Kingdom Keepers III(128)

“The best,” said Willa.

Wanda nodded solemnly. “I know he wouldn’t want me crying over him,” she said. “But I’m going to miss him so much. If it’s all right with you, I’ll drop you all at Epcot, but then I need to go home. I need to be alone.”

Charlene and Amanda embraced her, and then Willa joined them and the boys, and for a moment there was a knot in everyone’s throat and a tear on everyone’s cheek, with Wanda in the middle sobbing and moaning and Finn thinking his heart might break for good. He saw in his mind’s eye flashes of Wayne sitting on a bench, climbing Escher’s Keep, driving a golf cart through an empty Magic Kingdom, of his face flickering on Finn’s computer screen. Of the sparkle in the old guy’s eyes and the calm in his voice as he faced danger after danger. Memories that would not soon fade.

“He taught us—” Finn said into the group.

“He loved these parks,” said Philby.

“We’re all going to miss him,” said Maybeck.

“—about ourselves as much as about the parks,” Finn added. “I’m a different person because of him.”

“We all are,” said Jess.

Finn didn’t know how long they stayed like that, locked in a group hug, reflecting on everything Wayne had done, but it was not a short amount of time. Maybeck told a story. Philby recalled his and Wayne’s voyage as avatars into the heart of the Imagineering computer system. Jess allowed how Wayne had saved her from captivity. Eventually they broke it up. They packed themselves into Wanda’s car, sitting on laps and jammed into every free inch of space, and she drove them back to Epcot.

Wanda apologized as if she owed them something more, and then drove off down an empty access road as the sun rose above the green treetops. They sneaked back onto the property just as the first Cast Members were arriving to open the attractions. Finn got inside the gift shop courtesy of Wayne’s keys, and opened the Lost and Found with another.

There, on the shelf, was the fob. And next to it, a yellowed and faded Disney sweatshirt that Finn recognized at once as belonging to Wayne. It was something Wanda would want as a keepsake. It had probably been left behind when Wayne had been held captive in Wonders. Finn carried it with him and took his time returning carefully to the Nemo lounge.

He walked in displaying the fob. “Ta-da!” he trumpeted. “We can return now.”

“No we can’t!” Philby faced a flat-screen monitor in the far corner of the lounge.

Maybeck groaned. “He’s been replaying the show,” he whispered to Finn. “He took this thumb drive from the control booth. Reliving it all. Truth is, he’s not doing so good. He thinks maybe docs are messing with his real self. Like maybe they’re medicating him. And I’ve got to say: he’s acting like it.”

“We can’t go,” Philby said.

Willa said to Finn, “Can I see that?”

Finn passed her the sweatshirt. She pulled in the other girls. “What does that smell like to you?” The girls all sniffed at it. Finn left them, crossing to Philby.

“We’ve got to return, Philby. I’ve got the fob.”

“‘Beware your friends and know your enemies,’” Philby said, quoting Wayne.

“We’re all tired. It’s been a long night,” Finn said.

“Wayne was the traitor,” Philby said.

He silenced the room. But it went beyond that. An unspoken anger filled the air with tension.

“He was warning us about himself, not one of us,” Philby said. “Since when would Wayne ever—and I mean: ever—tell us to surrender?”

“I was outgunned,” Finn said. “If Amanda hadn’t—”

“I’m not talking about you. Or me. Or any of us. I’m talking about Wayne,” Philby said. “Why would Wayne ever tell us to surrender? Answer: he wouldn’t.” Professor Philby had returned. “That was totally not him. No way. Not ever.”

“We all saw him, dude,” Maybeck said.

“And we saw Maleficent vanish through a trapdoor and the dragon fall from the top of the stage.”

“I saw the dragon getting tied up,” Charlene said. “He was hurt, but he wasn’t dead. And Maleficent transformed back into that vulture thing and was being rushed to the veterinarian clinic at AK. That’s what all the sirens were about.”

“Should have let her die, if you ask me,” Maybeck said.

“Forget about them for a minute,” Philby said. “Being a DHI has taught us all that we can’t always trust what we see. Right? I mean…look at us! Are we real?”