Kingdom Keepers: The Return Book Two: Legacy of Secrets
Read Kingdom Keepers: The Return Book Two: Legacy of Secrets Online
Authors: Ridley Pearson
A
LSO BY
R
IDLEY
P
EARSON
Kingdom Keepers—Disney After Dark
Kingdom Keepers II—Disney at Dawn
Kingdom Keepers III—Disney in Shadow
Kingdom Keepers IV—Power Play
Kingdom Keepers V—Shell Game
Kingdom Keepers VI—Dark Passage
Kingdom Keepers VII—The Insider
The Syndrome
The Return—Disney Lands
Steel Trapp—The Challenge
Steel Trapp II—The Academy
W
ITH
D
AVE
B
ARRY
Peter and the Starcatchers
Peter and the Shadow Thieves
Peter and the Secret of Rundoon
Peter and the Sword of Mercy
The Bridge to Neverland
Escape from the Carnivale
Cave of the Dark Wind
Blood Tide
Science Fair
For a complete listing of Ridley’s published books visit
www.ridleypearson.com
The following are some of the trademarks, registered marks, and service marks owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc.: Audio-Animatronics
®
Figure, Disneyland
®
, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
®
Theme Park, Epcot
®
, Fantasyland
®
Area, Imagineering, Imagineers, it’s a small world, Magic Kingdom
®
Park, Main Street, U.S.A., Area, Mickey’s Toontown
®
, monorail, Toontown
®
, Walt Disney World
®
Resort.
Copyright © 2016 Page One, Inc.
Cover illustration by Jeff Thomas
Cover design by SJI Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Hyperion, 125 West End Avenue, New York, New York 10023.
ISBN 978-1-4847-3529-9
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Chapter 15
The Golden Horseshoe
Chapter 22
Silver Lines and White Lies
Chapter 27
To Grandmother’s Shop We Go
Chapter 32
The Smell of Dead Skunks
Chapter 35
Names, Drawers, and a Wife
Chapter 37
An Open Drawer Is an Open Book
Chapter 41
Solutions Are Often the Problem
Chapter 44
An Unexpected Visitor
Chapter 49
Mr. Mystery Makes an Appearance
Chapter 52
Undercover, Under Wheels, Undone
Chapter 54
Gibberish in Reverse
Chapter 56
Missing, Mistaken, Dumbstruck
Chapter 58
Pain and Consequence
Chapter 61
Around and Around We Go
Chapter 65
Tears of Joy, Tears of Pain
To Becky Cline, Director, Disney Archive;
Kevin Kern, Disney Archivist;
and to all those who keep the past so alive
for the rest of us.
F
INN
W
HITMAN HELD THE DOOR
for Charlene. A gymnast and high school captain of three sports, Charlene now had her telltale sun-streaked blond hair in tight curls, her eyelashes clumped with mascara, her full figure crammed into an aqua-blue-and-white summer dress with a crinoline skirt, white bobby socks, and black flats. Her girl-next-door face was caked in makeup.
Girls in high school had hated Charlene for her looks. But those who actually spoke to her, who took the time to get to know her, liked her. What would those same kids think now? she wondered. High school was three months in her past; the world beyond the door was a full sixty years in the past—1955. She laced her transparent fingers in front of her like a bridesmaid to keep her hands from shaking.
Her four friends about to follow her through this same door were time travelers—just like her. They’d been part of her life since seventh grade. That was when she’d auditioned and been picked to be one of the human models for computer-generated holograms that would serve as personal guides through Disney World theme parks.
Finn addressed the remaining three teens. “We don’t know what form the Overtakers will take, or if they even exist in 1955, so stay alert.”
“And remember,” said Philby, the redheaded boy at the back of the line, “our holograms aren’t even holograms. They’re two-dimensional, low-res projections that will barely fool anyone. So keep moving and don’t stop to have conversations. The more movement, the less we appear two-dimensional. The brain will trick the eye—or maybe it’s the opposite, but you get the point. No stopping. This is dangerous ground, people.”
The five Kingdom Keepers had little opportunity to contemplate the strange set of circumstances that had delivered them to this door. Their collective focus was instead on several things, all at once. 1) They were currently in 1955, a time they knew little about; 2) their mission was to locate and steal a fountain pen owned by Walt Disney; 3) the creative legend, Disney himself, was alive on July 17, 1955, and therefore somewhere in Disneyland, just beyond that door.