Author's Note: Okay, this one is going to probably be a little short – and not all that exciting. It's a transition chapter, I suppose. Boring but necessary!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Colonel Mitchell!"

She'd made it through the forests without anything attacking her – or finding her – although she'd thought she'd heard the brush rustling a few times and had frozen, waiting for something to come at her, but whatever it had been hadn't done anything and she'd broken through the foliage that surrounded the top of the small hill that overlooked the small community of the Farmer's.

She saw a young man coming towards her, and recognized him as one of Cay's sons – although she couldn't recall his name.

Tye

Thanks.

She raised her hand in greeting.

"Tye, it's good to see you again."

"Where's the others?" the young man asked, looking around.

"They didn't come," she said, smiling. She was pretty sure that he'd been hoping to see Teyla, again, since she'd been popular with the young men of the Farmer community.

Not as popular as she was with the Light Ones

You don't know what happened, Melony chided Talon. She might have just been off sleeping somewhere else.

Talon's amusement was positively naughty, but he didn't say anything else.

"Did you come to see dad and ma?"

"Actually, I need to talk with the Light Ones and was hoping you and your folks had set up that-"

"The flag? We sure enough did," Tye said, grinning, and pointing over his shoulder at a tall pole that Melony hadn't noticed. It was about 50 feet high, and made of a single tall tree trunk from the looks of it. "You want me to run up the pennant?"

"Yes, please?"

"I'll do that, you go ahead and head into the house."

She did as she was told, heading for the house and was met immediately on the porch by Rella, who had been alerted by her son's call.

"Colonel Mitchell! What a pleasant surprise!"

Melony smiled, pleased by the reception – although not really surprised. The Farmers were open and friendly people, and now that she was included as one of their friends, she was treated as if she were one of the family.

"It's good to see you, Rella," Mitchell told her, sincerely. "You're looking well."

She smiled, and ushered the Colonel into the house.

"Would you like some tea?"

Bah. Tea.

"Sure. Thanks."

Rella put her at the table and bustled around, pouring a cup of the tea that was apparently the favorite drink of the Farmer's and placing it in front of her.

"Are you here to trade?"

Mitchell shook her head.

"Actually, I've come to talk to Kale and the other Light Ones."

"Ah." She was far too polite to ask what Mitchell wanted with them – which was just as well, since Melony didn't feel like getting into it just then. "Tye running the pennant up for you?"

She nodded.

"He said he was going to."

"Well, the bird people are usually pretty good about appearing quickly, but you might end up spending the night. Are there others?"

"Just me."

"Then you're welcome to stay in the house with us if you need to – and certainly welcomed to have supper with us."

"I appreciate that," Melony told her. She was more than willing to have lunch – since her last meal had been more than ten hours earlier. She wasn't starving, but now that she was done walking for a while, she was ready to eat.

The door opened, and Tye walked in.

"The pennant's up." He reported.

"Thank you, Tye."

The young man left the house – probably had to get back to his chores – and Rella handed Melony a saucer with a couple slices of thickly sliced bread and butter to tide her over until supper, then sat and chatted with her while she ate, asking her how the others were doing, and how she, herself was. Mitchell sat back and enjoyed the conversation, finding it to be a pleasure to have a chat with someone who was as down to earth (so to speak) as one of the Farmers.

OOOOOOOOO

It was a pleasant way to pass the rest of the afternoon, and Melony was in a good mood – despite the lack of coffee – by the time Cay walked into the house with the older children, who had been out in the fields helping him with the last of the harvest. He greeted her warmly – as did the children – but they all went to clean up before they clamored around the table to listen to her conversation with their mother.

"You're waiting on the bird folks?" Cay asked, politely.

She nodded.

"I'm hoping one of them shows up."

"They're good about coming when we flag them," Cay said, nodding. "As long as they notice it."

"They usually notice it, though," Rella said. "We see them flying around every now and then, and they've come the few times we've signaled them."

"They're-"

He was interrupted by a call from the outside of the house, and Tye and the children all rushed to the door, excitedly, followed at a more sedate pace by Rella and Cay and Mitchell. Standing in the clearing by the front porch was a very tall, lanky... mostly human looking man with pale hair and pale eyes, dressed in a simply pair of trousers and a tunic. Here was one of the Light Ones.