“You know Lance would never have shot us.” Beth gave a sigh. A treasure hunt—even when the end result isn’t definite—can do odd things to people. “But, I understand your point. Kimberly still has scars on her arm from when her uncle attacked her trying to take her treasure away from her.” She bent down to give the dog a hug and was rewarded with a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “I just don’t want our kids scarred—physically or emotionally.”
“None of us do, honey. I’m sure Lance and Kimberly would agree with us on that. But, how would Peter and Catie feel if we made them stop?” Adam left out a frustrated breath of air. “I don’t know. Think we should talk it over with the Brentwoods before we make a final decision?”
“Tomorrow is Saturday. The kids will probably want to go back to the Park to follow up on that next clue.” She stopped for a moment and frowned. “They did figure out the next step, didn’t they?”
Adam shrugged and gave a small smile. “I’m not in that loop. Why don’t we head over to the Brentwood’s house so we can talk to them in person?”
Beth glanced up at the clock. “Now? It’s dinnertime.”
Adam gave a wicked grin. “Yeah, I know. Just like Brentwood did to us last week.
Peter was fascinated as Catie described her dream to him with much hand waving and gestures. When she got to the part about the wolf, he had to interrupt. “Was it a huge black wolf with silver tips on his hair? And blue eyes and a white spot in the middle of his chest?”
Catie was a little taken aback. The nightmare had really scared her and Peter sounded all eager about the wolf. “It wasn’t black, Peter! Gosh, you sound like you’re describing Uncle Wolf if he actually turned into an animal. Sheesh! It was a red wolf—and really scary!”
“Uhm, a red wolf. Oh. Okay.” Peter planted a wide, guilty smile on his face. How could I be so stupid? She doesn’t know about Uncle Wolf. “Sorry. Go ahead.”
“I…I told you most of it. It was just so weird. There were some explosions and I escaped.” She frowned at the stupid look on Peter’s face, but figured he wouldn’t tell her where he got his idea of a black wolf. She let the dream drop and turned to something that they both equally worried about. “Do you think our parents will let us continue with this treasure hunt?”
The odd smile on his face faded. Peter nervously fiddled with a pen as he sat at his desk. “I think so. Don’t know why a silly dream would make them tell us to stop.” He could see a hurt expression flicker over Catie’s face as she sat on the floor across from him. “I mean, it was scary, but why would we have to quit?”
She gave a helpless shrug. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told them. Mom heard me yell out or something and came in my room.”
Peter picked up the yellowed riddle from the pile on his desk. He gave her a wide grin as he held the paper out in front of him. “It might have been a little scary, but you did figure out the next location.”
Catie brushed the paper from in front of her face. “I know what the clue says.” She sounded irritated. “You don’t have to wave it in my face. What did I figure out?”
The clue was dropped back on the desk. He asked another question rather than answer her. “How many mermaids did you see in your dream?”
“Everyone knows there are three in that scene. Ariel is now in the middle on top and two more are down below. But, there’re also three mermaids in the Peter Pan ride.”
“But the mermaids in Peter Pan weren’t there in Walt’s time. I found out in my research that they were added a lot later. The three mermaids in Small World have been there a long, long time.” He purposely quit talking to let it sink in and leaned back in his chair to watch the expression on her face.
The pique on her face slowly was replaced by the dawning of understanding. Her mouth formed a small O as she thought about it. “And the whole ride is covered with sparkles and glitter! Which one has golden hair?”
Glad to see she didn’t stay mad at him, Peter eagerly leaned forward. “I saw some pictures and the one on the bottom right has yellow hair. That has to be the golden hair. Ariel’s is red and the other one has either brown or black hair. They aren’t sparkly, but the seaweed behind them is. Maybe we have to search the seaweed.”
Catie’s enthused expression dulled. “But how do we get to the seaweed? Unless we find the ride shut down like Mansion was, the boats go by in a steady stream.”
“Yeah, there is that.” Peter hadn’t yet figured out that part. During their first treasure hunt, he had had to jump out of the Pirates of the Caribbean boat to get away from the thief. But, those boats were spaced a ways apart. Catie was correct. The boats in Small World usually caught up to each other and were a tight line. How could they manage to get off the boat unseen? And then there was the problem of the hidden cameras. “I could try and find where Mom hid the Key to Disneyland. Wolf told her to put it in a safer place.” Traitor, his mind added.
“What if there was some kind of diversion in the next boat behind us and it didn’t take off from the loading dock when it should? Would that give us enough time?”
“Depends on the diversion.” Peter tapped the pen on his school binder as he thought. “We’d have to get someone else to help us. Unless one of us went alone to find the next clue and the other one caused the diversion.” Seeing her eyes go wide, Peter knew he would have to go with his first suggestion. Catie wouldn’t be comfortable with either role of causing the diversion or going by herself. “Do you think Alex would be willing to help us?”
Catie just remembered something and groaned. “That sounds good, but our parents said we can’t go alone any more. At all. How would we pull this off with Uncle Wolf or Mom or Dad with us?”
Peter’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, yeah. I forgot. If we get to go at all.” He looked toward the door to his bedroom. “You think they’re done talking about us yet? Should we go find out?”
Reluctance was obvious on her face. “I don’t know what I’ll do if they say no.”
“Yeah. Me, either.” He stood from his chair and took a deep breath. “Well, we might as well go find out. You ready, Partner?”
Hearing him call her that, Catie perked up and gave him a beaming smile. Whatever happened, she still had that. “Partner.”
“Peter, will you please quit pouting?”
The close-knit group of six slowly wound their way through the busy queue of It’s a Small World. Arms tightly folded across his chest, Peter hung back from the two sets of parents, ever-loyal Catie by his side. “Don’t see why all of us have to go.”
“I expected that attitude from Catie, not Peter.” Adam had to hide a grin behind his hand as he mumbled to his wife. Before he turned to the sullen boy he managed to straighten out his face. “Hey, I’m not thrilled to have to ride this either, but it’s what we discussed last night.”
“After Catie’s bad dream, you went along with the decision that we would all ride with her the first time.” Personally, Lance agreed with the reason behind Adam’s lack of enthusiasm, but he also knew the adults had to present a united front. If the kids sensed any sign of weakness, they would pounce. Once Peter and Catie figured out how to find the next clue, the group would break up and help them accomplish whatever they needed to do. He also knew Wolf was stationed at the back of Small World’s show building, watching the exits and keeping an eye out for Omah.
Peter let out an unconvinced huff of air and glanced sideways at Catie to see what she thought about all of this. He discovered that her eyes were wide and her face betrayed an air of anxiousness as she stood closer to him than she usually did. “It’ll be okay, Catie.” Realizing how hard she was trying to hide her distress, he finally relaxed his obstinate stance to help with her needs. A dream’s only a dream but she obviously took this one seriously. “We’ll make sure nothing bad happens.”
At the sound of his voice next to her ear, Catie broke out of her trancelike stare. She had fixated on the boatloads of guests who bumped around the narrow channel on their way into the
attraction. After a tiny shiver, she gave a small nod and tried to smile. “I know. I’m just being stupid.”
Peter put an arm up to give her a hug, but let it drop back to his side instead. No need to get mushy. “You’re not stupid. You’re just a girl!”
The jibe worked as she gave his arm a punch. Seeing his grin, she knew he was just teasing her. The anxious lines on her face disappeared when she gave him a smile that was tinged with a little competitive spirit. “Just a girl, huh? Well, we’ll just see who finds the next clue first, won’t we?”
Listening in without appearing to be listening, the parents gave a silent, united sigh of relief. Worried about Catie, they all were glad to see her return to her usual cheerful self. Plus, they were tired of Peter’s cranky attitude.
“Can Catie and I at least have the front row of the boat to ourselves?”
“You want us all to huddle in the fifth row, buddy? I know! We can pretend we don’t know you.”
Peter looked as if he was seriously considering his dad’s option. Then he noticed the looks on the faces of the other adults and rolled his eyes. “Fine. Just don’t…suffocate us.”
“Okay. Adam, put away the leashes and collars. Beth, quit hovering. Kimberly, put the pepper spray back in your purse. They want to do this themselves. Kids. Sheesh.”
The parents chuckled amongst themselves while Lance continued to hand out his instructions. Peter gave a snort and shook his head at Catie. Adults. Sheesh. When they boarded their flat-bottom boat, he glanced back and realized they had two rows of strangers behind them. Scooted companionably close, Lance had his arm around Kimberly’s shoulder in row four. Back in row five, Adam and Beth had their heads together and were whispering into each other’s ears.
“Man, how long is this ride? Aren’t we there yet?”
“Gosh, Peter, quit complaining! I could have brought Alex if I wanted to hear that.” Catie considered hitting him in the arm again as she resumed humming the recurring theme song. “Why do you think Alex and your brothers chose to go swimming at Grandma Margaret’s instead of coming with us?”
“We need the clue. We need the clue. We need the clue.” Peter kept up his mantra as the song continued—both around him and next to him, thanks to Catie. “Why couldn’t Walt have hid it inside Space Mountain?”
Catie turned back to him and couldn’t help but grin. She had heard every mumbled word. “There wasn’t any Space Mountain way back then and you know it! The South Seas section is just after this one.”
“Finally.”
“No, the finale is in the room after that one!”
“I said finally, not finale.”
“I know. Just quit mumbling!” She gave a light giggle and turned back to the bright piñatas of Mexico. A group of ruffled dancers were circling under a huge sombrero. There was a low growl that came from Peter but he otherwise remained silent.
“Finale,” he smiled as the shimmering blue lights that gave the impression of being underwater came into view. Ariel had the top center position of the three mermaids and sea turtles bobbed on their lines on either side of her. “There’s our golden-haired mermaid, Catie.” His voice betrayed his excitement as he unnecessarily pointed out the doll on the left of the bottom row. “There’s a lot of seaweed behind them. Looks like some good walls to hide behind, too. We need to get back there.”
“You think there’s an exit out the back somewhere close? Gosh, we passed it already! Do we need to ride again?”
The two kids turned in their seats to look back as the boat continued its voyage into Australia. When the mermaids could no longer be seen, they turned forward again, oblivious to the rest of the ride. Heads together, voices low, they discussed possible ways to get behind the seaweed.
“Did you see how close the next boat was, Peter?”
“Yeah, we’d never be able to jump without being seen.”
“What other way do we have? How do we make sure there’s no boat behind us?”
Peter’s thumb jerked back over his shoulder. “Maybe our parents can finally help. What if your mom and dad caused some kind of delay at the dock so the next boat didn’t take off right away? And then my mom and dad could do something loud and obnoxious in the front of our boat so we could jump out of the last row. Do you think that would work?”
“What in the world would your mom do that was obnoxious?”
Peter gave a wide smile. “That would be left up to my dad.”
“Oh, we’re outside already. I always loved that lion.”
“What lion? What are you talking about?”
Catie pointed up on the bank above them on their right. A topiary lion proudly sat on the grassy lawn, his body a tight-cropped green and his mane a wild profusion of a brown bush.
They were silent with their thoughts as the train blew its whistle twice and pulled out of the nearby Toontown Station. Steam coming out of its black smokestack, the bright red Ernest S. Marsh chugged through the façade of Small World as it headed for Tomorrowland. Some of the guests seated in the green and white canopied cars waved at the people down below.
Once the group was gathered in the shade of the nearby Small World Toy Shop, Lance radioed for Wolf to join them.
“I think we need to ride it one more time.”
Catie’s suggestion was instantly met with a loud chorus of four male voices. “No!”
“But….”
“No!”
“We’ll figure it out, honey.” After Adam gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, he turned to Kimberly. “Do you need to check in with my mom to see how the kids are doing? You said Andrew wasn’t feeling well. I don’t know how long we’ll have to be here today.”
Beth gave a knowing smile. “I think Margaret is happy playing Grandma Michaels to all the kids.”
“Well, if you want me to drive you all the way to Yorba Linda to check on Andrew, let me know.”
“Gee, that was heart-felt, Lance. Thanks.”
Lance waved Adam off. “You know what I mean. I personally think the boys just didn’t want to have to ride Small World over and over.”
Kimberly knew Lance’s assessment of Andrew’s health was pretty accurate but still took her phone out of her purse as the discussion continued around her. They were all so intent on what they were doing that they failed to hear a startled gasp come from around the curve of the toy shop.
Dressed in a blonde wig, light-toned makeup, and huge sunglasses, Omah pressed herself flat against the side of the building. Pieces to her on-going puzzle had just fallen into place and she had to place a hand over her mouth to keep any other exclamations from accidentally escaping.
“Margaret is Margaret Michaels. I knew that. So, she is grandmother to the girl Catie. Then, that must be Margaret’s son and daughter-in-law. That’s what I couldn’t figure out. How Catie figured into all this. Margaret must have given them the clue she found back in 1965.” Omah had to force herself not to pace as she continued to whisper. She didn’t want to catch the attention of that sharp-eyed security guard. “Wolf!” she snorted. “If he only knew!” Her hand clamped tighter on her mouth as her shoulders shook with sudden uncontrolled laughter. When other guests passing by began to stare at her odd movements and whisperings, she made an effort to control herself. Her piercing, challenging stare back at them caused the guests immediately to move on.
“Maybe Margaret knows where my mermaid is.” Omah looked at the nearby gold and white pillar at the corner of the building. From what she could hear, the discussion was winding down and she needed to move away from the group. Even though she had managed to outwit Wolf so far, she didn’t want to press her luck. “Yorba Linda, huh? Maybe I need to pay a long-overdue visit to my dear friend Margaret.”
Careful to move casually like the rest of the guests around her, Omah walked away and blended in with a tour group who had just gotten off the ride.
As she strode off with a park map held up to conceal her face, Wolf’s head jerked in that direction. He h
ad caught a whiff of scent on the light breeze but couldn’t tell exactly where it had originated. There were hundreds of people moving in all directions. Some of them got in line for the princess meet-and-greet on the other side of the strollers. Some headed to or from Toontown or the train station. Across the way was the busy entrance to the Fantasyland Theatre. Some guests joined the long queue for It’s a Small World. There was a pile-up of people around the stroller area. The familiar scent vanished as quickly as it had come and Wolf was none the wiser.
Lance was startled when Wolf suddenly appeared next to him. “I thought you were over there.”
With his back to the rest of the group, Wolf kept his voice low so only his security partner could hear him. “She was here.”
Immediately tense, Lance’s eyes started to scan the ever-changing myriad of guests. “Where?”
Wolf just shook his head and looked ready to punch something.
“I thought Steve was posted by the old dock. How’d she get past him?”
“There are other ways into the Park.”
Lance had to concede and tried to relax before the kid’s noticed something was wrong. He didn’t want Catie to become fearful again. “True. That’s just the only place we’ve actually seen her disappear. Don’t worry. We’ll get her eventually.” Lance put a calming hand on Wolf’s arm, mainly because he knew Wolf didn’t like being touched.
“Yes, I will.”
“Okay, you two ready for this? You have the screwdriver in your backpack, Peter?” Adam looked at the anxious, excited faces of Peter and Catie. He envied what they were about to do, remembering his own adventures and the adrenaline rush that came with it. “Lance, Kimberly, you have something figured out for a diversion?”
Kimberly’s eyes narrowed when Lance gave her shoulders a tight squeeze. She wasn’t sure she liked the grin that spread across his face. “Lance, what have you got planned?”
“You’ll love it. Just play along.”
HIDDEN MICKEY ADVENTURES 3 Page 11
