A welcome breeze floated through park. The evening sky was fading to a pale blue as the sun slowly began to drift lower on the horizon. People were talking and laughing, kids ran free and crowded the playground, old folks pulled sweaters around their shoulders as the air began to cool. The band had almost finished warming up, and the entertainment was about to get underway. Just as Stanley had said, parents showed up to collect their children, making sure they thanked the firemen for showing them the engine. Kelly pointed out to Gage that the rest of the crew was headed back their way with impeccable timing. The last of the kids were gone.

Joanne planted a kiss on each of their cheeks. Marco’s mom gave Johnny a hug and told him he needed to eat more, and pinched Chet’s cheek and told him he needed to go on a diet. Stoker’s new girlfriend introduced herself, and Captain Stanley’s wife laughingly congratulated them on the good job they’d done protecting the engine from the eager onslaught of future firefighters.

Watching the group settle down in their lawn chairs and on the blankets they’d brought, Johnny looked around. Someone was missing.

“Hey, Roy. Where’s Chris and Jennifer?”

“It seems they made some new friends already.... The other kids’ parents had a spot right in front of the band, so they offered to let them stay there. They’ll keep an eye on them and make sure they meet up with Joanne when the concert’s over.”

“Oh.” Johnny’s one word was filled with disappointment. He’d hoped being around Roy’s kids would help him shake off whatever this feeling was.

Roy was disappointed, too. He’d wanted the kids to sit with them, since he hadn’t spent much time with them lately. But, knowing how kids were, he’d agreed to let them stay. It wasn’t all bad. At least he and Joanne would be able to enjoy each other’s company for a few hours.

Johnny remained standing, unsure of what he wanted to do. Though bone-tired, he was restless and not ready to sit down and join the group. He felt kind of… alone.

Funny how you can feel that way, even in a crowd.

The band leader’s voice came over the loudspeakers set up throughout the park, welcoming the crowd and promising them a rollicking good time. He invited everyone to sing along and dance to rock 'n roll hits from last decade, or..., to do whatever made them happy tonight… as long as they did it with someone they loved. That drew a chuckle from the adults in the audience.

As the band launched into their rendition of "Happy Together," Johnny quietly turned around and walked back to the squad, his departure unnoticed by the others.

As he got closer, he saw a little girl standing in the space between the engine and the squad, looking very, very lost. Johnny went up to her slowly, seeing that she was scared and on the verge of crying. He crouched down so he was eye-level with her, and found himself looking into soft blue eyes the color of the ocean at sunrise. Tears were just waiting to fall. Her sniffly nose was as pink as the cloud of cotton candy she was holding tightly in one hand. Soft blonde curls shook with each restrained sob.

“Hey, what’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asked softly.

Her lower lip trembled ever so slightly with indecision. Her mom had told her never to talk to strangers, but if she ever got lost, that it was okay to talk to a policeman. The policemen on TV wore blue uniforms with patches on their sleeves. This man was wearing a blue uniform with a patch on his sleeve. She decided to take a chance.

“I… I lost my mommy and daddy.” She shuddered, still holding back her tears. “Are you a pleecemen?”

“No. But, I’m a fireman. Will that do?”

She backed away just a bit. “I don’t know. My mommy said.... To only talk to pleecemen.”

Johnny resisted the urge to reach out for her. He didn’t want her to run because he was blocking her path to the park, and the only other way she could go was into the street.

“Your mommy was right, sweetie. But I think she’d say it was okay for you to talk to a fireman, too. You see this fire engine? It belongs to me. So does this truck here. My friends are all sitting right over there… you see? They’re the ones wearing the same uniform I am.”

She hesitantly moved a little closer to him, and peeked around the engine to look where he was pointing. She looked at them and looked at him, and nodded, apparently satisfied he was telling her the truth.

“My name’s Johnny. What’s yours?”

She still regarded him a little warily, but remembered what she’d been taught. “Katie. Katie Summers. I live at....”

Johnny gently interrupted her. “How old are you, Katie?”

She held up her whole hand. “Four.”

Johnny startled her when he shifted on his feet, and by the look in her eyes, he could tell she still wasn’t sure she should trust him. They were too far away, hidden between the vehicles, to catch anyone else’s attention, so he quietly kept talking, trying to win her confidence.

“Where did you last see your mom and dad, Katie?”

“Under a tree. On a blanket. In the park.”

That narrowed it down considerably.

“How’d you get over here?”

Tears welled up in her eyes again as she answered him in a tiny, timid voice. “My friend… Jeannine… she said it would be okay if we came over here ‘cause she knew the way back. But… I… I can’t find her.”

That did it. The last of her courage slipped away, and Katie threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder and began to cry. Johnny felt the cotton candy, still clutched in her hand, brush the back of his neck. With her clinging tightly to him, he put an arm around her waist and stood up. Johnny gently stroked the back of her hair and assured her that everything would be okay, that they’d find her mommy and daddy. Trusting him now, Katie calmed down and loosened her grip. She ran a hand under her nose as she sniffled away the remaining remnants of her fears.

Johnny gently brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Katie, I have to go tell my captain that I’m gonna take you to look for your parents, okay? Then I promise you, we’ll find them. How’s that sound?”

She smiled at him and her head bobbed up and down. Johnny started to put her down, but she dropped the cotton candy and clamped her arms around his neck again. Katie felt safe in his arms and that’s where she planned to stay until she saw her mom again.

Joanne was the first to notice him coming toward them carrying a little girl. She started to get up from her chair to help, but Johnny shook his head when he felt Katie tense up. The others all looked at him in curiosity. Hank Stanley stood up when they got close.

“Hey, John. Who’s your friend?”

“Cap, this is Katie. Katie Summers. Her mom and dad got lost, and I’m going to help her find them.”

“Well, Katie,” Stanley said with a warm smile. “Sometimes even grown-ups get lost. Are you okay?”

Hugging Johnny a little more tightly, she shyly nodded her head at the tall stranger, then hid her face against Johnny’s neck. Even though the man talking to her was wearing the same blue uniform, she decided trusting one stranger was enough. She wasn’t going to talk to anyone else except her mom or dad… or a pleecemen.

“Cap, the Red Cross has a first-aid station set up across the park. I’m gonna go ask them if there’s a lost and found here. I’m sure the parents are looking for her right now.”

“You need some help?”

“No, I can handle it. You guys enjoy the music. I’ll be right back.”

Stanley was looking at him kind of funny. “John. I don’t know how to tell you this, but the back of your hair is all pink. What is that stuff?”

Johnny’s fingers touched the back of his head and felt the sticky mess. “I… uh… I think it’s just some cotton candy.”

“All right.” Stanley couldn’t hide his amusement, “I won’t ask why you’re wearing cotton candy in your hair. Just get it cleaned up, okay? It looks a little… strange… for a fireman to be walking around with pink hair .”

Katie’s fingers touched it too. She unwrapped her arms from around Johnny’s neck and looked at him and giggled. She thought it was funny.

Johnny tickled her and she giggled some more.

“Hey, John.” Mike fished out an HT from under his chair. “You might want to take this with you in case we get a call.”

“Thanks, Mike.” Johnny handed the HT to Katie. “Can you hold onto that for me?”

She turned it over in her hands as they started to walk away. It was heavy. “What is it?”

“It’s a radio. If we have to go to a fire, I’ll hear them call me.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Fires are bad.”

“Let me guess. I bet your mom told you that? Fires are bad. Right now, though, let’s go find your mom and dad and see how they managed to get lost, okay?”

Johnny hadn’t gone more than fifty feet, when he heard his name called out.

“Gage, wait up!”

He turned around to see Kelly coming his direction with a brown-haired girl in tow. She looked slightly older than Katie, and was talking a mile a minute.

“That’s my friend, Jeannine,” Katie whispered in his ear. “She never stops talking.”

“That’s my friend, Chet,” Johnny whispered back. “Neither does he.”

Chet stopped when he caught up to them. Jeannine was holding onto his hand and was staring up adoringly at him. Johnny couldn’t help but laugh at the look of infatuation in her bright brown eyes.

“Yeah, yeah.” Chet brushed him off. “Jeannine here says she knows where Katie’s parents are. Isn’t that right, kiddo?”

“Uh-huh. They’re sitting right next to mine.” She smiled happily at Chet, who smiled back, then looked at Johnny and rolled his eyes.

“And where are your parents, Jeannine?” Johnny asked.

Still holding Chet’s hand, she looked around the park. They watched as she turned her head one way and then another. Her forehead crinkled up into a frown. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted. She clutched Chet’s leg with her other hand and drew closer to him, realizing for the first time she was lost, too.

Chet knelt down on one knee, and patted the top of her head. “It’s okay, Jeannine. We’ll find your mom and dad, too. Don’t worry.” She rewarded her hero with a kiss on the cheek.

“Come on, Sir Gallahad,” teased Johnny. “We’d better get these damsels back to their parents before this one asks you to marry her.”

“You breathe a word of this to anyone, Gage....”

“Who, me? Wouldn’t dream of it, Chet. Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Johnny turned in the direction of the Red Cross station. Chet stood up, with Jeannine’s hand safely secured in his. “Uh… John. By the way, do you know you have pink hair?”

“I don’t have… pink hair,” he protested. “It’s cotton candy.”

“Uh-huh. It’s a great look, don’t get me wrong. You’ll have to tell me who your stylist is. What do you think, Jeannine? Do you think I’d look good with blue hair?”

“No, not blue hair. It would look funny." She glanced sideways at Johnny, then beamed at Chet. "I like your hair just the way it is."

“Aw, Chet. How sweet.” Johnny retorted.

“Not as sweet as your pink hair, pal.”

Both girls had completely forgotten they were lost, and were giggling so hard, Katie almost fell out of Johnny’s arms.

The foursome made their way to the Red Cross station, where they were directed to another station where the event staff collected the lost and returned them to their rightful owners. Two frantic moms were waiting for them. The dads were out searching the park.

Jeannine looked a little embarrassed at all the fuss. She hadn’t been worried, her knight in shining armor with the funny mustache had taken good care of her. Katie, on the other hand, started to cry when Johnny handed her over to her grateful mother.

Laurie Summers hugged her tearful daughter close, and looked at Johnny in concern. “You’re a paramedic.... Did someone have to call you? Is she hurt?”

“No, ma’am. She’s fine. We just happened to be here at the park to listen to the band like everyone else. She and Jeannine came over to take a look at our engine, and somehow got separated. She was pretty scared when I found her, but she’s okay now.” Johnny reached out and rubbed Katie’s back. His arms felt a little empty without her in them.

“Thank goodness. I was so worried. Thank you.” Laurie soothed her daughter’s tears. “It’s okay, honey. Everything’s okay.”

“You should be real proud of her,” Johnny said. “I had a hard time convincing her to let me help when she found out I wasn’t a policeman.”

Laurie sighed. “I’m glad to hear that she remembered what I told her. But, I’m even more glad you came along. Thank you again.”

“My pleasure, ma’am. She seems like a real special little girl.”

Jeannine’s mom, Lisa, looked at Chet. “I don’t suppose you had any trouble getting Jeannine to talk to you, did you?”

“Uh.... No, as a matter of fact, she found me and started asking if I’d seen her friend, and wanted to know if I could help her look for Katie.”

Lisa shook her head. “I’ve tried, believe me, I’ve tried. She’s so outgoing and trusting, it scares me sometimes. I appreciate your help more than you know.”

“Like John said, it was my pleasure.”

Katie had stopped crying, now that she was reunited with her mom. Laurie reassured her she had done the right thing to talk to a fireman, but told her they were going to have a long talk about wandering away without an adult along.

“I think maybe she’s learned her lesson,” Johnny said. “I don’t think she’s going to venture very far on her own for a while.”

Just then, the dads came rushing up, and the hugs of relief and the thank-yous repeated themselves. They’d come across the group of firefighters who told them that their daughters were being escorted to the lost-and-found station.

As they were getting ready to leave the happy families to their reunion, Johnny saw some kids walk by with ice cream cones. He nudged Chet, who understood and nodded in return.

“Uh… Mrs. Summers, Mrs. Woodward.... Would you mind if we... bought the girls some ice cream?”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” Laurie said, laughing at the look on Katie’s face as she reached for Johnny to take her back.

“I guess she has other ideas.” Laurie handed her daughter over. “If you’re sure you don’t mind, it’s fine with me. You know, she’s usually really shy around men. I think she likes you.”

“Well,” Johnny said, “I kinda like her, too.” He liked the little kiss Katie sweetly planted on his cheek.

Once they knew exactly where the parents were sitting, Johnny carried Katie to the ice-cream stand. With Jeannine’s hand in his again, Chet followed, listening to her rattle off her favorite flavors of ice cream. He didn’t think there were any she didn’t like, and she named a few that he’d never even heard of.

“What’s your favorite ice cream, Katie?” Johnny asked as they looked up and down the row of choices.

She finally spotted the one she was looking for. “Strawberry.”

“You know what? Next to jelly donuts, strawberry ice cream is my favorite thing to eat.”

“Yeah, that and anything else that’s in sight.” Chet added.

“Oh, shu....” Johnny didn’t finish the rest of it because he didn’t want the girls to think it was okay to tell someone else to shut-up. Chet just smiled.

They got their ice cream cones -- strawberry for Katie and Johnny, chocolate chip for Jeannine and Chet. Jeannine couldn’t make up her mind from her long list of favorites until Chet said what he wanted, then she ordered the same thing.

When they took the girls back to their folks, they were invited to stay and listen to the band while they ate their ice cream. Since they had the HT with them, they decided it would be all right for just a little while. Katie snuggled contentedly in Johnny’s lap and Jeannine leaned against Chet, telling him all about her dolls, in-between licks of ice cream.

Listening to the band for the first time all night, Johnny found he enjoyed the music. They were really good, and the songs were familiar tunes, and in no time, he was looking forward to the rest of the concert. The music filled the air with a touch of magic that was hard to deny.

“Uncle Johnny!” “Uncle Chet!” Chris and Jennifer were waving to them from the grassy spot in front of the band, where they were dancing along with a bunch of other kids and some adults.

Jeannine looked at Chet with a hint of jealousy in her eyes when he waved back. “Who are they?”

“They belong to a good friend of ours. One of the other firemen you saw by the engine.”

“Oh. I guess that’s all right. Mr. Kelly, would you dance with me?”

Chet looked a little embarrassed. “Um… We really should get going, don’t you think, John?”

Johnny shook his head, grinning at Kelly's discomfort. “No, we don't have to leave yet. I think you've got time for at least one dance." Johnny watched Jeannine's face light up. "I’d… uh… kinda like to see that. Chet and his date, dancin’ under the stars.”

Chet gave him a half-hearted glare. It wasn't that he minded dancing with Jeannine. That wasn't it at all. It was the way Gage was undoubtedly going to tell the story to everyone that had him worried.

"Not a word to anyone," he warned under his breath. "Or, you'll be lookin' over your shoulder, if you know what I mean." He had that Phantom gleam in his eyes.

“I… I wouldn't say a thing. Not a thing.” Johnny was thinking he was never going to let Chet live this one down, when Katie tapped him on the shoulder.

"Would you dance with me, Johnny?"

There was no resisting that angelic little face.

Both of them stood up, and the girls grabbed their guys by the hand, and led them to the dance "floor." Chet and Johnny looked at each other.

“If you don’t tell, I won’t.” Chet offered.

They were dancing with the girls in their arms to "Magic Carpet Ride" when they were spotted by Roy and Hank Stanley. They’d each come in search of their kids -- Roy for Chris and Jennifer, and Stanley for Johnny and Chet.

“You know, Roy,” Stanley commented as they stood under the tree and watched. “It’ll be interesting to see them with kids of their own some day.”

Roy laughed as he pictured Chet and Johnny changing diapers, and burping little babies on their shoulders. He knew how good Johnny was with kids, his own included, but being a parent was a lot different from being an 'uncle.' Sometimes he thought Johnny connected with kids so well, because he was still a kid at heart himself.

“I could be wrong, Cap," Roy said lightheartedly, "But, I think maybe they both have some growing up to do first before they're ready to face parenthood.”

“I don’t know,” Stanley disagreed. “I kind of like them the way they are. I think they’ll make great dads. There’s just something about the two of them… they don’t take life so seriously. Makes me wish I was like that sometimes. I miss all the things you can get away with when you’re a kid.

Roy chuckled. “Or when you’re Chet Kelly or John Gage.”

“That too,” Stanley laughingly agreed.

Roy waved to Chris and Jennifer, who came running. He was pleased when they didn’t argue about joining him and Joanne for the last half-hour of the concert. “Coming, Cap?” he asked when they started back.

“No, I think I’m gonna stay here a minute until this dance is through. I’ll remind Kelly and Gage that we need to be heading back to the station pretty soon. We’ll join you in a minute.”

Hank Stanley leaned against the tree and smiled broadly. These were the two that had grumbled all day long behind his back about coming, and here they were, looking relaxed and having a great time.

The song ended, and the guys saw Stanley watching them. Looking a little sheepish, they put the girls down and walked over to where he was standing.

“Sorry to have to ruin your big night out fellas, but we’ve gotta get going pretty soon. I told dispatch we’d be back in quarters by eight forty-five.”

“Aw, Cap. Do we hafta go?” Kelly had a smile that stretched from ear to ear as he mimicked his earlier protest. “I know, I know. You’re the Captain....”

Hank Stanley felt a tug on his pant leg. He knelt down on a knee to see what Katie wanted. She had these pretty blue eyes that went straight to the heart.

“Does Johnny have to go too?”

Stanley glanced up at Johnny, who was standing there with a grin on his face.

“I’m afraid so, Katie. When one of us goes, we all have to go.” Her face fell into a cute little pout.

“What’s the matter, honey?”

“They’re gonna play the chicken dance next, and Johnny promised he’d teach me.”

He could see Johnny’s eyes begging him to get him out of it. Stanley wasn’t going to miss this for the world.

“You know, Katie. If there’s one thing I know about Johnny, it's that he never breaks a promise to a lady.” He smiled when he heard Gage groan.

The captain stood up and brushed the grass off his knee. “Well, John. It looks like they’re getting ready to start. I wouldn’t recommend keeping the young lady waiting.”

There was another tug on his pant leg. Katie and Jeannine were both looking up at him now. He couldn’t help thinking that it hadn’t been that many years ago that his kids had been this age. He wondered where the time had gone.

“Mister Captain, why don’t you dance with us, too?” Jeannine asked.

It was Chet and Johnny’s turn to laugh at his look of embarrassment. They even ignored his glare this time.

“Where one goes, we all go, huh, Cap?” Johnny reminded him.

“I’m a captain with the LA County Fire Department,” he growled. “I don’t do the chicken dance.”

Those sweet, innocent faces kept looking at him.

“Cap.... How can you say no to that?” Kelly chided. “You’ll break their little hearts.”

Hank Stanley closed his eyes, trying to tell himself he couldn’t possibly do this and make a fool of himself in public. It was one thing when Gage and Kelly did it, and another....

“Oh, what the heck,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “Come on girls. Let the master show you how it’s done.”

The guys hung back, ready to watch the event of the summer.

Both girls had a hand in each of his, and he glanced back over his shoulder. “Gage. Kelly. The choice is simple. Chicken Dance. Latrine duty. What’ll it be?”

Johnny and Chet looked at each other for a split-second and answered in unison.

“Latrine duty!”

At the band's urging, almost everyone in the park stood up to join in the fun. Johnny and Chet joined Stanley and the girls, almost doubling over with laughter as they watched their fearless leader perfectly execute all the moves.

When it was over, they took the girls back to their parents. Stanley said good-bye to Katie and Jeannine, then looked at his men, and under his breath said, “a month’s worth for laughing at me.” He smiled and walked away. He hadn’t had that much fun in years.

Jeannine reluctantly let go of Chet’s hand when it was time for him to leave, but perked up when he invited her parents to bring her to the station for a tour. She hugged him hard, and he hugged her back, promising he’d let her try on his turnouts and boots when they came for a visit. She began telling her dad all about the engine and all the neat stuff that was on it and how fun it was to sit in the captain’s seat… her attention diverted, Chet quietly slipped away.

Johnny crouched down to say good-bye to Katie. She looked sad, like she wanted to cry, and he opened his arms. She nestled against his shoulder and put her arms around his neck. He hugged her gently, feeling a little tug on his own heartstrings. Her parents were smiling at him, and quietly said ‘thank you’ again. He nodded, and pulled Katie away.

“You remember what your mom said, okay sweetheart? About never going anywhere without an adult again.”

She answered "okay" and put her hands on both sides of his face and looked into his eyes.

“I love you, Johnny,” she whispered in her little girl voice.

“I love you, too, Katie,” he answered without hesitation.

It was the exchange of hearts that Joanne had predicted. It just happened to be a little four-year old girl that put the light in his eyes again, a little four-year old girl that reminded him that there was all kinds of love in the world. He’d been looking so hard for one kind, that he’d forgotten it came in all shapes and sizes. It came when you weren't even looking.

Katie rested in her mother's arms again, and watched him walk away into the night. She couldn't see the warm smile on his face, or the mist in his eyes.

* * * * * * * *

“Hey, Johnny. Do you know what time it is?” Roy found Johnny at the table in the rec room, reading a book.

Johnny jumped at the sound of Roy’s voice. Everyone had been sound asleep when he got up, and he didn’t think anyone heard him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. What are you readin’?” Roy pulled up a chair, and helped himself to one of the cookies Johnny had sitting in front of him.

"Oh... um... this new book I got. I have to tell you, Roy, it kinda gives me the creeps."

Roy pushed the book up in Johnny's hands to read the cover. "Salem's Lot. Steven King. I read his first one. It was pretty weird, all right. I wonder if he'll be able to make a career out of writing this kind of thing."

"Yeah, well, all I know is I'm not gonna wander around in the dark anymore," Johnny shivered a little. "You... uh... you think there's such a thing as a vampire?"

Roy shrugged. “I don’t know. The way you never sleep all night makes me wonder sometimes.”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“I thought you were tired. How come you’re up at three AM reading?”

“I slept for a while. I’m not working any overtime the rest of the week, so I’ll catch up at home. How come you’re up?”

Roy nibbled on the cookie for a minute.

“You know what you said earlier, Johnny? About my opinion of you?”

“Yeah. Sort of.”

“I didn’t mean anything by what I said.”

“I know that, Roy. Sometimes it just seems like… well, you know. Like everyone thinks all I’m after is… well, you know.”

“Yeah. I know you better than that.”

Johnny smiled at Roy. Everything was fine between them.

“I see you got all the cotton candy out of your hair.”

“Yeah.” Johnny paused. “Katie sure was a cute little girl, wasn’t she?”

“She was, Johnny. Boys are great, but there’s something about a little girl.... She just has a way of weaving her own special kind of magic." Roy tapped on his chest. "Kinda gets you right here.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Johnny closed his book and put it down. “You know, Roy, I think some day I’d like to have a little girl like that.” He laughed softly. “If I ever grow up myself.”

Roy yawned, and got up to go back to the dorm. He paused at the doorway as visions of Peter Pan came to mind, and looked back at his partner, sitting there lost in thought.

Don’t ever grow up and lose the magic, Johnny.

"Don't let the vampires get you."

“Goodnight, Roy. And, um...."

"Yeah?"

"Leave the lights on, okay?”

* * * * * * * *

Yeah, do you believe in magic
Yeah, believe in the magic of a young girl’s soul
Believe in the magic of rock and roll
Believe in the magic that can set you free
~
Do you believe like I believe?

Do you believe in magic?

Author's Notes:
"Do You Believe In Magic," Lovin' Spoonful single 1965 (37 years ago -- can you believe that?!)

Inspiration? A bad day, a bad mood. A night at the park (against my will!) Fun music. An adorable little girl, dancing for all she was worth. LACoFD Engine 17 stopping by. My friend from E!U notices that I'm starting to enjoy the evening, leans over and quietly says, "Wouldn't this make a good story?" She knows me too well. I can't resist the hint. I feel much better now. As always, my thanks!

This story is for my daughter, who has always been, and always will be, the magic in my life.