1
In mid-August 1983, the work on the network news piece began. Karen, Vic and Jamie were all present for the first taping sessions on Saturday and Sunday. These sessions were scripted to cover the interviews that required Vic’s participation, leaving him free to work his regular job during the week when the bulk of the other shooting would be done.
Jamie found all this shooting intriguing. She got to sit next to her mother and father, but she herself had very little participation in the discussions. It was strange to her that the things they were doing at the beginning of the taping were obviously going to be shown at the end of the whole story. It had never occurred to her that they could tape the story in a different order than they show it.
On Monday, only Karen and Jamie were required. This is when Jamie got to learn many of the ins and outs of the business. She got to meet the writers and researchers who were behind the scenes in the production effort. It was a wonderful learning experience and Jamie made two good friends among the researchers; Gus Byron and Terri Munsie.
Both Gus and Terri were fascinated by Jamie. They had never met a child this precocious and they enjoyed every minute they could spend with her. And it was quite obvious to everyone that Jamie enjoyed their company as well. She spent every minute she could with them. For lunch, the station had sandwiches brought in, and Jamie immediately sought the company of Gus and Terri so she could flood them with questions.
“Are there lots of other gifted kids around here?” she wanted to know.
Gus told her, “We narrowed it down to six others in the area for this story, but none of them can hold a candle to you, Jamie.”
She was very flattered and she lowered her head in embarrassment. “I think the best part of making this film is doing all the research,” she commented.
Terri jumped in and said, “Research doesn’t pay much, Jamie.” She winked at Gus. “Stay on the other side of the camera if you can,” she advised.
Jamie laughed and told her, “I guess that’s where I am this week. But I really do want to know about researching.”
“What would you like to know?” asked Terri.
“Well, suppose I wanted to find out all about other gifted children my age. Can you do that sort of thing?”
Gus answered, “We could do anything if we had enough budget. The problem is that research costs a lot of money.”
Jamie asked, “How come?”
Gus explained, “The best data banks are on computer networks that charge by the minute to access them. Local data, like for the Buffalo area, is the cheapest to access, then comes regional, state and national. If we needed to research international data, we’d bankrupt the station in a few hours.”
“How did you find all the other gifted children for this story?” Jamie wanted to know.
“Actually,” explained Terri, “we did this one by hoofing it. We called around and we visited some schools and some organizations. Then we went out and interviewed people. For a spot like we’re doing, it was important to find kids that were good subjects for the camera. There’s lots of kids out there that are absolutely brilliant, but they wouldn’t hold people’s attention in a human-interest piece like we’re shooting.”
Jamie said, “I’m more interested in the computer stuff. I wish I could see how that works.”
Gus and Terri looked at each other. Terri raised her eyebrows questioningly, and Gus nodded his approval.
“Why don’t we go over to the research room for a few minutes and we’ll give you a demonstration,” Gus volunteered. “Hey, Brittany! We’ll be back in ten. We’re going to show Jamie something.”
Back in the research room, Gus typed some things on the computer keyboard and logged onto a network. He looked at Terri and said, “Put something in the log book for the evening news. Nobody will be the wiser.”
The screen displayed a welcome message, and then a cursor appeared. Gus typed a few more things and then turned to Jamie. “What subject do want to know about?” he asked her.
Jamie tried to pretend she was picking something out of the air. “How about ghosts? What do they call those people who talk to ghosts?”
Terri suggested, “Mediums?”
“Yeah!” Jamie said. “How about mediums? Oh, I know. How about child mediums?”
Gus commented, “I think that’s a bit too restrictive, Jamie. But let’s see what we can find.”
He typed, waited and watched, typed some more and continued this for about two or three minutes while he mumbled under his breath, “Mediums.....fortunes, no....astrologers, no.....channeling, yes.....newspaper articles, yes......okay.”
“All right Jamie,” he explained. “What’s on the screen is a listing of articles from the Amalgamated Press over the last six months involving contact with the spirit world.” He pointed to the screen and added, “These are the dates of the stories, these are the summaries, and these codes tell all sorts of special details about each story. Some might refer to males or females, and maybe age groups and things like that. We could probably do some detailed sorting, but it would cost too much time and money. Anyway, I think this gives you an idea of how it works.”
Jamie was spellbound. “Can you make copies of what’s there?” she asked.
Gus typed a command on the keyboard and the printer behind them started to buzz. Jamie turned and watched it print off four pages of data. Gus reached around and grabbed the sheets. He handed them to Jamie and said, “Here’s a souvenir just for you.”
“Thank you!” she responded excitedly. “This is something you called Amalgamated Press?” she asked.
Gus explained, “That’s just one of the news services we use. There are a million different services and other databases we could search. Time and money, Jamie. That’s all it comes down to.”
They walked back to the studio and joined the others. Jamie neatly folded the computer sheets and put them in her pocket. She would study them later when she had more time and privacy.
.....
In the afternoon, six other gifted children showed up with their parents. Jamie was the youngest one of the bunch and they were more fascinated with her than she was with them. They asked her scores of questions and she didn’t know whom to answer first.
Brittany Peters came to the rescue. “We want to get a few shots of all of you together,” she explained. “We’re going to set you up like a panel with me asking questions. You’ll sit in a semicircle of chairs and I’ll sit opposite you. I’ll ask questions and you answer them. Right now we’re going to use three cameras to tape this. Don’t worry about making mistakes or anything like that. We’ll edit everything later and only use the parts that work best for the story. Any questions so far?”
Nobody said a word.
Brittany continued, “This might take more than just this afternoon to tape. If we end up where you have to come back tomorrow, I’ll request that you all dress in the same clothes you’re wearing today. I’ll explain all about that to your parents if it becomes necessary. Let’s get started then.”
She led them over to the small set that had been prepared and she and the crew positioned everyone, adjusted their clothing and their posture, and fixed their hair. Brittany briefed them on the types of things she would be talking about and asking them, and how they should respond only when she asked them to. The lights were turned on and the taping began.
They took several breaks to cool down from the hot lights and to get further instructions from Brittany. Things went well and they completed that whole segment in the one afternoon. Assignments were then made for one-on-one’s over the next several days. The only one that had to be present all week long was Jamie. She beamed with pride as the other children’s faces reflected their envy.
Brittany asked if there were any further questions. Some of the other mothers asked such things as whether they would get copies of the final version, how their children should dress for the one-on-one’s, and even whether they could be paid for their time. Brittany patiently and politely answered each one and then dismissed everyone for the day.
.....
The rest of the week was lots of fun for Jamie. She got to do some math problems on the whiteboard they provided, and she played a few chess matches with Brittany and Gus. She read out loud from a newspaper and a science book she brought from home. She drew pictures with colored markers and demonstrated her printing and writing skills. Brittany constantly asked questions for Jamie to answer. There were many one-on-one’s squeezed into any idle periods that came up. Jamie was probably taped no less than six hours each day.
Jamie had a copy of the network outline for the piece, and kept it at home. Each night she would review it and try to figure out how the day’s taping related to the outline. It was all too much for her to comprehend and she wished it would be over soon so she could see the finished product.
The best part of the whole thing was the time that Jamie got to spend talking with Gus and Terri. Gus was so impressed with the questions she asked, that he got her some copies of database information that was available to the industry. Jamie saved everything that Gus gave her. She knew it would all come in very handy some day.
Over the following two weeks, Jamie was asked to come in sporadically to do a retake of something that Brittany or the editors didn’t like, or to do some new segments they decided would fit well in the story. Jamie had little interest in these continuing sessions, however. She was now obsessed with studying the wealth of information that Gus had given her. She was focused primarily on her mission, and she knew that research would be critical to her success.
.....
The piece was ready to be submitted to the network by mid-September. Jamie and her parents received an invitation for a special preview at the station. When Jamie saw the finished version, she was absolutely astounded. It was better than anything she could have imagined. She watched in disbelief as this story unfolded like a television show or a movie. She got to see how the order of taping had little relationship to the order of things in the final version. She could hardly even remember doing some of the footage that was in the piece.
All in all, Jamie was quite pleased with the results. She was convinced that if the piece made national television, it would be very helpful in facilitating her mission. The only thing that disappointed her was that the scheduled airing of the piece wasn’t until December, almost three months away. She had to move on with the next segment of her plans.
2
Jamie decided it was time to return the call from the local newspaper and grant the interview they requested when the first television piece aired. The editor suggested that they could send a reporter out to their home, but Jamie insisted that Karen make arrangements for Jamie and her to visit the newspaper. Karen told them that Jamie wanted to have a tour of the facility if that were possible. That was fine with the newspaper, and they scheduled the interview for the next morning.
Karen, Vic and Jamie talked about the interview that evening over dinner. Vic was beginning to get excited over all the activity and interest surrounding Jamie.
“Did you tell the newspaper people about the network tape?” he asked Karen.
“Not yet, Vic. Jamie and I thought it might be better to wait until we got there.”
Jamie interjected, “Can you come too, Dad?”
Vic apologized, “I’m sorry, honey, but tomorrow morning I have a meeting scheduled with the foreman and one of the customers. Any other day would probably have worked.”
Jamie’s face revealed her disappointment, but she said, “That’s okay, Dad. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow night.”
“That’ll be great, Jamie,” he said. “I wish this job of mine were a little more flexible so I could share all of this with you. I’m so proud of you!”
“Thanks, Dad. Maybe I’ll get famous enough that we’ll have lots of money and you won’t have to work.”
Vic had already thought of that possibility. He told her, “You just go out there and knock them dead. Don’t worry about the money.”
That night Jamie lay awake going over in her mind how she would handle things at the newspaper.
.....
They arrived a few minutes early for their appointment. Karen asked the receptionist for Mike Shaw, the reporter who was assigned to the story. Mike came out to get them and brought them over to meet Eli Horner, the Editor.
Eli gave them a warm greeting and invited them to sit down in his office. He politely offered them refreshments and they politely declined.
“So what took you so long to get back to us?” inquired Eli.
Karen looked at Jamie, then back to Eli and answered, “Jamie’s been so busy filming a special story with Brittany Peters for the television network. I’m afraid we just didn’t have time until now.”
Eli’s interest was piqued. “What sort of story?”
Karen knew he was circling the bait. “It’s primarily about Jamie, and it goes on to talk about gifted children in general. It’s supposed to air in December.”
“I was thinking of doing a similar story for our Sunday edition magazine,” commented Eli.
He took the bait. Reeling him in was all that was left. Karen casually mentioned, “The network piece was really long. It took almost three weeks to complete.”
Eli glanced over to Mike Shaw while he said, “We plan to do a rather big story ourselves. This is the kind of story that might make a good three or four week serial piece. Our readers love that sort of thing.”
Jamie piped in, “Do your stories go out to any of those news services?”
Eli laughed, and answered, “Some of them do, sweetheart. Would you like to see that happen?”
“Oh, yes!” she answered. “I think it would be neat to be famous.”
Eli smiled and agreed, “It sure would be neat!”
Mike Shaw led them to an office where he could interview them in privacy. There were donuts, coffee and sodas there when they arrived. He told them to help themselves, and then he explained how he would run the interview.
“I’m going to tape record this whole thing and take notes also. This will probably not be the only interview we do. After today’s interview, I’ll prepare a story outline for Eli. If he likes it, we’ll probably massage it around and plan how we’ll handle it. It could turn out to be as simple as a daily filler, or as complex as a multi-part magazine piece, like Eli described. But it could just fizzle too. Are you with me?”
Karen and Jamie both nodded.
“If you’re both comfortable, why don’t we begin?”
The interview carried them right into lunch. Mike had some Chinese food brought in and they continued right through to 2:00 PM. Mike Shaw was definitely impressed by Jamie. He had never seen anyone like her before. When they were through with the initial interview, he had pretty much determined what would happen next.
“I’m sure Eli is going to like this story,” he informed them. “You’ll probably hear from me within a few days to a week. I’d guess we’ll do this as a Sunday magazine article. It’s almost certain that we’ll want to have you back to do some photos and some further interviews if the story is approved. Is that okay?”
“No problem,” Karen assured him.
“What about my tour, Mom?” Jamie asked.
“Oh, that’s right,” Karen affirmed. “Eli told us that Jamie could get a tour.”
Mike picked up the phone. “I’ll get someone to take you both through.”
“I just want to see the research people,” Jamie added.
Mike said, “That will make it easy then.”
“And if you both don’t mind,” Karen injected, “I’ll just sit this one out in the lobby.”
.....
Bart Wilson, the head of the newspaper’s research group, came by personally to escort Jamie to his office area. Mike took Karen back to the lobby.
“So you like the research part of the business?” Bart asked.
“Yes! I’m particularly fascinated by the databases and sorting techniques you have at your disposal,” she commented.
Bart was taken aback. He hadn’t been briefed on Jamie’s prowess. He was looking at a three-year-old’s lips moving, but listening to an adult’s words coming out. “They didn’t tell me how smart you are. Excuse me if I was caught off guard.”
“That’s all right,” Jamie said. “It happens a lot when people first meet me.”
They arrived at Bart’s office and he told Jamie, “This is where it all happens.” He pointed out each thing as he spoke. “We have a library over there, a few computers over there, and a printer right here. You mentioned databases, didn’t you?”
Jamie saw an opportunity here and didn’t want to blow it. She was with someone who didn’t know her story. She might be able to get some information without Bart suspecting anything.
“Do you have databases from all over the country?” she asked.
“Mostly we use the wire services for that sort of thing. Do you want to see how that works?”
“Yes, please,” Jamie politely answered. She switched on a full dose of charm and added, “At the television station we were talking about children who could talk to ghosts and spirits. Mediums was what they called them. They said that there were databases that you could get that information from. Is that really true?”
“If there are stories out there like that, we can identify them,” Bart assured her.
“Could you show me how?” she begged.
“All right. Let’s check for paranormal, supernatural, and mediums.” He typed at the computer. “Okay, there are quite a few stories. Is there a time frame you’re interested in?”
“Let’s say the last five years,” Jamie suggested.
He typed a few more things. “Children, you said. Let’s see what we can sort for.” He made a few grunts and other noises while he typed and watched the screen. “No, Jamie. I’m afraid we can’t do any sorting for age. Okay! I’ve got twenty-seven stories about mediums. Now these are just newspaper stories; major newspapers only. The small ones aren’t included in this database.”
Jamie watched the computer screen as Bart scrolled through a long list of titles, dates, and other information. She asked, “Can you print that list?”
Bart answered, “Let’s see. It’s only seven pages. Sure, I’ll print it right now.”
The printer started making buzzing sounds as paper flowed out the back. After about thirty seconds, it stopped and Bart tore off the sheets. He handed them to Jamie.
“Oh, thank you so much,” she said with a full measure of childlike charm. “How could I get to see these stories if I wanted to?” she asked.
Bart said, “I’ll tell you what, Jamie. If you find one or two in there that you want, maybe I could get them for you.”
Jamie thanked Bart. She neatly folded up the list that he gave her. She was dying to read it over carefully, but needed to remain nonchalant for the moment. She looked up at the clock on the wall.
“Thank you very much, Bart. It was really interesting, but I think I better go find Mom and get home.”
Bart escorted Jamie out to the lobby and dropped her off with Karen. They all shook hands. Bart gave Jamie a business card and reminded her, “Just call me if you want something.”
Jamie looked at the card and said, “Thank you Mr. Wilson.”
.....
That night Jamie studied the whole list of stories that Bart had given her. It took her a while to figure out exactly how to read the printout. Once she figured that out, she went through the summary data, story by story. She spent almost an hour reading the list and found only one thing remotely interesting. There was a listing for a Los Angeles newspaper article from early 1980. The description simply said “Ghost talks to 3-year-old”. Jamie circled it and made a mental note to talk to Bart Wilson about it. A three-year-old in 1980 was the right age group.
.....
Two days later Mike Shaw called back with the news that Eli Horner liked the story. They were going ahead with a Sunday magazine story. He wanted Karen and Jamie to come in one more time if they could so they could snap a few file photos and spend another hour or so interviewing. Karen was free, so they met later that day.
The photo session only took about ten minutes and then Mike came back in to continue the interview. Jamie asked if she could please talk to Bart Wilson for a minute before they started.
Mike said, “No problem if he’s here, Jamie. Let me just try to get him.” He picked up the phone and spoke too quietly for her to hear. He hung up and informed her, “He’ll be right over, sweetheart. What’s on your mind?”
“Oh, it’s nothing special. I just had a question I wanted to ask him.”
Bart Wilson poked his head in the door and said hello. Jamie ran over to him before he could come in and said, “Oh, Mr. Wilson, I had a question for you.” She pulled the list from her pocket and asked him, “Can I possibly get a copy of this article?”
Bart looked at the one she circled and said, “This is just a short filler piece. It probably says almost nothing at all.” Bart saw the disappointed look on Jamie’s face and decided to humor her. “I’ll go pull a print of it for you. How does that sound, honey?”
She perked right up and said, “That’s great Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much!”
With that, Bart left the room and the interview started. They worked for almost an hour. As they were wrapping things up, Bart came back with a single page printout for Jamie. She thanked him and folded it up without reading it. She didn’t want to draw any attention to it. As it worked out, Mike Shaw was engrossed in his notes and didn’t even seem to notice. He asked a few last questions to finish the interview, then thanked them both for coming.
.....
On the way home, Jamie and Karen talked about the story.
“I hope it turns out good,” Karen said.
“I’m sure it will, Mom,” Jamie replied. “That Mike Shaw seems like a good reporter. He asked lots of good questions.”
“What was that thing that Bart gave you, Jamie?”
Jamie almost froze, but she maintained her cool. “He was telling me last time about research stuff. He told me to pick out something on a list he gave me and that he’d show me how they get copies of it. It’s no big thing.”
Jamie was relieved to hear her mother change the subject. “Jamie, I need to get some things from the supermarket. Do you mind if we stop on the way home?”
“No, Mom. Can I pick out some ice cream?”
“Sure!” Karen replied.
Jamie was certain that the issue was forgotten.
.....
Jamie anxiously waited for the first opportunity to read the printout in private. She went into the bathroom as soon as they arrived home. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the paper and carefully unfolded it. It was only two paragraphs long. It was from Amalgamated Press, and it cited Los Angeles ABC-TV reporter Ted Fox as the source. She scanned through it quickly and caught the words:
.....child of 3 has knowledge of man that died
August 1976...Mother says child is a medium...
man’s family denies authenticity....Names are
withheld at family’s request.....
Jamie was pleased. This might just be a coincidence, so Jamie knew not to get too excited. The next step would be to figure out how to get more information. She thought about all of the things that Zoron and Jonah had taught her. Above all, she remembered how they warned her time and again not to let too much information slip out. Already she had accelerated the plan a full year by allowing her love for her father to influence her decisions. She had to be careful. There was no way she would allow herself to screw up this mission. God was depending on her.
3
In late September Brittany Peters surprised the Meyers with an unexpected call. The network had loved the piece that Brittany had submitted and they wanted to get Jamie and her family out to appear on one of their weekly news magazine shows. There had been a last minute cancellation for an upcoming show, and the network needed an answer from them today. Not only would they pay for the whole family to come out, but they would throw in twelve hundred dollars to cover any lost salary the family might suffer.
To make it even more exciting, they offered guest spots on an afternoon talk show and a late-night talk show to boot. If the family agreed, they would be flown out to Los Angeles to spend the first week of October doing the segments. Karen wrote down all of the details.
Karen arranged to call Brittany back in the evening, after Vic got home from work. She was so excited that she even considered driving out to the building site where Vic was working, but she decided that she could wait for a few more hours. She ran to get Jamie to tell her the news and see what she thought about it.
“Is it going to be the same time the newspaper story comes out?” Jamie wanted to know.
“No, honey,” Karen assured her. “The newspaper article comes out Sunday the ninth of October. This would be the week before that. We’d get back by Friday the seventh.”
“That’s okay then,” Jamie agreed. “I just want to be here to see what happens when everyone around here reads my story.”
“No problem. The plan is for us to all fly out this Saturday and return the following Friday. They’re providing us with a hotel and a car, and they’re giving us lots of time to tour all around.”
“Can we go to Disneyland?” Jamie asked.
“If there’s time, dear. What do you say? Do you want to go?”
“I sure do, Mom!” Jamie was already calculating how she might find a way to investigate the story she had discovered on that child medium. If they were in Los Angeles, she might be able to get one of the network people to call Ted Fox and get some details.
Seconds after Vic came home, Karen was all over him about going to California. She spoke so quickly he could hardly follow what she was saying. Jamie watched for his reaction, hoping that he would be excited about it. She wasn’t disappointed.
Vic asked Karen to slow down and tell him every juicy detail, especially the part about the money. When she finished, he had questions of his own.
“Are you telling me we get to go to Los Angeles for a paid vacation and be on three different television shows?”
“That’s right,” Karen confirmed.
“And everyone in the country sees how smart my daughter is?” he added.
“Our daughter,” she corrected. “Is it a go?”
“Do it!” he said. They literally danced around for joy, the three of them holding hands.
Karen grabbed the phone and called Brittany to confirm the trip. “He said okay,” she announced as soon as Brittany answered.
Brittany told her, “I’ll be going along too. It’s my big chance to meet the network heavy hitters. By the way, make sure you bring some nice outfits for the television appearances. A suit is fine for Vic. I hope you’re as excited as I am, Karen.”
“I sure am, Brittany. God, I don’t know what I’ll wear. I’m going to have to run over to buy some outfits.”
The two of them spoke for a while until Vic signaled that he was hungry. Karen said she had to run and then hung up.
The trip was the only subject of conversation at dinner. It was difficult to ascertain who of the three was most excited. It was the first trip west of Ohio for all of them, and California had only been a dream up until now.
At bedtime, Jamie was too excited to sleep and she asked if she could stay up late to talk some more about the trip. Vic and Karen gave in and the three of them planned, scheduled and made lists until eleven o’clock. Even then, Karen and Jamie had energy to spare, but Vic gave in to his exhaustion.
The next morning Brittany called and told Karen where to pick up the tickets. She and Jamie drove over to pick them up and then they went to the mall to pick up some nice outfits to wear on television. When they got home, Karen tried everything on and pranced around like a teenager in her prom gown. Jamie just sat there laughing. It made her feel so good that she was able to make her Mom and Dad so happy.
4
They arrived in Los Angeles around 3:00 PM, but the time difference and the travel fatigue made it feel like midnight. Brittany was coming in on another flight and planned to meet them Sunday morning at the hotel. They got their luggage and picked up the rental car. Vic drove while Karen navigated.
Jamie just sat in the back seat staring at all the wondrous sights. She couldn’t remember ever before seeing a palm tree in real life. They fascinated her more than any other thing she saw until she spotted the “Hollywood” letters on the side of the hill next to the freeway. She shouted and almost caused Vic to get in an accident before they understood what she was so excited about.
“Isn’t it great, Dad?” Jamie observed.
The hotel reservation was for a two-bedroom suite with two bathrooms and a living room. It was positively the most palatial thing they had ever seen. The network arranged a blank check for them at the hotel, so they were determined to use room service as often as possible. They decided to take a quick rejuvenating nap and then go out to experience their first evening in California.
Jamie sat in her room looking in the telephone directory for Ted Fox. There were several listings, but she knew she couldn’t dare make any calls like that herself. She had to play this whole thing by ear and seize whatever opportunities presented themselves. She had been pretty lucky up to this point working the researcher angle. She hoped she could find someone here in Los Angeles to help her.
That evening, they all drove around sightseeing the best they could. They hadn’t been expecting the traffic that they ran into everywhere. Nothing in Buffalo compared to this, even in the worst rush hour traffic. It was almost inconceivable to them that a city could be this congested on a Saturday night.
They finally made their way over to the ocean and walked the beach barefooted. Vic rolled his pant legs up and went right into the water, declaring that this might be their only chance for years to step foot in the Pacific Ocean. The others followed suit immediately. After that, they realized they couldn’t put their socks and shoes on with their feet covered in sand. They had to sit on a sea wall until their feet dried and they could brush off all the sand. By that time they were hungry and exhausted. They headed back to the hotel to enjoy a free meal before retiring for the night.
In the morning, they met Brittany in the lobby and they all went together to the network offices. The plan was to meet with some of the producers and writers of the magazine shows and get a briefing on what their itinerary for the week would be.
Brittany drove. She had been in L.A. before and knew her way around somewhat. She found the right building and parked in a nearby lot. They were early for their meeting, so they stopped in a cafe and grabbed a quick snack. They talked about what the week would be like and what kind of sightseeing they could do. Brittany suggested they leave ten minutes before their appointment. She told them the network folks don’t like to be kept waiting.
The meeting lasted over an hour. It was a briefing only, and everyone was very casual and friendly. The network people were all fascinated by Jamie and they made her feel like quite the starlet. They received five-page written itineraries that spelled out where they had to be each day, and identified free time when they could do as they wished.
With the briefing completed, they were free until Monday morning. Brittany drove them back to the hotel and dropped them off. They planned to meet in the hotel lobby at 7:30 the next morning. Brittany was on her way to Malibu to spend the day with a friend, so Vic and Karen took Jamie for a surprise trip to Disneyland. By the time that they got back to the hotel that night, all three were so tired they could barely stand up.
They looked forward to the morning when they would meet with the production crew at the studio. Karen took the time to sort through the clothes they would all wear, while Jamie and Vic fell sound asleep on the sofa. When Karen was finished, she hardly had the heart to wake them, but she knew Vic would be upset with her if she didn’t. She woke them gently and led them each to their rooms for the night.
