The Return: Disney Lands (27 page)

It didn’t take long to be sure that the Dapper was stalking Philby. He was pathetically bad at it, turning his whole head in Dell’s direction, instead of just his eyes; slowing when
Philby
slowed, moving as Philby moved. She quickly became suspicious.

The thick crowd bobbed and surged on all sides, preventing her from spotting Jack Skellington and Sally. Philby was headed toward the two in full stride, brimming with the determination
she’d come to love about him. When he put his mind to something, nothing could stand in his way. Though concern pained through her chest and
briefly stole her breath, she found herself
feeling sorry for Jack and Sally.

She had work to do. Two against one was bad odds for Philby. She couldn’t be sure of the Dapper’s intentions, but if hostile it only made things worse. She aimed to stop him,
stepping off the sidewalk, charging through the mass of people, powered by a feverish impulse to help her boyfriend.

“What?” Philby
demanded, stepping up and confronting Jack Skellington head-on.

The gourd-headed figure threw his gangly arms in the air, expressing surprise. Philby’s confidence had his DHI tingling, a sensation he took to be a positive sign. He stepped through Jack,
spun around, and spoke again.

“I’m back here, clown face.”

Skellington spun.

“What do you want with me?” Philby said.

The
black and white creature lowered his head—he was a good deal taller than Philby’s DHI—putting his face only inches from Philby’s. He waggled a long, boney finger. The
gesture spoke clearly to Philby:
Oh, no you don’t. I’d be careful if I were you! You’re asking for trouble if you go through with it.

Philby attempted to step through the figure again, but this time he chest-bumped Skellington,
knocking him back.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Sally said.

“You stay out of this!” Philby admonished her.

“I most certainly will not, mister! Jack and I are one and the same. Birds of a feather. Where he goes, I go. Jack’s a good man! Dead or not! You keep that in mind.”

Philby addressed the bobblehead, his voice flat and calm. “Tell whoever sent you here that we will not turn back.
Not now. Not ever. That’s all you need to say. All they need to
hear.”

“I’m sure Jack has no idea what you mean,” said Sally.

“I’m pretty sure he does.” Philby had not flinched, not once since going head-to-head with the cadaverous puppet. “He meant to hurt me, or distract me, and he’s
been successful, at least in the second part. As for hurt—well, that’ll be on him and all those he
represents.”

Spinning, Philby pointed across the street to the Dapper Dan, who was fast approaching. “Including you!”

The Dapper Dan stopped. He looked confused. Put off. Surprised.

Willa walked around the Dapper and addressed him. “If you, or any of your kind, follows us or keeps us from entertaining the guests, you will come to regret it.”

“My kind?” he asked, incredulous.

She read his name tag:
EZEKIEL
.

Though her voice was calm and strong, her mind was spinning. She couldn’t bring herself to imagine that the powerful Overtakers were behind this. The presence of Jack, Sally, the
Dapper—it all felt, like the card attack on Finn had felt, like stragglers, isolated villains attempting to run interference without any leadership or plan.

“Jack!” she added,
letting her tone show her exasperation, “You’re supposed to be a good guy. Don’t give in to a bunch of losers!”

Skellington stood up straighter. At his side, Sally took a deep, rasping breath. “How can someone who’s already dead,” she said, “lose anything?”

“You and any of the other leftovers, stay away from us!” Philby said, squaring his shoulders.

“And if you don’t,” Willa warned,
“you’d better bring it.” She spoke loudly, to make sure the Dapper Dan heard her as well. What kind of dumb name was
Ezekiel?

The Dapper, unfazed, stepped forward. His face was solemn and composed. “Young lady, how horribly mistaken you are. I have, in fact, come to help.”

“I’m sure!” Willa nearly spit at him.

She and Philby turned and walked away, moving hand in hand up Main Street
USA toward Town Square. Philby’s hand trembled. Willa’s was ice cold.

Slowly, with a habit learned through years of adventure, they began to go all clear.

“What got into you?” Philby gasped.

“‘It’s about time,’” Willa replied, her DHI grasping his hand tightly. Not letting go.

F
ROM
W
ALT
’
S APARTMENT
, where Philby
marveled at the music
box, to the five Keepers running for King Arthur Carrousel, carried away by a sense of group adventure that had been sorely lacking in the past months, all dressed in period clothing, playing DHI
tricks like jumping
through
the Partners statue while laughing at the top of their lungs, from this exhilarating dash, the Keepers arrived at the carousel and swarmed the platform
of
spinning horses.

There was merriment in the air, that rare and welcome rush that comes from perfect friendship. As the five awkwardly mounted Jingles, having drawn a small group of fans and onlookers, they held
to each other’s waists like a group of kids riding a toboggan. Maybeck, the last, was barely able to keep from sliding off the painted horse’s rump.

Closing their eyes, some
under the spell of heightened anticipation, others fighting off the fear that came with something new, the fear that could compromise their DHI and corrupt their chance
to be part of this, whatever this was.

They vanished.

The few park guests who had identified one or another of the Kingdom Keepers and had followed so eagerly to the carousel clapped and cheered, celebrating what they
thought was a magic show.
Jingles looked lonely, rotating round and round as the park cleared for the night. The security camera’s time lapse captures would show an emptying Fantasyland, families departing for the
long ride home, Cast Members closing and cleaning, an enchanted space being readied for the following morning.

There would be no more sightings of the five kids who’d climbed
aboard Jingles, holding on for dear life, their eyes shut as if anticipating something wonderful.

Is the past really in the past

Or is it still to come

Is the future what’s in store for us

Or has it already begun

Is the present really happening

Or will it never come
⁷

“T
HANK YOU FOR MAKING IT
on such
short notice,” Joe Garlington said from the
other side of three display screens connected to his computer. He rolled his chair out from behind them, though he remained on the far side of the desk.

“No problem,” Amanda said dryly. She sipped from the water the secretary had given her. Coughed.

“We both know better than that,” Joe said. “I heard from Toby Langford.”

“Oh.”

“And
of course, I’d seen the video as well. You and the cards. The push.”

“Mr. Langford didn’t mention them,” Amanda said, sitting forward in spite of herself. “Did you know that? Why wouldn’t he acknowledge that there was an
attack?”

Joe scribbled a note. “Don’t change the subject, Amanda.”

“What is the subject?”

“I think you know.”

“Finn’s not answering my texts.”

“That’s
not the subject. Protecting secrets and keeping secrets are two different things. We require you to protect our company secrets. We ask you not to lie or do things, things
like public displays of supernatural ability
, that will bring the company bad publicity.”

Amanda sat back, stung. “Don’t you want your guests believing in the magic?” she said softly.
Joe knew about the
battles between Overtakers and characters. He knew the Disney villains were real and that a band of holographic teenagers really did cross over at night.
⁸
Certainly, he must believe in the magic, she thought.

“Do you think this is a good time to be sarcastic with me?”

“Probably not.”

“No probably about it.” Joe jotted down some more notes. Amanda didn’t like that.
She wished she could see what he was writing. “Tell me about it.”

“It?”

“Careful,” he warned.

“I’ve texted him for two days and nothing. That’s completely unlike him.”

His face reddened. “We’re not talking about your love life, Amanda. We’re talking about the carousel. The cards. You just happened to be there?”

“I tried the others, too. Maybeck. Willa. Philby. Nothing. So I
thought, heck, I’ll just call Charlene. Voicemail. Where are they, Joe? Where have they gone?”

“Where did those cards come from?”

“Mad Hatter, I assume. They were going to hurt my friends. The Queen of Hearts is seriously psycho. What would you have done? Peggy told me to—”

“Don’t give me that excuse. You and I both know Peggy was referring to your work at DSI, not inside the parks.
Not with guests in attendance. You tried that line on Toby, I
hear.” Joe closed his notebook, looked at her wearily. “Please, Amanda, give me some credit. We accepted you and Jess into DSI as adults. That means we expect adult behavior and adult
communication. Do you think yourself capable of that?”