Chapter 22.

We resumed our search for Petey. It was getting darker outside and the place was all lit up as if it was Christmas instead of the summer. "Maybe he works on the lighting," I suggested.

"Hmmm," was all she said. But she asked the next park employee she saw, "Where are the controls for all of these lights?"

The man looked at her as if she was crazy. No one asked questions like that in the Magic Kingdom. It was like asking a magician to reveal his secrets.

"I'm looking for my brother and he may be working on them," she tried to explain.

"Is she kidding?" the man asked me.

"Actually, she isn't," I told him. "C'mon, Jess. You don't need this moron. I think I know where they're controlled."

"Wait!" the man said. "I'll take you." He called over another member of the crew to come with us. Who knows what he thought we were up to.

But when we reached the master controls for the lights, Petey wasn't there, and no one had heard of him.

"Is there an employment office?" Jess asked, remembering what the woman with the dog had told us earlier in the day, that people who worked in personnel could confirm or deny whether Petey was employed by the park.

"You're not going to find anyone there this time of day," Moron number one said.

"Come back tomorrow," said Moron two.

"And pay admission fees again? Not on your life," I said. "C'mon Jess, let's go see whether we can find out who's working on the rides."

But before she left the Moron brothers she asked, "Do they work on repairs for the rides in the evenings?"

"Not until after everyone's gone home."

"I guess we'll wait, then," she said.

I was ready to object, but realized she had a point, so we found a bench to sit on and watch the crowds go by. It was amazing, and yet not surprising, that all the kids were still going strong, while their parents were dragging. One man sat down next to us, refusing to go a step further, while his kids demanded, "Just one more ride, Dad!" and "I want one of those giant lollipops!"

"Don't let anyone tell you that it's easy being a single dad," he told us, whether we cared or not.

Jess took pity on him, much to my surprise. "Why don't you sit here a little while and I'll take them on a ride," she offered. "I'll leave it up to you whether you want them to have any more sugar." They were certainly already hyper.

"You're an angel!" the man said. "Yeah, let 'em have the lollipops and anything else they want." He handed her a twenty and turned to the kids. "Now be good for this nice lady."

We watched Jess and the two kids go. "You know she could be a kidnapper or a child molester or something."

"At this point, I'm not sure I care," he said.

But I knew he was lying.

"You're lucky to have a woman like that," he said.

"Oh, we're not together," I insisted. "At least not the way you mean."

"Uh-huh," he said, nodding like he couldn't believe that. He closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep which was fine with me. I wasn't in the mood to make idle conversation with a stranger. I guess I never am.

Forty-five minutes or more later, Jess was back with the man's two midgets. They were much more subdued than when they left, but they were still smiling.

"Dad, she took us on two rides!" the girl said.

"Yeah, and we had frozen juice pops that were way better than lollipops," the boy added.

The man opened his eyes and smiled at Jess. "That was very good of you," he said. "Is there any way I can repay you?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that," she said.

"Well, how long will you be in Orlando? Perhaps I can take you to dinner."

I wondered if he meant just the two of them. He better not expect me to watch the rugrats while he took Jess on a date.

"I'm sorry, but we're here to look for my brother, and when we find him, we're leaving," she said.

"OK. I get it. He said you weren't together," he indicated me. "But he was lying, wasn't he?"

"What?" she said. "No! I mean he wasn't lying. We're not together!"

"Then why won't you have dinner with me?" he looked at the two kids. "You like them, don't you?"

I'd seen men use their dogs to get dates. Come to think of it, I would do it myself if I could get away with it. But using your kids?

But obviously Jess was on to him. "You have great kids. I think you should concentrate on taking care of them and forget about shopping around for a new mother for them."

The man blanched. He stood and told the kids, "Let's go. It's time to go home. You've had enough fun for one day."

"Could you believe that guy?" Jess asked in disgust.

"You act like you're not used to guys hitting on you," I said.

"Well, I...actually, I'm not. When you grow up in the shadow of someone like Nina...It's not that I'm complaining or anything..."

"Yeah, I get it."

"So now what?" she asked as a park worker approached us.

"The park's closing in ten minutes," he told us.

"What happened to the fireworks? I was waiting for the fireworks over the Cinderella's Castle," I whined.

I noticed how hard Jess was trying not to laugh.

"They don't do that every night any more," he said.

"Darn!" I said, snapping my fingers.

"You're going to have to leave," he said.

"Do the repair guys come in through the same gate we go out?" Jess asked.

I had to smile. She was still thinking ahead. Good for her.

"There's a side entrance near the main gate, but it's just for park workers," he told us.

"Thanks," she said. "C'mon House. Let's go. We have some incoming workers to talk to."

"That might be even better than fireworks," I said sarcastically and she finally laughed.

Everyone was leaving the park. We joined the stream of visitors passing back out through the gates, but instead of taking the shuttle to our car, Jess and I found another bench to one side, near a gate that was clearly marked 'For Staff Only'.

It was amazing how different the place was with all the kids and their adults gone, quiet and dark. Within a half hour, though, a few men, and a couple of women, too, straggled into the park through the staff gate. I was relying on Jess to spot her brother, since all I'd ever seen was a photo of Petey.

We waited for half an hour until it looked like no one else was coming. There was no sign of Petey.

"I hope we have better luck at Universal," Jess said, sighing, standing and stretching. "Let's get back to the motel."

I agreed, and then realized that we'd have to walk all the way out to where the car was parked. This day kept getting worse.