“It’s important,” Willa said in a whisper.

Though the company had never publicly acknowledged the work the Kingdom Keepers had done to save the Magic Kingdom, word had spread through the community. There were few that didn’t know the story by now, both inside and outside the network of Park employees. A book had been written and published as fiction, but many knew the truth.

“How important?” Ariel asked.

Willa raised the baseball cap, revealing herself. A shock of recognition overcame the girl. Willa hoped this was the right thing to do. She lowered her voice. “Did you hear about Tinker Bell last night, during the fireworks?”

Ariel’s eyes widened, and she nodded.

“What is going on here?” the handler whispered hotly into Willa’s ear.

“What? I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t give me that! First Captain Hook comes through our line nosing around where he doesn’t belong, and now you? And not fifteen minutes apart? What is it with you people?” She leaned in even closer. “Are you inspecting us or something?”

“Captain Hook?”

“Don’t give me that.”

“What did he want?”

“Captain Hook’s a walkaround. He doesn’t talk, in case you’ve forgotten. How would I know what he wanted?”

“He was just here?”

“They never used to pull surprise inspections,” the handler complained. “And I don’t like it.”

Willa tried to process all that she was being told. The Overtakers? Here before her? Also interested in Ariel? Why?

“You want your picture taken with me?” Ariel asked. “It would be an honor.” She’d opened the treasure chest for Willa: empty.

Willa felt her head spin. She had to beat Captain Hook—or whoever he was—to Mickey’s Philhar-Magic.

“I’m fine!” she shouted over her shoulder, already hurrying away.

27

FINN ARRIVED AT HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS bone-tired, well aware that if he or any of the other Kingdom Keepers fell asleep, they might not be seen again. Ever. Worse, Jez’s disappearance pressured all involved to find her quickly. He was going to be in trouble if this went on much longer. He didn’t put it past his parents to go looking for him at Blizzard Beach. When they failed to find him there…

He hurried down Hollywood Boulevard toward Mickey’s giant sorcerer hat, which towered one-hundred-and-twenty feet over the central plaza. He had his his own cap brim pulled down low over his sunglasses as he kept an eye out for any kids recognizing him—he didn’t need that. He would take evasive action if necessary. He identified possible escape routes in each direction.

While checking out a Kodak shop to his left, he spotted a large black crow on the building’s roof. The bird was certainly big enough to draw attention to itself, but Finn’s curiosity ran deeper: it seemed to be staring at him. The bird had its head cocked so that its large black eye was trained down, not just on the street but on Finn. As Finn moved, so did the bird’s head. As Finn hurried up the street, the bird flew and followed, building by building.

Finn might not have taken any notice or interest in a stupid crow, but he couldn’t ignore Maybeck’s tale about being attacked outside the bat enclosure by a flock of birds. He’d been bitten badly by a parrot once and could remember it as if it were yesterday.

Now, hurrying to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, it seemed pretty obvious that the crow was following him. This, in turn, made him search the area to see if there were any other animals nearby. He spotted a group of chickadees in a tree outside the Brown Derby—but they didn’t seem particularly threatening. A solo jay stood watch from a roof overlooking an icecream vendor. Finn’s distraction with the animals caused his attention to falter.

He heard the voice too late. “Aren’t you…him?” A boy of ten or eleven. His parents stood a few feet back, his mother’s face bright with expectancy. Finn glanced around. How had the boy possibly recognized him? He didn’t want this to get out of hand; sometimes signing a single autograph could start a big line.

“Do you like the Magic Kingdom?” Finn asked the boy, who then nodded vigorously.

“The Kingdom Keepers,” the boy said. “You’re Finn. You beat up Maleficent.”

Finn bit back a smirk. “Not hardly. Those are just stories,” he said, accepting an autograph book from the boy. “I’ll sign this, but only if you promise not to tell anyone.” He lowered his voice and said conspiratorially, “I’m here on a mission.”

The boy’s eye went wide. He shook his head, too awed to speak.

“Good.” Finn led the boy over to the sidewalk, where he could sign the autograph book with his back turned to the street. In the Disney Parks, anyone signing anything attracted attention.

The boy followed. As Finn put pencil to paper, he briefly glanced up and into the reflection in the store window. Three brooms, one holding a bucket of water. He spun quickly around, dropping the autograph book. The boy bent to retrieve it.

The brooms stood facing him.

“Thank you!” the boy said, cherishing his autograph.

Finn had nearly forgotten about him. “No problem.”

Then something occurred to him. “You see those brooms over there? They look real familiar, but I can’t remember why.…”

“Fantasia,” the boy said.

“Fantasia,” Finn said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one.”

“It’s a pretty weird movie,” the boy said. “The brooms show up in ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,’I think. Mickey, the apprentice, can’t control the magic—you know? It gets all out of hand. The brooms are part of that.”

Uncontrollable magic, Finn thought. Yes, he knew exactly what that was about, just like uncontrollable holograms. The brooms were there for him. He felt certain of it all of a sudden.

Finn thanked the boy, who ran back to his mother’s side.

Were the brooms part of Park Security? Were they going to bust him for being in the Park? Or were they something more sinister: uncontrollable magic?

The brooms swept their way across the street and drew closer.

He walked quickly away. He looked back: the brooms were definitely following.

Up ahead, he heard music from High School Musical. A huge crowd of onlookers formed a half moon around a street show of cheerleaders and basketball players dancing and singing.

Finn worked his way into the dense crowd, glad to see the brooms stop at the back. But then the three split up. The one with the bucket went around the crowd in one direction; one stayed put; the other swept off in the opposite direction. He was surrounded. If they weren’t Security, then they were something much worse.

The leader of the High School Musical street show called for volunteers to dance with them. A number of kids raised their hands. Finn followed one of the kids as the music started. He kept his back to the crowd and headed toward the movable stage.

The brooms all were trapped with the crowd.

Finn dodged his way through the cheerleaders and ducked behind the stage. He hurried through the plaza beneath the sorcerer’s hat, running hard now. He arrived at The Great Movie Ride.

The brooms regrouped and moved through the crowd—but they didn’t seem to be in any hurry.

Finn entered the ride. He was directed into one of the cars, joining a family of three on a long bench. He lowered his head to keep from being seen. But he looked up to steal a peek toward the entrance.

For some reason, the brooms hadn’t followed him inside.

28

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, with no sign of the brooms, Finn joined the line for Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The ceiling was painted to look like water. His heart beat excitedly: he was “under the sea.”

There was no telling what he might find. Big or small, ordinary or out of the ordinary, it could be anything.

He heard a commotion behind him—the people waiting for the doors to open were oohing and ahhing. Finn turned carefully around and spotted the three brooms. They danced and bowed and entertained as they progressively moved closer.