Hidden Mickey Adventures 1

by Nancy Temple Rodrigue

  “I think I know where we’re supposed to go next. I saw Walt do that same thing in a special edition movie we watched. Remember?” Peter intently stared at his brother, willing him to understand what he was talking about. “They had those bonus features that Mom and Dad love to watch. Walt was in the Tiki Room. They still do it today to start the show. Sometimes they let a kid from the audience wake up Jose, the lead parrot.”

  “Yeah, I know that part, Peter. I’m not stupid.” Michael was nervous that they may have broken the ancient movie machine and would get in trouble for it.

  “I didn’t say you were stupid. Gosh, where did that come from?”

  Michael looked miserable. “We’ll have to wait until after the show to look in that mouth. You know for sure which one it is? What if we get caught?”

  “We can always say we’re looking for our dad.”

  “Oh, if we get caught, I’m sure he’ll find us,” Michael groaned.

  Peter gave a small shiver. “Yeah. Or Wolf will. Wasté kte sni.” It won’t be good.

  “You can say that again.” Glum, Michael wasn’t even surprised when Peter suddenly switched to Lakota, the Native American language that Wolf that been teaching them for years. It just seemed to fit.

  At that solemn reminder of possible consequences, Peter stuffed the note paper into his backpack. “We’ll figure it out. Let’s go to the Tiki Room. Like you said, we’ll have to sit through the whole show.”

  “I like the Tiki Room.”

  “You would,” Peter mumbled under his breath.

  “What’d you say?”

  “Nothing. You want a Dole Whip first?”

  As the boys turned and left the Arcade, they headed for the first entrance off the main hub of Main Street—Adventureland. The Tiki Room was the first attraction guests came to in that land, and it had opened way back in 1963. With its Tiki God show outside the thatched Polynesian-style main building, and the singing birds and flowers inside, it was still a popular show. The whipped, frothy pineapple dessert, Dole Whip, served outside had an almost cult-like following of fans.

  As Michael happily ate the frozen treat while they waited for the show to begin, they didn’t notice the same man from the Penny Arcade slip into the crowd just out of their sight.

  “Und now we will show you a magic trick,” Fritz, the parrot with a thick German accent said at the end of the show. “We will open the doors outside und the audience will disappear!”

  With smiles on their faces, the audience slowly filed out, some of them still humming the popular main song of the show.

  When the last of the guests were gone and the cast member Anne checked another side of the room for any debris, Peter quickly jumped up on the padded bench next to the tiki totem pole Walt had indicated. He knew he had only moments. Michael was all ready to go ask the cast member a question to keep her occupied—and turn her away from Peter—if he needed to, but she seemed to be wiping up something spilled on the floor. None of them noticed the man crouched down behind the last row of seats on the opposite side of the room from the boys.

  Peter reached to pull down the shut mouth of the tiki with one hand and inserted his other into the hole. He found it was deeper than he would have thought. His fingers closed around something small and plastic and he had to give it a good tug.

  “What are you boys doing?”

  Peter dropped the capsule into Michael’s waiting hands as he jumped down from the bench. “Oh, I just wanted to see if the mouths moved on their own. That’s all.” As if to demonstrate, he put his hand on the lowest face and tried to move the mouth.

  “Stop! Don’t do that! They are very old and shouldn’t be messed with.” Anne held up a warning hand to stop him.

  “Found it!” A male voice suddenly called from the other side of the room.

  Three surprised faces turned toward the unexpected sound as a man stood from his hiding place. “Dropped my pen.” With a huge smile on his face, he held up the pen he had swiped from the Emporium earlier, all the while hoping they didn’t notice that the price tag was still wrapped around the blue stem. “You boys ready to go? Sorry if they were causing trouble, ma’am.” Todd was smooth as he walked over and put a hand on their shoulders. Feeling them tense at a stranger touching them, he hoped they wouldn’t start yelling or bolt. Thinking fast, he had to add something. “I thought I told you guys not to touch anything. Ah, you know how boys are.” He quickly guided them out of the open doors and onto the back porch of the building before the cast member could reply. Immediately he removed his hands from their shoulders and took a safe step away from them to supposedly show he was harmless. What they didn’t know was that he had already dropped one of the listening bugs he always carried into Peter’s backpack before they could run off. He wanted to know exactly where they were so he could find them again and see what they were up to. From what he had just heard and witnessed, he knew they had to be somehow involved with Walt Disney. And, if true, that had to be worth a lot more than random wallets and purses. Holding up his hands in pretend innocence, he figured he needed to apologize for touching them. “Sorry, guys. I didn’t mean anything by it, and you looked like you could use some help.” Todd could tell Peter and Michael hadn’t recognized him. If he had been in his security uniform, it might have been a different story. But, for now, he was unknown to the boys and that suited him just fine.

  “Uh, thanks, mister. We were just messing around. We need to go find our dad.”

  Little liar, Todd smiled to himself. “Sure thing, kid. Just be careful where you stick your hands.”

  He watched as the two boys ran off to the right and ducked into the Frontierland entrance. From there he knew they could go anywhere in the Park and, if it weren’t for the well-placed bug, he’d never be able to find them again. Whistling “Let’s All Sing Like the Birdies Sing,” Todd looked around the busy entrance of Adventureland. There were guests who headed for the Jungle Cruise or Indiana Jones, or were just on their way to Pirates of the Caribbean. Some shopped in the Bazaar or tried to decide if they wanted to see the show inside Aladdin’s Oasis. As he leaned against the bamboo-like railing of the Tiki Room, Todd fitted a small earpiece so he could listen in on the boys and find out where they went. Enjoying the shady spot, he delayed heading back to his assignment on Fox Patrol, this time in Critter Country, as a pleased smile played across his face.

  Back on Main Street, a different security guard stood inside the Penny Arcade. Arms folded across his chest, Wolf stared at one particular Mutoscope. His sharp sense of smell could distinguish the faint aroma of ammonia over the more-enticing smells of vanilla and chocolate that came from the Candy Palace next door. Wolf knew what that acrid smell meant. One of Walt’s clues had been seen and destroyed. Just to make sure, he quickly inserted four pennies, one right after the other, to see if the mechanism would trigger the clue. Just as he thought, only Charlie Chaplin appeared before his eyes.

  Kimberly had alerted him early Thursday morning that the capsule inside the Golden Horseshoe had been removed. She had told him it was odd because it had happened the same day her family had been in Disneyland, and, because of that, she didn’t know the exact time of the extraction. Looking for clues that might tell him who did it, Wolf had found nothing in the private booth on the second floor of the saloon. When questioned, none of the cast members on duty had been working the Wednesday shift. No one had anything stranger to report than hearing about some kid who had slid down the banister that day. And now, just moments ago, Kimberly had called Wolf again. This time it was about the red light that alerted them the clue in the Penny Arcade had been set off.

  Wolf was just ready to leave the Arcade when his walkie-talkie beeped once more. Glancing at the number, he saw it was the private line. Quickly looking around, he saw he wouldn’t be overheard. “Yes, boss?”

  A feminine voice chuckled. “You don’t have to call me that, Wolf.”

  “Sorry. Habit.” Wolf had worked closely with Kimberly’s f
ather, a Guardian in his own time, and still missed him.

  When Wolf said no more, Kimberly smiled to herself. Wolf wasn’t big on small-talk. She got right to the point. “What did you find at the Mutoscope?”

  Wolf looked back at the ornate machine. “There’s no point in dusting it for fingerprints since it’s been in use for months after the remodel of Main Street. But, there is the smell of ammonia, so we know Walt’s clue was seen and destroyed, just as Walt designed it to happen.”

  “Do you know what the next clue was? Did Walt ever tell you?”

  Wolf nodded, and then realized she couldn’t see the gesture through the walkie-talkie. “Yes.”

  When she realized that was all he was going to say, she gave him a verbal nudge. ”And….”

  “I was there when he filmed it. It leads to the Tiki Room.”

  “Ah, that explains it.”

  Wolf silently waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, he knew it was her attempt to get him to converse more. With a half smile on his face, he knew he could stand there all day. Giving in this one time just to speed things up, he yielded. “Explains what?”

  Her slight chuckle showed he was right. “The red warning light just went off in the Tiki Room.”

  “On my way.” Wolf’s immediately took off at a run toward the Adventureland entrance.

  “Wolf,” Kimberly called through the walkie-talkie.

  “What? I’m almost there.”

  “You do know what this means, don’t you?”

  Wolf’s eyes never stopped scanning the crowd. As he rushed toward the exit of the Tiki Room, he passed one of his fellow security guards currently working undercover. Giving Todd a brief nod as he ran by, he curtly answered, “Yes, I do. Over and out.”

  The back porch of the Tiki Room was empty. Whoever had been inside the show had already filed out with the last group of guests. Standing on the second step of the exit stairs, Wolf stood still and let his sharp gaze fall on everyone within sight. There might be someone holding a gray capsule, or someone reading a small piece of paper, or someone looking overly excited for just walking through Adventureland.

  Nothing. His searching eyes saw no unusual activity. Just hundreds of guests going to and fro as they examined Park maps and headed for their own adventures.

  Disgusted with himself, Wolf picked up his walkie-talkie and pushed the button that went directly to the War Room. No other security guard had that button—only the original Guardian, Wolf. “Missed him,” was all Wolf said and killed the link before Kimberly could start chatting with him.

  Yes, he knew what this meant. Somebody was on the trail of Walt’s Hidden Mickeys. Someone had just started to follow the clues Walt had laid out and all that it meant. Wolf reflected back to when someone else had been involved in Walt’s adventure. It had been Adam Michaels and Lance Brentwood who were involved in a similar Hidden Mickey quest several years ago. And just a little while afterward, Lance and Kimberly were involved in one when Lance was told by Kimberly’s father that he had missed a clue from the first quest with Adam.

  This time, though, it was different. Wolf had no idea of who it was who had found this important first capsule.

  It took most of Wolf’s considerable restraint to keep from growling in frustration. He had been over and over the Golden Horseshoe’s private upper box. He had gone over every inch around the Mutoscope in the Penny Arcade. The Totem god in the Tiki Room had been thoroughly examined so many times that the cast members working the show wished he would go elsewhere—no matter how intrigued the women were of this silent, mysterious man.

  I must have missed something, Wolf told himself for the hundredth time. But, what? He stood with hands on his hips as he stared at the unmoving totem pole. He had even, much to the dismay of the cast member Anne who watched from the edge of the room, stuck his fingers into the mouth of the upper face, just to make sure the capsule was actually gone. He knew what had been placed inside the mouth. He knew where it would lead the finders if they were sharp enough to figure out the clue. Having personally assisted Walt in this limited, focused Hidden Mickey adventure, he knew all he would have to do is just watch the next step to find out who it was who had discovered the clues.

  But, that wasn’t the way Wolf worked. He liked to be one step ahead of everyone else. And, more often than not he was successful. There had to be some clue left behind to identify who had stumbled onto this mystery. He just couldn’t see it.

  As the next group of guests filed into the colorful, bird-filled room, Wolf strode out of the rear door—much to the relief of Anne who had warily watched him. Anne had been on the receiving end of Wolf’s investigation since she had been the cast member on duty when the capsule was found. The only details she could remember were a couple of kids playing with the tiki’s mouth and their dad who immediately came to get them and apologized for their actions. She had described them as typical boys with light blondish-brown hair, aged anywhere from seven to fifteen. Their dad had on a loud Hawaiian shirt and also had brown hair, only darker than the boys. Medium height, somewhat strong looking, but a little over-weight. She hadn’t seen the boys actually take anything; just one of them had been up on the bench fiddling with the mouth. And, yes, it had happened before. Kids like to play with the mouths that they see move one minute and then are still the next. Sometimes they would poke at the eyes that moved back and forth during the show, too.

  Every time Wolf questioned Anne, the answers were the always same. He knew that was all he would get out of her.

  Two boys and their father. Were they the discoverers of the clue or just two kids messing around? In the Golden Horseshoe, he had been told again about some boy sliding down the banister the same day the clue was discovered there. Another boy? Or one of the same? There was no mention of a father figure that time. Unrelated incident?

  Standing outside the Tiki Room, just off to the side where the handicap elevator was located, Wolf paused and leaned on the wooden railing. Thinking back to when he had worked with Walt and had promised to keep his legacy going, he wondered how this quest would turn out. There had been two major discoveries so far. The first one involved Lance and Adam when they had found Walt’s long-lost diary hidden in Disneyland. Watching over them had been Kimberly’s father, a year before Kimberly had been told what was going on. Always watching from the shadows, Wolf had kept to the background on that Hidden Mickey quest. Kimberly’s father had been the one in control as befit a Guardian of Walt.

  That quest had taken a surprising turn when Adam and Lance had gone in different directions. Adam had made a significant find and was content with that. Reuniting with a former love, Beth, during the hunt, they soon married and were none-the-wiser to the larger, more important discovery Lance had made.

  When it was necessary for Kimberly’s father to step in, Wolf was put on the alert. He even briefly partnered with Lance when Lance was told he had missed something the first time around. Just observing and enjoying the show Lance had inadvertently created for him, Wolf eventually bowed out and Lance found another partner—Kimberly. At her father’s death she was suddenly thrust into a position of power that she had just started to understand.

  Both of those new Guardians still worked at Disneyland to keep their eyes and ears on what was going on at all times. Lance was still a security guard and Kimberly now worked with the new cast members who portrayed the princesses who would greet the guests. She had been working as Belle when she and Lance first met. Now, mother of three boys, Kimberly worked part time and still loved going into the Park whenever she was needed.

  Wolf knew Walt would like his new Guardians. He would have appreciated Lance’s quirky sense of humor and he would have loved Kimberly’s keen intelligence and knowledge of Disneyland. Plus, Walt would have liked the continuity of Kimberly carrying on her father’s work.

  Giving a brief sigh, Wolf realized that he really missed his boss. He had been with Walt for many years before Walt suddenly passed away in 1966. Kn
owing Wolf was a man with deep secrets and strange abilities, Walt always knew his legacy would be safe with Wolf in charge.

  Walt was one of the only ones who had known Wolf’s real name was Sumanitu Tanka which meant wolf in his native tongue. Taking up the name Mani Wolford when it became necessary, he was known by all others as Wolf. His Lakota heritage gave him a strong sense of completion and thoroughness. That was what made it so frustrating for the dark-haired, powerful security guard. Loose ends like he now had in this situation was not something Wolf enjoyed or appreciated. Nor, particularly, was being patient.

  But, patient he had to be until there was something solid to go on. Knowing where the clues next led, he would just have to watch and wait. Knowing human nature, he knew whoever it was who had discovered the clues would not just sit on them. They would act eventually.

  And Wolf would be there waiting.

  Undercover again on Fox Patrol, Todd adjusted the small earpiece in his left ear as he patrolled the shops in New Orleans Square. He had been listening to Peter and Michael for almost an entire week now, trying to find out just what it was they had found in the Tiki Room. The surveillance equipment he used was state-of-the-art and had a tremendous range. It was the best that other people’s money could buy. Even though he knew where the Brentwoods lived, he figured it would be pushing his luck to be seen skulking about outside their house. It was much more convenient—and safe—to just listen in with the bug he had dropped into Peter’s backpack.

  But, as he was finding, these were ordinary boys who did ordinary things—constantly. Along with school that Todd had to listen through, there were also their friends and family that came and went as they came into range of the bug in Peter’s pack. Hoping the boys would have had a more focused attitude toward the exciting discovery they had made, Todd found that they seemed to have a short attention span when it came to what they simply referred to as “the capsule.” He knew it was stashed under Peter’s mattress along with some unnamed items they had found in the Golden Horseshoe.