Thank you all so much for your kind comments! I will try and get back to everyone in the next couple of days. But in the meantime - and as a thank you - here's another chapter.
By the end of the week Jack was sure he was never going to be able to move again. Every joint, every muscle, every ligament and every bit of skin was strained, pulled, stretched and scraped. He just plain hurt.
But he'd beaten the damned sheep! As he flopped back down on the blanket-covered hay in their cozy loft (barn loft) apartment, he couldn't help but grin. Today he'd gotten the best of Marvin – who had been shaven, shorn and fleeced!
"Hah! Who's laughing now Marvin!" he muttered.
"Who are you talking to Jack?" Sam's head poked up from the top of the ladder as she made her way into the loft. "Who's Marvin?"
Jack turned his head towards the most beautiful woman in the universe – well, to be honest his head flopped towards her, since his neck muscles were as sore and weak as the rest of him. "The sheep", he explained drowsily.
"Uh, I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific. There were lots of sheep."
"Not like this one", he grinned even wider. "This one was out to get me, but in the end I got him! Hah!"
Sam stared at him for a moment and then shook her head. Men, you really couldn't figure them out. "Okay Sir", she told him gently. "Well, I'm glad you finally got him." Two beats later … "Uh, how did you get him."
"I sheared the sucker – every last piece of wool on his tough old hide is gone. He's as naked as the day he was born. I hope all the other sheep are laughing at him now."
Sam raised an eyebrow. He was obviously suffering from extreme exhaustion. "You know Jack, I think it would be good if you stayed up here and just rested. I'll bring you something to eat."
He smiled at her. "You'd do that for me Sam?"
"Oh yeah, Sir. You just – take it easy. I'll be back in a few minutes."
He continued to grin well past the time she was gone, thinking about Marvin and all the sheep. In the end Kleitos has been right. He'd turned into a pretty damn good shearer. Not that it was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life, but still, it felt good to succeed.
He yawned and allowed himself to fall into a light doze. He was starving so he didn't want to fall asleep until he'd eaten, but right now he didn't want to move a muscle.
It had been some week. He couldn't remember when he'd worked this hard – except maybe for the time he and Sam and Teal'c had been forced to work the mines on – whatever the hell planet that was. All he could remember was it was where Daniel had been off enjoying himself, and had gotten addicted to the sarcophagus.
Anyway – that was the last time he'd done really strenuous physical labor. While this time had been hard, in the end he'd kind of enjoyed it. Even though he was sore and exhausted, in some ways he felt better than he had in a long time and was quite pleased at his stamina. Even his knees were fine, which was surprising when he thought about how many hours he'd spent on them this past week.
Yup, although right now everything hurt, he was feeling great. And he'd beaten Marvin!
"Here you go", Sam climbed carefully up the ladder, a heaping plate of delicious food in her hand. In the pocket of her apron was a bottle of white wine – some of Kleitos best.
Jack pushed himself until he was sitting up, letting out a groan as he did so. "God I'm stiff."
"It's no wonder with all that wrestling around", Sam said, handing him his plate and pulling out the wine. "Are you sure you didn't overdo it?"
"No I'm not sure – I probably did", he grinned. "But I'll be fine in a couple of days. And I think it was worth it. Kleitos seems much happier with us now."
"Oh, he is", she nodded. "In fact I think we've been accepted."
"Mmm – how about you?" he asked seriously, putting his food down and looking at her. He suddenly realized that he had been so caught up in the shearing – and in his physical exhaustion, that he had barely thought about how Sam was getting on. "I know it's hard with the language. Are you doing okay?"
"I'm fine. And when I said we've been accepted – I meant both of us. The women have been exceptionally nice to me all of a sudden. In fact they've taken it on themselves to teach me Greek."
"Really? How ya doin'?"
"I'm learning", she grimaced. "I know the words for lots of different kinds of foods -"
"Good – food is very important."
" – and animals and plants -"
"That's important – especially sheep!"
"Probaton", she told him proudly. "And I know body parts -"
"Really?" he waggled his eyebrows. "Which body parts?"
"All the important ones Jack", she told him in her best school teacher voice. "And don't you be getting any ideas!"
He sighed. "Ideas yes – but I'm afraid that's all they are right now. I doubt if I have the energy to even kiss you. I'm as weak as a kitten."
"Well, you'd better eat up your dinner. We want your strength back as quickly as possible."
"We do?" he smirked.
"Mmm hmm. I need you to coach me on those body parts."
He laid back down and was soon sleeping, but not before he thought about some of those body parts – some of Sam's body parts. He went to sleep with a smile on his face.
The next morning he was allowed to sleep in – in fact all the men were sleeping in. It was now the women's turn to start working by cleaning, carding and spinning the wool.
Before that, however, a party would be held for the whole town, celebrating the end of the shearing. Sam and Jack had been warned that it was a two-day event for everyone in the village. There was lots of eating (no different than everyday in Thassos), drinking and dancing.
The day before the celebration Jack had approached Kleitos about moving. He was tired of living in the barn and wanted to see if there was someplace else they could stay, until they knew what they were going to do.
"You do not like my barn, my friend", Kleitos had joked. "My cows love it."
"Yes, well it's a very nice barn Kleitos, but Samantha and I would really like to have our own house. We greatly appreciate your hospitality, but we can't stay with you forever."
"No", Kleitos sighed. "Athough I'd be happy to have you both stay as long as you like. However, I understand that you want your own home. In fact, I already spoke with the other elders and we think we have a solution for you."
"Really? What is it?"
"There is a vacant house with land on the other side of the village. No one has lived there for many years and the elders would be happy to have you use it. You would owe the village a small fee, but it could be paid off over time."
"Can I ask why it's vacant?" Jack asked, his first reaction was always to be a bit careful.
"It was owned by a local family for many years. The last owner and his wife only had one son and he left to go to the city. He did not want to be a farmer and chose to try his luck elsewhere. His parents eventually died, but he never came back to claim his land. As per our laws, after land had been left vacant for five years, it reverts back to the village. It has been more than ten since he left."
"I see. And you said there is land?"
"Yes, enough to plant a large garden and also to raise some sheep. There are fruit trees as well, although they are overgrown and will need some work. In fact the house and property all need work. It is for this reason the elders will allow you to have it for little money. I believe it is a good deal."
"I'd like to see it", Jack said. He'd also have to ask Sam what she thought. "But thank you. I appreciate you and the elders doing this."
As he walked slowly back to the barn he couldn't help but wonder if they were doing the right thing. He glanced up and saw Sam in the garden with Eugenia, helping to pick vegetables for supper.
She was wearing a dress – one of the traditional ones the women here wore. Once they women had begun to accept her they'd provided her with clothing and encouraged her to change out of her pants and into more "feminine" (their word) clothes.
Sam had agreed, although he suspected she didn't like it all that well. Still, she knew the importance of fitting in and of not pissing off the locals. She usually did a better job of it that him.
But as much as he thought she looked cute in the full skirt and white blouse the women wore, he also knew that Sam had given up a huge amount to save him and now she was forced to live in a culture that was years behind their own. She was going to come to resent life in this place, he knew. There would be little outlet for her mind and she would hate to be treated as a second-class citizen.
Maybe he should suggest they get out of here as soon as possible and head to a planet with more advanced technology. He'd grown to really like Thassos, and its people, but then he wasn't a genius and didn't need to have gadgets and gizmos, technology and trinkets to enjoy life. As long as he had good food, good friends and a fishing rod, he'd be fine.
"Hey, what's up?" she asked him later that afternoon. She'd found him sitting beside the little stream that was in back of Kleistos' house. He was leaning back on his elbows, staring into the water.
"Hmm? Oh hi", he smiled. "Just thinkin' about life here."
"What about it?" she asked, sitting down on the ground beside him. "Don't you like it?"
"Yeah. I mean, it's fine. But I was thinking about you."
"About me? What about me?"
He sat up and turned to face her. "This isn't the place for you Sam. You're not cut out for this life."
"You don't think I can handle it?" she frowned, looking hurt.
"No – I mean yes. Hell, I mean of course you can handle it, but you shouldn't have to. You're too smart to spend your days cooking and cleaning and gardening. You need mental stimulation and access to all your – your doohickeys. This place is too primitive and anyway, you don't even speak the language."
She sat for a few seconds, thinking about what he was saying. It was all true – and something she'd already thought about. But there was a part of her that wanted to stay here – she just didn't know quite what to say to Jack about it.
"Maybe you're right", she finally answered, her face turned towards the stream rather than to him. She needed to think about her answer. "I think – if I had to stay here forever I might come to resent it and to miss my – doohickeys as you call them. But you know – for right now I'm fine here – more than fine." At that she turned her head and looked directly at Jack.
"We're been on the front lines for a lot of years Sir", she said quietly. "We've been on the brink of death more times than I can count – hell, we've even died, some of us more than others. We've also had the responsibility of saving ourselves, our team, our comrades, our planet, even our galaxy. And you know – all of that tires a person out."
"Yeah, it does", he smiled. "So what exactly are you saying?"
"That for now I'm rather enjoying – cooking, cleaning and gardening. I think both of us need this time to just live and not worry about anything beyond this small village. It will also protect us if anyone is still looking for us. I mean, they wouldn't think to look for us on a backward planet like this."
He nodded slowly. "There's that", he replied. "You're sure you won't get bored?"
"Well, I can't promise, but if I do I can always invent something", she grinned.
"Just as long as it's not something that would make the locals think you're some kind of witch. Keep it simple Carter."
"I will Sir."
"So, for now we stay here?"
"I think so. After a little while we can go to the gate and try and make contact with someone – my father maybe. Things may have settled down by then."
"Okay. Sounds like a good plan. In that case – wanna come and see a house with me?"
The party had been fun. The whole town had celebrated for two whole days and a night. Although there was some drinking, for the most part it was just a lot of eating and talking and dancing. Children were everywhere and so things weren't allowed to get out of hand.
Jack and Sam both had fun. He'd danced up a storm – with a few of the local women, but mostly with Sam. They'd spent the time laughing and talking to others – and eating until they thought they could burst.
At various times Jack had glanced over at her, usually when she was speaking her broken Greek with some of the villagers, and realized he was falling in love with her more each day. And he also realized he was anxious to take their relationship to the next level.
God, he burned for her. He wanted her so badly it was becoming difficult to concentrate on anything else. At the same time, he didn't want to make love with her for the first time in the loft of a barn.
For some reason he felt like his relationship with Sam was too serious, too special for a – literal – role in the hay. The first time he made love with her he wanted it to be in a real bed, in a real room and he wanted to do it right.
He groaned. But he didn't have a bed or a home – and wasn't sure how long it was going to take before they had one. "Maybe it'll have to be the barn."
"Maybe what will have to be the barn Jack?"
"Sam? You have to stop sneaking up on me like that", he said, although his eyes were twinkling.
"I think you have to stop talking to yourself Jack", she answered back with a laugh. "So what will have to be the barn?"
He sighed. "Us", he said bluntly. "I want us to have a life together, but I was really hoping to start it together in a real home, not in a hay loft."
She walked up to him and threw her arms around him. "We already have started our life together – and so far we've slept in the open, in huts, in caves, in Ancient buildings, in haylofts – the where doesn't matter Jack, it's the who that counts."
"I know", he held her tightly. "But still – I'm not young enough to make love in a pile of hay."
She snorted. "Don't give me that mister! I've seen you wrestle a sheep to the ground. I think you could handle a hay loft!"
"Will I have to wrestle you?"
She smirked up at him. "Oh no, because I plan to wrestle you to the ground."
"Good." He smiled and continued to hold her. And he realized then, that as much as he wanted to make love with her, these moments were just as much a part of their love as was the physical side of things.
"But I would like to do it in our new home", she said a few seconds later. "I agree that a real bed would be nice. Maybe the new house will be good and we can move in quickly and then – start our new life there?"
"That would be wonderful."
They walked in the front door and Jack looked around. The door was off its hinges, the window shutters were broken, there were broken pieces of wood and pottery all over. It looked as if animals had nested inside the house and there was dust and dirt covering everything.
He glanced up to find Sam looking at him with her eyebrows raised. "Well?" she asked softly. "What do you think?"
He sighed and shook his head. "I think we're going to have to do some spring cleaning."
Don't worry – this isn't finished yet. More to come