“I’m not sure. But I think it was all in my head,” Finn replied.
Behind the paddleboat, Finn spotted large pink clouds in a big blue sky. His head swirled with the sounds of voices singing “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” He slipped on the eyeglasses.
There, behind the Showboat, he saw a bunch of clouds. In the middle of one of the biggest clouds he saw several big letters. They appeared to have been spray-painted:
FME
When Finn lifted his glasses, the letters disappeared.
“Our first clue!” Finn whispered, looking for the exit.
20
“Where’s Maybeck?” Finn asked. The two girls didn’t answer right away. They seemed shocked to see him and Philby so wet and so pale.
“We don’t know.” Charlene sounded frightened.
“The sun!” Philby said. “Did you try the glasses?”
“Y, I, and R. Three letters! They look painted, added on later.” Willa replied excitedly.
“Same with us!” Philby said, “F, M, and E. We’re definitely on to something.”
Finn interrupted their glee. “Where—is—Maybeck?”
Charlene looked worried. “We got to the ride and he said he had something he had to check out. We told him we had to stick together, but he blew us off.”
“And he hasn’t come back,” Willa said angrily.
“Hasn’t come back?” Philby asked, finally realizing they had a serious problem on their hands.
“And this was, like, half an hour ago,” Charlene said.
“He kept checking his watch,” Willa complained. “He was nervous about something, like he was eager to get back.”
“Oh, no.” Finn heard himself moan.
“The button!” he and Philby said at once.
If Maybeck had taken the button from the apartment with him to the other side, he could leave them all stranded inside the Magic Kingdom until he returned. No one knew if the button would cross over or stay behind. But they didn’t want to wait to find out.
The four took off at a run.
They approached the castle with caution. It seemed a likely location for security guards. At night, light streamed up onto its stone exterior, the towering spires pointing like fingers into the dark sky. Crouched behind some thick bushes, just off the ramp that led up to the castle, the kids waited, listening intently and looking in all directions.
Charlene nudged Philby, who nudged Finn. A pair of pirates—figures from Pirates of the Caribbean, not humans—lurked in shadow just inside the castle’s first arch. Waiting. Their mechanical eyes never blinked.
Finn whispered, “I know those two! They were part of the group that attacked me.”
“You’re right,” said Philby. “I was there too, remember?”
“You think they’re waiting for us?” Charlene asked.
“No. How could they possibly know—?” Finn cut himself off.
“Maybeck,” Willa said. “You don’t think—?”
“Maybeck is not an Overtaker,” Philby declared.
“He could be a spy,” Charlene proposed.
“No way!” Finn said sharply. “If they’re waiting for us, it means Maybeck’s in trouble.”
“He’s been caught!” Willa said.
A chill passed through Finn. He waited a moment to see if it lingered—in case it meant that the witch was nearby. The feeling passed.
Philby said, “Didn’t Wayne say something about—”
“Secret ways into the castle,” Finn finished for him. “Yes, he did. And he also said if you took a wrong step in Escher’s Keep you ended up in the moat. But he never showed us any secret doors.”
“I know where one is,” Philby announced.
“What?” Finn said, astonished.
“VMK,” Philby explained. “I was in this room and I heard these two guys talking about counting stones. Castle stones: I’m positive that was it! I had no idea what they meant. But it could be a secret door, a way inside.”
“How many stones, and from where?” Willa asked. “We’ve got to hurry. Maybeck may need us.”
“I don’t remember, but the point is, there must be a stone you push to get inside.”
“But that’s in a computer game!” Charlene protested, sweeping one arm across the scene. “This is real life!” They all looked at her glowing, transparent arm. “Or sort of,” she added.
“The game is part of real life,” Philby said.
“Follow me,” Finn said.
Together the four DHIs crept on their stomachs up to the wall of the castle, where they were now out of sight from the waiting pirates.
“Spread out,” Finn said. “Push every stone you can reach.”