Kingdom Keepers II(43)

The doors swung open. Finn hurried across a row in the middle of the large auditorium. If he kept going he’d have reached the seats closest to the exit doors, but he was afraid he might be more easily spotted there. So he took a seat near the middle.

The theater filled quickly. The brooms appeared at the end of the line. They spread out and moved along the wall to the back of the auditorium.

Before he had time to think, the lights dimmed and the theater went dark. Very dark. As an artificial rain began to fall, Finn took a chance and peeked over his shoulder. The brooms seemed to be watching the show along with the crowd. A wet mist blew from the stage, surprising the audience. A child cried out. Then there were laughs as the audience settled in for the show. The theme music rang out: “Under the Sea.”

The song was the connection to Jez, and Finn searched the stage for possible clues as dozens of brightly colored sea creatures, glowing in the pitch black, began swimming across the stage to the music. Ariel arrived onstage, and the audience applauded.

Flashes of color drenched the auditorium. He stole a look to the back: only one broom.

He fought off a sense of panic. There! Midway down the auditorium, a broom on each side. To his relief, they still appeared focused on the show, not the audience. To play it safe, he lowered his head and pulled the brim of his cap down farther. How long until they spotted him? And then what?

The crowd laughed, but not Finn.

A cell phone rang in the audience. Several heads turned in his direction. His father’s BlackBerry was ringing in his pocket. He’d forgotten all about it. He fumbled with it and shut it off, but by the time he had, it seemed as if half the theater were looking at him.

Including the two brooms on either side.

The music grew louder. The auditorium darkened once again.

Finn dropped to all fours and began crawling to his left toward the exit doors. Guests moved their legs to allow him past, creating a commotion. A storm erupted onstage. Finn reached the end of the aisle and hesitated. Light flooded the theater. People applauded.

Finn jumped up and made for the exit.

He ran straight for the broom and pushed it over.

Hitting the blinding sunlight, he took off at a full run, unwilling to look back to see if a crow was following, or a broom chasing him. It seemed to him he’d picked up nothing of value. A waste of time.

Or maybe not, he thought. Had the Overtakers been following him? Why had the brooms seemed more interested in the stage show than in finding him? Maleficent’s powers clearly extended throughout all of the Disney Parks—the existence of the brooms confirmed that much.

On his way back to Animal Kingdom, he sent a text warning to the others.

Four members checked in on D-Gamer: Philby, Maybeck, Charlene, and Amanada. All but Willa.

Finn tried several times to reach her, finally giving up and hoping her DS was somehow off-line.

But it didn’t make sense. There was free Wi-Fi all over the Parks.

So why wasn’t she answering?





29


WILLA TRIED TO USE HER ID to jump the line for Mickey’s PhilharMagic, but to no use. So she joined a long line that moved in waves, as a group of three hundred guests was admitted into the auditorium.

With each surge in the line, she passed more posters—all with a funny play on words. The line moved ahead, and it wasn’t long before she faced the one Maybeck had mentioned. It showed Ariel and Triton, as Maybeck had remembered. It was titled, “A Must Sea!”

A plaque on the bottom of the frame read: ARIEL BROUGHT PART OF HER WORLD INTO OUR WORLD.…

Willa knew this was somehow significant. She sat down to make a note of it, to copy it out exactly as it was written.

Some of the smaller kids were also waiting out the line by sitting on the floor.

Jez had brought a part of her world into our world, as well, Willa thought. She’d brought her dreams about the future. She had foreseen things happening in the world that had now taken place: the lightning striking the castle, for one. Finn was right. If they were to find Jez, her drawings were the answer! The poster seemed to confirm it.

Willa wrote the note and put it in her pocket. Then she leaned her head back—just for a minute, she told herself—and tried to think of what else the message might mean. The more she concentrated, the heavier her head became. Her eyes began to blink away the stinging fatigue.

She fell asleep.

The rest was a dream. She saw herself being helped to her feet by—of all things—two bears from the Country Bear Jamboree. The kids around her, bored with waiting, were thrilled to see the bears. As she was taken out of the line and through a Cast Member door, she felt her entire body tingle. Not a nice tingle, but like when a foot falls asleep—the same kind of tingle she’d experienced on the nights when, falling asleep, she’d crossed over as a DHI.