“Louise, why in the world did you call Security? I did find the boy under the harpsichord and he said he just wanted some dessert, but there was no harm done.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “I didn’t call Security. I thought you did. The guy almost beat down the door until I opened it. The poor girl was scared stiff.”
“I’m not sure what to do now. Do you think we should contact Lance?”
“No, I’m sure Lance knows this guard. He knows everyone. Let’s just let Security do their job.”
He gave a sigh. “Kids. You never know what they’re going to do next.”
Louise had to agree. “Okay, then, I’ll talk to you later. We’re expecting a party of eight any minute now. I’ll notify you when they arrive.”
With that, the two errant children were pushed from their minds.
Todd had been listening in on Peter and Catie’s day and couldn’t believe his luck when Peter announced they had to go to Club 33 to follow the next clue. On duty that day as a regular security guard, he had turned his steps toward New Orleans Square just as soon as he knew that’s where they were headed.
Hearing all that went on in the foyer, he knew the boy was up to something. Even he didn’t fall for that ‘I have to go to the bathroom’ line. And, once he heard that Peter had gotten caught, he knew exactly what he would do.
Now he had the struggling boy by the straps of his backpack. Holding the pack slightly up in the air, Peter was unable to gets his arms out of the straps and was now a hostage. Catie wasn’t about to abandon her friend and, head down, meekly followed behind the angry security guard.
Once they were outside the Club and the door had safely clicked and locked, Todd looked left and right. To the right was the busy entrance to the Blue Bayou Restaurant and the crowded exit of the Pirate ride. To the left was the rest of New Orleans Square down Royal Street and Front Street. It was not as busy in that direction, so Todd drug Peter past the two entrances of one shop and forced him into the curved entryway of the secluded Court of Angels.
As soon as they were totally out of sight of the guests wandering through the quaint streets, Peter was unceremoniously shoved against a brick wall just past a little-used burgundy door. They were actually behind the curved blue staircase that was the focal point of the beautiful courtyard and, thanks to an abundance of potted trees and plants, out of sight of the windowed doors leading into the shop. Leaning in close to the boy’s face, Todd started to interrogate him. “All right, you little brat. What were you doing under the piano? What did you find in there?”
“Harpsichord.” Peter struggled against the straps, but Todd still held them at a higher level.
“Don’t get smart with me.” Todd gave him a warning shake. “I don’t care what it’s called. Tell. Me. What. You. Found.”
“What makes you think I found anything?” Peter stilled his movements when he realized he was making it worse by struggling. To give the feeling he was uninterested, he nonchalantly cast his eyes overhead. Because he was located beyond the edge of the balcony on the second floor, his glance happened to fall on the ornate stained-glass sign hanging up above him.
“I know everything you do,” the guard hissed. “Ah, I see you don’t look convinced. You!” He suddenly shouted at Catie who had started to edge away. “Sit your little rear end on the edge of that pot and don’t move another inch or pretty boy here gets it.” He pointed at the potted palm tree that was within his sight.
Not totally understanding what he meant by Peter ‘gets it,’ she took no chances. She didn’t see any weapon, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one. Scared and fearful of any harm that might come to Peter, she did as he said and perched uncomfortably on the edge of the clay pot, glaring at the man holding her friend captive.
“Now, back to you.” When he shook the straps, he caused Peter’s head to smack against the wall again. “I know you rode the Lilly Belle and found something. I also know you went to the Disney Studio and dug something up. Ah, I see by your eyes that you believe me now.” Todd smiled a smug grin. “I want to know what you found just now in Club 33. Or, I can beat it out of you.” For good measure, he gave another shake.
“You wouldn’t dare. Not here.” Peter spat back at him, his brave words covering over his erratically beating heart. “There’re too many people.”
Todd didn’t look too concerned and smirked. “Who said it would be here? I can get you backstage so fast even your girlfriend here wouldn’t see it. So, let’s just keep it friendly…. Tell me what you saw. Now.”
Peter knew there was a cast-member-only exit just a few feet from where he was being held. He was also aware that the area behind New Orleans Square and the area bordering the Jungle Cruise wasn’t a very-well used area—which made him more nervous. Any cast members who went in that direction were usually on their way to the employee restaurant, The Pit. Quickly going through his options and not finding many, Peter decided to tell the truth. He didn’t want this weirdo to even look at Catie. “I don’t know what I just found.”
There was excitement that came into the security guard’s eyes. “Ah, so you did find another capsule. Hand it over.”
“No. Ouch! Quit shaking me!” Peter tried to protect his head, but couldn’t move his arms. “There was no capsule. Only words. But I couldn’t read them.”
“Liar. What did they say?”
Peter rolled his eyes and again saw the sign that hung over his head. His eyes widened a moment before he snapped his head down. “I told you I couldn’t read it. It didn’t look like English.”
Todd looked confused now. “What do you mean it didn’t look like English? What was it?”
Peter tried to shrug, but his uncomfortable position wouldn’t even allow that movement. Todd, noticing the movement, assumed the boy was trying something and banged him against the concrete again. Catie saw Peter’s head snap back and she gave a small whimper, her hands curling into fists. Quickly looking around for anything she might use to help Peter, she saw only potted plants what lined the stairway. Those would be too heavy for her to lift. Even the bordering shops seemed empty of people who might look out and come to their help—if they could even see them behind the staircase.
“Ow! I only know some Spanish and it wasn’t Spanish. I…I wrote it down. It’s in my pack.” He tried to sound defeated and let his head hang down. He could tell the man holding him was thinking…and subsequently relaxed his grip. A possible plan came to Peter and he had something to say to his upset friend. “Don’t worry, Catie. I’m okay. It’s just like Blind Man’s Bluff. Okay?”
Her head came up and she stared at him. That was the name of a game the kids liked to play at the Park. They would take turns hiding and the others had to find them. She could see his eyes move quickly toward the exit on the right. Then his eyes moved to the entrance where Todd had drug him in. She hoped she understood what he meant. Giving him a brief nod, she leaned forward on her precarious seat and waited.
“Quit talking. This had better not be a bluff, or you’re really going to get it.” Todd was only half listening. Trying to come up with a solution to his immediate problem, he knew he had to get the backpack and get rid of the kids. There was an abandoned room under the Hungry Bear Restaurant he knew about. But, that was too far away to drag two kids, one who was getting angrier by the second and could do anything. He had to get rid of them quick. When two shots from the Jungle Cruise was faintly heard, he thought of another place. No one would find them for a couple of days. Peter didn’t like the smirking look that came over the guard’s face.
Decision made, he hauled Peter away from the wall. “You two are coming with me. No noise or the girl gets the next treatment.” He made a grab for Catie’s arm. The position loosened his tight grip on the backpack and Peter suddenly raised his arms over his head. This angle allowed him to slip down out of the confines of the straps.
“Now, Catie! Run.” With a yell, Peter turned and shoved the guard i
n the chest as hard as he could.
Taken by surprise, Todd’s free arm flailed as he tried to regain his balance. To his dismay, he watched Catie shoot out of the exit at the other end of the Courtyard and Peter took off straight ahead through the entry corridor.
The frightened girl ran straight to the Haunted Mansion and blended into the thick crowd at the entrance. Ignoring the irritated looks given her by the guests already waiting in the queue, she inched forward step by step until she was near the front of the line. She gave a sigh of relief as the cool darkness of the ride’s interior surrounded her. As the doors of the Stretching Room closed behind her, the erratic beat of her heart began to slow to its normal pace.
Remembering something Catie mentioned earlier, instead of running straight through Orleans Street and into the crowd milling through the shops, Peter turned right and ran down Royal Street, veering into the exit of Pirates. Up the angled ramp, he quickly wove his way in and around the exiting passengers and melted into the flickering darkness.
Back at the entrance to the Court of Angels, a furious Todd looked left and right, unsure of which kid to follow. Somewhat out of shape, he seriously doubted he could catch either of them in a sprint. But, when he saw Peter angle toward the Pirate ride, he turned and followed.
“Got you now, you little….”
Working as a loader, Beth Michaels was surprised to see a flushed Peter hurry onto the exit dock. Without stopping her work, she kept one eye on him while she helped a boatload of guests out of the flat-bottom ride vehicle. When everyone was safely off and the next passengers on the other side of the dock began to step down into the launch, she went over to Peter.
Giving him a nice smile, she wondered why he kept looking over his shoulder. “You okay, honey? Where’s Catie? Is she coming behind you?”
“We’re playing Blind Man’s Bluff.” He sounded a little breathless. “Any chance I can get in the back of this boat? Please?” he begged with a grin, unknowingly turning on his inherited charm.
Beth had to smile. She would have liked to take a picture of his face right then to show his dad. It was like looking in a mirror. Familiar with the game the kids liked to play, she knew one key part was that the players had to ‘hide’ by riding the nearest ride. Using walkie-talkies that they all carried, they would have to give hints as to which ride they were on. The player who was ‘It’ would have to listen to the clues or the sounds coming through the speaker and wait for the one hiding to come out of the exit. If whoever was ‘It’ didn’t figure out which ride the players were on by the time the ride ended, he was still ‘It.’
With a good-natured chuckle, Beth held up a hand to signal the loaders and pointed to the empty back seat of the second boat. “Catie must be ‘It,’ then,” she deduced. “Hurry and jump in there. And don’t tell her I helped you. That would be cheating.”
Peter instantly relaxed once he sat in the smaller back row. He gave her a more natural smile. “I won’t. Thanks, Aunt Beth.”
Beth signaled to the Tower operator in the Dispatch Booth who made sure everyone was properly loaded and seated. The underwater conveyor belt immediately pulled the two boats forward and dropped them in the dark waters of the bayou. The water current took over and slowly pushed the boats past the Blue Bayou Restaurant on the right and the houseboats and alligator on the left. When Peter looked back to wave another thank you to Beth, his arm froze.
The security guard stood on the unloading dock and looked right at him.
“I need you to stop the ride.”
“Whatever for?” Beth didn’t like his demanding tone.
Todd pointed at the retreating boat. “I need that kid in the back row. I…I…uh, have his backpack,” he finished lamely, holding up the item for her to see.
“That’s no reason to shut down an entire ride.” Beth folded her arms over her chest and frowned at him. “If you want to leave the pack, I’ll see that the boy gets it when he comes back around. The ride does exit right here, you know.”
Todd turned his gaze from the boat that had almost reached the ride’s interior. It was too late now. Even if he had jumped in the next boat, Peter would have a head start on him once they got back to the dock. Giving this ride operator the backpack was not an option. “I know the ride exits here,” he snapped at the smart-aleck brunette. The other cast members started to eye him suspiciously, so he bit back his next retort. “I’ll just wait and see that he gets it myself, if that’s okay with you.” The sarcasm dripped off his words.
Beth couldn’t see why this weird security guard was so interested in Peter and his backpack. She purposely left out the fact that she had known the boy since his birth. Having to get back to work, she saw the guard check his watch and back up a bit, finally out of everyone’s way.
She knew she had about ten minutes before Peter would be back. And she wasn’t about to let that guard touch even a hair on that boy’s head.
As the boat entered the darkened interior of the ride, Peter could hear the screams of riders going down the first waterfall. He was relieved to see that the security guard hadn’t boarded the next boat. At some point in the ride, the boats usually catch up with each other. It was possible the guard could jump into his boat and take him captive again.
As Peter’s boat hesitated under the talking skull warning him of the dangers that be ahead, his mind quickly went through some options. He had no doubt Todd would be waiting for him. He also had no doubt Aunt Beth would raise an uproar if he, Peter, indicated anything was wrong. As the launch plummeted down the first incline, he knew he didn’t want to drag Aunt Beth into this just yet. There would be too many questions that he wasn’t ready to answer. As he splashed down the second, easier slope, he knew what he had to do. There was one thing he was positive about—he could not return to the unloading dock.
That left only one option: He had to get off the ride before it got back to the dock.
And this was not an option that was approved of by the Park.
Knowing the ride as well as he did, he knew there were two good places to get off. The second best was before you rode up the waterfall at the end of the ride, just before the gunfight scene in the dynamite room. He knew the exit was behind the ‘burning timbers’ on the left. But, as he sat up straighter, the first—and best—choice was rapidly approaching. It was a soft blue tunnel on the left just across from Crab Island. He had only seconds to make his decision.
Scooting over to the left edge of his seat, Peter glanced back to see that the following boat was far enough back that he wouldn’t be seen. Impatient he waited until the boat drifted right next to the stone-like floor. As the other passengers in the boat looked at the skeletons run through by swords, he quietly stood and as evenly as possible stepped onto the walkway. As soon as his feet hit the solid ground and no one had seen him, he ran for the tunnel and vanished behind the first bend.
Standing with his back firmly against the rock wall, he willed his breath to return to normal and his heart to stop pounding loud enough for the next boat to hear. As he calmed down, he looked to his right. There was a large tunnel that led directly into the Captain’s Quarters. It was partially blocked by a large sea chest, but he could see the lower part of the ornate bed and its grisly occupant. He was so tempted to sneak over and see what was on the map that the skeleton Captain had been examining for decades with that magnifying glass.
With a silent laugh and a “what good would that do?” he turned to the deeper part of the tunnel and the exit door he knew was just beyond. Walking down the silent, bright white corridor, he wondered what he would tell Aunt Beth later that day. Without a doubt she’d notice his boat came back without him. Exiting into a small walkway between New Orleans Square and Adventureland, Peter ignored the stares of guests who were curious about a non-costumed young man coming out of a cast-member-only door. Always interested in knowing what exciting things went on behind the scenes, some of the guests tried to look into the doorway before the door clicked shut.
Something his dad had once told him floated through Peter’s mind: “Always act like you know what you’re doing and people will believe you.”
With a forced, small smile on his face, he calmly excused himself and walked through the line of people. As they waited for their turn to sail into the land of the pirates, Peter knew they all would get further through the ride than he had.
Catie, too, knew their game well, but didn’t have any way to communicate once she and Peter ran their separate ways from the courtyard. For her, the closest ride was either the steam train or the Haunted Mansion. Since the train station didn’t offer any hiding place or protection, she chose the Mansion. Riding through the attraction as she was supposed to, she barely noticed the spooky effects. Once it was over, she walked to the exit and stood off to the side while the other riders departed through the crypt-like exit while echoes of a ghostly invitation to ‘Hurry back’ followed them. Peeking around the corner, she was overcome with relief to see Peter waiting for her, though, he too, was out of the main flow of people. Not being able to stop herself, she ran into his arms. “I was so scared for you! I wanted to help but I didn’t know what to do.” His chest absorbed her frantic whispers as her arms encircled him. “Are you all right? Is he gone?”
Eyes closed for the moment, enjoying the knowledge that he wasn’t alone in this, Peter allowed the hug for a couple of moments. Then, noticing the isn’t-that-cute smiles on the faces of people walking around them, he suddenly became self-conscious and embarrassed. Pulling away from the tight grasp she had on him, he mumbled, “I’m okay, but my head hurts a little. He kept slamming me against the wall and it hurt.”
“I know.” Her voice was low as she touched his arm with her fingertips. “I…I didn’t know how to help. Since he was Security, I didn’t know if I should yell for help or not.”
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