Chapter Two. The Pot Thickens!
In the morning, Vala woke up and looked around. Daniel was already dressed and gone, the blankets folded neatly and placed on the chair, the pillow on top. So, she quickly put on some clean clothing, brushed her teeth, and headed downstairs. She found him sitting at the table with a little girl. The table was set for breakfast, sugar and butter in bowls, brewed coffee and tea and fresh baked bread.
"You're up early."
"General Landry radioed in asking for a report. I filled him in on what's happening."
He turned and looked down at the little girl sitting next to him and smiled.
"This is Rebecca. She lives in the village and Lisel said she brings breakfast every day." Daniel smiled at Rebecca and then said, "I have no idea what she means by that so lets just sit and watch and try not to frighten her." Rebecca looked up at Daniel and returned the smile.
"Good grief! You charm even the little ones!"
"What?" Daniel looked up at her, confused.
"Never mind."
Lisel brought them each a bowl and spoon and poured them some coffee. Then, Rebecca spoke and as they watched,the pot on the table started to heat up.
"Daniel, I thought you said this town didn't have modern technology. This thing looks like it must be battery operated. It's cooking something!"
He watched carefully and looked at the pot, trying to figure out where the battery compartment was located. Not seeing any, he shrugged and said, "I have no idea."
Rebecca said something else, which Daniel couldn't quite hear, and then Lisel reached over and spooned out some oatmeal for both Daniel and Vala and then herself. When she was done, Rebecca stood, took the pot, and left the house, leaving the door open and went across the road to where Teal'c, Sam and Cameron were.
Daniel looked out at the house across the road and said, "Wait for it..."
Vala asked, "Wait for what?"
Within minutes, Sam came rushing out of the house across the street and headed over to them. Daniel just smiled. He knew that Sam would be so excited and want to share her thoughts.
"Daniel, I see you have oatmeal, too. I checked with my scanner. There isn't a power source in that thing. No batteries. Nothing! I can't figure it out!"
"It's okay, Sam. Evidently, Rebecca goes around the village every day, and brings everyone breakfast. I can't explain how."
"You mean, that pot never runs out? This is amazing! Can you imagine what we could do with that kind of technology? We could solve the hunger problem on earth. Nobody would go hungry, ever! I need to check that thing out!"
"I'd wait if I were you, Sam. Let me talk to the folks here, first."
Sam went back to her guest home and Daniel and Vala finished breakfast.
"She's right, Daniel. That was truly amazing!"
"I know. That kind of technology is just what the I.O.A. would like to hear about."
O O O O O O
After breakfast, the team left their guest homes and wandered about the village. As they drew near the castle, a guard approached and said that they were to come with him. They followed him up a spiral set of steps to a large door. It swung open and they entered a courtyard decorated with flowers and fountains. An older woman sat on a bench under a tree next to a basket full of ripe, red apples, and she beckoned them to come forward.
"She's the queen. Teal'c, Cam, bow to her. Vala and Sam, curtsy. Stay down until she says to get up. I'll tell you when."
"What?"
"Vala, just shut up and do what you're told," Daniel hissed. "You don't want to offend her, okay?" Daniel's left knee touched the ground as he lowered his head.
"Fine!" Vala hissed back and curtsied along side Sam.
After a short moment, the queen said something, handed two apples to Daniel and he stood. The others followed his lead and they waited quietly while the queen and Daniel spoke to each other. After a few minutes, Daniel stepped back twice and then turned. They did the same and followed him out of the courtyard. The guard led them back down the steps and into the village.
"Jackson, what did you two talk about?" Cameron asked.
"She said that we were welcome in the village. She wanted to know why the women were dressed as men." He looked at Vala and Sam and said, "These are for you two." He handed them both an apple, which they promptly put in their packs. "She said you were both too beautiful to wear men's clothing."
"Well, of course we are!" Vala shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
"Indeed," Teal'c said. Daniel wondered, 'Is he being sarcastic?' He rolled his eyes. "Don't encourage her, Teal'c. She'll just get worse."
Teal'c gave a slight grin and turned away.
"Well, now what?" Sam asked. "Can we go for a walk and look around? I'd like to see what other kinds of technology might be hidden around here."
"She said we could. We just have to stay out of the forest."
They spent the morning chatting with the villagers and asking questions. They were approached a number of times by the women, asking about Sam's short hair style and Daniel's eyeglasses. The men wanted to see their weapons but they tried politely to keep them from them. They didn't want anyone to accidentally get hurt.
At lunch time, they left the town, under the watchful care of the sheriff and had a picnic with some of the villagers in a field by the river. Baskets of food were brought out and stone bottles of beverages. It was very relaxing and Cameron actually fell asleep under a tree. The air was warm and there was a slight breeze blowing.
When the villagers packed everything up and prepared to return to their homes, Teal'c escorted Sam and Vala back to their guest homes so that they could change into some light weight clothing. Their BDU's were too warm for the weather. Daniel said he would stay and enjoy the fresh air. Everything seemed quite peaceful, until he saw a man approaching on a horse. He wore elegant clothing and said he was searching for someone. Daniel talked to the man for a few minutes before the man rode away. Cam had awakened from his nap and asked Daniel what the man had said.
"Poor guy. He said his name is 'Prince Philip and he can't find his girlfriend. Apparently, she wandered off into the forest and he hasn't seen her since."
"Maybe we should help him look for her," Cam suggested as he stood up.
"We were told to stay out of the forest, Cam. I don't want us to end up in the dungeon, do you?"
"No, but look, what would you do if it was Vala or Sam? Just sit there? I'm going after him."
Daniel knew Cam was the team leader and had the authority to make the decisions, but this didn't feel right. Things felt off balance to him and his instincts were telling him that they should head back to the village. But, he couldn't leave Cam so he got up to follow him and saw Teal'c, Vala and Sam approaching.
"What's going on, guys?" Sam was curious who the man was they saw riding away on the horse.
"It looks like we're going into the forest, after all. I have a bad feeling about it, but Cam insists. That guy is looking for his girlfriend. She wandered off and he needs help finding her."
Cameron caught up with the man and was about 30 yards ahead of the rest of the team. They didn't see any of the villagers watching them, so they all picked up their weapons and took off.
About an hour into the walk, they entered a heavily wooded area and saw cottage in the distance. They went inside and found a beautiful woman sleeping on a bed. The man approached the woman that was laying there and said to himself, "This must be where the fairies are hiding her. They had to get her out of the castle when the evil queen came and banished her parents, the former King and Queen.
Sam rushed forward to check the vital signs. "Cam, I think she's just in some sort of dreamlike state. Her pulse is slow but steady. She's just sleeping."
The man stood back to let Sam check the woman's vital signs and then looked around at the rest of the group. When he saw Vala, he approached her and started talking to her.
"Daniel, what's he saying?" Vala was smiling back at the handsome man and was obviously flirting.
"Vala, behave. He said... ahem... that you are the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. He wants to know who you are and where you 'hail from,' to be exact."
Vala batted her eyes at the man and smiled as he reached for her hand and kissed it.
"Wait a minute, boys and girls!" Cameron said, "I know this probably sounds nuts, but does this seem familiar to anyone else? Think about it. A woman sleeping in a forest. A man searching for her. This sounds an awful lot like the 'Sleeping Beauty' story."
Sam snorted! "You gotta be kidding! That's a child's story. A fairy tale."
"Yeah, I know, but think about it. Doesn't it look like it?"
"Sam, I suppose he might be right. It wouldn't be the strangest thing we've run across. Remember, earth mythology was stolen by the Goa'uld to use against humans so that they could pose as gods and use them as slaves. It wouldn't hurt to get the 'Prince' here to kiss her," Daniel said.
He said something to the man but the man just shooed him away and continued talking to Vala. She was flirting with all her might and obviously enjoying the attention the man was giving her.
"He said 'no'. I don't think he's interested in 'Sleeping Beauty' anymore. Is that really her name?"
"As I recall, her name was Aurora and her parents were the King and Queen," Sam said. "She fell asleep when she pricked her finger on a spinning wheel. The Prince's name is Phillip."
"How do you know that, Sam?"
"I've probably read the story to Cassie a thousand times! The real question is, how do you know that story?"
"I'm the oldest of 6 kids."
'Enough said," Sam said, and laughed.
Daniel looked over at Vala and said, "Vala, don't encourage the guy! If we are in some strange enchanted land, like the stone said, he needs to get over there and kiss the princess."
Vala ignored him, for once. It was like Daniel never existed! 'Well, this is a switch!'
Mitchell approached Sleeping Beauty (Aurora) and said to Sam, "She is kinda pretty. I wonder if she'll wake up if I kiss her."
"Cam, stop that! You don't know how this guy might react, if you do that? We don't want to start an intergalactic incident!"
"Sam, look at the guy! He's obviously smitten with Danny's girlfriend."
"Hey, she's not my girlfriend!"
Cameron leaned over and kissed the Aurora. Nothing happened. He tried it again. And again, nothing happened. "Maybe you should try, Daniel."
"Nope. I'm not getting involved in this mess!"
"Well, we just can't leave her here, guys! Cam, pick her up. We'll take her back to the village with us. We need to find a healer. If the Prince won't kiss her, we have to find another way." Sam waited for Cam and watched as he tried kissing her again.
"Maybe three's the charm."
But, again, nothing happened. So, he picked her up and they all started back to the village. Prince Philip and Vala were holding hands and nobody needed a translator to understand what he had in mind. He placed her in front of him on his horse and they rode off towards the village.
Just then, a wild pig came running out of the forest and almost knocked Sam over as it ran by. Soon, another followed. Then another.
"Did I just see what I think I saw?" Sam asked.
Daniel replied, "Oh... I hope not."
"Watch out!" Sam yelled as she tried to get her P-90 up in time to shoot what looked like a very large dog (a big bad wolf maybe?) running towards them. The animal knocked her over and before she could aim her gun it ran right past the group, in hot pursuit of the pigs.
"This is crazy! What is going on here?" Daniel was just turning around to help Sam up when he spotted a little girl with yellow, curly hair. She walked up to Daniel and said, "I'm lost. I can't find my Mommy so I went into a house and I broke a chair and I fell asleep after eating some of Rebecca's oatmeal and then I woke up and saw... "
"Let me guess. Three Bears?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Never mind. Come with me. We're headed back to the village. I'm sure we can find your Mommy." Daniel picked up the little cutie and headed for the town, following the horse in the distance.