The Bridge to Never Land (20 page)

CHAPTER 30

T
HEY JOINED THE LINE
for Peter Pan’s Flight at 8:01 p.m. The ride was even more crowded than it had been earlier, but the waiting-time sign still said fifty-five minutes.

“I hope I figured this right,” said J.D., eyeing the long, shuffling line ahead, then glancing anxiously at his watch.

They inched forward, keeping their faces turned away from the hordes of people flowing past on the concourse outside the arcade. Each minute felt like an hour.

“Could this line move any slower?” said Aidan. “We’re never gonna make it.”

“If we have to,” said Sarah, “we’ll cut ahead in line.”

Aidan gestured at the crowd in front of them, an army of exhausted parents, cranky kids, and wailing toddlers. “You actually think they’ll let us in front of them?” he said. “Like, we’ll tell them we have an urgent appointment with a bird in a skull and they’ll just step aside?”

“Shut up,” said Sarah.

“Maybe you could both shut up, okay?” said J.D.

“The Happiest Place on Earth,” said Aidan.

A tense and silent half hour later, they were past the midway point—Sarah gripping the backpack straps, J.D. checking his watch for the hundredth time, Aidan staring ahead at nothing. The line was still moving agonizingly slowly, but it was moving. Another ten minutes passed, and J.D. whispered, “I think we’re going to be okay. We might have to let a couple of groups go past us to get it exactly right.”

Sarah said, “When do we transfer the…” She nodded at the backpack.

“Soon,” said J.D., pointing. “Where the line runs next to that wall. We’ll use the wall as a shield on one side.”

“How much?” said Sarah. “If I pour a lot, we’re all going to be flying.”

“I’m figuring you should try to use the same amount as Pete did in the locket Mrs. Carmoody gave us,” said J.D. “Just the tiniest amount, a quick flash. Not like in the van.”

“Okay,” said Sarah.

“Don’t spill it,” said Aidan.

“Shut up,” said Sarah.

Armstrong hadn’t heard much useful lifted from the security guard. There’d been something about on the radio he’d

Christopher Robin at one point—typical Disney World
problems. Minnie Mouse would be next, he thought.

The searchers were going ride by ride, but so far hadn’t found the Cooper kids or J.D. Aster. Armstrong had shadowed them for a while but recently had decided to strike out on his own. He had gone through Tomorrowland and, as darkness fell over the Magic Kingdom, was making his way through Fantasyland, scanning the crowd with practiced eyes. His plan, if he saw either runaway Cooper kid, was to move quickly and to be as physical as necessary. The boy had slipped through his fingers once; Armstrong wasn’t going to let that happen again.

“All right,” said J.D. “We need to be on the ship in five minutes. Let’s do this.”

He and Aidan took their positions next to Sarah, shielding her as much as they could from the people in line around them. He handed Pete’s locket to Sarah. She faced the wall and set her backpack down, then quickly knelt next to it and unzipped the top. She reached inside and found the golden box. With trembling hands she positioned the locket next to it and thumbed open the catch. She tilted the box slightly and, holding the locket next to the hole, gave the golden wheel just the tiniest counterclockwise turn. The instant she saw the beginnings of a glow she closed her eyes tightly.

Even through her eyelids she saw the brilliant flash of
light that followed, accompanied by a melodic humming sound. She quickly twisted the wheel closed and shut the locket, then opened her eyes.

The brilliant light was dying rapidly, but it still filled the area of the arcade where they were standing. All around them people were blinking, pointing, shouting; voices young and old were asking, “What was that?”

With a roar of wing beats, the ravens exploded into the night sky over the Haunted Mansion. The birds swirled, a tornado of ebony feathers, then formed into what looked like a gigantic airborne spear, its tip aimed at Fantasyland.

Seconds later they were gone, the sound of their wings replaced by the oohs and aahs of the crowd below, marveling at this latest brilliant display of Disney Imagineering. How on earth did they do it?

“Sorry!” J.D. shouted to the crowd as Sarah zipped up the backpack and scrambled to her feet. “Stupid camera flash went off! Sorry!”

“That was a camera flash?” said a man directly behind them. “Making all that light?”

“It’s a new camera technology,” said J.D. “It uses deuterium-tritium fusion. Very efficient, and it’s environmentally friendly.”

“Huh,” said the man.

“I heard a weird sound,” said a woman who was with the man.

“That’s the energy release from the free neutron,” said J.D.

“Huh,” said the woman. “Sounded like…bells!”

The bystanders didn’t pursue the matter any further, partly because they were almost to the flying ships and partly because everybody was suddenly feeling surprisingly mellow and happy, especially for people who’d been on their feet in the heat all day. Even the babies had stopped crying.

J.D. whispered to Sarah, “Did you make the transfer?”
“I think so,” said Sarah.
“Good,” said J.D., looking at his watch. “Because we have
to be on the ship in exactly two minutes and thirty seconds.”

Armstrong was at Prince Charming Regal Carrousel when he saw the flash of light. He wondered what would make a flash that bright; he half expected to hear an explosion. He decided to trot over and take a closer look.

“Two minutes,” said J.D., his eyes on his watch. They were almost at the front of the line—only four groups were ahead of them. Making a quick calculation, J.D. turned to the couple behind—the ones who’d asked about the flash—and said, “You guys can go ahead of us.”

The couple went past. J.D. eyed the line ahead, then his watch. “One minute forty-five,” he said.

Armstrong was fifty feet away when he saw them, all three together, waiting in line for Peter Pan’s Flight. He had a decision to make: should he wait for them as they exited the ride, or grab them now? Remembering how the boy had gotten away from him last time, he decided to take no chances. He’d grab them now, and he’d make sure he grabbed the boy.

He started toward the trio.