And there, in silhouette, was Mr. Totems floating on the lake’s surface. Snow was falling all around him as bullets riddled his body. Not snow, she realized, but his stuffing. Mr. Totems had given his life for her.
Willa screamed underwater, bubbles rising above her like silver Christmas balls. She was smart enough not to breathe in, to avoid inhaling a fatal lungful of lake water, but she was sinking now, her lungs aching. She felt light-headed.
Something up ahead…A dark, flowing shape interrupting the light on the surface: a fish the size of a porpoise or a shark, yet even more graceful. It grew larger with its approach.
Her lungs about to burst, Willa saw a flash of green, a glimpse of rust-colored seaweed. No, she realized, not seaweed but hair. It was a mermaid.
It was Ariel.
A girl’s long fingers reached out for her. Willa took hold. Ariel pressed her face close to hers and blew bubbles in a steady stream into her lips, and Willa drank them in. The pain in her lungs subsided. The two swam side by side, Ariel stopping every few yards and blowing another stream of bubbles for Willa to inhale.
Ariel led her across the lake and they surfaced together on the far side of a large white ship tied up to shore. Willa sucked in the fresh air, and Ariel held a finger to her lips, silencing her.
There was much shouting and yelling from Judge Frollo, and the sound of the soldiers’ feet pounding the pavement as they surrounded the lake. Ariel pointed down, signaling for them to go underwater again. Willa was reluctant but nodded her consent.
Where had Ariel come from? Were there more Characters like her willing to help the Keepers?
They dove. Ariel led her along the tank wall—the lake was nothing more than a giant swimming pool—until they reached a large hole, the end of a pipe. Ariel filled Willa’s lungs with air and smiled beautifully, and Willa knew it was going to be okay. Ariel swam into the opening first and Willa followed.
The pipe grew increasingly darker. Unable to see, Willa felt outward and caught Ariel’s hand. Suddenly the powerful tail propelled them. Willa had never moved so fast in the water. Twice Ariel stopped to charge Willa’s lungs in the dark. Twice Willa drank in the air, only to feel herself whisked away into the darkness again. Ariel pulled her upward. Willa’s head broke the surface. Again, she gasped for air, marveling that she was still alive.
They were in a large tank with a ladder and a metal platform. She spotted a sign on the wall that read, voyage of THE LITTLE MERMAID—BACKSTAGE ENTRANCE. An arrow pointed to a door. Ariel focused on the door, then eased Willa toward the stairs in the water.
Willa shook her head. “I can’t thank you enough for saving me. But if the soldiers saw us they will come looking. They will start here,” she said, pointing to the sign. “I need to get to Epcot…My friends and I—”
“The Keepers,” Ariel said in a beautiful, lilting voice.
Willa coughed. “You know about us?”
Ariel blinked and smiled at her. “My dear girl, everyone knows about you. You are our saviors.”
Our saviors? What did she mean by that? Willa wondered. Are there more of you?
“No, no, no. We’re just kids. We’re nobodies, believe me.”
“I’m afraid no one would believe such nonsense,” said Ariel. “We know who you are. We are most grateful for what you are doing. We all—any of us—will do whatever we can to keep the magic. The magic is what feeds us.”
Us! There it was again!
“It isn’t safe here,” Willa said. “I don’t want to leave you. Please don’t think me rude, but I don’t want to get you in any more trouble than you’re already in.”
“You are shaking,” Ariel said.
“I’m cold.”
“One last swim,” Ariel said. “I know a place. The perfect place. Warm. And I can be with you without concern.”
“I couldn’t ask that. You’ve done enough.”
“It’s okay, dear girl—”
“Willa.”
“Ah! You are the Willow!”
“Willa,” she corrected.
“Yes, I know. Of course. And Shirley—”
“Charlene…”
“Of course. I know. You ask nothing. It is after hours. I can go back and forth, tail or legs, as I choose. I am happy to help you. Come, please swim with me.”
“A short distance?”
“I promise.”
Willa didn’t want to use that backstage door. She nodded. Ariel dove. Willa followed and grabbed her hand. Again the water was dark. Ariel’s powerful tail drove them left, right, and up—straight up. Harder and harder the tail pushed. Higher they swam.
Willa didn’t understand how it was possible. When they’d started, they couldn’t have been more than ten or fifteen feet underground, yet now it felt as if they’d climbed fifty feet or more.