Dizzy was frozen. His mind stopped functioning and all he could do is point in Steve and Big Red’s direction.
Nothing made sense to him at that point.
“Travis!” he was finally able to say. “Get over here!”
Travis asked Michelle and Ana to hold their place in line and walked over to Dizzy.
“What? What’s wrong?”
Dizzy pointed at the two men climbing the steps to the stage.
“That’s my dad,” Travis began. “And...”
“Big Red,” finished Dizzy.
Both boys stood in the same spot, trying to process the scene that was unfolding before them.
Steve handed Mr. Pegg a piece of paper and Mr. Pegg read it into the microphone. Steve and Big Red were both smiling and Big Red’s arm was resting on Steve’s shoulder, ready to celebrate.
“55....13....5. Good luck gentlemen.” Mr. Pegg turned and walked to the vault, spun the dial and pulled the handle. It didn’t budge. The smiles vanished from both Steve and Big Red’s face.
“There has to be some mistake,” Steve insisted. “Check it again!”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Mr. Pegg said. “That is not the correct combination.”
Steve turned to Big Red and began yelling at him. Mr. Pegg had security escort them away and down the steps as Michelle joined the boys in front of the stage.
“I wonder where they got those numbers?” Dizzy asked, still confused. “And why is your dad with Big Red?”
“I can’t believe it,” Travis said. “The whole time…” He was lost in his thoughts and couldn’t continue.
“You can’t believe what?” Dizzy asked.
“The texts. We thought we were texting your mom throughout the day. But I think it was Big Red the whole time.”
“How is that possible?”
“Remember when my dad took my phone last night?” Travis asked. “I think he changed your mom’s number to Big Red’s. That’s why he kept showing up every time we texted your mom to check in. We were telling him exactly where we were. We even texted him the first number of the combination!”
“And when I sent my mom the text from your phone with the number of benches, it went to him!”
“Yes!” Travis said. “That’s why they thought the last number was five. They had no idea about the math problem.”
“What are you two doing out here?” Michelle asked, walking up to the boys. “I don’t want to leave Ana in line alone.” She noticed Steve and Big Red arguing to the side of the stage. “Steve?” She walked toward him. “What in the world are you doing?”
“Hey baby,” he started. “I can explain...”
Dizzy turned his attention back to the stage. He watched as Justin and his sister handed their piece of paper to Mr. Pegg. Mr. Pegg looked at their combination, raised his eyebrows and spoke into the microphone.
“55....13....33. How intriguing. Good luck you two.”
“But those are our numbers,” Dizzy said to Travis. “How in the world...”
Dizzy couldn’t finish his sentence. It didn’t seem possible that they could have found the numbers in the math problem faster than they did. Justin never even went on Winnie the Pooh.
“We are toast,” Travis said. “I can’t believe it ends like this.”
Mr. Pegg finished turning the dial and pulled the handle. It didn’t open. He gave his signature smile and thumbs down gesture and turned to look for the next group.
Dizzy and Travis looked at each other in shock.
Justin began yelling at his sister on the stage. He grabbed the Hidden Mickeys book out of her hand and threw it at her feet. Megan bent down to pick it up but Justin kicked it off the stage.
“What a complete jerk,” Dizzy said turning to Travis. “How are we wrong? Are you sure your math was right?”
“I checked it twice,” Travis said. “The last number is 33.”
“Oh my God,” Dizzy said. The answer came to him instantly. “That’s not the last number. It’s a place!”
He checked his watch. It was 6:53. There was still time.
“I’ll be right back!” he said as he sprinted down Main Street yet again.
He weaved in and out of guests walking along the street. The cheerful Main Street music played in the background as he jumped on to the sidewalk to avoid two kids having a toy light saber duel in the middle of the street. A crowd of people were stopped on the sidewalk so he took a detour into the Penny Arcade, ran through the back of the candy shop and out through Refreshment Corner at the end of Main Street. He turned left and ran through the entrance to Adventureland. He passed The Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones and went over the elevated walkway crossing the line to Pirates of the Caribbean. He turned left and ran into New Orleans Square, checking the addresses of each door as he passed. He found what he was looking for next to the Blue Bayou Restaurant.
A shining, silver sign with two turquoise threes on it.