Mike almost had to follow through with his warning from earlier but eventually the guys convinced Davy to come with them to the beach (with a little manpower courtesy of Micky) and soon enough the four friends were out on the beach. It was late afternoon and the beach traffic had thinned so the boys practically had the beach all to themselves. Peter and Micky went swimming, while Mike sat with Davy on a blanket he had brought just for that purpose. Eventually, the other two managed to pry themselves away from the water to come back up to the sand and Peter insisted they all contribute to building a sandcastle. While Peter was very invested in making the sandcastle, Micky continuously tried to bury Mike in the sand and, halfway through construction, a pair of girls came strolling by. All three boys noticed Davy's mood change. He was smiling, enjoying himself. He even chatted with the girls for a long while and got one of their numbers. Peter was relieved to see that change in his friend, and even more happy to see the other two happy as well.
"Mike, hold still!" Micky shouted as he tried to dump enough sand onto Michael's lap to begin the burying process once more. Mike leapt to his feet, causing the sand to fly into Micky's face. Micky merely brushed it away and stood up as well.
"Seriously Mick, you better quit it right now or I'll sock you," Mike warned. Micky scooped up a handful of sand and said, in the best official voice he could muster, "C'mon Nesmith, lemme bury you. I promise not to bury your head."
"You ain't burying me Micky!" Mike insisted.
"Then let's fight! I win, I bury you, and if you win, I don't," Micky suggested.
"Okay," Mike agreed, putting his hands up in a fight stance.
"Oh guys, don't fight," Peter pleaded, unsure whether it was serious or not. Micky glanced at Peter and winked, before whirling around and picking up Davy. Davy gave out a cry of shock and then demanded that Micky put him down right exactly now. Laughing, Micky exclaimed, "Quick Mike, grab Peter and follow me!" Then Micky took off, sprinting towards the ocean. Catching onto what was happening, Peter laughed and stood up, about ready to take off after Micky, but then Mike picked him up instead.
"Mike, no, I'm too big to carry!" Peter protested. Mike headed after their other two friends, saying to Peter, "Don't sweat it okay, it's all part of the plan." Once he caught up to Micky, Mike stood there, holding Peter, who felt like he was going to make Mike topple over.
"Okay, on three we throw them!" Micky announced.
"Don't you dare Micky, put me down right now!" Davy shrieked, giving Micky a few hits on the back in a feeble attempt to make the drummer release him.
"Okay, got it," Mike confirmed, grinning.
"One… two… three!" Micky counted down and then with a loud bellow of a yell, he tossed Davy into the ocean. The smallest Monkee landed in a wave with a splosh and came spluttering up to the surface a moment later. At the same time, Mike attempted to throw Peter, but due to size he technically only managed to drop him a foot or so away.
"Oh now you're in for it Dolenz!" Davy cried, storming as fast as he could back to where Micky stood. Mike laughed as Davy pounced on Micky, bringing him under the water for a second or two and then letting him come up for air. The two began to tussle in the water and Mike joined in a little by splashing water on the two of them. Peter treaded water where he was, feet brushing the ocean floor as he did so, grinning broadly at the sight of his friends. After a few minutes, Mike suggested that they get out of the water and finish up the sandcastle.
"Yay!" Peter exclaimed and rushed out of the ocean, back up to where their almost finished sandcastle was.
"You guys wanna eat down here tonight, watch the sunset or something?" Davy asked as they all began to finish the castle.
"Sounds like a plan," grinned Mike.
"I'll go fix up some sandwiches and I'll bring them down with some soda," Micky offered.
"Bring a pencil and a napkin," said Peter, who was staring intensely at the sandcastle before him.
"Why?" Micky asked.
"The castle needs a flag," pointed out Peter, touching his finger to the highest tower on the castle.
"Right! So we can proclaim it the Dolenz Estate!" Micky cried out, throwing his arms wide.
"Just go get the food dummy," Mike chuckled, throwing some sand at Micky's legs. Micky stuck his tongue out at Mike before jogging back up to the pad to get dinner. As Micky left, the others got back to finishing the sandcastle. Just as the sun was getting ready to set, Micky returned with a folded up blanket. He flopped down onto the blanket the others were sitting on and opened up the blanket he had brought. Handing out the sandwiches, Micky took a moment to admire the sandcastle.
"Thanks Mick," Mike, Davy, and Peter nearly said in unison as they accepted the sandwiches.
"Did you bring the napkin and pencil?" Peter asked excitedly, after taking a bite of his sandwich. Micky grinned and handed Peter his flag materials.
"There ya go!" he said.
"Thanks Micky!" Peter exclaimed. He balanced his sandwich on his knee and quickly scribbled something onto the napkin. The others ate and watched as Peter stuck the sharper end of the pencil through the napkin and then stuck the new "flag" into the highest tower of the castle.
"What's it say Pete?" Davy asked, squinting at the new flag.
"It says peace for all," Peter grinned, taking a bite out of his sandwich proudly. Micky leaned over to look at the flag and then stifled a laugh.
"Hey Peter, why's it four instead of for?" Micky inquired.
"What'd you mean?" Peter frowned, looking at his flag to see what Micky was talking about. Micky pointed to the word four.
"You spelt four with a u, as in the number, when you should have spelt it without a u for for," Micky explained. Red coloured in Peter's cheeks as he saw the misspelling.
"I betcha Pete was meaning four as in the four of us, weren't ya Peter?" Mike offered, seeing his friend's embarrassment. At the notion of that, Peter nodded sheepishly, grateful for the option of escape. Micky nudged Peter in the ribs.
"Good one Peter," Micky laughed.
"Good one yourself, Micky," grumbled Davy with a smirk, making a mock face of disgust when Micky looked over at him as he swallowed a bite of the sandwich Micky had made.
"What's that supposed to mean then?" Micky demanded, raising an eyebrow.
"You're such a chef," teased Davy. That comment sparked a little debate which involved a bit of sand throwing, nearly crashing into the carefully built sandcastle, and finally resulting in slightly sandy sandwiches. The sun was almost behind the horizon by the time the boys were ready to pack it up. Twilight was upon them and the beach was devoid of all human life. Peter wrapped up the blanket they had been sitting on while Davy was helping Mike get his hat back from Micky, who had thought it would be humorous to steal it from the guitarist. Once they were all ready to head back up to the pad, and once Micky had finally given back Mike's hat, Peter asked, "Do you guys think the castle will still be here tomorrow?" Micky wrapped an arm around Peter's shoulder.
"Maybe Peter, if the gnomes don't invade it in the night," Micky explained, waggling his eyebrows. Peter's eyes went a little wider.
"He's kidding Pete," Mike assured the bassist, adding, "I think it should still be standin' if the tide don't come in and eat at it a little while we're sleepin'."
"If you want, we can come down here in the morning before breakfast to see how it faired during the night," Davy offered. Peter really brightened up upon hearing that.
"Oh I'd love that Davy," Peter smiled. Once they entered the pad, Micky headed straight for the bathroom.
"I guess we're gonna have to wait," Mike shrugged, sitting down at the dining table and picking up a pack of cards that had been left on the table, presumably by Micky. Peter followed suit and sat down next to Mike. It took both of them awhile to realize that Davy seemed very frightened. Mike was about to ask what was wrong, worried that perhaps Davy wasn't feeling well or something, when Peter tapped on his arm and pointed towards the front door. Mr. Schneider was sat in a chair. A frown creased Mike's brow.
"How… how did Mr. Schneider get there?" he asked, throwing a look back to the open bedroom door. No one had been in the pad since the boys had left, altogether, to go down to the beach. The only time someone was in the house was when Micky came back to make the sandwiches and get the requested flag materials. Had Micky moved Mr. Schneider? Davy was tense, frozen in fear. Peter didn't want Davy to be scared. He stood up and tapped on Davy's shoulder.
"Come and sit down with Mike and me, Davy," Peter suggested, tugging at Davy's shirt sleeve. Davy didn't respond. He seemed terrified, his eyes glued to Mr. Schneider.
"He moved," Davy whispered after a moment.
"Maybe Micky moved him," Mike suggested, a frown still creasing his brow. Davy shook his head.
"No… no he moves on his own and I can't…," Davy nearly sobbed. Peter put his arms around Davy, wrapping him in a protective hug.
"We'll get rid of him, right Mike? We'll put him in the garbage bin and garbage day is tomorrow and he'll be gone," Peter exclaimed. Mike stood, seeing that he might need to calm down both Peter and Davy at this point, and walked over to them.
"Yeah, that's right Pete, we can do that right now," Mike assured him, "You and I can take him out right now. Ya'd like that Davy?" Davy was silent for a moment before replying with, "Yes, I… I really would Mike." Michael nodded and pried Peter off of Davy.
"Okay Pete, pick up the dummy's legs and I'll handle his shoulders," Mike instructed. Peter did as he was told and the two of them carried Mr. Schneider out the front door, down the driveway, and placed him on top of the garbage bags that were in the garbage bin.
"Mike, can I ask you something?" Peter asked as Mike was shutting the bin lid.
"Shoot," Mike replied.
"Do you think Davy's right? Do you think Mr. Schneider… got up and walked?" Peter questioned, running a hand over his chin. Michael looked at Peter for a moment, thinking.
"Well, I don't exactly know… I don't think Micky would torture Davy like this, and I don't think either of us did it. And if it was someone else, that means we'd be having robbers and they wouldn't be interested in just moving round a wooden dummy… so… maybe, but that's all behind us now. Mr. Schneider will be taken away with the garbage tomorrow and that will be that," Mike finally answered. The look Peter was giving Mike made it seem like that answer wasn't good enough for him, so he added, "What do you think?"
"I think he's right," Peter shrugged, his voice hushed. Mike wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. For a moment, the two of them stood there quietly and then Mike said, "Well, we've had weirder things happen." He then smiled at Peter and took the bassist's hand.
"C'mon Pete, let's get inside, Micky should be finished with his shower," he suggested. Peter nodded, giving the garbage can one last look. Then the two boys walked back inside. Micky had indeed gotten out of the shower and was dressed in his PJs. Davy was nowhere in the room but the shower was on.
"Guys, what the hell happened to Davy? He was nearly crying," Micky wanted to know as soon as Peter and Mike entered the pad.
"Mr. Schneider moved from the bedroom to that seat right there and it scared Davy," Peter explained, pointing to where Mr. Schneider had sat only a few minutes earlier, "And so me and Michael, we took Mr. Schneider outside and put him in the trash." Micky opened his mouth and then closed it, looking from Mike and Peter.
"You didn't move Mr. Schneider when you came up to make the sandwiches, did ya Micky?" Mike inquired, trying to make the point that even Mike himself had finally gave in to.
"What? Of course I wouldn't do that!" Micky cried out, hands going to his hips, "I mean, it's not funny when someone's scared, that's just not cool man."
"Then the only other explanation is that Mr. Schneider was up an walkin' by himself," Mike concluded with a nod of his head. Micky rubbed his chin but didn't argue. It made sense to him but still…
"If he's able to move around like some possessed doll," Micky began, miming a robot for a moment, "Then what's gonna stop him from climbing outta that trash can?" Peter jumped slightly and grabbed onto Mike, frightened by the idea of Mr. Schneider getting out of the trash can and coming after them.
"Calm down guys, Mr. Schneider probably won't be getting out of the trash bin, plus we'll lock the doors and windows just in case," Mike reassured the two of them. For a brief moment, they just stood there, each quietly thinking their own thoughts, then Micky suggested, "How about we play some Go Fish?"
"Yes!" Peter agreed, ready to get his mind off of such terrible thoughts like Mr. Schneider coming to life. Mike thought it was a good idea too, so they sat down at the dining table and Micky dealt out the cards. A couple of minutes later, Davy exited the bathroom, clad in his PJS and looking better than earlier. He surveyed the room and gave a small smile of relief when he couldn't see any sign of the wooden dummy.
"Davy, swap in for me will ya," Mike told him as he headed to the bathroom to take his shower.
"Sure Mike," Davy said in response and sat down where Mike had been seated.
"We're playing Go Fish," Micky informed Davy, taking his turn after that.
"We got rid of Mr. Schneider, Davy," Peter added after a round, "So you won't have to be afraid anymore."
"Yeah and by tomorrow morning, that dumdum of a dummy will be long gone," Micky whistled, proud of himself for thinking of 'dumdum of a dummy'.
"That's good," Davy chuckled. Although he seemed better, Peter could still see that Davy wasn't entirely himself still. There was something that he wasn't saying, something that Peter thought Davy needed to say but couldn't. Peter didn't wanna press Davy quite yet, so he decided that he'd ask Davy before they went to bed. Almost six minutes later, Mike was out of the shower and Peter was in. It wasn't long before all four boys were just sitting around the dining table, finishing up the game of Go Fish.
"Hey, Mike, who's getting groceries tomorrow morning?" Micky asked as they were cleaning up the cards.
"Umm… well I think Peter, right?" Mike answered, looking at Peter for confirmation.
"Yup, I am," Peter gave the affirmative.
"Can you bring back breakfast?" Micky asked, batting his eyes at Peter. Peter nodded, always happy to do what his friends wanted.
"Do you want me to bring back donuts or bagels?" Peter asked.
"Donuts," Davy and Micky said in unison. Mike rolled his eyes.
"You guys, donuts are expensive," Mike pointed out. Micky pouted.
"Well, not if Peter gets the cheap kind. We don't exactly need the good kind," Davy countered. Micky nodded his head vigorously.
"I guess that's true… alright, but only because it's been a weird couple of days," Mike caved in.
"Yay!" Peter, Davy, and Micky cheered. After some time, the boys decided it was time for them to all go to bed, so that's precisely what they did. Micky and Mike said their goodnights to Davy and Peter, and vice versa of course. Then they parted ways, going to their respective bedrooms. Once Peter and Davy were settled, Peter thought that now might be a good idea to ask what was bothering Davy.
"Psst, Davy, are you still awake?" he asked into the darkness of the room. The light that the nightlight in the bathroom usually provided seemed to be gone.
"Trying not to be," Davy replied.
"Can I ask you a question before you go to sleep?" Peter questioned.
"I suppose, yes," Davy answered.
"Why did Mr. Schneider scare you? I mean… you don't have to answer but earlier… you didn't seem all that relieved that he was gone, and you seem like you aren't telling us something and I just was wondering what that was because me and Mike and Micky, well we're all here to help you. That's what we do, ya know," said Peter, unsure how to word his question so he sort of just let most of his thoughts out. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Davy answered.
"I… I'm sorry Peter, but I can't tell you. It… I am relieved that he's gone but I can't tell you anything else," Davy answered.
"You can't say… so does that mean there is something you aren't saying?" Peter queried, frowning slightly. Again, there was a long silence before Davy said, "Just get some sleep okay, Peter. I'm tired."
"Okay, goodnight Davy," Peter mumbled, pulling the blankets up to his ears.
"Goodnight Peter," he heard Davy say.