Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn

by Ridley Pearson

“Not many,” Finn agreed.

  “Start sending messages while I find the rooms with the DO NOT DISTURB signs.”

  “If they’re here,” Maybeck said, “we’re going to find them.”

  * * *

  Finn pressed his ear to the door outside a room with a DO NOT DISTURB tag on the handle. He’d

  found three doors so far. With his ear to the fourth such room, he heard a faint but familiar beep and knew it was a DS.

  Finn: found it!!!

  A minute later Maybeck came down the hal way toward him.

  “This is their room,” Finn declared. As Maybeck leaned his ear against the door, Finn sent a

  text.

  Maybeck smiled and pul ed away from the door. “Bul ’s-eye!”

  “You’re a better liar than I am,” Finn said.

  “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

  “Charming. I meant to say you’re more charming than I am. You’re better with the ladies.”

  “That goes without saying,” Maybeck said.

  “There’s a room being cleaned, back toward the elevator.”

  “I passed it,” Maybeck confirmed.

  “I think you left your family’s Park Hoppers in this room, and your father’s in here asleep with a headache, which explains the DO NOT DISTURB sign.”

  “I think you’re bril iant,” Maybeck said.

  “Goes without saying. Can you pul it off?”

  “This is me we’re talking about!” Maybeck boasted.

  “Same question.”

  “You’l need to get yourself gone,” Maybeck said.

  “I’l hang at the next set of windows.”

  “I’l text you once I’m inside,” Maybeck said.

  * * *

  Less than five minutes later, Finn received the text message. He returned to the room and knocked softly. Maybeck opened the door.

  The room held a big bed and a pair of bunks. Philby was drooling onto the pil ow of the big

  bed. Wil a slept peaceful y on the lower bunk. They shook both kids, but to no avail: perma-sleep—

  Sleeping Beauty Syndrome.

  “The one thing I remember,” said Maybeck, who yawned al of a sudden, “is how much I dreamed when they had me in this state. I dreamed of being locked up. I think I was dreaming

  what my DHI was seeing.”

  Finn yawned reflexively. “Don’t get me tired, or we’l end up like them.”

  “A nap wouldn’t hurt,” Maybeck said, eyeing the bunk. “We could take turns. Ten minutes.”

  “Do not go there.”

  “I’m tired.”

  “That’s the point. Hang on.” Finn sent Charlene a text message.

  Finn: ready when u r.

  angelface13: al set.

  Both Maybeck and Finn heard the loud scratching sound at the same time. At first Finn thought it was a radio or TV in another room.

  Maybeck hurried over and cracked the curtains. “Apes!” he hissed. He held up two fingers.

  Two apes, Finn realized. Out on the balcony. The sliding door squeaked as one of the apes

  pul ed on the handle from the outside.

  Maybeck pointed to his own chest and then the closet. Seeing this signal, Finn hurried into

  the bathroom, stepped into the tub, and pul ed the shower curtain closed. He heard the door swing

  open and the sounds of the two apes moving around the room. Were they looking for them? Had

  the maid told someone about letting Maybeck into the room?

  A message from Charlene appeared on Finn’s screen.

  angelface13: i’m in position, wil push remote in 3, 2, 1…

  The bathroom door was flung open. Finn could hear one of the two orangutans breathing hard, and the room suddenly smel ed different. He reached up and turned the showerhead to face

  the curtains, his hand on the faucet.

  Four hairy fingers appeared at the edge of the shower curtain. Finn felt as if he might pass

  out.

  The shower curtain was jerked open.

  Finn yanked the lever. Water roared into the face of an ugly orange ape. The ape slapped his

  own face, screamed, and jumped back.

  Finn leaped from the tub, pul ed a terrycloth robe from the back of the bathroom door, and

  tossed it over the ape. He then used the bathrobe’s belt to take a strong turn around the confused ape, pul ed it tight, and knotted it around the ape’s legs. The orangutan fel over, kicking and thrashing and screaming, doing nothing but spinning in circles on the bathroom floor.

  The second ape appeared at the doorway. Finn lunged for the other bathrobe, but it drew him

  closer to the ape, whose big mouth came open, teeth bared. Just as Finn feared the ape would

  strike, Maybeck leaped out of the bedroom closet and poked it with a hanger that he wielded as a

  sword.

  This provoked the ape. It spun around to chal enge Maybeck, giving Finn the extra seconds

  he needed to take hold of the robe and throw it over the orangutan. He and Maybeck made quick

  work of tying up this one as wel . They dragged it into the bathroom and, as they shut the door,

  both apes were seen whirling angrily on the tile floor.

  Finn shook Wil a. Maybeck pul ed on Philby’s arm. Both groaned and squirmed

  uncomfortably: they were awakening! Charlene had used the remote on the DHIs in the cages, and it had worked. The cages were now empty—the DHIs gone, zeroed out by the server.

  Maleficent and the Overtakers with her had to be terribly confused.

  And angry.

  The orangutans screamed loudly from the bathroom.

  Maybeck said to Philby, “I know you feel like a zombie. I’ve been there. But we have to hurry.

  We’ve got to get you out of here.”

  46

  FINN AND MAYBECK escorted Philby and Wila to the train platform for the Wildlife Express Train.

  Amanda had announced a discovery and asked that they meet her. She’d been very secretive,

  and they were eager to talk with her.

  Charlene was stil keeping an eye on the bat enclosure. The ice truck had not been moved.

  The kids stood around watching Finn as he final y made the cal to Rob Bernowski, Jez’s boyfriend. He had the BlackBerry on speakerphone so everyone could hear.

  “Rob?”

  “Yeah? Who’s this?”

  “My name is Finn Whitman. I’m a friend of—”

  “Jez’s. Yeah, I know.” He didn’t sound too thril ed. “She talks about you and the others al the

  time.” Too much of the time, his tone of voice implied.

  “Have you seen her by any chance? Heard from her?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Just curious,” Finn said.

  “What’s up with that?”

  “Just asking.”

  “Because?”

  “Yeah, wel …listen…I know this is going to sound stupid, but if there was one thing Jez could

  change about you, what would it be?”

  “Is this some kind of contest or something?”

  Finn hesitated. Wil a was nodding violently.

  “Yeah, that’s it exactly,” Finn said. “A contest. A school thing. How wel do boyfriends and girlfriends know each other?”

  “The one thing she would change?”

  “Yes. That’s the question.”

  A long hesitation on the other end of the cal . “My clothes. She doesn’t like my jeans, man. I

  wear ‘em kinda low.”

  “Your jeans?”

  “Yeah. Did I answer right?”

  “I’l have to get back to you on that,” Finn said. “That’s al you can think of?”

  “I can tel you the one thing I’d change about her,” Rob volunteered, not giving Finn a chance

  to stop him. “I’d take her iPod away from her. She’s, like, addicted to that thing. That, and al the word games she plays. She’s into scr
ambling every word she can—making other words out of the

  same letters, you know?”

  “Anagrams,” Finn said.

  “What’s that?” Rob asked.

  “It’s what you cal that: an anagram is a word that can be made from the letters of another

  word.”

  “Never heard of it.” He paused. “So what about my prize? Do I win a prize?”

  “Ah…we’l let you know. Thanks for your answers.” Finn ended the cal .

  “Anagrams,” Philby said. “You think it’s worth a try?”

  “Do we think what is worth a try?” Maybeck asked.

  “Jez wrote ‘change Rob’in her diary—”

  “And inside the tree stump,” Wil a added.

  “Some kind of code?” Finn asked.

  “Give me the BlackBerry,” Philby said, reaching toward Finn.

  “I real y don’t think we should cal him back,” Finn said.

  “I’m not cal ing anyone. The BlackBerry has Internet. We can settle this pretty quickly.”

  Finn and the others leaned over Philby’s shoulder as he used the BlackBerry to Google an

  anagram site. Then, reaching a site, he typed in “change Rob,” and hit the button to generate anagrams.

  The smal screen showed a long list of possible letter combinations.

  “‘Branch ego,’” he read from the screen. “‘Corn bag he.’” They laughed. “‘Herb can go.’”

  “Let me see that.” Wil a moved in next to Philby, to where their shoulders touched. No one

  missed how close she got to him, least of al Maybeck, who suddenly started shifting anxiously.

  Wil a studied the screen and spoke in a quiet voice.

  “We’ve done this before,” she reminded him. “The clues from the Stonecutter’s Quil .

  Remember? We solved that anagram without a Web site.”

  “That’s because we didn’t have a BlackBerry. There’s nothing here,” Philby said.

  “There are no proper names,” Wil a said.

  “So?” Philby chal enged.

  Wil a took the BlackBerry out of Philby’s hand and held it where she could study it clearly.

  Then she calmly returned the BlackBerry to Philby, who passed it back to Finn.

  “So I’ve got one,” she said, capturing the ful attention of the others. She meant this as a chal enge. She remained incredibly close to Philby, and she was looking him directly in the eyes.

  “One word. A name. A Disney name.”

  “I give up,” Finn said.

  “I don’t! Wait! Wait!” Philby barked, not wanting to lose to Wil a.

  “A Disney name?” Maybeck asked. “But then that’s got to be it. What is it, Wil a? Tel us what it is!”

  “Give up?” she asked Philby, her voice a hoarse whisper. There was something going on between these two. And Maybeck didn’t like it.

  “No…No…” Philby pleaded.

  “He gives up,” Maybeck said. “WE ALL GIVE UP.”

  Wil a’s eyes scrunched, as if to convey her disappointment in Philby. But Philby didn’t see

  her. His eyes were closed, his lips moving as if reading to himself.

  “Chernabog!” Philby shouted out.

  “And I was about to give up on you,” Wil a said, obviously impressed.

  “The creature from Fantasia?” Finn asked.

  “You ever see that movie?” Maybeck questioned. “He is one mean dude.”

  “And guess what?” Wil a said. “Chernabog’s not only the most evil of al the Disney vil ains, he

  happens to be a demon with bat wings!”

  The kids went silent, the air suddenly shattered by the train’s sharp whistle, announcing its

  arrival at the station.

  47

  HE’S THE BADDEST OF THE BAD. The most evil Walt Disney ever created.” Philby was in fine form,

  back to himself, alert from the sleep he’d gotten and able to think more clearly than either Maybeck or Finn. They waited in line for the Park train to the Conservation Station.

  Charlene remained behind in the jungle just outside the bat enclosure. She blended in wel

  there and, having found a log to stand on with her stilts, could keep an eye on the activities backstage by peering over the top of the wal . The back doors of the ice truck had been shut, Maleficent inside. As far as Charlene could tel , before entering the back of the truck neither Maleficent nor the monkeys and apes had realized the cages were empty. The tarps used to contain the captive DHIs and to block their projections from showing had also served to fool their captors.

  Once the line was moving, Maybeck, Finn, Wil a, and Philby separated for the ride out to the

  Conservation Station. They each took a place on the long benches amid the Park guests, al on

  different train cars. Summoned by Amanda, they were anxious to rendezvous and find out what

  had her so overheated.

  As the train arrived at Rafiki’s Planet Watch, the kids split up. Park visitors trudged up the

  long path toward the Conservation Station. They were a team now, protective of one another and

  concerned for each other’s safety. These kids, who had once been strangers, were now anything

  but—brought together by a common enemy and the strange manifestations of a technology gone

  wrong. To remind them of their previous lives would have been foolish, for they could barely remember a time when fal ing asleep did not mean crossing over into a strange world, and where

  a white-haired old man had not control ed their shared fate.

  Finn, who’d taken up the rear, entered the facility and joined the others in a huddle by the restrooms.

  “I’m starving,” said Wil a.

  “Later,” said Philby.

  “What’s so important?” Finn asked Amanda, who had abandoned her viewing station. The

  crowd had thinned as a veterinary demonstration had begun at the central display window: a snake had eaten a golf bal and was undergoing surgery.

  “We have to act while they’re distracted. And I have to get back to the AnimalCam before

  someone realizes how many cameras that station has access to.”

  “Act?” Finn inquired.

  “One of the sketches from the diary.” She unfolded the original page of the diary and pointed

  out the ape on crutches. “It’s a tattoo. A washable tattoo for the children. It’s given to them after the private tours of the vet clinic. I think our passes wil get us back there, but I didn’t want to leave my station for too long. And since the veterinary clinic means animals, I thought it was better to get some help and maybe do this as a team.”

  “Agreed,” said Finn, attempting to digest everything she’d just told them.

  “A tattoo?” Maybeck quipped in complaint. “What about Chernabog? What about the two

  apes we left spinning donuts back in the lodge? Who cares about some bleeping tattoo?”

  “If it’s in the diary,” Philby said, “then it’s part of the puzzle she left us. That makes it significant. Amanda’s right: we have to pursue it.”

  “Says the one who just got a couple hours’ sleep,” Maybeck complained.

  “I know this may sound foolish,” Amanda said, apologizing to Maybeck, “but I feel it’s important. I real y do. I wouldn’t have cal ed you out here otherwise. I know how hard you’re al working to help Jez. How much risk you’re taking. I can’t tel you how I appreciate it. I have no right to ask you to do anything more.”

  “That’s true,” Maybeck said.

  “Shut up,” said Wil a.

  “I’m agreeing with her.”

  “You’re being a nimrod, and you know it,” Wil a protested.

  “A tattoo!” Maybeck shouted, a little loudly.

  “Everything in the diary has proved out,” Finn reminded them. “The tiger and lion were DHIs.

  She drew the lightning hitting the castle days before it occurred.” />
  “Change Rob,” Wil a said. She reviewed Finn’s phone cal to Rob for Amanda, and the

  discovery of the Chernabog anagram.

  “And that too,” Finn agreed.

  “The apes,” Philby added.

  “And now the tattoo,” Maybeck mumbled. “Okay. I get it. So what now?”

  “I’m going back there,” Finn said. “Into the vet clinic.”

  “And I’m going with you,” Amanda stated, leaving no room for argument.

  “I can take over the viewing station,” Philby offered eagerly.

  “Wil a and I wil stand guard,” said Maybeck. “Our DSs at the ready.”

  “What’s the code word if there’s a problem?” Finn asked.

  “Give it a rest, Whitman.”

  “Chernabog,” said Philby.

  Al eyes fel on him.

  “At least that way we’l al understand it’s serious,” Philby said.

  48

  FINN SWIPED HIS ID in the card reader. A smal light changed to green. An even smaler light went

  off in his brain: what if the Overtakers had figured out the kids were using fake IDs and were now tracking them through the use of their cards? He shook it off.

  He tried the doorknob, and the door opened. He and Amanda stepped through, leaving the

  sounds of activities behind them.

  The hal way he found himself in reminded Finn of the veterinarian’s office where his mother

  volunteered part-time. It also served to remind him of his mother and the fact that he hadn’t yet

  cal ed home. He’d messed up: soon his parents would be at Blizzard Beach looking for him. They

  were going to be furious. He wondered if any of the other kids were in the same predicament. One

  thing was certain—time was running out. The Park would remain open only another hour or so.

  Jez’s chances of being freed were quickly diminishing.

  He knew that no matter how they tried, he and Amanda stil looked like kids. Tired, even exhausted, kids—but kids nonetheless. There was no getting around it. And he had no idea if unaccompanied kids his age were al owed backstage. With this in mind, he signaled to Amanda