The Key To the Kingdom

by Dixon, Jeff

  EVERY MUSCLE IN DR. GRAYSON HAWKES’S BODY ached the next morning as he trudged into his office at Celebration Community Church. The town of Celebration, a creation of the Disney Corporation, meshed Disney philosophies with small-town stereotypes. Young families with strong values desired the stability of being part of a church congregation featuring relevant non-traditional styles of worship and church structures. The Florida Baptist Convention had targeted this area to plant a new church congregation. That is when Grayson Hawkes, a native of central Florida, entered the picture. He accepted the call to become the pastor and immediately assembled a church staff around him that loved Jesus and Walt Disney World.

  The office was free of activity as Hawk was not a stickler for keeping regimented office hours. The emptiness of the office allowed him to think back to the events of the night before. Setting down his briefcase he slumped into his office chair and allowed it to spin aimlessly under the shifting weight. The bookcases bowed under the pages of the extensive library Hawk had accumulated through the years. His debit card confirmed his addiction to visiting booksellers. Books and coffee were the two vices that Hawk readily admitted to having to anyone who would ask.

  Some would conclude that Hawk was in denial about his other addiction. Simply stated, he was a Disney fan. His office was stuffed with books, collectibles, animated characters, souvenirs, and trinkets that held deep and unspoken personal meaning for Hawk. Disney purists would call the collection Disneyana. His fondness and appreciation for Disney had given Hawk an instant bond with Rales. Their meeting the night before had unexpectedly left Hawk tired, aching, and with a brain load of questions.

  Hawk wondered where Farren had disappeared to in the dark. He wondered who had chased him at the Dwarf House. Thinking restlessly about it through the night, he’d assumed it must have been a security guard at the state park. However, that did not explain the car waiting at the end of the driveway to the main road. As he pondered the blinding headlamps, he created various scenarios that would explain the car’s presence: teenagers parking, some type of illegal mischief, someone resting after a long drive, or the gnawing sense that his pursuer had walked in from the parked car and the driver was waiting for him to return. This last thought bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Not normally paranoid, Hawk found himself still on edge at fleeing the park so wildly. And last, but most pressing, he was still trying to figure out the real meaning behind the skeleton key that Rales had given him.

  Taking the key out of his pocket, he carefully unraveled the wrapping. Hawk felt the weight of the hunk of molded metal in his palm. Squeezing it between his fingertips, he held it up and spun it around. The key, though old, was incredibly well preserved. Rales had told him, “Don’t just treasure it . . . use it!”

  “I would use it,” Hawk thought, “if I only knew how and where.”

  The phone rang, clanging him back to the moment. Picking it up, Hawk heard the familiar voice of the church student minister, Albert Shepherd.

  “Hey, boss,” Shep began, “how are you?”

  “I’m good, and you?” Hawk replied. He wasn’t feeling all that well, but there would be too much to explain if he hinted he was feeling tired or sore. As Shep covered what he wanted to discuss, Hawk noticed his associate pastor, Juliette Keaton, standing in the doorway with her head tilted. Hawk motioned for her to enter and take a seat. Juliette entered and sat down, staring intently at him as he continued to talk. Her stare became distracting and Hawk lost track of what Shep was saying and had to ask him to repeat himself. They quickly finished their conversation.

  He hung up the phone and turned to Juliette. “Are you staring?”

  “Yes,” she replied. Hawk waited, knowing she would tell him what was on her mind. “You look awful. Have you been in a fight?”

  Hawk had forgotten about the cut he’d collected when he smashed his face into the Witch’s Hut. “You know better than that. I wouldn’t get into a fight.”

  “Oh, really, most of the things you do don’t surprise me.” Probably not, considering how well he knew her husband and two children. “Are you hurt badly?”

  “No, not too bad, just had a bit of an accident.”

  “Sure you did.” She inspected him curiously. “Can I help?”

  “No, but thanks.” Hawk didn’t need help and he didn’t want anyone to know that he had run into a tree in the middle of a state park, after the park had closed, chased by an unknown armed pursuer.

  Juliette sighed, apparently admitting defeat. She got up, patted him on the shoulder, and left with a smile. She bumped into Jonathan Carlson, the church worship pastor, coming through the door as she was exiting. As Jonathan saw Hawk’s face, his jaw dropped open.

  Juliette raised her hand. “He had an accident and he isn’t talking about it.”

  Jonathan nodded and looked in at Hawk, “If I can do anything to help just let me know.”

  “I will,” said Hawk with a smirk. He appreciated their concern but hadn’t had the time to figure it out for himself. Picking up the phone again, he dialed Farren Rales’s cell phone number. Perhaps Farren would shed some insight on the previous night. Without a single ring he heard Farren’s voice mail request him to leave a message and have a magical day. He waited for the beep.

  “Farren, this is Hawk. When you get a chance give me a call. I had a rather interesting evening last night. I was wondering if you would like to hear about it.”

  Breathing heavily, he whirled in his chair to face his desk and opened his calendar to the list of appointments for the day. His schedule was booked solid; he would be far too busy to think about the key or his wild flight through the darkness. His first appointment would be walking through the door at any moment. On cue he heard the door open and he got up gingerly to greet his day.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  * * *

  Day Two

  Afternoon

  EVERY TICK OF THE CLOCK wearied Hawk more than the one before. The late night, the soreness in his body, and the fatigue of being trapped inside the walls of the office only caused him to feel more tired and spent. His last appointment of the day ended at four thirty, and with a slide of the mouse he shut down the computer.

  He wondered why he hadn’t heard from Rales yet. It was unusual for Rales not to return his call. Could he have run into trouble last night? Hawk also wanted more information about the key he’d been given. He snapped open his cell phone and hit the speed dial number that connected him to Rales’s office in Imagineering. On the second ring the call was picked up. “Imagineering, Farren Rales’s office. This is Nancy speaking.”

  Hawk knew Nancy Alport well. She was Farren Rales’s administrative assistant.

  “Hi, Nancy, this is Hawk. Is Farren still in today?”

  “He didn’t come in today,” she said, worry creeping into her voice.

  “I tried his cell phone earlier and I haven’t heard back from him. Do you expect him in tomorrow?”

  “I expected him in today. I’ve been trying to reach him all day, and as far as I know, no one has been able to. I’m a little concerned,” Nancy admitted. “He always checks in, even if he’s not scheduled to be around the office.”

  Hawk listened to the concern in Nancy’s voice and felt his own concern for his friend begin to rise. Last night Rales had given no indication that he didn’t plan on being in the next day. The worry and wondering over who had chased him at Gamble Place came back again.

  “I saw him after your meeting yesterday,” Nancy stated. “Did he say anything strange to you or do anything out of the ordinary?”

  The day before had been the monthly get together, an opportunity for the church staff and Farren to talk. It had been as that meeting ended that the Imagineer had quietly invited Hawk to meet him and slipped him the business card.

  “No.” Hawk made a decision not to let Nancy know about the late-night road trip. “Why would you ask about anything strange?”

  “I’m not sure, Farren just seemed u
nusually preoccupied most of the day yesterday. He didn’t say anything was wrong. Things just seemed . . . I don’t know . . . different.” Nancy paused. “But he seemed okay to you, didn’t he?”

  “He was fine.” Hawk reaffirmed his decision not to disclose anything that had happened yesterday. “Is there anything I can do to help you track him down?”

  “I don’t think so. Hopefully he just forgot to let me know he wasn’t going to be in the office. He had a meeting that he missed, but I don’t think it was a big deal.” Nancy had worked with Farren a long time. Her concern was apparent. “If you hear from him, tell him to give me a call.”

  “I’ll do it for sure. Please tell him the same from me.”

  “You’ve got it, Hawk. Talk to you soon.”

  Hawk hung up the phone, already planning his next move.

  He’d been to Farren’s home a couple of times for dinner. The drive was about forty minutes from Celebration. Next stop: the Rales residence.

  Striding down the hallway, he walked past Jonathan’s office.

  “Hey there, boss,” Jonathan called as Hawk was two strides past the door. “I was serious this morning when I told you if there was anything I could do to help, I would Are you sure you’re all right? You look like you were in a brawl.”

  Hawk had almost forgotten about the soreness in his face. Rubbing his hand tenderly over his eye, he winced at how painful it was.

  “I’m fine.”

  “I just worry about you sometimes, we all do. You never ask for anything and you don’t usually complain. But if you want to or need to, you’re entitled, and we can take it. We won’t think anything less of you if you want to be human like the rest of us,” Jonathan subtly opened the conversation for Hawk to unload.

  “Just a long day. I started tired and never got my second wind.”

  “See you tomorrow, Hawk. Enjoy your evening,” Jonathan said.

  “I’m planning on it. See you in the morning.” Hawk moved back down the hallway. Stepping out into the afternoon sun, he noticed that the only cars in the parking lot were his, Jonathan’s, and one he didn’t recognize.

  He hit the key ring to automatically unlock his door, then swung it open and slid down into the seat. Firing up the engine, he pulled out of the lot and turned toward the interstate.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  * * *

  Day Two

  Evening

  TRAVELING EAST ON INTERSTATE 4 through Orlando, a driver exited the interstate behind Grayson Hawkes’s Mustang and followed the preacher toward Lake Adair and Edgewater Drive. They passed shops and stores, grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, and specialty shops of the sort that spring up in prime real estate areas like College Park.

  Hawkes pulled up beside a solid wooden gate. He glanced into his side view mirror and waited for the car behind him to pass before opening his door. The driver circled the block and found a secluded place to park and watch. From there, Hawkes could be observed scratching his head and staring up at Rales’s house. The home was located above a boutique along Edgewater Drive. The preacher tried opening the gate, which was locked. He then scaled the wooden fence and disappeared behind it. A few minutes later he came back over it and paced the sidewalk for a few moments before driving to Gabriel’s, a local sub shop where he ordered a sub, a bag of chips, and a large coffee.

  Hawkes slumped at his table apparently not noticing the car that had been following him on his College Park trip. It was the same car that had passed him just before he got out of the Mustang at Farren’s house. Now the car sat parked along the street where the windows to the sub shop faced outward. Had Hawkes looked up and out the window he would have seen a set of dark glasses hiding the eyes that closely watched him. The eyes behind the glasses perched on the nose of this person had also watched Rales, Hawkes, and the church staff at lunch the day before. Now with Rales missing all day, the driver of the car decided to keep an even closer surveillance on the preacher from Celebration.

  Hawk ate his sandwich and sipped his coffee. Having peered through Rales’s windows and satisfied his curiosity that his friend had not fallen ill or had an accident at home, he now pondered other matters. Wishing for the food and caffeine to jump start his brain, he traveled a memory trail along the previous night’s activities. He remembered Rales giving him the key. What was it that Rales had said about this key?

  There is not another one in the entire world that does what this one will do. You are holding in your hand the key to the kingdom.

  He didn’t know what that statement meant. It was just a key . . . wasn’t it? Rales had tears in his eyes as he presented it to Hawk. While Hawk had assumed the value of the key was symbolic, the things Rales had said hinted at something deeper than mere symbolism. There is not another one in the entire world. That would make the key unique, one of a kind, and that would give it great value. An antique key would have some worth, but the real value came from what a key opened. Hawk again remembered what Rales had said. There is not another one in the entire world that does what this one will do. An old key would open an old lock. Still, there had been the last part of what Rales had said, you are holding in your hand the key to the kingdom. How could it be a key to a kingdom?

  He allowed his mind to loop the phrase over and over again.

  The key to the kingdom, the key to the kingdom, the key to the kingdom . . . it didn’t matter how many times he replayed it, he had no idea what it might mean.

  “Excuse me sir, did you hear the announcement?” The clerk smiled as she asked the question.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear an announcement.”

  “We’re closing in five minutes. Is there anything else you need this evening?” The young lady gathered the remains of his meal to take to the trash.

  “No, but thanks. I suppose I should quit taking up your table space,” Hawk said.

  Hawk slugged down his last gulp of coffee. The coldness of the java bitterly reminded him of how long he had been sitting there thinking. He rewrapped the key in the protective cloth and deposited it into his pocket. Exiting the sub shop, he never glanced at the car pulling away from the street parking area the moment he came out of the glass doors. The observer in the car had sat there for hours as the daylight yielded to the darkness. As Hawk rounded the sidewalk and stepped to his car he had a thought. He knew it wasn’t a great thought but at least it was something.

  The engine fired to life as he turned the ignition switch. He slid the car into reverse and flipped open his cell phone. Tapping the speed dial, Hawk heard the phone ring twice.

  “Hello, this is Shep,” answered the familiar voice.

  “I have an-off-the-wall question for you,” Hawk warned.

  “Throw it at me.”

  “Do you remember telling me about a tour you wanted us all to take out at the Magic Kingdom?”

  “I think by this time of the evening they are done for the day,” chuckled Shep.

  “I was trying to remember one that you told me about that had something to do with a behind-the-scenes look at the Magic Kingdom.”

  “I remember it,” Shep replied. “It’s the tour that takes you underground into the tunnel system.”

  “That’s the one. What is the name of the tour?”

  “Hmm. It has something about the kingdom in the name. Wait! I remember, the name of the tour is the Keys to the Kingdom tour.”

  “Perfect, that’s it!” Hawk smiled. He was certain he had heard about something with the phrase key to the kingdom in it. “Shep, I appreciate it. That’s all I needed. Thank you.”

  “Okay boss, have a good rest of the evening.”

  “You too, bye.” Hawk clipped his phone closed as he accelerated back onto the interstate. Now that he knew the name of the tour, he wanted to see if he could find out more about it. He wasn’t sure it had anything to do with the key that Farren had entrusted to him, but at least it was something. As the day ticked away he became more perplexed about the key. His instincts were s
earching for some deeper or hidden meaning in the gift. The unexpected disappearance of his friend only added to the unease he was beginning to feel. Something deep within him believed that Farren’s dropping out of sight was somehow connected to the key. Perhaps it was part of the Imagineer’s plan. Deciding to try one more time, he dialed Farren Rales’s number again. Just like earlier, he was kicked into the voice mailbox.

  CHAPTER SIX

  * * *

  Day Three

  Morning

  SATURDAY MORNING FOUND HAWK rushing into his office for what he hoped would be a brief visit. Punching the keypad on the phone, he entered the number he had found doing some cyber-searching the night before. He had found what he was looking for on Lou Mongello’s Web site. As an author of multiple Disney trivia books and the host of a popular weekly podcast, Mongello would be the sure source of the information that Hawk was seeking. The plan was not complicated; Hawk hoped he would be able to get into the Keys to the Kingdom tour at the last minute.

  After a quick phone conversation, he had reservations for the tour beginning in less than an hour.

  Growing up in Orlando and taking more trips to the Walt Disney World Resort than he could remember gave Hawk a familiarity with Disney property that would rival any expert’s. The Keys to the Kingdom tour was meeting at the City Hall on Main Street, USA. In order to get there as fast as possible, Hawk decided to park at the Contemporary Hotel and walk across to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. Pulling past the security stand at the Contemporary and heading toward the parking area, Hawk took a moment and looked at the futuristic building rising up in front of him. When the Magic Kingdom Resort opened, the Contemporary was one of the two hotels that were a part of the grand opening celebration. The monorail track that stretched from the Ticket and Transportation Center to the Main Gate passed through the Polynesian Resort Hotel and the Grand Floridian Resort on one side of Bay Lake and through the interior of the Contemporary Resort on the other. Each time Hawk remembered the first time he rode on the monorail as a child it brought a grin to his face. It had almost taken his breath away as he looked out the window when the monorail moved from the outside of the hotel to the interior. It was a childhood memory that was burned into his young mind forever. Parking his car and locking the door, he heard the sound of the monorail pass directly overhead carrying another load of eager visitors to the main gate of the Magic Kingdom.