We're still traveling, so I never know whether I'll have internet access or not. But I'll continue to post when I can.

Chapter 21.

Jess insisted on sitting outside, despite the heat and humidity. At least she picked a table with an umbrella. Service was quick and we soon had menus in front of us.

I ordered a burger with everything but pickles, as well as fries and a coke. It surprised me a little when Jess ordered the same thing. Every time I thought I had this woman figured out, she threw me a curve ball.

Our food came quickly, too. I guess I was hungrier than I thought, or else this was the best burger I'd had in a long time. While we ate, I thought about Jess' reasoning on how to find her brother. It made sense, although it would still be hard. I looked at her and saw she was concentrating on her food, enjoying every bite.

Suddenly I saw a dog approaching her out of nowhere. Before I had a chance to decide what to do about it, she'd reached out her hand, palm down, for the animal to sniff. I don't have much use for dogs, except as objects of my amusement. Cats either for that matter. Jess, on the other hand, was doing fine with this one.

"Ava! Leave that woman alone!" A woman with curly brown hair and big eyes came over to get the hound and apologize. "I'm sorry if she's disturbing you. She's very friendly."

"She's a sweetheart!" Jess said. "Her name is Ava?"

"Yes," the woman said, smiling at Jess. She was rather pretty, especially when she smiled. "And I'm Kathy Glenn. Glennie to my friends."

"Hi Glennie. I'm Jess Giordano."

I noticed that Jess didn't introduce me.

"So, are the two of you here on vacation?" Glennie asked. "A honeymoon maybe?" She smirked.

"No!" we both said emphatically, and she laughed.

I took a good look at the dog. Her big brown eyes reminded me of someone, and then it hit me. Wilson!

The two women were still talking. "We're looking for my brother," Jess explained. "He left New Jersey over four months ago and no one's seen him since."

"What makes you think he's here in Orlando?" Glennie asked.

Jess shrugged. "He's always liked amusement parks and wanted to visit the ones here, but never had a chance to. We think he might be working at Disney or Universal. Do you live here in town?"

"No, actually we're here for a couple of days from Gainesville."

"Who brings a dog to Orlando?" I wondered, but didn't realize I'd said it aloud until both of the women glared at me.

"Where'd you get this clown?" Glennie asked Jess.

"I'm not a clown, although that might not be such a bad job," I told her.

"He's a doctor. He's been treating my nephew at a hospital in New Jersey, trying to find out what's wrong with him, and that's why we need to find Petey," Jess told her.

Glennie smiled. "I work at a hospital, too. I'm a pharmacist." I noticed she hadn't answered my question about the dog, however.

"House thinks the problem is genetic, so we have to test Petey," Jess said. It was a simplistic explanation, but not that far off the mark.

"I've got a friend who works in Personnel at Universal," Glennie said. "I can give her a call for you. Naturally, she can't give me any details, but she can confirm whether or not your brother is employed there."

"Would you?" Jess asked, practically jumping for joy. I rolled my eyes and she turned to me. "It would save us a lot of time, and meanwhile, we can go to Disney World and look for him there," she argued.

I couldn't deny that she was right. Instead I finished my lunch while they exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and who knew what else. Finally, Glennie and her dog left. "Eat up," I told Jess. "Times a-wasting."

After lunch we drove to Disney World. Before we even got into the park we could see that it was as crowded as I expected. We parked in the lot but it was about a gazillion miles from the entry gate. Luckily, there was an open-air trolley that took people from their spot in the parking lot to the ticket booths.

I bought us tickets, silently cursing how much this trip was costing me, and finally we were inside among the noisy, jostling crowd on Main Street USA.

"You're sure he wouldn't be working in one of these shops or restaurants?" I asked, hoping against hope we wouldn't have to go further.

"Only if he couldn't get a job working the mechanicals," she replied. "Come on." She walked down the 'street', weaving her way through the happy families and people in character costumes, toward the castle that was pictured in all the ads for the place.

"Maybe he's Micky. Or Pooh," I said. "We'd never recognize him in one of those get-ups."

Jess hesitated but finally she said, "No, he was never one for dress up. Nina and I tried to get him to play with us, but he never would."

I figured she knew her brother better than I did, so I let it go. The place was huge, though, and there were too many parts to it and so many rides and attractions that Petey could be working on, if our assumptions were even right.

"Let's start with Tomorrowland," Jess suggested. "I realize he might not have a had a choice of what rides he'd be working on, but he always liked space and that sort of thing."

She was beginning to make assumptions based on assumptions, never a good practice, but what could I do about it other then question her guesses periodically.

We spent the next few hours wandering from ride to attraction, from Tomorrowland to Adventureland, stopping occasionally for something to drink or eat, although we both knew it was really to rest my leg. It kept getting hotter and hotter as the day drew on. But by dinnertime we were no closer to finding Petey then when we began.

Jess wasn't ready to give up looking for her brother, even though we'd checked out all of the rides in all of the parts of the park. I watched as she accosted one employee after another, asking whether they knew Peter Giordano.

She looked so dejected when they all said no that I felt the need to offer one spark of hope. "Maybe he's using another name."

I could see she wanted to believe that, but her practical side argued against it. "His social security card is in his name. There's no way he could get a job using another name. It's not as if he knows people who can give him a fake ID."

Of course, I'd already thought about that. "C'mon, let's get something to eat, and then try a few places again. Maybe he's working the night shift."

Now that was something she could cling to. The choices for food weren't very good at the Magic Kingdom, unfortunately. We wound up going to the Liberty Tree Tavern where for a fixed price you got a salad of tossed mixed greens with a strawberry vinaigrette dressing and a platter containing roasted turkey breast, carved beef, and smoked pork loin, with mashed potatoes, vegetables, herb bread stuffing, and macaroni and cheese. Rolls and gravy were also included, not too bad. Oh, and for dessert, they had warm cherry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

I think all that food revived Jess. I know it helped me.