The Disneyland Quest

by Matt Ainsworth

  Chapter 10

  “I’m sorry guys,” Dizzy began. “But this doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Travis said. “Of course it doesn’t make any sense! It is a riddle for crying out loud. You didn’t think the first clue would say, ‘Go to Space Mountain’ or something obvious did you? This is exactly what we wanted.”

  “It is?”

  “Of course it is. Do you know how many groups down there are reading this clue and already saying ‘Forget this, let’s go on some rides.’ We can work this out. Let’s just take things slow and think about it line by line.”

  Some people nearby were watching and listening to Travis. He noticed them eavesdropping and lowered his voice.

  “But we should probably do that in private.”

  “The train!” Ana said, pointing to the approaching Disneyland Railroad. “Dizzy, can we ride the train?”

  “Great idea Ana,” Travis said. “Let’s hop on and start figuring out this first clue.”

  “We should text our parents and let them know where we are,” Dizzy suggested. “My mom wanted us to check in throughout the day.”

  “Fine,” Travis said, seeming annoyed. He took his cell phone out and typed out a text to Michelle. “Got 1st clue. Getting on train now.” He hit send and put the phone back in his pocket.

  The three kids went through the turnstile and walked into Main Street station. The interior of the station was like a small train museum. Old photographs of Walt and the original train engineers, a framed map of the Disneyland railroad line, display cases with old Disneyland railroad memorabilia, and a vintage penny scale. In the middle of the room stood a large display case with a scale model of Walt Disney’s Lilly Belle locomotive, named after his wife Lillian.

  When the train came to a stop, an engineer hopped off the train and opened the sliding gate. Dizzy, Travis, and Ana entered the train toward the rear and slid into an empty row.

  “All aboard!” the train engineer yelled loudly when everyone was seated.

  “Hold on!” a man yelled, running up to the closing gate. He was extremely tall, thin, and had a long dark beard. He was almost completely bald and was wearing a red Disneyland t-shirt with a pin that said “898.”

  “Looks like Big Red is going to pass out,” Travis said quietly. The man was out of breath and his bright red face matched his shirt. Dizzy laughed at the nickname.

  The nearest Cast Member reopened the gate and allowed the man in red to climb aboard. He didn’t bother to give a thank you and climbed into the row in front of the kids. The price tag on his shirt was still attached and hung over the back of his seat.

  The train began to move with a lurch and a friendly voice welcomed the passengers to the Disneyland Railroad.

  “OK,” Travis began. “Let’s get to work. Ana can I ask you for a favor?”

  “Umm.” Ana was hesitant. “What is it?”

  “Can we use your autograph book to keep notes about the Quest in? Obviously we can’t use this little scrap of paper we got.”

  Ana looked down at her autograph book, then up to Dizzy.

  “Please, sis?”

  “Oh, ok,” Ana said, handing the book to her brother. Ana couldn’t say no to Dizzy.

  “Thanks kiddo. You’re the best.” Travis raised his hand and Ana leapt across Dizzy to give him a high five.

  Dizzy wrote the first clue in Ana’s autograph book and underlined a couple of words in each line.

  “Why did you underline those?” Travis asked.

  “They seem important to me. Distant brothers, floating ride, dark and bleak, and carvings in stone.”

  “Ok, let’s start with the first line then. Distant brothers. What kind of brothers are in Disneyland? And how are they distant? Maybe they don’t get along with each other?”

  “I can only think of one set of brothers,” Dizzy said. “Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Donald’s nephews. But I wouldn’t consider them distant.”

  “What about Chip and Dale?” Ana asked. “Are they brothers?”

  “What about Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb?” Travis suggested.

  “Huh,” Dizzy said stumped. “I guess there are more than I thought. So which of them are distant? Unless...” Dizzy began writing something in the autograph book. It was a makeshift map of the park. Dizzy had drawn the map of Disneyland hundreds of times over the past few years. He quickly sketched out the different lands and outlined the park with the railroad tracks. The man in red turned to wipe the sweat off his check with the collar of his shirt, and glanced back at the book. Travis and Ana were watching Dizzy write and didn’t notice him.

  “What if distant means they are far apart from each other?” Dizzy began. “Maybe the brothers are spread out over the park and they are pointing the way to the 2nd clue?”

  “Good thinking Dizzy,” Travis said. “The only thing we have to do now is figure out what brothers they are talking about.”

  “Maybe the rest of the clue will help with that. Let’s keep going.”

  The train let out a loud whistle as it was approaching the New Orleans Square station.

  “Ok,” Travis said. “Line two says a ‘floating ride will rock and sway’. What rocks and sways? A boat?”

  “And a boat is a floating ride,” Ana said.

  Dizzy put his arm around his sister.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a smarty pants? Good work Ana!”

  “So what rides here have boats?” Travis asked.

  “Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Nemo’s Submarine Voyage, Small World, Storybook Land Canal boats, the raft to Tom Sawyer’s Island, Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, and Davy Crocket’s canoes.” Dizzy rattled off the rides one after the other.

  “Wow,” Travis said. “That was impressive.”

  “Thank you.”

  “The only problem is, that’s like half the rides here. How are we supposed to know what boat ride they are talking about? And which ride has anything to do with brothers?”

  “This clue definitely is a tough one,” Dizzy said. “But I feel like we are making progress. Line three says a place quiet, dark, and bleak. There are a lot of dark rides, but I can’t think of any that are quiet. Who would want to go on a quiet ride in the dark?”

  “Beats me,” Travis said. “Ok, last line. ‘Carvings in stone will show what you seek.’ That’s a relief.”

  “Why is that a relief?” Dizzy asked.

  “I was worried that the second clue would be written on a piece of paper somewhere. The first person to find it could just take it with them, erasing the trail for everyone else. If the clue is carved in stone then it will be there permanently.”

  “Good thinking,” Dizzy said. He was amazed at how far ahead Travis’s thinking was at all times. He was the one that thought about the impending stampede on Main Street after the clue, decided to stay in line when the new gate opened outside, pointed out the benefit of the first clue being challenging, and now this. Dizzy was impressed, and a little jealous.

  The train was approaching Toon Town Station.

  “Let’s get off here,” Dizzy suggested, closing Ana’s autograph book and shoving it into his pocket. “We can go check out some of the brothers we talked about. Chip and Dale have a tree house in Toon Town we should probably go look at. We have to start somewhere right?”

  “You’re the boss,” Travis said.

  The three of them waited for the train to come to a complete stop, climbed off, and headed for the exit.

  So did Big Red.