HIDDEN MICKEY ADVENTURES 2

by Nancy Temple Rodrigue

  “How long do you think that effect would take?” Walt walked over and stared at the drawings.

  “Oh, about three minutes, tops.”

  “You think people would stand there that long to get the full effect?”

  “Uhm.” Ken hesitated as he looked back at his work. He hadn’t thought of that. “I think so. With all the other effects going on in every room, they should realize they need to stay long enough see everything. Or, even better, they’ll have to keep coming back to make sure they do see everything.”

  One of the other designers spoke up. “Well, in my opinion, I think the attractions shouldn’t be stories, but should be experiences that don’t need a beginning and an end. You’ll lose the audience if they don’t get it. People don’t like to feel dumb.”

  “Well, if we go that way, we’ll lose the whole back-story concept.” The suggestion made Ken irritated. He had already put in hour after hour of work on this project and didn’t want to see his efforts buried.

  The other designer just shrugged. He had put in his two-cent’s worth and would wait. He didn’t have the final say anyway. None of them sitting at the table did. Only Walt had the privilege of putting the stamp of approval on the final decision.

  “Well, you all know I believe in being an innovator. I want my Old House on the Hill to be something no one has ever seen before. You all have some good ideas and some of the effects are already mocked up.” Walt’s acknowledgement included everyone in the room. “Once you get a good idea, stay with it. Dog it, and work it until it’s done and done right. That being said, let’s get it done!”

  Fullerton

  “Well, let’s face the music and get it over with.” Lance and Peter quietly entered the house from the garage. “Let’s go find your mother.”

  “How come it’s still dark outside? It was the middle of the day when we left the village.” Peter yawned as they got into the elevator. It was just too tiring to climb the stairs to the second floor bedrooms.

  Lance could only shake his head. “Not sure how all that time-travel stuff works. I forgot to check the clock downstairs to see what time it was. Quiet now.” The doors of the elevator slid open on the silent floor. “Everyone seems to be asleep.”

  As they walked past Michael’s room, there was a halfhearted challenging, “Woof.” The puppy Dug was snuggled comfortably on the bed. Thinking better of the situation, her head dropped back to the covers with a contented sigh.

  “So much for having a watch dog.” Lance still hadn’t forgiven Adam and Beth for dropping the puppy in their laps. “Nope, you’re going with me.” He grabbed Peter’s shoulder as the boy started to head to his own room. “Your mom’ll want to see you to make sure you’re really okay. As mad as she was, I doubt she’ll take my word for it.”

  The master bedroom, however, was empty and the large bed hadn’t been slept in. Lance frowned, “That’s odd.” Looking up at the ceiling, he asked, more to himself than Peter, “Do you think she’s in the War Room?”

  At the mention of the secret room upstairs, Peter forgot his tiredness and the trepidation of getting into more trouble with his mom. Even though he had discovered the room by accident when they were being robbed, he hadn’t been allowed back in nearly enough to satisfy his curiosity. “Let’s go check.” Peter seemed a little too bright and agreeable.

  As he looked at the innocent expression on his son’s face, Lance tried to bite back a smile. “Don’t forget, Pete, that you’re already grounded for life. I’m sure your mom will have something to add to that.”

  The eagerness in the boy’s eyes dimmed only slightly. The War Room was too exciting to pass up. “Yeah, I know. But, we should make sure she doesn’t worry any more.”

  “Yeah. Worry.” Peter didn’t see his dad’s grin as he led the way back to the elevator. “Always thinking of others, Pete.”

  The door to the War Room was open and the two peeked in. Her back to the door, Kimberly was seated at the main console as the monitors changed from one hidden camera to the next around the Park. If her head hadn’t been tilted against the backrest of the chair and they could hear the sound of soft snoring, they might have thought she was busy at her post.

  Lance motioned for Peter to stay back and keep silent. He quietly walked behind her chair and gave a soft call. “Kimberly?”

  With a jerk, Kimberly was instantly awake and grabbed up the walkie-talkie in her lap. “Lance? Is that you? Is Peter all right?”

  “Yes, we’re fine….”

  “Wow, the reception is really clear.” Surprised, she held it away from her ear and looked at it. Usually there was a little static. “Can you hear me all right, Lance? Let me talk to Peter!”

  They tried to keep straight faces as Lance indicated for Peter to answer her. “Mom?”

  A huge grin broke out on Kimberly’s face. “Oh, Petey! I’m so happy to hear your voice!”

  The two guys couldn’t help it and broke out laughing. Her head whipped around at the noise and the walkie-talkie fell to the floor when she jumped to her feet. Grabbing Peter first, she hugged him and then included Lance in the embrace. “I’ll deal with you later.” Her whisper was just for her husband’s ear.

  “I love you, too,” as he kissed her cheek.

  Breaking the embrace, she held Peter at arm’s length. “You look all right. Are you? Are you hurt? What happened? Why did you do that?”

  Peter didn’t know what he should answer first. Instead, he went back for another hug, burying his face in her arms. “I missed you so much, Mom. I’m sorry I scared you. I really am.”

  Her heart melted, as it always did with the love of her boys, and she looked up at Lance with a ‘how-can-I-punish-him-after-that’ look. Understanding, Lance shrugged. “I already grounded him for life.”

  With a smile at that, Kimberly sat back down at her chair and still held onto Peter. “I realize you always wanted to know where Wolf went, but that wasn’t the way to do it, Petey. There’s so much your father and I don’t understand about what Wolf does that we were scared to let you go with him.”

  “But, I’m fine!” he insisted, not knowing for sure what was coming.

  She looked him over and nodded her head. “Other than being filthy, you do look all right. But, is that the point? It worked out fine so it wasn’t wrong? You scared us to death, Petey.” She had to keep her fingers from having too tight a grasp on his arms. She spoke lightly, but he would never know how scared she had really been.

  Hanging his head, he knew she was right. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think of that. I just saw Uncle Wolf disappear and I remembered I saw it before. I just had to go with him.”

  She decided to let it go for now. “Well, I think we all need to get some sleep. You two look exhausted.”

  “And hungry,” Lance added. “By the way, how long have we been gone? We spent the night with Wolf’s family.”

  “Spent the night?” She looked at the clock. “You’ve only been gone about two hours. That’s odd.”

  Lance held a hand out for her to come with him. “Well, let’s all go to bed. Peter, I think, under the circumstances, you can miss school tomorrow.”

  That perked the boy up after his mom’s lecture. “Awesome! Hey, Mom, wait until I tell you about Constance and the Haunted Mansion!”

  “The what?” She looked confused as Lance led them out of the room and locked the door behind them. “Who are you talking about?”

  Not hearing her, Peter raced ahead of them down the stairs to his bedroom.

  Lance and Kimberly followed at a more sedate pace. “I’m so glad to be home.” Lance gave a yawn as he squeezed her arm. “I really missed you. We have a lot to talk about tomorrow.”

  “I should have reminded Pete to take a bath. You two smell awful!”

  “Aww, do I have to?” Lance tried to sound whiney but then gave her a big smile. “I’ll get right on it. Hot water actually sounds pretty good.”

  Disneylandr />
  Wolf got his customary five hours of sleep, donned a fresh uniform and headed back to work. After his Mustang roared into its parking space at Security, he went inside to check in and get his assignment.

  “Morning, Wolf.” Norm looked up from his paperwork and greeted his number one guard. “Now that Frontierland is reopened again—never did hear what that was all about—why don’t you take over your usual patrol?” At the brief answering nod, the head of the department continued his instructions. “Go ahead and include New Orleans Square and Adventureland. There’s going to be a powwow and dance today in the Village, so keep an eye on that. Sometimes the female guests get a little too, uh, interactive with the dancers.” He gave a knowing smile as he looked over the duty roster and didn’t see a look of confusion pass over Wolf’s face.

  “What about Critter Country?”

  “Where?” Norm’s attention was diverted to an incoming call. “Roger that, Crumm. Get on it and keep me informed…. Trouble at Big Thunder.” His banter stopped when he saw the questioning look on Wolf’s face. “What did you just ask?”

  “Uh, nothing.” Wolf made a show of checking the batteries on his walkie-talkie as he walked out the door into the bright sunlight. It was going to be another beautiful southern California day. He couldn’t have cared less. His mind was too busy wondering about the powwow Norm had mentioned. He hadn’t seen any memo and didn’t know what his boss was talking about.

  Cutting behind Indiana Jones, Wolf walked through the vehicle storage area as the Monorail silently whizzed by overhead. A van had just unloaded a group of costumed Native American dancers. With the elaborate feathered headdresses held in their hands, they were a colorful group that represented many different tribes.

  Wolf approached one man dressed in the familiar garb of Lakota Sioux. “Tanyan yahi.” He welcomed the dancer with a raised hand.

  “Say what?”

  “I said welcome. In Lakota,” he prompted, perplexed by the blank stare he received.

  “Okay. I’m Jim. From Pasadena.”

  “What are you all doing here? Is there a special parade today?”

  Jim gave him a smile when he thought he understood the security guard’s confusion. “Ah, you must be new here. We’ve been dancing for years.” He looked over Wolf’s uniform. “Guess you didn’t know about us because we don’t need any guards!”

  Jim waved a hand and went to rejoin his friends as Wolf walked off, more puzzled than before. There hadn’t been Native dancers in the Ceremonial Circle Dances since 1971.

  Wolf planned to walk behind the west side of Main Street to get to Adventureland and begin his patrol there. However, when he turned the corner behind the Jungle Cruise, there was a large wall blocking the route. “What the…? When did that get erected? Are they building more lockers for the cast members?”

  He had to retrace his steps and emerged in the empty courtyard of the tour guides. As he walked up Main Street toward the Castle, he was a little surprised to see a lot of people head into West Center Street, next to the Carnation Café. It was much too early for lunch and they wouldn’t be open. There were restrooms back there and an opening into the shops and the Emporium. But West Center was never that busy.

  When he reached the side street, he was stopped in his tracks. There were no tables for Carnation Café and there were certainly no restrooms. In fact, there was no back wall at all until the walkway reached the Jungle Cruise. He saw all of the guests turn left. To the right was a large wooden door that had Cast Members Only painted in turn-of-the-century lettering. Pushing through the door, he saw the expected rows and rows of lockers and vending machines used by the employees.

  Turning back, he followed the moving crowd and came to an abrupt halt.

  “That can’t be.” Eyes wide, he excused himself as he quickly turned and bumped into some of the guests who had come in behind him.

  Back on Main Street, he had to hold himself back from actually sprinting to New Orleans Square. To get there the fastest way, he cut through Adventureland. As he went over the bridge above the queue for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, he glanced at the Frontierland River. There he could see the Columbia as she loaded passengers. The Rafts to and from Tom Sawyer Island were busy crisscrossing each other mid-river and would unload within a minute.

  “Okay, so far, so good.” To his left was Royal Street in New Orleans Square. The cast members who worked Café Orleans busily wiped down the outdoor tables in readiness for the lunch crowd. “Okay, that’s fine.” Next was the French Market Restaurant also being set up for service. He could smell the mixed aroma from a nearby popcorn machine and a churro cart as a sea of guests walked in every direction around him.

  When he heard the tinkling sound of bells—ankle bells, he recognized—his head swiveled to see the dancers he had met as they got into position. A crowd of onlookers clapped in anticipation as they sat on the ground or stood to watch. “Magnolia Park?” Unable to fully grasp what he saw, his heart began to pound in his chest.

  With jerky movements, he lifted his walkie-talkie and punched the direct line to the War Room. When Lance yawned hello, Wolf ordered, “Get down here. Now! And bring Kimberly.”

  “Where are you?”

  “New Orleans Square.”

  “Weren’t we just there last night? What? You miss me already, Wolf?” Lance leaned back in his chair as he took another sip of coffee.

  Wolf did something he rarely—if ever—did. He yelled into the walkie-talkie. “Get down here now!”

  Lance still silently stared at the silent walkie-talkie when Kimberly came back into the War Room. After she set a toasted bagel in front of him, she had to reach around him to adjust the main monitor.

  “Is something wrong, honey? Did you get a call?” Not overly concerned, she took a seat opposite him.

  “Hmm?” He looked up, not even noticing she had come into the room. “Call? Yeah, I just had a call from Wolf.”

  She frowned at the distracted look on Lance’s face. “Is he recovered from the…uh…trip?”

  He gave a little smile. “You make it sound like we went to Bermuda.”

  Taking a sip of her coffee, Kimberly smiled over the cup. “Bermuda would be nice. Though, I still want to hear about your…adventure. Is that a better word?”

  “It was every bit of an adventure, all right,” Lance muttered as he resumed his glare at the walkie-talkie.

  “So, what did Wolf want?”

  Lance looked up and noticed the bagel for this first time. After the first bite, he gestured with the uneaten piece. “He actually yelled at me.”

  The coffee cup stopped halfway to the desk. “Wolf never yells.”

  “I know!”

  “Well, what did he say?”

  Lance finished off the bagel and wiped the remnants of the cream cheese off on a piece of notepaper. “That’s the weird part. He told me to get over to Disneyland right now. I asked where, just as nice as I could, and he said New Orleans Square as if I should have known that’s where he was. Then I made a joke and he yelled at me! He hurt my feelings.”

  Kimberly gave a chuckle. “I’m sure you’ll get over it. What’s so important in New Orleans Square that he would want you there immediately?”

  “He didn’t say. He just made it obvious that you and I are supposed drop everything and meet him there right now.” Now that his bagel was gone, Lance looked around for more food, but Kimberly had wisely eaten hers as quickly as possible.

  “Me too? Why would he possibly want me?”

  Lance got up and brushed the crumbs into the wastebasket. “No clue, but we’d better get going before he calls again. I’d hate for him to have to start yelling at you.”

  “What about Peter?”

  “Well, I’d hate for him to start yelling at Peter, too.”

  “Not what I meant and you know it! I meant—should we bring Peter with us? I think he’s awake. We probably should have sent him to school,
but I didn’t know how he’d be feeling today.”

  “Yeah, I think we’d better bring him. I’d rather not leave him here all by himself. He’d probably enjoy it too much.”

  Kimberly did a final check on the monitors as Lance left the room to go rouse Peter. The main screen flashed onto the activities around New Orleans Square. Kimberly stopped the rotation and zoomed in on the Native dancers busy in an intricate routine. “Oh, there’s Jim. Wonder how his wife is doing.” She made a mental note to say hello when she got there.

  Lance parked in the employee lot and they took a bus to their entrance on the east side of the Park. Walking under the train track, they followed the walkway behind Main Street until it emerged into Tomorrowland, just before the entrance to Star Tours. They crossed through the busy Hub and entered Adventureland. Wolf waylaid them near the exit to Tarzan’s Treehouse. They could tell he was agitated.

  Waving off their greetings, he almost barked at them. “Which way did you come in?”

  Lance and Kimberly exchanged a look. This wasn’t like Wolf. “Through the employee entrance.”

  “Not down Main Street?” His words were clipped and short.

  “No,” Lance said slowly. “We came out in Tomorrowland. Is there a problem? What’s with the call and the attitude?”

  Wolf shook his head as if he wanted to clear it. “Sorry.” It might have been an apology but it was too low to hear. He was able to continue in a more rational voice. “I think you need to follow me.”

  With a shrug, Lance kept a hand on Peter to keep him from ducking into the Pirates entrance. Glad to be at Disneyland and not in school, Peter had a happy grin on his face.

  As they walked over the bridge, Lance became confused. “What’s that noise? It sounds like drums and bells. Is there some new parade or show we don’t know about for some reason?”

  “You’re too funny!” Kimberly gave a laugh. “It’s the Ceremonial Circle Dance, silly. Happens every day at this time. Oh, that reminds me, I need to go say hello to Jim. His wife Jacque, as you know, was one of the princesses I trained. Her baby is due any day now.”