He sprang up overhead, through the bamboo, and squeezed out the hole at the top. Hand-over-hand, he swung up the taut connecting rope—five yards…ten—as he pulled himself toward the tower.
Maleficent stepped out into the sunlight but jumped back—the heat of the sun’s rays already too much for her.
Maybeck reached the tower and found the dangling rope and slid down, burning his hands, reached the ground, and took off running without looking back.
He understood with absolute clarity what was going on: the bat was a spy—Maleficent’s spy—and she’d dispatched the birds and the monkey to make sure she received the bat’s report.
The bat had followed Finn since Amanda’s. It knew all about them. And now Maleficent knew, too.
He shuddered with the thought of that as he broke into the jungle and ran for his life.
25
THE MOMENT THE PARK gates opened to the public, Finn, Amanda, and Philby entered through the Cast Member entrance, using the IDs that Wayne had provided. Finn and Philby were determined to mix in with the crowds and reach the rendezvous in time to meet up with the others. Famous as DHIs, their faces were known throughout the Disney kingdoms, a fame that threatened—for they were forbidden from attending except on specially approved days. Getting around without being recognized was not going to be easy. They wore baseball caps to hide their faces, and they kept to themselves as much as possible.
By the time they reached the benches just inside the large gates north of the Rainforest Cafe, where the Animal Kingdom parade originated, a wet Maybeck and a dirty-faced Willa were waiting. Finn handed out copies of the page from Jez’s diary.
Quiet at this hour, it was a good place to meet. They gathered around a bench, awaiting Charlene’s grand entrance as DeVine, the ivy-covered chameleon.
Maybeck told them about being attacked by birds, about losing the bat to a monkey, and about his encounter with Maleficent.
Willa spoke of her pursuit by a miniature dragon and her discovery in the metal stump of the cryptic message left by Jez.
“There’s something to be learned from what we both went through,” Willa said, continuing. “We can’t trust any of the animals we see. Maleficent can control them. Whether a flock of birds, or a dragon with wings. We’re no longer in the Animal Kingdom, we’re in Maleficent’s kingdom.”
“If she went to all this trouble to be here, there’s got to be a good reason.” Finn heard something behind him and glanced over his shoulder into the jungle. He saw nothing. Willa and Maybeck were freaking him out.
“Maleficent’s weak in the heat. She needs cold to survive. If she’s hanging out here, it’s someplace cold.”
“But why here?” Finn asked.
“We need to keep watch on the bat enclosure,” Maybeck proposed.
“I can go places none of you can,” said a girl’s voice from behind them. Once again Finn looked back into the jungle. Again he saw nothing.
“Up here,” said the voice.
He and the others looked up to see a vine-covered leotard, with no face and no arms. It was Charlene, in costume as DeVine, her face painted green and black. The overall effect was disarming: she’d been standing there all along, immediately behind Finn.
Philby applauded. “Outrageous!” he said.
“Whoa,” said Maybeck. “You totally blend in.”
“I can’t believe it!” said an exhilarated Willa. “I’m looking right at you and I almost can’t see you.”
“I’ll need to leave the area before the real DeVine comes out. But I can go almost anywhere undetected. Even Maleficent isn’t going to see me in this.”
“Okay, Charlene will watch the bat enclosure,” Finn stated with a feigned authority. He remembered Wayne telling him that he was the group’s chosen leader, though he still wasn’t buying it. But to his surprise, no one argued with him.
Charlene, blending into her surroundings, waited for some Park guests to pass and then said, “Will someone please hand me the page from the diary?”
Amanda produced it, stood on the bench, and passed it up to her.
Charlene studied it. “Monkeys…tigers…a bat…This is enough for now,” she said.
“It’s possible that everything on that page is significant,” Finn cautioned.
Catching Philby dozing off, he punched him in the arm. “And NO falling asleep,” he reminded them.
“I’m exhausted,” Willa said.
“We cannot sleep!” Finn repeated. “Wayne warned us about that. We’ve got to believe him.”
Maybeck indicated a food cart. “Cokes all around!”
A few minutes later they were all loading up on caffeine. “Maybe Maleficent can’t get Jez out of the park until after it closes,” Amanda said, “or maybe the plan is to run all of you around until you tire out. If she can trap you all in the Sleeping Beauty Syndrome, she eliminates the enemy and is free to rule without challenge.”
“You think she took Jez to bait us?” Willa asked.
“None of this means anything,” Maybeck said, “until we find Jez. The challenge is to stay awake long enough to find Jez and crash this cloned server—if it even exists. Then maybe we hunt down Maleficent, if we’re still standing. But until we find Jez, none of it matters.”
“Listen!” Charlene said from high on the stilts.
The kids turned their attention toward the jungle.
“Not to me!” Charlene clarified. “To the music.”
The kids perked up their ears. It was Ashley Tisdale’s “Kiss the Girl,” coming over the Park’s speaker system.
“Yeah? So?” asked Willa. “Radio Disney plays that all the time.”
“I know that,” Charlene said. “But me and my family come as often as possible, and I’ve never heard that song in this Park before.”
The kids listened some more. “You’re right. It’s always Lion King and stuff like that.”
“It’s Jez,” Amanda stated.
“What’s Jez?” Finn asked.
“‘Kiss the Girl’is Jez’s favorite song,” Amanda said. “She abuses that song on her iPod. If it doesn’t belong in this Park, then it’s her. It’s some kind of message.”
“I think you’re more tired than the rest of us,” Maybeck said.
“Which is completely understandable,” Willa chimed in, “given the stress…”
“Listen…listen!” Amanda demanded, raising a finger to try to shut them up. “Raven-Symoné is going to sing ‘Under the Sea’ next.”
“Yeah, right,” said Maybeck. “I suppose if your sister can dream the future, you can hear it.”
“Philby,” Amanda said, “Jez had her iPod with her. Is there some way she could use it over the sound system?”
“Hijack the sound system?” Philby said, considering the question. “Depends, I suppose. If she stripped a wire from the earbuds and tapped into—”
But he was cut off by the music changing.
Raven-Symoné was singing “Under The Sea.”
All the kids went quiet.
Some visitors walked past talking about going on Expedition Everest. The parents sounded reluctant to try the ride.
But it wasn’t the guests that had silenced the kids.
“Coincidence,” Maybeck said in a whisper. He didn’t sound at all convinced.
“It’s Jez,” Amanda countered, her voice noticeably brighter.
“I know for a fact that they never play that song here,” Charlene said from up high. “I believe Amanda. And besides, it’s softer than the regular music—not as loud. It doesn’t sound right.”
“Which would also explain why Finn and I overheard two maintenance guys talking about sound-system problems,” Philby said.
Finn’s face brightened. “That’s right!”
“Then why doesn’t she just send us Morse code, or something?” Maybeck complained.
“Because she can’t give away what she’s done,” Amanda said, trying to think as Jez would think. “She doesn’t want them figuring it out. So she’s trying to communicate with us, without it being really obvious.”