by David Smith
In his haste and in looking up instead of looking where he was going, he almost ran into a baby stroller being pushed by a shocked mother. With cat-like reflexes, Wolf jumped clear over the front of the stroller, landing on all fours, forward-rolled once and hopped back up.
“Are you…” The woman tried to ask if he was okay but couldn’t get the last part out. Wolf had already bounced back up and continued on a full sprint toward the gate between the Emporium and the Fire Station without losing speed.
Wolf resembled a hurdler running a 100-meter sprint at a track meet, clearing the long metal arm that acted as a gate to keep people out of the back stage area between the Fire Station and Emporium. He planted his right foot upon landing and turned to his left continuing his sprint around the back corner of the Fire Station. He pulled up and looked back up at the stairs on the side of the building that led up to Walt’s Apartment. Seeing no one, he continued around the back corner and looked right then left. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a golf cart, one of the flat bed types, turning the corner and speeding off towards the back of Jungle Cruise.
Trying to catch up, Wolf ran after the cart. He yelled out, “Hey stop that cart!”
The man in white driving the cart glanced back and saw a man well behind him running towards him.
With a sudden issuance of panic, Nathan pressed the accelerator to the floor. There wasn’t a governor on the landscaping carts to limit their top speed and, as such, the cart sped up quickly to nearly 30 miles per hour. Pulling away, Nathan knew he was trapped if he didn’t find a way to get off the Park property.
Just as Disneyland was designed to keep people from sneaking in, trying to sneak out was equally difficult…especially if you had just stolen a priceless object.
Taking his hand off the ladder he had been holding on to, so he could use both hands to steer a sharp turn, the unsecured extension ladder slid off the cart and bounced awkwardly on the pavement, sounding like a car crash. Nathan didn’t even look to see where the ladder ended up. He leaned forward, urging speed from the cart and hoping no one was going to get in his way. Luckily for him, the west side service road was seldom used during normal operating hours of the Park.
The service road also ran past the construction entrance for the new themed area, New Orleans Square. Because of the announcement of Walt’s death, the road and the construction zone were all but vacant. All construction was halted and the workers had been sent home a half-hour earlier. While it was lucky for him that there was no construction traffic in his path, his initial plan to turn left and make a dash out the construction entrance was impossible: the news of Walt’s death had not only sent all the workers home, but the entrance gate was securely locked closed. In a flash, Nathan could see the thick chain around the two sections of the gate that would normally be open wide to allow the large construction vehicles through, was in place and secure. He knew any attempt to smash his little electric cart through the gate would be disastrous. Instead, Nathan continued on the paved service road, crossing the gravel construction road intersection, where numerous trucks had dribbled the small rocks on the pavement. Behind him, Nathan could hear the rocks being kicked up and sprayed behind the cart, his wheels spinning recklessly over the small stones which were acting like ball-bearings. Finally the wheels found solid pavement again, screeching as Nathan fought to control a small fish-tail. He glanced back after he passed the loose pavement section, checking to see if his pursuer was in sight. He felt a mild victory as he couldn’t see the man chasing him.
Nathan drove as fast as the electric cart provided. He had a second escape plan—he just didn’t know if he could make it.
After reaching the end of the construction zone, the service road Nathan was speeding along first went under the Disneyland Railroad track, through a concrete maintenance tunnel that was large enough for an eighteen-wheeler to pass under. Coming up from the tunnel, the service road branched in two directions: To the left, the service road continued around the back of the Park to the Landscaping office and the storage warehouses. To the right, the service road went parallel with the Disneyland Railroad around to where the live Indian Village used to be. This fork continued around the back side of Tom Sawyer Island and eventually connected with the northwest side of Fantasyland. Both roads would probably be crawling with security if the man Nathan had seen chasing him called the security office. Nathan had no idea how many security members were on today, especially considering the news of Disney’s death. However the number, either route Nathan felt he was driving his cart into an ambush.
Instead, Nathan came up with another idea.
Nathan knew of a path used by landscapers to maintain the growth of trees along the back side of the river. It was seldom used, let alone known by anyone else who worked in the Park except for maintenance workers and his fellow landscapers. Nathan knew he could get to Tomorrowland from there. From Tomorrowland, Nathan had figured he could run through the backstage area on that side of the Park and then make it to the cast member’s exit under the railroad tracks. But, now, seeing someone running after him, Tomorrowland was probably not going to be the way out as he anticipated either. Nathan now realized he couldn’t go out through the timecard shack and past the security guards that manned it twenty-four hours a day. He was sure there had been some word issued about him being chased, making that exit probably impossible to use.
Nathan had yet one more plan.
Choosing the right-hand fork, he intentionally drove the cart into the dense foliage of that area, literally burying the cart in the vines, bushes, and plants. Hoping the plants and foliage would hide the cart for a while Nathan quickly got out, worked his way through the dense plant life and then sprinted to his left dodging trees and plants that filled the back areas along the river across from the back side of Tom Sawyer Island. He located the maintenance trail that went over the berm and across the railroad tracks. The trail slanted down the other side of the embankment, down into the abundant growth that was hardly ever manicured, trimmed or dethatched.
Nathan knew that the relocation of the old Indian Village teepees, which had originally been where the construction of New Orleans Square was taking place, were now on the back side of the river, across from the uninhabited side of Tom Sawyer Island. He had done a lot of weeding and landscaping around the village in the past, a village that did not feature real Indians, but mechanical mannequins which now replaced those that used to depict life in the village. He knew the hidden path ran back behind the trees that lined the shore along the river and parallel to the Disneyland Railroad tracks that circled the Park. The path went directly to the Indian village, then circling around towards the back of it. From there he knew there was a service entrance to the back of Fantasyland.
Running now along the path, Nathan took a moment to glance back. He saw that there was still no sign of the man following him. He hoped the man took the path towards the landscaping office instead of following him on this lesser known area. Nathan used his hands and arms to spread out the overgrowth that bordered the path. He stumbled more than once, as running the narrow path was far more treacherous than walking it. Large rocks, hidden under piles of leaves were like booby traps; more than once, Nathan caught his foot on one, spinning him around, stumbling and nearly falling to the ground. A dense shrub with thorny limbs caught Nathan’s shirt and pants. He heard a rip but didn’t stop to see what part of his landscaping uniform now was torn. Stumbling two more times, Nathan’s legs were starting to feel like rubber. His knees and ankles were screaming with fatigue and his arms and legs were scratched and bleeding slightly.
Nathan reached the first teepee and stopped to catch his breath. He was not an athlete and in his panic he had pushed himself to run faster than he ever had. Looking over his arms, he saw drops of blood emerging from a number of points. None of the cuts were deep and Nathan wiped his arms on the back of his torn pants.
Thinking about the pendant, Nathan reached into his pocket and was g
lad to see the bag had not fallen out of his pocket. Quickly, he drew out the little black bag, holding it for a moment by slender drawstrings; he watched it sway at his fingertips. Nathan then looked about the Indian village, thinking.
He knew at the very least, he could not be caught with the pendant on him and he looked around for somewhere to hide it.
Between the first and second teepee, Nathan saw one of the mannequins, a female “squaw” standing next to a young child mannequin, both facing out toward the center of the village where there were a number of other “Indians” around a fake fire pit. Nathan looked at the squaw and noticed two decorative necklaces around her neck. In fact, all the mannequins had some sort of fake ornamentation around their necks. Quickly Nathan tilted the bag open, carefully grasping the chain, avoiding the pendant. Like before, in Walt’s apartment, Nathan certainly didn’t have time at the moment to get a handful of visions cast within his mind.
He draped the long chain over the black wig that was attached to the squaw’s head. He let the pendant fall down her neck, the red diamond fell just below the edge of the leather top covering the mannequin’s upper half.
Satisfied the pendant was hidden among the other necklaces and below the leather neckline of the top the mannequin wore, he was confident no one would spot the priceless gem. Knowing that he could come back at a later time after making his escape to retrieve the pendant, Nathan felt certain that the mannequin was the best hiding spot he could find at the moment.
Hearing noises in the distance from the direction he had run from where the cart was stashed, Nathan knew he had to move again.
Following the path now as it led behind the village, Nathan, with a second wind, ran over the top of a small hill where large pine trees had been planted recently. Over the top of the hill, Nathan was able to locate the employee’s entrance to Fantasyland, right where the “Skyway to Tomorrowland” entrance was for guests.
Nathan entered the on-stage area of Fantasyland and looked around. All he saw were guests milling about; some getting in line for the Skyway, others, up ahead, waiting in line for Storybook Land Canal Boats. Nathan walked quickly, trying not to draw attention. He felt some element of reprieve as he realized there weren’t enough security guards about the park that day to be everywhere at once. Walt’s death this morning provided some sense of relief in that many Park workers—and especially some of the security guards—were sent home by their leads. However, Nathan knew that there would be still a crew of cast members, including security guards, who would need to be on staff as if nothing different, had occurred. Nathan hoped that whatever crew was still on hand were busy doing something else.
Walking quickly, almost resembling the heel-toe technique of a race-walker, Nathan went past the Dumbo Flying Elephant ride, past the Motor Boat entrance and continued on around the back side of Matterhorn Mountain.
Reaching Tomorrowland, he passed the new Submarine lagoon and continued towards the Autopia Ride that was on the other side of the Submarine exit and the Monorail Station that was directly above the Submarine queue area. Nathan glanced up and saw Big Red, the oldest monorail in the four-vehicle fleet, pulling into the monorail station above him. It was tempting to run up the exit and try to get on the monorail, ride it over to the recently completed Disneyland Hotel, and then disappear among the guests and visitors there. But the monorail also represented a confined, trapped location and Nathan had no idea if the person—whoever it was chasing him—had the means to notify security at the hotel or even the Anaheim Police. He didn’t like the idea of a line of policemen and security officials waiting on the monorail platform at the hotel with him on board and no way out—short of jumping from the elevated monorail to the ground, something he thought was sure to be hazardous to his health in more ways than one.
Ignoring the monorail, Nathan jogged over to the cast member’s entrance below the termination-end of the Skyway ride from Fantasyland that was located here at the Tomorrowland platform. He glanced up, his line of site observing the moving Skyway Buckets. Nathan realized he had traversed the entire length of the Skyway ride in under ten minutes.
Pausing to take a deep breath and wipe sweat off his head with the torn sleeve of his landscaping costume, Nathan stood near the cast member’s entrance by the stairs that led up to the Skyway loading and unloading platform overhead. Bending over at his waist, his hands on his thighs, Nathan took deep gulps of air, trying to refill the oxygen debt created through pushing his body within the physical demands of escaping. Nathan tiredly turned his head and looked behind him; off in the distance, he spotted two men coming around from one side of the Tomorrowland Terrace, and when he quickly glanced to the other side of the terrace, he saw two more men running in his direction.
Cursing under his breath, Nathan saw that his escape was becoming more doubtful. He was thankful that the pendant was not on him. Quickly, Nathan turned and went through the cast member’s entrance below in front of him. He emerged out in the larger service road that branched both to his right and to his left. To the right were the employee locker rooms and, beyond those, Harbor House and the main entrance into the park for employees. The other direction led to the garage for the Disneyland steam trains and above that structure, the monorail track branched into four sections, each leading to side-by-side slots for the four monorails in their own garage directly over the train garage. Nathan saw that two of the monorails were in their garage…which meant only two were running. That gave Nathan an idea.
Nathan took no more time to think. He ran to his left.
Instead of taking the service road, however, Nathan ran through the trees that lined the back side of the Autopia ride, the ride where ‘drivers of all ages’ drove actual gasoline-powered cars along a scenic, small-scale highway. Hoping the direction he was taking would throw off his pursuers, Nathan watched above him as the royal blue monorail glided smoothly along the elevated concrete track, coming into the Park on its trip from the hotel. He knew that eventually, the red monorail in the station would be leaving, making room for the blue one to arrive with its guests. To his left, he could see some of the cars of the Autopia following their own concrete tracks. Directly ahead of him was the tall fence that separated the backstage area from Harbor Boulevard, the main public street that came from the north and from which people getting off the Santa Ana Freeway would head south toward Disneyland’s main parking entrance.
If he could get over that fence, he could sprint across Harbor Boulevard and disappear in the orange groves that stretched for miles, Nathan thought to himself, feeling like it was the best plan under the current circumstances. He didn’t think he had been clearly recognized by anyone chasing him. After getting outside the Park, Nathan felt confident he could come back later and retrieve both the pendant and the bags of hidden money.
The monorail track above him gradually descended to one of the lowest sections of the track here within the back portion of the Autopia attraction. The monorail track then followed a gradient incline, sloping back up and to the right where the track actually passed over the outer Park perimeter fence and traversed outside the Park. The track immediately banked right again, then ran parallel to Harbor Boulevard for about a quarter-mile before making another right turn, heading west towards the newly expanded Disneyland Hotel, crossing the enormous parking lot of Disneyland in the process.
Nathan knew what he had to do. He also suddenly realized that this was one of the images he had seen when he first held the pendant. Again, it appeared that the pendant showed him the way.
He remembered the vision, seeing a concrete bridge that he now recognized not as a bridge at all but as a span of the monorail track that was now directly above him. He followed the track to the lowest pillar and quickly sprinted towards it.
Nathan spotted a metal electrical control box that was attached to the pillar that held up the portion of the monorail track at this lowest point. Here, the pillar was a short eight foot tall as opposed to the typical fifteen to tw
enty feet tall pillars that held up most of the concrete sections of track above the ground. A short chain-link fence, with a yellow and black sign on each side that read, “Keep Out,” ran around the pillar. Nathan hopped the short fence and shimmied up the pillar using the electrical box as a stirrup. He reached up to the top of the Monorail track where he could grip the top of the track with his fingers and then pulled himself up with great effort. Adrenaline was providing an added boost of strength to his actions and he was able to throw a leg over the top of the track and then shimmy onto the flat top surface. The top of the track was about a foot wide and stained black from the main ride-wheels that each monorail rode on. Nathan took a moment to again catch his breath, bending at the waist. He rubbed his hands, now sore from the climb, and then took one deep breath before walking as fast as he could, without losing his balance, along the top of the track towards the Park fence.
“Stop!” a voice came from below him. “We know you have the pendant.”
How did anyone know what he had done? Nathan thought to himself, as he was certain no one saw him take the pendant. Instead of stopping and acknowledging the voice, Nathan started jogging along the top of the monorail track, suddenly not even thinking about losing his balance. Fear and panic had a way of making people lose conscious thought of such things.
“You won’t get away,” the trailing voice below him said. Nathan again was maintaining distance between him and the man who had been chasing him. And, with each step he was gaining on the Park fence…and freedom. Nathan began going up the incline as the track moved higher to go over the service road below him and then curved to the right where it would clear the outer perimeter fence. The tall twenty-foot chain-link fence was just ahead. All he had to do was get on the other side and then find a way down. Even if he had to jump from the twenty-foot height, Nathan felt he could manage, first by hanging by the beam by his hands and then dropping to his feet from a lower position. Nathan knew he had to make it.