The Key To the Kingdom (33 page)

“And dead men tell no tales, but they get bigger other places. In other words, the tales get taller . . . bigger . . . tall tales!”

“Oh!” Her eyes flew open wide with recognition. “Of course, I never would have figured that out. Fantastic, great job.”

“Thanks,” he smiled without trying for humility.

“What now?”

“Still working on it.” The moment of success now melted away in the heat of trying to solve the next part of the clue.

Immediately Kiran started searching the room as well. The Imagineers had based Pecos Bill’s on the legend of Pecos Bill, a character in a featured segment of the Disney animated feature
Melody Time
. The story featured the song “Blue Shadows on the Trail” sung by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers. Later the segment was released in theatres as a featured short film. The dining establishment was created around the story line that Pecos Bill opened up an inn and café and all of his legendary friends from the wild frontier had donated memorabilia for his new business. Throughout the restaurant there were displays that featured some of the most famous legends of the West. Details were what made creations by the Imagineers so special, and it was in the details that Hawk sought once again to discover answers.

Kiran repeated the next part of the clue aloud. “Follow the trail to the letter and you can find it, by George.”

Hawk thought deeply. “We have to follow the trail to the letter.”

“This is a western-themed restaurant, so following the trail west—”

“Happy trails to you,” Hawk injected.

“Wait, that might be it!” Kiran brightened.

“Happy trails?”

“Maybe. Didn’t Roy Rogers sing ‘Happy Trails’?”

“Did he?”

“Roy Rogers also sang the song in the
Pecos Bill
cartoon.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“I’m sure he did.” She nodded vehemently. “I don’t remember what the song was, but I am certain it was Roy Rogers.”

“Great, then we’re on the right track.”

“Or the right trail, as it were.”

“So now we follow it to the letter.”

“We are closed!” The voice caused Hawk to turn with a start.

The source of the voice was a brown-haired woman dressed in street clothes wearing a name tag that read Patricia.

“Hi Patricia.” Kiran stepped to meet her. “Kiran Roberts, guest relations, we’re on a tour.”

Hawk noticed Kiran had put her name tag back on.

“I wasn’t told to expect you.” The woman eyed Kiran’s name tag. “We closed thirty minutes ago.”

“I’m sorry; I actually just came through the open door. We are exploring some of the details and themed elements of the restaurant.”

“Well, there sure are a lot of them.” The woman held out her hand to Hawk, and shook his. “I’m Patricia. Pecos Bill Tall Tales Inn and Cafe is one of the best themed, best-kept secrets of the Magic Kingdom. Of course, I am partial to it since it is my area of responsibility.”

“I don’t blame you.” Hawk smiled pleasantly. “Do you have a minute to show me some of the secrets?”

“Is that okay with you, Kiran?” Patricia asked.

“That would be great. I appreciate it, and I am sorry we just wandered in.”

“Glad to do it.” Patricia beamed with pride.

“I’ll catch up with you, I need to make a call.” Kiran stepped away from them as Patricia guided Hawk toward a wall in the restaurant.

Hawk watched Kiran use her cell phone as Patricia began to show him around. The name Annie Oakley was printed on a plaque beside a large glass display featuring a Western handgun and five playing cards. Each card had a hole in the middle. By the layout of the display it was clear to Hawk that according to legend, Oakley would have shot through the five cards with a single shot. Patricia also explained the boots they had placed in the restaurant from Annie Oakley were intended to mimic some of the celebritythemed restaurants across the country featuring displays of memorabilia. This was the idea the Imagineers were trying convey in their design. Momentarily Kiran returned and joined them as Patricia’s cell phone rang.

Kiran smiled at Hawk as Patricia conversed briefly on her cell. Upon closing it she looked apologetically at the two of them.

“I am so sorry, I have to go.” She seemed genuinely disappointed. “Pressing matter waiting for me.”

“Thanks for taking the time to show me around.” Hawk shook her hand.

“Glad to do it,” she enthusiastically responded. Turning to Kiran she continued, “You can let yourself out?”

“Sure can,” Kiran assured her. “We’ll only be another minute.”

“Take your time. There is much to see.” Patricia headed back in the direction from which she had first appeared. Kiran and Hawk watched as she exited through a door that led her off set and back into the hallways leading to the kitchen and storage areas.

“I am her pressing matter,” Kiran murmured.

“What?”

“I called and tracked down her supervisor and phoned in a request from our department that we need an immediate answer for.”

Hawk grinned. “Because we can’t have her standing here as we snoop around.”

“So hurry up and get snooping!”

Hawk allowed his mind to replay the last part of the clue over and over.
Follow the trail . . . to the letter. . . you can find it, by George
. They moved in opposite directions, examining the displays. Hawk heard Kiran’s footsteps as she moved on the other side of the dining room. He moved toward the back of the restaurant, into a smaller dining area. On the wall he noticed Old Betsy, the rifle of Davy Crockett. Standing and staring at the rifle he remembered watching the adventures of Davy Crockett on the old Walt Disney television shows. He recalled what a surprise hit the television episodes and the movies had been. There were fan clubs, raccoon-skin caps, and Fess Parker dressed as Davy himself had helped to open Disneyland. The memory of the images of Fess Parker with Buddy Ebsen as his sidekick carried Hawk back to Sunday evenings as a child sitting in front of the television. Turning away from the rifle he saw another display fastened to the wall. It was a heavy dark wooden shelf. The aged, ornately designed single shelf was thick and worn. It held a variety of items that caused Hawk to stop and then he knew.

The first nameplate on the wall below the shelf read Casey Jones. Hawk remembered this cartoon legend as a train engineer who vowed to make sure his train arrived on time. It was the other nameplate that excited Hawk. The name George Russel adorned the marker. George Russel was Davy Crockett’s sidekick and friend. Hawk slid a chair over so he could stand up on it and see what rested upon the shelf. A metal can, a metal pot, and a rolled piece of leather that at first glance held paper. A brown leather saddlebag along with a piece of paper that had writing on it was wedged in the center of the items. Being at eye level with the contents Hawk was able to read what was on the sheet of paper.

            
I remember the day Davy entered his shootin’ match against the meanest and nastiest man on the mountain, Big Foot Mason. He claimed to be the best shot in Tennessee. Old Davy, he wasn’t scared. He was sent to challenge Big Foot and that he did.

The letter supposedly had been written by George Russel. It was a letter
by George
.

Follow the trail to the letter and you can find it, by George
.

The trail to the letter by George was just what he was looking at. The letter was inside an open leather container. It was made to be rolled and buckled shut. Obviously the leather roll was a letter carrier. As he reached out to attempt to remove the letter, he discovered it was attached. Not wanting to tear it away from the display, he picked up the entire leather letter carrier. It was about the size and weight of a rolled-up newspaper. He stepped off the chair and set the package down on a table. Fumbling with the buckle, he was about to loosen it when Kiran came back across the restaurant. When he explained what he was doing, instead of scolding him, she grinned with satisfaction. He unrolled the leather wrapping, it opened, and inside there was another piece of paper in the same print as the letter on the shelf.

            
Davy was most at home in the frontier. He never met a stranger and tried to be a friend to all he met. One day he showed me a present he was given by an Indian warrior. I could never say the real Indian name he had been given by the tribe, but Davy always called his friend Hawk. One of the most prized possessions Davy had was a small saddlebag his friend Hawk had made for him. He always used it to keep important things inside.

Kiran pointed to the shelf. “That is Hawk’s saddlebag, and there is no way it’s an accident that the friend in the letter is named Hawk.”

“Let’s take a look.” Hawk stepped back onto the chair.

Removing the saddlebag from the shelf, he stepped back off the chair and returned to the table. He slid the letter to the side with his hand and gently opened the saddlebag. Reaching inside he found what he was looking for: a shining silver bar identical to the first one he’d found. Kiran crowded next to him and simultaneously they leaned in to read the writing engraved into the metal.

“All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”

“Another quote from Walt Disney?” Kiran asked.

“It is.”

He set the silver box on the table and once again opened it. Hawk gently placed the silver bar into one of the open spaces inside. Once again it was a perfect fit. Two silver pieces were now in place; there were two open spaces left. He closed the box and returned it to his pocket.

“I guess we should get out of here.” Hawk wrapped the leather letter carrier closed and climbed the chair to replace it and the saddlebag. Satisfied that all looked as it had before, he stepped down from the chair and returned it to the table. As he was cleaning up, Kiran peered out the windows of Pecos Bill’s, looking into Frontierland.

“Hawk, I have a feeling that our search is either going to get very easy or extremely difficult. Go ahead and put your name tag back on.”

“Why?” He stepped to her side and looked out the window.

“The Magic Kingdom has closed for the night,” she answered. “We can’t disappear into the crowds. It’ll be easier to get around as cast members, but if someone spots us . . .”

“We’re in trouble.”

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-F
IVE

Day Six Night

H
AWK AND
K
IRAN STEPPED OUT
onto the wooden porch outside the restaurant into the now empty streets of Frontierland. Lamplight illuminated the street and even in the darkness the details of the magical land seemed to shine even brighter minus the loud surging crowds that normally filled it. From the doorway Hawk cautiously probed the darkened recesses of the Western-themed area with his eyes, looking for anyone who might be hiding trying to observe them. Convinced there was no one watching, he stepped off the porch.

“Let’s move in front of the shops and try to stay in the darker areas.”

Kiran kept pace with him. “By the way, where are we headed now?”

The familiar alarm sounded on his hip.

“Ha-ha!”

“Timing is everything.” He smiled.