowing him probably thought he was ruining my life. That's why he left."
"I think so", Janet said kindly. "He loves you very much."
There was something in the other woman's voice that made Sam lift her head and look at her closely. Janet was looking at her with sympathy and compassion – but there was also a look of – devastation in her eyes. Sam tilted her head, wondering what was behind that look. Her eyes suddenly grew round. She knew what it was.
"There wasn't anything between us", Janet tried to smile, knowing that Sam had figured out her feelings. "And believe me, I offered, but he wasn't interested. That's when he told me he already had someone. As soon as I saw you today – I knew."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Sam asked curiously.
"Why? Oh" she laughed softly, "because I was being selfish and ugly. I thought I'd just let you marry James and then I'd have a chance with Jack. As soon as you got back I knew I couldn't do that to you – or to him. I'm sorry. I'd like to think that I would have said something anyway. Actually, one of the reasons I came here in the first place was to warn you about James."
"Warn me?"
"Yes, as I said, I've known him for a long time. I've also been able to discover some things about him and he's a – bad man."
"I kind of got that impression. I can't figure out why he was so angry though. I mean – maybe he loved me but -"
"James doesn't love anyone but himself. No, I expect there's some other reason. But right now I think we need to figure out what to do about Jack first, don't you?"
Sam swallowed – it was more of a gulp than anything. She was suddenly terrified. She then thought back to that moment in the restaurant when she'd rediscovered who she was – and that she was not a coward. She took a deep breath and looked at Janet. "I think a trip to your ranch is in order."
Janet grinned. "Yup – I knew you were a woman after my own heart. I'm afraid poor Jack doesn't know what's about to hit him. Come on then", she reached down and pulled the blond-haired woman up. "Let's get moving." She returned to the silent – and still stunned – Rebecca. "Rebecca, thank you for everything! Please don't say anything to anyone about Jack."
"No, of course not. Are you going to be okay Samantha?'
"I'll be fine", she reached out and hugged her friend. "I'll let you know what happens."
She walked out of the dressmakers shop side by side with Janet. All she could think of was that she was going to go see Jack. Once she got there she'd throw her arms around him – and then she'd kick his ass from here to Chulak! Janet was right – the man had no idea what was in store for him!
He'd spent the morning searching the property for something – anything that might give a clue as to the 'stone circle'. So far he'd found nothing – and really didn't have a clue where to even look. It was as the afternoon was wearing on and he started to get tired, that he heard the sound of lowing obviously coming from an animal in distress.
He turned his horse in the direction of the sound. When he arrived he saw it was a heifer and she was standing making an awful noise. He quickly checked her out but she didn't look hurt although he immediately could tell that she had recently given birth, although there was no calf anywhere to be seen.
"Have you lost your baby", Jack asked, looking around. He tied up his horse and began to check the ground to see if there were any clues. After a few minutes he found what looked like tiny hooves – obviously they belonged to the calf. "Well, your baby was here. Let's see if I can find her for you."
He slowly followed the tracks, worried that he'd find the animal dead – either from having fallen into a gully – or having been attacked by wild animals. What he actually found surprised him. The tracks stopped right in front of a large outcropping of rocks. In fact, they stopped in front of a large bush that lay in front of the rocks. He shrugged and was about to turn around when he heard another sound. This sounded like the calf – and it was coming from the rocks.
"What the hell?" he walked forward and pushed the bushes aside. Yes the tracks continued through what was a small alley between the bushes. It hadn't been visible until he'd gotten closer and moved aside the bush. "Now what do we have here?" he asked himself. He began to push himself through the branches, squatting down as much as possible. The branches continually caught on his shirt and in his hair, but he finally managed to make it through until he was up against the rock wall.
Right in front of him was a break in the rock. It was big enough for a man to get through – and certainly enough for a calf. "Why the heck did you wander in here?" he asked. By this time the sounds of the mother in the rear, and the calf ahead, drowned out just about everything else. "Okay, fine, let's take you back to momma!"
He ducked and managed to walk into what looked like a narrow rock tunnel. It was clear and just wide enough and tall enough that he could move without crawling, although he had to keep his shoulders bent.
After walking for about five minutes the rock opened up and he found himself standing in a clearing. And there, directly in front of him, was the calf, lost and frightened. "Okay you, time to go home." He walked up and managed to get the animal turned back towards the rock. She resisted and he was tempted to simply carry her, but at the last moment she bolted, right into the tunnel. He followed quickly and soon was able to watch the mother and baby reunite. He had to smile at the sight of the mother madly licking her baby – and then the calf moving under momma for dinner. Yup – there was nothing quite like the sight of a mother and child – no matter what the species.
After making sure that everything was fine with the animals he turned back. He'd caught a glimpse of something in the clearing, but hadn't bothered to look too closely and he was curious.
He came out again into the light and walked toward the object he'd seen. The clearing itself was large and was actually a small valley, surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs. He estimated it was a good three hundred yards to the other side.
The object came into sight suddenly, as he walked around a gnarled tree trunk. It was a circle, with symbols. This then must be the stone –
"The stargate!" he breathed. "God - it's the stargate."