HIDDEN MICKEY ADVENTURES 4

by Nancy Temple Rodrigue

  “All righty, I see that we’ll start with my favorite subject: Me.” She got up to stretch. The three fights had taken a toll on her, unused to them as she was. The movement caused Wolf to be instantly on the alert, ready for anything. “Oh, relax, Wolf. I think you put a kink in my neck. You’re quite safe from vicious attack.”

  “I know I’m safe. I just don’t want any surprises.”

  She gave a huff as a reply and padded over to her sleeping mat. Pushing aside some of the paper debris with her nose, she found what she wanted. A granola bar was shoved over to Wolf. “Aooyiwa.”

  He glared at the wrapped bar at his feet. “If you insist on talking Blackfoot, I’ll switch to Lakota and we’ll never get anywhere.”

  “I said ‘eat’.” She rolled her eyes as she crunched on her own treat. “Have you always been this sensitive?”

  “Have you always been this messy?” The granola was shoved aside.

  “Suit yourself. I’m hungry.” As she snatched it back, she carried it over to her original place in the cave.

  Wolf stomach grumbled as he watched her eat what probably was all he would get for dinner. “Are you quite finished? I think we have a lot to talk about.”

  She used a paw to brush away a sticky crumb off her whiskers. “Yes, we do. I believe I have the floor.”

  Wolf mumbled, “Messy floor,” under his breath.

  “I heard that.” At his pointed silence, she felt the need to justify. “I’ve been busy with traveling back and forth. You know how difficult it can be.”

  His silence continued.

  “Fine.” She huffed a dramatic sigh. “I’ve been able to travel since I was about thirteen or fourteen. I found out quite by accident. It was a lovely spring day, actually. I was thinking about my mother who had died right after I was born. She had been attacked….”

  “By a rogue wolf with blue eyes. He bit her.” Wolf’s voice was so low she could barely hear him. What she couldn’t hear was the sudden pounding of his heart.

  “Yes! How did you know?”

  “Go on with your story.”

  He acted like he was having difficulty breathing. “All right,” she answered slowly as she closely watched him. How did he know? Why are his eyes the same color as mine? “As I said, I was thinking about my mother, and, poof, I was suddenly there.”

  “What do you mean? You were where?”

  Omah lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I apparently had traveled back in time and saw my mother before she was married. She was learning to do beadwork in front of her tipi. She was quite lovely. So young. I just stood there staring at her.” In her mind she could clearly see the young woman from the settlers from Lincoln, Nebraska, who would become her mother. Her red hair caught the glowing light and shimmered like a wave down her back.

  “Wasn’t she terrified to suddenly see a wolf in front of her?”

  Irritated that the only memory she had of her mother was interrupted, the dreamy look in her eyes vanished. “Wolf? Who said anything about a wolf?”

  “You turned into a wolf when you traveled back in time.”

  Omah shook her head, confused. “Who said I turned into a wolf? I never said that.”

  “But that’s what happens to me when I travel back in time. Isn’t that why you’re a wolf now?” Getting frustrated and angry again, Wolf jumped to his feet to pace the littered floor.

  “I am a wolf now because I wanted to be a wolf now. I did that to exert my power over you, to show you who was boss. Apparently my surprise wasn’t as great as I thought.”

  “But you obviously were a woman when we were in Disneyland. Now I can only assume we went back in time and you are now obviously a wolf.”

  “Obviously.”

  Her dry comment got him to stop pacing. He abruptly sat again to glower at her, his mouth slightly open. “Do I understand that you choose how you want to appear? Is that what you said?”

  “Can’t you? What’s wrong with you?”

  “Call the storm and show me.”

  Confused, Omah stared back at him. “What do you mean? Call what storm?” She glanced out the entrance of the cave at the clearing sky. Is that what he meant?

  “That’s how I travel. I howl for the storm and it creates a portal for me to go through. It’s accurate…more or less.”

  “How archaic. No wonder you’re always so angry. That must be exhausting.”

  “I’m not angry!”

  “Yes, you are. I can tell by the way you’re yelling at me.”

  Wolf had to stop and take a deep breath. They were falling back into their previous aggressive relationship. I need more answers. I’ll have to be more….nice. He let out a low growl that was instantly met with a mocking laugh. Ignoring her, he again began to pace as he thought back to earlier. “There wasn’t any storm or even a whirlpool when we vanished at Disneyland.” He had to stop here, baffled by the events. “Was that still today?”

  Omah gave an unconcerned shrug. “No clue. Time moves differently here. It might have been months ago. It could be tomorrow. We won’t know until we go back.” She gave him a sly look. “That is, if I choose to take you back.”

  “Don’t threaten me. I can still do it my way.”

  “Surprised you haven’t ended up inside a wall or something.” She shook her head and grinned. “I could teach you, I suppose.”

  “Teach me what?”

  “How to do it right.”

  Wolf bit back the words he was about to throw at her. Could he learn something new, something different than what he knew? He glanced over to where she sat. Sure, she was mocking him and sarcasm dripped like water from her lips. Could they put aside their differences and work together? Did he want to work with her?

  His silence grew as she watched him. Wolf was obviously trying to work something out in his mind. She knew he didn’t trust her. He had no reason to. Did she want him to trust her?

  Her own musings stopped when she came to a decision. She had to show him she knew something he did not. And, there was only one way to accomplish that.

  Quietly she got to her feet and padded out the opening of the cave. The rain had stopped and there were small pools of water here and there that were being absorbed by the thirsty ground. The air was fresh and invigorating, far different than the closeness of her den with two damp wolves sharing the space.

  Wolf stayed where he was as she walked out of sight around the boulders that formed one of the protecting walls. Not sure of what he was supposed to do, and regretting not eating the granola bar when he had the chance, he just waited.

  Within moments, his wait ended. Omah returned to the cave. Only now she was a woman, dressed just as she was when they fell over the railing at the Motor Boat dock.

  His mouth fell open in surprise. “Why are you dressed? Where did you have identical clothes stashed?”

  “Excuse me? Why wouldn’t I be dressed?”

  Wolf stammered. He would have blushed if he had been a man. “Er, uhm, I come back…unclothed. Don’t you?”

  Omah started to laugh until tears ran down her face. “Oh, my dear Wolf! I have so much to teach you!”

  Disneyland

  “I’m so glad your mom let you come today, Peter. I wasn’t sure you’d be able to since I just saw you Tuesday night. What’s your little friend’s name again? I just can’t seem to remember. How did you do on that math test yesterday? I don’t think it’s fair at all to give us a surprise test on Fridays.” Lisa had kept up a steady stream of chatter since the moment she met up with Peter and Catie on the steps of the train station on Main Street. Now riding on the top level of the Omnibus, her eyes were on Peter, not the shops or the quaint architecture on the street below.

  On Peter’s other side, a hurt frown on her face, sat Catie. “My name’s Catie. As I already told you three times….” Ignored again, she gave a longing glance at the Candy Palace as they putted by. They were making English Toffee. She and Peter usually liked to stop for a few minutes to watch the candy
makers inside and sniff the enticing aroma wafting out of the hidden vents. She knew she would have to speak up or she would be a silent third wheel all day. “Hey, Lisa, I really like your necklace. Where’d you get it?”

  A brief look of irritation transformed Lisa’s pretty face before she managed to control it. With a deep, dramatic sigh she reluctantly turned away from Peter. “What did you say, Cathy?”

  “Catie. Her name is Catie, Lisa!”

  Grateful to Peter for standing up for her, Catie’s lips turned up in a brief smile. She realized she’d have to fight her natural shyness to counter the confrontation Lisa seemed determined to provoke. “I…I just asked about your necklace. It’s so pretty.”

  Lisa’s hand automatically went to the pendant that hung from her neck. As she looked down at it, she seemed more confused than flattered by Catie’s compliment. “I, uhm, can’t remember exactly where it came from.” She held up the golden bird so she could see it better. The small eyes were red like rubies and the body was a shimmering green gemstone. Moments passed as she stared at it as if mesmerized. The darker green deep within the stone appeared to swirl and move in front of her eyes. With a shake of her head to try and clear the confusion, she looked up to see the questioning looks coming from her two companions. “I think it’s a raven, but I’m not sure. It must have been in the back of my jewelry box. I guess I just forgot it was there.”

  “It looks really pretty with your top. I’ve never seen a purple that deep.” Catie was still trying to get on some friendly ground with this girl.

  “Yes, doesn’t it?” With a smug look of amusement at the plain tee shirt Catie was wearing, she flipped her hair off her shoulder and turned back to gush at Peter. “So, tell me, Peter, what’s your favorite thing to do in Disneyland? You and I are going to have so much fun today!”

  And so they were back to square one.

  The Omnibus dropped them off between the entrances of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. They were in the heart of the Park and could go in any direction from there.

  Peter grinned at Catie and pointed over to the left at the Hub. “Let’s go say hi to Walt and Mickey.”

  Catie immediately perked up. That was a tradition of theirs every time they came to Disneyland together. At least he isn’t forgetting me.

  “Say hi to who?”

  They stopped dead in their tracks to stare at Lisa. Not sure if he had heard her correctly, Peter had to clarify. “Walt and Mickey.” He gestured again at the bronze Partners Statue, its base surrounded by an intricate swirl of golden mums and purple anemones. “You don’t know who Walt is? You’re kidding, right?”

  She gave an unconcerned shrug of her shoulder as she looked from one stunned face to the other. “Should I? Who is he?”

  Not wanting to provoke Lisa any further, Catie dropped her eyes to hide the amusement within them. This day just got better. Peter could never like someone who didn’t even know who Walt Disney was.

  “He’s only the founder of the Disney Studios and the person who built Disneyland.”

  “Oh. I thought it was just a name like Orville Redenbacher or Colonel Sanders.”

  “They are real people, too.” Hands on his hips, Peter couldn’t believe she didn’t know who Walt Disney was.

  Lisa gave a light laugh. “Gosh, you look so offended. You sound like you know him or something.”

  At her dismissive statement, Peter had to bite his lip. There was no way he’d tell her that, yes, he had met Walt. His time-traveling friend Wolf had insisted that the facts about their trip had to be kept a secret. “Everyone should know who Walt is, that’s all.”

  “And now I do. So, let’s go over to Big Thunder and get Fastpasses so we don’t have to wait long in line later.” With another flip of her hair, she grabbed Peter’s hand and led them through the wooden fort entrance of Frontierland.

  As they walked past the flagpole just inside the gate, Peter had pointed out a Hidden Mickey in the rocks on its base. Always ready with Disney trivia, he had a tidbit to share. “Hey, Catie, did you know someone backed a truck into this flagpole back in 2005? It snapped right off and fell onto a popcorn cart!”

  “Oh, wow, really? I’ll bet they were pretty upset. It’s been here since opening day.”

  “Yeah. It got fixed pretty quickly and put back into place.”

  Unseen by the others, Lisa rolled her eyes and hoped this wasn’t what she could expect for the rest of the day. When they each had a Fastpass, she took control again. “How about the Haunted Mansion? We have an hour before we can use our passes.” There was a look exchanged between Peter and Catie that she misunderstood. “Or is it too scary for you, Cath…I mean, Catie?”

  “I’m not scared of the Mansion!” Catie found she had crumbled her Fastpass in her fist and stuffed it into her pocket, hoping they hadn’t noticed. “Let’s go.”

  Lisa and Peter had to hurry to catch up to the angry girl. She was already past the white entrance of the Mark Twain and Columbia dock.

  With a reassuring hand on her shoulder, Peter leaned in to give her a quick whisper. “It’s okay, Catie. I don’t think she meant anything by it. She never acted this way at school. Maybe she’s just having a bad day.”

  Her arms folded across her chest and rigid stance told Peter that Catie didn’t quite believe him.

  “Okay.” Peter gave a silent sigh. This is going to be a long day. “Lisa, did you see those eight flags flying over the Mark Twain landing? Do you know what they mean?”

  “That’s there’s a nice breeze and it won’t get too hot?”

  Since he really didn’t know her all that well, he wasn’t sure if that was sarcasm or not. “Uhm, yeah, I guess. But each one also represents an important time in America’s history. Like that flag over there came over on the Mayflower and that one went up Bunker Hill and….”

  “Didn’t you do a report on that in Mr. Russell’s history class?” Please say yes.

  “Yeah, last year.”

  “Then I remember. Interesting. Ooh, look!” Eager for any excuse to stop the history lesson, Lisa pointed at the Frontierland River. “The canoes are running! Do you want to go on those?”

  “Thought we were going to the Haunted Mansion.”

  Lisa threw an irritated look at Catie but turned it into a smile when Peter looked at her. “We are. I meant after.” The threesome joined the queue going through the bricked entryway of the Mansion. As they shuffled past the graveyard, they took turns reading the quirky sayings on the tombstones. “I like this one under the pig: Rosie. She was a poor little pig, but she bought the farm. 1849.”

  “This is my favorite: Dear departed brother Dave. He chased a bear into a cave.”

  As they continued to share some laughs, the building tension began to ease. All three of them fit into one Doombuggy, which pleased Catie who figured she would have to ride alone. Peter kept the conversation light as they wound their way through Master Gracey’s neglected house. As they passed through the Ballroom, he pointed out the three plates pushed together into another Hidden Mickey pattern. He kept his memory of meeting the real Master Gracey and Constance to himself.

  As they exited the tomb with the haunting call of “Hurrrrry baaaack” in their ears, they turned left to head to the canoes. Lisa took his hand again as they walked past the drop of Splash Mountain, a log-full of riders screaming their way down into the briar patch below. “So, Peter, what do you like to do best at Disneyland? Do you always just ride the rides?”

  With a side glance at Catie and a small grin, he gave a shrug. “No, not just the rides. I like to find things.”

  “You mean, like the Hidden Mickeys you’ve been pointing out?” Like, everywhere.

  “No, not just that. I like finding lost things. Ouch!” He had to wince when Catie punched his arm. “Hey, I wasn’t going to tell.”

  “Tell what? You’ve got a secret?” Lisa’s eyes narrowed as she watched the silent interplay between Catie and Peter. Finally! Now we can startgetting something
accomplished. I don’t know how much more of this I can stand. “You mean like that door you came out of on Main Street? I went up to it later and it was locked.” Her free hand played with the raven pendant hanging from a thin golden chain as she intently stared at Peter.

  “You…you saw that?” He looked from Lisa to Catie and saw her eyes were wide. “I guess it would be all right to tell her since she saw us.”

  Catie wasn’t going to back down. “No, Peter! You know what Uncle Wolf said.”

  “You have an uncle named Wolf? That’s funny.” Lisa stopped walking before they got to the wooden railings that marked the entrance to the canoe dock. They could see from where they stood that there wasn’t much of a line that early in the day. As she leaned against the fence that blocked off that portion of Splash Mountain, she narrowed in on Peter. It was obvious she wouldn’t get any information out of the girl. “So, tell me what you find. I won’t tell, if that’s what you’re afraid of, Catie.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  Lisa gave her a small smile. “I didn’t say you were afraid of me.” You should be, though. “I was just talking.” She turned her wide green eyes on Peter as she held her necklace between her fingers. “Tell me what it is you find. Tell me, Peter….” Her voice was low and inviting.

  Peter gulped and ignored the persistent nagging in the back of his mind that told him not to say anything. He had stepped between the two girls as if to shield Catie, not knowing exactly why he felt he needed to protect her. “I find things that have been lost.”

  The intrigued look on Lisa’s face faded. “You mean, like a wallet or sunglasses? Why?”

  Peter wanted the look of interest to come back to her face. He was sorry, somehow, that he seemed to be disappointing her. “No, not like that. Interesting things that have been lost a long….”

  “Peter!”

  He motioned behind his back for her to keep quiet. “It’s okay, Catie. We can trust her.”

  “Yes, you can trust me. What do these things look like?”

  Peter pulled his fingers free from her grasp, not even aware she had been holding them. His hands went about a foot apart. “They’re usually gray canisters about this long. The thickness depends on what’s inside. There’s usually a clue or riddle and a prize of some kind.”