100 Goats – Chapter 4
Hey everyone! Here is the fourth and final chapter. Thanks so much for your support of this story! Hope you enjoy this last part.
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Jacob and Jack stood at the base of the ramp surrounded with 300 goats.
"I still don't see why you couldn't just take my hundred."
"Jack, we need to make sure we get what we want. From what you've told me of these Allians, 300 goats for two women is an offer they can't refuse."
Jack shrugged in reluctant admittance.
"I still don't see why I have to go along."
"You said the Allians wouldn't reverse a trade. That doesn't mean you can't be present when I make a trade."
"Well, if I'd known that, I wouldn't have called you in the first place."
"Yes, but then I wouldn't get the pleasure of seeing the looks on Sam and Janet's faces when they see you."
"You are one sick man, Jacob Carter, one sick man."
They stepped through the stargate.
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"I can't make out what they're saying."
"Neither can I."
Sam and Janet hissed at each other as they kept their ears pressed to the door that blocked them in the kitchen and away from the rest of the house.
"I think they just said 'trade'."
"What?"
All of a sudden, the door flew open as their owner's wife entered the room. They jumped back from the door, guilty looks plastered on their faces.
"We were just... um."
"We didn't know if you wanted anything."
"And we just wanted to make sure..."
"That you had everything..."
"And..."
"Yeah..."
The woman just looked at them then shrugged her shoulders.
"Beeta, beeta. You be traded soon enough."
"Wha... traded?" Sam gulped.
"What do you mean 'traded'?"
"We trade you. For 300 goats. You get such good price!" she fairly beamed at them, her eyes squinting with pleasure.
"Wait, you mean from the stargate? Our people are trading back for us?"
"No, no. Another has come to buy you. He is not of the Tauri."
The woman bustled away, leaving Janet and Sam to return to their attempt at the evening meal.
"This is not good. How are we going to get out of this mess?" Sam questioned.
"I don't know. I guess we could just run away. I mean, I was all for peaceful relations, but if it's not our guys buying us back, I think we've been patient long enough."
"There's got to be a better way. For cryin' out loud. Was it asking so much that the Colonel get us out of here by now? It's not like these are hostile people."
"Honestly."
They worked in silence for a time, each contemplating their fate and what actions they should take.
"I can't believe I just heard her say more than 'Beeta, beeta'."
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Jack and Jacob sat in what appeared to be the living area of the farmer's house. Jack leaned over to Jacob.
"How much longer is this going to take?"
"Patience, Jack. We've already made the deal. Now we just have to honour them by partaking in the evening meal."
"'Partaking in the... I turn into a pumpkin at midnight, ya know?"
Jacob just raised his eyebrows.
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"I've got it!" Janet announced triumphantly after a few more moments of silence.
"What?"
"Why did these people buy us?"
"Because they wanted help on their farm, people to cook and clean for them," Sam answered not sure where her friend was going with this.
"And why do they want to get rid of us?"
"Because they're getting 300 goats for us, which in a disturbing way is pleasing me to no end. I mean, I thought getting sold for 100 goats was good."
Janet just looked at her pointedly, so Sam tried again.
"Because we're ruining their farm, and we couldn't cook or clean if our very lives depended on it?"
"And what do you think the man buying us wants us for?"
"Well, to be honest, I was trying not to think about that."
Janet just shook her head.
"My guess is he wants the same things the farmer and his wife did."
Sam was beginning to catch on.
They turned toward the dishes they were preparing.
This man was definitely going to regret ever trying to buy them.
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"Ah, the first course is ready," the farmer announced with pleasure.
Jack took the meat and rice dish that was offered to him. Looked harmless enough.
Then he tasted it.
Even Jacob, with the help of Selmak, was having a hard time keeping a straight face.
Only by clenching his hands into fists and allowing his eyes to water was Jack able to swallow the offending substance.
"Whoa! That was uh... Phew... Was that a spice?" he rasped.
"You like? Wonderful! The women you have bought have prepared this meal especially in your honour. They will be so pleased to hear of your pleasure."
"Oh, I just bet they will."
Jack shared a painful glance with Jacob. This was going to be a long night.
"Um, just how many courses did you say this meal had?"
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"Good news! Good news!" the woman clapped her hands as she entered the kitchen.
"They have found your first dish most pleasing and are eagerly awaiting more!"
"They did?!"
"They are?!"
"Is the second dish prepared?" she questioned them.
"Uh, just about."
"I will return." She left the room once again.
"That guy's got a harder stomach than I thought."
"Yeah, well this dish is going to make the first dish seem like a boiled egg on toast. If he thought that was bad, just wait till he gets the rest of the meal!"
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Sam shook her head at Janet unbelievingly.
"I don't believe it. I just don't believe it. They ate the entire meal."
"After all we did to it."
"It was disgusting."
"More like deplorable."
"I could get my license removed for giving people that kind of stuff."
"They must really want us bad."
"Hey, don't give up yet. Just because they happen to like our cooking doesn't mean we don't have other means."
"Like what?"
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Jack lay sprawled on the living area floor.
"Somebody please just shoot me now!"
Jacob looked over at him but stayed silent. Selmak had been able to help him to a certain degree, but beads of sweat still graced his forehead. Of all the torture methods he'd heard of, Jacob was certain that if the Goa'uld ever got their hands on this food, they would have a sure and swift victory.
Jack let out another groan but only got halfway through when a scent reached his nose.
"Is that smoke?"
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"Beeta, beeta, beeta! You light my kitchen on fire?!"
"Wow, three 'beetas'. She must really be mad," Sam muttered to Janet. Both were covered in soot smudges.
"I have never been so relieved to see two people leave. You will depart immediately with the one who has bought you."
"Wait! He still wants to buy us? After all that, he still wants to buy us?" Sam looked at her incredulously.
"The deal has been made. It can not be reversed."
"You mean we went to all that work..."
"Come!" the woman motioned with angered determination. "You will meet your new owner now. No longer will you plague me!"
"Okay, now that kind of hurt," Janet miffed.
They begrudgingly trudged after their former owner, each beginning to get concerned over this latest trade. Who had they been sold to? Where would they be taken? Should they try an escape?
They paused before entering the living area but were pulled unceremoniously into the room by the farmer's wife. Smoke still filled most of the room. Sam couldn't make out the features of their new owner. Tears from the air clouded her vision even more.
"Do they please you?"
Sam felt the man move close beside her and flinched as a gentle hand caressed her hair then winced as his thumb softly touched the tender skin of her black eye.
"Yes," a raspy voice to her left proclaimed. "We will leave you now."
Are there two of them? Sam wondered. That would make escape harder, but not impossible.
Sam felt the same hand take her arm and pull her out of the house. They were being led down the road. Using her free hand to scrub at her eyes, she took a deep breath of the night air and turned to give the stranger a piece of her mind.
"Look, buddy, I don't care who you are, we are not prop... Colonel O'Neill?!"
"Of course! Who'd you think it was, Carter?" he said amicably, throwing an arm around her shoulder and squeezing her close to his side.
Sam looked over at Janet who was now clearing her eyes as well, trying to make sense of what she was hearing. Then she looked to her side.
"General Carter?"
"Dad?"
"Sir?"
"Sam?"
"Doc?"
"Um," Sam began sheepishly. "Sir, we didn't exactly realize it was you. They told us someone not of the Tauri was buying us."
"Yeah, turns out they don't go back on their deals, so we had to get Jacob here to make the trade for us. Look, Sam," he stopped walking and turned to face her. "I'm really sorry," he motioned to her eye and cast a glance at Janet's still bruised cheek. "I thought they looked like pretty decent people. If I'd had any idea... I would never have allowed it to go on this long. I..."
"No, no, sir," Sam took pity on him. "It wasn't like that at all." She and Janet explained the finer details of their stay as they made their way to the stargate.
"Um, about that meal, sir..."
"Please don't ever bring that up again, Major," he said rubbing a hand over his forehead. "I swear I never knew tastes like that were possible."
Sam tried to hide her grin. She saw Janet smirk in her direction. Perhaps justice had been served. They'd gotten their payback, and they could never get court-martialed for it. Of course, Jacob had been an innocent bystander, but all things considered...
"I can't believe you lit their house on fire."
"It was Janet's idea, sir."
"Hey, I wasn't the one with the pyromaniatic grin on my face as you lit up the curtains."
Their light banter continued as they reached the DHD. While Jacob was dialing, Sam turned to see Jack staring up the road from where they'd come.
"You think George will remember me?"
"Oh, I'm sure he will, sir," she patted his arm.
They walked up the steps to the event horizon.
"I wonder if Daniel knows of any Amazon planets?"
Maybe payback wasn't over after all.
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Woohoo! Story finished! Hope you all enjoyed that. It was so much fun to write. Let me know! Thanks so much for reading and for all the lovely reviews! Best wishes and lots of love!
macisgate