I’ll be at the shop, keeping them busy and monitoring them.”
“I’m impressed,” Wanda Alcott said.
“We’ve learned to work as a team,” Finn said. “Maybeck talked his aunt into doing this. She doesn’t know the full story, only that she’s helping homeless girls.”
“She has a big heart,” Maybeck said.
“But none of it means anything,” Finn said, “if we can’t get onto the property without being seen. Same goes for Jess and Amanda.”
“If I remember right, my father gave you all employee ID cards.”
“Yeah,” Philby said. “But it’s a long way from either employee entrance to this soundstage. We can wear hats and glasses, but it’s still a pretty big risk.”
“You won’t need the hats and glasses,” Wanda Alcott said. “I can get you onto the property. The girls, too.”
“But how?” Finn asked.
“You’ll need to use your employee passes to get backstage. Name a time, and I’ll meet you at the costume shop,” she said.
Finn hoped for more of an explanation. He didn’t get much.
“Make sure one of you has Maybeck’s employee pass with you. If he’s going to be at Crazy Glaze, he doesn’t need it.”
“We can do that,” Finn said, but his voice revealed his skepticism.
“My father had more than a few tricks up his sleeve,” she said. “It all comes down to trust, Finn. Leave it to me.”
13
F INN FELT THE PRESSURE of time running low as, on Friday evening, he, Jess, Amanda, Willa, Charlene, and Philby entered through an employee gate on the back side of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Amanda used Maybeck’s employee card to enter; Jess used Wayne’s, provided to her by Wanda Alcott.
The time pressure arose from Mrs. Nash’s schedule. She spent two hours at Mass. It took her a half hour to reach the church in Friday traffic, and she remained at least thirty minutes after the service, praying for the welfare of her girls. That totaled a minimum of three hours she would be away from Nash House—the same three hours the girls of Nash House would be at Crazy Glaze.
But it had taken Jess and Amanda thirty minutes to reach the Studios. With another thirty set aside for their return, that left the Kingdom Keepers only two hours to accomplish what they’d come to do.
Wanda Alcott’s plan to get them inside the Studios required some humiliation. The kids were shown into costume storage and made to dress up in High School Musical outfits, either as basketball players or cheerleaders.
“Do we really have to?” Finn said, adjusting a headband.
“Cast members are used to seeing High School Musical kids here because of the street show. They won’t think anything of it. The only thing we have to be careful of is—”
“Being in the same place at the same time as our DHIs,” said Philby, interrupting, “because our faces are the same, and we might be recognized.”
“Exactly.”
They divided into the two groups: the DHI/film characters and the HSM gang, and entered onto the streets of the Studios. Wanda Alcott went ahead of them, both as a scout looking for the real DHIs, and to unlock the door to Soundstage B ahead of the kids’ arrival.
Nearing Soundstage B, only fifty yards away, Finn was approached by a round, red-faced kid who had a bully’s mischievousness in his beady eyes. This was something Wanda Alcott had not considered: DHI fans. Finn had encountered enough of these kinds of kids at school to know what was coming.
He whispered under his breath so that Jess and Charlene could hear. “Don’t let him try to touch me! He’ll either try to push me or punch me. He’s expecting his hand to go right through.”
“How do we stop him?” Charlene asked. She looked several years younger with her hair in braids and wearing a blue-and-white gingham jumper and red slippers.
“I don’t know,” Finn answered. “Step between us.”
As expected, the boy delighted in seeing what he believed to be a hologram that would serve as a punching bag. He
“I’m impressed,” Wanda Alcott said.
“We’ve learned to work as a team,” Finn said. “Maybeck talked his aunt into doing this. She doesn’t know the full story, only that she’s helping homeless girls.”
“She has a big heart,” Maybeck said.
“But none of it means anything,” Finn said, “if we can’t get onto the property without being seen. Same goes for Jess and Amanda.”
“If I remember right, my father gave you all employee ID cards.”
“Yeah,” Philby said. “But it’s a long way from either employee entrance to this soundstage. We can wear hats and glasses, but it’s still a pretty big risk.”
“You won’t need the hats and glasses,” Wanda Alcott said. “I can get you onto the property. The girls, too.”
“But how?” Finn asked.
“You’ll need to use your employee passes to get backstage. Name a time, and I’ll meet you at the costume shop,” she said.
Finn hoped for more of an explanation. He didn’t get much.
“Make sure one of you has Maybeck’s employee pass with you. If he’s going to be at Crazy Glaze, he doesn’t need it.”
“We can do that,” Finn said, but his voice revealed his skepticism.
“My father had more than a few tricks up his sleeve,” she said. “It all comes down to trust, Finn. Leave it to me.”
13
F INN FELT THE PRESSURE of time running low as, on Friday evening, he, Jess, Amanda, Willa, Charlene, and Philby entered through an employee gate on the back side of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Amanda used Maybeck’s employee card to enter; Jess used Wayne’s, provided to her by Wanda Alcott.
The time pressure arose from Mrs. Nash’s schedule. She spent two hours at Mass. It took her a half hour to reach the church in Friday traffic, and she remained at least thirty minutes after the service, praying for the welfare of her girls. That totaled a minimum of three hours she would be away from Nash House—the same three hours the girls of Nash House would be at Crazy Glaze.
But it had taken Jess and Amanda thirty minutes to reach the Studios. With another thirty set aside for their return, that left the Kingdom Keepers only two hours to accomplish what they’d come to do.
Wanda Alcott’s plan to get them inside the Studios required some humiliation. The kids were shown into costume storage and made to dress up in High School Musical outfits, either as basketball players or cheerleaders.
“Do we really have to?” Finn said, adjusting a headband.
“Cast members are used to seeing High School Musical kids here because of the street show. They won’t think anything of it. The only thing we have to be careful of is—”
“Being in the same place at the same time as our DHIs,” said Philby, interrupting, “because our faces are the same, and we might be recognized.”
“Exactly.”
They divided into the two groups: the DHI/film characters and the HSM gang, and entered onto the streets of the Studios. Wanda Alcott went ahead of them, both as a scout looking for the real DHIs, and to unlock the door to Soundstage B ahead of the kids’ arrival.
Nearing Soundstage B, only fifty yards away, Finn was approached by a round, red-faced kid who had a bully’s mischievousness in his beady eyes. This was something Wanda Alcott had not considered: DHI fans. Finn had encountered enough of these kinds of kids at school to know what was coming.
He whispered under his breath so that Jess and Charlene could hear. “Don’t let him try to touch me! He’ll either try to push me or punch me. He’s expecting his hand to go right through.”
“How do we stop him?” Charlene asked. She looked several years younger with her hair in braids and wearing a blue-and-white gingham jumper and red slippers.
“I don’t know,” Finn answered. “Step between us.”
As expected, the boy delighted in seeing what he believed to be a hologram that would serve as a punching bag. He
Similar Books
