Hands shaking, Adam reread the diary. That was what it had to be—a long-lost diary. It couldn’t be anything else. And it was written in Walt Disney’s own handwriting. He tried to swallow but became aware of how dry his mouth and throat were. Trying to lick his lips, his tongue felt as dry as the yellowed paper he was reading between the dark leather binding.

Adam slumped down onto the commode as he stared at the words written in the worn book. What the book told him, what it hinted at, was lost to him at that moment. All he could think about was the fact that he had found Walt Disney’s personal diary and that he was holding it right there in his hands. His hands. Adam Michaels, a thirty-year old General Contractor from the City of Orange, California, was holding in his hands something written by the Grand Master himself. Right here. In Disneyland. In the men’s room.… Oh shoot.

With a guilty look, he sprang from his impromptu seat and frantically looked around the small stall. By any public restroom standards, Disney restrooms were exceptionally clean, even after thousands of uses each day. But, no, this won’t do at all. This is wrong. He had to find a more appropriate place to read and handle the book. This was…this was exciting. This was big! Adam felt that he held the Holy Grail of lost literature.

He tried to open the stall door as quietly as he could and peered cautiously around the edge. He found the restroom was occupied by only a few men and youngsters, so he…well, what was he going to do? Adam’s pants pocket proved too small for the book. The same for the breast pocket on his shirt. Lance had the backpack they had been using for the race. But Lance was outside. In public. In broad daylight. Adam felt he couldn’t just walk out of there with such a valuable item in his hands. What if someone saw it? What if they asked what it was? What if they tried to take it away from him? He started breathing fast again. He knew he was being paranoid; he was almost hyperventilating. Slow down, Michaels, he told himself. Calm down. Think. Think. Think. Great… now I sound like Winnie the Pooh.

Closing the stall door again and turning the latch, he eyed the small locking mechanism with disdain. There should be a padlock on this door, Adam thought to himself as he stood there facing the door. Maybe if he just stayed in there long enough Lance would start to worry about him and come to see what was wrong. Okay, that’s a good idea. That will work.… Well, that would work if it was anyone other than Lance. He knew Lance would lean against that lamppost all day long watching people go by and thoroughly enjoy himself. No, he had to come up with something else.

Holding the black leather-bound book with both hands, Adam willed his pounding heart to slow. With a deep, deliberate inhale and exhale, Adam finally opened the stall door. Surprisingly, the restroom was vacant but Adam knew that could change in a matter of moments. He looked at himself in the large floor-to-ceiling mirror next to the row of sinks. In his polo shirt and khaki shorts, he looked unworthy of holding something of such significance. He knew the book was something Walt Disney himself had penned.

“What should I do?” Adam glared at himself in the mirror, shaking his head self-consciously. Just then, voices echoed among the tiled walls from just outside the men’s room entrance. With a startled gasp, Adam did exactly the same thing he had done the last time he had to make a hasty decision: He crammed the book down his shorts and pulled his shirt down to cover it. Walking over to the sink, he lathered his hands with soap just as the voices became attached to actual bodies entering the restroom.

A harried father muttering, “Hang in there, buddy. Just a few more seconds,” herded his young son into an open stall without even a glance at Adam. Adam let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. Looking into the smaller mirror hanging over the sink, he realized how he would have appeared if that man had bothered to look at him: Guilty. With a disgusted shake of his head, Adam rinsed his hands, splashed cool water on his face, and walked over to the paper towel dispenser where he took several sheets to dry his hands and face. Relax, man! Sheesh, you’re as jumpy as a cat.

With another silent apology for his hasty hiding place, he pushed through the door and hurried over to Lance, who was, as he had expected, still standing exactly where he had been left.

“So, how’d it go?” Lance glanced over when Adam finally showed up next to him. Chuckling at his own joke, he glanced at his partner’s face. Adam was flushed, his eyes were wide, he looked ready to bolt and run, and for some reason his hair was wet. “What’d you do? Miss?” Lance looked at Adam with a big grin plastered on his face.

Adam snapped out of his silent meditation on what to do next. “What?” Then he reddened when he understood what Lance had asked. “No! Something’s come up.”

Lance gave him a guy’s look. “Oh, really?” Lance tossed back his head and gave a full-throated laugh. His deep voice usually carried pretty far and now his laughter drew unwanted attention to them.

Adam grumbled for him to knock it off; they had to go.

Still chuckling, Lance figured Adam meant resuming the race. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. We can head for New Orleans Square and do the count in Club 33. Wish we could have dinner there. The food is superb.” He strode off to retrace their steps up Main Street. After about five steps, he realized Adam wasn’t with him. Looking back, he saw Adam hadn’t moved from the spot next to the men’s room. He went back. “Adam, we need to stay within ten feet of each other or we lose points. You with me here?” When he received no answer, he became a little concerned. “You okay, Adam? What’s wrong?”

Adam was silent as people walked past them. He looked nervous. First Adam eyed the excited kids and their parents as they hurried up Main Street toward the heart of the Park. Then his eyes darted back to see if there was anyone coming toward them. To Lance, Adam acted almost paranoid. When there was a break in the foot traffic around them, Adam finally spoke. “I found something.”

Lance was confused. “In the men’s room? Like what? A wallet or something?” He motioned over to the left at the tall gold and white building that dominated that side of Main Street. “City Hall is right here if you want to turn it in to Lost and Found.”

“No, not like that.” Adam was whispering now, making Lance even more confused. “I found it…somewhere else.” He stopped when a couple of moms pushing strollers walked slowly up the ramp toward the restrooms. Adam’s eyes followed them until they were inside, but he didn’t continue his explanation to Lance.

Lance gave an impatient sigh. “Adam, listen, we’re losing time standing here chatting. Tell me all about it while we head to New Orleans Square. First, what did you find?” Lance strode off again, still talking, only to find Adam did not follow him. Again. Rolling his eyes, he returned to his odd-acting race partner. “Okay, first, I’m getting tired of talking to you only to find you’re not actually walking next to me. Now, while it’s entertaining to those who I end up talking to, it’s frustrating to me. Second, you need to get your rear in gear and move from this spot. We have a race to finish. And, third.… Well, I don’t have a third. But you need to tell me what’s going on.”

He wondered if Adam even listened to anything he said. Adam just stared across Main Street, apparently at the Opera House. Looking toward the Opera House himself, Lance could see nothing that held any particular interest…outside of that devastating blonde buying popcorn. But Adam didn’t seem to be looking at her. He knew Adam preferred brunettes. Too bad they were already losing so much time. And, too bad she was handing the popcorn to her three children.... “Adam. Earth to Adam.”

Adam turned his distracted eyes back to Lance. “Sorry, man. I think we need to leave the Park.”

“What?” Lance came as close as he ever did to becoming angry. “We’ve waited six months for this race! And we’re doing…well, we’re doing pretty good. We’ve lost a lot of time with you farting around for some unknown reason in the men’s room. Are you going to tell me why you want to leave?”

“No.” Adam was short with Lance as he shifted uneasily on his spot. “You’ll have to trust me on this. I think it may be worth it to leave right now. I can’t concentrate on the race. Let me have the backpack a minute.” Adam held out his hand to the surprised Lance.

Lance stared at his friend. He knew Adam loved running the Mouse Adventure races. Adam even considered himself a Disney expert. For Adam to willingly leave the race in the middle…. Well, something major had to have happened. And he knew Adam was not going to tell him anything right now, whatever the reason. With an impatient shrug, Lance took off the pack and silently handed it to Adam. Frowning, he watched Adam turn without a word and reenter the men’s room. “Must not be fiber,” he mumbled to himself as he crossed his arms to wait.

In less than a minute, Adam was back outside. “Do you want to turn in the answer sheets we’ve done already?” It was Adam’s attempt at an apology for leaving early.

“What’s the point? We didn’t finish enough to make any difference.”

Adam could hear the sullenness in Lance’s voice and knew he was being unfair to his partner, but he just had to leave and examine this exciting find. He didn’t want to look it over here—in the shadow of the building in which he found it. He needed to get it away from the Park and put some distance between them. “But we’ll get the credit for having run it for next time.”

“Will there be a next time?” At Adam’s vague shrug, Lance just shook his head and followed Adam over to the ornate Opera House.

The Mouse Adventure people were surprised a team had finished all the quests so quickly. Usually teams burst through the door at the last possible second still filling in answers. They weren’t really ready for teams to arrive and were just sitting around chatting when Adam handed in their quest packet. There were some pages completed even though most of their quests were only partially filled-in or completely blank. Sometimes points were awarded for each correct answer. However, there was so much blank that it wouldn’t make much difference for Team Pecos Bills’ final score. When this was pointed out to Adam, he just shrugged again. “Something came up and we have to leave.” From the look on Lance’s face, the race people could tell his partner didn’t agree, but there was nothing they could do. If a team wanted to drop out early, they were allowed to. “All right. Scores will be posted on the website in a few days. Hope to see you in the fall. Here is your participation certificate. Thanks for trying.”

Lance took the brightly colored paper and attached it to the now-empty clipboard they had used as a writing table. Without actually shoving him, he got Adam to turn around and thrust the clipboard into the backpack.

Adam now added ‘guilt’ to his jumbled feelings. He hoped his discovery would make it up to Lance and Lance would then understand that the race wasn’t important right now. With an inaudible sigh, he silently led them under the entry arch and out of Disneyland. Moving against the flow of tourists coming into the Park, Adam parted the sea of guests like a ship’s bow. It was now Lance trying to keep pace with Adam as he pushed through the exit turnstile a step behind his friend. Without a word spoken between them, the two men caught the next tram to the parking structure.

Still, Adam said not one word to explain the why or the what of this mystery. Lance figured he would be told when Adam was ready to tell him.

And, it had better be a darn good explanation.

Adam remained silent all the way to his apartment in Orange. Lance bided his time by playing with the radio and changing all of Adam’s favorite settings. Rap music blared into the cab of the Silverado yet Adam didn’t even notice. “I’m thinking,” were Adam’s only words in answer to Lance’s question, “So, what is this all about, Adam?”

Arriving at his place, Adam grabbed the backpack from behind the driver’s seat and motioned for Lance to follow him. Unlocking the door to his apartment, he indicated for Lance to sit on the sofa.

“Yes, sir.” Lance goose-stepped over to the sofa and stiffly sat on the edge of the cushion, pushing two throw pillows to the other side of the sectional.

Adam didn’t even notice the sarcasm. Frowning, Lance watched Adam unzip the backpack and throw the various items they had been allowed to bring on the race all over the coffee table and the floor. Then Adam paused, slowly pulling out something Lance didn’t recognize. It looked like a small book.

“Is that what you found in the men’s room? What is it? A book?” His irritation eased a little as his curiosity took over. Leaning forward, he looked closer at the fairly old book in Adam’s hands.

Adam ran his fingers lightly over the cover. Seemingly mesmerized by the object, his eyes were wide and excited when he finally raised them to answer Lance. “This is a book. And…,” Adam paused, “I believe this is a very special book.” Looking back down at the object in question, he turned it over in his hands. “And no, I didn’t find it in the men’s room.” Here he broke off and swallowed, thinking back on what he had done. A little more nervous, he took another deep breath. “I found it in Walt’s Apartment. Remember when I asked you to make that diversion?”

Lance’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do? Steal one of the antiques? Do you know how much trouble we could get into for that?” Lance sprang to his feet. This was too much. First Adam made them lose valuable race time. Then he demanded they quit early and leave. And now he did something that could get them banned from the Park and probably thrown in jail!

Before Lance could voice more of his misgivings, Adam threw up his hands. “No! It wasn’t like that!” Adam became instantly irritated at his friend. Then, realizing Lance had nothing to do with this, he calmed himself. “I would never do something like that. You should know that.” At Lance’s silent and condemning glare, he felt he had better get to the point. “Well, I wouldn’t steal anything like that.”

Lance didn’t seem too convinced. “Then what is it?”

Adam brought the book over to the sofa and offered it to the frowning Lance. “Why don’t you read it for yourself and tell me what you think it is.”

When Lance sat back down with the book, Adam went to his refrigerator and got them each a beer. He popped Lance’s and set it in front of him. His he took over to the desk and threw himself back in his chair, propping his feet on the edge of the desk. As Adam watched his friend’s face while he read, he saw what he expected to see—what he himself had gone through. Lance’s face went from angry to suspicious to confused to interested to excited.

Lance read the book through again before he looked up from the yellow-edged pages. His eyes were wide, just like Adam’s had been when he first came out of the men’s room. “Do you know what this is?”

“I know what I think it is. What do you think it is?”

Lance didn’t want to voice his opinion yet. This was extraordinary. “Tell me again where you found it and how.”

Adam reiterated how he had unthinkingly sat in the first chair he came to and felt something poke him. After getting Lance to create a diversion, he had ripped open the back of the cushion and found this crammed inside between all the stuffing. He then jammed it down his shorts when everyone suddenly came back into the room.

Lance’s eyes were as big as Adam’s now. “You found this hidden in Walt’s private apartment. In one of his chairs. Do you recognize the handwriting?”

Adam nodded slowly. He considered himself an expert on Walt and all things Disney. There was a prized autographed picture of Walt won in an auction that hung on the wall. Yes, he knew the handwriting. He knew it was written by Walt himself.

Lance just stared at him. “So, you think this is legit? You think he means it?”

Adam knew Lance was referring to what was written inside. He continued to nod slowly. It was all he seemed capable of doing at the moment. This was big. This was monumental. It would take planning. It would take work. It would take time.

“Me, too.” Lance understood Adam’s silent nod. He gave a slow smile. “Now I know why I hang around with you. You always come up with the darnedest things!” He stared back down at the book for a moment. “But this….this!” Lance was, for once, at a loss for words.

Adam walked back over to the sofa and reached out his hand for the book. He had to touch it again. Had to make sure it was real. He had to read it again. Falling back into his armchair, ignoring the cloud of dust that billowed out, he read through the book again.

Here is what it said:

“To all who come to this happy place—welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.

And, to you who found my little black book—welcome.

People still think of me as a cartoonist, but the only thing I lift a pen or pencil for these days is to sign a contract, a check, or an autograph. That is not the case now.

I don’t know who it is who will find this legacy that I am leaving behind. Now, I’m not getting maudlin here. Facts are facts. This cough of mine is getting worse. And those doctors can’t seem to do a thing about it.

Maybe I’m wrong. I hope so. I’m going to continue working as I always have. There’s so much to be done. Hey, I might even pop in on you going through this little book of mine and we can have a big laugh together! Wouldn’t that be keen?

Now, considering that you did find my book and considering where you found it, hopefully you love Disneyland as much as I do. If that is true, you no doubt recognize the first words I wrote up there. I said them on a proud occasion. Maybe you were there. I was! I said then that we would relive fond memories of the past. Well, that is what we are going to do together. This is important to me. It was important to me when it all happened and it is important to me now.

I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing—that it all started with a moose.

No, I didn’t get that wrong. My hand might be a little shaky with all this coughing, but you read it right. No, I’m not talking about Mickey. There is a Mouse and there is a Moose. I’m talking about Morris the Midget Moose. Now that was a good cartoon! If you aren’t familiar with it, go watch it. But, anyway, the whole plot came down to one thing: Two heads are better than one.

Why am I telling you this? Well, you might need some help on the journey I’m sending you on. Choose your partner well. I always tried to.

I know. I’m rambling. I’m entitled. This is my life.

You want a hint at what lies ahead? Okay. There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island. But you aren’t going after any book. You already found that.

Curious? When you are curious, you find lots of interesting things to do. We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. I hope you find your new paths interesting. You are going to find a lot of different ones.

I just got in late last night after getting the last piece situated and I’m tired. It has taken me a few years to get all this in place for you. I’ve been planning it for a long time. Today I reviewed everything I set up and I think I got it right. I did everything I could to make sure it was secure. Now it is up to you. I want you to know here and now that I’m going to make you work for it—whatever it is.

There are three things you need to do on this Quest I am sending you on. You could call it a Quest for Hidden Mickey’s: (Hey! That would be a good title for a cartoon! I’ll have to remember that.)

1. I want you to appreciate where you are going,

2. I want you to appreciate what happened there, and,

3. I want you to appreciate whatever you might find.

Look around and learn. Never stop learning. Never get too busy to learn from what you do. And, whatever you find, put it to good use. Remember me. Maybe this is my way of living forever. I’ve always wanted to outlive my dreams. Perhaps you can help me do just that!

So, here is what I want you to figure out first. This is your first clue: Do some belly botany under the Dreaming Tree. From where I stand, it’s down 2 feet. Bring a shovel.

I always said the way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

So begin doing.”

Adam finished reading the diary again. There were some more pages after the clue, but they were all blank. Flipping through a few of them, he saw something he hadn’t noticed before. Quite a few of the last pages looked like they were glued together. Running his fingers over the top sheet, there was a soft spot in the middle.

Lance was still waiting for Adam to finish with the book so they could start discussing it. When he saw Adam analyzing the last pages that he, too, thought were blank, he came over to the chair at the odd look on Adam’s face. “What is it? Did you find something?” Lance watched as Adam ran his finger along something near the center of the page.

Adam was still lightly pressing around the edges of the soft spot. He found a hollow opening about two and a half inches wide by a little over one and a half inches high. Not sure if he should do this or not, he brought the book up to his ear and lightly shook it. There was a dull thud inside. He handed the book to Lance for his opinion. “What do you make of that?”

Lance did the same maneuvers Adam had done. “Feels like the pages are cut out inside and there’s something in there. Whatever it is isn’t very big. Want to open it?”

“Yes. No.” Adam was undecided. He wanted to know what was in there, but he didn’t want to rip open Walt’s diary. He didn’t want to damage anything else. After voicing his concern, he looked up at Lance. “Any suggestions?”

“Well, we can stand here all day guessing, but that won’t tell us anything. How about if we make a small slit and use a flashlight to see what’s in there?”

Nodding, glad to have the decision made for him, Adam went to his desk and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a pocketknife. “There’s a Mag light in my toolbox in the closet.”

Lance was back in time to see Adam make a small incision in the middle of the page. Using the light, carefully pulling up the edge of the slit, they could see the glint of gold inside. That did it. The two men looked at each other with eager smiles on their faces. “Okay, we open it.” Adam’s voice rang with authority and excitement, making the instant decision without waiting for Lance’s vote. The slit was extended across the width of the false top and a cross cut was made the other way.

It wasn’t gold that Adam pulled out of the diary, but an oval piece of bronze metal. It was two inches wide by one and a quarter inches high. The bronze was thick and stamped Disneyland in raised letters across the middle. Embossed stars extended around the edges all the way up to a little round plate attached to the top that had the number 1 stamped on it. On the back was a hinged straight pin so it could be worn.

“Oh wow oh wow!” Adam let out an excited gush of air. “Do you know what this is, Lance?!” His eyes danced over the object as he turned it over and over in his hands. “Do you know what this is?!” Adam held the brass object out to Lance, a huge grin spread over his face.

Lance took the gold-colored object and looked it over. Considering the probable age of the diary, it was still very bright with no scratches or signs of age. “It’s the shape of a cast member nametag, but it doesn’t have a name on it. Just a number 1. It’s in great shape, whatever it is.” He handed it back to Adam.

Adam took it over to a trophy case he had on the wall. It held a number of items from Disneyland and some of them were cast member nametags he had collected from different years at the Park. He held up the new item to compare it in size. It was somewhat smaller than the ones he had.

“Lance!” Adam turned back to his friend, his eyes shining with excitement. “This is a cast member nametag.” Adam paused, falling back on an accumulation of Disney trivia collected over a twenty-year period. “When Disneyland first opened, the employees didn’t wear their names and hometowns like they do now. They wore a badge with a number on it. This is one of those first nametags. And, if I am guessing right, this was Walt’s own nametag. Who else would possibly wear Number 1?” He sat heavily on the sofa next to Lance. “This is amazing! I read that the Disney Archives doesn’t even have one of these nametags! What a find!”

Lance looked impressed. “That’s a pretty rare piece of Disney memorabilia. Pretty cool. Do you think…?” He broke off, unsure of voicing the startling thought that just entered his mind.

Adam was looking steadily at him. He knew where Lance was heading. “Do I think what?” Let Lance say it.

“Do you think this is an example of the treasure that Walt wrote about in his diary? Do you think this will be a treasure hunt of sorts?”

Adam thought for a moment and then nodded. “That’s exactly what I think. He talked about the past and a legacy he was leaving behind.” Adam sobered for a moment. “He must have realized he wasn’t going to be around as long as he would have liked. Maybe he had a premonition about the cough he alluded to in the diary.” Adam felt his heart suddenly pound in his chest. He looked over at the worn black book sitting on the coffee table between them and suddenly wondered if they now had a long-lost treasure map to something like Blackbeard’s fabled treasure…or the Lost Dutchman’s gold mine of Disney Artifacts! “Lance, this could be big.”

Lance picked up the diary and looked at the worn cover. “Who do you think this was written for?” Hesitant, Lance wasn’t sure if he wanted to explore that aspect too deeply.

Taking the diary from him, Adam looked back through the wording. “He doesn’t name anyone specific. Doesn’t mention family or employees or stockholders. Nobody. He even says he doesn’t know who will find it…. I think its fair game for whoever finds the book, don’t you?” His voice resonated with the hope that he was accurate in his assessment.

Lance looked wary, but excited. “I’m no lawyer, but it sounds that way to me, too.” He hesitated even longer before he spoke again. “Do you think we should run it by someone who might know?”

Not liking the sound of that, Adam shook his head slowly. “That might open up a whole set of problems and questions....” Adam paused as he set the diary back on the coffee table. “Questions that I don’t think we want to answer regarding how we came to possess this book.” He started pacing his living room, still holding the nametag tightly in his hand. If he had looked, he would have seen the word ‘Disneyland’ imprinted in his palm from the raised letters of the tag. “We would have to explain where I found it and how I found it. I’m not inclined to think that would go over very well. Do you?”

Lance thought the question was rhetorical, but realized Adam wanted his input and help with the decision. “Well, you did rip open the chair cushion….”

“Five stitches, man, five stitches! It’s not like I took a butcher knife to it.…”

Lance threw up a calming hand. “Hey, I know that, but I doubt the Powers That Be would agree. I do see your point, though. Do you think we should keep this to ourselves for the time being and see where this clue leads? We could always tell someone later.”

“Much later.” Mumbling to himself, Adam was thinking he would tell someone in his will after he was dead and buried. He looked up to meet Lance’s eyes and they silently studied each other for a moment. “Partners, then? We follow Walt’s Hidden Mickey Quest and find what there is to find and go from there?” His right hand was extended.

Lance met his hand and they solemnly shook on it. “Partners.” After the firm handshake, the two picked up their beers and simultaneously chugged. They smiled and tilted their bottles towards each other in a silent toast to their find.

“So, I get to keep the nametag, right?” Adam’s question was immediate. At Lance’s skeptical look, he felt he needed to defend himself. “Hey, I do have a collection already.… Fine, we’ll divvy it up whenever this is over.” Adam was disappointed, but tried not to show it. “I do suggest we keep these things in my safe.” Adam walked to a cupboard under his kitchen counter. A concealed latch revealed a compact safe with its pale green steel door and black tumbler lock which Adam opened with a few turns of the combination. “I don’t keep much in here, but it will at least keep the diary and nametag safe from fire and theft.… Not that I’ve ever been robbed…and I don’t smoke....” Adam broke off from his rambling, looking at the nametag with a smile—a triumphant smile that revealed how he felt about holding history in the palm of his hand.

Watching Adam, Lance silently chuckled to himself. He didn’t care about the nametag. Adam would appreciate it far more than he ever would. He had a feeling there was a lot more at stake here than a simple nametag. He just liked messing with Adam’s mind now and then.

Before Lance handed over the leather-bound diary to Adam for safe keeping, he read through the last part again—the part that said it was their first clue. “So, Partner, what is belly botany and what in the world is a dreaming tree?”

Adam looked up from the safe after setting the nametag carefully on the small top shelf inside. The nametag was an incredible find—even to a small-time collector of Disney memorabilia like himself. He pulled his mind from the valuable piece of bronze to what Lance had asked. Adam gave him the ‘no clue’ shrug.

The diary was finally placed on the bottom shelf of the safe and Adam slowly shut the steel door. He gave the tumbler dial one last spin for good measure. “I guess now we follow Walt’s advice and get to work.”