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Neal was now almost six years old, so when he lost sight of his parents, he didn't panic right away. This happened sometimes but they always found him again. So he stopped where he was, like they'd always told him to do, and stayed put.
This wasn't like the store, though. There were a lot of people around, and it was hard for a six-year-old to see much through the crowd.
Dad had come up with the idea to go to a big park today with lots of rides and stuff. Neal had been having the time of his life, so it was no surprise that he'd accidentally wandered off. Maybe he should have listened to Mom and kept hold of her hand.
They'd find him, he knew that. But he had to wait for them right here and there were a lot of people. He wondered how his parents would even be able to see him from here. After a moment of thought, Neal moved off to the side, out of everyone's way. There was a bench alongside the pathway, and Neal sat down on it next to another man who was on the phone with someone. Neal knew it wasn't polite to eavesdrop, so he tuned that out, instead watching people walk by, looking for two familiar faces to show up.
A few minutes went by and Neal shifted in his spot on the bench. Had they even noticed he was gone yet? What if they left him here and went home without even knowing?
"Hey," the man sitting nearby spoke, making Neal glanced over at him. He looked friendly enough, but Mom and Dad had always taught him never to talk to strangers, so he didn't reply.
"You lost? Where are you parents?"
Neal shrugged. That didn't count as talking, right? Besides, he didn't want to be rude either.
The man looked at him questioningly for a second, then spoke again. "What's your name?"
Neal had a hard time not replying. It didn't seem harmful to give his name, but Dad had always been very clear about the strangers rule, and Neal knew that Dad was always right. Well, until Mom was right instead.
The stranger smiled a bit. "Ah, I got it. Stranger danger, right? Good. Your parents must have taught you well. Do you know where they are?"
Neal shook his head. That still didn't count, he was sure.
The man frowned at that, but said nothing for a minute or two, and Neal thought he'd start minding his own business then, but he didn't. "My name is Victor," he said eventually.
"I'm Neal," he said without thinking, then abruptly shut his mouth.
Victor smiled at that. "Really? That's kinda cool. I knew a Neal once."
Neal said nothing to that. He was determined not to slip up again and break that rule.
Lucky for him, Victor seemed to accept that, and he didn't say anything else. Neal watched him out of the corner of his eye. He was on his phone, texting somebody and smiling.
"Neal!"
The both of them glanced up sharply at that, but when Dad appeared with Mom, Neal was the one who jumped up and ran to them, relieved that they had come back.
Dad knelt down to his level and looked him in the eyes. "Where have you been? I looked down and you were gone!"
"Sorry," Neal mumbled apologetically. "I lost you. But I stayed right there," he said proudly, pointing over to the bench where he'd been sitting. Dad glanced over, then seemed to freeze. Neal wondered if he'd done something wrong. Was he supposed to have waited there?
"Neal," Dad said, his voice strange.
"Yeah?" Neal asked quietly, but at the same time, another voice spoke from behind.
"Hi, Peter."
Mom and Dad both stared at Victor with strange expressions, and Neal was puzzled, looking once more at his bench companion.
Victor smiled a bit, standing up, then dad went right on over and hugged him, looking very happy. Mom looked like she might cry. Obviously they all knew each other, but Neal was puzzled as to why his parents were acting so strange.
The adults all started talking back and forth to each other, so Neal stood there patiently. Usually his parents took forever when they started talking to people. He was looking over at the ferris wheel, admiring the colors, when suddenly dad called his name, and Neal glanced over. Dad beckoned to him. "Neal, this is a very good friend of ours. He's going to come home with us when we leave." Well, that was a coincidence.
"Just let me call Lucille," Victor said. "I'm sure she'd love to meet you guys."
Mom smiled brightly. "And we would love to meet her. The one who finally stole Neal Caffrey's heart."
Neal glanced up again at his name, but then realized they must be talking about someone else because 'Caffrey' was not his last name.
All three adults looked down at him at the same time and Dad said, "This is going to get confusing."
"Just call me Victor," their new friend said. "I'm used to it anyway."
They stood around and talked for a while before a pretty lady approached them, a small toddler clinging to her hand. The little girl took one look at Victor and grinned, running on short little legs to hug his knee, giggling. Victor smiled and scooped her into his arms. "And this little gal is Anna. Anna, can you say hi?"
The girl looked at Mom and Dad, then abruptly buried her face in Victor's shoulder, trying to hide. But mom and dad didn't seemed to mind. They thought it was cute.
The lady was Lucille and she spoke with a funny accent. She asked Neal if he would like to play with Anna when they got back to his house and Neal nodded. Even if she was a girl, he might enjoy showing her his toy cars. Maybe. As long as she didn't ruin anything. He was a little bummed that they were leaving, but dad promised they could come back another time.
They drove back home in two cars, and from the back seat, Neal asked, "Does Victor work with Dad?"
"He used to," Dad replied. "You know all those stories Uncle Mozzie likes to tell you?"
Neal nodded.
"Those are all about Victor."
Neal looked at the man in a new light. This was the heroic White Knight. The infamous man who found a submarine filled with treasure. The one who outran the bad guys and saved the day countless times.
Mom and Dad let Neal talk to him excitedly for a while before they made him go play with Anna, who sat on the floor upstairs playing with his toys already. Lucille gave him a smile when he walked in. "She would love to play with you, Neal," she said with that funny voice of hers. "I'll be downstairs with your parents if you two need anything, okay?"
Neal glanced at Anna, who was busy making one of his toy cars go back and forth across the floor. Neal didn't mind, even if that was his favorite one. He was just curious about this Victor guy that Uncle Mozzie always talked about. Though he'd never actually called him by name.
After getting bored with Anna and her neglect of his racetrack, Neal crept downstairs, finding all the adults in the living room on the couch. He was shocked to see Mom with tears in her eyes, even if she was smiling. They all looked... very happy.
"Neal," Dad called, apparently having spotted him first. "I thought you were playing upstairs."
Victor stood from his place on the couch, walking over to Neal and crouching down to his level. "He's fine, Peter. Neal, how do you feel about me and my family coming over to visit every week?"
Neal nodded his head quickly. "You can tell me more stories like Uncle Mozzie does!"
Victor smiled. "I will definitely do that."
Dad gave Victor a stern look. "Namesake he may be, but he is not yours to corrupt."
"Come on, Peter. I'm reformed, remember?" Victor grinned. Neal liked that grin.
He supposed one evening out of the week spent keeping Anna occupied was worth it. He couldn't wait to get to know their new friends.