The Key To the Kingdom (22 page)
Read The Key To the Kingdom Online
Authors: Jeff Dixon
“I knew I would regret telling you.” Kiran walked away. Then she stopped and added, “Be careful.”
He stood and watched her until she turned the corner. He was now completely alone. Slowly he turned to face the ominous Forbidden Mountain.
H
AWK KNEW THAT BEING
the only person in the area was a luxury that wouldn’t last. His first impulse was to jump the rail and enter the ride where guests board the Steam Donkeys, as the train cars were called, and walk the track following the direction of the ride. As he made his way down a sidewalk toward a gate opening into the ride loading area, he stopped. The roller coaster was one of the most memorable attractions Hawk had ever ridden. As the train races over and through the mountain, the track unexpectedly comes to an end as though it has been destroyed by some type of creature. The train screeches to a halt, giving the riders just enough time to process what they are seeing, and then rockets backward into the dark recesses of the mountain. Eventually the train stops again and guests see the shadow of the abominable snowman. The last twists and turns of the ride whisk the adventurers up and down through the openings in the mountain until they come face-to-face with the yeti.
I’m a little bit scared of what lives in the Forbidden Mountain . . . but if you take care of me, I’ll be brave when we face it. Keep me close on the forbidden trail . . .
Hawk thought back on the latest clue. Every clue contained just enough detail to keep him on course. He slowed himself and decided to take an extra moment to analyze the clue further before he continued.
I’ll be brave when we face it
. . . Hawk assumed that meant they were going to come face-to-face with the yeti.
Keep me close on the forbidden trail
. . . The trail might be the way he was supposed to get there. It was an easy conclusion to deduce that it would be forbidden for him to be inside the ride area after it was closed, but the clue said specifically the forbidden trail. There had to be another trail inside the mountain. He couldn’t think of finding the yeti from the perspective of a rider, because that involved moving forward and backward through the ride. Instead he forced himself to think like an explorer in search of the unknown.
Cautiously he moved away from the queue line and stepped back to face the mountain. Looking to his left he saw buildings that resembled a Nepalese village. To his right he saw the obligatory gift shop that guests must exit through as well as the rock formations and altars that were a part of the set design. Heavy undergrowth and foliage resting below a carefully placed tree line separated the guest area from the side of the mountain. He walked along the pavement toward a bridge that went across another portion of the Discovery River. From this angle he could see the track disappear inside the mountain, but the bottom of the mountain was obscured from his view by trees. At the edge of the bridge he noticed something he had never seen before: a fence. The fence ran from the edge of the bridge and snaked up the hillside, disappearing into the trees as it approached the base of the mountain. The fence couldn’t be seen from in front of the attraction. Only after you got to the bridge could you see that it was used to block any access from the guest areas past the bridge along the river. Leaning over the bridge, he traced the line of fencing from the bridge toward where he lost sight of it. Eyes straining in the dark, he thought he spotted a gate. Looking further along the fence line he thought he saw a second gate, but it was too dark to be sure.
He immediately moved back across the bridge to where he had started and stepped off the path into the plush grass. The walk up the hill was easy but once he got into the trees, branches and twigs clutched at him from the low-hanging limbs. Eventually Hawk crested the slope and came upon the gate he had seen from the bridge. Something was clearly marked on it. Leaning in closely he read, Ride Access Control (RAC) Procedures must be followed prior to entrance. His hunch had been right. There was something significant behind the fence. If the area was restricted, then it was safe to conclude it was forbidden for him to be inside it. He tugged the latch on the gate. It was locked. Resting his palms on the wooden top rail, he hoisted his body up and across the barrier.
Halfway over, his body reminded him how much he still hurt from his tumble over the railing at the carousel earlier that evening. He flinched, and his legs slid out from underneath him, dumping him firmly on his backside. In a rising cloud of dirt he sat with legs extended toward the river and his back to the mountain. Standing painfully, he noticed something he hadn’t seen in the darkness from his perch on the bridge. There were a series of dirt trails cutting through the grassy hillside. One of these must be the forbidden trail. His decision was practical; he chose the trail that took the shortest path though the trees toward the mountain. This trail carried him away from Discovery River and up to the tree line. The Imagineers had designed a line of stairs that ran alongside a great deal of the track length.
This enabled daily inspections of the ride and served as easy access for repairs and maintenance.
Emerging from the trees he had to decide the best direction. His only personal knowledge of the track came from when he was a rider, and he lacked perspective. The steps climbed upward and twisted alongside the winding track. Each aching step jarred his pain sensors, which fired in each joint of his body. Upward he drove himself inside the mountain, losing the ambient light from the park and plunging into darkness. He slowed his pace so he wouldn’t misstep in the darkness. The route through the mountain followed steps that rose upward and then dove downward, melded with the placement of the track.
Hawk heard his breathing echo inside his ears as he approached another opening in the mountain. Dim lines of luminance made his pathway easier to travel. Rounding the corner, the preacher exhaled sharply. The shadow of a creature towered against the light of the gaping hole punched into the mountainside. Between the opening of the mountainous cavern and the preacher turned explorer was a monster towering over twenty feet tall in the darkness. It wasn’t moving, but in the darkness it was imposing enough to cause Hawk to pause in his approach.
In order to get close to the huge creature, he crossed the track line and crept toward the mechanism that supported the mammoth beast. In the darkness Hawk began to navigate his way from a crouching position. By lowering his body he could quickly get his hand to the ground to provide extra stability as he drew closer to the abominable snowman.
The stooped perspective of the preacher made the twenty-five-foot height of the yeti loom even larger above him. Now that he was next to it he appreciated the sheer size of the creation even more than when he had rushed past it in a train full of screaming passengers. Hawk perched at the base of the legendary creature created from the nightmares of those who had claimed to have heard the howls drifting down from the mountains in Nepal. Looking up, Hawk saw a beam vertically attached to the back of the monster. Cocking his head sideways he could see this beam was attached to an actuator that ingeniously allowed the yeti a few feet of vertical motion. The support, hidden from the sight of any rider, allowed the creature to rise, towering over the roller coaster cars. Tracing the engineering of the mechanism, he saw the actuator connected to a sled mechanism that allowed the yeti to move out toward the track and then slide back. When everything worked together, the legendary snowman of the mountains could not only move up and down but also lunge toward the Steam Donkeys full of frightened riders. The enormous clawed arm of the beast would swipe down toward the engines on cue, making the most thrilling moment of the ride one each guest would remember and retell to friends for years.
Hawk was now face-to-face with the yeti. This was what he had been trying to accomplish, but to what end? In the light that snuck in through the opening in the mountain, he studied the sled mechanism at the base of the yeti. He noticed much of what one might expect to see. Finally his eyes were drawn to a metal box mounted behind the base of the creature’s leg. At first glance it seemed to be nothing but an oversized junction box. Crawling closer to it Hawk saw something on the closed cover that caused him to widen his eyes in the darkness.
Shifting his weight so he could get his hand into his pocket, he once again pulled out the key to the kingdom. He inserted the key gently in the lock. It did not fit as easily as it had in other places. Hawk turned the key to the left. The lock mechanism released, freeing the latch and sending a burst of adrenaline through him. Carefully he opened the snug-fitting metal door of the box.
Darkness prevented him from getting a clear view of what was inside. It appeared there were several oversized circuit breakers, presumably part of the yeti’s electronic control system. As he patted around the box he felt an oval piece of plastic. Removing it he noticed it was attached to something flat and rectangular. He flipped his discovery over and tried to angle it so the light would reveal what it was.
He had found the next piece of the puzzle. Although he was sure of what he had found, he could not comprehend what he was supposed to do with it. Hopefully there was more.
Once again he reached inside the box and tapped gently in the darkness. Feeling nothing else he rose up and rested his hands on both knees. To his left he caught a glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision. Something had cut through the darkness, but as he looked he saw nothing. Holding his breath he listened. All was quiet—and then he heard it. The soft faint sounds of someone whistling wafted up through the cavern toward him. Quietly closing the box he relocked it and removed the key.
If the whistler was walking along the same path he had taken then Hawk would not be able to see him until he rounded the last bend that placed him in the line of sight with the yeti. While this unexpected beast lunging around the corner frightened guests, it now allowed Hawk a moment of protection and seclusion. Still he knew that safety would not last. Calculating his limited options, he decided to follow the track past the yeti exiting the mountain. The steps should continue along the side of the coaster line and hopefully take him all the way to the exit of the ride, or, if he were lucky, there would be another place to get out of the attraction before the public exit. The whistling grew louder and Hawk shimmied off of the sled platform and cautiously stepped back over the track, finding the steps. Stepping quietly, he moved back into the light and now stood in the opening of the mountainside.
Significantly more light enabled Hawk to see the steps he must now descend. Moving below the opening in the mountain, he dropped below the sight line of the arriving whistler. His hope was to be around the corner of the ride before the whistler emerged from the opening. Not looking back, he continued his downward trajectory. Hawk kept moving as quickly as possible, trying to put distance between himself and the unexpected visitor inside the mountain. The steps wound wickedly toward the last curve of the ride. The guests would find this to be where the ride slowed down before they screeched to a halt in a blast of steam. Tonight there were no riders, just a lone man racing toward the bottom of the mountain. Reaching the lowest point of the track before it made its final turn for the unloading area gave Hawk a moment to glance back up toward the opening. No one had followed him.
Jumping across the gully between the steps and the track, he scrambled up into the exit of the attraction. He straddled the bars forming the barrier between the ride and guest areas, and was in the streets of Serka Zong once again. Without hesitation he briskly retraced the path he’d traveled with Kiran on the way to the mountain. The dimly lit path enveloped him in darkness, which provided a sense of security. The light threw shadows across the walkway and gave an eerie effect to the deserted guest areas in the early hours of the morning. Seeing no one, Hawk opened his cell phone and cued up the phone number Kiran had programmed an hour before.