The dance goes on and on...

Bonnie did her best to concentrate on her dancing. Beside her, Susie was doing the same. However, since the dance involved so much hip-shimmying, breast-wiggling, bottom-shaking, high-kicking, hair-tossing, leg-spreading and general seductive squirming about, it wasn't much use in distracting her from her condition of total nudity. And, of course, all the cat-calling, cheering and wolf-whistling from the audience didn't help.

She wasn't sure how long the dance went on for. Possibly hours. Maybe days. Perhaps even weeks, if it was possible to dance for weeks. Time itself seemed to slow down, just to drag out her torment to the maximum extent possible. And every single second of the dance was spent by poor Bonnie and Susie in a state of exquisite, lip-biting, sweaty self-consciousness, an intense and overwhelming sense of nudity and vulnerability. They had been tricked, and the sultan was getting his money's worth.

But all good things have to come to an end eventually, and finally the music jangled to a close. Mr. Trapp's voice came over the speakers as the two girls stumbled through their final dramatic pirouettes, giving the crowd one last peek at every nude inch of their nubile forms.

"Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for our lovely and very gullible little dancers! That's Bonnie Driscoll and Susie Snook, dancing naked for your entertainment! Don't let them forget it!"

And, as the thunder of applause filled the vast luxurious tent, Bonnie and Susie shrieked, covered themselves and turned to run squealing for the exit. Trapp watched their bare bottoms flash out the door, and shrugged.

"Can you believe it, folks? They didn't even stay to get their clothes back. I have two brand-new dresses right here, to thank them for all their hard work, but if they'd rather run around the whole carnival in the nude..."

There was a ripple of laughter from the crowd. Trapp tipped them a wink. "There's no pleasing some people," he said. "But, ladies and gentlemen, don't go anywhere. The show's only just begun. We've got a very special guest for you tonight, and you'll never believe what we've done to her costume..."

As Mayor Peggy Jackson shimmied out on stage, wearing just a spangly leotard, a feathered headdress, and high heels, Hank lay back in on his throne of cushions and put his arms around a pair of beautiful Asian girls he'd only recently made friends with. They giggled. Tonight was going to be awesome.