Chapter four: The Separation

Once again, light and mechanical noises filled Mendoza's laboratory. The four images of the young men came into view over the previously empty spots on the upright lab table. The images solidified, bringing the four young men completely back into place. A little shaky, they regained consciousness just on time for Mendoza to switch off the machine.

"Well Monkees, how did it go?"

Mike blinked, adjusting to the light. "Well. Real well."

"It was a real trip." Micky mumbled

"Good! Good!" Mendoza smiled "Now, may I see the paper? Assuming you found it."

"Yes I got it right here." Davy said, motioning towards his pants pocket.

Mendoza instructed Groot to retrieve the paper from Davy. Groot did as he was told and brought the paper over to Mendoza. The paper was then spread out on a table with the first piece of paper that the Monkees retrieved from Salem. Since they were torn from the same document, the pieces fit together like parts of a puzzle. Mendoza stood back and rubbed his hands together with a smile.

"Everything is coming together nicely. The experiment thus far has been a success." He looked at the Monkees "I need you boys to continue with the experiment.

"Do we get to go to Disneyland this time?" Peter asked, hopefully

Mendoza chuckled "Fun, yes! But productive towards the experiment, no. Perhaps I'll send you boys there once the experiment is finished. Providing everything continues to go well."

"Where exactly are you sending us this time, Doc?" Mike asked before arching his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Ah-ha!" Mendoza laughed and then elbowed Groot in the side. "The boys want to know where they are going. But the more appropriate question would be when am I sending them."

"Ok Mendoza, so when are you sending us this time?" Micky asked, trying to sound cheerful, despite his annoyance.

"You'll see when you get there." Mendoza instructed Groot to prepare the machine again.

Groot prepared the machine, unaware that he accidentally flipped an additional switch. The machine buzzed, beeped and whistled and lights began to flash like before. Mendoza's face contorted in horror when he noticed Groot's mistake. He rushed to the machine to remedy the mistake, while berating Groot for it. But it was too late to do anything. The Monkees were gone.

"There's no telling what you've caused, Groot." Mendoza scolded, highly disappointed. "Let's just hope for the best."

…

Davy held his head as he opened his eyes. He winced and groaned, cursing the intense pain filling his head. The pain was so difficult to deal with that he had to close his eyes again. On top of the pain, a screeching metallic hum filled his ears and he was surrounded by an intense white light. The thing that caused him to open his eyes again, despite the pain and light, was the sound of a female voice seemingly calling out to him.

Slowly, he made himself open his eyes. As he did this, all the noise and light began to fade. However, some of the pain in his head remained, but it was now bearable. When things began to come into view, he jumped with a yelp as he stared into the face of a horse. Once the initial surprise left him, he sighed in relief.

Davy sat up and smiled to himself as he looked at the horse. He reached to pet the horse's muzzle, but was startled again by the sound of the same female voice he had heard.

"Oh good, you're awake. I was afraid I'd have to fetch a doctor. And the nearest one is about a mile away."

Looking around for the source of the voice, Davy frowned slightly in confusion. The voice was familiar but he couldn't quite place it. When she stepped out from behind the horse, he had to restrain himself from letting out a startled gasp or even call out her name.

She knelt beside him and tilted her head. "Are you alright? I didn't see any injuries on you when I checked you out. Was worried that you had hit our head."

"I'm okay. Well except for a mild headache."

He couldn't help but stare at her as he caught glimpses of her blonde hair peeking out from under her bonnet. Those same, soft features he remembered seemed a little out of place framed by the bonnet as well as the dress covering her body. It was a far cry from the dark clothing and leather jacket he had first seen her in when they had met.

She furrowed her brows and pursed her lips a little as she studied him. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I suppose you could say that. From… a different time." He snickered

She smirked slightly. "Now I know you must've hit your head. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a bit out of sorts I suppose."

She nodded. "Uh huh. Well can you tell me your name?"

He grinned "I'm Davy. Um, David Jones. It's nice to see you- uh, meet you."

"I'm Queenie." She patted the horse on the back. "Come with me, David Jones. I'll take you to see a doctor."

"No, no. That's very kind of you, Queenie. But I really am fine."

"Then at least come into town with me to get some decent clothes."

Confused, Davy looked at himself. He nearly jumped when he saw that he was still wearing his normal clothes from the 60s. He quickly lied about them being high fashion from England, which was very ahead of its time. Much to his relief, she bought into the lie. However, she still insisted that he go with her. Unable to resist her offer, he climbed up onto the back of the horse.

As they rode away, he began to feel himself fill with dread. It had suddenly occurred to him that he had no idea where the other three guys were. He had no idea where he was, although he had a good idea of what time period he had entered. But since he was by himself, he had a million questions swarming his brain all at once. And he wasn't sure if any of these questions could be answered.

He fidgeted in his seat and bit his lower lip. His eyes darted about as he watched the scenery go by. Often he needed to adjust his position and even grip the horse to steady himself as worry began to overcome him. None of this went unnoticed by Queenie, causing her to glance back at him in concern.

"David I have the feeling there's something going on with you. Tell me, what's on your mind, honey."

"Well it's just that I was traveling with some friends. I have no idea where I am or how we even got separated. There's no telling where either of them might be."

"Oh." She frowned. "I'm terribly sorry about that. I'm actually heading south to the Oklahoma territory. You're welcome to come with me." She paused to think for a moment. "Come to think about it… David I think I'll need your help with something. I'll help you find your friends in return."

Davy gulped, feeling unsure. But he knew he had no choice but to go along with her. "Sure. I'll help you, Queenie."

"My beau is fighting down south right now. And I promised him I'd bring him something. And it's not always safe when heading towards the battlefields."

Davy's eyes widened "Battlefields?"

She snickered "Surely you know of the war. How long have you been in America, anyway?"

"Oh right, of course I know of the war. I just have been avoiding battlefields as much as I can."

"Understandable. But sometimes they can't be avoided."

Davy gulped and huddled a little closer to Queenie as they rode. He knew then that he was going to be on edge the whole ride to wherever they were headed.

…

Micky groaned in pain before opening his eyes. The intense white light, and grinding, mechanical noise surrounding him caused him to squeeze his eyes shut again. Covering his face with his hands, he slowly opened his eyes to dull the effects of the light. As the screeching, grinding in his brain faded away, he began to remove his hands away from his eyes in hopes that the light had done the same. He peeked through a couple fingers, still squinting from the pain, and was relieved at the lack of blinding white.

As he looked around, trying to soothe himself with calming breaths, he felt the red hot pain in his head fade. He took one last deep breath before sitting up. Taking in his scenery, he found nothing familiar. He frowned and mumbled to himself, trying to make sense of what he saw in order to gain some sort of bearings.

Remnants of campfire smoke were in the air. There were tree stumps circling the abandoned fire pit along with signs of a recently cooked and eaten meal. There were varying degrees of what appeared to be tents made of tattered animal skin and wooden poles. Broken weapons, as though discarded during a fight, lay scattered on the ground. Arrows and bullet holes stuck in the sides of a couple of the standing tents.

A chill filled the air, carrying with it the cries and the ghosts of the recent battle which had taken place there. From the looks of this, and the campfire also still smoldering a bit, this battle had not taken place very long ago, probably within the hour.

Micky gasped and a shudder ran through him as he took in all that was before him. To make things worse, he had a million things to say about this sight but there was no one around to share any of the thoughts with.

Not noticing the horse and rider strolling up to him, he jumped nearly out of his body and he yelped when the horse nudged him in the back. With a panicked breath, and widened eyes, he turned around with all intents to say 'don't do that.' However, before he could finish the first syllable, he was stunned by the face looking down at him from on top of the horse.

"Are you alright, honey?" she asked in a husky tone.

Micky had to stop himself from dropping his jaw. "Uh huh. Yeah I'm alright." As he answered, he hoped that he wasn't staring too much at her.

"You speak English I see." She climbed off her horse, allowing him a better look at her soldier's uniform she wore. "Honestly, I thought everyone had fled from this camp. Is there anyone with you?"

"No. No I'm by myself."

"Do you need any help? Are you hurt at all?"

"Aside from a dull headache and not really knowing where I am or where my friends are, I'd say I'm fine."

She studied him "You speak real good English. Pretty fluent. I'm surprised. And… those clothes are questionable though."

He cocked an eyebrow "I could say the same about your clothes, miss, um…"

"Nancy. But I prefer Nan. What's your name, injun?"

Micky blinked, taken aback by her comment. He decided to go with her mistaken identity of him being an Indian. "Well the white men have named me Micky."

"Micky." She nodded "I can go with that. How long have you been here, Micky?"

"I, uh, don't know. I guess I've been out for a while. I'm a bit lost actually. I was with some friends and we somehow sort of split up. Must've blacked out, though I can't remember what could've caused it. When I woke up I was here and my friends were gone."

"Boy. Once you grasped the English language you fell in love with every word, didn't you?"

"Huh?"

She laughed. "I just mean you talk a lot."

Micky blushed a little. "Sorry."

"Don't be." She laughed "Look, I can see you're in need of help. I could actually use some help too. How about you come with me and I'll help you find your friends?"

"How would that help you, though?"

"You'll see when we get there."

"There, where?"

"You'll see. " She patted the horse's back. "Hop on injun."

Not knowing what else to do but trust her, Micky climbed up onto the horse. He looked at Nan, his memories of their first meeting flooding back to him. Suddenly his jaw clenched from the memory of pain caused by Nan's fist where she had punched him. He quickly shook these thoughts away as he watched Nan take her place in front of him on the horse.

Micky was concerned that he didn't know where they were going, or even what they'd do once they got there. He was even more concerned, though, over the fact that he had no idea what happened to the other three guys. Though panic began to rise inside him, he made himself appear relatively calm as he rode with Nan. The trouble with doing this was that he had no idea when or if he'd be reunited with his friends. For the time being he knew he'd have to roll with whatever came along.

…

The brightness filled Mike's eyes, despite the fact that they were closed. He cringed, squeezing his eyes closed even tighter. Intense pain pounded inside his head, made worse by the screeching and grinding sounds of metal upon metal. In an attempt to toughen it out, he forced himself to sit up. This move proved devastating on his head, causing him to quickly lie back down with a groan. He muttered to himself, while covering his face with his hands. As he lay there in misery, he hadn't realized that someone had walked over to where he was.

"Are you hurt?"

The feminine voice startled him, but it relieved some of the pain. He uncovered his face and opened his eyes, still wincing though the light had begun to fade. For a moment, he stared seriously towards the source of the voice, and waited for his vision to clear. Once all was normal, except for a dull headache, he slowly sat up and looked at the girl. What he saw was both a pleasant sight, and yet, a somewhat unsettling one at the same time. All he could do was stare at her and recall his memories of their first meeting.

"Are you hurt?" She repeated her question while kneeling beside him. She removed her bonnet, letting her long red hair flow freely.

"I'm fine now." He looked all around and saw buildings nearby. "Where am I?"

"You're just outside of Oswego Kansas." She tilted her head in concern. "Are you sure you're not hurt? Did you hit your head perhaps?"

Mike nodded. "I'm fine. Might take me a moment to get my bearings, but I assure you, I'm fine. At least, will be."

She frowned in concern as she looked at him. "Maybe I can help you. Where is the last place you remember being?"

"Um…" he frowned and muttered curse words when he realized. "I can't tell you exactly where I was. But I was with some friends. I have no idea how I got here or what happened to them."

She gave a small nod. "Alright. First thing's first, my house is just down the street here. Come with me and I will fix up any injuries you might have. Then we'll talk and try to figure this out together." She looked at him, puzzled. "I'm sorry. I just have this strange feeling that I know you from somewhere."

"Perhaps you do. I'm Michael. Friends call me Mike."

"Mike." She grinned. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ann." She put her bonnet back on "Now let's head to my house."

"You sure work fast." He chuckled "Just met and now you're asking me to come to your house. We haven't had a chance to properly court first."

Ann blushed. "Don't get any of those ideas, Michael. I'm trying to help you. Now come along."

Mike grinned. "Yes ma'am."

Ann helped him stand and then led him to her house. As he walked with her, he had to fight against memories of their first encounter. He knew that he had to keep those thoughts and other urges at bay so he wouldn't come off as suspicious.

Once they entered Ann's house, Mike paused by the doorway as a strange feeling hit him. He couldn't explain it but he could sense that they weren't alone in the house. When he looked around, ignoring what Ann was saying to him, he couldn't see any signs of other people. But he knew they were there. He decided to let this feeling go as Ann took him by the hand.

Talking to him, she led him over to the kitchen table. She sat a basket of crude first aid materials on the table between them and then began examining him for any injuries. Brushing Mike's hair back away from his forehead, Ann paused, catching him by the eyes. She pulled back, studying his face.

"It's strange. I know we haven't met before, but I feel as though I know you from somewhere."

Mike shrugged. "Perhaps I have one of those faces that people are so familiar with."

"Maybe." Ann glanced into the basket and picked up some gauze, though not sure of why she needed it then. "Michael I feel as though I can trust you."

He gave a small nod. "You can." A sense of intrigue befell him and it must have shown on his face, for Ann continued with her thoughts.

"You can keep a secret, right?" she leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "Even if that secret was very big one that could get people into a lot of trouble?"

Mike looked at her, a bit surprised. He relaxed his features and cleared his throat. "Yes, of course. I'm like a steel trap. You can trust me with anything."

"There are other people hidden in the house." She whispered.

For just a second he was unsure of what she could have meant, or why this sort of secret would have got anyone in trouble. Then it dawned on him that she was referring to slaves. When pieces began to fall into place in his mind, he leaned forward and whispered.

"You need someone to help you, don't you?"

She nodded solemnly. "And you need help finding your friends, do you not?"

They were both silent for a moment. In that silence an understanding was made between them. Nothing more needed to be said or explained. Though he mentally cursed himself for being a natural hero to "damsels in distress" Mike agreed to help Ann. He did so, though, with a sense of dread. But this dread was over the nagging thought that he wouldn't be able to find his friends and they wouldn't be able to complete the task for Mendoza. The dread also came with the realization that he had no idea what would happen if they weren't reunited.

…

Mechanical screeching overcame Peter's ears. This was immediately followed by the horrific pain in his head. He groaned and brought his hands to cover his ears, but this did nothing to muffle the sound. Trying to open his eyes proved to be a big mistake, for he immediately met an incredibly white light. Squeezing his eyes shut, he groaned again, hoping desperately that this all would go away. Soon, the grating machine sounds faded, along with much of the pain. Though his eyes were still closed, he could tell that the light still surrounded him. He waited until he was sure that the light was gone before he slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing Peter saw was another pair of eyes staring back at him. He slowly sat up and got a good look at the girl that stood before him. Right away, he had to hold back a gasp when he recognized her. However, he couldn't help the smile that formed upon his lips.

"Hello." He said cheerfully.

"Hello." She furrowed her brow slightly. "I'm glad you're awake. You were out for a little while."

"Was I?"

She nodded "Are you in any pain? I checked for injuries but couldn't find any visible ones."

"I'm fine." He looked around and realized he was in a bed. "Where am I?"

"I brought you into my house when I found you passed out. Tried to give you a comfortable place to lie." She paused to check him out. "You sure you're alright? How's your head?"

"Just a small headache but I'm fine. Thank you so much for taking care of me, miss-"

"Jan." she grinned slightly "Do you know who you are?"

"I'm Peter."

He looked at her a bit puzzled when he saw the dress she was wearing. His puzzlement grew as he noticed other things in the room that he was unfamiliar with. It was then when he tried piecing together historical things to figure out a general time period.

"Jan? Where exactly are we?"

"We're in Pittsburg Kansas. Don't tell me you've lost your memory."

"No… just lost. See I was traveling with some friends. I have no idea how I wound up here."

"Friends. Well I'm sort of looking for some, uh," she cleared her throat "friends myself. Should be meeting them later tonight. Maybe we could help each other with our friends."

"Oh really?" Peter smiled. "Jan that would be wonderful! Thank you so much!"

She grinned, enjoying his enthusiasm. "So you don't mind sticking with me for tonight?"

"Sure." He frowned a little "Why tonight?"

"It'll be dark then. Trust me, we'll need the darkness." She pated the mattress "Come on, get up."

"What for?"

"We have things to get ready and we have little time."

Though confused, Peter got out of the bed and began helping Jan prepare for travel. As he followed her out to a horse stable, a sinking feeling entered his stomach. He was very much confused over what was happening, but he already felt like it couldn't be anything good. Not only did he have a bad feeling about what might happen with him and Jan, he began to worry about his friends. He worried over the fact that he had no idea where they all could be. It was a big concern that he knew there was no way of contacting any of them. Though he was worried about the possibility of never seeing his friends again and being trapped in this time period, he knew he mustn't let Jan know how worried he was. He realized then that the best thing for him to do was to go along with whatever Jan had him do for her, and hope beyond hope that things worked out in his favor.