Mike looked outside too. After a few seconds, he turned back to the Anderson sisters and gave them a knowing smile.
"So, you girls think you have us trapped here, huh?" The four sisters just smiled back at him.
"Well, since your driveway is flat, I think my big Buick can make it out of here." He said, starting to walk towards the door, "C'mon fellows, I'll drive us over to Micky's car and we can get it out of the ditch."
"How did we get volunteered for this?" Peter muttered under his breath, but followed the other Monkees out of the room.
The Anderson girls followed them out. Arlene ran up to her room while her sisters helped the men get into their cold-weather gear.
"Please be careful." Chris told them. "If you're not back in an hour, we're coming to look for you."
"Thanks, Chris." Micky replied.
Arlene came back down the stairs, holding something in her hand.
She walked over to Mike.
"Um, Mike?" She asked.
"Yeah, Arlene?"
"Here." Arlene said quietly, holding the object out to him. "It will help keep your head warm."
In Arlene's hand was a green wool knit hat, similar to the ones Mike wore on the TV show. Mike looked at the hat for a moment, then slowly took it from her and put it on his head. Despite his unwillingness to wear one when he wasn't on the show or in concert, Mike realized he needed something for his head.
"I made it myself, with a little help from Marcia." Arlene said with a shy smile, "I've been meaning to mail it to you, but?." She shrugged.
"Thank you, Arlene." Mike smiled, giving a kiss on the forehead. "I appreciate it."
The others smiled at the gesture. Finally the Monkees were ready and left the house to try and get Micky's car. Like Mike said, his Buick was powerful, and after he brushed the melting snow off his car, he was able to back it out of the driveway and down the road again to get Micky's car. The Anderson girls watched them leave from the door and then went back inside.
About a half-hour later, the girls heard engine noise. To their relief, they saw Mike's car pull into the driveway, followed by Micky driving his car and parking it at the end of the driveway where the snow wasn't too deep. The Monkees came back inside and were immediately pulled into the den and placed in front of the fire like Micky had been the night before.
"Not again." Micky moaned, only half-kidding as a hot blanket was placed around his shoulders.
"Actually, girls, it's not that bad out." Peter said as he was wrapped up. "The weather is getting warmer."
"Yeah, we didn't have much trouble pushing Micky's car out of the ditch since a lot of the snow was already gone." Davy finished.
"That's great!" Marcia replied. "Maybe Mom and Dad can make it up here now."
"Yeah, and maybe we can get down the roads ourselves." Davy asked.
"That's not so great." Arlene said with a frown.
"I told you three, they have to be going." Chris said, then looked at the Monkees. "If you guys are warmed up enough, we can all go out and help you dig the rest of your cars out."
"That's very nice of you." Mike replied.
"I'm going to get my boots on." Chris said, "Marcia, show them where the utility room is."
"Ok, Chris." Marcia said reluctantly.
Chris went up to her room and put on her boots, then, seeing the den empty, went down to the utility room on the ground floor near the garage. What greeted her was not a happy sight. Her sisters were sitting on a bench on one side of the room, looking innocent, while the Monkees were sitting on the other side of the room, glaring at them.
"What's the problem?" Chris asked.
"Your sisters insist there aren't any snow shovels or any kind of snow gear of any kind in the house." Mike said.
"Right, Chris?" Stephanie smiled brightly at her big sis. "We're never up here when it snows so we never need those things."
"They'll just have to stay here for a while longer." Marcia said. Chris just walked over to where her sisters were sitting, picked
Stephanie up and placed to the side. "Get up you two." She said, in a no-nonsense tone of voice. Marcia and Arlene got up off the bench. Chris lifted the lid of the bench and inside were several snow shovels.
"Oh, `those' shovels!" Arlene said in mock surprise. Chris let out a breath and looked sternly at her sisters.
"Listen you three. I know you don't want the Monkees to leave; I don't either if you must know, but they have families that will be worried about them. Understand? No more trying to make them stay. Got it?"
"Got it." Marcia, Arlene and Stephanie said quietly, looking at the floor.
"Alright, then." Chris said, then looked at the Monkees. "I'm sorry about this."
"We're sorry." Arlene said.
The Monkees looked just a little upset at the three, but still said it was ok.
Chris pulled the shovels from the chest and started to hand them out to everyone.