KK01 - The Kingdom Keepers aka Disney After Dark

by Ridley Pearson

  Murmurs rippled through the group. No one objected to the idea of gaining self-control.

  “The Fall Games are tomorrow,” Charlene said. “Is everyone here going?”

  They realized they would all be there, participating in various sports.

  “That gives us a chance to meet again,” Finn said. “Let’s meet by the snack bar before any of the sports get going.”

  “Psst!” Maybeck’s arm appeared briefly as he reached across the doorway and pulled Charlene’s knee back inside. In the shadow her leg became invisible.

  Finn then heard what Maybeck had heard: the sound of footsteps, the crunching of gravel.

  Nearby. Security guards? At the same time, he felt a sudden draft, like when he stepped into an air-conditioned room. He shivered.

  “I feel you…” It was a woman’s hoarse whisper, raspy and dry, as if she had sand in her throat. Gooseflesh rippled up Finn’s arms and down his spine. He was freezing now. “You don’t belong here. Go away.”

  The sound of footsteps moved slowly away from their teepee, and continued on to the next.

  Finn held his breath. The sound stopped, and then headed back toward them.

  Inside the teepee came a soft shuffling sound as the invisible Maybeck and Charlene moved farther away from the door.

  “I feel you,” came that awful voice again. “You can’t hide from me.”

  It wasn’t just any woman’s voice. Finn had heard that voice before. But how was that possible?

  The footfalls circled the teepee and came around front again. Two legs appeared, with black stockings that ended at low-heeled, shiny black shoes. An invisible Willa reached over and found Finn’s hand and clutched it tightly. Hers was warm and clammy.

  The black-stockinged legs bent as a hand appeared in the teepee’s doorway.

  A green hand. The hand emerged from the end of a long black sleeve. Green as a lizard, the knuckles bent and bumpy, the nails as long as claws. Charlene gasped aloud. Too loud.

  The air grew colder still. The woman bent over fully and peered into the dark teepee. She wore a robelike black dress with jagged purple fringe and a purple stripe running up the middle—

  some kind of costume.

  “Interesting,” she said, staring into an empty teepee.

  Now Finn understood how he knew this voice: it was from one of the Disney movies. But which one?

  He racked his brain, as Willa’s hand grew colder in his. She squeezed so hard, it hurt.

  The woman bent lower, and lower still. The air grew colder and colder.

  A green neck appeared, then a green chin, a green nose, and finally her full face. Wretched, yet somehow beautiful.

  It was Maleficent, the mean-spirited witch from Sleeping Beauty, the most ill-tempered and dreaded witch of all.

  His eyes were stinging with ice, Finn looked away, thinking the cold might kill him. When he looked back, she was gone. Two footprint-shaped patches of ice showed where her shoes had been. The ground was frozen solid where she had stood.

  No one spoke for several long minutes. Finn was the first to break the silence, in a faint whisper. “Was that an illusion?”

  “If it was, it was one solid illusion,” Maybeck said.

  Philby asked. “What about the cold? Was I the only one who felt that?”

  “No way!” they all chorused.

  “I had my eyes shut,” Charlene confessed.

  “Me too,” Willa admitted. Only then did she let go of Finn’s hand. He was glad they were all invisible. He wouldn’t have wanted to explain their holding hands.

  Maybeck scooted forward, and as he did, partially reappeared at the mouth of the teepee’s open door. About a third of him peered outside, the rest of him invisible.

  “She’s gone,” Maybeck said.

  “She?” Charlene asked.

  “Her skin certainly looked real enough,” Finn said.

  “That was green skin, not green makeup. Mark my words,” Maybeck said, “I know the difference.”

  “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Willa asked.

  Finn offered the only explanation he could think of: “I think we just met an Overtaker.”

  14

  The Wide World of Sports complex housed eleven baseball diamonds, a separate major- and minor-league baseball stadium with seating for nine thousand, five sports fields, a tennis complex, and a 400-meter running track. The facility had as many parking lots as an airport. Various buildings, all painted yellow, were scattered around the grounds and housed a cafe, locker rooms, and meeting halls.

  On this October afternoon, nearly a thousand local students and their families jammed the complex for the annual Fall Games.

  “You’re not telling me anything,” Amanda complained, as she and Finn walked toward the snack bar. “All you care about is hooking up with the others. What, I’m suddenly not your friend?”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Looks that way to me.”

  “Listen…all sorts of weird stuff’s happening.”

  “Well, that certainly clarifies things.”

  “It’s complicated.” Suddenly Finn spotted Philby and Maybeck, both in their gym clothes, as they climbed the steps to the central facility that housed locker rooms and an indoor-outdoor snack bar. A TV news crew was picking out kids to interview. Finn steered well clear of the cameras; his celebrity as a DHI made him a prime target for TV.

  Finn felt the curious warmth on the back of his neck that he always felt when someone’s eyes were on him. Through the chaotic crowds of kids and parents, coaches and referees, volunteers and Wide World employees, Finn spotted a girl looking at him. Not just any girl. She was beautiful, with pale skin that set off her jet-black hair. Her deep-set gray eyes captivated him, even from a distance. He’d never seen her before.

  It didn’t take Amanda long to notice Finn gazing at the girl. She stared long and hard at her.

  “Who’s that?” Finn asked.

  “Who?” Amanda tried to pretend she hadn’t seen her.

  “The girl you’re staring at.”

  “Never seen her before.” Is Amanda upset with me? Finn wondered. She turned and hurried off.

  Finn called out to stop her, but she pretended not to hear.

  The pale girl with the black hair smiled at Finn, who couldn’t avoid passing next to her on his way to join the others.

  “Hey, Finn,” she said, as if they knew each other.

  He stopped. “Hey.”

  “I’m Jez.”

  “That’s an unusual name.”

  “Short for Jezebel. It’s from the Bible.” She wasn’t proud of this. “My mother. You know how that goes.”

  “Lawrence Finnegan Whitman. My parents actually thought they’d call me Larry. Larry! Can you imagine? I switched it to Finn in third grade, though it’s not much better.” He couldn’t stop his mouth from talking. He told himself, Shut up!, but he kept on going. “And then all the fish jokes started coming. Fin, this. Fin, that.”

  “What’s your sport?”

  It was as if she hadn’t heard him. He felt relieved. “Soccer. Yours?”

  “Spectator. I came to watch.”

  Her eyes were gray with green specks, like imperfect jewels.

  “Have we met?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “But you knew my name.”

  “I know all about you.” The way she said it bothered Finn. “Because of the Magic Kingdom!”

  she explained. “You’re my favorite Disney host.”

  Finn felt awkward and uncomfortable. What was he supposed to say to that? He was saved by the public address system. Players were supposed to find their teams. Finn wanted to catch up with his fellow DHIs.

  “Well,” he said, “I gotta go.”

  “There’s a Girl Scout car wash tomorrow,” she said casually, like an afterthought. When she laughed, it sounded almost—musical. “You could come by if you want.”

  “Ye
ah…maybe…”

  “It’s at Dangerous Dan’s.”

  Finn hurried up the stairs and past the snack bar.

  He found the others in a sour-smelling locker room marked VISITORS B. Backpacks, athletic bags, and smelly shoes surrounded them. Finn and Maybeck organized plastic chairs into a circle.

  Philby said, “Willa and I have made some progress.”

  Finn felt a wrenching in his gut. The deeper they went, the more he feared they were in danger.

  Philby glanced toward the door. Now Finn did too, because, like Philby, he thought he felt something coming from there: a slight chill. A familiar chill.

  “Are we going to talk about last night?” Charlene asked, clearly unsettled.

  “What’s to talk about?” Maybeck said. “We were visited by Maleficent, a witch with green skin and black tights, who brought the ambient temperature down to about five below zero.” He spoke with so much sarcasm that no one dared bring the subject up again.

  Finn told Philby, “The games are starting. We’ve got to hurry. Have you got anything?”

  Philby explained, “The first clue in the fable is sun. There are plenty of suns in the park. But supposedly the ride with the biggest sun is It’s a Small World. I think we should start there.”

  “Start what?” Charlene asked.

  “Looking for clues.”

  “What kind of clues?” she persisted.

  “I’m not sure we’ll know until we find one.”

  “Does anybody else hear how ridiculous this sounds?” Maybeck asked.

  Finn said, “We’re going to end up in the park tonight, like it or not. We might as well have a plan.”

  Willa spoke up. “We should all go to bed early, right at eight, as the park closes. Agreed?”

  Maybeck snorted. “You guys are crazy. You know that?”

  Finn said, “We need all of us, Maybeck.” He felt awash with a sudden wave of cold again.

  Not as strong as at the teepee, but not normal. He lowered his voice. “I think we’re done here.”

  The others suddenly felt the cold as well. Maybeck’s smugness fell from his face. He said,

  “Okay, I’ll be there.”

  “But what about the green—thing, person, woman?” Charlene asked.

  Maybeck answered. He’d lost his sarcasm. “Listen, we’d better stay alert. Not only when we’re in the park.” He added cautiously in a whisper, “Are we so sure this crossing over thing is a one-way street? If we can cross over to there, who says they can’t cross over to here?”

  15

  “Finn, are you sure you feel all right?” his mother said, looking up from the kitchen sink where she was doing dishes. His father hummed as he wiped down the kitchen table.

  “I’m fine. I just want to go to bed early, that’s all.”

  “For the third or fourth night in a row,” his mother said.

  His father barely looked up. “Try to sneak out again, you’re grounded for the rest of your life.”

  Finn and his mother exchanged a look: she’d told his dad, after saying she wouldn’t.

  “I’m not going to sneak out,” Finn promised.

  “I’ll take away your computer. No more e-mail. No more gaming.”

  This was the worst threat he could make.

  His father looked up. “There was a break-in at a welding shop the other night. A bunch of gear was stolen. Same night, the police—the police, this is—reported a bunch of handcuffs missing from a storage room. This was all over the news. You and your friends go sneaking around at night, and you’ll be blamed for things like that, you understand? Whether you had anything to do with them or not. You end up at the wrong place at the wrong time and it’s going to look bad—very bad—for you.”

  “Wouldn’t the police have security cameras, Dad?” Finn didn’t really want the answer to this, but he had to know. Wayne had mentioned the break-in.

  “I don’t have any idea! I’m just worried about you, Finn, not whatever was stolen. Are you listening to anything I’m saying?”

  “Is your homework done?” his mother inquired, changing the subject. She knew when to rescue him.

  “All done. Seriously, I’m just tired. ”

  “It’s because you sleep too much,” his father said. “More yard work would be good for you.

  Why, when I was your age—”

  “Dad!” Finn complained. “Can we maybe talk about this in the morning?”

  The digital clock that was part of the stove read 7:45. Finn needed to be in bed and asleep by eight if he was to meet the others.

  Finn dressed warmly and climbed into bed, boots and all. He pulled the sheet and blanket up high in case his mother looked in on him. She might wake him if she saw he was wearing street clothes. He had no idea what might happen to his DHI if he were rudely awakened from sleep, but he didn’t want to find out.

  He lay there in bed: 7:55. He didn’t feel particularly sleepy. If he didn’t cross over, then someone else would have to lead the group. This thought made him more anxious and less sleepy: 8:04. He felt his chances slipping away. How would he find them if he arrived late? The Magic Kingdom was huge! This led him to wonder how it was that they all arrived in the same general area. Wayne hadn’t explained nearly enough of this.

  The front-door chime sounded.

  It was an odd time of night for visitors. Their next-door neighbors always used the back door.

  “Finn?” his mother called upstairs.

  Both annoyed and curious, Finn dragged himself out of bed. He headed to the door and then caught a look at himself in the mirror. He was fully dressed, head to toe, in day clothes that he hadn’t been wearing earlier. What would his mother think of that?

  He removed his boots and socks and rolled up the legs of his jeans. If he threw a bathrobe over his clothes, he’d look ready for bed.

  A glance into the mirror told him he had to lose the jacket, or look like the Incredible Hulk.

  Checking himself one last time, he headed out into the hall.

  Jez stood inside the front door talking to his mother. Finn felt stupid wearing a bathrobe. Too late. She’d glanced up and seen him.

  He summoned his courage and descended, as if it were perfectly normal to be ready for bed at eight o’clock. He felt warm under the robe and layers of clothes.

  “Hey, Jez!” A million thoughts ran around in his busy brain. How did she know where he lived?

  What was she doing here?

  He glanced at the grandfather clock: 8:10. This was a serious problem.

  His mother couldn’t shut up, of course. She rambled on about how refreshing it was to meet one of Finn’s friends, and such a cute girl at that.

  Finn shot her a private look. His mom excused herself to the kitchen.

  Jez said, “I came by to congratulate you.”

  Finn felt confused.

  “Soccer,” Jez said. “You guys took third.”

  The clock read 8:12.

  “Well,” Finn said, moving to open the door, “Thanks a lot. That was really nice of you.”

  “Nice bathrobe,” Jez said, stifling a grin. “You feel okay?”

  Truth was, Finn was overheating in all the layers. Sweat trickled off his forehead. He mopped it up with his sleeve.

  “Just a little tired. Probably just the game.”

  She nodded, but studied him oddly. He felt one of his pant legs slip down. He bent over and stuffed it back up, without offering an explanation.

  The doorbell rang.

  Mrs. Whitman charged out of the kitchen. Finn tried to stop her with a glance, but it was no good. Finn stepped up and opened the door.

  Amanda.

  His mother lost the battle to keep a smile off her face. Heading back into the kitchen, she called out, “I’ll get cookies.”

  “Hey, Finn,” Amanda said, stepping inside. “I’m Amanda,” she introduced herself to Jez.

  “Jez.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Amanda gave Jez that same penetrating
look she’d given her earlier at the sports complex. Jez just looked back at her and smiled.

  “What kind do you like?” Finn’s mother asked from the kitchen doorway.

  The two girls followed Mrs. Whitman.

  “What kind do you have?” Jez asked.

  Finn felt outnumbered. He was boiling hot and boiling mad for having his plans interrupted. By the time he reached the kitchen all three of them were jabbering away about how quickly cookies went stale in the Florida weather…something about Girl Scouts…Jez mentioned the car wash.

  The clock read 8:15.

  “I’m beat!” Finn announced from the hall. The two girls glanced over, the conversation interrupted. His mother gave him an Oh, no you don’t! face.

  He said, “I mean, I don’t feel so hot…Actually, I do feel—hot. Like a fever or something.”

  “But you said you felt fine,” Jez corrected him.

  He swiped his damp forehead with the sleeve of the bathrobe. “Hot,” he repeated. “Did you need something, Amanda?” he asked.

  “No. I was just in the neighborhood. Thought I’d stop by.”

  In the neighborhood? Finn didn’t think so. She lived several blocks away.

  Jez asked, “Will I see you at the car wash?”

  Amanda said earnestly, “Absolutely!” as if Jez had intended this for her.

  “Night, then!” Finn said softly, backing up the stairs. “See you both tomorrow, I guess.”

  Amanda scrunched her face and snarled secretly at him. She did not want to be abandoned.

  His mother said, “Finn, we’re going to have some cookies—”

  Amanda saw his panicked expression; then she looked at the clock. She understood. “It’s okay, we can do it another time,” she said. She pulled Jez toward the hallway.

  The girls said good-bye. Finn tried to thank Amanda with his eyes.