Kingdom Keepers(38)

Finn spotted Maybeck at about the same moment that Jez did. Maybeck went over to her, said something, and the two started laughing.

Jez took Maybeck by the arm and led him over to a lemonade stand. She snatched up two cups and offered him one.

Only then, as he peered over the rim of the paper cup, did Maybeck spot Finn and Amanda. His eyes went wide with recognition, and he gave Finn a half wave. Maybeck took two steps toward Finn, but Jez caught him by the arm again, tipped his cup to make him finish his lemonade, and then said something that caused him to crumple up his cup and throw it at her. Jez did the same back at him. Within seconds it evolved into a water fight, with Maybeck at its center.

For some reason Finn wanted to be at the center of that battle. But his focus shifted past the water fight to the street and a car parked there.

Disguising the direction in which he was looking by pretending to scratch his head, Finn said, “Check out that black four-wheel-drive that just pulled up to the curb.”

“Yeah?” Amanda said.

“Look closely. Tell me what you see.” Finn turned his back on the car completely now.

“Okay. A woman. A grown-up.”

“Her hands. On the wheel.”

“White gloves,” Amanda supplied. “That’s a little weird.”

“A little?”

“Yeah. White gloves are a little weird, even for Florida.”

“Like totally insane,” Finn observed. “It’s a zillion degrees out.”

“You’ve got to see this,” Amanda told him.

Finn glanced carefully over his shoulder. Goose-bumps raced up both arms. The driver rolled the passenger window down. Jez, who’d broken away from the water fight, walked stiffly toward the car and stepped up to the window. The driver leaned over to speak to her, giving Finn a better look. Her face appeared unnaturally pale. She reminded Finn of someone, but he couldn’t place her.

“Does she look familiar to you?”

“She looks scared,” Amanda said.

Finn had been looking at the driver. Only now did he focus on Jez and see her square posture and unexpressive face.

The driver had dark hair, pulled back sharply.

“I can think of one reason you might wear gloves and a ton of makeup,” Finn said dryly.

Amanda was off in her own world, still describing Jez. “She looks so unhappy.”

“You think that’s her mother?”

“No!” Amanda snapped sharply.

“It’s possible,” Finn said defensively.

“They don’t look too friendly to me,” Amanda said. “But you’re right about the gloves. What’s with that?”

Finn didn’t say what he was thinking: You might wear gloves and a lot of makeup if your skin was green.





18


That same Saturday night, the DHIs met at the Indian Encampment across from Tom Sawyer Island. At eight o’clock the park was still open, so they waited for its closing by hiding invisibly inside the teepee.

Finn said, “We’ll make our move during the fireworks finale scheduled for eight-thirty. All eyes will be aimed at the sky.”

“Why not just wait until closing?” Charlene asked, never one for unnecessary adventure.

Philby answered, “After what happened at It’s a Small World, Disney announced that they’re increasing security. That means patrols, probably in pairs, maybe in golf carts. We can’t afford to get busted. So we cross the park while there are still guests inside. Seeing a DHI will make sense as long as it isn’t past closing.”

Finn asked the obvious. “How did those dolls come to life?”

Philby answered with a question. “How do we come to life?”

“We were designed to cross over, if you believe Wayne. The dolls most definitely were not designed to march around attacking people.”

Maybeck said, “A certain woman with a green face comes to mind. A spell?”

Finn found it odd but cool to be invisible, to be nothing but a voice. He wondered if Maybeck had gotten as good a look at Jez’s mom as he and Amanda had.

Philby announced, “We can talk about this later. For now, we’ll travel in groups, never all five of us together, in case we should get caught. And no matter what, we never go it alone. Two groups. Finn and me. The three of you.”

No one objected.

“Maybeck,” Finn said, “did you get them?”

“Yeah,” Maybeck answered. “Hang on. I left them by the door.”

Maybeck’s arm appeared by the teepee’s open door. He produced five pairs of plastic glasses. “I got here a little early,” he said.

“What’s with that?” Philby asked.

Finn explained, “Walt’s comment to Wayne. And then something a friend of mine said about perspective.”