“Of course it is.” He pauses. “I need to show you, Finn. It’s not something I can tell you.”
“Okay. But why all the secrecy? Why just me?”
“Because I have my theories. Don’t worry, we’ll tell the others.” There’s an awkward pause. Finn wants to ask, “When?” but doesn’t. Finally, Philby speaks, rubbing his neck uncomfortably, not meeting Finn’s gaze.
“You’re saying you haven’t felt it?”
“I’m feeling things I don’t ever want to feel again: regret, guilt, terror. Which do you mean? Take your pick.”
“Hairs on the back of your neck, rising.”
“That, too.”
Finn has chalked up the sensation to the lingering effects of his near-death experience, his brush with permanent Sleeping Beauty Syndrome. Philby’s confirmation that he has felt the same thing disturbs Finn.
“We know Maybeck melted Judge Doom. You fried Chernabog. But none of us saw what happened inside the Skyway Station after it all went down.”
Finn looks away, twisting his lips. He doesn’t want to revisit the feelings of disruption and panic. “I hear they’re going to tear the rest of it down.”
“I heard the same thing. No more Skyway Station. But that’s not the point. The point is that both you and I feel things aren’t exactly back to normal. And I’ll bet the others feel it too. As long as that feeling’s there, I trust no one, not even Joe.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Finn raises his voice. “We fixed the park! Mickey fixed it! We can’t live our lives seeing ghosts around every corner. Or maybe you can, but I can’t.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It is to me.”
“No, Finn. I mean the ‘fixed it’ part. I’m not so sure we did. I think it’s more relative.” Philby pulls his hand from beneath the faucet. The water stops. “I have to show you this.” He swipes his hand, gets it running again. “There are cameras everywhere. We know that.”
“You’re freaking me out, Philby. Can’t we move on?”
“Not yet. I’m going to take you to the old Animation building hallway. Now, they could be watching us, so when we get there, I’m going to point out a picture, but I want you to focus on the reflection in the glass. Look at the photo across the hall reflected in the glass. Then we’re going to wander around looking at several other photos. When we get back to the one in the reflection, take a good long look.”
“At? Come on, Philby.”
“You need to see it for yourself, Finn. That’s the only way either of us is going to believe it.”
* * *
The hallway in the old Animation building is long and empty. Finn follows Philby’s instructions to the letter. Of all the Keepers, Philby is far and away the least dramatic. Finn might expect theatrics from Maybeck or Charlene, even Willa—though over the years she and Philby have grown so much alike that it’s hard to tell them apart. Knowing this makes Philby’s urgency all the more pressing.
In the reflection, Finn sees a poster-size frame containing a collage of several photos. The two boys begin to wander the hall independently, and Finn makes sure to take his time with the frame in question. Along the way, he studies several other images for a long time, hoping that when he stops in front of the crucial one, it won’t seem suspicious—if Philby’s even right about them being watched.
Then again, Philby’s always right.
The collage commemorates the grand opening of One Man’s Dream at Walt Disney World on October 1, 2001. There are a half-dozen color photos. Finn studies each carefully—and stops at the fifth one he examines.
In the photo, there is a mirror, of a kind often used for putting on makeup or shaving, and identical to the one in Jess’s most recent sketch. The mirror is attached to a crisscross metal armature that can extend accordion-style.
Finn unfolds Jess’s sketch. Her image shows only pieces of shelves. In the photo, they are revealed to be part of an animator’s drawing desk, and the mirror is set up to allow the artist to study his own facial expressions as a guide to help in drawing his characters’ faces. Her vision fits with what Finn sees framed on the wall, but he still can’t make sense of it. He won’t admit it out loud, but he knows that it is Walt’s pen in his hand in Jess’s drawing, and that it has no place being there.
After a while, he and Philby leave the hallway and step outside, where the security cameras may observe them but there are no microphones that might pick up their conver-sation.
“A drawing desk,” Finn says. “One Man’s Dream.”
“Close. But not exactly.”
“So? I’m the one who got the pen, remember? I was alone, and I didn’t find it on the drawing table. I found it on Walt’s office desk.”
“In a mug, like the one Jess sketched the first time. Yes. Did you happen to notice the shelves on the drawing table?”
“The books and stuff?”
“And in Jess’s sketch.”
Finn checks. “Hmm.”
“Her drawing is not of One Man’s Dream. Jess saw you and Maybeck next to a drawing desk, but not the one in the exhibit. It’s Walt’s real drawing desk.” Philby takes a deep breath, and then whispers, “‘It’s about time.’”
“Stop quoting that. You need sleep,” Finn says.
“Wayne’s watch,” Philby reminds him. “The address—”
“Is actually the address of the Music Box Company. Like the thing in Walt’s apartment. We’ve talked about this for the past two weeks. I’m sick of it! We’re done, Philby. Done!”
Chirping crickets compete with the sound of traffic. A warm wind blows—judging by the smell, someone nearby is painting. Finn has lost two friends and nearly lost his mother, not to mention nearly losing his own life multiple times. With Wayne gone, with the park restored, he wants out. He has gained friendships worth keeping and working on. Experience, to be sure. But Mickey’s designating him protector and defender of the Kingdom weighs heavily on his shoulders. He wants a break. He needs a break.
“We need to visit Walt’s apartment,” Philby says. “Scratch that. Wayne turned this all over to you, so you need to visit Walt’s apartment. But you’re bringing us along for the ride.”
“Because?” There it is again, the reminder it’s all on Finn now.
“I think Wayne left you a recording. If the music box can play recorded music, it can play a recorded voice, too. You know Wayne. Always up to more tricks.”
“Okay. I’m good with that.”
“Say, what?”
“If this will shut you up, I’ll do it,” Finn says.
“Just like that?”
Finn confesses. “The watch and the music box—that New Jersey address—it’s been bugging me. I admit it!”
“If Wayne left you a message, it’s not going to be a pep talk. It’s going to be Wayne asking for you—for us—to do something. That’s just who he is.”
“I said, I’m in.” Finn wants desperately to prove Philby wrong, to board a plane and return to Orlando, but there’s no way he can turn down the chance to hear Wayne’s voice again. Like having the Dillard along, it would assuage some of his grief. Despite himself, there’s a flicker of excitement that burns somewhere within Finn. Wayne—another mission: could it possibly be true?
Professor Philby lays out the rules. “We can’t tell the Cryptos what we’re up to. Amanda and Jess are preparing for their internships. We don’t need to bother them, either.”
“Why so secretive?” Finn says. “Amanda and Jess are part of us now.”
“I’m being cautious. So sue me.”
“What’s the big secret Wayne supposedly left us on this recording?” Finn asks.
“If I knew that,” Philby says. “We wouldn’t have to go there.”
A bolt of excitement darts through Finn. And then he feels sick to his stomach. Each time Wayne has summoned them, the risk to the Keepers as well as to the Kingdom has increased exponentially. If Wayne left a prerecorded message, it could only say that
he expected to die—or knew he would be killed.
THE KEEPERS TALK Joe and the Imagineers into allowing them into the park as DHIs during daytime hours, claiming that they want one last chance to act out their hosting roles, to show families around the park and see the joy the DHIs bring.
“We can’t explain it,” Finn says to Joe. He feels guilty about the lie. “After everything that’s happened, it’s just something we want to do.”
“There’s no repaying the debt we owe you,” Joe says. “I don’t need to tell you that. You have the keys to the Kingdom for life. And I’m hoping you’ll all consider my offer of Imagineering School after college. You each have something unique to offer.”
“Alone or together,” Willa says, reiterating his earlier words.
“Yes,” says Joe. “Speaking of which, what about Jess and Amanda?”
“They’re busy. We’d like to do this by ourselves, if that’s okay.” Finn stumbles over his words, winning a curious look from Joe. “Sorry. We stayed up all night”—he glances at Philby—“so we’d be tired enough to fall asleep for the crossover.”
“Sure,” Joe says.
“We promise to return on time,” Finn adds, holding up the precious fob that will allow them back.
“Off you go then! Get to sleep. We’ll cross you over. Have a great time,” Joe says.
“Oh,” Philby says, “we will.”
* * *
The Keepers cross over at 8:00 A.M., an hour before the gates open, and an hour before they are supposed to show up and guide guests through the park.
“Do you think he suspects?” Charlene asks, trying to brush a speck of lint from her hologram clothes, then realizing it’s useless. No matter how many times she crosses over, she’ll never quite adjust.
“The Amanda-and-Jess excuse was lame,” Maybeck says.
“We’re fine,” says Charlene. “But it doesn’t seem right. I mean, it’s Jess’s sketch!”
Philby says, “This is just the one time, Charlie.” He receives curious looks from all.
“You suspect something,” Charlene says defiantly.
“I do,” Philby says.
“Do you know what Wayne’s going to say? That is, if he says anything!” Charlene stares him down.
They can barely hear Philby’s answer. “I think I do. Yes.”
“And?” Charlene asks.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Honestly? I don’t believe it myself. But what I know—and I tried to tell Finn this—is that no one would believe me anyway. We have to hear Wayne’s words from Wayne.”
“Well,” Charlene says, “you had me at: ‘I don’t believe it myself.’ Since when? Let’s do this thing.”
They smile and laugh, caught up for a moment in the renewed warm feeling of their companionship. The years have gone by quickly. Not one of the Keepers has forgotten a single moment—the battles, both within and among themselves and against their enemies; the puzzles that so resisted being solved; the quiet moments and the loud. There’s an awkward sense of pride they share but will not mention, a sense of accomplishment that also goes unspoken. Some of this is communicated with a glance or a grin, some not at all. Shared terror that is survived has a way of cementing companionship.
“Above all,” Finn says, “we’re a team.”
For a moment it looks as if the others might tease him for this outburst. Surprisingly, it’s Maybeck that comes to his rescue. “I’d never trade you guys for anything,” Maybeck says, clearing his throat and staring at his shoes. “Wouldn’t change any of it, even the worst stuff. I realize you two,” he motions to Finn and Philby, “think something’s going on with this music box, but I don’t care. It isn’t any of this”—he sweeps his hand through his hologram torso—“that’s so cool anymore. It’s this.” He throws his holographic arm around Charlene and pulls her close.
“It is,” Willa agrees, squeezing Philby’s hand.
“You know, instead of another adventure, we could all apply to the same college!” Charlene says, winning more laughter from the group. “Yeah, well, it was a thought.”
“We check out the music box, then we hang out in the park and actually have fun for a change. Right?” Willa says.
Finn reaches into his pocket and holds up the fob. “Right. And when we’re done for the day, we take the one way back that’s always worked. We…?”
All the Kingdom Keepers respond at once, in brilliant unison: “Push the button!”
IN A WINDOWLESS ROOM at an undisclosed location—it looks a lot like the deep foundation dug to anchor the collapsed Skyway—a dark-skinned woman sits, cross-legged on the ground. Her matted dreadlocks and tattooed mascara suggest the costume of a Halloween trick-or-treater rather than that of the voodoo witch doctor she is.
The air smells foul, like lizard kidney and hundred-year-old eggs, the blood of a goat and wing of a bat. The stench emanates from the concoction bubbling softly in front of the woman, which simmers at a roiling boil, though there is no fire, no apparent source of heat of any kind.
The woman adds wings plucked from a living moth and the immemorial eye of newt, murmuring dark words under her breath.
This is no simple resurrection spell she is casting, but a charm for the ages, an experimental recipe she envisioned a long time ago but has never dared to try. The wing of bat was not from any ordinary creature. No. It was found near the base of the Matterhorn, after the disaster.
She dips a long finger in the brew, wincing at the heat, and withdraws, licking from the bowl of her inverted fingernail. Lacking sufficient volume of genuine spiderweb, she plucks out several of her own hairs—protein is protein—stirs them in, and smiles.
Perhaps there will be a bit of her in this one.…
From a leather pouch sealed with a piece of rawhide, she withdraws three pale bones. She collected them on a day that feels like years ago, scrounging in a dank tunnel below a temple in the heart of the Mexican jungle: dragon bones—special bones that slide into the caldron and bubble on their way to the bottom.
The woman’s eyes roll back in her head, entirely white, like two soft onions.
“Here within this devil’s brew,
Lost life restarted,
One and one make two.
Foundered but not sunken,
As wild as the drunken
Torment of the scorned.
Bring these two
Together,
United in fright and fear.
May its power know no limits.
It lives now:
Bring it here.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, an effort to correct an oversight that I’d love to blame on the Overtakers, but in reality it was more likely my mistake. Please join me in congratulating the following for their help in naming Kingdom Keepers VI: Dark Passage.
Angie Annett
Natalie Zawadzki
Tim Russell
Now, for Kingdom Keepers VII: The Insider:
An ambitious undertaking, the writing of this novel included two publishers, four editors, a half dozen copy editors, and many readers. Along with one writer.
It’s my pleasure to acknowledge the (often round-the-clock) hours of effort from the following:
Editors:
Wendy Lefkon (Disney-Hyperion)
Genevieve Gagne-Hawes (Writers House)
Brooke Muschott (Intern)
Christopher Caines (Copy Editor, Editor)
Coliloquy:
Lisa Rutherford
Jennifer Lou
Waynn Lue
Thanks for the access and the research provided by:
Disney Parks and the Walt Disney Company:
Kim Irvine, Disneyland
Becky Cline Director, Walt Disney Archives
Kevin Kern, Walt Disney Archives Collections Specialist
Richard Fleming, Entertainment Manager, Walt Disney World
Alex Wright, Creative Designer Lead, Walt Disney Imagineering
Jason Su
rrell, Show Writer, Walt Disney Imagineering
Joe Garlington, VP, Executive Producer, Walt Disney Imagineering
Betsy Singer, Merchandiser, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Misty Carroll, Events Specialist, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Karl Holz, President, Disney Cruise Line
Jodi Bennett, Relationship Marketing Director, Disney Cruise Line
And to the operational efforts of:
The Walt Disney Company and Disney Publishing
Chris Ostrander, Relationship Marketing Director, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
MaryAnn Zissimos, Disney-Hyperion Publicity
Tim Retzlaff, Disney-Hyperion Marketing
Simon Tasker, VP, Sales Disney-Hyperion
Suzanne Murphy, VP, Publisher Disney-Hyperion
Jeanne Mosure, Senior VP, Publisher Disney Publishing Worldwide
Andrew Sugerman, Executive VP, Disney Publishing Worldwide
Design and Production:
Kelsey Gomez (Interior illustrations)
Joann Hill (Disney Design Director)
Arlene Goldberg (Designer)
Sara Liebling (Managing Editor)
Monica Mayper (Copy Editor)
Mark Amundsen (Copy Editor)
Marybeth Tregarthen (Production)
Allie Lazar (Intern)
David and Laurel Walters (Copy Editors)
Thanks for the daily help:
My office:
Nancy Zastrow
Jennifer Wood
And the professional support:
Writers House:
Amy Berkower
Dan Conaway
Bakara Wintner
Creative Artists Agency:
Matthew Snyder
Congratulations to the KK Winners:
Adventure_Willa Allie Lazar
Amanda_Hologram Aria Suzman
Bridge_Shadows Miranda Thompson
Castaway_Fred Reece Arabella Thorsland
Clouds_Willatree Anam Shamsi
DHI_Sorcery Doug Williams
Freedom_Kingdom Olivia Madigan
Heightened_Crossover Emily Mayfield
Holographic_Imagineering Hannah Kirschner
Hyenas_Adventure Madi Burke
Imagineering_Sorcery Linnea Narducci
Kingdom Keepers VII Page 52