~55~
Many steps you must travel,
To begin to unravel.
Four places you will see,
If you want clue number three.
A. Belle will help you know,
The next place you’ll have to go.
“We need to get out of here,” Dizzy suggested. “We need to write this down and leave so we don’t attract attention to this place. From the dust on the floor it looks like we are the first ones in here all day.” He took the autograph book out of his pocket and began writing the poem.
“There’s no time for that,” Travis said, stepping in front of him. He held up his phone and hit the camera app. He centered the clue on his phone, hit the screen and a flash filled the room. He checked his phone and was satisfied with the picture. “Let’s go.”
The kids went down the steps quickly and looked around to see if anyone was watching. There was a short line for the Casey Jr. Circus Train and a few families were sitting at the tables of the nearby Village Haus Restaurant. Sitting alone at a table near the wall of the restaurant was the man in red.
“I have to go potty,” Ana said when they had made it down the steps.
“Really? Now?” Travis asked, not trying to hide his annoyance.
“Yes. Now.”
“Go ahead, sis,” Dizzy said. “The bathrooms are right over there.” Ana quickly trotted to the nearby restrooms while Dizzy and Travis took a seat.
“Let’s take a look at that clue again,” Dizzy said, holding out his hand. Travis gave him the phone and leaned back in his chair to stretch. He looked at the people nearby and spotted the man in the red shirt.
“Hey, isn’t that Big Red?” Travis asked, nodding his head in the man’s direction.
“Who?” asked Dizzy, not looking up from the phone.
“The guy in the red shirt from the train this morning. He’s over there alone. I feel like I have seen that guy behind us all day.”
“You are just being paranoid,” Dizzy said. “Why would he be following us?”
“Beats me,” Travis said.
“You probably only recognize him because he stands out. That family sitting right over there could be following us, but nothing about them stands out so you wouldn’t even notice them.”
“Yeah, that’s a good point.” Travis wasn’t sure and took another peek at the man in the red shirt. He wasn’t looking at them, as his attention was on the cell phone in his hand. Travis turned back and faced Dizzy. “Ok, so what do we have to work with?”
A message appeared on Travis’s phone. It was a text from his dad.
“Hi boys. Just wanted to check in and make sure everything is ok. Any luck with the Quest?”
“Can I text him back?” Dizzy asked.
“Be my guest.”
Dizzy typed a short response telling him about the first number in the combination and the second clue and hit send. A few moments later another text message appeared.
“Congratulations! Michelle and I are eating lunch and waiting for the parade. We’re on Main Street if you want to join us.”
“Do you want to go grab some lunch?” Dizzy asked Travis. “I’m sure Ana would love to watch the parade and I’m pretty hungry. Besides, this clue is even tougher than the first one and it will take some time to figure it out. We might as well get something to eat while we think about it.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Travis said. “I’m pretty hungry too. Let’s go get Ana.”
The boys waited outside the girl’s restroom for Ana. She came out, skipping and spinning and singing a song from The Little Mermaid.
“Ready to get some lunch and watch a parade?” Dizzy asked. “The princesses are going to be in it.”
“Oh yeah!” Ana jumped up in the air. “I’m ready.” She grabbed Dizzy and Travis’s hand and began swinging their arms as the three of them walked toward Main Street.
The man in red stood up and began to follow them. As the three kids walked through Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Travis looked in a window and saw his reflection walking behind them. Travis didn’t turn around to double check. He didn’t know what Big Red’s reaction would be if he was caught following them.
As they walked down Main Street they saw Michelle standing and waving in their direction. Travis took a peek over his shoulder and saw Big Red turn left into one of the stores along Main Street.
“Hey guys, over here!”
Michelle and Steve were sitting on a bench in the shade near Town Square, the vault sitting on the stage just a few yards away. There was a line of people in front of the stage and Mr. Pegg stood in front of the vault.
“What’s going on up there?” Travis asked.
“Beats me,” answered Dizzy.
The three kids squeezed onto the bench Michelle and Steve were sharing. Michelle was eating gumbo in a bread bowl she had bought in New Orleans Square. Steve was eating a corn dog and checking his cell phone with his other hand.
“Hey Dad, what are they doing up there?” Travis pointed up to the stage.
“They’ve had people lined up for the last half hour,” Steve answered. “They are just people trying to guess the combination I think. That one guy in the blue hat has made about fifteen guesses already. Maybe he thinks it’s his lucky day.”
“That’s cheating,” Ana said. “They aren’t even looking for clues. Besides, we know what the first number is. It’s--”
Dizzy put his hand over his sister’s mouth.
“That’s our secret, remember?”
Ana mumbled “I remember,” but it was hard to talk with her brother’s hand over her mouth.
“I heard about your big discovery. Congratulations,” Steve said in between bites of his lunch. “Do you think anyone else has the second clue yet?”
“It looked like we were the first ones there,” Travis answered, reaching over and grabbing a handful of french fries from his dad’s tray. “But who knows for sure?”
“You three must be hungry. What can I run and get you for lunch?” Michelle stood up and reached for her purse.
“No, Mom,” Dizzy said stopping her. “You have your lunch already. You eat and I’ll go grab us something.”
Michelle handed Dizzy $40 and told him to buy lunch for the three of them. Dizzy and Travis went back into Frontierland to the Stage Door Cafe. They both wanted to see if the crowd of people were still inspecting Tom Sawyer’s Island. They were not disappointed.
The island looked like an ant hill, completely overrun with guests looking for the second clue. Dizzy hoped Justin and his friends would stay stuck on that island the rest of the day. Dizzy wished Megan would come to her senses and leave them on the island. If only Justin would look at his sister’s clue, it would tell them exactly where to go.
Dizzy and Travis both ordered chicken strips for themselves and a kid’s meal for Ana. They stood off to the side of the line while they waited.
“Your mom is nice,” Travis said. “I think my dad really likes her.”
“I was thinking the same thing about your dad,” Dizzy said. “He seems great.”
“How often do you see your dad?” Travis asked.
“I haven’t seen my dad in over two years.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Travis said.
“Don’t be. He’s a jerk.” Dizzy said with a smile. “How often do you see your mom?”
“My mom actually lives here in Anaheim. I live with my dad because she works for the Anaheim Angels and travels a lot. I fly down here and stay with her during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks though.”
Dizzy hardly ever thought about his dad, but wondered what it would be like if he and Ana had to stay with him for two weeks over Christmas break.
“What do you do when you visit your mom?”
“We come here.”
“You’re kidding,” Dizzy said. “I thought you hated this place.”
“Don’t tell anyone, but it
’s all an act. I actually love coming here.”
Dizzy smiled.
“Trust me, I know all about it.”
Their lunch was ready and they began walking back toward Main Street.
“So what do you think ‘A Belle’ means?” Travis asked.
“The only thing I can think of is Belle from Beauty and the Beast,” Dizzy answered. “But there is no ride here for that movie.”
“Isn’t she going to be in the parade?”
“You’re right. She is. Maybe the third clue will be written on the parade float or something?”
“I don’t think we are looking for the third clue,” Travis corrected him. “Remember the poem? Many places you must travel. Four places you will see. I think this clue is going to be hard to find. We are going to have to go from place to place to find it. From what the clue says, I’m guessing four different locations. So maybe four new riddles to solve. It won’t be like the clue we just found, that’s for sure.”
“Ana and I used to do little hunts like that around our house. I would leave a note on her bed telling her where she could find the next clue. That clue would lead her to the next and so on. At the end of the line she would find a piece of candy or something.”
“That’s exactly what I think this clue is. So ‘A Belle’ is only going to lead us to the next part of the clue. But if the clue is in the parade, that puts us at a huge advantage.”
“How so?” Dizzy asked.
“The next parade isn’t until 6:00. If all those idiots on the island miss the parade, they’ll have to wait hours until they get a second chance. How great would that be?”
The two boys bumped fists. For the first time all day Dizzy was happy. The parade couldn’t start soon enough. He just hoped he didn’t miss the clue from the parade, or they would have to wait for the next clue along with everyone else.
When they returned to their bench, Ana was placing stickers in a book with Disney princesses on the cover.
“Hey, where did you get that?” Dizzy asked. “That looks cool.”
“Steve got it for me.”
“Steve asked Ana if she wanted to come with us for the rest of the day so you two could continue with the contest,” Michelle said. “But of course she said no. So he went and bought her a little present, something she could do in between clues.”
“That’s really nice,” Dizzy said. “Did you say thanks?” Dizzy looked around and noticed Steve was gone. “Hey, where is Steve?”
“He had to take a phone call from work,” Michelle said. “Come sit and eat.”
Dizzy and Travis sat down and began eating their lunch. Ana ate a few bites of her lunch but was absorbed in her sticker book. A few moments later, the music indicating the parade was about to begin started playing over the speakers. Dizzy had an idea.
“Mom, can I see your new video camera?”
“Of course sweetie.” She handed him the camera. “Just be careful with that, it was expensive.”
“What’s that for?” Travis asked, his mouth full of a bite of chicken.
“I’m going to record the parade. Just in case we miss something, we can go back and watch it again later.”
“That’s a great idea.”
As the first float began to roll by, Dizzy zoomed in close. He inspected every part of the float, not wanting to miss anything. There was a gap before the next float approached and Dizzy’s camera was still zoomed in. It pointed at the crowd on the other side of the street. Dizzy saw something that almost made him drop the camera.
It was Justin, his friends, and Megan watching the parade.
The Disneyland Quest Page 15