“It’s possible,” Wayne said, “but I wouldn’t count on it.”
“Why can’t you take it from here?” Maybeck asked.
“I could try,” Wayne answered. “But I’m not sure that would solve your crossing-over problem.”
“You designed us to cross over. So un-design us,” Charlene said.
“If only it were that easy. No, I’m afraid Finn’s right: you’ll need to see this through.”
“You’re after her,” Maybeck said, finally understanding. “Was this ever about the fable? Or is that just a way to smoke her out?”
“It’s very much about the fable,” Wayne answered. “I sense some hostility in you, Terry”
“Do you really?” Maybeck snorted and crossed his arms. “That wouldn’t be because I was kidnapped, would it? And now you want me coming back for more?”
Willa asked, “Is he right? Are we supposed to…deliver…that thing. Maleficent? How do we do that?”
“You take things one at a time,” Wayne replied. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“One Man’s Dream,” Finn said.
“You can go in as a DHI, but you won’t get out with what you want,” Wayne stated, surprising them. “Think about it. You might get inside, but the pen would not come out with you. The pen is material and real, whereas you—”
“Are not,” Philby answered.
“So we have to steal it?” Finn asked.
“You are going to borrow it, I suppose.”
“Why can’t you do that?” Maybeck challenged.
“I wasn’t the one to solve the fable. I’m not the one brought here to fix things. You are. All five of you.
“But you could get the pen if you wanted.”
“Could I? If an old goat like me from Imagineering asked to get inside a display in One Man’s Dream, they’d probably fire me. I have no business there.”
“Which display?” Philby asked. “You know which display, don’t you?”
“I have an idea,” Wayne admitted.
“Sheesh!” Maybeck huffed, fed up.
“There are several replicas. A drafting table. His school desk. Even Walt’s original office. A pen…it’s conceivable it could be in any of these. You must bring me the pen the moment you have it. And understand the threat you now pose to the Overtakers. Don’t underestimate that. Not for a minute. You’ve solved the fable. They may know that, or at least suspect it. If the pen is valuable enough, powerful enough, to hide inside a fable, then one can imagine we are not the only ones after it.”
“You’re afraid of her,” Willa said softly. “You created us because you’re afraid of her.”
“Are you old enough to understand the saying ‘Don’t shoot the messenger’?” Wayne asked.
Finn had heard the expression before, and judging by the faces of the others, they had too. He thought he understood Wayne’s message. “You’re not the one who created us,” he said. “So who did?”
Voices came loudly up the back stairs from outside. Several men. One of them said, “Was this where you saw them?”
“We were spotted!” Charlene said in a panic.
“You’ll have to go now,” Wayne said.
He looked toward Finn, who said in a panicked voice, “The remote’s back in the apartment. That’s where we leave it!”
The sound of feet coming up the stairs grew all the louder.
A pounding on the back door.
Wayne had a contented smile on his face. “You don’t think we’d do this without making a backup, do you?” he said, holding up an exact replica of their remote.
Another loud knock on the door. “Open up, please!” a deep male voice commanded.
“Gather ‘round,” Wayne said, calm and relaxed, as if he had not a care in the world.
The DHIs huddled together.
Wayne pushed the button.
28
The Transportation and Ticket Center hummed with conversation as a tangle of park visitors shuttled between buses and monorails. Some families were ending their days just as others were starting theirs. On a Monday afternoon, thick with humidity the tired and impatient mingled with the exhilarated and anxious. For some, a day spent; for others, an evening full of promise. The humidity hung in the air so heavily you could practically wear it like a coat.
Above the giggles and shrieks of excited children and the scornful reproaches of their exhausted parents, the purr of a train approaching could be heard.
“We’re off to a late start,” Philby announced, checking his watch. Charlene’s cheerleader practice had delayed them. “It’s almost a quarter to five.”