As she had her arms wrapped around Kevin, feeling the pressure on her shoulders, Megan was terrified out of her mind, as the two burglars walked them down the street.
This was a nightmare, one she had never once had in her life
Not once in her entire life had she ever imagined, or pictured she would ever find herself in this situation; it was bad enough that she and her little brother Kevin had somehow found themselves on the wrong plane just because of a simple case of mistaken identity, and while the first couple of days in New York, a city Megan had longed to visit had been fun enough, with amazing sights and shopping and even being with Kevin had turned out to be fun since they were here on their own, all of that had gone down the drain because of the overzealousness of the concierge of the Plaza hotel.
And….for fuck's sake, they should have done things differently.
They should have, like, contacted their parents the first moment they discovered they were here, in New York. But they hadn't. And why not?
Because Megan was still a teenage girl at heart, and teenagers were famous for doing incredibly stupid and thoughtless things in their quest to do fun things.
There was little doubt in her mind when she looked back on this, if they lived long enough to have kids, Megan thought pragmatically, she should have contacted her parents, told them what happened, looked for a way of getting to Miami…
Oh, who was she kidding?
Megan had already admitted to herself that, like Kevin, she hadn't been enthusiastic about any vacation suggested by Uncle Frank.
It was a golden McCallister rule; never ever trust anything Uncle Frank suggested.
But the promise of having an amazing Christmas in Florida sounded cool, and besides, wasn't it one of the reasons why the McCallisters travelled? To enjoy what the world had to offer? To enjoy what the best had to offer?
Okay, granted, Megan had hoped to spend Christmas somewhere more fitting this year, like in Switzerland, or places like that, places with snow where you felt the real spirit of a wintery White Christmas.
When she had found herself here in New York, Megan knew she should have contacted their family, alerted the staff at the New York airport they'd found themselves in by accident, and let them know what happened, but she had wanted to have some fun, and while she would have loved it if their side of the family were here instead of Uncle Frank and Aunt Leslie's brood, she'd had a fun time with Kevin before things took a nosedive.
One of the biggest mistakes they had made was not telling the staff at the hotel about their situation, but they would likely not have understood or they would have just thrown them out.
But now here she was, held prisoner by two burglars, one holding a gun that was hidden, who had escaped from prison after tangling with her little brother, who had come to New York to lay low before burgling the unfortunate Mr Duncan, and making off with all the hospital charity money, and while Megan was old enough to know not everyone charitable was charitable, she had genuinely liked the kind old toyshop owner.
Megan was struggling to work out what to do now; she was completely out of her comfort zone, but while she felt Marv's tight grip on her shoulder, occasionally squeezing it painfully, to remind her not to do anything stupid, she was resisting the urge to fight back. She knew some basic karate, but she wasn't entirely sure if it would work.
That was the problem with martial arts; Judo and Karate were both good, but there was never any contact, so you didn't entirely know exactly how much power to put into a blow.
"Don't forget," the short one that Megan soon discovered was named Harry hissed as they walked down the street to a crossing. "Remember my gun? Say anything and you'll be spitting gum out through your forehead."
Megan raised an eyebrow, trying to hide her fear, wondering if he would go that far, especially on a busy and crowded New York street. While they waited for the chance to cross the road, Megan wondered how she and her brother could get out of this one.
But it seemed Kevin had it well in hand; before her astonished and slightly horrified eyes, Kevin reached forward and pinched the bottom of a woman in front of them and quickly adopted an innocent look, just as the blonde woman in front of them swung around, furious. She gasped when she saw the two men.
She clearly knew them. And she wasn't happy.
Marv instantly laid on the charm like he had done with her. "Well, hello," he smiled.
The woman lashed out with a vicious punch, that was strong enough to send him to the ground. Megan took advantage of the opportunity, and she stomped down hard on Marv's groin and then kicked him in the chest, making him let out pained screams.
Quickly Kevin pointed at the bemused Harry, who was stunned by how quickly everything had spun out of control. "He did it!"
"Did what?" Harry demanded while the woman glared. He only just managed to get out a pained grunt as he fell to the ground, courtesy of the woman punching him as well.
"Thanks!" Of course, Kevin had to almost blow it by saying that, but Megan caught a mischievous wink from the woman, and she knew that the older woman not only knew the two men hadn't touched her, but that Kevin did, and she had a feeling the older woman knew the two men were up to no good.
"You need to learn some self-defence lessons, kid," the blonde said to Megan, just as they were about to run.
Megan had just been thinking exactly that, she had plans to study Mixed Martial Arts, something where there was actual contact instead of the pantomime you got with karate.
"Oh, I plan to, and thanks," Megan called back as she and Kevin ran away from the two burglars. They ran towards Central Park, sure the size of the place alone would give them dozens of hiding places.
As they raced down a flight of steps, Megan pulled Kevin with her as they ran deeper into the park before going out of sight. There was a horse-drawn carriage for romantic couples, and dozens of kids and adults nearby, but Kevin and Megan went as far as they could and they hid behind a tree.
"Are you okay, Megan?" Kevin panted.
"Yeah," Megan was too out of breath to lash out with one of her prideful remarks. Together the two McCallisters watched as Harry and Marv rushed into the park, charged at the kids and ripped off their hats.
"They're trying to find you," Megan pointed out.
Kevin said nothing as they watched Marv actually pick one of the kids up for Harry to take a look into his face. Poor kid. Why wasn't anyone doing anything about this?
Harry and Marv talked for a few minutes before they turned around and walked back the way they came. Once they were out of sight, Megan and Kevin relaxed.
"What do we do now, Megan?" Kevin had lost any interest in pretending he had a plan. He realised they should and could have told the airport authorities about the mix up the moment they discovered they were in New York.
Megan had a clear idea in mind. "Do you have any cash on you, Kevin?"
Kevin, having a good idea what Megan had in mind, checked his pockets and he couldn't find much beyond a few coins, and he closed his eyes. "No, do you?" He asked hopefully.
"We had hundreds of dollars, Kevin. What happened to it?" But Megan closed her eyes when she remembered their day. They had splurged in a couple of shops before they'd gone to Duncan's Toy Chest, and then they bought that necklace to use as a melee weapon. Quickly she checked her own pockets and they checked their money, hoping to find a decent cab fair.
They found there might be enough for one of them, but not two at the same time. Megan flinched and she leaned back against the tree, biting her tongue, but a barely restrained scream left her lips.
Kevin flinched, looking down.
This was all his own fault. And he had no intention of saying anything to Megan, not when she was in this kind of mood.
She was angry, and she had a right to be angry, and he had learnt she had the tendency to lash out whenever she became truly enraged. She always apologised afterwards, but she could say things that hit hard.
And right now, he knew she would definitely lash out at him, and Kevin could honestly say he deserved it. He had gotten them into this mess. He had suggested they stay in New York after speaking to that lady at the airport after they'd boarded the wrong plane. Megan had wanted to call Miami immediately.
But why hadn't he let her?
Because he had just wanted to have some fun, and he had wanted to spend that fun with Megan. His greed and arrogance had led to this, and he knew, if they ever got out of this mess, he would never dream of doing anything like this ever again.
"I want to go home. Mom, where are you?" Kevin whispered.
Megan heard him, but she didn't say a word.
-8-
'Why is it It's a Wonderful Life is in Spanish here?' Kate McCallister asked herself as she struggled to contain her impatience. 'It's Florida, for Christ's sake; why isn't it in English?'
She couldn't entirely complain, even if outside the Villa De Dolphine, the thunder was still rumbling as the seemingly endless rainfall continued to hammer the building. At the same time, the fast-paced Spanish was giving her something to occupy her mind with, but while she was translating it in her mind with the shaky memory she had of the movie, she hoped never to see this film ever again.
No, It's a Wonderful Life was a Christmas movie, but right now it was not Christmas in her books.
Rain.
It had been like this ever since they had landed at the airport, and not once had the rain stopped. They had tried several times to go out, try to find something to enjoy, but it was impossible; the rain had made going onto the beaches, which was one of the biggest attractions which had brought them here in the first place for Christmas, impossible. The restaurants were top-notch, but the humidity had made the food unpalatable. They'd gone to the cinema, but while the movies were there cool, it was too mundane and nobody would want to spend an entire holiday in a cinema, and besides it was Christmas Eve tonight.
Tomorrow it would be closed so that little diversion would be out. All of the attractions were open or closed, depending on what they were, and so were some of the shops, but who in their right mind would risk going out in this weather?
So, everyone had decided to stay, watch TV, and let their brains rot.
And Kate hated every second of it. This was not how Christmas was meant to be, Christmas was meant to be a time of hope like she had told that annoying airport person the year before after she'd gotten back to the States. But most of all, Christmas was supposed to be a time for family, not a time when they went on holiday and something was botched up. Christmas should be a time when they were at home, not in fucking Florida like this, crammed into a tiny motel apartment because of a cheapskate.
Kate had already had a rotten night, and her day had been worst and it was taking all of her self-control to keep her temper under control. She and Peter had spent a lot of their time making plans and counter plans. They had both agreed they would never have a Christmas holiday like this ever, and that meant no more going on flights. They could not take the risk, and they didn't care how Frank and Leslie and their family took the news.
If she were superstitious, then Kate would honestly say, that Christmas was now cursed for their family; if they could forget one child one year, and then two would be separated from them, what else could happen?
She was unsure if she could take this ever happening again.
She was dreading Christmas morning without Megan and Kevin around, and she was even more frightened of what the staff at this seedy and tacky little motel had in mind for Christmas lunch, or what they would have. Frank was extremely tight-lipped about any more arrangements, but Kate could say if he had planned something cheap and nasty, she was going to gladly kill him, and she didn't care what anyone did. The way she felt it was justifiable homicide since this vacation was his own idea in the first place.
As a matter of fact, she had a feeling everyone else did, too; no one seemed interested in going to bed, and even fewer were looking forward to the prospect of waking up tomorrow.
For Kate McCallister, the weather was perfectly aligned with her mood. She wasn't entirely sure how much more of this she was expected to take, while they waited for news about Kevin and Megan. All of their time had been spent in the villa, and it was starting to drive the two branches of the same family insane.
She and Peter were already feeling bad for the whole Christmas pageant mess, and how quickly and easily they had just…folded and taken Buzz's side. Remembering what Jeff said, she and Peter confronted Buzz to discover the truth. Getting it out of him wasn't that hard once they both made it clear they already knew what he had done. Soon even Buzz's childishness couldn't help him. But Kate was a long way from coming up with a worthwhile punishment for him, but right now she had made it clear until she had the mental energy to think of one, he would be in the doghouse for the duration.
Buzz, of course, tried to whine, but then he saw her current state and wisely shut his mouth.
Kate jolted out of her thoughts when the phone rang. "Turn that down!" She ordered, already on her feet and rushing across the room. "Hello?"
"Kate McCallister?"
Kate nodded impatiently. "This is she."
The cop said quickly, "We found your children."
Kate's hand went to her chest. "Oh, my God!"
Peter came to her. "What?"
"It's the police. They know where Kevin and Megan are."
Peter stood by her side "Where?" He asked urgently.
The cop on the other end heard him. "They're both in New York."
Kate's eyes shot open in shock.
What?
"They're both in New York?" Kate said in disbelief.
Everyone overheard and was stunned. "New York!?" They said at the same time, chatting to themselves. It became so unbearable and almost impossible for Kate to hear what the cop was saying. Suddenly she lost it. "SHUT UP!"
Once they had shut up, stunned by her outburst, and upset by the fact they were insensitive enough to talk when she needed peace, Kate returned to the call. She apologised to the cop and asked him to repeat what he'd said. Her eyes widened as she listened to the growing horror story.
"Wait, they must be scared, they're not troublemakers.… Hold on, why didn't the hotel staff just speak to them? Why did they do that?" Kate demanded, eyes blazing with anger.
Peter was listening with a rising sense of dread. "What? What happened?" He tugged on his wife's arm.
Kate sighed, "Just a second," she said to the cop and said quickly to Peter. "They used your credit card to check into the Plaza Hotel."
The Plaza Hotel?
Peter didn't know much about the hotels of New York, but right now he didn't care. "Do they have them?"
"No. The hotel's concierge went behind their back, checked the card and discovered it was 'stolen,' and he confronted them when they got back from shopping. They went on the run after that," Kate's voice was bitter and furious.
While Peter was cursing the intelligence behind the minds of so many people, Kate asked the police officer on the other end what was happening now. Once she was done, she looked up at the others.
"We're going to New York, move it!" Kate barked.
While everyone shouted their approval, Kate grabbed her suitcase; she didn't have much to pack, since she hoped to get out of the place asap.
"They ran away from the hotel when they questioned them about the card, but an eyewitness, a doorman claims he heard Megan say something about getting in touch with us today," Kate said as she packed.
"What, and they didn't listen to her?"
"Apparently," Kate hoped the concierge had a really good explanation. He was going to need it. The news Megan had planned to contact them had redeemed her a little in their minds, but they would still have to talk to their children to make them understand they should never do this again. "The good news is they have their boarding passes, they should go to the airport and wait for us," she added hopefully.
It was all that she could manage.
Now the hotel was a dead end, Megan and Kevin should be going to the airport and wait for them. But at the same time, if that happened then the cop would have told her, and now she was scared something happened to them.
Peter must have seen her expression because he didn't say anything about the passes. "I wonder if they'd know enough to go to my brother's place. Megan's visited him, so she would know where their brownstone is."
"Aren't they in Paris?"
Rob and Georgette were both in Paris, but Peter was trying to be optimistic. "Maybe they have a house sitter? Someone who'd call the cops and keep them safe before we get there."
Kate hoped he was right, but then she remembered something vague. "I thought you said they were renovating."
