The Key To the Kingdom (32 page)

Noticing the short wait time to get on the ride, Hawk maneuvered them through the main entrance into the winding tunnels of the attraction. These lines would carry guests to the loading area where they would climb aboard boats and make their way on a search for Captain Jack Sparrow, the legendary pirate captain of the
Black Pearl
, introduced with the release of the Walt Disney Pictures Pirates of the Caribbean films. These motion pictures rejuvenated the popularity of the classic attraction for a new generation of guests. Imagineers had updated the ride to include some of the popular icons created by the stars of the motion pictures. Most of the crowd now was on the streets enjoying the parade, allowing them to enter the attraction with no other people in sight.

“Hawk, why are we here?”

The building housing Pirates of the Caribbean was modeled after a Cuban fort from the seventeenth century. Moving through the building they reached an opening in the wall lined with bars. Looking through the bars allowed the guests a view into a dungeon where two pirate skeletons were seated facing each other at a table playing a game.

“Look.” Hawk stepped aside, allowing Kiran to look into the dungeon.

“Chess?” Kiran shrugged. “I’ve seen this scene hundreds of times. Why is this the clue?”

The pirates below had died sitting a table while playing chess, according to the story line. Now throughout time they remain just as they had been with nobody left alive to make the next move.

“The clue was
always check,”
Hawk explained excitedly. “I remember hearing about this on podcasts; I’ve read it in books and often wondered about it. The game is in perpetual check. The only available move for either pirate leads them into a never-ending series of moves that leaves them right back where they started. They played until they both died—and they still sit in the same place with the same series of moves available. Always check.”

“Incredible.” Kiran studied the board, but soon returned her gaze to Hawk. “But what does this have to do with the day we lost Walt Disney?”

“We know the day Walt passed away, December 15.” He thought. “What day did the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction open?”

“I don’t know.” Kiran fished her cell phone from her pocket. “But I can find out.”

She pressed a key and they waited for the call to connect.

“I barely get a signal in here,” she said, frowning. “We have an information line that can look up anything. Sometimes it might be because a guest asks a question, it might be for a staff meeting where someone is trying to get some—”

Hawk stepped closer, trying to hear both ends of the conversation. Kiran allowed him to place his head next to hers as they both listened to the man who answered the phone.

“Marquel, this is Kiran, I have a quick question for you. Please tell me when the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction opened.”

As Hawk strained to listen he thought he heard the response, but wasn’t quite sure. He stepped back a stride to look at Kiran, and the look on her face confirmed what he had guessed.

“Thanks, Marquel.” Her mouth was opened in amazement as she ended the call. “The Pirates opened December 15, 1973.”

“The day we lost Mr. Disney. ‘We can always check to remember the day we lost Mr. Disney.’”

“How did you know?” She looked impressed.

“I guessed on the date,” he said. “So I was hoping we had to get here. We found the place and what we’re supposed to remember, but beyond that the clue didn’t say anything else.”

“Is there something we’re missing on the chess board?”

“I don’t think so; it’s a series of moves that always repeats.”

“Could that be the clue, something that always repeats?”

“Not sure.”

After staring at the pirate skeletons for a few more minutes and running through the chess moves in his mind, Hawk hadn’t come up with any new ideas. He motioned for Karin to move forward. The line descended gradually toward the loading area, where they found a small crowd waiting to climb aboard the passenger boats. Standing in line awaiting their turn Hawk felt the vibration on his hip.

“Ha-ha!”

Nonchalantly he once again released the stuffed mouse from his hip and held it between Kiran and himself. They listened closely.

“Hey, Hawk! Ha-ha, I sure am glad we’re here together. There are lots of pirates hiding around here. Keep me close, won’t you, pal? If you listen you can’t hear them here, but they get bigger other places. Gosh, if you follow the trail to the letter, you can find it, by George!”

A cast member now stood before them, waiting to usher them aboard the waiting boat. Hawk pondered the newest clue as they took their seat. Sliding to the middle of the row they sat side by side, the only people on their row.

“Did you get all of that?” Kiran wanted to know.

“I heard it. I haven’t figured it out, if that’s what you mean.”

“So is there another clue here in Pirates?”

“I guess so.” Her questions weren’t allowing him time to think clearly.

The boat jerked lightly forward as they set sail into a pirate adventure. Floating in the murky waters Hawk rummaged through the details he had accumulated. The stakes of the search, in his thinking, had been raised to a level of epic importance with the sudden disappearance of Juliette. His intuition had convinced him that in solving the mystery he would also figure out where she was. In some ways this mad search he was on didn’t make much sense. Still, somehow absorbed into an Imagineers’ plotline, he had faith there was an answer. The first moments of the ride carried them through a huge cavern toward a special-effects encounter with Davy Jones, another upgrade to the attraction based on the Pirates film series. As they moved through the cavern a voice echoed off the walls.

“Dead men tell no tales! Dead men tell no tales! Dead men tell no tales!”

The voice echoed through not only the refreshingly cool cave but also in Hawk’s head.
Dead men tell no tales! Dead men tell no tales!

The chant was distracting. Kiran was watching him intently as he thought and seemed to sense what he was thinking. Catching her gaze he smiled and motioned his head to the noise clanging off the walls of the cave.

“It would drive you nuts to hear that all day,” she joked.

Nodding, he tried to ignore the repeating voice track. Eventually the endless sound loop would yield to the other sounds of the ride as you were carried down a waterfall into a pirate battle. Just as the boat crested the top of the waterfall in the darkness, Hawk had an idea. By the time the boat had plunged to the bottom of the falls, he was convinced he knew what to do next.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-F
OUR

Day Six Night

B
OUNCING WITH A STEADILY DRIVING VIBRATION,
the boat broke free from the water-cushioned free float onto the moving rubberized track guiding the boat into the disembarking area. Stepping up out of the boat they moved with the other guests toward the inclined speed ramp that carried them back up to the exit into the shopping area of the Caribbean Plaza. Swarming shoppers filled the plaza, scooping up souvenirs of the ride. Immediately upon entering the plaza Kiran and Hawk began to weave through the visitors making their buccaneer purchases. Cutting around a display, Hawk stopped as he looked across the plaza at a man staring at them. The pastor narrowed his eyes and focused on the man’s face. It was familiar, but Hawk could not identify from where. As he stared he realized he was not being paranoid; this person was watching him. Never breaking eye contact Hawk noticed a slight smile cross the face of the man. Just as the man took a step toward them, the preacher pushed Kiran in the other direction and quickly led them out of the plaza.

“What’s wrong?” Kiran turned her head to look back at the plaza.

“We have company,” Hawk muttered.

“Who? Where?”

“Keep moving.”

Once they’d cleared the plaza they moved toward the entrance of the Jungle Cruise. The streets of Adventureland were starting to clear; it was about time for the park to close. Prior to reaching the stairs down to the cruise they moved off to their left between the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. They continued to move through the rapidly emptying section of the park until reaching a narrow cut-through to Frontierland. Moving between the buildings they emerged in Frontierland right outside Grizzly Hall, the home of the Country Bears. It didn’t appear they had been followed.

“Who did you see?” Kiran demanded.

“I’m not sure.” He swept his gaze around them again, alert to pursuers. “But his face was very familiar. He didn’t try to hide the fact he was staring at us. He started heading in our direction.”

Hawk led Kiran with a sense of urgency along the street through Frontierland. Drifting to their left in front of Grizzly Hall they headed toward Pecos Bills once again.

“Where are we going?”

“Pecos Bill’s.”

Stepping onto the porch of Pecos Bill Tall Tales Inn and Cafe, Hawk grabbed the door only to find it was locked. Surprised, he looked back toward Kiran. Saying nothing she stepped off the porch and traced the wall of the restaurant through an outdoor seating area and headed toward another entrance. Continuing to peer backward over his shoulder he followed her. Kiran stepped to the second set of doors and found one of them open. Motioning for him to follow her she stepped inside.

“Normally the food areas close down as it get closer to park closing.” She glanced at her watch. “The Kingdom closes in a few minutes, so they’re done serving for the night. Sometimes you have to look for a way inside.”

Now inside Hawk began to navigate the empty restaurant. Stepping through the main dining hall and past the ordering and serving areas, they returned to the spot they had been talking in earlier. As he halted abruptly, Kiran bumped into him. Hawk surveyed the room slowly and deliberately, allowing his eyes to search for details.

“Hawk, tell me what you’re doing. Why are we here?”

“Remember the clue?”

“Sure. ‘If you listen you can’t hear them here, but they get bigger other places . . . follow the trail to the letter, you can find it, by George.’”

“Right.” He began to unpack his thoughts. “Think about the first part of the clue. ‘If you listen you can’t hear them here.’”

“I’m sorry, I’m not following you.”

“You gave me the idea, remember what you said would drive you nuts?”

“Sure, dead men tell no tales.”

“Exactly.” He nodded at her, willing her to figure it out. “Dead men don’t tell them—in other words, you can’t find them here.”

“Dead men tell no tales—
tales
is the clue?”

“Part of it. Dead men don’t tell them, so we couldn’t hear them at Pirates. But they get bigger other places. If the clue is
tales
, and they can be found bigger somewhere else . . . where else could we go?”

“Pecos Bill’s?” Karin asked without much confidence.

“Right!”

Her forehead rumpled. “I don’t get it.”

“Where are we?”

“Pecos Bills.”

“No, where are we? The actual name of this place.”

“Pecos Bill Tall Tales Inn and Cafe.”