HIDDEN MICKEY ADVENTURES 4

by Nancy Temple Rodrigue

  “A clue to what?” Lisa’s heart began to pound.

  “Where the next one is hidden.”

  “So, you can find anything that’s been lost?”

  “Hey, Lisa, I didn’t say that. They were put in place a long time ago and I just happen to find where some of them are hidden. Catie and I are pretty good at figuring out the clues.”

  Behind her back, Lisa reached into the bushes that were planted at the base of the mountain. As she pulled her hand back, still unseen by the others, she was holding a gray canister. “So, they can be anywhere? Like here, for example?”

  “Here?” Peter frowned and looked up at the towering mountain as if he wasn’t sure where he was. “Here? Oh, no, not here. Splash Mountain wasn’t built in Walt’s time. They have to be from when Walt was in the Park.”

  Lisa tossed the container back into the bushes. “Oh, I see. That makes it more difficult.” She had been thinking to herself and didn’t realize she had said it out loud.

  Peter, though, thought she finally understood. “Yes! That’s right. It is hard. Everything has to have been, well, lost before 1966. And there are still lots and lots of places I haven’t explored yet.”

  “If we’re going to ride the canoes, we need to do it soon. It’s almost time for our Fastpasses.”

  Catie’s reminder broke through the swirling mist in Peter’s brain that was overriding his better judgment. If he had been asked to describe it, he would have called it green. “Canoes? Oh, yeah, that’s right. We’re going to ride the canoes.”

  “Are you okay, Peter? You look funny.”

  Pulling his gaze from the canoe dock, he looked into her worried brown eyes, familiar eyes that he had known forever. “Yeah, Catie. I’m fine.” He reached out to lightly touch her arm. The contact seemed to clear some of the conflicting emotions running through his mind. “I guess I’m just anxious to find another clue, that’s all. You know how much fun we have with them.”

  “And now there are three of us to find them.” Lisa stepped in between them to break their connection, and threw a smile at the girl. It would not have been described as a warm, caring smile.

  Catie had had enough. She didn’t want to spend the rest of the day in Lisa’s company. With a fake cough, she leaned against the rail that Lisa had just left and put the back of her hand against her forehead. “Peter? I don’t feel really good right now. I’m going to go see my mom.”

  “Really? You seemed fine a minute ago.” Girls, sheesh. “Aunt Beth is working Pirates today, isn’t she? You want me to go with you?”

  “No, you go ahead and ride the canoes. I have my walkie-talkie if I, uhm, feel better later and want to find you.” Much, much later, when Lisa is gone.

  He wasn’t sure what to do. Catie didn’t look sick and Lisa wasn’t acting at all like she did at school. His mind was telling him to let her go, but he knew that wasn’t right. “I should go with you, shouldn’t I?”

  “I’ll come, too. You look really, really bad.”

  Lisa’s piping up was the last straw for Catie. “No, just stay and go on the canoes. You’re already here. I’ll be fine.” With an angry shake of her head and tears in her eyes, she quickly turned and walked back the way they had come without a backward glance.

  Not completely sure what had just happened, Peter watched until Catie was out of sight. His hand curled into a fist. Something wasn’t right. Whirling around on Lisa, he had to stop himself from actually yelling at her. “That wasn’t cool, Lisa! Catie’s my best friend. She should be going with me on the canoes, not you!”

  So, the boy does have some spirit. That’s good. He might need it later. Lisa let her face fall and managed to look repentant. “I’m so sorry, Peter. She looked so sick I thought she really wanted to leave. Should we go after her?” She placed one hand on her pendant and lightly touched Peter’s arm with the other. “It’s up to you. Don’t you want to stay with me?”

  At the touch, Peter’s eyes dropped down to his arm. He could feel the warmth of her fingertips and his worry and concern over Catie slowly melted away. “She’ll be fine once she gets to Aunt Beth.”

  “I’d like to see that room over Main Street.”

  The warmth on his arm spread up to his shoulders. A big grin spread over his face. “Sure, that would be great. When do you want to go?”

  Lisa returned the smile. “No rush now, Peter. No rush. Let’s ride the canoes. But I don’t feel like paddling.”

  “You don’t have to. I’ll do enough for both of us!”

  As soon as she got past the entrance to the Haunted Mansion, Catie turned right and headed into the shaded grove of Magnolia Park in New Orleans Square. Just above her, the steam train Ward Kimball had just pulled into the station and let off a mighty blast of steam.

  Unseeing, her eyes on her feet, Catie walked unerringly through the twisting streets filled with quaint shops, ornate wrought iron balconies, and meandering people. Next to the Blue Bayou restaurant was the exit of the ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, where she knew her mom was working. She felt rather than saw the bright sunlight fade as she went up the ramp into shadowy darkness. Her nose picked up the chlorine smell that was unique to the last ride that Walt Disney himself had worked on.

  Going against the traffic of guests who had just ended their voyage through the world of pirates, Catie wound her way over the wooden bridge to the unloading station. Only then did she look up. Her mom Beth was nowhere to be seen.

  “Anne, have you seen my mom?”

  The lead in charge of the ride that day, dressed as a pirate, turned from the operator’s desk at the edge of the dock. Even in the dusky light lit only by flickering lamps Anne could see Beth’s little girl was very upset. “Hi, honey. Your mom’s up in the control booth. You want help in getting over to the other dock?”

  Grateful that she wasn’t being asked for any explanation, Catie just nodded as Anne held up a hand for the loader on the other side. “Coming over, Laura. Give her a sec.”

  Catie waited for the last guest in the first row of the flat-bottomed boat to get out before she hopped down onto the seat and ran to the other side. She smiled her thanks to Laura as she mounted the steps that lead up to the control booth. Her mom faced a panel of screens that showed the entire ride. Alert to anyone who stood up in the boats or took pictures, Beth was also responsible for each boat as it headed out below her. Properly filled and spaced correctly, Beth’s job was to make sure everyone was safe.

  Aware it was time for her break, Beth thought the person who just entered was there to take over for her, so she didn’t look away from the screens. She had been watching one particular boat as it wound through dark tunnel of the Treasure Cave. “I already told you once, you stubborn man.” As she muttered to herself, she pushed a button on the console and leaned into the microphone. “Please remain seated at all times. And no flash photography,” she added when a bright flash lit up the next screen over. “I tell you, Dawn, these people just don’t listen.”

  “It’s Catie.”

  At the sad voice, Beth’s head jerked up. “Catie! I thought you were with Peter and…what’s that girl’s name? What’s wrong, honey?” With a last, quick glance at the monitors, she rushed over to her daughter to give her a hug. “Did something happen?”

  “Am I ugly?”

  Oh, dear, what did that silly boy do now? “Okay, it’s break time.” Beth went to the entrance to the small room and glanced down the ladder. “Dawn? Could you come up, please? Thanks. I need to take my break. Can you take over a little early?”

  “Sure thing, Beth.” With a kind smile to the girl who looked both miserable and embarrassed, Dawn sat in the chair in front of the monitors.

  “Come on, honey. Let’s go to the break room in the back.” Beth smiled to herself when her girl’s eyes lit up. Whatever it was that upset Catie was probably not as world-shattering as Catie thought.

  “We get to go through the bayou!?”

  “You know the way. Lead on.”
>
  Known only to the cast members, there was a secret path that traveled along the border of the bayou. As the guests were slowly pushed along by an invisible current of water, they drifted past the dark houseboats, glowing lanterns, and fireflies flickering in the darkness. The sky above was in perpetual night; the Blue Bayou restaurant off to the right was bathed in romantic dusk and lit by individual candles. Bullfrogs croaked in the distance and moss hung from the trees completing the complete immersion of senses. However, beyond the edge of the houseboats was the unseen edge of the water. There was a gap between the channel and the background paintings of an endless, misty forest of moss-draped trees.

  It was through this gap that Beth and Catie now walked. If anyone had been looking closely enough between the houseboats, they would have seen two heads as they bobbed along, briefly visible against the blue of the matte painting.

  Behind the final houseboat from which the soft strands of banjo music could be heard was a door that led backstage and to the room in which Beth and Catie now sat.

  “Thanks for the dinner, Peter. I still can’t believe I didn’t bring any money with me.”

  “That’s okay, Lisa. It was only a corndog.” Peter paused, his hand on the knob that led to the secret apartment. His anger at her treatment of his friend had faded as the day progressed. The girl had changed her attitude once Catie left and was more friendly and fun. All the warnings from Uncle Wolf and his parents had shrunk into irritating gnats that he had swept away. Still, Peter hesitated at the door. Something wasn’t right. He just couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was that was off.

  “Aren’t we going in?” Lisa saw Peter’s reluctance and placed her hand on his shoulder as she leaned in behind him. Her words tickled his ear. “Turn the knob, Peter. We’re starting to attract attention by standing here.”

  Her words and the warmth of her touch seeped into his brain once more. Thoughts of Catie and Uncle Wolf winked out and were gone. “Yes, just a sec.”

  That’s a good boy. Let’s get this game going. I need to gain your trust so you can lead me to what’s mine. “Ooh, it’s so dark in there! You sure this is the right place?”

  “We have to go up the ladder, and then you’ll see. It’s really cool!”

  Lisa let herself be led around the small room as Peter excitedly explained the clue search that had brought him to this place. “Oh, you’re so smart. That’s really clever. I don’t know how you do it.” She kept up a mindless, steady stream of compliments as he talked, which encouraged him to reveal more and more.

  Peter was about to explain the history behind Walt’s bronzed hat when he had to excuse himself. “Sorry, too much soda.”

  When he went into the small bathroom in the back of the apartment, Lisa slumped against the nearest wall, totally spent. “Oh, by the Sacred Gemstones of Merlin, how do they do it? How do they stand all these hormones racing through their bodies? It’s…it’s exhausting! And I thought it was bad when Aurora was mooning over that wretched Prince Phillip! This boy has to know where my red diamond is. I can feel it close by…so close, I just know it. If those meddling fairies hadn’t interfered and blocked it…. Oh, it would be so much easier if I could just entomb him in a tree until he tells me what I want. That worked with Merlin….”

  With a disgusted shake of her head, she reminded herself to get back to work. Using the girl’s eyes, she looked around the room she had already examined earlier in the week. This time, though, she needed to ‘discover’ a reasonable hiding place. I think I have a sufficient clue trail in place to lull him into a false sense of security. If this works like I think it will, I’ll trick him into revealing where my heart is. I didn’t travel all this way to be denied what is mine. The mental tirade stopped when she heard water running in the sink in the bathroom. Her time limited, she summoned all her remaining strength, eyes closed as she continued to stroke the pendant.

  Peter came back into the room to see Lisa standing up from the floor. About to ask what she was doing, the words caught in his mouth when he saw what she was holding.

  “Peter! Look what I found!”

  “Where did you find that?”

  “My, uhm, thing rolled under the couch and this was under there! Isn’t it exciting?” Lisa held out the gray canister for Peter to take. She could see the excitement in his eyes. “What are the odds, huh?”

  Eager to have another possible clue from Walt, Peter took the case a she held it out for him. He appeared to be speechless.

  Having expected him to probably rip it open with his teeth in his excitement, Lisa was confused when he merely stood there and stared at it. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to open it?” Don’t tell me it isn’t right. I did just what you described, you miserable….

  “No, no, it’s fine. It’s just….” He looked up at the sharp green eyes that were glaring at him. How could he tell her he wanted to open it with Catie, not her?

  Forcing her gaze to relax into a kinder expression, Lisa put her hand on Peter’s arm. It was the only way to get him to talk. “What’s the matter, Peter? I thought you’d be pleased with me for finding it.”

  The smoky, green swirl slowly worked its way back into his mind. “Oh, I am. It’s just that I usually do this with Catie.”

  Oh, is that all? Finally! Now I can leave and get some strength back. “That’s all right, Peter. I know you and your little friend like to solve the clues. Just let me know what you find, okay?” Her hand dropped from his arm when she went over to the window. “It’s really late. My mom should be here to pick me up any minute. I’ll see you in school Monday.”

  “Do you want me to walk you to the pick-up lot out on Harbor?”

  “No, I’m good. Mom’s coming to the lot behind Rainforest Cafe. I’ll just take the Monorail. If you went, you’d have to go through the security check-point again. Thanks for a fun day!”

  “Yeah. Fun.” Peter could only watch as she gave a light wave of her hand before she disappeared down the ladder. His emotions were mixed as his hands moved over the cold plastic of the canister. The further Lisa got away from him, the clearer his mind became. “Fun? I guess part of it was fun. I need to check on Catie. Gosh, it’s late. Aunt Beth has probably taken her home by now.” As Peter mumbled to himself, he lifted his backpack off the floor to retrieve his phone. As he scrolled to her number, guilt began to seep into his brain. His finger hesitated over the Connect button. “She’s probably really mad at me. I don’t blame her.” Peter hit the Message button instead. “I’ll send a text.” As he began to type, he let out a disgusted snort. “When did I become such a coward?”

  Catie, guess what? Found another canister in apartment! When can we open it?

  Her answer was immediate. Ask Lisa.

  The Great Northern Plains

  The longer Omah laughed, the angrier Wolf became. Had she still been a wolf, he would have tackled her again, pinning her to the ground until she realized he was still the boss. If he did that now, it would probably break her back. A low, warning growl came from deep within his throat.

  Omah finally managed to get herself under control and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Every now and then she would break into a chuckle as the mental image of Wolf desperately trying to find his clothes somewhere in Disneyland came back to her mind. “Oh, that was rich! Sorry, it’s just so funny…. Why do you still look like you want to go for my jugular?” Her eyes narrowed as she smirked at him, purposely walking closer to his position. “Do you still want to fight me, Wolf? That can be arranged, you know.” Just as she reached out with her hand toward his unflinching face, she changed back into a wolf. A snarl was her only warning before she leaped at him.

  Momentarily stunned by the instant transformation, Wolf wasn’t prepared to be attacked again. The weight of her body slamming into him shoved him against the back wall. Lights exploded behind his eyelids.

  “Is this more of what you want, Wolf? We really need to get beyond this, you know. Ouch!”

  Quickly rec
overed, Wolf bit the closest thing he could find—her foreleg. As she recoiled, he maneuvered away, turned and jumped on her back, crushing her to the floor.

  “I think you made your point.” Her words came out muffled, strained because he was lying on top of her with his full weight.

  There was no move to get off of her. “And what point would that be, Omah?”

  “Get. Off. Me.”

  “I’m sorry, what did you say? I couldn’t hear you. You sound like you’re out of breath or something. Perhaps you need more exercise.”

  Unable to reach any part of his body to snap, she realized she would have to concede to his superior weight and, sigh, apparently his superior fighting skills, too. “Do you want me to say Uncle, Uncle Wolf?”

  He took a long moment as if he was thinking about it. “That’s a good place to start.”

  “And yet you’re still not moving. Get off me or I’ll change back and grab the knife out of my shoe!”

  Wolf’s answering chuckle irritated her even further. That little knife of hers never had intimidated him. He remained in position for a few more minutes just because he could. “So, are you ready to discuss this like a rational adult?”

  “Coming from the man who outweighs me by fifty pounds and is currently crushing the life out of me.”

  “Is that a yes?” He could feel her body shaking with rage.

  Her pride had taken enough of a beating. It took a lot out of her to finally answer, “Yes.”

  “Sorry. What was that? I still can’t hear you very well.”

  “YES!”

  With extremely slow movements, Wolf got up to release her from the hard ground. He sat back to wipe the dust from his face with a paw, his mouth open in a lopsided smile.

  Omah threw him a disgusted look as she tried to get to her feet with some semblance of dignity. Turning her back on him, she stretched each leg to make sure they all still worked. “Quit smirking. It’s not becoming.” With a mighty shake of her body, all the dirt was cleared from her red fur. She was secretly pleased when most of it drifted over Wolf. “At least you didn’t break anything. You might consider going on a diet.”