Disney at Dawn

“How could she possibly know anything about it?” Philby asked.

“How can we possibly go to sleep at night and wake up as DHIs inside the Park? When was the last time any of this made sense?”

Philby pursed his lips. He nodded. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. If they toss us, so what? We go down fighting.”

“Exactly.” Fi

“What do you see?”

The man in the straw hat was gone.

“I think he’s coming after us.”

4

MAYBECK DUCKED INSTINCTIVELY as the sky flashed, and, only moments later, thunder boomed and rolled in a long series of endless echoes. A few early raindrops splattered in huge globs onto the footpath, and the air smelled dusty and sweet—ozone—foretelling the electrical charge it carried.

Charlene stiffened with the crack of thunder. “I…do…not…do…lightning,” she said.

The Park guests scattered for cover, quickly emptying the paths.

“Then forget what Fi

“See you in a minute,” Maybeck said.

“It’s hard to see much, so pay attention,” she said. The swirling clouds had brought an early darkness.

“Never fret. Eyes like a hawk,” said Maybeck.

“What about the monkeys?” Charlene mumbled. “What if that was some kind of omen?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Maybeck.

They split up, Willa dragging Charlene by the arm. Maybeck jogged off.

Park guests waved at Willa and Charlene. Some braved the increasingly steady rain to chase after them, calling for autographs. Willa pressed on.

Charlene said, “We’re getting wet.”

“That’s what usually happens with rain,” Willa said.

“We can’t get wet!” she complained. “DHIs don’t get wet. The rain runs right through them. We can’t disappoint the kids like that!”

“Are you worried about the kids, or your hair?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Okay. So let’s run faster.”

5

AMANDA AND JEZ RAN THROUGH the light rain, dodging clusters of guests who were determined to stick it out and wait for the fireworks.

“It’s not far now,” Amanda said, spotting the spires of Cinderella Castle.

Jez didn’t answer.

Amanda glanced back. It wasn’t like her sister to avoid a chance to make a snide comment. “Keep up! You’re falling behind,” she called out. Jez was a fast ru

The rain made the walkway more slippery. Amanda slowed and shortened her strides to avoid falling. When she looked back, Jez was still ru

Amanda stopped and turned fully around and stared at her sister. How could she not slip even a little bit?

Despite the falling rain, Jez’s shirt was…dry, her hair perfectly in place.

What a princess, Amanda thought.

But then she tensed.

Jez’s feet landed on the wet walkway. No splash.

“Jez? Stop! Answer me, Jez!” Amanda cried out.

But Jez just kept on ru

Jez finally did stop, though she remained several yards off, like a fearful animal.

There was a reason her shirt and hair were both dry: the rain fell through her, hitting the walkway below.

Amanda stepped forward, now only inches from her sister. The rain fell harder, soaking her own hair and shoulders. Jez remained dry.

“Say something,” Amanda whispered.

She reached out her arm and swung it from right to left, cutting her sister in half, her hand passing right through.

A hologram. A DHI.

“Where’s my sister?” Amanda managed to choke out, the drops of water now flowing down her cheeks having nothing to do with the rain. “What have you done to her?”

6

“HE CAN’T POSSIBLY KNOW the way up here,” Fi

“I don’t think that actually matters right now,” Philby said. “We are going to be in some serious—” He gasped. “What are you doing, Fi

Before him, Fi

“Willa said she s-saw you do this.” Philby stuttered when nervous. “But I d-didn’t believe her.”

“It’s not very stable. I can’t hold it for very long,” Fi

Philby waved his arm through Fi

“Philby, I don’t know. Maybeck said he’s had the same thing happen. Willa, once or twice. We can discuss this later, okay? For some reason, I’m able to will myself to cross over. I don’t understand it, but I don’t try to understand it. It just happens if I let it. Wrap your mind around that. It doesn’t last long, and it’s exhausting. So I’ll meet you in the black hole, and I’m going to need your help from there on.”

“And you’re going to stay and…what?…fight this guy?”

“Yeah, right,” Fi

Philby took off across the checkerboard floor, making sure the toes of his shoes landed only on the black squares, and never two black squares in the same horizontal row. It required a kind of dancing across and down the floor that made him look like a kid in Riverdance.

Fi

So far, he seemed to be in control of his hologram, but he knew from previous attempts that his hologram quickly deteriorated. A few minutes was all he had, until Fi

He stepped out of the way as he heard footsteps approaching. The man arrived at the platform. Fi