“Thanks.” He signaled for Lance and Kimberly to follow him through a door in the back of the room.
“Here’s one of them.” Jeffery proudly pulled a thin-framed eight-by-ten black-and-white picture from the wall above a cluttered desk. “That’s my dad.” The man, a spitting-image of Jeffrey, stood on one side of a tall stool on which a young Jeffery was sitting. Walt was on the other side with his arm around the young boy. Hunched over so his head was about the same height as Jeffery’s, Walt flashed his trademark smile.
Mounted on the wall above and behind the boy was an old-time telephone with its crank on one side and the receiver connected by a black cord on the other. Lance remembered seeing phones just like it over in the General Store across Main Street.
“Wasn’t there a phone or two like that over in the General Store?” Lance pointed at the wooden, rectangular box in the background of the picture.
Jeffery gave a little chuckle. “You remember those, too? Yeah, there are a couple of them still there. There used to be a couple others, this one here….” He stopped and paused. “Oh yeah, there was another one in the Magic Shop.”
Lance smiled at the joint memory. Kimberly had no idea what either man was talking about.
“What? Were they actual phones to call out on?”
“No, no. Not at all. The phones had a recording of an old-fashioned party-line where an operator would come on and interrupt a conversation. The others on the line would talk over each other, you know, like arguing about the price of eggs or which girl was seeing which boy,” Lance explained, turning to Kimberly. “It was part of the atmosphere of the buildings they were in.”
“Probably just like in the twenties in Marceline, where Walt grew up.”
Kimberly nodded, having heard about party-lines from her grandmother who grew up in rural Iowa as a little girl.
“Walt used to love to walk over and pretend he was talking on the phone,” the cast member smiled. “He even carved his initials in that phone saying, ‘This is my special phone when I need to get information’.” Jeffery chuckled. “Only the Boss could get away with carving up anything!”
Suddenly, Lance and Kimberly felt the hair on their arms stand straight up.
“His initials…as in W. E. D.?” Lance slowly spelled out the letters.
“Yeah. On the side of the box.” Jeffery pointed to the phone. “They were carved, I think, right under a keyhole, if I remember right, which I think I do,” he winked at Kimberly.
Lance looked over at Kimberly. Together they lipped the words, ‘The key.’
“And….where might that phone be today?” Lance tried to keep the excitement out of his voice, choosing his words carefully.
“Funny you should ask. My dad was told that phone was never to be removed.” Jeffery turned to put the picture back on the wall. “However, because the theme of the building changed when it went from a drug store to a watch shop…,” Jeffery waved an arm around, indicating what the store was now, “the phone was removed.”
“What?!” Kimberly almost shouted, sounding much more dismayed than she should over a seemingly normal, routine occurrence at the Park. Jeffery gave her a funny look.
“What Kimberly means,” Lance countered smoothly, “is that we’re looking for historical changes that have been made since Walt…um, died.”
“Ah! So, you guys are working on something historical pertaining to Walt?” Jeffery perked up once he got the sense of their interest.
Lance nodded, glad the man had skipped over her inappropriate response. “Yes. Actually, we are co-authoring a book on Disney,” he came up with at that moment. “More specifically, on everything that’s changed since Walt passed away.” Kimberly looked relieved when Lance covered for her and just let him keep talking. “So, naturally, we’re upset the phone was taken away.”
“Oh, I didn’t say it was taken away,” Jeffery corrected Lance. “I just said it was removed. Removed from inside the guest area.… I guess I should have mentioned that.”
A renewed sense of hope was mirrored in Lance’s and Kimberly’s eyes.
“Sounds like you both would really enjoy seeing that old phone.” They nodded in unison. “Well, right this way then.” Jeffery led the two deeper into the narrow office. “By the way, what’d you say your names were?” He took out a small ring of keys out of his apron pocket.
“Oh, sorry. We didn’t introduce ourselves. I’m Lance, and this is my friend, Kimberly.”
“Good to meet you, good to meet you both. I’ve always been interested in all things Walt.” Jeffery suddenly added, “Hey, maybe you can mention me in your book.”
“Absolutely!” Lance replied immediately.
“All right, then.” Pleased with his perceived inclusion, Jeffery smiled as he opened a door near the back of the office.
“This is just a storage area for the displays.” Jeffery sounded apologetic as he opened the door into the cluttered, unadorned room. Above the door was a chain that clicked on the overhead light, illuminating a tiny six-by-six closet. “We don’t keep anything of value in here.” A few boxes labeled with various manufacturers sat stacked along the back and right side walls. On the left side, attached to the wall, was the old crank phone they had seen in the picture with young Jeffery.
“Of course, I guess you could say that the phone is valuable,” Jeffery amended, a little nostalgic in his voice.
Lance and Kimberly looked at the phone with a different kind of awe. “You say that this is the same phone that was in the picture?” Lance wanted to make sure.
“Sure is. And look here.” Jeffery pointed to the bottom edge of the phone. In deeply-cut letters, Kimberly and Lance found what they had been looking for: three very meaningful letters.
W E D
“Do you know when Walt might have engraved those letters?” Kimberly ran her fingers across the quarter-inch deep letters. The carving was somewhat worn because of time and oxidation of the wood. And, because of their location, the letters were nearly invisible to anyone not knowing or caring to look for them.
“I remember Dad mentioned something about the letters not too long before Walt passed away.”
Lance couldn’t believe the phone was still there. “I’m surprised the phone had never been taken by some cast member over the years.” He knew some of the seasoned employees would take little things from the rides they worked when they quit…little souvenirs of the Park. Some would become treasured mementos within their family; others would instantly be listed on some online auction to be sold to the highest bidder. He thought about the two canoe paddles Wolf had smuggled out for him and smiled. He had them mounted on the wall over his television just like a fishing trophy.
“I know what you mean, but look back here.” Jeffery stepped into the small closet with Lance and Kimberly right behind him. On the sides and top of the telephone were heavy brass brackets, presumably screwed into the wall studs with long screws. However, the top of each screw had been filed flat, leaving no means for removal. “As you can see, someone made sure the phone couldn’t be removed.”
Lance looked at Kimberly who mouthed a single word: ‘Dad.’
She moved back as far as she could to allow Lance more space to examine the phone. He picked up the earpiece connected to a black, braided cord leading to the side of the phone. He held it to his ear, half expecting to hear Walt Disney’s voice come booming through the black speaker telling him something like, “Congratulations! You found my phone and your next clue!” However, only silence greeted his ear.
“Yeah, it never got plugged back in, I guess.” Jeffrey thought Lance must have wanted to hear the old party-line conversations that they had just discussed.
Lance smiled and let him think what he wanted.
As Lance was replacing the earpiece, a voice called out. “Hey, Jeff, can you give me a hand out here?” Grant sounded stressed.
“Sure, be right there.”
Lance had to think quickly. “Is it all right if we s
tay for a moment and take a couple pictures of the phone? They’d make a great addition to our book.”
“Sure. No problem.” Jeffery slowly squeezed past Kimberly. It seemed to take him a long time to get by her. “I’ll be out in front. Just come on out when you’re done and I’ll lock up.”
“Okay, thanks.” Kimberly forced a sweet smile onto her face, telling herself not to make a scene. “We’d like to get a picture of you in front of the store, too, if that’s okay?”
“Sure. I’d love to do that.”
Jeffery headed back out in front. Before he was even gone, Lance was holding the key that Walt had left. When he had first spotted the keyhole on the side of the box and felt the size of the key in his pocket, it looked just right to him. But, it wasn’t until they were finally alone that he could try it out. He was about to fit it into the keyhole when Kimberly interrupted him.
“Wait. Let me have your camera first.” Kimberly held out her hand to Lance.
The hand holding the key dropped a few inches. “What camera?”
“The one you were going use to take pictures.”
Lance looked momentarily confused. “I didn’t bring a camera. Why would I bring a camera?”
“But you just told….”
Lance gave her a broad grin and turned back to the old-fashioned telephone.
“Next time fill me in on the details ahead of time, okay?” Her attention reverted to what Lance was doing, her heart rate speeding up. “Think this is it?”
“Gotta be,” Lance muttered, trying to push the key into the slot. At first it didn’t go in at all. “Ah, come on, Walt. Quit teasing us.” Then he turned the key upside down and it slid easily into the keyhole. Once turned, there was an audible click from inside the phone. A hinged door suddenly fell open along the bottom. This little door became the flat, imperceptible bottom of the phone box when it was closed. Attached to the flap was a leather pouch neatly nailed to the inside of the door.
Smiling at the discovery, Lance looked up at Kimberly for a moment.
“Hurry, Lance!” Kimberly whispered, gesturing with her hands. “We’re only supposed to be taking pictures.”
He nodded and reached into the pouch. Inside was a small, folded envelope. Not taking time to open it, he stashed it inside his pants pocket and then bent down to look further inside the opening. “Nope, nothing else. Wait a minute.” Reaching up inside the phone, Lance pulled out a strand of loose wires. “Look at this.” The wires had been cut. They had probably run some recording device that played the party-line conversations. He felt around again and found nothing out of the ordinary. No cels, no capsules, no plastic boxes.
Pushing the wires back in place, he shut the door and turned the key. The locking mechanism shut with a deep clicking sound. Lance momentarily marveled at the seamless joint where the door met the edges of the phone box. In the next moment, Jeffery walked back in.
Standing up, Lance acted like he had been inspecting the detail of the phone. Luckily the keyhole was on the side away from where Jeffery was standing.
“Get the shots you needed?”
“Shots? Oh, uhm, yeah, thanks. Oh, wow, this is so cool!” Lance started to gush to pull the attention away from his non-existent camera as he ran his hand along the edge of the phone. Kimberly watched out of the corner of her eye as his fingers grasped the key still in the keyhole and pulled it out in one deft move. At the same time, Lance used a little diversion. “You know, you’re just the man to ask. What’s this keyhole for?”
As he moved to the side, Jeffery turned to the phone. Lance took that moment to drop the key into his pocket.
“Oh that. No one knows. We assumed it must be to work on the insides of the phone…some sort of release for the front panel, I suppose.” Jeffery scratched his head after running his finger over the brass. “The box feels so dang solid, though. I know a few of us tried to pick the lock a long time ago,” he admitted with a self-conscious chuckle. “Now don’t go adding that to your book! But, anyway, since the old phone isn’t even plugged in any more, I doubt it’s even worth the effort to try and figure out where the key might be…if it even exists anymore.”
Lance gave a knowing grin to Kimberly before patting Jeffery on the shoulder. “Hey, what’s your last name…you know, for the book?” He let Kimberly lead the way out of the room. He knew Jeffery would most likely be admiring her charming figure from the back as they walked out of the office.
“Oh, its Winchester…you know, like the rifle.”
“No relationship, huh?”
“Ha.… No, Dad was into pills not bullets, I’m afraid.”
On a sudden impulse, Kimberly took Lance’s arm. “Oh, no, Lance. We’re late to meet with the guy from the Disney Archives.”
“Oh gosh, you’re right, Kimberly.” Lance pretended to look at his watch. “Sorry, but we gotta run, Jeffery. Thanks for showing us the picture of you and Walt. That’s a keeper. We need to run over to Administration and meet that guy, uh…Smythe, right, Kimberly?”
“Yeah, that was his name. Nice meeting you.” She shook Jeffery’s hand as they backed toward the door.
“You, too.” Totally smitten by Kimberly and hating to see her leave, he gave a silent sigh. If I were just twenty years younger.... He then looked at Lance again. I still wouldn’t have a chance.
Lance tugged at her hand as he went out the door. Through the window, Jeffery watched as they gave him a wave and then dashed up Main Street toward the cast members’ entrance in Tomorrowland.
Going back behind the counter, Jeffery took out a soft cloth from his apron and started wiping the clean counters. Suddenly he remembered something:
“Dang, those guys forgot to take my picture.”
“What does it say?!” Kimberly begged as they sat down on a shaded bench around the corner from Star Tours. Further back in this area were restrooms and a first aid station. When they first left the Timepieces shop, Lance had planned on heading to the Central Plaza at the north end of Main Street. This hub was home to beautifully manicured trees, flower gardens and shrubs, and bronze sculptures of various Disney characters sitting on identical beige pillars. In the middle, appropriately staged on a large, four-foot-high pedestal was a nearly life-size bronze sculpture of Walt Disney holding hands with his most famous character, Mickey Mouse. Benches lined the inside planters facing this statue, but, as Lance knew, this section was extremely popular for guests to sit and relax or to take pictures of Walt with the elegant Sleeping Beauty Castle as the backdrop. It was too popular an area for what Lance and Kimberly needed to do. In choosing their current location, Lance thought it was symbolic that they reveal the next clue at least nearby Walt’s bronze gaze.
Seeing her eagerness, he gave a hidden smile as he ever so slowly pulled the old envelope from his pocket. “Curious, huh?” His tease was rewarded with a playful slap on the shoulder.
“Okay, okay.” Turning the envelope over, there was nothing written on either side. He could feel something besides just paper inside. “Feels like another key,” Lance told her as he worked loose the seal on the back of the envelope. Since the glue was so old, it parted easily. He stopped and held the envelope out to his partner. “I’d like you to do the honors.”
“Me?” It took Kimberly all of two seconds before she grabbed the opened envelope from Lance. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe how fast my heart is pounding.”
He could understand what she was feeling. Even though he had been through it so many times, he marveled at his own relative calm.
With careful delicacy, she slid out a folded piece of paper. Reaching back in, she found a bright brass key, somewhat larger than the key Lance had just used and obviously made for a more sophisticated lock. Handing Lance the key, Kimberly opened the note as she leaned in closer to Lance, and, in a low, soft voice, began to read out loud:
“If you have found this final clue and key, then I know you have done several things to make you worthy of what you will discover next.
<
br /> “First off, you must have chosen your friends wisely. I could never have been as successful as I was without my brother Roy, or all the individuals who contributed to my dreams and visions. It is highly unlikely you were able to have successfully followed all my clues without a partner or two of your own.
“Second, I know that you have been persistent. I always said, ‘Keep moving forward’; even during all my setbacks I knew that the end would not only justify the means, but it would validate my beliefs. I’m sure many of the quests I sent you on tested your resolve as well as your ability to think on your feet.
“Finally, I know that you have a deep interest in my life’s work…as well as my life in general, or else you wouldn’t have made all the effort to have gotten this far. The reason I threw in a few distant places was to test your desire, your will, to follow through come what may. Only someone who truly wanted to discover my legacy would have the will to follow all the clues I placed along your journey. Congratulations to you! I hope you will not be disappointed in what I have bestowed upon you and what it entails.
“I’m dying; at least that’s what my doctor says. But, since you have found my ‘other’ treasure, then you know what I put into place before death took away my final breath.
“This last clue is important—well, they all were! Ha ha. However, the final place I want you to go is very important to me, as you will soon find out. And, if you are where I think you should be after finding this here envelope and key, then I can tell you that you are very, very close. Pull up a chair and use this key to open the door that was only open for six months on Main Street. In fact, you don’t have to be a Wizard to know which door this might be. It isn’t hidden. In fact, like almost everything else was, it is in plain sight.
“Find the door. Use the key. See your future in the heart. I saw mine!”
While Kimberly had been reading, Lance had followed along over her shoulder. Once she finished, he settled back on the bench, staring intently at the sculpture of Walt and Mickey over in the Hub. Turning the key over and over in his fingers, he had a conscious realization that the last fingers to have touched this key were probably Walt’s.
It All Started... Page 26
