Once night fell, Emily ran to Mike's room and knocked on his door. Mike answered it, knowing already what she wanted. "Come on, I'm going down to Al for a lesson," said Emily. "Come with me."
"All right," said Mike, walking out to Emily. "You have the piece?"
"Got it here," said Emily, patting her pocket.
"Good," said Mike. "Glad we actually do have a week till this shindig Gary's putting on. That'll give you the exact amount of time."
"Plus we can go out with a bang!" said Emily. "That could be quite literal, actually…"
"Yeah, well, let's hope not," said Mike as they walked to the basement door. "I'd hate that bang to be any kind of harmful."
"Mike, I think you worry too much," said Emily. "Granted, sometimes you really should and are right by it, but other times you just gotta chill out a little and relax. Not everything is impending doom or whatever."
"That's what you think," said Mike, but he was only kidding. Of course he was a little on-edge with everything that had been happening on this little adventure, but a joke here and there wasn't going to hurt anything. "You still gotta play yourself in?"
"Yeah, gimme a minute," said Emily when they reached the basement door. She played softly and the door opened like it did the last time. Al didn't give a retort like he did last time; he must have known that Mike and Emily were coming down. "Al, we're here!" said Emily as they walked down the stairs.
"Good, good," said Al, sitting up from the couch. "Just getting a little rest—I'm glad you came though, really."
"Are we disturbing you?" asked Emily.
"Not at all," said Al. "Besides, this is important."
"We also have some news for you, if you don't know already," said Mike.
"I don't recall having new news being thrown at me yet," said Al. "Go right ahead, what's the deal?"
"Supposedly, Gary's throwing a celebration for Emily and the flute," said Mike. "And you're invited."
"Oh, terrific, I love it when people don't tell me what I'm invited to these days," said Al. "Just when is this thing?"
"In a week," said Emily excitedly. "You do know what that means, do you?"
"Care to refresh my memory?" asked Al.
"That's the amount of time you gave me to learn the spell!" said Emily. "I can play it at the party when everyone's distracted, and we can get the hell outta here! It's so perfect!"
"That's all well and good," said Al. "I like your thinking Emily—but did you ever stop and think about why Gary would be having this party in the first place? He could be keeping an eye on all of you, and Raul too, for that matter."
"We know that," said Mike. "But it may just be our only chance."
"Oh, I agree with you there," said Al. "Hopefully there will be enough other people there at the party to be able to distract Gary long enough for Emily to play the piece—which brings us back to the reason we're all here now. Come on Emily, show me what you've got, and remember, no playing."
"Gotcha sir," said Emily. She took the piece out and fingered the notes in rhythm again as Al had told her to do. She got to the end much easier than her first time and looked between Al and Mike, satisfied.
"Very good Emily," said Al. "I think you're really starting to get that piece of work under your fingers."
"Thank you Al," said Emily brightly.
"Does she just have to keep working on that?" asked Mike.
"I'm adding something new this lesson," said Al.
"Playing?" asked Emily hopefully.
"No Emily, remember what Al said?" said Mike. "If you play it now you don't know what'll happen, it's too powerful."
"I wish I had a normal flute to practice on," said Emily glumly. "Okay Al, what am I doing this time?"
"Practicing the different articulations," said Al. "I trust your father taught you about those when he was teaching you how to read music?"
"All about it," said Emily, looking a little saddened by the mention of her father.
"Come on Em, doing this'll make him proud," said Mike. "Feel better and keep on going."
Emily nodded and looked back up again. "Do you know what I want you to do?" asked Al.
"Practice the articulations vocally?" asked Emily.
"Precisely," said Al. "Do that for me, measure by measure, and I'll tell you when to stop and what to fix. One measure at a time for now." Emily nodded and started up on that. Mike was impressed by how fast she was able to pick the music up. He never actually got a good look at the printed music on the page; he only heard the clanking of the keys from Emily fingering the notes, but he glanced over to see just what was on the paper, and he was amazed and impressed even more when he saw all of the black in the measures. He wouldn't even be able to play a piece like that on his own guitar!
"No, Emily, stop," said Al. Emily stopped and looked up.
"What did I do?" she asked.
"You made that last note sound like a staccato—don't cut it off to quickly, hold it for its normal duration," instructed Al.
"Oh, right, sorry," said Emily. "I'll fix that." She started from the beginning and tried her best to remember every little articulation and dynamic marking on the page. "Wow…you know guys, I haven't had a music lesson like this since my father."
"Am I doing him justice?" asked Al.
"Very much," said Emily with a smile.
"Not to break things up, but is this almost done?" asked Mike. "I dunno about you two, but I'm exhausted."
"Yeah, I think that's all that we can do here tonight," said Al. "You two better get some sleep; I have no clue what Gary has in store for you all tomorrow, but you don't wanna be tired when you find out."
"I think that's smart," said Emily. "Come on Mike. And Al?"
"Yes?" said Al.
"Thank you very much," said Emily. "I'm very glad we have been getting to do this, and don't you worry, once I play the spell, I'll get you right back home with everybody else!"
Al chuckled and smiled. "Yeah, I think I'd like very much to be back in my shop," he said. "Hope it's still open. And not a problem Emily…okay, you two, get."
"Right," said Emily and she and Mike left the basement.
"I'm really excited about learning this," said Emily in a hushed whisper as they rushed back to Mike's room. "I feel like I can finally do something!"
"Who said you couldn't before?" asked Mike as he opened his door and ushered Emily inside.
"I just didn't know how, I guess," said Emily, closing the door behind them once they were in. "You know Mike? It's funny. Here I am, with my own room just down the hall, and I've never used it!"
"Well, I guess that works out for both of us," said Mike smoothly, and he kissed her seductively.
"Oh Mike, when have you ever been wrong?" asked Emily as she planted a kiss on Mike's neck, right under his ear. Her lips sent chills down his back and shivers all over his skin. Forget self-control—he carried her to the bed, dangerously happy that Gary wasn't keeping them to their own rooms.
The next morning, Mike awoke to the all-too-familiar sight of Emily in his arms. She stirred a bit, jostled by Mike waking up. Her eyes fluttered open sleepily to see Mike looking down at her.
"Morning sleepyhead," said Mike.
Emily grunted and rested her head on the pillow. "No stupid welcome breakfast?" she asked.
"Not that anyone's told me yet," said Mike. Just then there was a knock on the door. "But believe it or not, I have been known to be wrong. Coming!" He and Emily got out of bed, dressed, and Mike went to answer the door. There he saw the frazzled pair of Micky and Davy standing. "What's up guys?" asked Mike. "Where's Peter?"
"That's just it," said Micky, frustrated. "He's gone missing."
"Oh no!" said Emily, concerned. "You don't think Gary got him, do you?"
"No, he's probably just done something stupid," said Davy. "Come on guys, we've gotta find him."
"All right, let's go find that sin of a bitch," said Mike. "You coming Emily?"
"In suppose I should," said Emily. "Where are Robbie and Riley?"
"I think they're still asleep," said Micky. "Davy, weren't you staying with Riley last night?"
"Yeah, I was, I just left her to see what you all were up to, and Peter wasn't in his room," said Davy.
"Where do you think he'd be?" asked Emily.
"You know Peter by now," said Mike. "He could be anywhere."
"Perfect," said Micky as they briskly walked down the hall. "Leave it to Peter Tork to get lost in an evil guy's house…"
"I beg your pardon?" said a voice behind them.
The group wheeled around only to see Gary standing right behind them, his arms crossed. "Oh—uh—nothing!" said Micky with a nervous grin. "It's just that…Peter's gone missing, and we're trying to find him, that's all, yeah."
"Yes, I figured that," said Gary. "But what did you call me?"
"I…uh…I…" stuttered Micky, looking more and more nervous by the second. "I called you a…nice guy! Yeah, that's it, a nice guy, nothing evil about you at all, no sir!"
"Right," drawled Gary. "Well, you best be looking for your friend now. I'd hate to think he was lost." He turned and walked off, leaving the group pretty much freaked out.
"Micky, come on, 'nice guy', that doesn't even rhyme with 'evil'!" Davy scolded.
"Hey, he walked away, didn't he?" said Micky.
"Yeah, he did, now let's look for Peter before time runs out and he comes back again," said Mike. The four went off in the opposite direction of Gary to search for their lost friend.
A little earlier:
Peter got up a little early and decided to roam the halls. All bad reasons for being there aside, he really did find Gary's house to be a nice place to visit. Getting up and dressed, he was out his door in no time and exploring the house. He went down a hallway no one had seen before and walked around, checking out the portraits on the walls and the decorations else ware.
What really caught Peter's attention were the large, shiny, suits of armor that were standing against the walls. They were each holding some kind of weapon—a spear, sword, lance, mace, everything Peter could think of that a Medieval knight would be carrying. He went over and looked at one in wonder, admiring his reflection in the armor and the large spear it had in its hand. Just then, something else caught his attention.
Right next to the suit of armor, there was a big, red button, labeled specifically: "Do Not Press." Peter looked at it intently, studying the situation.
"Well," he started to say to himself. "If I don't press it, I'll never know what it does! Can I bear to live in wonder all this time? I don't think so!" So, with a smile and a flip of his long sandy hair, he pressed the button. Nothing happened for a moment, and Peter laughed to himself at his silliness for thinking that something would actually happen, but soon after, he felt cold metal wrapped all around his body, and it got very dark.
"Help!" he screamed out, but the suit of armor muffled his cries. Oh boy…what had he gotten himself into this time?
Back to the search:
"Man, we've searched everywhere in this bloody place and nothing!" complained Davy. "Maybe we ought to look back in his room guys."
"Nah, that's too easy for Peter," said Mike. "He has to be somewhere…"
"What's the dumbest place you can think of?" asked Micky.
"I would say maybe the dungeon again," said Emily.
"Emily, you're brilliant," said Mike. "Come on guys, and if he's not there, I dunno where the hell he could be."
"Come on fellas—and Emily—let's head over there!" said Davy.
"Wait!" said Micky, stopping everyone in their tracks. "How do we know that Gary's not around?"
"You saw him, he went the opposite way," said Emily. "It's safe Micky, don't worry."
"The last time someone told me not to worry I got drugged," said Micky. "Okay, let's see." They approached the dungeon doors and Emily snuck her flute out and quietly played a little tune. The door opened and the group went down inside to investigate.
"Peter!" called Mike. "Pete, are you down here?"
"Come on out Peter!" Davy called.
"Peter, where are you?" said Micky.
"Peter! Where did you go?" asked Emily. There was no answer to either of them.
"That's strange," said Mike, looking around. "He doesn't seem to be down here."
"Yeah man, where else do you think he'd be?" asked Davy.
"Man, he could be anywhere," said Micky.
"Peter sure does take a lot of looking after, doesn't he?" asked Emily.
"Not more than the average circus elephant," said Micky. "Come on guys, he has to be somewhere else." The group left the dungeon and Emily sealed it back up. Where in the world could Peter be?
Else ware…:
Peter lumbered down the hallway, only seeing where he was going through a small slit through the helmet. It was cold and dark in there and he was scared silly. Where were the guys? They were the only people who could get him out of this one…as always.
Back with the others:
"I don't think we've looked down over here yet," said Mike, pointing down another hallway. "Come on, it's worth a shot."
"That's what you've said about the last ten hallways Mike," grumbled Micky.
"Hey Micky, do you wanna find Peter or not?" asked Davy. "Stop complaining, if he's not down here we'll know where not to look."
"Yeah, but what if he wanders down here after we looked?" asked Micky.
"Will you two stop bitching over there?" asked Mike. "Please! We've gotta look down here, and I ain't gonna deal with your complaining!"
"Guys, I think I just heard something," Emily whispered, perking up.
"I didn't catch it, what was it?" asked Davy.
"It was a clanking sound," said Emily. "Hey, there it was again!" Sure enough Emily was right. There was the sound of clanking, clunking metal coming nearer and nearer to them down the hallway.
"Oh no, we're all gonna die!" Micky said, clutching at his curly head.
"No, we're not gonna die," said Mike. "Just wait and we'll see what it is." The sound grew closer, and around the corner came a large, walking suit of armor, lumbering over towards them.
Davy gave a small squeak of "Ooh!" and jumped into Mike's arms. "What the bloody hell is that thing?" Davy yelled. "I knew it, I knew it, we are gonna die!"
"Get down Davy," said Mike, dumping Davy on the floor. "Hey—uh—sir knight, sir, just where are you headed to?"
The suit of armor waved crazily and jumped up and down like a maniac.
"Ahhhh!" Micky screamed and he ran to hide behind everyone else, who jumped in surprise, both at Micky and the suit of armor. The suit began to point at himself vigorously and he started to play a sort of air-guitar before starting to jump up and down again.
"Wait…" said Emily, starting to walk forward.
"Em, what are you doing, we don't know who or what that is?" Mike hissed. Emily still walked forward and pushed up the suit's helmet. The face of a highly embarrasses Peter appeared, his hair tussled all around his face, looking flushed in the face and smiling bashfully.
"Ah-ha!" Emily said triumphantly at her discovery.
"Hey guys," he said like a guilty child. "Sorry for scaring you…I tried to warn you…"
"Oh my God Peter, what in the world are you doing in that thing?" asked Mike disapprovingly.
"Well, you see, I was just going exploring in the hallway down here," said Peter. " I thought the armor looked cool so I was looking at it…and I saw a big red button…it said not to push it, but I did anyway…and I guess it work the armor up and I ended up inside it…" He finished with a childish grin. "So here I am!"
"Oh Peter," moaned Davy with his face in his hand.
"Well, first thing's first, we gotta get you out of this thing," said Micky.
"Thanks guys," said Peter as the group rushed forward to strip the metal off of him. "I really appreciate it."
"Okay Peter, but next time, don't push the red button!" said Mike, hanging up the armor where it was supposed to be. "There's a reason why it's red and has a warning on it you know."
"Come on guys, you know Peter, he has to do to learn!" said Micky.
"I'm just glad we found you safe," said Emily, brushing dust off of Peter. "You had us worried sick, you shouldn't run off like that ever again!"
"I won't," said Peter glumly.
"Well, I see you found your friend," said Gary, who had swiftly appeared behind them again, making them all jump out of their skins.
"Yeah, we did, everything's fine sir," said Mike.
"That's good to know," said Gary. "Then I trust you wouldn't have any trouble practicing some music?"
"But we don't have our instruments," said Davy. "What would we play?"
"I have all the guitars, basses, and drums you'll ever need."
"What about banjoes and pianos, cause I play those too!" Peter demanded.
"Don't push your luck kid," said Gary.
"What do you want us to play for?" asked Mike.
"Why, you're going to practice for your audition to play for the big celebration!" said Gary. "I will not be listening to you yet, of course, I will wait until the audition, but Robbie and Riley are already in the study where the instruments are awaiting you to come and practice for them! I bet they would love to hear some music."
"Alright sir, we'll play your game," said Micky. "But just know that it's for us, and not you!"
"Right…" said Gary as he walked away. "Get yourselves to the study, now!"
The group looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess we're going to the study," said Mike.
"Yeah…" said Peter. "Where is the study?" Mike grabbed him by the cuff of his sleeve and made sure he didn't lose sight of him this time on their way. Peter was sure a huge liability in a large place like this, that just so happened to be filled with bad guys, and no one would take that kind of risk after that day, for sure.