“Wait right here,” Philby said, taking off at a run. The kids watched him go.
They used the downtime to review the page taken from Jez’s diary.
“The animals could symbolize different things,” Willa suggested.
“Like what?” a skeptical Maybeck questioned. “Listen, I see the drawing of the lightning striking a castle, and even I’ve got to admit it’s pretty coincidental. But the rest of these? They’re animals. So what? She likes animals. It doesn’t mean they mean something.”
“It doesn’t mean they don’t,” Amanda countered. “You don’t know Jez. They’re clues. Clues we’re supposed to follow.”
Philby came running toward them.
As he did, there was suddenly no music at alclass="underline" a rarity in any of the Disney Parks.
Then “Under the Sea” began playing again.
One thing all the kids knew: music never repeated in any of the Parks. Not ever.
Out of breath, Philby said, “It’s playing on this side of the Park and in Asia. Discovery Island and Africa have different music going.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Maybeck said. “How do we know that isn’t always the case?”
Philby explained, “From what I know, the system is designed to be able to move sound around the Park. The parades require that the music follow the floats. It’s a sophisticated, computer-controlled sound system. I’ve never read anything about one half of the Park being sent one kind of music, and the other half another.”
“That confirms it’s Jez,” Amanda said excitedly. “She just repeated ‘Under the Sea.’ We know that song doesn’t belong here, and on her iPod it follows ‘Kiss the Girl.’ Pretty obvious she wants someone to hear it. Maybe us. Maybe someone to try to fix it, someone to go looking for the problem.”
“Or maybe,” said Willa, “the song itself is significant. Ariel. Or Ursula—”
“I hate Ursula,” Charlene tossed out.
“Or it has to do with where they’re keeping her,” Amanda continued. “Or it fits into her dreams in some way.”
“We’ve got to take it seriously,” Willa pleaded, looking at Finn, knowing the decision would somehow be his to make.
Finn felt all eyes fall on him. He stifled a yawn. Every minute was precious. His head was clouded and heavy.
“Let’s run down everything to do with The Little Mermaid,” Finn said.
Maybeck groaned. “Isn’t that wasting time? The bat is real. That monkey is real. The dragon was real. Let’s follow things we can actually see.”
“How do we know that?” Charlene asked from atop her stilts.
“Ariel’s Grotto,” Willa said. “Magic Kingdom.”
“We split up,” Finn said, pulling out a pencil and writing on the back of the photocopy of the diary page. “Maybeck will try to locate the animals and images sketched in the diary. The rest of us will look for anything to do with ‘Under the Sea’ and The Little Mermaid.”
“I don’t know if this counts,” Philby said, “but when you stand in line for Nemo, over at Epcot, the ocean is painted above you. You’re literally under the sea.”
“I like it,” Finn said. He wrote it down.
“The same thing’s true at Hollywood Studios,” Willa said. “On the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, you stand under the sea while waiting.”
“Okay…Okay…” Maybeck said, finally going along. “I don’t know if this counts, but there’s this poster my little sister loves. Always points it out. It’s by the Mickey’s PhilharMagic line. I’m pretty sure it’s says something like ‘A Must Sea,’ spelled S-E-A.”
“That definitely counts,” Finn said, writing this down as well. “Anything else anyone can think of?”
One by one, the others either shook their heads or shrugged.
“It’s a lot. And they’re spread all over the place.”
“It’s a waste of time,” Maybeck cautioned. “It’s just a song.”
“You have your assignment,” Finn said. “Philby will stay and try to figure out the Park’s sound system. Get on to VMK if you can and find Wayne.” He explained how to use the Disney vacation kiosk in Camp Minnie-Mickey. “Maybe he can help.” He turned to Amanda. “You will keep watch for Jez using the Animal Cam at the Conservation Station. Willa will take Ariel’s Grotto and Mickey’s PhilharMagic—both in Magic Kingdom. I’ll take Nemo and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Maybeck, you stay and keep after the monkey and bat. Follow the clues in the diary, working with Charlene. Any problems?”
To his surprise, no one complained or tried to change the assignments. Maybe he actually was the leader.
“All of us have to study this page from the diary. We each have a copy. We need to write down where we’ve seen any of these animals, or images of these animals. This building she drew…this dude wearing a turban. And I’ll call Rob, since his name keeps coming up.”
He met eyes—tired eyes—with Maybeck, and saw Maybeck’s frustration and impatience.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Finn offered.
A silence hung heavily in the air.
It was broken by the music beginning again. “Under the Sea.” Playing now for the third time in a row.
“Two hours,” Maybeck said. “We meet back here.” “Agreed,” Finn said.
The kids scattered.
26
LIKE THE OTHERS, Willa had put her Animal Kingdom Cast Member costume on over her regular clothes. She’d slipped out of the AK costume and had tucked it into a bush outside the gates of the Magic Kingdom. Using the ID Wayne had given her, she was admitted through the CAST MEMBER ONLY line.
She stopped at a pay phone and called her mother. This was critical, because shed sneaked out in the early hours of the morning before, saying she’d gone to Mass. She did this on her own periodically—something her mother found “dear”—so she knew it wouldn’t raise a suspicion. Her mother was no longer a churchgoer, not since her father’s accident, so the only excuse she had to make now concerned what she was doing with her morning.
“I’m at Disney World,” she told her mother, settling for the truth. For all she knew, the pay phone’s caller ID had already given her away.
“But you’re not allowed. They’ll pull our pass if they catch you.”
“It’s important.”
“What could be that important?”
“I’m doing it for a friend.”
“Doing what?”
“Research.”
“You’re not tangled up with those other kids again, are you?”
“They’re my friends, Mom.”
“They got you into a lot of trouble last time.”
“I’ll be home…later. I’ll call if it’s going to be after dark.”
“It is not going to be after dark, young lady. I want you home by five.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“You can, and you will. I’m still your mother, and if I say five, then it’s five. And remember: stay away from the Magic Kingdom. If they make us give that money back…”
“They won’t, Mom. I’ll call. I love you, Mom.” She hung up. Her mother hadn’t been herself since the accident. In some ways the two of them were closer; in other ways they’d kind of traded roles: Willa felt more like the parent. She wondered why certain things happened in life—happened to some people but not others. Why had she become a DHI? How very different her life would be had she never auditioned for the part. Now she was caught up in something few would believe; she didn’t even believe it herself some of the time. Rescuing a girl who could dream the future? It sounded so stupid. And yet…
She kept her head down on the way to Ariel’s Grotto. If she was spotted, she’d be mobbed by autograph seekers. If busted by Security, they would throw her out and take action. She hoped the little bit of makeup she had on would help disguise her. She promised herself to keep a low profile and get this over with as quickly as possible.
She charged a princess wig and Disney hat onto her credit card. A khaki-colored baseball cap, it was a little large for her head, but it held down the red wig and hid her face well. She walked briskly and turned off Main Street as soon as possible, cutting in along the Monster’s, Inc. Laugh Floor and looping around toward the grotto. Not a single glance in her direction. The disguise was working.