It All Started...

by David W. Smith

  Near the attacking natives who were frozen in the ‘down’ position, Lance checked the map he had gotten from his friend Drew. He realized why the Catalina side of the ride didn’t have a clearly defined path: almost all of the animation in this part of the ride was on the mainland side. Only some natives and non-animated animals were on this side and needed only periodic attention; mainly gardening so the surrounding jungle doesn’t swallow the elements completely. Plus, those few animations were at the edge of the water and more easily accessible by maintenance skiffs.

  That might explain why it had been hard to spot the second El Lobo. Lance thought it might have been a more important part of the ride when Walt was in charge. More of the sophisticated animation was developed later when the technology improved. Anything on this part of the ride may have literally been left alone, forgotten, in favor of the newer ride elements that occupied the side viewed by the guests and most easily serviced by maintenance. Lance understood this since it would cost more and be a logistical nightmare to bring huge power cables under the river to the isolated island. It would be much easier to keep the technical elements on the mainland side where power and all the wiring and hydraulic cables that controlled the animation would be easier to reach and maintain.

  Folding the map, he slipped it into his shirt pocket. It was much darker on this island as there was literally no light filtering through the trees as there had been on the Manhattan side which was much closer to the lights of the Park. He pulled out his Mag flashlight could see a path, albeit not as well traversed as the one he had followed before the Falls.

  Before he continued, Lance wanted to check out something else he had spotted when they had ridden through the attraction: There was a thatched hut behind the attacking natives. Knowing his fellow cast members as well as he did, he wanted to see if anything was inside the hut. Cast members were known to have a bizarre sense of humor. There have been plenty of Mouse ears sitting atop animatronic jungle animals or natives over the years. Since he was already there, he thought he might as well take a look. The grass hut stood a little over seven feet tall and had a woven curtain that closed off the interior. The curtain was hardly necessary considering how dense the jungle was. Pushing aside the barrier and waiting a moment to see if anything scurried past his feet, Lance shined his light into the darkness. He was surprised when he found a pile of clothes. Grinning wickedly, Lance entered the hut, eager to see what was hidden. His surprised look faded as his flashlight revealed that the pile of clothes was a Security uniform, complete with hat and shoes and utility belt. “So, who’s been hiding out on me? How come I miss all the fun parties?”

  The uniform, from what little he could see of it, was different from his own. The colors were off, for one thing. He couldn’t tell if it was an older uniform, a style that wasn’t used any longer. Lance was going to search the clothes to see if the owner’s identifying nametag was still attached to the shirt. But, he held back, hesitant. The clothes were folded too neatly to be the cast-offs of some energetic party. No, they looked like they were there for a reason—one that Lance couldn’t begin to comprehend at the moment—but for a definite reason, nonetheless. He decided to leave them be, out of respect for whomever had left them But, if they were remnants of some Jungle party? He sincerely hoped he and Kimberly would be invited to the next one.

  Emerging from the hut, and still thinking about the uniform, Lance followed the meager trail. He poked through some of the tall bamboo that lined the shore and could see the outline of the huge African Bull Elephant that stood about eight and a half feet tall at the shoulder. He grinned as part of the skipper’s spiel came to his mind: “The second most-feared animal in the jungle. And if you look on the opposite bank, you will see THE most-feared animal in the jungle—his mother-in-law,” as the skipper would point at the identical elephant on the other side of the river.

  Weaving his way between ferns, bushes, and exotic plants that were not indigenous to Southern California, he nearly ran into the rocky edifice that he had been trying to find. Flashlight in his mouth, Lance had lit the way while using both hands to spread away the limbs of a full willow tree. Looking down at where he placed his feet, he almost hit his head on the rough mouth of the wolf, El Lobo.

  “Well, there you are. Your twin on Manhattan says hello, by the way.” Lance shone his light at the rocks that formed the teeth of the beast. Even surrounded by lush foliage, he noted the strong resemblance of this El Lobo to the one In Columbia where he and Wolf had discovered Walt’s capsule.

  Immediately, Lance pushed his way around to the side of the rock mound, looking first for letters that would be engraved in the stone, assuming Walt would have created a similar hiding place as he had in Columbia. The flashlight beam followed along the base of the rock, revealing a large accumulation of pine needles, dead fern leaves and other plant remnants. Using his foot to pull some of these away, it was there that Lance suddenly felt his heart start pounding.

  WED

  It was much more clearly engraved in the rock, although it had been well hidden by the debris.

  Now he again wished Kimberly could be with him. He would have enjoyed sharing the discovery with her as he had done when they climbed the steps of the castle and found the shield. He chuckled to himself, glad he didn’t have to wear tights this time.

  Taking out the small gardening spade that he had carried across the water, he raked the leaves along the base of the rock, forming a small clearing of moist soil. He took a breath, thinking for a moment that he wished Wolf was here to do the digging. Either that, or go to Maintenance and ‘borrow’ a backhoe.…

  After about three minutes of easy digging, Lance had a hole about two feet in diameter. When it reached eight inches deep, he started hoping it would not need another eight inches as the ground was getting harder and more compact the deeper down he dug.

  Near the base of an overgrown Bird of Paradise plant, he expanded the hole another foot to his right. It was there that he hit something other than soft soil.

  Quickly digging in, Lance felt around with the tip of the small shovel and then shined his flashlight into the hole. There, against the black backdrop of loamy soil, the light clearly illuminated something plastic and gray.

  At 4:50 a.m., Kimberly awoke suddenly, again disorientated from her location and the time of morning. Her back stiff from lying on the hard floor, she tried to push herself up on her arm, rubbing her eyes with her hand. She quickly realized where she was and looked down at the glowing dial of her watch. How long was I asleep? Kimberly panicked, trying to read the hands. As best she could, she calculated that her partner had been gone for well over an hour.

  More importantly, she realized that Lance was still nowhere in sight.

  Quickly going out of the hut’s window, she glanced around in the darkness for flashlights and listened for any voices. The Park was probably the quietest she had ever experienced. Kimberly walked around the outer planking to climb over the rail and carefully walk along the branch to the cable Lance had used to zoom across the river.

  Panic took hold of her when she realized that the cable now hung loosely, the length of it limply lying across the branches, its end disappearing at the edge of the Jungle Cruise. Had someone discovered the line and cut it? Worried, Kimberly wondered how Lance would get back across the river.

  Just then she heard a sound from behind her. In her state of panic, she wheeled around on the branch and lost her balance. A hand shot out and grabbed her by the waist.

  “You really need to be more careful when you’re climbing trees, Jane.” Lance pulled the shaky Kimberly up to him with one arm, his other hand holding a tall branch.

  Kimberly’s eyes were huge. Lance pulled her in next to him, her hips and chest pressing up against his. He could feel her heart pound. “Happy to see your long-lost partner?”

  “Oh my god.” It was all Kimberly could gasp between breaths. She wrapped her arm around Lance and just looked at him, not even noticing hi
s top half was soaking wet and the bottom half slightly soggy.

  “Not sure if this is the right time or not.” With a murmur, Lance pulled Kimberly tighter. He moved his lips to hers and kissed her with a firm, consuming kiss. He felt her body tremble; the combination of panic, breathlessness and now this seemed…surreal to Kimberly. He pulled back after a moment, still clutching her around the small of her back. He looked deeply into her eyes, searching for something, anything…a mutual response, rejection, anything.

  “Not the right time, huh?” Lance asked, slightly discouraged, still gazing into her stunned eyes.

  Kimberly took a deep breath, meeting him look for look. “I can’t think of a better time.” She gave a breathless sigh and pulled his mouth to hers.

  After the slack cable was reeled in and all the equipment stashed in his backpack, Lance and Kimberly returned to the little hut they now considered ‘theirs’. Illuminated by the flashlight Kimberly held, he pulled out the latest find. She cupped her hand around the lighted end to mute the brightness with her fingers.

  “Was it hard to locate?” Kimberly’s voice was an excited whisper.

  “Well, you know there were two El Lobo’s,” he began. “And, of course, it had to be at the second formation that I finally located after crossing the top of Schweitzer Falls.” Lance left off the part about having to cross the river in his boxer shorts.

  Kimberly looked at the capsule in his hands. It was larger than the one they found behind the crest on the back side of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

  “This is like the capsules we found before.” Lance watched as the beam from the flashlight played over the dark gray capsule, its outer cover weathered from being underground for over forty years. It was probably the only time, he thought, that he was glad plastic didn’t biodegrade quickly over time.

  “I can imagine what it was like to find the first clue,” Kimberly smiled, her eyes big with anticipation.

  “Until we actually unearthed the first clue under Walt’s Dreaming Tree, I don’t think Adam or I really believed it was all real.” Over his face passed a look of regret at the memory of what he had done to his friend: his selfishness and greed had turned him into a monster. His memories of the discoveries they had made followed by his insane attempt to capture the Disney cache for himself still weighed heavy on his mind.

  She couldn’t help but see the gloomy look in his eyes, the dejection. “Lance, don’t be too hard on yourself.”

  “I don’t think Adam or Beth will ever see me as anything other than the idiot—no, the greedy fool—that I let myself become.” Lance shook his head in disgust, his hands dropped to his lap, the capsule forgotten momentarily.

  “I think you’ll earn their trust again.” Taking his chin in her hand, she gently turned his face to hers. “Just as you’ve earned my trust.” Kimberly leaned into Lance and kissed him softly once again on the lips. He responded after a moment, kissing her back as he softly caressed her cheek.

  “Thank you…,” Lance replied, bringing his eyes to hers before adding, “for everything.”

  Emotion flooded through her. “You’re welcome.” After a wordless pause, to break the spell, Kimberly looked down at the capsule in Lance’s hands. “Now, Tarzan, are you going to open Walt’s treasure or should I?”

  With a Tarzan-like grunt, Lance responded and turned the sealing cap of the capsule. When it wouldn’t budge, he tapped it on the floor of the treehouse a few times. This time they heard a different sound—something moved inside the capsule, hitting against the plastic. Lance thought it sounded metallic. Hoping he hadn’t broken something important, he tried the seal again. This time, the cap creaked a quarter inch as Lance grimaced, putting all his strength into the effort. The end moved another inch, and, with a couple more grunts, Lance finally had the capsule open.

  “What the heck does that mean?” Kimberly asked with a quizzical look on her face.

  “Let me read it again. ‘Is the Heart the WINDOW to the soul? “Caring and Giving Come from the Heart” Two WEDs are better than one!’” Lance reread the clue penned in Walt Disney’s own hand on the familiar yellowed paper torn from the original diary. “I…,” he started, and then finished with a shrug, “I have no idea.”

  Setting down the clue, Lance looked at the treasures he found inside with the paper: A small brass key and three animation cels that were immediately recognizable as scenes from Alice in Wonderland. Each clear plastic sheet, separated by a layer of wax paper, had an animated drawing of a playing card along with a character from the film: The White Rabbit holding a large gold watch; the Cheshire Cat grinning ear-to-ear; and finally Alice herself in her blue and white pinafore dress. Pocketing the key for safekeeping, Lance held the eight-by-nine cels up to the flashlight Kimberly still held. He could even see odd-looking production codes, sets of letters, which were printed along the bottom of each cel.

  “What’s similar in each of these?” he suddenly asked the fascinated Kimberly with a knowing tone in his voice.

  She looked from one cel to the other, and then smiled at the discovery. “The cards.”

  Lance nodded. There was an ace of hearts in the cel with the rabbit, an ace of clubs next to the cat, and Alice was seen standing next to a giant five of diamonds.

  “Knowing the way Walt devised all the previous clues, these cels and the clue itself are probably all somehow related.” Lance stared at the fascinating artwork. “I just don’t know how yet.” He fished the key back out of his pocket. It looked very old with intricate engraving around the uniquely-shaped teeth. “Plus, there’s the added twist of finding something that requires this key to open.”

  Kimberly tried to stifle a yawn. The excitement followed by the revelation of the clues and the sudden confusion as to their meaning—not to mention the fact that the two had been up for over twenty-four hours straight after working normal shifts—was taking its toll.

  “I saw that.” Lance’s grin was cut short when he immediately started to yawn himself. “Great. Now you have me doing it. Come over here.” Taking her hand, he pulled her next to him. “It’s been a long day. We have, what, about three hours before the park opens?” Lance looked at his watch which read 5:25 a.m. “Let’s just settle back for the morning, relax and then when the first crowds come into the Park, we will simply walk out of the Treehouse like everyone else and head home.”

  Before he had even finished his sentence, Kimberly had moved her head to his shoulder and closed her eyes. Lance smiled as he looked down at her tired but angelic face.

  Within two minutes, he, too, was sound asleep.

  “Mommy! Look!” A little boy pointed through the bamboo rails of the window of the treehouse hut. “Is that Tarzan and Jane? They look funny.”

  Lance opened one eye at the irritating commotion. A freckled little red-head boy stared back at him through the window of the hut, and now his mother, her mouth wide open in shock.

  “Come on, Mikey.” After seeing the couple asleep on the floor of the Tarzan Treehouse, the mother grabbed his hand and drug him away from the window. “Let’s go ride Jungle Cruise. Now!”

  Lance was now fully awake. He had fallen asleep against the side wall of the hut where he had been sitting earlier. Kimberly now had her head on his thigh, her blond hair splayed out over his leg. He nudged her shoulder.

  “Kimberly….Kimberly, wake up.”

  Raising her head, the green eyes slowly opened. With a push to get up onto her hands, she turned her stiff neck toward Lance. Their precarious situation became instantly apparent to her. “Oh, my god,” Kimberly panicked. “What time is it, Lance?”

  Lance started to get up from the floor. “It’s after nine.” Pain shot through his stiff legs as he got to his feet. He reached down to help her up. Without having to look, he hear more people on the stairs.

  “We’d better get going before someone else sees us and calls security. It probably won’t be Wolf who comes.”

  Lance quickly replaced the diary page and th
e animation cels inside the gray capsule, zipped them securely out of sight in one of the pockets of his backpack, and stepped out the window. He held the window frame open for Kimberly and helped her over the wall. As soon as her foot hit the wooden floor, a young family came off the steps and onto the landing around the other side of the hut. Trying to look natural, Lance and Kimberly shuffled through the rest of the attraction. Finally, at the bottom landing, they heaved a sigh of relief as they exited the Treehouse and blended into a growing number of guests who were just starting their day at Disneyland.

  Once they escaped from Disneyland with the capsule secure, Lance drove straight to Kimberly’s house. The drive had been one of companionable silence. As Lance listened to classical music on the radio, Kimberly leaned back into the corner of her seat in the Jag, quickly falling into a tranquil nap until they reached her house. After she was sent off to her bedroom, Lance collapsed on the couch in the living room and instantly fell asleep.

  The next morning, Lance was amazed to learn that, because of their exhaustion and excitement, they had slept for nearly twenty hours. Glancing up the stairs, he wondered why it still so quiet. He had expected Kimberly to come bounding down the stairs, eager to begin the day. But, instead, he was greeted with silence. Tiptoeing up the first flight of stairs, Kimberly’s door had been left slightly ajar. A light tap elicited no response. He gave the heavy oak door a push and debated the wisdom on whether or not he should actually look into her room. Natural curiosity overcame the propriety of the situation. Lance peeked in, spotting Kimberly on her bed as she was curled around a body-length pillow, still sleeping soundly.

  Leaned against the door jam for a moment, Lance simply took in the sight of Kimberly in that moment of quiet solitude. He couldn’t wait to spend more time with her but, seeing her in such a disarming position on the bed—still wearing the shorts and blouse she had worn for their adventure—Lance enjoyed just watching her as she slept.