-8-

Kevin licked the ice cream he'd gotten. "Mm, this is good," he moaned in appreciation.

Megan laughed, licking her own ice cream. "It is good," she moaned in agreement herself; she and her brother had been splurging for the last half an hour, going into a Pizza diner, and getting their own individual tastes right before finishing with a large bowl of ice cream. "Today's been good, and now I can honestly say…I wish we'd come to New York instead!"

"Yes! It feels good, doesn't it?" Kevin smirked.

"Yeah," Megan replied honestly; while she wished Linnie were here, she was just glad it was just herself and Kevin here, in the Big Apple.

But truthfully, while Megan wished her branch of the McCallister family were here, she genuinely did not miss Uncle Frank and Aunt Leslie and their brood; Rod was as annoying as Buzz, Tracey and Sondra hogged the bathroom and they had opposite tastes, Brooke was just a little girl, and Fuller was an obnoxious little toad.

"So, where do you wanna go now?" Kevin asked, spooning some ice cream into his mouth.

Megan and Kevin had been wandering around New York ever since they discovered where they were, and decided to just have their own vacation, and have fun.

They had visited Times Square. They had gone to the very top of the Empire State Building, visited a shop in China town and bought some fireworks (Megan guessed Kevin planned to go out with them Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and set them off).

At first, Megan had been reluctant, she had been awed by the mighty metropolis that was New York, but she had still wanted to get in touch with her parents, like the responsible young adult she was.

And yet…

Megan had been annoyed with her parents, deep down for a while now. She had not wanted to go on holiday with her cousins again, she would have preferred to spend her time with her own family. But no. For reasons defying understanding, it seemed that nearly every holiday had to be with their relatives.

Megan bit her lip, wondering just what they could do, where they could go. She racked her brains for what she knew about New York, which only made visiting the city more attractive.

There was Madame Tussauds.

There was the Central Park Zoo.

Shows on Broadway, although she didn't know if Kevin would like that.

What about the New York Aquarium?

The Queen's Country Farm Museum? Mm, no, on second thought no.

Central Park?

Art museums? Mm, that was possible, but she knew Kevin hated museums, and she did not want to hear him whine about it.

Brooklyn bridge?

The Top of the Rock observation deck at Rockefeller Centre was a great possibility, and after seeing the top of the Empire State Building, she knew Kevin would like it.

"How about the Top of the Rock Observation Deck at the Rockefeller Centre?" Megan asked.

"What's that?"

Patiently Megan explained. "And then after that, we can go and see Central Park….but first, we've got a job to do," she added seriously, gazing at her brother seriously to make it clear she was not going to take no for an answer.

Kevin gazed at her in worry. "What do you mean?"

Megan smiled gently, "We're going to have to do some shopping," she dropped her smile, "Kev, we've got little luggage and I don't want to wear the same clothes for days on end. We're going to have to get some replacements that should last until we catch up with Mum and Dad."

Kevin sighed and nodded in agreement. While he didn't want to see his family again until after the holiday was over, he could see Megan made some sense.

"Okay, you're right," he glanced down at his navy blue sweater, saw the shirt underneath, along with his socks and underwear, and knew he wouldn't want to wear the same clothes for days on end.

-8-

For the rest of the day, Kevin and Megan went shopping for new clothes and luggage bags. They didn't go too mad; they focused on the essentials like toiletries, fresh shirts and so on, but there was still plenty of time for them to get more.

"Pleased with what we got?" Kevin asked Megan as they walked through Central Park; they'd just had some great fun looking over the city; from such a height, they could see the sheer size of the park, and now they were walking through it Kevin did ask himself how bigger the place was going to be.

"Definitely. But Kevin, where are we going to stay?" Megan asked.

Kevin grinned. He had seen it from the top of the deck, and he took Megan's hand and tugged her along. They went quite a way before they stopped close to a bridge. Kevin pointed to a magnificent building topped by a roof.

"The Plaza Hotel," Kevin smiled, "New York's most exciting hotel experience."

"Where did you pick that up from?" Megan knew her brother had not said that to be original, he had picked it up from somewhere.

"A gameshow," Kevin said.

"Oh, of course!" Megan rolled her eyes.

"Sick!" Kevin suddenly gasped, and Megan jolted, wondering what it was that made him say that, and she glanced in the direction he was staring in.

There was an old woman in the park, with pigeons on her arms and on her head, and the look she sent Kevin was just a blank stare.

Kevin took off in a run.

Megan rolled her eyes. "Oh, Kevin, don't be so prejudiced and stupid! Didn't you learn anything from that Mr Marley story last year?" She sent an apologetic look towards the woman, but the Pigeon woman just turned around, clearly used to such reactions. She chased after Kevin and caught up with him soon enough.

She stopped them both.

"What the hell was all that about?"

"Didn't you see her?"

"I did. Kevin, weren't you just as scared of Mr Marley last year? I've seen you talking and I heard Buzz say that he's told you the story, that he thought you'd listen to him even if there was never any proof, I just thought it was stupid you'd listen to one of Buzz's stories like that, since Mr Marley's actually a very nice and respectable man who's suffered from the misfortune of rumours and lies told about him," Megan pointed out. "Why are you so prejudiced towards others like that?"

"I'm not! It's just she was covered with pigeons."

"Yeah, she is, but did it ever occur to you she didn't suddenly come after you, say anything nasty to us?" Megan pointed out. "Besides, what makes you think she cares what others think? Just because someone's different doesn't mean they're bad."

Kevin sagged, he knew he'd just been a little jerk back there, but there was nothing they could do about it now. "Yeah, you're right. Shall we go back, apologise?"

Megan was warmed by Kevin's question but she looked around. It was going to get dark soon, and she wanted to have a room with proper heating and a shower before it got too cold. "No, we can do that some other time. Let's just get to the hotel."

Kevin grinned and they set off.

But Megan had one concern. "How are we going to get a room? I could do it myself-,"

"Wouldn't they ask questions?" Kevin asked as they came to a crossing. They waited for the traffic to stop before they crossed with the crowd, heading for the hotel. Out of the corner of Megan's eye, Kevin brushed against a short, dumpy-looking man wearing a thick grey overcoat and a beanie. But the siblings were too busy talking to pay any notice.

"Mm, they might do," she conceded, wondering if it would be much smarter if she did the work herself, but then again she realised it wasn't a good move.

"No, we can't," she said grimly, "if I had my own credit cards, I could do it, no problem but we've only got Dad's credit cards. If I tried anything with it, they'd catch us out."

Kevin thought for a moment as they reached the other side of the road. "Maybe it's not so bad."

"Why, what do you have in mind?'

"I know how we can get in," Kevin said.

-8-

Harry glanced over his shoulder automatically after brushing past a kid.

For a long moment, he thought he might be seeing things, as he gazed at the retreating figure of the boy with the bobble hat and the dark green coat-

Nah.

He was seeing things.

The little bastard was in Chicago, if his family had made the right choice and stayed after all the houses they'd burgled last year (and flooded, thanks to the idiot Marv), and besides, the boy was with a girl with long brown hair.

Harry turned back, shaking his head, thinking he had imagined it. He didn't understand why he was suddenly seeing that kid, especially since he had gone out of his way not to look at any kids since he and Marv arrived in New York.

Marv noticed him glancing over his shoulder. "What's the matter?"

"Thought I saw something," Harry replied, deciding it was just his imagination and he turned to face forwards.

Unfortunately, Marv looked over his shoulder, and he kept walking until he bumped into a blonde woman, accidentally grabbing her handbag. It took Marv a few minutes to get his stupid sticky paw off the handbag, and then finally he stopped and stared at the woman.

Marv tried wooing her with French, but Harry was convinced he didn't have a clue how to speak French.

The woman glared at him and then slapped Marv in the face, hard.

"Serves you right! Come on, let's go," Harry snapped.

-8-

By the time the McCallister kids had arrived at the hotel, they'd already gotten their plan sorted out, and Kevin had spent the last few minutes finding the relevant snippet of tape he'd recorded the phone number for the hotel. Once they were inside, they would find a phone, fake a call from their dad, and then book in a room.

Megan didn't have a problem with this plan, except that she honestly hoped the staff here weren't suspicious enough of them; they would be, if Kevin was on his own like he had been last year, but with her around, an older girl, she hoped they could get through this and get away with it in the long-term.

Walking into the hotel was an eye-opener; it was a grand, ornate space with richly decorated floors and walls, and hotel staff wearing smart uniforms. This was not some cheap little motel, this was the real deal.

Megan stopped a hall porter. "Excuse me, could you point us to the lobby, please?"

"Of course, ma'am," the porter pointed a white gloved hand forwards, "Just go down the hall and to the left."

"Thanks," Kevin thanked the porter and the two McCallisters went on their way before they reached the lobby, and both were left highly impressed with it. "Wow."

Megan rolled her eyes amusedly at her star-struck brother, knowing how much Kevin believed that the McCallisters should take advantage of their wealth and stay in places like this. They did, but not very often. Together they walked to the centre of the lobby, and Kevin took out his recorder and turned the volume down so only he and Megan could hear it.

"Guests of the new Celebrity Ding-Dang-Dong... ...stay at the world-renowned Plaza Hotel, New York's most exciting hotel experience. For reservations, call toll-free... ... 1-800-759-3000," the plummy voice Megan had already heard said.

"We'll do just that," Kevin said.

Finding a room full of telephones, Megan looked around. "It's clear," she said while Kevin grabbed some phone directories. "Hold it, what are you doing?"

Kevin stopped and looked at the directories, and he grinned sheepishly. "Oh, sorry, it's just after last year I had to do the washing up and I needed a chair to stand on it…"

"And you thought I wouldn't be the one to ring the phone?" Megan asked in amusement. "Look, just record what you're gonna say, and I'll do the rest. Can you give me the phone number again?" She added, spotting a piece of stationary and a pen.

Kevin nodded, "Yes." Rewinding the tape a little, Kevin replayed the clip with the gameshow hosts' details on the hotel. Megan asked Kevin to rewind and replay it a few times to make sure she had the numbers right. When she was finished, he spoke into the mic.

"Howdy-do. This is Peter McCallister," Kevin said, making Megan flinch at the opening. Howdy-do? Was that really the best he could do? "The father. I'd like a hotel room, please for my two children, Megan and Kevin. With two extra-large beds, a TV…," Kevin paused for a second as if considering what else he wanted, but Megan hoped he didn't ask for anything really stupid, so she was surprised, "...and one of those little refrigerators with a key. Credit card? You got it."

"That's it," Kevin said when he pressed STOP.

"Okay, let's do this." Megan picked up the phone and quickly punched in the number, taking the offered recorder after Kevin had made sure that the tape was in the right place and the voice changer had been turned on.

"Plaza Reservations, may I help you?" A tinny woman's voice answered; Megan could only just hear her.

"Howdy-do," Megan flinched at the greeting, which she thought was appalling enough (she made a mental note to make Kevin get better acting skills than that, but what made her truly cringe was the quality of the voice change; it was so deep, so slow that you would need to be truthfully stupid not to realise it was not real. "This is Peter McCallister. The father."

"Yes, sir."

God, it seemed the woman on the other end was thick. Or more likely the phone was distorting the depth of the tone of the recorded voice. "I'd like a hotel room, please for my two children, Megan and Kevin."

"Yes."

"With two extra-large beds, a TV, and one of those little refrigerators with a key."

"You'll need a major credit card."

"Credit card? You got it."

"Thank you. Enjoy your stay."

Megan put away the phone and stared anxiously at her brother. Why did she have such worries? Why did she feel like her whole life was flashing in front of her?

-8-

Ten minutes later, the McCallisters walked back into the Main lobby, and they walked to the front desk, worked by a woman with a severe expression, wearing an immaculate black suit.

"Hi," Kevin smiled at the woman.

"Hello," Megan added politely.

"Can I help you?"

"A reservation for McCallister, please," Megan was thankful she was here with Kevin; she didn't need to be a genius to know if he had been here by himself, he would have needed a really good story that would convince everyone here.

"A reservation for yourselves?"

"Yes," Megan said. "We're both travelling with our dad. He's on business. He's at a meeting."

"I hate meetings," Kevin added.

"We both do, Kevin," Megan pointed out, "And we're not allowed to go in, only to sit in the lobby. That's boring," Megan said as she played into the story they'd agreed on. "Plus, Daddy knows full well Kevin and I both wanted to spend Christmas in New York, see the sights and enjoy some shopping; he's simply too busy, and he decided to apologise to us."

"So our dad dropped us off here," Kevin said.

"And he gave me his credit card - which is his apology - and said we've got to have check-in…," Megan took the credit card she was pleased she had gotten off Kevin, "to let me, and this little horror," she wrapped an arm around her brother affectionately, "into the room so he won't get into mischief."

"Ma'am, sometimes I do get into mischief," Kevin suddenly grinned impishly, "We all do."

As she watched the woman get right down to work, Megan knew this was going to work out for herself and her brother, especially as they'd both given a very plausible story; after all, most rich kids lived off of their parents' cash anyway, and this woman could see that they weren't off the street Oliver Twist types; they were clean, their clothes were new and expensive, and they weren't thieves.