فصل 44 - بخش 01

CHAPTER 42

A SUDDEN STORM

PEOPLE MOVED IN GROUPS IN THE PARK; anyone walking alone stood out. So Sarah, keeping her head down, stayed close behind a family of four as she left Mickey’s PhilharMagic. Disney World had never seemed so big to her; the ferryboat landing had to be a mile away.

She peeked ahead through the crowd and immediately spotted the woman in the business suit—obviously some kind of police officer—who had been directing the security guards back at the Transportation Center. The woman was standing to the left side of the concourse; on the right side, Sarah saw the woman’s partner, the grumpy-looking man. They were studying faces as the hordes flowed past them toward Cinderella Castle. She looked to her left, where Peter was moving with the crowd. Catching his eye, she pointed discreetly toward the female officer, then her partner. Peter nodded and darted back through the crowd; Sarah didn’t know where he was going.

She looked to the right and found Aidan and J.D.; they had positioned themselves in the middle of a group of highschoolers. Aidan fit in well enough, but J.D. stood out. They were heading straight at the grumpy man and apparently hadn’t spotted him yet. Sarah tried to get their attention, but they weren’t looking her way.

She looked ahead again and got more bad news: her “family” had veered left, toward the female officer. They were going to come within a few yards of her. Worse, the woman’s head was turning Sarah’s way…

“Hey!” the woman yelled. Sarah jumped, but then realized that the woman wasn’t yelling at her; she was reacting to being hit on the head by a small object that had fallen from the sky. It bounced off and rolled on the ground.

A half-eaten turkey leg.

The woman grabbed her head and looked around angrily, trying to figure out where it had come from. Sarah, who had a pretty good idea where it came from, walked briskly past. She risked a glance upward and caught a glimpse of Peter’s silhouette darting across the sky; a second later she heard a yell coming from the right. Sarah didn’t look, but she figured Peter had targeted the male officer, too, which meant—she hoped—that Aidan and J.D. would also get past undetected.

Sarah picked up her pace, half trotting through the crowd descending the ramp next to the castle. Ahead she saw the end of Main Street, U.S.A.; it was lined with visitors, thousands and thousands of them, watching the brilliantly lit parade floats moving slowly up the street toward the castle.

Sarah’s heart sank; the parade was blocking Main Street and the sidewalks were so crowded as to be nearly impassable. It would be very slow going to get to the park entrance at the other end of Main Street.

Sarah looked around and found J.D. about ten yards behind her; his expression told her that he, too, was discouraged by the obstacle course ahead. Her eyes searched farther back and picked up Aidan. He looked worried. When she made eye contact with him, he pointed up. She looked and saw the reason for his concern: high above the castle, the ravens were gathering.

Armstrong had a decision to make.

He knew where J.D. and the Cooper kids were. He had followed J.D. and Sarah to Mickey’s PhilharMagic; he’d seen them meet up with Aidan and another, younger kid—a scruffy-looking boy in bare feet. Armstrong had almost tried to grab them then, but had thought better of it, remembering what had happened to him the last time. He had no idea where the birds had come from or what they had to do with the weird thing he’d felt. But he was now thinking that he might not want to tackle the kids alone.

He’d watched them go inside Mickey’s PhilharMagic, then waited by the exit. When they came out he saw them split up. He’d been able to tail them fairly easily—they didn’t get too far apart, and he was a pro.

Just a few minutes earlier, he’d seen them slip by the FBI agents, who’d been distracted when somebody—the scruffy kid, Armstrong guessed—threw turkey legs at them. Armstrong was amused by that: the mighty FBI, easily eluded by kids.

But now he was thinking he needed the FBI’s help. He hesitated for a moment, then made his decision. He walked up to the male FBI agent, who was brushing turkey skin off his shoulder.

“They got past you,” said Armstrong.

“Excuse me?” said Gomez.

“The Cooper kids, and the Aster guy. All three of them.”

“And you are?”

“An interested party.”

“And you’re telling me this because…”

“Because if I show you where they are, you’re going to tell their parents that I helped you rescue them. Do we have a deal?” Armstrong stuck out his hand.

Gomez looked at the seemingly endless mass of people—thousands and thousands and thousands of people—surging through the park. His feet were tired; he had turkey grease on his suit; and a few minutes earlier he and Blight had experienced the humiliation of having to call their boss and report that the Cooper boy had eluded them again, this time by flying. Their boss, of course, did not believe this; even Gomez and Blight had trouble believing it, and they had seen it. Their boss had informed them, using harsh words, that (a) people did not fly; (b) he wanted this case cleared now; and (c) if Gomez and Blight could not apprehend a pair of runaway kids inside an enclosed theme park, then perhaps they did not have a future in the FBI.

Armstrong still had his hand out. “Do we have a deal?” he repeated. Reluctantly, Gomez shook the hand. He used his other hand to beckon Blight. “Show us where they are,” he said.

Sarah had reached Main Street and could barely move. Virtually everyone in the dense crowd on both sidewalks had camped to watch the parade. For every foot she moved forward, she had to excuse herself, squeeze between people, and risk stepping on others sitting on the curb. She glanced back—Aidan and J.D. were doing no better. She looked ahead—the end of Main Street might as well have been a million miles away.

And the ravens had moved. They were no longer massing above the castle; they were now flying in a circular pattern over Main Street. They were still fairly high up, and apparently had not attracted the attention of the crowd, which was focused on the parade floats.

Sarah felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped; she relaxed when she saw that it was Peter, who had an amazing knack for disappearing and reappearing.

“Thanks,” she said, almost shouting to be heard over the parade music pouring from speakers all around them as spectacular floats, populated by Disney characters, rolled past.

“Thanks for what?” said Peter.

“Getting us by the police back there.”

He smiled. “It was fun. Like dropping mangoes on Hook.” The smile disappeared. “But we have a bigger problem.” He nodded upward. “The birds have found you again.”

“I saw them. You think they see us?”

Peter nodded. “They’re following you. There’s a lot more of them on the tops of these buildings, moving along with you.”

Sarah looked up and saw dark shapes fluttering along the roofline. She shuddered.

“I don’t think they can get you in this crowd,” said Peter. “They’ll wait until you’re out in the open.”

“So maybe we should stay in the crowd.”

Peter shook his head. “The police are right behind you.”

“So what do we do?” said Sarah.

Before he could answer, Aidan, with J.D. alongside, pushed through the crowd and caught up with them. Aidan was pointing up. “I think the birds found us,” he said.

“They did,” said Sarah. “Peter says there’s more on the rooftops. And the police are right behind us.”

J.D. looked back over the crowd.

“Yup,” he said. “I see the two cops we saw before, and a bunch of security guys. And that big guy. We need to keep moving. Come on.” Leading the way, he began pushing through the crowd.

“But when we leave the park, the birds’ll be waiting,” said Sarah.

Peter, who had been studying the passing parade floats, said, “Maybe I can take care of the birds.” His hair chimed, and he added, “Tink and I.”

“How?” said Aidan.

“It’s the starstuff Ombra’s after,” said Peter. “He thinks you still have it, or know where it is.”

“But we don’t,” said Sarah.

“He doesn’t know that.”

“What good does that do us?” said Aidan.

“Keep going,” said Peter. “Don’t go out into the open until I catch up to you.” He turned and ducked into the crowd.

“Where are you going?” said Sarah.

But Peter was gone.

“Come on,” said J.D., looking back over the crowd. “The cops are gaining!”

Sarah started moving again. She glanced up at the building roofline to her left. The shadowy shapes were moving with her.

Agent Gomez, annoyed by the parade music, was shouting into the ear of the head of security. “They’re just ahead of us,” he said. “I want your people to blanket the exits. We’ll sweep them that way and your people will grab them as they come out.”

“Got it,” said the security man. He pressed the transmit button on his radio and relayed the orders.

Gomez shouted to Armstrong, “You still see them?”

The big man peered ahead over the crowd; in the distance, he caught a glimpse of the back of J.D.’s head.

“I see Aster,” he said. “Maybe twenty-five yards ahead. Still heading for the entrance.”

Agent Gomez turned to Agent Blight. “We’ve got them,” he said.

“That’s what we thought the last time,” muttered Agent Blight.

It was one of the last floats in the parade, and one of the most popular. In front was a famous foursome, representing two classic children’s stories—from Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter and Alice; and from Peter Pan, it was Wendy, standing, and Peter, who sat cross-legged on a round pedestal. As the float rolled up Main Street, the crowd cheered and waved; the foursome smiled and waved back. Peter waved with his right hand; in his left he held a lantern, with panes of frosted glass. It was understood that Tinker Bell was inside.

Suddenly, a cheer went up; a figure was descending from the night sky. A boy! Everyone looked for the wire holding him up—there had to be a wire holding him up—but none was visible. Amazing!

The boy landed on the float next to Peter Pan, who appeared to be quite surprised. The crowd roared with laughter at the contrast between the natty Peter and the dirt-smudged boy in tattered clothes. For a moment, the two stared at each other; a thousand cameras flashed. Then, with a lightning-quick movement, the boy snatched the lantern from Peter’s hand, crouched, and shot at impossible speed straight up into the sky.

The crowd went wild. There had been a rumor spreading in the park that the Disney Imagineers were introducing a spectacular new effect tonight involving a flying boy; now there was no question. The crowd erupted with speculation: How had they done it? Some said it was an incredibly realistic robot; some said it was done with lasers. All agreed it was utterly brilliant.