Park.
“We can hide!” Philby said in a harsh whisper. He pointed to an area where dozens of parts and partial bodies of the Audio-Animatronics figures had been heaped into a kind of junk pile. Many of the human robots had faces that looked phenomenally real.
Finn grabbed the printouts, and the boys jumped into the junk pile, worming their way down into the parts so that only their shoulders and faces showed. They blended in with the robotic human parts.
Two men entered the room, both wearing dark blue coveralls. Neither seemed surprised to find the lights turned on—something Philby had done upon entering.
“It’s always something,” the thinner of the two said. “I could have told you the sound system was going to go out at some point. They should have rewired the Asia system when they installed Expedition Everest. Not my fault.”
The men scrounged around on the workbenches, apparently looking for parts.
“Finding the break in the wire, if there is one, is going to be a bear,” said the heavier man.
“Don’t mention bears,” said the other one. He pointed to an Audio-Animatronics figure of a standing bear cub designed for the Country Bear Jamboree. “This one will get jealous.”
Both men laughed—harder than the joke deserved.
The thin one suddenly turned and headed directly for the junk pile where the boys were hidden. “Didn’t we loan these guys our acoustic coupler?”
“It’s the tester we’re looking for. Forget the coupler.”
The thin man picked up a piece of one of the robots. He was about two feet away from Finn, who held his breath in an attempt not to be noticed.
“You know what?” the thin man said, looking right at Finn, then at Philby, then at the stack of robots. “This place gives me the creeps sometimes. Some of these things look so real…I gotta tell you.”
“Found it!” the bigger man said. He held up a box with a lot of wires running out of it. “I knew the guys had borrowed it.”
He tucked the box under his arm. The two men reached the door. The thin man stopped at the light switch.
“Hey,” he said, “did you turn on the lights when we came in? Because I didn’t.”
“I don’t think I did.”
Finn felt sweat trickling down his rib cage. He calculated the distance to the emergency door, ready to run for it.
“Well,” said the big man. He switched off the lights.
19
F INN’S FIRST DECENT look at the contents of Jez’s diary came as he, Amanda, and Philby awaited the Park’s opening. The main parking lot was a steady stream of arriving vehicles. Awning-covered shuttles were used to transport visitors to the Park entrance. The shuttles were stacked up at the back of the lot awaiting use. The three kids sat on a shuttle bench together and reviewed their personal photocopies of Jez’s journal in detail.
Finn had always pictured a girl’s diary to be line after line of neatly written cursive on well-organized pages, the contents of which held secrets about her love interests. What he saw here surprised him. Jez’s was a stream-of-consciousness collage, a collection of images, sketches of animals, and musings. There were clothing receipts pasted into the pages; pieces of postcards, stapled; a fortune cookie fortune taped to a page; there were recipes, movie ticket stubs, pieces of torn photographs; ribbons and candy wrappers. There was an arch that looked like the letter M , with a blob of ink on the right side. Surrounding and interweaving it all were lines from poems, song lyrics, comments, and what looked like quotes from conversations she’d had. It was all mixed up into a mess of heavily scribbled pen and pencil.
“Are these supposed to mean something?” Finn asked, fingering the three photocopied pages.
“They must have meant something to her,” Amanda said. “Jez took her journaling very seriously.”
“And at what point did she cut off her ear?” asked Philby. “Go van Gogh.” He won a few smiles.
“Look,” Finn said,
“We can hide!” Philby said in a harsh whisper. He pointed to an area where dozens of parts and partial bodies of the Audio-Animatronics figures had been heaped into a kind of junk pile. Many of the human robots had faces that looked phenomenally real.
Finn grabbed the printouts, and the boys jumped into the junk pile, worming their way down into the parts so that only their shoulders and faces showed. They blended in with the robotic human parts.
Two men entered the room, both wearing dark blue coveralls. Neither seemed surprised to find the lights turned on—something Philby had done upon entering.
“It’s always something,” the thinner of the two said. “I could have told you the sound system was going to go out at some point. They should have rewired the Asia system when they installed Expedition Everest. Not my fault.”
The men scrounged around on the workbenches, apparently looking for parts.
“Finding the break in the wire, if there is one, is going to be a bear,” said the heavier man.
“Don’t mention bears,” said the other one. He pointed to an Audio-Animatronics figure of a standing bear cub designed for the Country Bear Jamboree. “This one will get jealous.”
Both men laughed—harder than the joke deserved.
The thin one suddenly turned and headed directly for the junk pile where the boys were hidden. “Didn’t we loan these guys our acoustic coupler?”
“It’s the tester we’re looking for. Forget the coupler.”
The thin man picked up a piece of one of the robots. He was about two feet away from Finn, who held his breath in an attempt not to be noticed.
“You know what?” the thin man said, looking right at Finn, then at Philby, then at the stack of robots. “This place gives me the creeps sometimes. Some of these things look so real…I gotta tell you.”
“Found it!” the bigger man said. He held up a box with a lot of wires running out of it. “I knew the guys had borrowed it.”
He tucked the box under his arm. The two men reached the door. The thin man stopped at the light switch.
“Hey,” he said, “did you turn on the lights when we came in? Because I didn’t.”
“I don’t think I did.”
Finn felt sweat trickling down his rib cage. He calculated the distance to the emergency door, ready to run for it.
“Well,” said the big man. He switched off the lights.
19
F INN’S FIRST DECENT look at the contents of Jez’s diary came as he, Amanda, and Philby awaited the Park’s opening. The main parking lot was a steady stream of arriving vehicles. Awning-covered shuttles were used to transport visitors to the Park entrance. The shuttles were stacked up at the back of the lot awaiting use. The three kids sat on a shuttle bench together and reviewed their personal photocopies of Jez’s journal in detail.
Finn had always pictured a girl’s diary to be line after line of neatly written cursive on well-organized pages, the contents of which held secrets about her love interests. What he saw here surprised him. Jez’s was a stream-of-consciousness collage, a collection of images, sketches of animals, and musings. There were clothing receipts pasted into the pages; pieces of postcards, stapled; a fortune cookie fortune taped to a page; there were recipes, movie ticket stubs, pieces of torn photographs; ribbons and candy wrappers. There was an arch that looked like the letter M , with a blob of ink on the right side. Surrounding and interweaving it all were lines from poems, song lyrics, comments, and what looked like quotes from conversations she’d had. It was all mixed up into a mess of heavily scribbled pen and pencil.
“Are these supposed to mean something?” Finn asked, fingering the three photocopied pages.
“They must have meant something to her,” Amanda said. “Jez took her journaling very seriously.”
“And at what point did she cut off her ear?” asked Philby. “Go van Gogh.” He won a few smiles.
“Look,” Finn said,
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