Disney at Dawn Read Free

must already know, don’t you think?” said Finn.
    Philby said, “The string or wire holding it is tied to that window. Maybe it’s some kind of experiment.”
    “Isn’t that the window to the apartment?” Finn asked. As DHIs, the kids had previously used the castle’s penthouse apartment as a hiding place.
    “What if that’s what Amanda was pointing to?” Finn continued. “What if she was trying to show us the balloon?”
    “But why?” Willa asked.
    “What’s so important about a balloon?”
    “Nothing the Overtakers would like more than to ruin the DHI celebration,” said Philby. “What if they’re trying to use lightning to set Cinderella Castle on fire or something?”
    “I wouldn’t put it past them,” said Finn.
    “We don’t know if the Overtakers exist anymore,” said Maybeck. “If they do, don’t you think Wayne would contact us? Has anyone heard from the old dude, by the way?”
    The Overtakers were a group of Magic Kingdom characters, rebels led by Maleficent, the evil sorceress from Sleeping Beauty. Their goal was to overthrow the good and take control of the Park for themselves. Wayne and others believed the Overtakers intended to imprison any characters and Cast Members not part of their group. They had been caught preparing vast dungeons beneath Pirates of the Caribbean, which were said to be for this purpose.
    The DHIs were now also known as the Kingdom Keepers—one of the most popular attractions in the Park. The last thing the Kingdom Keepers could afford was for Maleficent to gain power again. They had barely stopped her the first time, and she now considered them among her greatest enemies—a distinction they could have done without.
    “We should probably tell someone about the balloon,” Finn said, moving to the back of the float and the small ladder there. “At the very least, it shouldn’t be up in the storm.”
    The peculiar phenomenon that had been discovered shortly after the Disney Host Interactives had been installed in the Magic Kingdom had carried all five kids into a struggle with the Overtakers and the evil fairy Maleficent.
    Wayne had showed them an astonishing three-story maze called Escher’s Keep in Cinderella Castle, which led to the little-known penthouse apartment, now a secret hideaway used by Wayne.
    Finn wondered aloud if the balloon might be something Wayne was responsible for.
    “If Wayne’s up there,” Philby said, “we should go see him.”
    “You can’t leave now,” complained Charlene, waving her pom-poms eagerly for the cheering crowd.
    “Cover for me,” said Finn. “No one’s going to notice if one of us isn’t here.”
    “They’ll notice if you aren’t,” Willa said. “They won’t notice if I’m not.”
    “That’s not true. Besides, I’m the one going, so I don’t think it really matters.”
    “We never go solo. Remember what happened to Maybeck?”
    Finn stopped, one foot over the rail and on the small ladder leading down. Maybeck’s DHI had once fallen into a trap that had prevented the real Terry Maybeck from waking up. The so-called “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome” might have killed him.
    “It was your rule,” Willa reminded him. “And it was a good one. We’ve had no trouble since we started pairing up.”
    “Okay,” Finn said. “So?”
    “Someone’s going to notice if you leave,” Maybeck warned.
    “Just keep moving,” said Finn. “The more the three of you move around up here, the less likely I’ll be missed.”
    “You don’t actually think we’re going to let you do this alone, do you?” Maybeck said.
    “We’re all coming,” Philby said. “Here’s the plan….” He pulled them all into a huddle at the center of the float. “The fewest number of guests will be on the bridge to Liberty Square. We get off and start shaking hands and signing autographs like it’s all part of the parade. That’s also the closest we’re going to get to the castle. When we make our break, we all go at