Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn

by Ridley Pearson

  thickened. Amanda’s efforts to keep up with the DHI float failed. She and Jez stopped, caught in a bottleneck of Park guests. Finn waved, and Amanda waved back, but it wasn’t a pleasant or friendly wave; it was more like panic.

  Growing smal er now and being absorbed by the crowd, Amanda pointed to Cinderel a

  Castle. Then sharply up. Finn nodded, hoping to communicate that he too was aware of the oversize gray bal oon. But Amanda shook her head violently, as if he didn’t understand. He nodded, again trying to say that he did understand. He felt constrained by not being able to shout down at her. Amanda frantical y pointed toward the sky. Then she tore a leaf off a plant and pushed it against her face. Again she pointed toward the castle. Then the float rounded the corner, and Amanda was gone.

  Finn looked up at the swirling, dark clouds. They’ll cancel the parade, he wanted to shout.

  Maybe she was concerned that he and the others were so high above ground when lightning threatened. But surely the Park authorities had it under control. He wasn’t worried about their safety—he just didn’t want the parade canceled.

  Maybeck edged closer to Finn, pushing past Charlene, who was waving two pom-poms.

  “What do you suppose they’re doing here?” Maybeck asked, while bobbing his head and trying to

  keep a smile on his face.

  “No clue.”

  “AWOL al this time, and they suddenly reappear for our reopening celebration. Doesn’t that

  strike you as just a little bit odd?”

  “Everything about them is odd, if you ask me,” said Charlene, overhearing.

  “What was with the leaf?” Finn mumbled. No one heard him.

  “I like them both,” said Wil a, joining in. Wil a looked constantly on edge. She had chocolate-

  colored, captivating eyes and a somewhat grating voice.

  “You like everybody,” Charlene said.

  “So what?” Wil a complained.

  “It just doesn’t work. You can’t like everybody,” Charlene said.

  “Why not? Of course you can!” Wil a said.

  “Oh, forget it,” Charlene said, shaking her pompoms. She looked more eighteen than

  fourteen.

  “Amanda knows where I live,” Finn said. “Otherwise I might have said that they came here to

  catch up with us after reading about the grand opening.”

  “If she’d wanted to catch up with you, she’d have come by your place,” Maybeck said.

  “So it’s you, I suppose,” Finn said. Maybeck believed every girl was in love with him. “She

  knows where you and Jel y live, too, don’t forget.”

  “I’m just saying the timing’s kind of interesting,” Maybeck said. “We know there’s something

  strange about those two, and there just happens to be a pair of monkeys fol owing them.”

  Both Jez and Amanda reappeared, staying with the parade float once again.

  With Amanda stabbing the sky and looking worried, Finn pointed back, behind her, trying to

  show her the monkeys. But before he could tel if she saw them, he lost sight of Amanda.

  “She could have been pointing to the bal oon,” Finn said. “Even though it disappeared, maybe they saw it too. Whatever she saw, she was…I don’t know…agitated. I don’t think they came here to celebrate. I think they came to warn us.”

  “Warn us?” Charlene said.

  “About the weather?” Maybeck said skeptical y. “I doubt it.”

  “Could have been about the primates,” Philby said.

  “Yeah. A couple of monkeys,” snapped Maybeck sarcastical y. “Now, there’s something to set

  your legs trembling.”

  “Maybe they were running from the monkeys,” Wil a said.

  “I’m not even sure they saw the monkeys,” said Finn.

  The parade kept moving, and their float along with it. They crossed the lagoon, heading for

  the Hub, the density of the crowds increasing. Cheers arose. Kids screamed out their names.

  “We’re rock stars,” said Maybeck.

  “Our DHIs are the rock stars,” clarified Finn. “Let’s not confuse the two.”

  Finn caught a lightning flash out of the corner of his eye. The storm was moving closer. He

  looked up at the sky to see that it was far darker than even a few minutes ago. Was this what Amanda had wanted him to see? His mind reeled with possibilities. Why had she seemed so agitated? The low clouds and swirling fog obscured any sight of the gray weather bal oon. Would

  anyone believe him now?

  Suddenly the music was interrupted. “Ladies and gentlemen!” the booming voice announced.

  “Welcome to the Magic Kingdom’s DHI-Day celebration! Please direct your attention to Cinderel a

  Castle, where the fireworks wil begin shortly.”

  “Look!” Philby said, “they’re cutting the parade short!”

  Sure enough, the parade now hooked around the Hub, and instead of heading down Main

  Street, USA, for its final segment, it went ful y around the Hub and back the way it had come. Finn briefly saw the five DHIs far ahead, leading the way.

  Whoever was in charge didn’t want the parade caught in the storm.

  “Don’t you think we should tel someone about that bal oon?” Wil a asked. “That’s got to be

  dangerous in an electrical storm.”

  “They must already know, don’t you think?” said Finn.

  Philby said, “The string or wire holding it is tied to that window. Maybe it’s some kind of experiment.”

  “Isn’t that the window to the apartment?” Finn asked. As DHIs, the kids had previously used

  the castle’s penthouse apartment as a hiding place.

  “What if that’s what Amanda was pointing to?” Finn continued. “What if she was trying to show us the bal oon?”

  “But why?” Wil a asked.

  “What’s so important about a bal oon?”

  “Nothing the Overtakers would like more than to ruin the DHI celebration,” said Philby. “What

  if they’re trying to use lightning to set Cinderel a Castle on fire or something?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past them,” said Finn.

  “We don’t know if the Overtakers exist anymore,” said Maybeck. “If they do, don’t you think

  Wayne would contact us? Has anyone heard from the old dude, by the way?”

  The Overtakers were a group of Magic Kingdom characters, rebels led by Maleficent, the evil

  sorceress from Sleeping Beauty. Their goal was to overthrow the good and take control of the Park for themselves. Wayne and others believed the Overtakers intended to imprison any characters and Cast Members not part of their group. They had been caught preparing vast dungeons beneath Pirates of the Caribbean, which were said to be for this purpose.

  The DHIs were now also known as the Kingdom Keepers—one of the most popular

  attractions in the Park. The last thing the Kingdom Keepers could afford was for Maleficent to gain power again. They had barely stopped her the first time, and she now considered them among her

  greatest enemies—a distinction they could have done without.

  “We should probably tel someone about the bal oon,” Finn said, moving to the back of the

  float and the smal ladder there. “At the very least, it shouldn’t be up in the storm.”

  The peculiar phenomenon that had been discovered shortly after the Disney Host Interactives

  had been instal ed in the Magic Kingdom had carried al five kids into a struggle with the Overtakers and the evil fairy Maleficent.

  Wayne had showed them an astonishing three-story maze cal ed Escher’s Keep in

  Cinderel a Castle, which led to the little-known penthouse apartment, now a secret hideaway used

  by Wayne.

  Finn wondered aloud if the bal oon might be something Wayne was responsible for.

  “If Wayne’s up there,”
Philby said, “we should go see him.”

  “You can’t leave now,” complained Charlene, waving her pom-poms eagerly for the cheering

  crowd.

  “Cover for me,” said Finn. “No one’s going to notice if one of us isn’t here.”

  “They’l notice if you aren’t,” Wil a said. “They won’t notice if I’m not.”

  “That’s not true. Besides, I’m the one going, so I don’t think it real y matters.”

  “We never go solo. Remember what happened to Maybeck?”

  Finn stopped, one foot over the rail and on the smal ladder leading down. Maybeck’s DHI

  had once fal en into a trap that had prevented the real Terry Maybeck from waking up. The so-

  cal ed “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome” might have kil ed him.

  “It was your rule,” Wil a reminded him. “And it was a good one. We’ve had no trouble since we started pairing up.”

  “Okay,” Finn said. “So?”

  “Someone’s going to notice if you leave,” Maybeck warned.

  “Just keep moving,” said Finn. “The more the three of you move around up here, the less likely I’l be missed.”

  “You don’t actual y think we’re going to let you do this alone, do you?” Maybeck said.

  “We’re al coming,” Philby said. “Here’s the plan….” He pul ed them al into a huddle at the

  center of the float. “The fewest number of guests wil be on the bridge to Liberty Square. We get

  off and start shaking hands and signing autographs like it’s al part of the parade. That’s also the closest we’re going to get to the castle. When we make our break, we al go at once—again, like

  it’s scripted. If we get separated, we meet inside the castle in Escher’s Keep.”

  Lightning flashed again. A few seconds passed before the first rumble of thunder rippled through the air.

  “That lightning is stil some distance away from here, right?” Charlene asked anxiously.

  “Closer than it was. You couldn’t hear thunder a few minutes ago,” Philby said. “I’l bet they’re

  closing the rides—the mountain attractions and rol er coasters. That’s going to mean a whole bunch of the guests in and around the Hub for the fireworks.”

  “If we real y saw a bal oon, whether they believe us or not, we’ve got to convince them to check it out before that lightning gets here.” Finn couldn’t stop thinking about Amanda holding up that leaf to her face. Green skin? Was that the message? More than anything, he hoped they might find the two sisters. He sensed they had some of the answers.

  “And if they don’t care about the bal oon?” Wil a said.

  “We’re approaching the bridge, people,” Philby announced. “If we’re going to do this, now’s

  our chance.”

  “Okay,” Finn said, working his way down the ladder. The others fol owed.

  He happened to look up at Charlene just as she blinked furiously to protest leaving the float.

  “We can’t do this!” she said.

  Her blinking revealed a subtle green shadow on her lids, which enhanced the color of her eyes.

  Finn spoke what he’d been thinking—what Amanda had been trying to tel him by putting the

  green leaf to her cheek.

  He cal ed out to the others, “Maleficent is inside the castle. That’s what Amanda was trying to

  tel us.”

  3

  THE KINGDOM KEEPERS MET UP AGAIN at the base of Escher’s Keep, a confusing maze of

  interlocking staircases, mirrors, and doors that crawled up the inside of Cinderel a Castle. It had been built years ago as an attraction but had never opened to the public, as it had proved too dangerous. One misstep, and you were dumped into chutes or slides, some of which landed you

  in the castle moat.

  “I tried to tel a Cast Member about the bal oon,” Finn said. “But he thought I was my DHI playing some kind of trick on him. I shook him, and he said, ‘Amazing technology! That feels so

  real!’ What a jerk! I tried to point out the bal oon, but with the clouds, you can’t even see the string or wire or whatever.”

  “We’ve got to get up there,” Philby said, “Maleficent or not.”

  “But what if Amanda was trying to warn us?” Charlene asked nervously. “Wouldn’t that mean

  we might be walking into a trap?”

  “She’s got a point,” Maybeck said.

  Finn quickly reorganized them: he and Philby would ascend Escher’s Keep to the apartment;

  Maybeck and Wil a would try to find Amanda and Jez while Charlene stood sentry on the path to

  Fantasyland, giving Philby and Finn eyes on the castle from the outside.

  They said their good-byes, Maybeck uncharacteristical y wishing them luck, his dark, troubled

  eyes expressing concern. They agreed to meet after the fireworks in front of Cinderel a’s Golden

  Carrousel, immediately behind the castle.

  “And if you guys don’t show up?” Wil a asked Finn.

  Thankful y, Maybeck dragged her out the door and into the castle gift shop’s storage room

  before Finn had to think of something plucky to say.

  “You okay with this?” Philby asked nervously, his foot on the first step of Escher’s Keep. It

  was a route that had to be memorized, and neither boy had attempted to climb it in several months.

  “Let’s do it,” said Finn.

  Philby stepped aside, al owing Finn to lead the way. It was no picnic. Sometimes stairs led

  nowhere. A single misstep would mean fal ing down a slide to the ground floor or into the moat.

  The route up to an elevator that accessed the penthouse apartment included invisible bridges, upside-down staircases, and trapdoors. The il usions were the result of mirrors, projections, and

  trick lighting, their combined effect overpowering.

  “Do you remember the way?” Finn asked. He faced four doors, al in different colors. They

  formed a semicircle on a smal platform of polished floor tiles. He and Philby were fifteen feet above the ground floor, having ascended the first staircase correctly—skipping every other tread.

  “I want to say second from the right: blue. But it’s your cal ,” Philby said.

  Turning the wrong door handle caused a trapdoor to open.

  Philby stayed off the platform in case Finn chose incorrectly. The plan was to take turns until

  they got it right.

  Finn tried the blue door, and the floor fel out from under him. Down, down, he raced, the slick

  slide spinning him in tight coils before throwing him out onto the floor. He headed to the slanted stairs and began climbing again.

  Philby tried the yel ow door. The trapdoor opened beneath him.

  Green—for “go”—seemed too simple a choice, so on Finn’s next attempt he tried the purple

  door, and it opened.

  “Purple,” Finn cal ed down to Philby, who was gingerly skipping steps as he made his way up

  the slanted staircase.

  Once through the purple door, Finn started across an invisible bridge—an effect so

  convincing he would have sworn there was nothing beneath his feet. He moved across it in tiny

  steps, just barely sliding each running shoe forward, making sure something solid was beneath it.

  Philby, behind him, took the novel approach of getting down on hands and knees and breathing

  low onto what turned out to be glass, and then fol owing the orbs of fog.

  “It’s a mirror,” said Philby, sneaking up behind the slower Finn. The trick was compounded by

  the fact that a false destination—a second purple door—was projected at the other end of the invisible bridge, making Finn want to head in that direction. In fact, at its midpoint, the bridge veered right, arriving at what looked like a solid wal , which wasn’t solid at al . The two boys ended up on a second smal platform.

>   “I remember this part,” Philby said. “This is where we go down the stairs in order to go back up.”

  “Are you sure?” Finn tested the “up” staircase: it was real. He thought Philby had it wrong.

  But Philby waved his hand across the step four steps above this first step, and then punched

  his hand right through the il usion—the stairs stopped midflight, nothing but a projected image. He led the way down a staircase and then back up a longer staircase, which would make it appear to

  anyone standing below as though the boys were walking upside down.

  “You two!” a low voice cal ed out loudly. “Come down from there!”

  Finn caught sight of an upside-down Cast Member. He was dressed as a barbershop singer,

  in white pants, a red-and-white-striped shirt, and a straw hat: a Dapper Dan Cast Member.

  “Security,” Finn whispered to Philby. “I faced Dapper Dans just like him that time Amanda and I were here taking pictures of everyone’s DHIs. They were trying to catch me.”

  “You are not permitted in this area!” the man hol ered. “Come down at once.”

  “I don’t think we should trust him.”

  They reached a third platform and ducked behind a false wal with two windows. “You think

  he’l come after us?” Philby asked.

  Thunder cracked high above them.

  “I think there’s something going on here,” Finn answered. “The weather bal oon, the monkeys,

  Amanda and Jez showing up for the first time in forever. And personal y, I don’t trust anyone dressed up like he’s sel ing fried chicken. He could be anybody. That’s an easy costume to fake.”

  “So we ignore him?”

  Another crack of thunder. It was getting close.

  “Outrun him,” Finn said, “is probably more like it.”

  “And if we’re caught?” Philby said. “You ever read those contracts we signed? They’l remove

  our DHIs from the server. They’l replace us with other kids. We’l no longer be Disney Hosts, no

  longer have the Gold Fastpasses. We’l lose it al .” He hesitated. “Al that for some weird bal oon?

  You sure it’s worth it?”

  “You’re the one who saw it, not me. Listen, I’m not sure of anything,” Finn said. “You want to