Out of breath, Philby said, “It’s playing on this side of the Park and in Asia. Discovery Island and Africa have different music going.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Maybeck said. “How do we know that isn’t always the case?”
Philby explained, “From what I know, the system is designed to be able to move sound around the Park. The parades require that the music follow the floats. It’s a sophisticated, computer-controlled sound system. I’ve never read anything about one half of the Park being sent one kind of music, and the other half another.”
“That confirms it’s Jez,” Amanda said excitedly. “She just repeated ‘Under the Sea.’ We know that song doesn’t belong here, and on her iPod it follows ‘Kiss the Girl.’ Pretty obvious she wants someone to hear it. Maybe us. Maybe someone to try to fix it, someone to go looking for the problem.”
“Or maybe,” said Willa, “the song itself is significant. Ariel. Or Ursula—”
“I hate Ursula,” Charlene tossed out.
“Or it has to do with where they’re keeping her,” Amanda continued. “Or it fits into her dreams in some way.”
“We’ve got to take it seriously,” Willa pleaded, looking at Finn, knowing the decision would somehow be his to make.
Finn felt all eyes fall on him. He stifled a yawn. Every minute was precious. His head was clouded and heavy.
“Let’s run down everything to do with The Little Mermaid,” Finn said.
Maybeck groaned. “Isn’t that wasting time? The bat is real. That monkey is real. The dragon was real. Let’s follow things we can actually see.”
“How do we know that?” Charlene asked from atop her stilts.
“Ariel’s Grotto,” Willa said. “Magic Kingdom.”
“We split up,” Finn said, pulling out a pencil and writing on the back of the photocopy of the diary page. “Maybeck will try to locate the animals and images sketched in the diary. The rest of us will look for anything to do with ‘Under the Sea’ and The Little Mermaid.”
“I don’t know if this counts,” Philby said, “but when you stand in line for Nemo, over at Epcot, the ocean is painted above you. You’re literally under the sea.”
“I like it,” Finn said. He wrote it down.
“The same thing’s true at Hollywood Studios,” Willa said. “On the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, you stand under the sea while waiting.”
“Okay…Okay…” Maybeck said, finally going along. “I don’t know if this counts, but there’s this poster my little sister loves. Always points it out. It’s by the Mickey’s PhilharMagic line. I’m pretty sure it’s says something like ‘A Must Sea,’ spelled S-E-A.”
“That definitely counts,” Finn said, writing this down as well. “Anything else anyone can think of?”
One by one, the others either shook their heads or shrugged.
“It’s a lot. And they’re spread all over the place.”
“It’s a waste of time,” Maybeck cautioned. “It’s just a song.”
“You have your assignment,” Finn said. “Philby will stay and try to figure out the Park’s sound system. Get on to VMK if you can and find Wayne.” He explained how to use the Disney vacation kiosk in Camp Minnie-Mickey. “Maybe he can help.” He turned to Amanda. “You will keep watch for Jez using the Animal Cam at the Conservation Station. Willa will take Ariel’s Grotto and Mickey’s PhilharMagic—both in Magic Kingdom. I’ll take Nemo and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Maybeck, you stay and keep after the monkey and bat. Follow the clues in the diary, working with Charlene. Any problems?”
To his surprise, no one complained or tried to change the assignments. Maybe he actually was the leader.
“All of us have to study this page from the diary. We each have a copy. We need to write down where we’ve seen any of these animals, or images of these animals. This building she drew…this dude wearing a turban. And I’ll call Rob, since his name keeps coming up.”
He met eyes—tired eyes—with Maybeck, and saw Maybeck’s frustration and impatience.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Finn offered.
A silence hung heavily in the air.
It was broken by the music beginning again. “Under the Sea.” Playing now for the third time in a row.
“Two hours,” Maybeck said. “We meet back here.” “Agreed,” Finn said.
The kids scattered.
26
LIKE THE OTHERS, Willa had put her Animal Kingdom Cast Member costume on over her regular clothes. She’d slipped out of the AK costume and had tucked it into a bush outside the gates of the Magic Kingdom. Using the ID Wayne had given her, she was admitted through the CAST MEMBER ONLY line.