“I don’t get it,” Charlene said.

“As I recall, Walt’s exact words to Wayne were: ‘I have plans for this place that should put things into perspective.'”

Finn explained, “In the late fifties and sixties, 3-D movies were all the rage. Walt was an illustrator and moviemaker. He would have known all about perspective. These days the 3-D

movies are some of the coolest things in the parks. I think Walt mentioned it to Wayne for a reason, and Wayne and the others never picked up on it. Perspective; 3-D. You have to wear special glasses. That’s why Maybeck and the girls are returning to It’s a Small World tonight.”

“What?” Charlene said.

“We missed the clue,” Finn explained. “We should have found something. Those dolls did not want us in there—or maybe they wanted our attention on them and not the scenery. What if we weren’t looking from the right perspective?”

Philby asked, “You think the glasses are the answer?”

“Philby and I are going to take the next clue—clouds—while you guys are at It’s a Small World checking out the Mayan sun, this time with glasses.”

“Isn’t going back there a little risky?” Charlene asked nervously.

Maybeck said, “It’s the last place they’ll look. Lightning doesn’t strike twice, and al that.”

A coil of wind swirled outside of the teepee, tossing up dust. It quieted the group. They waited a minute or more to feel a chil or see Maleficent, but there was nothing.

Charlene asked, “What do you suppose happens to us back home in bed if we get busted on this side?”

Silence.

“I think my parents are suspicious,” Willa announced.

“Mine are, too,” Finn added. “They think I’m sneaking out.”

“My mom’s al uptight,” Charlene confessed.

“Going to bed at eight doesn’t help things,” Maybeck said. “My aunt thinks I’ve total y lost it.”

Finn asked Philby and Willa what, if anything, they’d learned about clouds, the next clue in the fable.

Philby explained, “There are clouds in so many rides. Pooh. Peter Pan. But the ride with the most clouds, and the biggest clouds, is Splash Mountain. That’s where Finn and I wil start.”

“Start what?” Charlene asked.

“When we’re inside the attractions,” Philby announced, “we al wear the glasses. We’l ‘gain a better perspective.’ Let’s meet back at the apartment at ten. The button is up there. Use it if you have to.”

“Listen up,” Finn said, moving invisibly toward the teepee door and eventual y into the area where he could be seen. “Majority rules. If you guys need to leave the park, then use the remote.”

Maybeck asked, “What if it takes al of us at the same time? What if we’re wrong about needing to be close to it?”

“Then we’ll find out the hard way,” Philby said.

“We should get going,” Maybeck said anxiously.

“What’s the matter?” Charlene asked Maybeck. “You got a hot date?”

Maybeck smirked. “Not with you I don’t.”

The four others booed him. Maybeck went right on grinning, unperturbed.

19

Finn and Philby climbed into Splash Mountain’s waterway carefuly. The dark water was cold.

Finn didn’t like the feeling at all. “Are we sure,” he whispered to Philby, “that this is worth it?”

“Do we have a choice?”

They slogged their way through the first part of the ride, around some turns, and soon encountered a rubber conveyor incline that proved a tough climb. It grew darker the deeper they went into the ride. Aside from his cold, wet legs, Finn felt a different chill all through his body. He considered mentioning it to Philby, but he didn’t want to sound afraid like Charlene.

They climbed through a second tunnel, much longer and darker than the first. It had stairs on either side for maintenance and emergency evacuation. Only the orange night sky, and a slight glow from their holograms, offered any light. Once through this second tunnel, they rested briefly before passing a massive tree on their left. In one scene there was a ladder hanging from a branch, with a laundry line to their right. Here the water current was strong and the going more treacherous.

Philby said softly, “I think we ought to float.”

“What?”

“Float,” he repeated. Philby lowered himself fully into the water and leaned back. The water current quickly carried him away from Finn.

Reluctantly, Finn did the same, not wanting to be left behind.

Both boys maintained their balance and direction by keeping one hand on the steel rail meant to guide the ride’s boats.

“I’ve taken this ride a zillion times,” Philby said, “but this is pretty cool.”

Finn didn’t love being soaking wet, but he too was enjoying himself.

Then they entered a dark scene, a cavelike space filled with Audio-Animatronic figures. The characters, turned off for the night, all stood frozen in midgesture.

“Kinda creepy,” Finn said. He’d had enough. The going was perfectly flat here, the current slow. He grabbed the rail and prepared to climb out.

Philby dove forward, splashing them both, and grabbed hold of Finn.

“You can’t do that!” Philby warned him. “If we climb out, we’ll trip the alarm.”

“What alarm?” Finn challenged.

“They use infrared sensors to detect anyone who tries to get out of a log car during the ride.”

“But the ride’s shut down.”

“But is the infrared shut down?” Philby asked. “I doubt it. Besides, there are thirty-six hidden cameras along the ride. If we climb out, we’ll be photographed.”

“It’s pitch-black!”

“But we’re not,” he said, indicating his own glow. “We’ll be photographed, trust me. And if we’re photographed, we’re identified and busted,” Philby said.

“How do you know any of this stuff?”

“Can you spell Google?”

“And you waited until now to tell me this?” Finn asked.

“I wasn’t going to write you a report,” Philby snapped back irritably.

Finn’s fear grew more intense the deeper they ventured into this cave. They floated faster now as the route twisted and turned. The waist-deep water in the ride’s chute was getting deeper; and the water was flowing faster.

“If I remember right, we’re going into a small —drop,” Philby announced.

Both boys rushed down the drop. Finn’s head went underwater, and he heard something grinding. Something mechanical.

He bobbed to the surface. “Did you hear that?”

“The ride’s turned on,” Philby declared, his voice unsteady. “That means the log cars are moving.”

Finn recalled the marching dolls. He had no desire to try to outrace metal boats shaped to look like logs.

Another drop.

The water tried to swallow them. Both boys remained on their backs, arms extended to stay afloat. At the bottom, Finn looked ahead to see another tunnel approaching.

“I don’t like this!” he said.

As they neared the tunnel they saw lights and heard music playing. Voices sang, “You gotta keep moving along.”

The robot characters were moving; giant creatures with long noses and big bugged-out eyes rocked and danced. One threw a fishing line at the water.

Finn said, “I’m starting to think getting busted wouldn’t be too bad.”

“Not yet!” Philby announced. “We’ve got to hang in there.”

The two boys swam and bounced and bumped their way along the water route. They passed fake green hills and low-hanging tree branches, and a six-foot-tall rabbit holding a paintbrush.

These things looked devilish to Finn as he saw them looming above him.

“The ride takes a total of eleven minutes to complete,” Philby said. “If we’re halfway along—

and I bet we are—then the first log car shouldn’t arrive for another six minutes. By that time, we’ll only have a couple minutes to go.”