Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn Page 8

  “That could be my job,” Amanda said, volunteering. “If no one else wants it,” she added careful y.

  Everyone nodded.

  “Other than that,” Philby said, swinging his backpack around and reaching inside, “I got nothin’.”

  “Is anyone going to explain to me why I brought along my DS?” Charlene asked.

  “The Parks al have free Wi-Fi,” Philby said, as if this answered her.

  “Yeah? So?” she said.

  “So I’ve set-up a D-Gamer chat room so we can IM each other,” he explained. “It’s total y secure. No one can eavesdrop.”

  “A D-what?” she asked.

  “D-Gamer,” he said. “Let me show you.” Philby took her DS from her and changed her

  settings to al ow Wi-Fi access. Then he showed her how to enter D-Gamer mode. Turning on his

  own DS, he typed a message to her. An alert appeared on her screen and she answered it. Then

  he switched devices with her and sent one from her device to his.

  “How total y awesome,” she said, marveling. Taking back her own DS, she sent Philby a text

  message:

  angelface13: i never knew it could do that.

  philitup: it’s a new feature, added last spring.

  Finn set up his sister’s DS for Amanda. Philby had invited them al to join the private chat,

  and soon they were al texting back and forth.

  The Dapper Dan cleared his throat to stop them, and they put their Nintendos away. He asked if they knew their way around the Park. “I’m acquainted with the layout,” Wil a said, piping up. She handed out maps for each of them. “Basical y there are five areas—Asia, Africa, Camp

  Minnie-Mickey, and DinoLand USA. These four surround a lake that holds the fifth, Discovery Island, in the middle—the Tree of Life, some food stal s, and shopping. I don’t know our plan, if we have one, but there are five of us, not counting Amanda, and five areas. Seems pretty obvious.”

  “And I’l be watching you from the Conservation Station,” said Amanda, reminding everyone.

  “In terms of costumes,” Charlene said, “the best thing we could do is just dress as rangers or

  animal care. Either light green or dark green short-sleeve shirts and shorts. It would be best if we could get the real thing, but I don’t see how that’l happen.”

  “That wil happen because I’m going to help you,” the driver said. “Cast Members are now

  responsible for their own uniforms. But there’s a costuming shed that used to be for outfitting everyone. Now it’s more of a storage facility and costume-repair facility, but I can get you in there.”

  Finn said, “Here’s what I suggest: Wil a wil be a conservation ranger; Maybeck an animal-

  care worker; Amanda, Philby, and I stay dressed as we are. Charlene…you get the tricky one.”

  “Which is?” she asked, final y looking up from the smudge.

  “DeVine.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “The character,” Wil a corrected. “He wasn’t giving you a compliment!”

  “Who knew?” Charlene asked.

  “I thought your cheerleading experience might make you a better gymnast than the rest of us.

  DeVine walks on huge stilts and dresses in total camouflage so that it’s almost impossible to see

  her. Can you use stilts?”

  “I’ve used stilts before, though not real high ones.”

  “These are real high,” said Wil a.

  “There are four complete DeVine outfits,” the driver explained. “But I’ve got to warn you: DeVine enters the Park at ten, twelve, two, and four. If two DeVines are seen in the Park at the

  same time, that wil alert Security. So if you do this, you’l need to hide deep within the jungle when the real DeVine is in the Park.”

  They were al staring at Charlene.

  “Wil you do it?” Finn asked.

  “What’s the costume like?” she asked the driver.

  But it was Wil a who answered. “It’s amazing. With the makeup, she blends into the jungle so

  wel you can’t even see her when you’re only a few feet away.”

  “There’s makeup involved?” Charlene asked. “This is so total y my thing, I can’t believe it. Of

  course I’l do it.”

  “Wayne wanted me to tel you,” the driver said, “that Maleficent can transform herself from human to animal. It doesn’t last long, and it exhausts her, but any animal you see in the Park could be her. He said it’s incredibly important to keep that in mind: any animal. ”

  “And remember about the security cameras,” Philby reminded. “The whole Park is watched.

  Only the washrooms are absolutely safe. No cameras.”

  He yawned a massive yawn. It was contagious: each of them yawned in succession.

  “The hardest part of al of this,” Maybeck said, “at least for al of you, is looking older than you real y are. Thankful y that’s not such an issue for me.”

  Philby cringed. “Give me a break,” he muttered.

  “It’s true,” the driver said. “We can use some makeup to try to help, but those of you in costume must remember that Cast Members are eighteen and up. So act it where possible, and

  avoid encounters with Park visitors as much as you can. Whatever you do, don’t talk to other Cast

  Members. It’s a family here—even as big as it is. Cast Members know the other Cast Members.

  You wil be found out.”

  “That’s encouraging,” Maybeck said sarcastical y.

  “That’s reality,” the driver said.

  “Yeah?” Maybeck snapped a little testily. “Wel , that would be the first time we’ve dealt with

  reality in a long, long time. So pardon me if I don’t recognize it.”

  “Any questions?” the driver asked.

  He hoisted the truck’s rear door. And while the sun had not yet risen, they found themselves in

  a vast, empty parking lot, alongside several steel-sided, mostly windowless buildings that looked

  like warehouses. The sky was ful y aglow with the push of dawn as the kids climbed out of the truck and hurried to fol ow the Dapper Dan.

  16

  THE DRIVER SHOWED THEM into the Cast Services building. Even if the lights had been on, it stil

  would have been gloomy and creepy inside, with its rows of hundreds of abandoned lockers. But

  under the hazy glow of the dim, off-hours lighting, the place looked positively haunted. Not one locker had a person’s name on it, nor did any of them look used—no scratches, decals, graffiti, or dents. Nothing like the lockers at school.

  “This was original y going to be where Cast Members changed for work,” the Dapper Dan

  said, “but it became impractical because of the distance to the Park. But if anything goes wrong—

  a missing button, a broken zipper—it comes here. The building’s only open a few hours a day.”

  The six kids stood just inside the building. The driver walked past and unlocked an interior

  door to the left of a narrow counter, behind which was a retractable metal barrier, padlocked shut.

  “Make sure this is locked behind you. When you’re ready, you cross the roads out here. Stay

  to the far left of the parking lots. There’s a pedestrian entrance on West Savannah Circle. Philby, if you find you need anything mechanical, any tool of any sort, the adjacent structure is the maintenance facility. The animation training lab is in that building as wel . Parts for anything you can dream of to do with the Animal Kingdom can be found over there. You can use these IDs to

  access it and any other facility,” he said, handing each of the kids a plastic ID card. Finn’s card had his picture on it and a fake name, Finnian Thomas, with a fake address. “Each of you is in the system as an employee of the company—and you’re al in there as being eighteen. So if anyone

  should ask…the department you work for is on there
as wel . Memorize it. These wil get you into

  and out of the Park via the pedestrian entrances, al ow you to charge food, buy merchandise. But

  don’t abuse them. In most cases, you don’t need them to go backstage. But in certain buildings,

  certain facilities, you may, so keep them handy. They get you past the electronic security.

  Whatever you do, don’t lose them. I’l need them back, and I’l need to destroy them.”

  There was a noise then, like the wind: a swishing, whooshing sound, as if someone had left a

  window open. But no one felt a breeze, and not a hair moved on anyone’s head. However, quite a

  few hairs raised on the back of Finn’s neck.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  The driver turned to the door they had come through. “I’ve got to go,” he said. “You’re on your

  own from here on out.” He was gone in an instant. His hurrying off so quickly added to the sense of impending danger.

  He closed the door a little loudly on his way out. The boom echoed around the building.

  “Check it out,” Maybeck cal ed to the others. He was holding open the door that the driver had

  unlocked. The others stepped forward and peered inside. The ceiling was thirty feet overhead, steel beams with cross supports—al unfinished and basic. Displayed before them were fifty or

  sixty rows of clothes hanging from steel pipes. The rows stretched from where they stood to the far side of the building, fifty yards or more.

  “Oh…my…gosh,” gushed Charlene.

  There had to be thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of garments—every kind of

  Animal Kingdom costume and Cast Member outfit, in every size. And accessories: hats, boots,

  belts, buckles, backpacks, clipboards, pointers, pens, notepads—in containers on shelves just above the clothing that matched their theme.

  “Wow…” Wil a said.

  “You al know how you’re dressing,” Finn said. He spotted the signs across the room.

  “Women’s locker rooms to the right, men’s to the left. The sooner we’re out of here the better.

  Philby, Amanda, and I wil stand guard.”

  “Against what?” Wil a asked.

  “Use your imagination,” Maybeck said.

  “If I whistle like this,” Finn said, emitting a whistle that sounded a little bit like a sick bird, a little bit like a leaking bal oon, “then hide until you hear it again.”

  “If you whistle like that,” Maybeck said condescendingly, “you’re going to get me laughing so

  hard I’l never be able to hide.”

  “Your problem, not mine,” Finn said.

  That silenced Maybeck for the moment, just long enough for Philby to say he’d look for a door

  at the back where he could stand guard. Amanda would stay basical y where they were. Finn would patrol the general locker area where they’d entered.

  No one had a good feeling about this. No one but Charlene, who was acting like she’d just

  unlocked her grandmother’s attic.

  * * *

  Suspended above the impossibly long rows of clothing and costumes were large hand-painted signs done in the Animal Kingdom’s African-style lettering. They divided the space into sections, a system used to organize a hundred thousand Cast Member costume pieces into something

  manageable.

  While Maybeck cruised ANIMAL CARE and Wil a PARK RANGERS, Charlene browsed the area

  marked PERFORMERS, searching for DeVine costumes.

  The first suggestion that they might not be alone came in the form of noise: the familiar sound

  of hangers tinkling like dul bel s. Charlene noticed it first, or was at least the first to voice her concern. She hurried to find Wil a and whispered hotly, “Did you hear that? The hangers? Coming

  from over there?” She pointed.

  “What?” Wil a was busy trying to find a shirt that would fit her.

  “Hangers. Like someone else is in here,” Charlene explained in a conspiratorial hush. “Don’t

  forget Smal World.”

  As DHIs, the kids had once ridden through It’s a Smal World late at night only to have al the

  dol s come alive and attack them. It was a memory—more like a nightmare—none of them cherished. Other parts of various attractions in the Magic Kingdom had come alive as wel , often

  threatening them, or outright causing them harm. It had instil ed a reluctance in them al , a distrust of what might happen next, that had stayed with them long since, and whether they spoke of it or

  not, haunted them.

  “You’re just buggy because it’s dark in here.”

  “I’m not buggy! I heard hangers banging around over there. What’s with that? You think I should tel Finn?”

  “Boys? We don’t need boys.”

  Some hangers rang out quite near them. Charlene jumped back. Wil a stood her ground but

  peered inquisitively into the room’s twilight. “It’s got to be Finn or Philby playing a joke,” she told Charlene.

  “Ha-ha.”

  Wil a stood tal er and spoke with authority. “Okay, you guys! You got us. Al y-al y-in-free.”

  The ting-ting of hangers faded, like a clock running down. The girls waited for someone to jump out and surprise them, but it didn’t happen.

  “Are you going to check it out?” Charlene asked, partly hiding behind Wil a.

  Together the girls explored the rack in front of them, pushing clothes aside. They did so cautiously, a few garments at a time. Wil a grabbed a bunch of shirts and slid them to her right.

  A large bat dropped from the rack, unfolded its wings, and flapped violently to gain altitude.

  Wil a ducked. Charlene screamed and went over backward, fal ing to the floor.

  The bat spiraled into the upper reaches of the warehouse and, because of Charlene’s

  scream, got the attention of everyone on the floor.

  It was a big bat, an ugly bat, with a wingspan of at least two feet, but it moved through the air

  as fast as a cat after a toy, fluttering and flying, weaving and diving, one moment up high near the ceiling, the next dive-bombing down one of the endless aisles.

  The commotion drew Finn and Amanda, running. Philby hurried from the back. But it was Maybeck who proved to be the shrewd thinker. He grabbed a butterfly net from the props section

  and came after the bat like a lacrosse player, swinging the bil owing net with remarkable agility.

  “Find the lights!” he shouted, fol owing the bat down a row of grass skirts. “Bats don’t like light!”

  Where the others might have been satisfied with scaring the bat out of the building, Amanda

  and Finn understood the tension in Maybeck’s voice. Finn had seen a huge bat at Amanda’s. The

  same bat? Not a great believer in coincidence, he, too, wanted to catch it. Clearly Maybeck also

  believed it was no ordinary bat.

  “Philby,” Finn shouted, “the lights!” He had no idea how to turn on the lights in a building this

  size, but if there was a switch, Philby would find it before anyone else.

  True to form, the overhead lights came on only seconds later, and the warehouse lit up like

  the school gymnasium. As the lights flashed on, the bat dove as if it had been shot, and there was Maybeck, lunging through the air. He swung the net. The bat swooped. The two met in a tangle of

  nylon mesh, high-pitched squeals. Maybeck skidded down the smooth concrete floor like a base

  runner diving for home plate. He twisted the net, throwing it over itself and trapping the prize inside.

  The kids let out an unplanned cheer.

  They had taken a prisoner.

  17

  MAYBECK APPROACHED the employee pedestrian entrance to the Animal Kingdom holding a

  pil owcase that wouldn’t stay stil . The Cast Member entrance—employees only—was a revolvingr />
  door of steel tines that moved only clockwise and required the employee card to open. The unattended entrance—he was grateful for that—required him to swipe the ID card the driver had

  provided. A red light turned green, and Maybeck pushed through the turnstile. Use of the pil owcase prevented the contents from being seen: the bat. Stil , it was too close for comfort, and he was only too happy to dangle it away from his side as he cleared the entrance.

  The pil owcase danced again.

  “Settle down!” he said harshly, aware that he was speaking to a white pil owcase. Or more

  precisely, its contents: a Rousette fruit bat.

  To his surprise, it quieted.

  Wil a, an animal lover, had identified the bat the moment Maybeck had caught it. This led to a

  group discussion of what to do with the thing. Charlene wanted it released and out of the building as quickly as possible. Philby suggested doing something to it that wouldn’t have been approved

  by the SPCA, and while Wil a thought it was “cute” and that it might make an interesting pet, Maybeck and Finn came up with a solution that seemed to please everyone—except Philby, of

  course, since it meant keeping it alive.

  “We can’t let it go,” Finn had said. “I know it’s completely ridiculous to think it might be Maleficent…” Wil a groaned at the mention of this. “But what if it is? Or what if we’ve captured Maleficent’s spy? Amanda and I saw a bat at her house. What if that was this same one?”

  “If it is Maleficent, don’t you think she’d turn back into herself and do something bad to us?”

  Wil a suggested sarcastical y. “I’d say this would be a good time for that.”

  “Good point,” Charlene said.

  “Wayne told me the heat slows the powers she uses to transform herself. It’s like her kryptonite. We don’t know what she’s capable of,” Finn said. “I just don’t see how it’s worth taking any risks.”