The Disneyland Quest

by Matt Ainsworth

  Chapter 11

  Dizzy, Travis, and Ana entered the tunnel that passed under the train tracks and entered Toon Town. They walked past Goofy’s house, which had a playground for toddlers in the backyard, and Donald’s boat, named the Miss Daisy. In the back corner of Toon Town was Chip and Dale’s Treehouse, a walkthrough attraction with a spiral staircase through an acorn tree.

  “Can we go inside?” Ana asked excitedly.

  “Of course,” Dizzy said. “Everyone should be on the lookout for a stone carving, ok?”

  “And if you do find something,” Travis said, pointing a finger at Ana and Dizzy. “Play it cool. There is no reason to go shouting that we found the second clue, ok?”

  “Deal,” Ana and Dizzy said in unison.

  The three of them walked up through the tree house, inspecting the small details as they went. There was a line of children behind them, forcing Dizzy to move faster than he wanted to.

  “You two go ahead,” Dizzy said to Travis and Ana. “I’m going to let these people pass me.”

  Travis and Ana continued up the tree, and Dizzy tried to squeeze against the wall to allow the kids behind him to pass through. After they passed, Dizzy was able to move more slowly, looking for anything that could be a clue. After ten minutes he decided there was nothing in the tree house, and caught up with Travis and Ana standing near the exit.

  “Anything?” Travis asked.

  “Nope. Not that I could see anyway.”

  “So where to next?”

  “Let’s head over to Alice in Wonderland. Your Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb idea sounded good to me.”

  The three kids headed back toward the tunnel leaving Toon Town and passed Big Red sitting on a bench. Travis recognized him and wondered why an adult would be sitting alone in Toon Town. Travis shrugged his shoulders and thought he must have been waiting for his family.

  “I love Alice in Wonderland!” Ana exclaimed as she grabbed both of the boys hands. “Let’s go!”

  Alice in Wonderland was another dead end, as was any hope of finding Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Dizzy kept thinking back to the word “distant” from the clue. He was sure it was important. Chip and Dale weren’t distant, and neither were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. He hoped everyone else in the contest was as stumped as they were. His mind drifted back to Megan and what she was doing. He wondered if she was still with her brother and his friends.

  “Any other ideas?” Travis asked, snapping Dizzy out of his daze. The three of them were sitting on a bench near the Partners Statue of Walt and Mickey in the hub in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Ana had wanted a snack and Travis bought them some popcorn to share.

  “Not that I can think of,” Dizzy said sadly. It was not the start to the Quest he had hoped for.

  Ana was trying to catch a piece of popcorn in her mouth after throwing it in the air. The small pile of popcorn on the ground was proof it was not going well. She leaned back to try again and a piece of popcorn landed in her hair.

  “Here, I’ll get that,” Travis said, reaching over to help. “Hey, what’s this?”

  Travis pulled a piece of confetti out of Ana’s hair.

  “It must have gotten stuck there this morning,” Dizzy said.

  Travis opened the piece of paper and gasped.

  “You are not going to believe this.”

  “What? What is it?” Dizzy asked.

  Travis spread the paper flat in his hand. Dizzy looked down in shock.

  “Is that--?”

  “Yep,” Travis said excitedly. “Another first clue.”