Kingdom Keepers III(19)
As Amanda was about to explain their escapade in Epcot, Maybeck, Charlene, and Willa all arrived together. Maybeck ordered a double scoop of vanilla mixed with peaches and almond crunch. That forced everyone else to order something. A few minutes later, the group sat in a circle around the two café tables wolfing down their orders.
Amanda spoke between mouthfuls, detailing the events of their ordeal, Jess’s spacing out and the first sketch she’d made. Jess then explained her “nightmare” and the sketch that they all studied individually.
“It’s Wayne,” Amanda said.
“Has to be,” Philby agreed.
“What do we do about it?” asked the ever practical Maybeck.
“We help him,” said Charlene. All eyes fell on her. “What?” she inquired.
Willa said, “I mean I get that you’re a rally girl—the cheerleading and all that. Right? But since when are you so eager to dive into action?”
“I’ve changed,” Charlene said.
“I’d say so,” said Willa.
“The stilts. Everything we did at Animal Kingdom. I can do stuff that you guys can’t. Gymnastics, for instance.”
“No one’s questioning your contributions,” Willa said.
“But I was,” she said. “Look. I know that Disney hired me because of the way I look. Okay? Miss Middle School USA. I get it. I fit whatever they were looking for in a DHI the same way Maybeck does, and all of us really. But once this whole other thing got going, I had no idea what I was doing with all of you. You’re smart,” she said, looking at Finn, “or creative”—Maybeck—“or able to figure stuff out”—Philby—“or daring”—Willa—“and where was I supposed to fit into that? But AK changed all that. I’m a jock. I can fold myself in half, or do the limbo, or walk on stilts, or climb a climbing wall. Maybe I can’t climb as good as Philby, but I can still climb. I think I needed that. I needed to figure it out, whatever it is. And for me it is athletics. So now I’m…different, I guess. I’m kinda charged up about doing whatever it is we’re doing, and right now I think what we’re doing is trying to rescue Wayne. Right? I’m all over that.”
For a moment no one said anything. It was as if someone had paused the DVD player. No movement. They all stared at Charlene.
“Alrighty then,” Willa said, breaking the ice. “So how do we find Wayne?”
“I don’t mean to be hard on anyone,” said the ever-skeptical Maybeck, “but this drawing…he could be anywhere.”
“Check out his jacket,” said Finn.
Maybeck took the diary out of Charlene’s hands without asking. He leaned in close to the page. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“It’s a shield,” Willa said, leaning over Maybeck’s arm to look.
“It’s an EC shield,” Finn said. “An Epcot Center windbreaker. Old guys get cold. My grandpop shakes like a leaf when it dips below eighty.”
“Give me a break!” exclaimed Maybeck. “That logo is tiny! You can’t see a thing. It could be anything.”
Finn passed Maybeck his phone. “I went on eBay,” he said. “Check out the black stripes on the arms.” The image on the phone—an Epcot windbreaker for sale—matched what Jess had sketched exactly.
Maybeck said under his breath, “You’re dreaming.”
But he no longer sounded so sure of himself.
“The point is,” Finn said, “we won’t know until we find him. Okay? And what about those horses? They could be a carousel.”
“A carousel in a room?” Maybeck snapped cynically.
“We have to start somewhere,” Finn said. “Jess got…I don’t know…a signal…when she was at Epcot. Then she got more last night in a dream.”
“It’s some gibberish on a wall, some horses, and an old guy in a chair,” Maybeck complained.
“It’s a place to start,” said Charlene. “We have to start somewhere. Right? We wasted enough time in the Magic Kingdom these past couple weeks. What’s wrong with trying Epcot?”
“But our tickets—our passes—were pulled,” Amanda reminded them. “Every girl in Mrs. Nash’s house was given a year’s pass for free. But they took ours. And it’s not like we can afford to buy tickets.”
“Which is why I’m going to suggest something radical,” Finn said. “I’ve thought about this a lot, so before you go shooting it down”—this was aimed directly at Maybeck—“at least think about it a minute. Okay? Give it a chance.”