Charlene said, “They were the only two Google hits that make any sense. But remember, in the movie it’s a spindle from a spinning wheel.”
“She’s right,” Philby said. “I’ve been doing some research…”
Surprise, Finn thought.
“…and in the original fairy tale, after the curse is put on the princess, the king forbids anyone from owning a distaff or spindle. The distaff holds the raw fiber; the spindle collects the spun thread. Spinning wheel,” he emphasized. “And when you Google Disney World plus ‘wooden wheel’ you get a single decent lead: the waterwheel on—”
“Tom Sawyer Island,” Finn said.
“You got it. A wooden wheel.”
“I’m not liking this,” Maybeck blurted out. He and Finn had once been attacked on Tom Sawyer Island by Stitch and had been made to swim among alligators.
“The spindle thing was your idea!” Philby protested.
“But this is so totally OT,” Maybeck said. “They put a spell on Amanda and the only solution leads us into a trap. I mean, come on!”
“Relax. We can’t steal a waterwheel,” Finn said.
“No,” Philby said, agreeing. His voice held that know-it-all tone that Finn had come to resent. “But what if we could bring Amanda to it?”
“She’s down for the count,” Maybeck said.
“That’s right,” Philby said. “She’s asleep.”
Maybeck broke the resulting silence. “Are we done?”
Finn answered, “Philby’s saying that if Amanda is asleep then technically he could cross her over.”
“WHAT?” Maybeck exclaimed.
“Why not?” Philby asked. “When we’re asleep we cross over.”
“Is that possible?” Charlene asked. “You’re saying she’d awake as her DHI?”
Philby answered, “It’s possible. I think it’s worth a try. We cross her over, prick her finger with a piece of the waterwheel, and when I Return you all, the Amanda at Mrs. Nash’s wakes up.”
“Let me spell this out for you,” Maybeck groaned. “T-R-A-P.”
Charlene objected. “The OTs couldn’t possibly think we’d cross her over, Terry. Whatever they may have planned, it can’t be this.”
“And remember,” Finn said, “they wanted Jess in that spell, not Amanda. Depending on the green-eyes, they may not even know it’s Amanda who’s down.”
“It doesn’t change it from being a trap,” Maybeck said.
“We owe it to Amanda to try anything we can think of,” Finn proposed.
“But what about the bigger picture?” Maybeck said. “The jailbreak? It’s going down tonight, right? Sally Ringwald basically told us so.”
“So you and Charlene will go to sleep dressed to cross over in case Philby detects network traffic. Does that satisfy you?”
“I don’t like it,” Maybeck said.
“By tomorrow morning,” Finn said, “Mrs. Nash is going to drag Amanda off to the hospital. Maybe even sometime tonight. We know how dangerous that is for her. Philby knows.”
“It only makes things worse, Maybeck,” Philby said. “Much worse.”
“We can’t just sit around talking,” Finn said. “We tried and failed. So what? We’ve got to try everything. A wooden wheel. Who knows? That could be it. I can let Wanda know our plans. She might help.”
“Or she could be the traitor,” Maybeck said. “We’d never suspect someone who’d been arrested, would we?”
“So noted,” Finn said, experiencing a chill. “And if it is a trap, or she’s a traitor, then it’s going to be up to you and Charlene to get us off the island.” He would send Jess an e-mail keeping her in the loop, keeping her hopes up.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Maybeck said.
* * *
Finn arrived in front of Cinderella Castle alone, sitting a few feet from the Walt Disney–Mickey Mouse statue at the center of the hub. He waited, and waited, knowing Philby’s next attempt would be to cross over Amanda.
He caught himself holding his breath as a shimmering image of Amanda lying down appeared, and then fizzled and faded as he watched.
“Come on.…” he muttered.
The same image reappeared. It grew stronger and more solid, and the blue line formed around it.
Amanda blinked and opened her eyes.
Finn swallowed away a knot in his throat.
“Can you hear me?” he said.
She blinked, but did not look in his direction. The spell seemed to still be holding her.
“It’s me,” he said. “We crossed you over into the Magic Kingdom. I think we can help you.”