Hidden Mickey Adventures 1

by Nancy Temple Rodrigue

  Peter just nodded as he rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head. “I didn’t know, either. I didn’t recognize that guy. Don’t know if he’s new or he’s somebody who somehow stole a uniform.”

  “Does that happen much?” Eyes wide, Catie gasped at the thought.

  Peter gave a short shake of his head as he led her away from the congested exit of the Haunted Mansion. Going to the water’s edge, they followed the black iron fence around the River. “Not with Wolf around it doesn’t,” he muttered. “I’ll bet Wolf knows who this guy is.”

  “Should we tell him?”

  Just after the rafts over to Tom Sawyer Island, the two kids stood at the rail, watching a full canoe go by in the River. It was near the end of the journey around the Island and not many of the guests were still paddling. Under different circumstances Peter would have suggested they go ride the canoes next. “No, I don’t think we should yet. I’m not really hurt, and he just has my backpack. My favorite backpack,” he muttered to himself, thinking. There was still some undone homework in there that will be a little hard to explain now. Peter turned to Catie and gave her a sudden smile. “But, he didn’t get everything.”

  “What do you mean?” She was taken back by the grin. She didn’t see much to smile about right then. Peter had gotten hurt. She had been threatened. Peter’s backpack with the next clue was stolen. And they couldn’t tell anyone. No, she couldn’t see any reason why Peter would be smiling at her.

  Peter held up his left hand, his palm facing her. “He didn’t get everything,” he cryptically told her.

  Trying to look around his hand, she frowned. “I don’t get it.”

  Putting his hand back in front of her face, he explained his meaning. “I wrote it down twice. Once on the paper he probably has by now. And, here, on my hand.”

  Eyes widening in recognition, Catie rewarded him with a dazzling smile so like her mother’s. “Oh, Peter, you’re so smart! What does it say?”

  The look of pride dimmed a little. “I don’t know.” He again looked at the scribble on his palm. “But, we’ll find out. And, I think I saw something while the guard was holding me.” He pointed at the last word. “See that? Anges or something like that? I saw that word on a sign near that blue staircase. It might mean something.”

  Catie looked like she wanted to hug him again so he took a retreating step back, almost tripping over a baby stroller parked near the water’s edge. “Oh, Peter, that’s so exciting!” Her face fell again. “But, doesn’t that security guard have the same message, too?”

  “Yeah, he does.… Wait a minute.” His expressive face lit up again. “No, he doesn’t. I hadn’t written down all of the last word when I got drug out from under the piano thing. He only has a partial clue. We, on the other hand, have the whole thing.” He looked at his hand and tried to pronounce it. “Cour d’Anges.” He failed miserably. “No problem. We’ll figure it out.”

  Catie glanced at her watch. “Oh, we’re late meeting Dad. We need to get going. He and Alex are probably at the Pizza Port waiting for us. And, I’m starved.”

  As they hurried through Frontierland toward the Main Street hub, Catie suddenly became timid again. “Petey? This is still just between you and me, right?”

  Allowing her to call him Petey just this one time, he smiled as they went past the Partners Statue of Walt and Mickey surrounded by white and purple tulips. “Yeah, just you and me. We’ll see where this clue takes us together.” And I’ll tell you about your mom later, he promised to himself. Or, she will, more than likely.

  Catie gave a small sigh as they quick-walked between the spinning Astro Orbitors and Star Tours, heading to the far corner of Tomorrowland and the popular Pizza Port restaurant. They could see the tall white and red Moonliner rocket next to the entrance and kept their eyes on that as they walked, each deep in their own thoughts.

  After waiting an extra ten minutes, and countless boatloads of guests streamed past him, Todd knew he had been outsmarted by that brat. And that stupid brunette on duty didn’t even seem to notice that the kid never came back.

  About to utter something foul, he raised his hands in frustration. Only his right hand was weighted down. With Peter’s backpack.

  The angry look of defeat was replaced with one of glee. “I have the clue.” Without a backward glance, he left the unloading dock and ducked back into the relative quiet of the courtyard. Todd turned his attention to the blue and red pack and pulled open every pocket. Rifling through the contents, he finally came to the scrap of paper with three words hastily written: Cour d’ A. With a shout of victory, he was about to cast aside the backpack when he remembered the listening bug he had planted in there that fateful day in the Tiki Room.

  Pulling out the small silver disc, he gave it a lighthearted kiss and dropped it into his pocket. Sauntering back out onto the main walkway of New Orleans Square and looking around to see that no one was watching, he unceremoniously dumped the backpack into the nearest trashcan. Glancing at his watch he saw that he would be off duty in ten minutes. Secure in knowing the kids wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened without giving away their own deceit, he slowly walked back to his patrol in Fantasyland to finish his shift.

  Once the weird guard had left the dock, Beth immediately went to the phone hidden in the ride’s secondary control podium and punched in Security’s number. Asking to be transferred to Wolf, she waited anxiously. Peter’s not coming back was big. Something had to have happened with that security guard to make him jump ship. She now knew that was exactly what Peter had done. With a secret smile she admitted to herself that she knew exactly where he had jumped, too.

  Her pleasant memories were interrupted when Wolf came on the line. In a hushed voice she ran down all the facts she had about the guard named Todd and the missing Peter. She wasn’t surprised when he told her he would take care of it and not to worry. Peter would be safe, he had added.

  Knowing Adam and Alex were somewhere in the Park, Beth contemplated calling them on her cell phone. She held back, trusting Wolf. But, she would expect explanations from Peter and Catie when she got home, make no mistake about that.

  On patrol duty in Critter Country, Wolf put away his walkie-talkie. A concerned frown lined his features. He now had a face to go with the mysterious man who had helped Peter and Michael in the Tiki Room—and he didn’t like it.

  It was one of his own security guards, one that he had never really liked for some unknown reason.

  He headed over toward Fantasyland where he knew Raven was assigned. With some covert observation, maybe Wolf could learn something about the man.

  Arriving there, he soon learned that Todd Raven was already off duty.

  “Hey, Lance, when are those steaks going to be done?” Mark, one of the security guards, floated around in the middle of the pool and yelled over at their host.

  “Steaks? Who said you leeches get steak?” Lance didn’t even look up as he busily flipped burgers, hot dogs, and T-bones on his huge stainless steel grill. “All these babies are mine.”

  The cascade of water Mark aimed at his security buddy fell way short of its intended goal. Unfazed by the jibe, Mark turned his pool float back around to his companion.

  Emerging from the back of the house, eyes on the ground for any obstacle, Kimberly carefully walked down the grassy slope of their backyard bearing a large pitcher of iced tea. She came to a sudden halt when she realized she was fairly surrounded by a huge amount of thirsty guests. Not knowing where to start, she gamely shrugged her shoulders and headed for the two Peoplemover cars they had set up as a private picnic area. Four couples were talking together as they sat under the white fiberglass roofs of the cars. “Great party, Kimberly.” One of the Park’s princesses held out a plastic tumbler for a refill. “As always! Your yard looks great. How did you ever find those Skyway cabins over there? I never would have imagined them used as gazebos. Great idea.”

  The two gently-swinging gondolas, one pale blue and the other yello
w, were hung under their own wooden frames. A fond smile came across Kimberly’s face. She had always loved the Skyway ride that had stretched from Fantasyland through the Matterhorn, and then dropped down into the Tomorrowland station. Opening in 1956, it had a long run before it shut down in 1994. With a shake her head, she couldn’t believe their success in finding them, either. “Thanks, Amber. Aren’t they great? We heard about this auction over in Buena Park and thought we’d check it out. And there they were, sitting on the ground, tilted over like they were falling apart. We couldn’t resist.”

  “Wow, I didn’t know any of them were still out there. What else did you find?” The petite brunette was now intrigued. Even without the black wig of her costume, it was easy to see her portraying Snow White.

  With a parting saucy wink, Kimberly—who had portrayed both Belle and Cinderella—sauntered off. “Oh, you’ll just have to go exploring and find out.”

  A shout from the grassy expanse at the west end of the yard got everyone’s attention. After watching for a moment, Kimberly turned back and handed the already-empty pitcher to one of the high-school students they had hired to help serve everyone. “Thanks, Joey.” Indicating the commotion with her chin, she let out a laugh. “Oh, I’ve got to go check that out. Come on over when your hour shift is over.”

  “Will do, Mrs. B., even though I’m not sure I want to get in the middle of that.” Joey headed back to the kitchen for a refill of tea.

  As Kimberly got closer to the noise, a broad smile broke out on her face. Kicking off her sandals, she grabbed up a racquet that had been thrown onto the grass and jumped into the fray. It appeared to be some form of Tag Team Badminton with at least eight people on each side of the court, two shuttlecocks, one tennis ball, and an occasional Frisbee. Two of the security guards who were playing wore football helmets and had a colorful strip of cloth hanging from their back pocket.

  “We get Kimberly!” Someone buried in the mass of people gave the shout from the other side of the net.

  Ducking under the volleyball net, Kimberly was game. “Okay, what do I do?”

  “Whatever you want! Fore!”

  Ten racquets started swinging madly at the just-launched tennis ball. Once the ball made it over the net, two women rushed in from the sidelines and tagged out two others. The two who were tagged went under the net and joined the other side.

  “Traitors!”

  “Sore losers!”

  “Losers? Who’s losing? What’s the score?”

  “I thought you were keeping score.”

  “Fore!”

  “Head’s up!”

  Over on the other side of the yard, the ongoing volleyball game wasn’t much more organized. Stuck with the smaller badminton net that was being held higher in the air by two of the guards, the teams were making do. One side had approximately eleven players and their opponents had anywhere from eight to fourteen depending on who was hungry or who decided to go swimming between serves. The two-hit rule per side seemed to be out the window as the ball got at least four assists to get over the net and the yell of “Do over!” was met with good-natured compliance. The guards holding up the net seemed to be playing for both sides and tried to keep the ball from going out of bounds by running the net over to wherever the ball was headed.

  Alex and Catie’s dad, Adam, wandered over to the barbecue grill, a soda in his hands. Lance immediately noticed he was limping.

  “What happened? Beth get mad and kick you in the shin?”

  “Almost.” Adam looked at the purple welt on his leg and grimaced. “I thought I’d try a round of croquet.”

  Lance let out a sympathy whistle. “Ooh, that’s too bad. How big is the court this time?”

  Adam had to think. “Well, it starts in the front yard—your front yard this year,” he clarified with a grin, “goes through the garage, down the slope around the badminton arena, across the pond somehow—never did figure the angle on that wicket—and into the neighbor’s yard two houses over. Good thing they aren’t home.” The last words were muffled when he took a sip of his soda.

  Lance looked disappointed. “Wow, they really shortened the course this year. How many are playing?”

  “Fifteen to thirty. Hope you weren’t too attached to those golf clubs we found in the garage. We were a little short of mallets.”

  Chuckling, Lance sliced a hunk off of one of the steaks and handed it to Adam. “This done yet?”

  Adam gave him an amused look. “Since when don’t you know how to barbecue?” Popping it in his mouth, Adam closed his eyes and sighed. “Oh, man, that’s tender. I’ll take that one.”

  Plopping the steak onto a plate, Lance opened a small door on the lower half of the grill. “Baked potato or fries?”

  “Yes.”

  “Corn on the cob?”

  Adam stuck a fry in his mouth and his eyes suddenly widened. A horde of swimmers saw his steak and began their advance on the grill. “I’ll eat quick and then take over the grill so you can have some fun.” Adam had to yell back over his shoulder as he hurried away from the barbecue just in time to avoid being trampled.

  Using his barbeque fork as a weapon, Lance tried to defend his grill, but was outnumbered. Calling over the dripping heads surrounding him, he acknowledged Adam’s offer. “Thanks. What’s left of me will be waiting for you to get back. Back, back you moochers!” With a good-natured yell, he waved the long barbecue fork like a sword at the sea of plates being held out to him.

  With a grin, Adam headed for the umbrella tables set up in a relatively quiet corner of the yard. Beth soon joined him with her own plate, looking back at the melee at the grill. “Wow, don’t security guards ever eat at home?” She had to shake her head at the sight. “I don’t know if Lance will survive that onslaught.”

  “It’s not just the security guards. Some of those princesses can get pretty feisty, too. Hey, how’d you get your food so fast? I didn’t see you at the grill.” Her plate was eyed suspiciously. The steak looked like a filet mignon—definitely not a T-bone.

  “I know the chef.”

  Adam wasn’t convinced. “Everyone here knows the chef. Is that a filet? Where were those? Hey, I never saw any potato salad.”

  Beth closed her eyes in bliss as she took her first bite of steak. “I’m not telling. You haven’t been inside the house, have you?”

  Adam finished off the last of his fries and considered grabbing her hot garlic French bread. “No, not since we got here. Why? What’s inside?”

  “Check out the kitchen.” That was all she said as she took a huge bite out of the bread, and then held it away from him. “Hands off, Adam.”

  “Bet you hear that a lot.” Lance couldn’t resist kidding Adam when he suddenly appeared at their table to sit in one of the few empty chairs left. His high-piled plate was set on the table out of Adam’s reach.

  Surprised to see him, Adam looked over at the grill that was still surrounded by a solid mass of people. “How did you get out of that mess in one piece? And with food?”

  “Wolf took over.” Lance didn’t need to say anything else.

  “Ah.” Adam and Beth bent back to finish their meal.

  “Yeah.” Lance looked back at the melee on the patio. “Now the kids might actually have a chance to eat.”

  Finished with her food, much to the dismay of her husband, Beth pushed her wicker chair back and looked over the huge backyard. “Are there people more here than last year?”

  Lance shrugged, biting into his own filet.

  “How come I didn’t get a filet?” Getting no response, Adam wondered if he should go check out the kitchen.

  Ignoring Adam, Lance answered Beth’s question. “I think so. It’s pretty much an open invitation for the Security Department and the princess people and whoever they want to bring along. They all come and go as their schedules allow. Hold on.” He got up when the abused volleyball somehow made it all the way across the yard. They could faintly hear ‘a little help, please!’ With a heave,
Lance sent the ball into the pool, barely missing some kids playing Marco Polo by the waterfall. “Oops.” After hearing ‘nice shot’ from the volleyball arena, he sat back in his chair. “Anyway, some’ll be back after their shift is over. I was surprised Wolf got here so early. He usually shows up around ten at night when it’s sort of winding down. Glad to see him, though.”

  “Well, Alex and Catie are having a great time.” Beth had to stop and look around. “Well, at least I think they are. I haven’t actually seen them since we got here.”

  “Oh, they’re fine.” Lance waved her off with his fork as he finished the last of his food. “I think Michael is guarding Dug with his life. They’re probably all together. Somewhere…,” he trailed off, unconcerned as he stretched out his long legs and appeared ready to take a nap.

  Lance might not have known exactly where all the kids were at that moment, but someone else did. Todd Raven was among the happy revelers at the Brentwood home. After striking out with the newest Aurora and getting slapped in the face by Mulan, he had filled his plate at the barbecue, idly wondering why Wolf seemed to stare right through him to his soul. Seated by himself near the house, he carefully watched all that was going on as he ate.

  He was paying close attention when Kimberly finally went to join her husband at the far side of the lawn. When the horde of kids went screaming around to the front of the house, he saw the chance he had been waiting for.

  Getting slowly to his feet, he made a show of stretching out his arms as if he was very content and a little sleepy. Saying, “Bathroom,” to no one in particular, he wandered in through the back door after making sure Wolf was busy at the grill and didn’t see him. Grabbing an éclair off a silver serving tray, he popped it in his mouth as he went through the massive, busy kitchen. When no one paid him any attention, he took his time in walking down the hallway as if looking for the bathroom for guests that was actually just off the kitchen. He nodded a greeting to a couple just leaving the living room where they had been checking out the Mr. Toad’s ride car in the corner. Using that as a pretense, Todd ambled over to the red and black car. Running a hand along the tufted black leather seat, he glanced over his shoulder. There was no one else around.