“Maleficent serves Chernabog. We know that Chernabog defeated Mickey at the Fantasmics. Wayne told us that a long time ago. That means he has major powers. He’s the one Disney demon that we know virtually nothing about—”
“And let’s leave it that way!”
“But Jez dreamed something awful. And Maleficent could have hidden in any of the Parks. Why here? Why now? What’s being planned? With Wayne missing, it’s up to us to find out.”
“You’re hallucinating,” Maybeck said.
Philby stepped forward. “Without Wayne we’d have failed. I promise you that. Maleficent’s got him. Don’t ask me to explain that, but I just know it. And if that’s true, it’s my fault—it’s all of our faults. Can you honestly just go home and go to bed knowing that?”
Maybeck hung his head and shook it back and forth. “No.” He sounded so despondent.
“No,” Philby agreed. “I didn’t think so.”
Charlene unfolded the photocopied page of Jez’s diary. She pointed to the sketch of what looked like a gorilla. “What if this isn’t a gorilla at all? What if it’s the yeti?”
Jez spoke up. “You just told us that Chernabog was missing from his float, remember? Maybe Maleficent thought that that was the real Chernabog, only to discover it a fake. The bat…the monkeys…something could have told her the real Chernabog was locked up here in AK.”
“Or maybe this whole thing,” Finn said, “was cooked up by Maleficent to use us to lead her to Wayne. Has anyone considered that possibility?”
He drew stunned expressions.
“What if we did exactly what she wanted us to do?” Finn asked in a softer voice. “We couldn’t have gotten Jez without Wayne’s help. He knew they were looking for him. So Maleficent cooks up this plan to basically use Jez as bait. We think she’s after Jez to keep Jez’s dreams from forecasting what Maleficent is up to—and that could be right. But it doesn’t mean there wasn’t a bigger plan.”
A light breeze broke the silence between them as, once again, it carried the cries from Expedition Everest.
“One thing we know,” Willa said, “is that Everest is cold. At least, it represents the cold.” She indicated the gorilla on Jez’s diary page. “What if this is the yeti, like Charlene said?” The other kids stared at her with puzzled expressions. “What if, like Maleficent, the yeti can’t handle the heat? So Maleficent’s job is not only to get him out of the Park, but keep him cold. Keep them both cold.”
“The ice truck!” Charlene said.
“Exactly!” agreed Willa.
“But to what purpose?” complained Maybeck.
“How do we know? A refrigerated truck can take him anywhere he wants to go.”
“But where?” asked Finn.
“So Expedition Everest was a way for Wayne and the others to control Chernabog?” Charlene asked. “The Imagineers basically locked him up in a deep freeze?”
“It could be,” agreed Willa. “They locked up Maleficent in the dungeons, let’s not forget.”
Philby spoke confidently. “I say we get inside Expedition Everest and check out the yeti. That could be where the answers lie. Jez drew it in her diary. It has to mean something!”
“It means that’s where the danger lies,” muttered Jez.
Finn said quietly, “Chernabog is using Maleficent—maybe to get him off of Everest or even out of the Park. Maleficent used us to reveal and capture Wayne. If they eliminate Wayne, then they take away years of knowledge about all the Parks, all the history of this place. If they’re trying to gain control of the Parks, Wayne has to go. He’s proved that.”
“He has the knowledge and leadership,” said Willa, “to stop them.”
Leadership, Finn thought. Wayne had given him a lecture on how to be a good leader. Had Wayne known what was coming?
“Wayne is not the only one they need to get rid of,” Maybeck reminded them. “I’d say we’ve become a pretty big pain in the—”
“But!” Finn said, interrupting, “there’s obviously stuff we haven’t figured out. Maybe a lot of stuff. It’s pretty obvious we don’t have it all. We can’t make any conclusions without going in there, without knowing more. I’m going in there. And I have a hunch Amanda and Jez are, too, because Jez dreamed about it.”
The two sisters nodded.
“This is stupid,” Maybeck whined. “It could be a trap.
“Which is why you and Willa and Charlene will remain outside of Everest,” Finn directed. “If we get nailed, you’ll have to come save us.” He knew if there was one thing Maybeck loved, it was being the hero.