Hidden Mickey 5: Chasing New Frontiers

by David Smith

  Instead, the wood and vinyl mannequins, with their leather costumes, beaded necklaces and headdresses, and expressionless, unyielding eyes, all stood as silent as the statues that they were.

  Wolf moved on, following the path he took going after Nathan. He moved past the first two teepees where a nearby squaw—one of several female mannequins depicted in the village scene—stood between the two teepees. With jet-black synthetic hair, the statuesque woman stood facing out towards the river. Her painted eyes, mouth, and face, artistically realistic, seemed to be gazing off across the river, as if watching for someone.

  Intent on following the trail, Wolf went up and over the back side of the Indian Village towards Fantasyland.

  Even if Wolf had taken a closer look, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the dissimilar looking chain that hung around the black-haired squaw’s neck. Among the beaded neckwear worn by the squaw, there was indeed a single gold chain that led down to a red, heart-shaped gemstone seated in an antique gold setting, a very unique pendant that was concealed by the leather clothes the mannequin wore.

  “Not only can I add things, but even the trees will keep growing. The things will get more beautiful each year.”

  Walt Disney

  CHAPTER 19

  “Forbidden Jungle”

  Sunday, June 25th, 2010

  5:30pm

  After the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Blain’s pseudo marriage proposal, he and Malaysia decided to go on Haunted Mansion. Malaysia didn’t tell Blain that she and Laura had already been on the ride the day before. She looked forward to sitting in that semi-private “Doombuggy” with Blain and, quite frankly, she really enjoyed the ride the first time. However, they found the ride was not working for “technical reasons” as she and Blain walked up toward the ornate, gated entrance. Blain talked briefly with the two cast members who were standing out in front telling people that the “Ghosts were taking a break.”

  “I know something that you might like,” Blain said when they got done chatting to his friends in front of the Haunted Mansion and turned toward Critter Country. Blain took Malaysia’s hand.

  “We aren’t going on the canoes, are we?” Malaysia asked, tilting her head as she studied Blain’s face. She recognized the area approaching the canoe dock.

  Blain looked hurt, letting go of her hand. “What, that wasn’t the best ride you’ve ever been on?”

  “No. I only go on canoes when a certain somebody is working,” Malaysia said with a sly look on her face.

  “Oh, well…in that case, we can go see if Darren is working.”

  Malaysia slapped him on the shoulder. “Dork…I’m talking about you.”

  “Really?”

  “You knew who I was talking about,” Malaysia said, taking his hand in hers this time.

  “Well, regardless, we are not going on the canoes,” Blain paused. “Oh, and please notice I am ignoring the fact that you just called me a ‘dork.’”

  Malaysia laughed. “Okay, then where are you taking me?”

  Blain smiled with a wild look in his eyes. “I’m taking you to the Forbidden Jungle.”

  “Ooh, that sounds scary.”

  “Not really. I just thought it might be fun to show you some areas that are not seen by the general public—backstage areas.”

  Malaysia was curious. “Really, you can show me places backstage?”

  “Well, usually not. But, since I’m the only one who knows about this particular area, I think we’ll be safe.”

  “I don’t want to get you in trouble, Blain,” Malaysia said, tugging on his hand.

  “Don’t worry; I know what I’m doing,” Blain said with a smile that told Malaysia that indeed, he knew exactly what he was doing.

  Blain led Malaysia beyond the canoe dock, under the upper patio of the Hungry Bear Restaurant, and through the secret door that lead to the abandoned kitchen that Blain often went through on his breaks or lunch to get away.

  “This is really eerie, Blain,” Malaysia said, looking at the dirt floor and the tile walls that were illuminated by a single low-voltage clear glass light bulb hanging from an impromptu fixture. In the muted light, the room looked like a crypt at best; at worst, it looked like some alien torture chamber. All it was missing were chains, electrodes and a rack. The light bulb did little to enhance what they were seeing. In fact, it created weird shadows in the corners of the room.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought too, the first time I was shown this area,” Blain said looking back at Malaysia.

  Malaysia was barely moving as she wasn’t sure about her footing on the narrow wood planks that covered the dirt floor. She suddenly felt like there was quicksand surrounding them; one false step and…

  “Here, hold my hand, Missy. I’ll guide you,” Blain said interrupting her dire thoughts. “Your eyes will adjust.” Blain reached out to her and she eagerly took his hand. “This was going to be a second kitchen for the restaurant up on the second floor. But, it was never finished, for whatever reasons,” Blain explained as he guided her step by step.

  They made it along the wooden plank that was laid out on the uneven dirt floor. They got to the other side and Blain opened another door. Even though it was late afternoon, the sun almost blinded them in contrast to the relative darkness they just walked through.

  “Follow me,” Blain said as they stepped outside. The tall trees and heavy foliage created the impression they had just emerged from some magical portal into a South American jungle.

  From there, Blain led Malaysia along the path. To Malaysia, it didn’t look like a path.

  “Is this the ‘forbidden jungle’?” Malaysia asked looking all around her.

  “Nah, this is just the ‘forgotten jungle.’ I don’t know anyone who even knows about this trail. I think it’s been here for decades, probably an old, narrow service road or pathway. It’s just so overgrown, it’s almost invisible now.” Blain said.

  “Should I leave a trail of breadcrumbs?” Malaysia joked.

  Blain laughed. “No, I’ve been here a lot. I think I know my way around.”

  The area looked so foreign to anything she had seen at Disneyland.

  Indeed, it was like they were walking in a very narrow, very green hallway; the trees and bushes were head high on either side. At this point, they could not make out the river that was really only about twenty yards to their right.

  Suddenly, behind them, they heard a noise.

  “What is that?” Malaysia asked.

  “Come here,” he said, pulling her hand toward him. “Duck,” he said, swiftly putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her down toward the ground so they were both kneeling. The next moment, the Disneyland steam train that circled the park came chugging through, just a few yards to their left. Blain and Malaysia could hear the recorded spiel that played in the cars, describing the ‘untamed wilderness’ that the train had just entered. It was a good thirty seconds before they heard the last car go by them. They were kneeling down below the plants that separated them from the train tracks. Blain still had his arm around her shoulders.

  “You did that on purpose,” Malaysia said, as he helped her up.

  “What? You think I planned to have the train come by so I could put my arm around you?” Blain said, laughing. “You give me too much credit!”

  “Well, possibly. But, I’m thinking you are capable of a number of things. Of course, I’m not complaining,” Malaysia said, with a flirty voice.

  “I’ll have to remember that, Missy!” Blain said. “I may need to find another excuse to put my arm around you.”

  Malaysia smiled. I hope you do, she thought to herself.

  After walking a few hundred yards along the trail, Blain led Malaysia toward the back of the Indian Village back behind Tom Sawyer’s Island.

  “Is this the forbidden jungle part?” Malaysia asked again.

  “Sort of. This is where I sometimes spend my lunch breaks. I like to read. And, virtually anywhere else in the Park the
re are always people around, especially in the break areas,” Blain explained. “Here, I get absolute peace and quiet…if you can get past the dozen Indians surrounding you!”

  “This is amazing,” Malaysia said, looking around. She could now see the river and the back side of Tom Sawyer’s Island through the clearing. She felt like she was suddenly on another side of the world. “What is that area over there, on the other side of the river?” Malaysia said, pointing across the river.

  “That is the uninhabited side of Tom Sawyer’s Island. Did you guys get over to the Island yesterday?”

  Malaysia shook her head. “No, we didn’t see that.”

  “May have to save that for another time,” Blain said, half kidding, knowing there would probably never be an ‘another time.’

  Blain took her around the second teepee, where the “chief” was moving his arm up and down.

  “These are the original Indian Village teepees that were in the Park when Walt Disney was alive. I’ve heard that these are the earliest mechanical figures that he had built,” Blain said, looking around and taking a deep breath. “I love being here since it really hasn’t been touched or changed in forty plus years. Except for occasional weeding or painting by landscaping or maintenance personnel, this place isn’t visited by anyone.”

  “Except for you.”

  “Yes, except for me…and now you.” Blain heard a familiar sound in the distance. “Missy, come here,” he said.

  Malaysia went over to where Blain was standing. He had walked back behind the first teepee.

  “Come in here, the Mark Twain is coming. We can’t be seen out there,” Blain said as he ducked into the low opening in the back of the teepee. He stuck out his arm and Malaysia took his hand, ducking her head as he led her through the small rear entrance.

  “I’ve never been in one of these before,” Malaysia said, looking around.

  “What, a teepee?”

  Malaysia nodded.

  “Well, technically, you still haven’t. These are fiberglass knock-offs. Fakes,” Blain said, reaching up and knocking on the hard fiberglass shell.

  Blain pulled up one of the two chairs and held it out for her. “Sit, we will have to wait a few minutes so the Mark Twain can get far enough down the river.”

  Malaysia took the seat and reached over to a couple books that were stacked on an old barrel next to the chair.

  “Some light reading?” Malaysia asked. She looked at the cover of the first book and pronounced the author’s name. “Clive Cussler? Is he a good author?”

  “One of my favorites. His books always have adventure, mystery, and, dare I say, romance,” Blain said, looking at Malaysia.

  “You do seem to like a lot of things, Blain. Adventure is definitely one of them.” Malaysia wanted to say, “Romance” too, but thought better of it.

  “You know me well.”

  “I hardly know you,” Malaysia said laughing. But then she stopped and looked at his face and added, “But funny, I feel so comfortable with you.” Malaysia paused, then added, “not just comfortable, but safe.”

  “Well, I guess that’s a good thing,” Blain said scratching his head for a moment. “I’ve never been able to pull off that ‘bad guy’ routine very well.”

  “I’m glad…because I wouldn’t be here if you did.”

  Blain looked into Malaysia’s eyes.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I’m just a little in awe of you.”

  “In awe of me?” Malaysia said. “I’m the one impressed with you!”

  “I just feel so lucky, right now,” Blain said, taking her hand in his. “I know that we will probably never see each other again after you leave,” Blain started, feeling an immediate sense of impending loss. “But, I honestly feel grateful that you let me take you to Disneyland, that you trusted me.”

  Malaysia was touched by his words. “Funny…I feel like I’m the one that’s lucky.”

  Blain took her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.

  “I feel like a princess,” Malaysia said, blushing just a tad.

  “Well, I hope you are not going to be Sleeping Beauty,” Blain said.

  Malaysia laughed.

  “Oh, shoot,” Blain said looking at his watch. “Our dinner reservation at the Blue Bayou is in twenty five minutes!”

  “Is the steamship gone?”

  “Yes, it’s far enough away. Let’s hurry.”

  Blain led the way out of the Village and back along the overgrown path. Malaysia was keeping right on his heels.

  Suddenly, Malaysia went down, tripping over a vine or a rock.

  “Ouch,” Malaysia said, landing on her hip. Luckily, the thick growth of plants and ivy that grew plentiful in the back part of the Park broke most of her fall. A small patch of green was stained into her shorts. A minor scratch was visible on her shin.

  “Are you alright, Missy?” Blain said with concern as he turned around seeing Malaysia on the ground.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” Malaysia said when Blain took her hand and helped her up. “I’m just clumsy, that’s all.”

  “No, it was my fault. I know this area and was trying to go too fast,” Blain said. There was a tree stump next to them that Blain led Malaysia to. “Here, sit down for a second. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

  Malaysia sat on the flat stump, looking down her leg and rubbing her hip.

  “I’m fine. I’m not bleeding or anything. Nothing is broken.”

  Blain knelt down in front of her. “Your ankle okay, you didn’t twist it, did you?”

  Malaysia lifted her leg and rotated her foot around. “It’s stiff, I can feel it. But it doesn’t feel like its hurt bad or anything.”

  Blain looked back at the rock Malaysia must have tripped over. It was a big one that was just on the edge of the path. “Lucky you didn’t twist it; that’s a big rock you stepped on.”

  Malaysia looked back and something caught her eye.

  “What’s that?” she said, leaning over to take a closer look.

  “Don’t know. Looks like something was under the rock,” Blain said, standing up and walking back a few steps. He bent down. “It looks like leather,” Blain said picking up something that was rectangular in shape. Whatever it was, it was compacted with clay on one side.

  “It looks like a wallet,” Blain said, holding it by a corner. He brought it over to where Malaysia was sitting. “It’s covered with this bluish clay. I know that they lined the river with this stuff to keep water from seeping through the sandy soil back when they built Disneyland. This area is covered with the stuff.”

  Blain used his fingers to try and knock off the clay. On one side, the clay covered the whole wallet. “It must have been under that rock. Look,” Blain turned the wallet over and it was almost completely free of the clay on the other side. “This side must have been against the rock.

  “Let’s get out of here and look at it after we clean it off. It’s probably nothing but who knows.” Blain looked at Malaysia. “Think you can walk out of here? We don’t have much further and we still have time to make it to dinner. I can help you if you need it.”

  “Sure, I’m fine,” Malaysia said, putting some weight on her foot before getting up. She then added, “And, to be honest, Blain, you’re also really good at one other thing,” Malaysia said, standing up.

  “Yeah, what’s that, Missy?”

  “Making a girl really hungry.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Discussions & Discovery

  Thursday, December 15th, 1966

  2:05pm

  Wolf and the Blond-Haired Man met in Wolf’s “conference room” office, both men visibly exhausted. They had been through so much in the past month, and now, with the unbelievable seemingly happening again, the two men felt like not only had a rug been pulled out from under their feet, but now it seemed that a whole house was collapsing upon them.

  Wolf was detailing all that had taken place since he had hung up on him to pursue who they
both knew now as a Nathan Duncan who worked as a Disneyland landscaper. Behind his desk, Wolf was leaning forward on an elbow, his chin in his hand. A large legal pad of paper was on the desk in front of him, his pen tapping the pad in a disconcerted cadence.

  “You’re certain that this has nothing to do with Dr. Houser’s work inside the Park?” the Blond-Haired Man asked Wolf referring to Walt Disney’s personal physician, a man that was working on a special project for Walt inside Disneyland. “It’s almost unbelievable that the pendant could be taken again.” Wolf knew the Blond-Haired Man was talking about the previous theft just three weeks earlier of the pendant by Tom Bolte, a maintenance worker at the Park. Both the Blond-Haired Man and Wolf had both been through an incredible task of finding the clues that led to the pendant’s discovery in time for Walt to have seen the pendant earlier this morning. To have the pendant stolen not more than an hour from the time that the Blond-Haired Man had hid the priceless pendant in Walt’s apartment was as unbelievable as it was being stolen the first time. What made this more difficult to understand was that Wolf had installed additional security measures to make sure this would not happen again.

  “There’s just no way, Sir. There’s no way that Tom Bolte could have returned, and anyway, there’s no way he could have known where the pendant was moved to,” Wolf said, incredulous that anyone could have known where he hid the pendant.

  The Blond-Haired man thought back to when the pendant had first vanished and a ransom note found three weeks earlier. Having the pendant stolen twice in one month was too preposterous to think there was a “no way” NOT involved.

  “So, you have walked all the areas you think this Duncan ran to, on his way to the other side of the Park?” The Blond-Haired Man asked while sitting in the only other chair in the room, facing the front of the desk.