It felt odd to be in the regular line to ride the Jungle Cruise. Kimberly and Lance joined the other guests in the queue, weaving back and forth between the metal bars that were designed to look like bamboo. Since both of them worked in the Park, they could have simply walked into the ride’s backstage area…if they had been wearing their respective costumes. Kimberly, instead of an elaborate Princess dress and tiara, wore comfortable white shorts, a beige tank top that framed her lovely shoulders and striking figure, and equally comfortable sandals. Her looks were not lost on Lance; his eyes seldom left hers. For the first time, he saw Kimberly for what she truly was: a stunningly beautiful woman. His eyes softened more each time he looked at her. Kimberly was no longer his captor’s daughter. Even though he had never really been kept at the mansion against his will, the memory of her father holding a chrome-plated Magnum aimed at his head was something that was not soon forgotten. It had taken him this long to not only recognize and trust the man’s intent, but equally, it had taken him this much time to trust the daughter. His desire to trust her had overtaken his desire to suspect her intentions.

Here, next to Kimberly in line for the Jungle Cruise, Lance had other feelings surface as well. Those, though, would have to be kept to himself until more time had progressed.

“When you and Wolf discovered the capsule at El Lobo, where exactly did you find it?”

Her question forced Lance out of his pleasant thoughts of Kimberly and her feminine virtues. “Hmm? The what? Oh, it was buried down a ways under a layer of dirt and rocks. It was hidden well enough to protect it from any random discovery.” Lance had already compared the find he and Wolf had made to the different finds he and Adam had made a few months earlier. Walt’s ingenuity against accidental detection had, once again, amazed him.

The line moved a number of paces forward before stopping again near the steps that led to the upper level of the queue. This newer area wasn’t needed with the lighter-than-usual crowd at the Park that day. They could hear the hornbill bird squawk in the rafters of the upper boathouse. Kimberly stopped abruptly and turned around to face Lance. Lance, who had been thinking about the capsule and the WED that had been carved into the rock formation, didn’t see that she had stopped and he bumped into her.

“Oops. Sorry, Kimberly. I seem to be doing that a lot.” Lance gave an apologetic mutter and moved back a step.

Kimberly smiled, enjoying the fact that, for once, he seemed totally disarmed. “Don’t worry, Lance.” A little teasing never hurt. “I don’t get mad. I get even.”

Lance’s eyes lit up. Ah, this is an interesting development.Let the games begin, flashed through his mind. He gave a laugh. “And how do you propose you will ‘get even’?”

“Oh, I have my ways,” was her mysterious reply as the line again moved forward.

When the line stopped, Lance, with a forced attempt to get his mind back in focus, got back to their task at hand. He had to speak a little quieter considering the people all around them. “According to the map Drew got for me, the Jungle Cruise does have two islands. For as long as he can remember, they have been affectionately called Manhattan and Catalina by the cast members. These two islands separate the mainland from the internal ride elements. Drew told me that the rock formation behind Bertha, the elephant in the waterfall, is on the mainland side. I don’t remember seeing anything on the other side of the river as we pass the elephant bathing pool.” He paused, thinking about the few times he had ridden the Jungle Cruise. He had many friends, though, who worked the ride; Drew being one of the ‘lifers’ as cast members would label anyone who had made a career out of working at Disneyland. “I guess because of all the action and the way the boat turns away from the elephant pool, most people probably never even look out the other side of the boat.”

Kimberly nodded as she, too, thought about the visual elements of the ride. “I guess we’d better take a better look this time. Maybe we can request to sit in the back.”

The line split in two and their side of the queue headed toward the back of the freshly-emptied boat that had noisily motored up from the unloading dock about fifty feet to their left. The skipper was busy loading two blank bullets into his gun as the guests started to file onboard. Both Kimberly and Lance looked at everything around them with a different type of scrutiny than the other guests who boarded with them. Attention to details and the fear of missing something vital kept both of them alert.

As their boat, the Kissimmee Kate, motored off into the waiting, misty jungle, the guests were encouraged to “wave good-bye to the people left on the dock. You may never see them again. But, since you probably had never seen them before today anyway… Well, that might not be such a bad thing. Now sit back and enjoy the three exciting days and six enchanting nights of our journey on the deepest, most dangerous rivers known to man; you women are safe enough….”

Lance and Kimberly paid little attention as the humorous spiel continued. They were busy looking at both sides of the river. The side off to the right approached the large queue for the Indiana Jones ride and was pretty open to public view. The other side of the river—the long narrow side of the island called Manhattan—held tropical flowers, huge butterflies, and a loud Toucan bird. The skipper was asking everyone if they wanted to see the first sign of danger. He then used his hand-held mike to point to their right at a brown wooden plank with the word “Danger” stenciled over the face.

Lance elbowed Kimberly as they sat cheek to cheek on the wooden seats that lined the gunnels of the boat. “Dangerous,” he whispered in a menacing but mocking tone. “Are you scared, Kimberly?” He had leaned in a little closer, his lips next to her ear.

Kimberly turned from scanning Manhattan’s shoreline, her lips inches from his. “Why, should I be scared?”

“Absolutely.” When he found he was merely staring into her eyes, he mentally shook himself and gave her a playful nudge with his hip. “Hey, pay attention to the ride.”

Kimberly felt her face become warm and was very aware of Lance’s closeness in the tightly-packed Jungle Cruise boat.

The boat slowly made its way past the ruins of an ancient Cambodian temple, “built by ancient Cambodians. And you don’t have to worry about that Bengal tiger. They can jump over forty feet. Since we’re only twenty feet away, he will just sail right over us. Oh, look, it’s Ginger,” as a small crocodile surfaced next to the boat, “keep your fingers inside the boat. Remember: Ginger snaps!”

As they approached the elephant bathing pool—“It’s all right to take pictures. They all have their trunks on.”—Lance and Kimberly paid no attention to the right side of the boat where all the animatronic elephants were happily playing in the water. They were turned in the opposite direction of the other guests, scouring the foliage for anything that might resemble a hidden rock mound in the shape of a wolf. Showing she was still aware of what was going on around her, Kimberly suddenly giggled as the skipper continued his spiel. There was a lone elephant away from the main pool and he was currently squirting water out of his trunk directly in front of the approaching boat. Just as the boat’s bow entered the streaming water and threatened the front passengers, the water stopped and the elephant slowly sank in the green water. Suddenly coming up again, trunk pointed at the boat, the skipper hollered into the microphone, “Oh, no! He’s coming up again! Get down, get down! I’m not kidding! I’m not kidding.” The elephant apparently had forgotten to reload as the boat continued on its way dry. “Okay, I’m kidding,” the skipper told them. When a loud explosion was heard and a huge geyser of water erupted from the middle of the river only a few yards in front of their approaching boat, the skipper let out a happy yell. “Oooh, that looks really dangerous. Let’s get closer!”

There were thick bamboo trunks that lined the opposite side of the river from where the elephants were. Ferns and palms of various sizes filled in much of the space between the vertical shafts of bamboo. The bamboo itself formed a perforated wall that guarded the edge of the river from what lay deeper. A veil of mist enveloped the slow-moving boat, casting the ride in a mysterious, humid pall of vapor.

Just as the boat approached a ruined base camp overrun by chimps who had managed to flip a truck over on its top— “Oh, look, they got the Jeep to turn over” —Kimberly raised her hand just under Lance’s face and pointed. “Look, Lance, quick!” she whispered. Through a narrow gap in the bamboo, a gap that wasn’t completely filled in by other shrubbery and trees, a gray rock formation was just barely visible. Through the dense vegetation, the two could make out a dark gray edifice. Standing maybe ten feet tall, it appeared the rock mound was about twenty feet back into the encroaching jungle. “Do you think that’s our El Lobo?” As she whispered, in the excitement of the find, her hand dropped unconsciously to Lance’s leg.

Lance leaned toward the middle of the boat, squinting, in an attempt to see through the mist and through sporadic shafts of sunlight that found a few openings in the canopy of foliage above. Unaware of their dilemma, The Kissimmee Kate continued to follow the curve of the river, heading toward Schweitzer Falls— “named after that famous African explorer Dr. Falls. Don’t worry. We’ll go over that later.” —For a single moment, a larger opening revealed a structure. “I couldn’t tell for sure.” Lance’s hushed voice revealed his excitement. “What do you think? Do we need to ride again?”

“Rats!” The glimpse they had of ‘something’ disappeared from their view. “I should have brought a camera. Why didn’t you remind me?”

“Didn’t think of it,” Lance shrugged. “Well, let’s just ride this one out, and go again.”

The boat continued past the jungle veldt scene—“Oh, look! That pride of lions is guarding that sleeping zebra. How sweet. Aww, the poor zebra must be dead tired.”—Lance was very aware of her hand that now rested in her own lap. “So,” he started with a slight resignation in his voice, “if that was our El Lobo, how do we get over there?”

The skipper’s voice drowned out what Kimberly was going to reply. “Now we are entering a pool of hippopotami. They are only dangerous if they wiggle their ears, submerge under water, and blow bubbles…which is what all of them seem to be doing.” Their boat began to menacingly rock back and forth as it wound its way through the hippo pool. Just then, when they were almost safe, the skipper fired two shots at a charging hippo—“Don’t worry. I wasn’t aiming at him. I got the one in the trees…”—the boat turned another wide curve in the river. “We are now entering headhunter country. It’s a terrible place to beheaded….” Everyone’s attention in the boat was turned to the clearing of thatched huts and native dancers who were chanting as some of them danced in a tribal circle. “I know their language. Let’s see if I can translate for you….” The skipper brought the boat to a complete stop as he leaned forward, intently listening to the chanting. “Uh huh,” he muttered, nodding, “uh huh.… Okay, I see…uh huh…. Nope, can’t understand a word.” With a push of the throttle, the Kissimmee Kate surged forward and the passengers were warned of a possible ambush on the right side of the boat. Within seconds, natives armed with spears rose up and threatened them from the left side of the boat.

As Kimberly smiled at the spear-throwing noises the skipper was making into the microphone, Lance excitedly tapped her leg. “Look to the right of the spear guys.… See that hut? Look just behind it. Look at that rocky thing. Quick!”

Turning fast in her seat, Kimberly almost knocked Lance in the face with her elbow.

“Is that what you meant by ‘getting even’?” he kidded, leaning back away from her.

Kimberly ignored his question. “I think I saw something!” When she turned back around to sit normally, her eyes were shining with excitement. “I think there was something else back there. It was too thick to see clearly. Could it be another El Lobo? Do you think there are two of them? Doesn’t that huge bull elephant stand behind those bamboo trees?”

Lance wasn’t sure which question to answer first, so he counted off on his fingers: “I don’t know. Maybe. And, yes, I think so.”

Kimberly laughed at his reply. The skipper then announced that they were seeing a sight seldom seen by man: “The Backside of Water, or, as we like to call it—O2H.” The boat slid underneath Schweitzer Falls to head up the Amazon River. Soon the launch was surrounded by churning water and mechanical piranhas went whirling past the boat. The Kissimmee Kate made a brief stop next to Trader Sam, the Head Salesman of the Jungle, who hopefully held out a display of shrunken heads toward the boatload of people. The skipper told the guests that he had gone to Sam’s for dinner the other night. He remarked to Sam that his wife made a wonderful stew. Sam replied sadly, “Yes, and I’m going to miss her.”

Realizing they were getting close to the end of the ride, Lance again voiced his concern about being able to check out either of the possible El Lobos.

Kimberly nodded when she recognized the difficulty of their situation. The first formation they spotted appeared to be on an inside section of the island. However, this lower Manhattan Island was itself directly across from the loading and unloading docks. The upper, smaller Catalina Island with the second possible El Lobo held the African bull elephant and the attacking natives and was out of sight from the mainland. The two islands were separated by a narrow stretch of land and a shallow stream that moved water from one side of the ride to the other. Lance had been told that this was a means to keep the river flowing in the direction that the boats travel, thus cutting down on the amount of fuel used to motor each launch.

The boat finished its trip by pulling up alongside the unloading dock. “Those of you on the dock side will be helped out by the front of the boat. Those of you on the water side will be helped out by the rear…..of the boat….the rear of the boat. Sorry. Unfortunate pause.… Be sure to mind your head and watch your step. But, if you miss your step and hit your head, watch your language…. There are children everywhere.”

“Think they would just let us ride around again and not have to wait in line?”

Kimberly gave a laugh. “That hasn’t happened since I was six! Come on, let’s get back in line.”

Lance looked longingly over at the Bengal Barbecue. The tangy aroma of barbecued ribs wafted on the slight breeze. “Lunch?” he asked hopefully.

“Don’t make me hurt you!” Kimberly gave him a playful push him between the shoulder blades and aimed him toward the tall, boathouse entrance of the ride and away from the tempting diversion of food.

A gray-colored statue sat on the left bank of the river depicting a huge elephant, his trunk held in his hand. “And on your left is Ganesha, the Elephant God, Honorary Preserver of the Sacred Bathing Pool of the Elephants, Guider of all Mystical Beings. And on your right,” pointing at an equally large statue of a seated, smiling monkey god holding out a glistening ruby to the passing boat, “is Bob.”

Their skipper continued her spiel. “And now I will point out all the various types of trees and plants for you.” The mike went silent as she did just what she promised: she simply pointed at each of them. As they neared the overrun camp, Lance and Kimberly both turned to scan the opposite bank of the river.

This time, knowing exactly where to look, Kimberly could see what might be described as the ‘mouth’ of the formation. It was a rock shape that resembled what Lance had described to her as El Lobo: a wolf-like head with an open mouth that jutted out to the side with smaller, jagged rocks forming what looked like fangs.

“That has to be it.” Kimberly gave Lance’s leg a light slap in confirmation. Once their angle of observation changed, the rock shape was again swallowed up by the foliage around it.

Lance agreed with her. “Yeah, it was a little easier to spot when we knew where to look. Did you see the way the head seemed to be looking right at us? The one in Columbia was just like that. Amazing!”

“So, do you think they’ll just take us back to the dock now?” she kidded as the boat swept past Schweitzer Falls.

Lance laughed and leaned back in his seat as he put his arm behind her on the railing. “Probably not directly, but that’s okay. We saw what we needed to see.”

Indicating the animal standing close to the left bank, they were informed, “This is the gigantic African Bull Elephant. You can tell by his sloping forehead, huge tusks, and large ears,” as the boat glided past the huge animal. “And for those of you with a short-attention span,” the skipper now pointed to the right side of the boat, “this is the gigantic African Bull Elephant. You can tell by his sloping forehead, huge tusks, and large ears.” The identical twin of the first elephant nodded his head and shook his ears as they went by.

“Now we are in the African Veldt. Our zebras are so old they are still in black and white! There are some gazelles, some giraffes, some lions. Hmm, I don’t know what those are. They must be gnu.”

As their launch approached the native village, a large, painted canoe bobbed in the water. It was filled with grinning, sun-bleached skulls. “And here we see an example of native Arts and Crafts. That’s Art on top, and that’s the Craft family below.”

Near the attacking natives again, Lance and Kimberly became alert, trying to make sure of what they spotted the first time. Zeroed in now, they could make out another open mouth that pointed up toward the riverbank through a narrow opening in the trees.

When they pulled up to the unloading dock they were told, “I’d like all of you to exit the boat the same way you came on—pushing, shoving, screaming, scratching, shouting, biting. For those of you who enjoyed the trip, my name is Suzi. For those of you who didn’t enjoy the trip, well, names really aren’t important, are they?”

As Lance stood to follow Kimberly off the boat, he paused for a moment. Over the top of the loading dock was where Tarzan’s Treehouse stood and branched out over part of the Indiana Jones ride queue. He finally moved toward the exit where Kimberly waited for him under the “Escaping Passengers” sign, near the kiosk that sold jungle-themed merchandise and fresh fruit.

“Well, at least we know we have two possible locations. That’s good, isn’t it?” Kimberly wondered why it had taken him a few moments to come to her side. Lance apparently was thinking about something else. “Lance? What is it?” She was a little surprised when he silently moved toward the souvenir stand behind her.

Lance’s attention had been captured by a toy-filled game machine with a crane inside. It was currently being manipulated by a young boy who hoped to capture a stuffed monkey from the dozens in the bottom of the glassed-in enclosure. Lance watched as the crane was deftly positioned over monkey, the steel tips of the claw suddenly dropped and closed over the head and ears of the bright red animal.

“I think I have a plan.”

“Kimberly, it is too dangerous. The answer is no!” Lance remained firm. When she didn’t reply, he took a sip of iced tea from the tall glass he was holding. They were sitting across from each other at the large hardwood table in the expansive kitchen of Kimberly’s house. On the table between them was a large, unfolded souvenir map of Disneyland.

Kimberly frowned as she looked up from the map. She seemed to be mentally counting to ten. “Lance, I’m involved in this as much as you…if not more!” When she finished with her reply, her eyes didn’t have a pleading look in them any longer, but more of a determined glare. “I am going with you.”

“But this could get us fired.” Lance felt he had to be blunt with her and sincerely hoped that the possible—probable—outcome of what he proposed to do would deter her. To drive the point home more clearly, he fired one more missile. “It could get YOU fired. You love your job.”

“It doesn’t matter. I have an intimate relationship with this…this…” Kimberly paused, trying to think of the best word to describe what had been her life. “Situation,” she ended, shaking her head at the inadequacy of the word. “My father may not have lived long enough to make the decision about your…umm, qualifications for this quest and all the ramifications that go along with it,” she explained, then, putting her hands on the table, she leaned over the map to bring her face closer to Lance’s, she added resolutely, “But I have.”

Lance looked into her eyes, searching for more to her answer. He broke eye contact first to look down, unseeing, at the map. There was something else he needed to ask, something he had hoped would have come up by now. “Why didn’t your father tell you more about what was going on?” Lance finally asked. It was a question he had wanted to ask her many times since her father died. However, each time the question had come to his mind, it had never seemed appropriate to ask something that might be too personal.

“Honestly, Lance, I don’t know.” As she retook her seat, the fire in her eyes slowly died. Her head slowly shook back and forth as she thought back. “He had his reasons, certainly. We did discuss my future. Argued, really. My feeling was that he didn’t want me burdened with the same lifetime commitment that he had chosen…or that had chosen him, I guess.” Kimberly turned her head slightly to the side, her eyes far away. Lance could tell she was likely thinking about moments in her life with her father. He knew now that her mother had passed away when she was a baby, so Kimberly’s only memories were with him. As she got older, she had thought it peculiar that he had never tried to date again, or settle down with another woman. She certainly had seen the interested glances that had been thrown his way by numerous ladies over the years. When she was a teenager, she began to see her father as secretive, elusive, and, at times, simply gone. One minute he would be in the house, and the next minute she couldn’t find him anywhere. She laughingly came to call it his ‘vanishing act,’ and he passed off his infrequent vanishings as simply being in a different part of the large mansion they shared. It wasn’t until her twentieth birthday that her father began to reveal to her his lot in life; how they had managed to secure such a lavish house; how they never seemed to be short of money; and, tragically, how his heart was failing him day by day. And yet, she had never seen her father work a day in his life. While it didn’t seem to be such an unfortunate or arduous lot in life, there always seemed to be a heavy weight on her father. He had seemed very frugal and resourceful, literally teaching his only child through his actions—and very few words—that everything worth having was worth working hard to obtain. “How you get it is up to you.”

It wasn’t until she was older still that she learned that he was “The Guardian.” But, to this day, she had never been under the Pirates ride to actually see where Walt was being kept. She had only seen the room through the video monitors that her father had kept faithful sentry over for the last forty years in his secret War Room, as he and Walt had always called it.

Lance interrupted her thoughts. “Well, it would appear your father was intent on keeping something very safe,” he ventured, leaning back against the chair. “After seeing the machine with Walt, I always assumed that he was the secret.” Lance paused, frowning. “Which, I guess, in itself is indeed a big secret.” He let himself lean forward again, back to the table, and grabbed his nearly-empty glass mainly for something to do with his hands. Tilting back his head, he finished off his tea before setting the glass down on the edge of the table. He looked directly into Kimberly’s eyes. “But I can’t help believing that there’s something else going on here that is deeper, more significant, and, perhaps, more elusive than even knowing this secret of Walt.”

“Yes.” After all she had been through, she had to agree with him. “Yes, and that’s why I need to go with you, Lance. You and I might not be the only two living people that know about Walt, but we’re probably the only ones who realize there must be something more momentous than just his discovery.” Kimberly frowned for a moment. “I just wish we knew what that ‘something more’ was that we are searching for.”

“What about Crain?” Lance hated to bring him up. Just saying his name left a bad taste in his mouth. “Did your father reveal anything to him? I mean, how long has Daniel been his…what, assistant? He carries himself as if he has the full assurance of stepping into your father’s shoes.”

Kimberly scrunched up her nose. “Daniel Crain…is my uncle.”

That caught Lance by surprise. “Really.”

Kimberly nodded. “Yep. My mother’s brother. Remember I told you we were related?”

“Yeah, I remember, but I thought you were kidding.”

“Unfortunately, no, I wasn’t. Actually, Daniel is my only living relative. When Mom died, he asked Dad for a job. Dad reluctantly made Daniel his chauffer and gave him the suite of rooms over the garage. You know—keep him close but not too close.”

Lance thought about that for a minute. “That would explain why he has the run of the house and considers himself the Heir Apparent. You don’t seem to like him very much,” Lance observed, and then added, “Heck, I don’t like him very much.”

“He is…hmmm, how should I put this? A pest? No, he is an annoying pest,” she amended.

Lance gave a small, humorless grin. “That seems an apt description. I would have to agree.”

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I never got the idea that Dad completely trusted him or really considered Daniel a viable candidate. For instance, he never allowed Daniel into the War Room. I just think Dad felt he owed it to my mother after she died to take him in. He was her baby brother who always seemed to need something in the way of help. But, then, Dad didn’t really trust anyone.” She paused for a moment and pursed her lips in frustration. “Hmph, he didn’t even trust me totally. Look at everything I don’t know about what’s going on!”

Lance wasn’t sure she was on the right track and shook his head. “I don’t know if it was from a lack of trust or from a sincere desire to protect you.… But, it all leads me to believe that there’s something far more complex at stake here…something that’s so important your father felt he couldn’t even tell you about it.” As Lance got up and walked around to her side of the table, he pointed to the map. “And whatever that complication is will become either more complicated or less once we find what is out there on the Jungle Cruise.” His finger jabbed at the illustration of the ride on the unfolded map.

“And, like I said, I am going with you.” Kimberly emphasized her point by poking the map right where Lance’s finger had been.

Lance took a deep breath while slowly shaking his head. He let out that breath in a resigned puff. “Kimberly….” He paused and glanced away from her insistent, stubborn look. “Okay, okay.” He thought back to what he, Beth, and Adam had gone through following Walt’s clues not so long ago. “I remember something Walt had written in his diary: Two heads are better than one…. Okay, we’ll do this together.”

Kimberly said nothing but let the expression on her face reveal her feelings.

On seeing her satisfied, relieved smile, Lance was glad he relented. “Besides, I do believe I’ll need someone to help me carry out what I am planning to do. And I certainly do not want to ask Crain.”

The following day, Lance was in an Army-Navy surplus store in Fullerton to purchase the items he had written down on a notepad. Going over the list one more time, he hoped he hadn’t forgotten anything. He also hoped they wouldn’t be faced with some situation that he hadn’t anticipated.

The next morning, Lance picked up Kimberly at her house and drove her to Disneyland. Both of them had shifts to work. They had made shift-changes with a couple of fellow cast members so they’d be able to be on stage, or working, at the same time. Kimberly was again going to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast during her shift. Lance, glad to be back at work in Security, was on what was commonly called Fox Patrol—a plain-clothes, undercover position to observe people who might be inclined to shoplift. There were certain stores where such activity regularly occurred and he would also look for pick-pockets who sometimes saw the Park as valuable hunting grounds.

Together they walked toward Disneyland’s Harbor House. This was the small building that held the cast member’s time cards and where the employees needed to flash their ID’s to the security guard stationed at the entrance. Kimberly felt her heartbeat speed up as they got closer. Even though she had passed through the security checkpoint hundreds of times over the last couple of years, this time was different—she had an ulterior motive. True, she was coming in to work a normal eight hour shift, but she—and Lance—were also coming in to do something that would most likely get them fired if discovered. And her father was no longer there to fix it for her. There was a lot at stake.

“I think we should hold hands.” Lance made this odd suggestion as they crossed the short-term parking entrance next to the Park that separated the employee parking area from the employee entrance. Kimberly looked at Lance with a ‘what-on-earth-for?’ expression.

“Really, Kimberly. I think it’ll make us look less suspicious—especially with me carrying my rather heavy backpack. It isn’t something I usually bring to work.”

“Okay,” she reluctantly agreed. At the moment, she was more mindful of her hand feeling clammy due to the tension building in her mind than the idea of just holding Lance’s hand. She held out her right hand and Lance slipped his hand into hers, interlocking their fingers as if they were a couple. Kimberly felt a sudden sense of security come over her in that simple grasp of his hand, the feeling that she wasn’t in this all alone.

Unlike what she felt she must look like—‘guilty’ was the term that echoed in her head—Lance, on the other hand, looked completely at ease as they reached the security guard who was looking over employee identification cards.

“Hey, Paul.” Lance let go of Kimberly’s hand to offer a casual salute to his fellow security guard. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out his wallet, flipping easily to his Disneyland ID card.

“What’s up, Lance? Hello, Kimberly.” Paul barely glanced at Lance’s ID card. Kimberly had her ID out and drew a broad grin from the guard. Lance had purposely positioned Kimberly between him and Paul for two reasons: One, her position would better shield his backpack from the guard’s notice. And, two, with Kimberly’s good looks, Lance was sure that Paul would be eyeing her more than him. Kimberly had worn a pair of white corduroy shorts, a pale blue sleeveless blouse, and tennis shoes with low-cut socks that accentuated her long, tan legs. Lance smiled smugly to himself as Paul gave Kimberly a second, more lingering look. Lance had prepared some sandwiches and chips and placed them at the top of his backpack, just in case the guard wanted to search the bag. It was only purely random that the guards would inspect employee bags, and such checks were cursory at best. The main contraband smuggled into the Park by a minority of workers was alcohol. However, because of the zero tolerance by the Park Administration, such attempts by workers were a good example of Russian roulette; anyone caught with alcohol was immediately terminated.

Lance had timed their entrance so that they were in front of another group of employees coming in at the same time. Lance figured Paul would need to move his attention quickly from them to checking those coming in behind. He was correct as Paul gave no notice to his backpack and was already busy with the new arrivals as Lance and Kimberly moved down the walkway to the Harbor House entrance door.

Kimberly let out an audible sigh, an obvious release from holding her breath, once they were safely away. Once in the timecard room, they moved to their respective sections where their individual timecards would be. A handful of other cast members moved in the opposite direction to clock out after their own late-night shifts. Most of these individuals were maintenance or janitorial staff members. Their early morning work was getting the Park ready for a new day of guests—from painting to washing walkways to gardening to replacing burnt-out light bulbs. It took literally an army to maintain Disneyland to the standards Walt’s legacy demanded.

“See? What did I tell you? That was easy.” Lance gave Kimberly a smug grin when she again joined him. He had felt the tension in her hand when they had approached the security checkpoint. Lance’s other excursions with Adam and, later, with Beth when they had originally searched for Walt’s clues had seasoned Lance for such situations. To further help, Lance was naturally easy-going and little seemed to faze his demeanor.

“Maybe for you. My heart is still pounding!” Kimberly clutched her hand to her chest.

Lance let the tempting remark on the tip of his tongue slide. Something about Kimberly was making him act like a gentleman. Maybe this was how Adam, with his polar-opposite approach to women, felt all the time, Lance wondered as he waited for Kimberly to punch her timecard. Lance was normally gallant to the ladies, but…there was something special about Kimberly that made him hold his tongue where he might have been suggestively teasing. His mother would have definitely approved.

Together they walked down the sloping walkway under the trestle of the Disneyland Railroad…the same train that Adam had jumped from in one of the caves along the loop that had held a capsule Walt left decades before. Walking under the train track marked an invisible point of reference that most employees recognized as the place where they were now officially IN Disneyland. For many, it was the spot where they went from being ‘employees’ to ‘cast members.’ Being called a cast member dated back to Walt Disney and his intention that Disneyland would be a ‘show’ and that all his employees were ‘cast members’ of that show.

As they came up from the dip under the tracks, Lance turned to Kimberly. “You’re doing great. Don’t worry about a thing.” Lance gave her his best, most sincere smile. And, at that moment, a smile he didn’t have to fake. “I’m really glad you’re doing this with me.” He paused, wanting to say more, but hesitated. “Have a great day being Belle. I’ll meet you after work in the Inn Between.”

“Okay, Lance. Thanks.” Kimberly smiled back at Lance. She was still thinking about holding his hand. “Yes, see you at dinner.”

Kimberly turned to go upstairs into the women’s locker room. Lance still stood at the base of the stairs watching her. Feeling his eyes, Kimberly suddenly turned back to him. “What!?”

“Oh, nothing. Well, it’s just that the real adventure is still to come.”

“Thanks for reminding me.”

“Not a problem. That’s why I’m here.”

Kimberly shook her head. “What am I getting myself into?” she asked out loud with a resigned laugh and moved on up the stairs.

Lance smiled at her back and turned toward the men’s locker room just adjacent to the women’s. He, too had the memory of holding her hand fresh in his mind.

“What am I getting myself into?” he murmured out loud to himself, for a completely different reason than Kimberly, as he pulled at the straps of his heavy backpack.

Having clocked out for the night, dressed in his street clothes, Lance stood just outside the Inn Between. The Inn Between was one of the two full-service cast member restaurants inside Disneyland. Located next to the building that housed the Star Tours ride, it was situated literally in-between the ‘off-stage’ portions of Disneyland with cast member locker rooms and administration offices—places that few Disneyland guests were allowed to see—and the ‘on-stage,’ public portion of the Park. Hence the name Inn Between. In its location for well over forty years, it had been remodeled and redecorated dozens of times over the course of its history. But, the food had always remained extremely reasonable for the cast members and had a good variety of items for nearly every palate.

Kimberly had been spotted coming from the locker rooms. He waited as she walked up to the curved, dark green canvas awning that identified the entrance.

“How was your day, Belle?” He didn’t mention that he had walked over to Fantasyland during one of his breaks to watch from a distance as she interacted with the guests, mainly children. With her lovely gold, off-the-shoulder gown and her brown-haired wig, Kimberly made a striking Belle. He hadn’t failed to notice that her character had not just appealed to the kids who lined up for pictures and autographs. Lance had smiled when he noticed how many of the dads were not at all shy to get their picture taken with the lovely Kimberly, even to the point of forgetting to include their own children in the picture.

“It was just a beast,” she kidded, playing off the cliché of the movie title, as Lance held the door open for her. They quickly ordered dinner which Lance gallantly paid for. It was just after eight p.m. and the evening crowd inside was light. Dozens of empty tables filled the room and two televisions with closed-captioning were on, one showing a baseball game, the other a nightly news program. A quiet table far away from the televisions and the few employees was chosen.

“Well, eat up.” Lance took a sip of the hot coffee he had gotten for himself. He never usually drank coffee so late at night, but felt it would be needed. “Tonight will be a long night.”

Kimberly took a hearty bite of the pasta she had ordered. “You haven’t exactly described the whole plan to me. Just what exactly will we be doing later tonight?”

“Well,” Lance started, delaying the disclosure by taking a bite of his hamburger. He could see her excited impatience. “Have you seen the movie Cliff Hanger?”

“Stallone?” she asked, trying to remember if that was the actor who starred in it.

“Yep.”

“If I remember, they did a lot of mountain climbing with ropes.”

Lance smiled and took another bite. “That they did.”