The sun was starting to go behind the Sierra Nevadas, bathing the caravan in an early dusk. The caravan had gone off the highway and into a tourist rest area, where they would spend the night. The performers and workers got out and stretched, rehearsed their acts or prepared to settle down for the night. In the gypsies trailer, preparations of a different sort were taking place.
The Monkees were sitting on the floor in their chains as usual.
Whenever they could, they whispered to each other and formed a desperate plan to escape. Most of it would rely on Peter. He nodded solemnly. If he failed, they would be lucky to live long enough to be sold as gypsy slaves. Marco came into the living room and unchained Peter's wrists and ankles.
"It is almost time for supper." He growled as he roughly pulled Peter to his feet, "Get in the kitchen and make your famous soup."
"Yes sir." Peter said quietly and went into the kitchen. Marco looked down with contempt at the other three Monkees.
"I hope the four of you are sold separately to harsh masters," He smirked, "and never see each other or freedom again."
"You're evil!" Mike retorted.
"Why thank you." The gypsy replied with a smile…then backhanded Mike across the face. He walked away chuckling at his own wit.
In the kitchen, under the watchful eyes of Maria and Tanya, Peter made his Cream of Root Beer Soup. The two gypsy women crinkled their noses at all the odd ingredients Peter put into the soup, but let him continue to work. Peter put the stockpot on the small stove and lit the flame. He stepped back and looked at the two gypsies.
"You have to let it simmer slowly to let the full aroma come out." He said.
"You're not trying to delay your journey to the gypsy meet, are you?" Tanya asked slowly.
"No, no I'm not." Peter said quietly.
"You had better not." Maria snarled, "When it becomes fully dark, we will leave…all of us." She chuckled and looked at her niece.
"Watch him so he doesn't try anything." Maria said.
"Yes, Aunt Maria."
Maria walked out of the kitchen while Tanya stood nearby, a knife hidden in her hand. Under her watchful eye, Peter set the table and got everything ready for supper. Occasionally, he went back to the pot and stirred the soup. Gathering up his nerve, he looked over a Tanya.
"None of us ever found out why, Tanya." He said, "But what was so special about Madam Rantha's Maltese Vulture that made you gypsies want it so bad?"
"The Vulture was made of diamonds and other precious stones." Tanya replied coolly, "Diamonds and precious stones that were stolen from the gypsy people."
"From your people?" Peter asked.
"Yes." Tanya said, "The Vulture was made for a self-important ruler whose name isn't even in the history books anymore." Tanya's face grew dark, "Aunt Maria found out through a cousin that it had been bought by Madam Rantha's husband. Madam Rantha's husband was from an old European family who had never been good to gypsies, so that made us want it all the more."
"So your Aunt Maria and her sons went out to audition for a ball she was having." Peter stated.
"Yes, and you know the rest." Tanya said coldly. "If you Monkees hadn't auditioned she would've given the job to us. But know this Monkee. Madam Rantha didn't give the job to you Monkees because of your `musical abilities'.
"No?" Peter asked
"She gave the job to you four because she didn't like gypsies." Tanya spat.
Peter looked her in the eye. "Perhaps your Aunt and cousins were just poor musicians, that's all."
Tanya made to slap Peter, but he grabbed her hand.
Tanya instantly had the tip of her knife underneath Peter's chin.
Peter let go of Tanya's hand and Tanya took the knife away, but not before cutting Peter's chin a little. He winced a little, but still looked the young gypsy woman in the eye.
"You and your Aunt and cousins just use your heritage as an excuse when things go wrong for you, and use it as an excuse to do wrong."
"Philosophy from a dummy." Tanya smirked, "How interesting. Is the soup done?" She demanded.
Peter took a sip of the soup from his spoon. "Yes, it's done."
Tanya went to the door of the kitchen and called her family over.
Maria and her sons quickly came into the tiny kitchen and sat down at the table. Working slowly as not to spill it, Peter ladled his soup onto the gypsies' plates.
"May I please serve some to my friends?" Peter asked when he was done.
"Very well." Maria said. "You may bring them one bowl."
Peter ladled out a bowl-full of soup, picked up three spoons and carried it all into the living room where his friends were chained.
Maria stood at the kitchen door and watched so Peter made no move to escape.
"Thanks, Peter!" Micky, Mike and Davy said happily to him as Micky took the bowl.
"You're welcome." Peter replied, handing them the spoons and giving them a wink. He then walked back into the kitchen and poured a little soup for himself.
The gypsies warily tasted the soup at first, but then discovered it was quite good! They hungrily slurped it down along with the crackers they had. Peter stood off to the side, hoping his band mates were doing their part.
Micky quietly crawled over to the door between the kitchen and living room. He reached back and took the bowl of soup from Mike, then poured the soup onto the linoleum floor. It made a large puddle and made the floor very slippery. Micky quickly got back into his place.
As the gypsies finished their soup, they began to feel sick. They all looked at each other, and realized they all were starting to feel the same way.
"My tummy hurts." Marco whined.
"Mine too." Kiko replied, holding his stomach. He glared at Peter. "What did you put in the soup?!"
"Sorry, Tork family secret." Peter said as he inched towards the kitchen door. "Gotta go now, bye!" He turned and jumped over the puddle of soup on the floor and ran into the living room.
"Come back here!" Zeppo shouted, now clutching his stomach too. He got up and ran after Peter, but didn't know about the slippery floor. His boot slipped on the soup and he fell hard on his backside, right in the door between the kitchen and living room.
Peter ran over to his friends. He tried to unchain them, but the chains were secured with padlocks.
"Forget about that, let's go!" Mike shouted and Peter helped his friends stand up.
Meanwhile the gypsies realized what was going on and tried to go after the Monkees, but they all now had terrible stomach aches and Zeppo was blocking the door to the living room. When they tried to go around him, they also slipped on the soup, further blocking the door.
The Monkees, with Peter in the rear, ran over to the door of the trailer. Davy tried the handle, but the door was locked tight as well.
"Oh no." Davy moaned as he tried to force the door open.
"We gotta do this together." Mike said, "The four of us should be able to force it open."
As the Monkees stood back to get a running start at the door, the gypsies were finally getting to their feet.
"STOP!" Maria shouted.
But the Monkees paid her no mind as they charged the door. The lock snapped with their combined force and Mike, Micky and Davy fell out of the trailer and onto the ground below. Peter fell to the floor of the trailer. As he got to his feet, Marco threw a knife at him. It jammed into the doorframe a mere inch from his head. With a terrified glance back, Peter jumped out of the trailer to and helped his friends get to their feet once again.
"Go!" Peter shouted, "I'm not chained, I'll try to slow them down!"
Immediately the other three Monkees began to ran as fast as they could between the trailers shouting and making as much noise as possible.
"Help! Somebody help us!" They yelled, "We've been kidnapped! The gypsies are trying to kill us!"
Several people began to poke their heads out of their trailers to see what all the fuss was about.
Since Micky, Mike and Davy had short chains around their ankles, they couldn't run very fast, so Peter stayed behind them throwing rocks, trash and anything else he could find to slow down the gypsies who were chasing after them. The gypsies themselves were not able to run very fast either, being in great pain from drinking Peter's soup. Still, they ran after their captives, clutching their stomachs. Amazingly, despite what was going on, nobody from the other trailers seemed inclined to become involved.
When the Monkees ran around the corner of a trailer, Peter's foot caught on a rock and he went down.
Micky, Mike and Davy ran on. Mike glanced back and saw what had happened.
"Peter!" He shouted. Micky and Davy looked back too.
The gypsies surrounded Peter and glared down at him. Micky, Mike and Davy kept on running and looking behind them…..and crashed into something and fell down as well...
They looked up and into the faces of Joe Friday and Sam Saturday and several police officers.
"It's ok, you're safe, boys." Friday said gently.
Despite their dirty, bedraggled appearance, the detective had no trouble recognizing them.
"Peter isn't! Save him!" Micky yelled.
"Stay here!" Friday ordered as he, Saturday and several officers ran the way the Monkees had come.
Peter had been picked up and shoved against the trailer, surrounded by the gypsies.
"Goodbye, Monkee pigeon!" She snarled. The gypsies brought their knives down…
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Friday shouted as he, Saturday and the other officers came around the corner, guns drawn. "Put your hands up!" Saturday continued, "You're all under arrest!"
"I don't think so, pig!" Tanya snapped as she brought her knife to Peter's throat. "Any closer and he dies!"
"Put the knife down, miss." Friday said calmly. "It's over. Don't make things even worse."
"We're not going back to prison!" Maria yelled back, then clutched her stomach again. The gypsies began to back away, Tanya in the back holding a knife at Peter's throat.
Suddenly, the door of the trailer they were next to flew open, slamming into Tanya's back and knocking her and Peter to the ground. The knife flew out of Tanya's hand. Coming out of the trailer was a very angry Sam.
"What in tarnation is going on out here?!" He demanded, then saw the cops and immediately raised his hands. "I didn't do nothing! Honest, officers!" He stammered in fear.
But the officers ignored him for the moment and grabbed Maria, her sons and niece and placed them all in handcuffs.
Sirens began to wail around as more police from the surrounding area began to come out from hiding and surround the caravan. Friday looked in satisfaction at Maria.
"Well hello, Maria." He smiled, "Fancy meeting you here! I'm sorry you and your sons didn't like that minimum security prison you were in, so we'll find a nice maximum one for you!"
Maria cursed him in her native tongue as she and her sons and niece were taken away. Peter sat on the ground in shock, unable to believe the nightmare was over. Saturday helped him stand up.
"Are you ok, Mr. Tork?" He asked.
"Yeah I am." Peter said quietly, then looked Saturday. "My friends, are they ok?"
"You betcha, shotgun!" Mike exclaimed as he, Micky and Davy, freed from their chains, came around the corner of the trailer. They gave each other a huge group hug, so happy to be finally free.
Sam stood there in bewilderment as he watched his performers all rounded up. He finally got up enough nerve to speak to the detective.
"What's going on here?" He asked, trying to put as much indignation as he could into his voice, "I didn't do nothing, honest!"
"You've done nothing honest in quite some time, Mr. Black." Friday told him, "Did you know that your gypsies were holding these men prisoners?"
"No, I didn't." Sam sputtered, "Maria told me they were cousins down on their luck and that they didn't speak much English."
"That's true, sir." Mike said, "Sam had nothing to do with our kidnapping."
Sam sagged with relief until Saturday spoke up.
"Still, you've committed several health and safety violations, Mr. Black." He said, "Plus I'm willing to wager several more of your performers have had less than stellar back-grounds."
"But, but.." Sam stuttered.
"Save it for your lawyer, Mr. Black." Friday said, and motioned for one of the police officers to take the circus owner away, which he did.
Friday and Saturday walked over to the Monkees.
The former captives ran over to them and gave them both group hugs, thanking them over and over again for what they had done. When they finally let the two men go, they had a million questions to ask them.
"Who are you guys?" Davy asked.
"I'm Detective Joe Friday and this is my partner Sam Saturday." He said, "Two young boys found your car, Mr. Nesmith, and took it for a joyride. We caught them before they could do any damage, but when we couldn't find you or your friends, that's when we started to look for you."
"Your neighbor, Mrs. Prudy told us you four had gone to see a circus." Saturday continued, "So we were able to trace your route here. A tow truck driver finally found the flyer Sam had given him with the name of the next town where the circus was going to perform. Fortunately, I have a sister that lives in Las Vegas, so we stayed there so we could come quickly when you four were found."
"Is that where we are?" Micky asked.
"No, actually you're a few miles south of Carson City." Friday replied. "In western Nevada."
"You guys were taken on a long trip, that's for sure." Saturday replied, shaking his head.
"They were going to take us to their gypsy meet tonight." Peter said.
"Then sell us as slaves." Mike added. "So we'd never be found." Friday and Saturday looked at each other.
"A gypsy meet, eh?" Friday said, "I think the local F.B.I. might be interested in that. Lots of illegal stuff, like white slavery deals, often happen at those gatherings."
"But first you gentlemen are going to the hospital." Saturday said, "You look like you need medical care...and a bath."
Laughing, the Monkees let the lawmen escort them to an ambulance.
The Monkees were taken to the nearest hospital where they were
treated for their injuries. They were told they had to stay for a
few days, but were allowed to call their families and tell them they
were alright. Also, they were given their first decent meals in
days.
Friday and Saturday went to see Maria, and in exchange for some antacids for her and her family, she told the detective and his partner where the gypsy meet was being held. So, another raid was held that night, deep in the Sierra Nevadas, with many more gypsies arrested and a several slaves rescued. Stolen Jewelry, guns and drugs were also recovered. The information gathered that night later would lead to the breakup of a major white-slavery ring in the northwest. So many people were arrested for so many different things over the course of twelve hours that the caravan's trailers had to be used as make-shift jails until everything could be sorted out.
Early the next morning, the Monkees received a surprise visit from Micky's Mom, sisters and Mrs. Prudy. An even greater surprise came later in the day, when Mr. Babbit came to see his renters. Despite the differences he had with them, he was glad to see them safe, and even told them they didn't have to pay the rent next month!
A few days later, the Monkees were released from the hospital and
driven home by Micky's Mom and Mr. Babbit. Their hosptial bill was paid by the grateful father of a rescued slave. Never was home so sweet
home to them.
When the dust all settled, this how everything turned out:
The Monkees quickly recovered from their injuries and were soon out
doing gigs as before.
Detective Joe Friday, Sgt. Sam Saturday, Officer Joe Bolton and
Willie the tow-truck driver were all given awards for the fine jobs
they had done in finding the Monkees and leading to the arrest of
several wanted criminals.
Sam the Man's Traveling Circus Caravan was permanently shut down due
to all the health and safety violations it had occurred in almost
every city it had visited. Several of the performers, like the
gypsies, had outstanding warrants for their arrest, with charges
ranging form assault to failure to pay child support.
The side show
acts, like the human skeleton or the Siamese twins were either
released to relatives or placed in homes or institutions, never to
be exploited again.
Though Sam was not charged in the kidnapping of the Monkees, he was
charged with hiding fugitives, failure to pay taxes and other
crimes. He was sentenced to several years in prison, but only after
a few months in jail, his health began to fail and he was placed in
a half-way house, where he died a few months later.
Ed and Frank Sessions had their day in juvenile court, where they
were charged theft, reckless endangerment, driving without a license
and speeding. But due to the fact that it was a first offense for
the two boys, plus the fact their misdeeds did eventually lead to
several criminals being put behind bars, the judge went easy on
them. They received a stern lecture about respecting others'
property, and were sentenced to one day of picking up trash along
the highway. Plus, they had to apologize Mike for taking his car. Later, their record would be expunged, and the two boys never broke
the law again.
What happened to Maria, Marco, Rocco, Zeppo, Kiko and Tanya? Well,
they were charge with several counts of kidnapping, assault, false
imprisonment and abuse and held without bond until their trial.
When they had their day in court, their court-appointed attorney tried to say that the Monkees had willing gone and joined the circus with the gypsies. But with the past history of the group with the gypsies, plus their testimony and medical records of their brutal injuries, his case quickly folded. He tried to plea-bargain, but this judge, who had no gypsy blood in him, was in no mood for deals.
The judge took into account that the gypsies had already been given a chance to redeem themselves, but had chosen not to.
Plus he was disturbed by the brutality shown to their captives, and the total lack of remorse for what they had done. Thus, he sent them all to separate maximum security prisons and gave them the maximum sentences allowed under the law, with no chance for parole. That insured Maria would die in prison and her sons and niece would not get out until they were old...
Which is exactly what happened.
Chapter 18
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