by Jeff Dixon
“You scared me to death.” She hugged him as he gripped his aching upper arm.
“So, you decided to hit me and hug me?” he asked as he strained to breathe in her viselike embrace.
“When you said to wait for you to get me the figurine, I didn’t know you were going to climb the tree.” She finally released him. “I thought you were going to fall. Are you alright?”
“It’s a little late to ask that now, after you’ve been whaling on me.” He rubbed his arm where she had punched it.
“You big baby,” she scolded. “If you’re tough enough to swing from a tree, then you can handle a girl punching you. Quit whining. Now tell me, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” He smiled. “Worked just like I had planned.”
“Really? So that was you being in complete control?”
“Yep, pretty much . . . impressive, huh?”
“I was afraid for you. It was risky and crazy.” She slid closer to him.
“I underestimated how difficult it was going to be. But it worked.”
“Yes, it did.” She removed the wrapped package from under her poncho. “Did you get the pin off of it before you threw it?”
“I did.” Hawk looked back over his shoulder to see where the cast member in the conductor’s stand had his attention directed. Sure he was not paying attention to them, Hawk continued. “Yes, and while I was in the tree, I played the clue. George said, ‘Follow the ghosts of the past where the floodwaters flow . . . under the pressure of clouds on your quest you will go.’”
Taking the Goofy collectible pin out of his pocket, he passed it over to her. She studied it and turned it over to the QR code on the back. This was pin number three, and the storage box he had been given had room for five pins. Hawk breathed deeply and noticed that Kate was no longer looking at the pin but looking at him.
“You sure you’re OK?” she said with concern.
“Couldn’t be better. Just trying to think through the next clue.” He scratched his chin. “And I guessed right about us being followed. I just wonder where they picked us up.”
“They aren’t wandering around the park wearing their masks.” She tightened her lips. “So they could be anyone and anywhere. When they decide to move, they must slip on their masks and emerge from the crowd.”
His plan was for them to meet and hide on the train for as long as they needed to. The train ride looped the Magic Kingdom continuously, making stops at each station and for water as needed. As an operating steam engine, the water stops were frequent and scheduled like clockwork. Each time, the passengers had the option of staying on board and continuing their ride or getting off at the station. By not having to move and leave, they had the chance to talk, to rest, to plot their next move, and to work on figuring out the next clue.
As they rode, they kept their heads bowed so they would not be recognized and spoke in hushed tones. One loop became two, two became four, and after their seventh trip around, they decided to give up their seats. The rain stopped, and as they got off, they took off their ponchos. Hawk promptly threw them in the trash so they wouldn’t have to carry them around in the crowds of guests moving through the streets. Dusk had fallen, and the park’s lights made the Magic Kingdom glow.
Frontierland was darker than other areas. The light came from re-creations of streetlamps and lanterns from the western frontier. As Hawk and Kate made their way down the stairs of the train station, he kept scanning the crowd, looking for anything that seemed suspicious or out of place. His senses were on high alert, and Kate was right on his shoulder, doing the very same thing.
“Why are you so quiet?” Hawk asked Kate, as they cautiously traveled through the frontier town. He knew that because she was an investigative journalist, her brain was in overdrive trying to process what had just happened at the tree house.
“Just wondering . . .” Hawk tried to read her expression. As she stared back at him, he couldn’t tell whether she was worried, frightened, puzzled, or a mixture of all three, creating a trifecta of turmoil.
“Wondering what?”
“What I don’t know.” She shook her head slowly. “There is much more to the story than Farren told me. Only you can fill in those gaps. But whatever those gaps are, they’re so big you’re willing to risk your life to protect them. You won’t ask law enforcement to help. And what we’re doing is dangerous.”
“Kate, I—”
She held up her hands in front of her. “Hawk, I’m not asking you to tell me right now . . . but I do want you to tell me.”
Hawk’s cell phone went off in his pocket. When he saw it was Reginald, he answered, hoping to head off Reginald’s inevitable chiding for his exploits in the theme park. “Hey, how are you feeling?”
“I was feeling a bit better until I heard about the head of the company jumping from limb to limb at the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse,” Reginald fired back.
“An event that was exaggerated by whoever told you, I am sure.”
“Are you unharmed?”
“I’m just fine. Everything is under control here.” Hawk watched Kate contort her face and roll her eyes. “I need you to get feeling better and get back here soon.”
“I can be there right away.”
“I’m not saying you need to rush over here now, though I can use your help to keep me out of trouble.” Hawk reassured him, “Until you get back, I’ll be fine.”
“You were the one who told me to go home,” Reginald reminded him.
“That’s because you were about to keel over.”
“Or could it have been to get me out of the way so you could turn the theme park upside down with your outrageous behavior?”
“Would I do that?” Hawk laughed. He heard Reginald laugh on the other end of the line and then go into a coughing jag. “Reginald, seriously . . . I am fine. You get feeling better. I can use your help, but not until you’re feeling good.”
“Are you doing what you are doing alone?” Reginald’s voice grew quieter and deeper.
“No.” Hawk cut his eyes toward Kate. He didn’t want her to notice a change in the conversation’s tone. “Kate Young is here with me.”
“I know there is no need for me to remind you of our experiences eighteen months ago.” Reginald spoke slowly. “Be careful and take care of yourself.” His concern for Hawk’s well-being physically and emotionally carried over the phone connection.
“It’s good. Don’t worry.” Hawk paused, “Thanks, Reginald. Feel better. Bye.”
Ending the call, he looked back toward Kate. He angled his head in the direction they had been going before.
“Reginald is still sick?” Kate’s voice was soft with concern.
“Yes, he sounds awful. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but I was very worried about him earlier today. He looked horrible. He can’t breathe, he has pain, he’s coughing . . .”
“But he’s worried about you?” Kate asked.
“Yes, he was going to come here now.”
“Hawk, you have a lot of good people who will help you. If we need them, let’s get them here.” Kate lowered her head. “I don’t want you falling out of a tree and killing yourself.”
“I’m done with climbing that high for the day.” He exhaled loudly. “That was tough.”
“So where are we off to now?” She lightly bit her lip to suppress a smile.
“Right here . . . I think.”
Hawk walked up the incline with Kate, then they turned left and headed toward the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. After walking past the entrance and moving up the hill toward the exit, they stopped in an isolated viewing area and photo spot overlooking the attraction that raced along the track and through the curves in a re-creation of Monument Valley.
“The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad?”
“Yes, do you know the story behind it?” Hawk gestured to the roller coaster in front of them.
“You mean the backstory? No, I haven’t heard it . . . but I am finding out th
at with you and at Disney, it’s always about the story.”
“In the late 1800s, gold was discovered on Big Thunder Mountain. Overnight, it started a gold rush, and the little town of Tumbleweed became a booming mining town. Mining was good, the gold veins were rich, and an extensive network of mining trains was set up to move the gold. Sadly, what the settlers and miners of Tumbleweed didn’t know was that Big Thunder Mountain was sacred to the local Native Americans. And according to legend, the mountain was cursed.”
“Of course, you gotta hate those curses.” Kate smiled.
“Because the townspeople didn’t care, and the miners didn’t stop their desecration of the mountain, things turned tragic. The curse caused earthquakes, mines collapsed, people were hurt, and a flash flood destroyed the town of Tumbleweed. The people fled, the mines were closed, and the town became a ghost town. There were a few people who remained because they got stuck, they held out hope things would get better, or they had no place else to go.”
“You know, this is kind of a depressing story,” Kate observed.
“You have no idea,” Hawk continued. “As the legend goes . . . later, it was discovered that the old mining trains were running by themselves. Racing along the old tracks without drivers. Some said ghosts were driving. Others said the trains were possessed. Eventually, the mining company set it up so tourists could ride the trains and view what was left of their mines and the old town of Tumbleweed.”
“That is quite a story.” Kate looked as the mine train zoomed past. “Sad and spooky, but quite a story.”
“Well, how else do you explain mine trains that run with no drivers through an old ghost town and deserted mine?”
“Hey, Hawk?” Kate touched his arm. “You said a minute ago when I called it depressing that I had no idea. Did that mean something more than you’ve told me?”
“Wow, you must be a reporter.” He smiled. “You don’t miss a beat. The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is similar to what was planned for the Thunder Mesa and Western River Expedition areas. When Big Thunder Mountain was created, it became pretty clear to most that the Thunder Mesa plan would never really happen. So not only is the story about a haunted mine train, but it’s also a story about the ghosts of good ideas that never made it.”
“And this is where the next clue brings us?” She watched as another mine train streaked past.
Hawk nodded. “We have to visit the ghost town of Tumbleweed.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
* * *
HAWK STEPPED THROUGH THE GATE of the attraction along with Kate and a nervous security team member. After a brief meeting with the ride manager, the decision was made to shut down the ride for fifteen minutes, giving Hawk and Kate the time they needed to take a walk in Tumbleweed. The manager of the attraction and then the manager of Frontierland had decided that a security team needed to be brought in to make them feel better about shutting down the attraction without emptying the queue lines. Hawk had insisted he would be quick; the managers were edgy about guests seeing Hawk and Kate wandering about the attraction.
The security officer named Neil fiddled with his collar and straightened his shirt repeatedly. He had asked why he needed to guard the chief creative architect of the company as he took an unplanned walk into the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. His question had gone unanswered. To make matters worse for Neil, he recognized Kate Young and didn’t know why there was a reporter tagging along. She was prettier in person than she was on television, he had blurted, before suggesting someone with more seniority should be assigned this task. Hawk had reassured him there was no time to get anyone else and they needed to hurry.
They walked into the attraction through a side entrance, in view of the guests in line. Some of the guests recognized Kate and then Hawk. They called their names and waved. Eventually Kate smiled to the crowd, stopped, and waved back at them. The ripple through the crowd was visible. They wanted to know why the head of the company and the star of Total Access were walking through the attraction. Seeing the crowd push against the side of the queue lines for a glimpse made them move quicker. The flash of cameras meant there would be evidence of this field trip and questions to answer.
Hawk pointed toward the crowd and waved. “You’re here to make sure that they all stay up there and feel safe,” Hawk said to Neil as they rounded the corner out of the view of the crowd. “If you’ll stay here, we’ll be right back.”
Hawk and Kate moved deeper into the attraction and stepped carefully over the realistic and rocky terrain. Hawk helped support Kate by giving her his hand as they moved forward.
“You know that someone up there who just got a picture is posting it on Facebook right now. On Twitter, someone is going to be asking what we were doing out here.”
“Probably,” Hawk agreed. He realized they were walking hand in hand, and he noticed what a nice fit her hand was inside of his.
She tightened her grip against his palm. “And I have to wait for you to help me figure out what story to tell them?”
“That is the deal.” Hawk smiled. “Or you can just tell them we went for a walk.”
“What was the clue again?”
“Follow the ghosts of the past . . . I think that is as much a reference to the legend of the ride as it is to the history of the theme park. The ghosts may be the ghosts of Thunder Mesa.” Hawk kept moving them forward, stepping cautiously. “When the floodwaters flow is a reference to the legend of how Tumbleweed was destroyed. That was the easy part.”
“Have you figured out the hard part yet, or are we just out here making it up as we go?”
Hawk opened his mouth to answer, paused, then decided to say nothing. In a sense, he was making it up as he was going. Once he had enough of a clue or a trail to follow, he was ready to track it. He was willing to risk being wrong if he did make a mistake, but in most situations, he found another piece of the puzzle to keep him moving forward. He was guessing he knew just enough to stay on the right path.
Stepping over the red rock, they moved into Tumbleweed. The set was positioned where tracks passed nearby on both sides. The town featured a variety of details guests would easily miss as they blew past on the mine train. The silhouettes and shapes of people moving and dancing in the saloon now shined through the windows, a detail that could be seen only at night. A little hill and a quick turn meant that the guests would pass through Tumbleweed in a hurry.
Hawk pointed to a cart where a man stood bent over and bailing water with a bucket.
“That’s Cumulus Isobar. See his name on his wagon?” he said over his shoulder, steadying Kate to make sure she didn’t fall. “Under the pressure of clouds on your quest you will go. His name is the answer. Cumulus is, of course, a type of cloud.”
“Of course.” She stumbled, and Hawk tightened his grip on her hand.
“Isobar is a measure of barometric pressure. So under the pressure of this cloud on our quest we go. I’m guessing that the next thing we’re looking for is in that wagon. If it is, this has probably been our easiest clue yet.
“Yep, that is just what I was thinking.” Kate caught up to him. “How much easier could this clue be?”
Hawk looked at her and laughed and then crawled into the cart past Cumulus Isobar, the rainmaker. Inside, he found the package, wrapped like the others, lying on the floor of the wagon. He retrieved it, crawled back out of the wagon, and waved it toward Kate.
“You want me to throw this one at you too?”
“No, just hand this one over,” she said.
Kate took the package and waited for him to jump down from the wagon. They moved back to the old abandoned storefronts and had a seat. He nodded at Kate, who began to unwrap the package. As she was untwisting the cloth, Hawk’s phone rang. This time the caller ID read Nancy.
“Hi, Nancy.”
“Hawk, I am going to go home for the day, if that’s OK, sir.”
“Sure.” He glanced at his watch. “Why did you stay so late?”
“I
t’s been pretty crazy with things happening in the parks, Total Access, the extra activity going on around here. I just wanted to stay in case you needed something.”
“I appreciate that, Nancy.” Hawk knew that most of any information she had, she picked up in passing. After her years of working with Rales, her transition to working with Hawk had been easy in most ways, with the exception of this layer of secrecy that had been unfolding.
“I also talked with Juliette. She said Tim and the kids are getting better. She’ll try to see you sometime tomorrow. Jonathan’s wife said he still was no better. She was going to have drag him back to the doctor, although he didn’t want to go. I didn’t get in touch with Reginald.”
“I talked with him,” Hawk interrupted.
“Very well,” she continued. “And Shep wanted me to remind you that he had a meeting tonight and would be out of pocket all evening.”
“OK. Thanks, Nancy. Go home and have a good night.”
He hung up the phone, noticing peripherally that Kate had unwrapped the next western figurine. This one was a saloon girl, attired in a frilly dress with her hands on her hips.
“Something wrong?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know. Nancy said that Shep had a meeting and would be unavailable. I just don’t remember him telling me he wasn’t going to be around.”
“You’ve been a little preoccupied, don’t you think?”
“I guess, but it’s just a little odd that while I’m out on this dangerous treasure hunt, all the people who are close to me are unavailable to help.”
“I’m helping you.” She tilted her head. “Aren’t I?”
“Yes. That’s not what I’m talking about.” Clouds of concern formed in his mind. “At the break-in, none of them hinted that they wouldn’t be around. They know what the stakes are and what we’re doing.”
“Are you worried about them?”
“Last time, Juliette was kidnapped. And this time, there’s no one at all around. It’s weird, that’s all.”
