She stopped at the tentlike structure bearing the name ARIEL’S GROTTO and studied the marquee. It held just the two words with an image of Ariel between them. Some fake flags flew.
If she remembered correctly from the night before, the Ariel parade float was adorned with colorful sculptures of Sebastian, Scuttle, Triton, and Ursula. Did Jez’s musical clue have anything to do with the parade?
After a long wait in line, she stood inside the grotto, where girls lined up to meet Ariel and have their pictures taken with her. She was posed inside a giant clam shell.
“Under the Sea,” Willa was thinking, searching for a possible connection to Jez’s disappearance. The song played repeatedly inside the grotto. With it, she felt a tangible connection to the missing Jez.
Something in here is important to Jez.…
She made herself believe this, having no idea whether or not it was true.
She was now third in line, behind mothers with their daughters lined up to get their photos taken. Behind Ariel, large colorful starfish clung to the aquamarine wall, and next to her was a small wooden chest.
Nothing here seemed of interest save for the chest, the possible contents of which intrigued her. What was in the chest? It looked to be nothing more than a prop—something for young girls to lean against while getting their photos taken. But oh, how Willa wanted a look inside.
She stepped forward, now second in line.
A girl and her mother got their picture taken. The Cast Member playing Ariel was beautiful. She spoke politely to both the mother and daughter, then glanced ahead to Willa.
She motioned Willa forward.
“I think we have something in common,” she said softly. She’d seen past the wig and hair, recognizing Willa.
“Don’t tell,” Willa pleaded. “Please?”
“No way!” Then louder, for others to hear. “Would you like your picture taken?”
“I forgot my camera.”
“Well, then.” Ariel extended her hand for Willa to shake. “Nice to meet you.” She lowered her voice, “Your secret’s safe with me.”
“I have a favor to ask,” Willa said.
“I’m really just here for handshakes and photographs.”
“The treasure chest,” Willa said, pointing to the wooden trunk. “What’s inside?”
“No idea.” Realizing others were listening, she addressed everyone. “I’ve never opened it.”
“Could you please?”
“I’ve never been asked.”
“If you don’t mind?” Willa said.
Ariel clearly didn’t know what to do. She kept her composure, but her eyes wandered as if a handler might step forward to help her. In fact, that was exactly what happened.
“May I help?” a young woman asked.
“This young lady would like me to open the treasure chest,” Ariel explained.
“It’s important,” Willa said in a whisper.
Though the company had never publicly acknowledged the work the Kingdom Keepers had done to save the Magic Kingdom, word had spread through the community. There were few that didn’t know the story by now, both inside and outside the network of Park employees. A book had been written and published as fiction, but many knew the truth.
“How important?” Ariel asked.
Willa raised the baseball cap, revealing herself. A shock of recognition overcame the girl. Willa hoped this was the right thing to do. She lowered her voice. “Did you hear about Tinker Bell last night, during the fireworks?”
Ariel’s eyes widened, and she nodded.
“What is going on here?” the handler whispered hotly into Willa’s ear.
“What? I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t give me that! First Captain Hook comes through our line nosing around where he doesn’t belong, and now you? And not fifteen minutes apart? What is it with you people?” She leaned in even closer. “Are you inspecting us or something?”
“Captain Hook?”
“Don’t give me that.”
“What did he want?”
“Captain Hook’s a walkaround. He doesn’t talk, in case you’ve forgotten. How would I know what he wanted?”
“He was just here?”
“They never used to pull surprise inspections,” the handler complained. “And I don’t like it.”
Willa tried to process all that she was being told. The Overtakers? Here before her? Also interested in Ariel? Why?
“You want your picture taken with me?” Ariel asked. “It would be an honor.” She’d opened the treasure chest for Willa: empty.
Willa felt her head spin. She had to beat Captain Hook—or whoever he was—to Mickey’s Philhar-Magic.
“I’m fine!” she shouted over her shoulder, already hurrying away.
27
FINN ARRIVED AT HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS bone-tired, well aware that if he or any of the other Kingdom Keepers fell asleep, they might not be seen again. Ever. Worse, Jez’s disappearance pressured all involved to find her quickly. He was going to be in trouble if this went on much longer. He didn’t put it past his parents to go looking for him at Blizzard Beach. When they failed to find him there…
He hurried down Hollywood Boulevard toward Mickey’s giant sorcerer hat, which towered one-hundred-and-twenty feet over the central plaza. He had his his own cap brim pulled down low over his sunglasses as he kept an eye out for any kids recognizing him—he didn’t need that. He would take evasive action if necessary. He identified possible escape routes in each direction.
While checking out a Kodak shop to his left, he spotted a large black crow on the building’s roof. The bird was certainly big enough to draw attention to itself, but Finn’s curiosity ran deeper: it seemed to be staring at him. The bird had its head cocked so that its large black eye was trained down, not just on the street but on Finn. As Finn moved, so did the bird’s head. As Finn hurried up the street, the bird flew and followed, building by building.
Finn might not have taken any notice or interest in a stupid crow, but he couldn’t ignore Maybeck’s tale about being attacked outside the bat enclosure by a flock of birds. He’d been bitten badly by a parrot once and could remember it as if it were yesterday.
Now, hurrying to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, it seemed pretty obvious that the crow was following him. This, in turn, made him search the area to see if there were any other animals nearby. He spotted a group of chickadees in a tree outside the Brown Derby—but they didn’t seem particularly threatening. A solo jay stood watch from a roof overlooking an icecream vendor. Finn’s distraction with the animals caused his attention to falter.
He heard the voice too late. “Aren’t you…him?” A boy of ten or eleven. His parents stood a few feet back, his mother’s face bright with expectancy. Finn glanced around. How had the boy possibly recognized him? He didn’t want this to get out of hand; sometimes signing a single autograph could start a big line.
“Do you like the Magic Kingdom?” Finn asked the boy, who then nodded vigorously.
“The Kingdom Keepers,” the boy said. “You’re Finn. You beat up Maleficent.”
Finn bit back a smirk. “Not hardly. Those are just stories,” he said, accepting an autograph book from the boy. “I’ll sign this, but only if you promise not to tell anyone.” He lowered his voice and said conspiratorially, “I’m here on a mission.”
The boy’s eye went wide. He shook his head, too awed to speak.
“Good.” Finn led the boy over to the sidewalk, where he could sign the autograph book with his back turned to the street. In the Disney Parks, anyone signing anything attracted attention.
The boy followed. As Finn put pencil to paper, he briefly glanced up and into the reflection in the store window. Three brooms, one holding a bucket of water. He spun quickly around, dropping the autograph book. The boy bent to retrieve it.