“Yes. It was all Troy’s fault.” Molly’s glee was very evident. A sick smile had been on her face for a little while now. Her parents were helping with the story to the deputy, while the boys were huddled in a room together.

“You know, just a couple of boys fighting won’t be enough to arrest and jail him for long, if he has a clean record.” The deputy said. “You need something bigger.”

“Like what?” Louis Horton asked. In his mind this was open and shut. If the courts were God fearing. “Isn’t this bad enough?”

“Not really. With their ages...boys fight all the time. But sexual assault could work, like you’re doing with Amy. But what about another kid?”

“Like Robbie?” Molly Inquired. “We’ve beat both boys.” She said so nonchalantly.

The deputy shook his head. “I was thinking about a girl. You attack a little girl and people lose their minds.”

“We already have Amy. Why do we need another?” Molly’s mother asked.

Tracy has some dark times a-coming. But she is also going to have a fun time at the Happiest place on Earth.

Harvey pulled the adults to one of the empty tables in the deli. He unfolded a map of California. “Here's my thought. We stay on Five all the way to LA. About five or six, we pull off and find something like a Denny's or something like that and feed the kids, then gas, so we’re filled all the way, then head to Disney.”

“Works for me.” Carl agreed, nodding his head. “By that point, 'Romy will be starving, even with snacks. And who knows how many bathroom stops we will need.”

“And if it’s anywhere before nine at night, there will still be traffic.” William stated, using his knowledge of the area. After all, he and Maggie had lived there for a short few years. “So stopping just over the Grapevine could be our best bet.”

“In Santa Clarita?” Carl inquired.

“Yeah.” William nodded his head. “And the kids can stretch and so can we. That should be the four or five hour mark. Then an hour or so to Disney.” He looked at Harvey. “As for bathrooms, at least when we went through a few years back, there were a few truck stops along the way. Like I said, that was a few years back, but I doubt those go away very fast.”

“Yeah. But we call the shot on that. If it looks shady, we won't get near it.” Lance spoke up. To his side the wives all nodded.

“And when we get to the hotel we’re at, keeping the girls together may already be hard.” Lillian stated.

“We’ll lay down the law when we are headed there.” Harvey offered with a shrug. “Threaten to bring them home early.”

“That would work.” Persephone stated. “I know the girls will want to sit together. After a while we all can change vehicles as well.”

“We can stay in a line and if someone needs a bathroom we can flash our lights at the car in front of us.” Shelly offered.

Harvey looked at her and arched an eyebrow. “But if I’m in the front, who do I get to warn?”

Shelly smiled. “Your truck is the hold it truck.”

Harvey began to laugh. “Let me guess, tie it in a knot?”

“Maybe. If it helps, then do it.” Shelly replied back.

“Well, lets get going. Before the kids realize we have been here for almost thirty minutes.” Carl suggested.

Harvey folded the map up as the other parents gathered the kids. Being in downtown had it’s bad side. They had to park nearly a block away.

~~**~~

At the Hallmark home, a deputy was taking a report from her. He was a distant relation on her parents side of the family. He knew it was a false one. But to make this stick, they needed to do the report. She also knew he was very anti-gay and he wasn’t the cleanest person in the sheriff’s department.

“Troy Patterson, right?” He asked and Molly nodded. “Two t’s”

“Yes. It was all Troy’s fault.” Molly’s glee was very evident. A sick smile had been on her face for a little while now. Her parents were helping with the story to the deputy, while the boys were huddled in a room together.

“You know, just a couple of boys fighting won’t be enough to arrest and jail him for long, if he has a clean record.” The deputy said. “You need something bigger.”

“Like what?” Louis Horton asked. In his mind this was open and shut. If the courts were God fearing. “Isn’t this bad enough?”

“Not really. With their ages...boys fight all the time. But sexual assault could work, like you’re doing with Amy. But what about another kid?”

“Like Robbie?” Molly Inquired. “We’ve beat both boys.” She said so nonchalantly.

The deputy shook his head. “I was thinking about a girl. You attack a little girl and people lose their minds.”

“We already have Amy. Why do we need another?” Molly’s mother asked.

“Simple. If Amy starts showing, her story could be gone and he could get an appeal. Plus claiming it happened this weekend and then her having a baby in September could get him freed.” The deputy stated

Molly began to think about the little girls she knew and June’s granddaughter came to mind. She held up one finger. “I got one. I can make this work.” In the back room, they could hear both of her boys still crying.

“Good. You’ll need evidence. Good evidence. Something that can’t be fought.” The deputy offered.

Lilian began to question if she wanted to be driving the truck with all of the girls as they started singing “it's a small world” for the tenth time since they had left Livermore. And they had only gotten out of Tracy and were merging with Interstate five. She knew this would be a very long trip. Just the six in the back was bad, but they also had ‘Romy sitting between her and her sister. Casey had taken the far back seat and was there with Sage and Tracy. Casey had a sketch pad out and was drawing something. Ahead of them was Stacey, Rachel and Brooke by the door. Magazines aimed at girls their age were on both seats. She looked at Persophone, who just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “Just go along with it. Or we could turn up the oldies channel and drive them to a revolt.

“Girls, I have a box of tapes under my seat. If you can agree on one, I’ll play it.” Lillian called back to them.

Sage leaned down and pulled out a large box. She pulled the lid off and there were many tapes in there.

“The stranger!” Sage exclaimed, pulling one out. “Side one is awesome!”

“No fair, what about Trouble in Paradise?!? It has I love L.A.!” Stacey pouted, holding up that cassette.

Hey, John Denver!” Rachel had also grabbed a cassette. She was holding up the tape and giggling. “That’s like Sage’s Dad’s favorite stuff. That could put us to sleep.”

“She’s got a few beach boys tapes in there as well.” Stacy added.

Tracy blushed. Her father listened to Denver as well. If she was honest, she loved the music as well. There were a few oldies in the box. One or two Elvis cassettes in there. Stuff her mother would have gone with.

The girls put it to a vote and the Stranger was passed forward.

“Which side first?” Persophone asked. “We go with one side, then the next tape comes up.”

“Side one.” Sage called out, after looking at the track listing.

In the back of Harvey’s Truck, William was seated behind his son and Marcus, and next to Lok. Lok reached into a bag and pulled out a small travel chess game. “Ever play chess?” He asked with a thick accent.

“A few times. I’m no master at the game.” William said.

“Neither am I. Just a game to pass time.”

"I thought you weren't coming?" William inquired, thinking back to the night they were asked about going.

Lok shrugged. "Most students are gone for break. No need for school this week."

He put the pieces in place, thankful for the tiny magnetic version of the game. Ahead of them, Vance, and Mooney were looking at sports illustrated. Jamie sat next to a window and was reading from a teen magazine she had brought.

"What about you? You find good job yet?" Lok asked.

"Looking. Been working that temp agency. But I'd rather have something full time. But I was waiting for this trip to end." William answered,

"You know, William, We can see if we know people that are looking." Harvey said from up front. "If you don't mind going out of Livermore."

"I know I may have to." William said. "Afterall, it's a huge area I have to pick from. I just don't want to be traveling for several hours a day."

Carl nodded and turned to see him. "Understandable. What about the BART system? Park it and leave it till you get back. Save on gas money and get a monthly pass. Or ride in with Frank and just go from there."

"Frank may have suggested that. I figure when I get back, I put my nose to the grindstone and look as hard as I can. I'll start with Livermore, then move to Tracy and Dublin. After that I'll just spread out. I know I'd rather not work retail. I've got the training to drive a forklift and I can do work in like a mill."

"Keep in mind, for a job like that, you may have to go to the ports. Like Oakland, or near Benicia." Carl shrugged. "But would retail be bad, if it is paying the bills?"

William sighed as he moved one of his pieces. "I guess not. Money is money and when I'm employed, I can move on from there."

June was shocked to see Molly at her front door. As far as she knew, Molly would be in prison for a very long time. “Molly...you’re out?”

“Yes, they decided to drop the charges. Nothing was going to last in court.” Molly lied as she gestured them in. June noticed the Horton’s were behind her. In the car sat two little heads.

Molly wasted no time. “June, I need your help. Well, yours and Cindy’s, if we are to end the evil in our town. And I know you will help me.”

“What evil?” June asked. Then she wondered out loud. “You don’t mean the Patterson's do you?””

“Yes we do.” Said Molly’s father.

“No. You were already in court and the deputy warned me about threatening the Patterson's after you threatened to run them out of town.”

“June. You really think your husband would like it if we told him about how you’ve had not just one affair, but two? And maybe the IRS would like to know about how you cheat on your taxes?”

“You wouldn’t.” June said back, fear began to creep into her mind. While she had cheated. The taxes were done by her husband. Not that it would matter much to the government.

“Help me, and I’ll forget everything.” Molly said with an evil grin going across her face.

~~~***~~~

The sun had set on the four vehicle caravan as they topped the Grapevine pass and was headed down into the greater Los Angeles Metro area. Lilian had expected it and when the girls gasped at the number of lights shining out across the valley she chuckled. In front of her was her Husband’s vehicle, with William now in the passenger seat. Behind her was Shelly, with Maggie, Karen and Jaio. Behind them was Lynn and Lance and all of the luggage. Sage's grandparents took up the end of the caravan

“There it is!” Stacey began to jump around in her seat. The other girls began to cheer.

Persophone cleared her throat and shook her head. She spoke loudly for the girls. “Girls, that’s Magic mountain. We have to go though most of LA to get to Disney.”

“That’s not Disney?” Rachel looked confused. It was large and had rides.

Persephone chuckled. “Nope, even the billboard said it wasn’t it. Besides, we haven’t even reached where we are having dinner.”

“Will we be there in a bit?” Sage asked.

“Dinner, yes. Hotel? No. We're only in the northern part of the LA area. We have to go through it to get to Anaheim.” Lilian answered.

“Does Aunt Shelly know which way to go?” Rachel pondered as the vehicles began to take the off ramp. She looked behind them to see the other three vehicles follow them. She was shocked to have seen Sage’s aunt and grandparents show up. She knew Tracy’s grandparents would be there as well.

“Yes. Maggie is guiding her, but Harvey is taking the lead, William is telling him the way. They lived down here, so he remembers most of the route. Tracy’s mother will be coming with us.” Ahead of them, Harvey was heading for a nearby Denny’s restaurant. The kids were hungry, as were the adults. William had gotten out when they stopped and jogged inside so they could set up enough tables for everyone.

As everyone got out of the vehicle, they all gave a short stretch, except for brooke, who waited for her chair to stretch. Even though they were on the outskirts of the LA metro area, the feel of the city was different. If felt much busier than Livermore. William was standing by the door as they all walked over. “Fifteen minutes, they hope.”

“Good. I need a bathroom.” Carl stated. This caused the kids to realize they should go as well. As the last of the group was returning, the waitress called them over and led them to a group of six tables in the back area of the restaurant all pushed together. The girls all sat together, with Andromeda sitting with them in a booster seat. Tracy was happy with this. Life was clearly looking up. Even if her father was gesturing to the kids menu for her.

An hour or more after they had returned to the road, they were in heavy traffic. Tracy was busy singing along to the music, from a station she remembered her cousins listened to. It was modern stuff and all the girls were busy singing. They had gone through most of Los Angeles, or so it felt.

Due to how dark it was, the girls had given up on their reading and art. Now they were watching the traffic and the scenery go by. The area was super busy. All the girls looked forward as they heard the turn signal. Shelly had passed them earlier and now they were behind two vehicles.

Rachel and a couple of the others looked over their shoulders to see the other vehicles in their caravan were also turning. Of course, many other vehicles were also turning.

“Oh My God.” Sage said as she started to bounce in her seat, shaking her cousin Stacey. With her free hand she pointed to a big Disneyland sign. “We’re here, we're here!”

All the girls in the back, and ‘Romy, in the front, began screaming at the top of their lungs.

Lilian rolled her eyes as they broke into “It's a small world” Once more. Persephone turned in her seat and called out to them. “Girls. Remember. No running off. Stay with us and bring in your own bags. We all have our own stuff.”

~~^@^~~

Molly chased Cindy down the hall and she shoved her into the bedroom.

From the living room, the boys could hear the sounds of Cindy screaming as though someone was hurting her. June turned away from the sounds, afraid of how Molly could ruin her marriage and her life, but aware she was allowing her granddaughter to be hurt worse..

June wasn’t sure who Molly was anymore. Even her parents weren’t doing anything to stop this. But then, neither was she.

Trying to keep the girls together while they all checked in was hard. Even the older kids wanted to run and look around. The pure joy of being there was great. And the thought of being able to see their favorite characters was almost too much for them to bear. While several of them had seemed tired before they got there, every one under the age of eighteen was now on their second wind. It took a while to get them all checked in. And Carl had gotten with his travel agent to try and get them all on one floor. That had worked, with just two rooms down the hall from the others.

After checking in, the girls all formed a single file line and began marching to their rooms. While they marched, they began to sing, which helped other little kids near them to start up.

“We’re following the leader, the leader, the leader
Te-dum te-de
Tiddly doe da day

Soon the whole lobby was a mass of kids singing loudly.

Harvey looked to William and Lance as they got on one of the elevators. “Think they sell beer here for the fathers?”

“Nope.” William replied. “Besides, it's just a little singing. Maybe this will tire them out.”

Lilian chuckled. “William, you weren't forced to hear It's a small world for almost an hour straight.”

They could hear singing coming from the elevator shaft as the girls were on another elevator. Shelly chucked, glad she had gotten on with most of the guys.

As the elevator stopped, they got out and waited for the whole group to meet them. Then they began walking the halls. Once again the girls began to sing, with Rachel marching at the front of the line.

“Lance Williams?” A voice called out, causing Lance and the rest of the group to look down a hallway. This caused all of the girls to stop.

“Reverend Banks?!?” Lance exclaimed in surprise. “I wasn't expecting to see anyone else I knew down here.”

“The kids had a break, so we decided to treat them to Disneyland.” Reverend Banks replied. He looked at William and Maggie. “Hello Maggie. William? How does the work search?

“Well, I will admit that I waited the past couple of weeks. I’ve been working at a temp place, but nothing seems to be lasting. Thankfully We had my check from work for my sick time I never used and that was better than a normal paycheck. Over ten years and no days taken till this past November.” William stated, then he chuckled. “Wish they would have split it up though. They really took out a lot of it for the taxes.”

“Yeah, that does happen.” Ian replied back. “But when you get home, you can start your search in Earnest and if you want, I can send some ideas your way. I do happen to know several of the men who go to the church are hiring.”

“That would be wonderful.” William answered with a smile. A part of him wanted to do the work search on his own, but he would be stupid to turn down help. Especially with the amount of people that went to his church. And those people knew people and those people knew people.

“Maybe we’ll see you tomorrow.”

Reverend Banks nodded. “Well, we’re here for a few days. The girls wanted to go see the sights, but I’m not too sure.”

“There is a cool mall north of Los Angeles. It's the Beverly Center.” Tracy said and Brooke nodded.

“Big one.” Brooke added.

“Hello Tracy.” Reverend Banks said, nodding his head to her.

“Reverend.” She replied back.

“And hello Vance. It's good to see you again.”

“And who are the rest of your friends, Tracy?”

“This is Sage and her parents, Mister and Mrs Miller. Casey and Stacey and their Parents, the Parkers, Brooke and her mother and grandparents, the Hans. And You know Rachel’s parents....oh yeah, Mooney and ‘Romy are Sage’s siblings.”

“Wow. Big group.” The preacher said. “Well, young ladies, you all be good and listen to your parents.”

Saturday morning hit and Tracy seemed to wake up before the sun had risen. All of the girls were in the room with her parents. None of them had wanted to go to sleep the night before. They were all too wired. She cast a glance to the window and saw no light coming from the bottom of the curtain. Sage was laying next to her, wide awake and 'Romy had been awake for a few minutes. Someone knocked at the doors and Tracy bounced off the floor and ran to the door.

“Tracy!” Maggie said as she sat up in the bed, while Tracy was touching the door. “Look through the peephole first.”

Tracy stood on her tiptoes and looked out. “Looks like Vance.”

Her mother nodded. “Open it.”

“Hey, I need my bag. I left it here.” Vance said as he went to his bag. The night before the Patterson’s had ended up with all the kids under fourteen, leaving the Miller’s with the boys.

“Dad, it’s time to go get breakfast.” Tracy said to William.

“Nah, we can wait a few hours.” William said. “I need my sleep.”

“That’s what Mister Miller and Mister Harvey said.” Vance replied.

Tracy looked at Vance and smiled. “Like Christmas time?”

“Yeah.”

Tracy leaned over and whispered the plan and then Tracy and her friends, plus Vance and Romy attacked William's bed and they began bouncing on it. After this they would have to attack the other dad’s.

“Wake up Daddy!” Tracy said as they started shaking him. Brooke sat back and chuckled.

“Okay, okay. I'm up.” William said. Tracy shook her head as Sage started to get off the bed.

“Feet on the floor Daddy, or we keep bouncing.”

“I'm awake.” He stated again. He headed for the empty bathroom.

“Come on! Let's go to my parents now!” Sage said, “Then Rachel's and Stacey's!”

William looked out of the bathroom and smiled when he didn't see the girls. He stepped out and took a step to where his bed was and he could see the mattress cover was lumpy, as though seven little bodies were under it, because they were. He could hear giggling from under the covers. Tracy flipped the covers back and looked at him. “No more sleep. Get dressed. We got to wake the others!”

“Nope, it's nap time.” William said as he began to push on the bodies under the covers.

“That’s what my dad said.” Rachel grumbled. Then there was a knock at the door. Maggie went to it and looked out. Then she opened the door to see the other families there. Shelly had stayed with her parents and she had gotten a suite with two bedrooms. She had also helped Lilian and Persephone find another with two bedrooms. William chuckled and left the mass of kids alone.

Once all of the kids were seated on the floor and listening, Persephone took over. They were all facing the kids, to let the kids know they all felt the same.

“Now here are the rules.” Persephone said. “We're going to stay together. I know you want to run around and see everything, but we're here for the week and don't have to leave till Sunday. So no running off. We may look at Knott's Berry farm or other places this week, too. I was thinking of a mall for the girls on Tuesday or Wednesday. Rule two is for 'Romy. Stay with an adult at all times. An adult will be with the girls at all times, just to help Brooke transfer faster, okay?”

Brooke nodded. “So I can ride the rides?”

“We'll do our best to make sure you can.” William stated. He flashed her a smile, as did her Grandfather.

When Persephone was done, Lance looked to Harvey, Carl and William, who all nodded. “Well.” Harvey said as he moved to the bed. “The fathers and I have decided that we can wait, till we all get a nap in.”

“No!!” The children, including Jamie, Vance and Mooney all shouted.

“Well then, let's all head for food. We need to eat so you have energy to run us ragged. We still have to get tickets to get in though.”

“What about ticket books?” William asked. “We still have to buy E-tickets?”

Carl shook his head. “Nah, the travel agent I talked to said they stopped those last year. So it's one price to get in and ride any ride as much as you want.”

“Good, that was the biggest rip off, at least I always thought so.”

“What about the others?” Persephone asked. “Maggie's family?”

“They called this morning. Joy and Olivia are in the local area and will meet us on Mainstreet USA. Alice, My parents and the girls are going to hang out near the main gates. Both will be there about nine or nine thirty”

William spoke up. “Plus my parents will be there as well.”

“Grandma and Grandpa are here too?!?” Tracey and Vance both asked.

“Yep. They are headed to Phoenix on Monday. They wanted to spend some time with Olivia and Joy. before going to see your Great Aunt Betty.”

As they got to the main ticket gate, Tracy felt a hand on her shoulder, so she turned to look and stopped as she saw her Grandmother Bernice, her Grandfather Marion and her aunt and cousins. They began hugging as the parents pushed through the ticket booth. Once through the main gate, they went towards the large flower bed but not under the railroad track.

After the introductions of the adults were made, the girls all banded together. “So you're her cousin from her mom's side?” Sage asked.

Heidi nodded her head. “Yeah.”

“And you're the ones that Brooke met?” Rachel asked, Heidi nodded again.

“We met Brooke when she came here for that sporting thingy.” Heidi said.

“That's cool. I'm Sage, this is Stacey, her sister Casey and they are my cousins. Plus Rachel and Brooke and the little girl over with my parents is my sister Andromeda, but we call her 'Romy.”

“We heard the radio station you told Tracy about. It’s almost as good as some we have in the bay area.” Rachel blurted out.

"You wish. L.A. music is the best." Heidi said with a grin. Then a voice pulled Tracy's attention away.

“Tracy!” Angie shouted and she darted over to where Tracy was at.

“Everyone, this is Angie, she’s from Dad’s side. Her mother is the one with dark hair, over there and the other one is Olivia, my cousin.”

“Now let me see if I can do this.” Olivia said. “Brooke, Sage, Stacey, Rachel, Casey and Andromeda?” She said, after pointing to each girl.

“How did you do that?” Tracy asked in amazement.

“You spoke about them nonstop at Christmas.” Olivia said. Tracy was aware her parents and Joy had come closer.

“I did?”

”You did.” Maggie said with a nod. “But for now, let's head into the park, okay?”

“Angie, you can be with them, just try and stay near us.” Joy said. Behind them, Connor was wheeling Modine in a wheelchair. She could walk, but she didn’t want to tire herself out.

“Heidi, Cheryl, same thing.”

To keep together, Brooke let Stacey push her chair, mostly to save her arms.

~~&&~~

It had taken nearly three hours to get into the area with the haunted mansion and the pirates. Brooke hadn’t seen many things she could ride. The adults were afraid she could fall out of the teacups and the Matterhorn. William walked over and patted Brooke on the shoulder. ”You wanna go on the pirates?”

“It's Okay. The line's long. I can just watch or something.”

“Come on.” William said and he got into line with her. Unbeknownst to her, Harvey had split from the group and made sure they could take her wheelchair in there.

Thirty minutes later, William got close to the loading area. He still pushed Brooke and Tracy and her other friends were all behind him. As they got to the “William, switch her off to me.” Harvey said and he held out his hands. We'll do a switch at the boat, you get in and I hand her off to you.”

It took another agonizing forty minutes to get to where they were together. To each of the kids, it felt like a lifetime. They had let a few people pass by them so most of their group would be together. Lok got to the front and used his foot to keep the boat from moving. William step[ped in as the other girls got in behind them. Harvey passed off Brooke, then as William sat her down, he stepped in and Lok hopped in with them.

The girls were singing along with the song by the time they reached it and Brooke sat in the front seat, now partly wet and laughing loudly.

Brooke waited for William to get up, then Harvey lifted her and William moved her to the wheelchair. “Next up, haunted mansion” William said as he began pushing her. All of the kids fell in line behind them. It made William feel good to see the usually stoic Brooke finally breaking out of her shell.

Deputy Barnes pulled up to the address given to him by Molly for the Patterson's, and he saw no one around. He walked up to the house she described and knocked, but after a minute, no one answered. He walked around the house and all the windows had the curtains drawn, but he could barely see through the white curtains in the kitchen and the kitchen looked empty.

He walked next door and knocked there, but still he got no answer. “Weird.”

Half an hour later the Deputy was in the Judge's office. This judge was dealing with him directly. He didn't have to go to the DA this time. Plus this meant they already had a prefabricated plea made up. “I can only tell you that the Patterson house is empty and it looks like it has been that way for some time. The house next door belongs to William Patterson’s parents and no one answered there, but there is still furniture there.”

“I want that kid. I need him arrested, do you understand?” The Judge said in a firm tone. He knew if he waited too long, he could end up in prison himself and he’d be treated badly for his own crimes.

“Well, till someone is there, I am at a loss of where they are.”

“Keep stopping there daily.” Judge Olsen ordered.

At the gates, Alice and her parents broke away from the group, with Maggie and her family, plus Shelly, who were almost like family.

“It was good to see you again Maggie.” Alice said, pulling her sister in for a hug.

“You too. We're in the Bay Area now, so it's closer to visit. Who knows, maybe we should try Thanksgiving some year.”

“You know, that would be nice. All the girls ever go to their dad's parents on Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

They fell in line behind the others, all the children were exhausted. Andromeda was the only one who ended up being carried, passed out and drooling slightly on her father's shoulder. Even Vance and Mooney were beat. After a day of trying to keep up with the girls.

“Tomorrow, I wanna go on Pirates twenty times!” Sage announced.

"Me too!" Brooke exclaimed. Harvey looked at William and shrugged.

“Well, we do have a good system going on.” Harvey stated. “And they let us take her on the teacups.”

March 29th

Day four dawned and William led Vance away from the girls. On day three they went to Knott’s Berry Farm. Today they were planning on making Rachel happy.

“Where are we going?” Tracy asked.

“Well, Olivia said she had something to show you all when we go to the Beverly Center today. She said you’d like this.”

Olivia had Lilian stop a little ways down the road, then the girls all followed her down the road to a fountain at the side of a busy road. Olivia turned and gestured to it. “Girls, this is the Electric fountain. Want a picture?”

“That’s cool, I guess.” Tracy replied. She couldn’t tell what was so important about the fountain. But it was a gasp from Sage that caught her attention.

“Tracy, this is the fountain! THE Fountain!!!” Safe forced her to look at it.

“Which one?!?”

“From the video, our lips are sealed by the Go-go's!” Sage said, looking around at the fountain they had seen, countless times. “The one they danced in!”

Tracy walked around it until she could see the street behind it and saw the buildings they saw in the video. “Holy cow!” She exclaimed. To her, this was holy ground.

“Want your pictures now?” Olivia asked them.

William, Vance, Lance, Carl, Moony and Harvey all got out of Harvey’s truck and the boys saw where they were. The entire trip they had been in the back, just watching the city pass by, but neither of them knew where they were at, until they saw the building.

“Wait? What? This is the forum?!?” Vance was surprised. He turned to see his father. “We’re going to see the Lakers?!?”

“Really?!?” Mooney asked. While he wasn’t a Lakers fan, he was a fan of basketball.

“Yes. We thought you boys, and us dad’s all needed something...not as girly?” Lance offered.

“Cool.” Vance said.

“Keep in mind, boys. This is just a game and one drink. We don’t have a lot of money for memorabilia.”

"Hey, we get to see the Lakers. That's cool enough."

Vance and William stepped into the hotel room and Tracy looked up from the T.V. One one bed was Sage, Andromeda, Rachel and Jamie. The other bed had Casey, Stacey and Tracy. Maggie was elsewhere, enjoying some adult time. So they left Jamie in charge of all the girls and the ladies were all in Persephone’s room, which was next to them. “So who won?”

“Lakers. One twenty seven to one oh nine. Played the clippers!” Vance exclaimed. “It was a great game too!”

~o~O~o~

On the last day of their Trip, Tracy felt sad. They had gone to see the Mall for Rachel. Plus they had fun at Knott’s berry farm. And at least four days at Disneyland. Plus a day of going to the ocean to watch the crazy surfers. She felt sad to leave all of it. But to also be leaving her grandparents, and other relations. Modine and Conner had already left and had only really stayed one day at Disney. But she felt bad for other reasons. She hadn’t been feeling well since the day before and she had stayed in the hotel, resting as she was really sick. . She had woken that morning with a headache and red, itchy eyes. For now she was riding away from her friends. As far as she knew, her grandparents would be headed home to Wyoming and another set of grandparents would be going back to Oroville soon. This meant it would be awhile till she saw either set again.

When she returned home, her life of homeschooling could continue. But she had her friends and everything was looking up in the world. The soon to be future surgery did scare her. But she could deal with it when it happened. She closed her eyes as the van traveled on. Her mother was in the front seat and her Dad was in the backseat with Vance and she had been lying down on the far back seat. She was sad she couldn’t be with her friends, but her mother insisted when they heard her eyes felt itchy and watery.

~o~O~o~

Trouble is brewing. Big trouble.