“And he still loves you, Hatter. Because he’s still alive!”
The Hatter opens his eyes slowly. “He…kept it?” he asks groggily.
“Yes!” you exclaim. “I was there! I saw him pick it up out of the trash! Your family is alive!”
The Hatter struggles to sit up. He looks at you as if waking from a dream. He studies you carefully. “I’d know you anywhere. You’re Alice!”
You smile. He’s back! He’s really and truly back to being himself!
“Oh, Hatter, I’ve missed you so much!” You want to laugh and cry and shout all at the same time. You hug him tightly.
Color comes back to his face, and his white hair slowly turns orange again. When you pull away he looks down at the paper hat in his hand. “But why have they not come home?”
You figured out the answer to this one on the trip back to the present. You know what Stayne was doing with the Red Queen when the Jabberwocky attacked. What was wriggling in that sack. Whom Iracebeth had threatened all those years before.
“Because they are being held captive,” you say. “By the only person cruel enough to keep them locked up all these years—”
“The bloody Big Head,” the Hatter growls.
He leaps up and stands on his bed, aflame with purpose. “I’m going to find the Red Queen. And bring my family home!”
Very soon you and your friends have arrived at the top of a large hill. You and the Hatter balance on the Bandersnatch. Bayard carries Mally. Thackery and the Tweedles ride in a horse-drawn cart. Mirana is in the saddle of her white horse, with McTwisp holding on for dear life behind her.
You gaze down at the gigantic red heart-shaped castle, Iracebeth’s stronghold in the Outlands.
“My family is there!” Hatter declares. “I know it.”
“And if they are, we’ll rescue them,” you promise.
You and the gang enter a vast hall made of plants and dirt. Roots rise from the mud floor, forming a grand staircase at the far end. Corridors lead off in all directions. The castle rustles and creaks, a creepy living entity.
How will you ever find the Hightopps in this maze of a palace?
“Is this where we…?” McTwisp trails off, his nose twitching nervously.
“Split up!” Mallymkun brandishes her tiny sword.
You wonder who you should go with. You’re reluctant to part from the Hatter, especially since this is a mission to save his family. But then you see the Tweedles absentmindedly pulling at the various vines on the wall. They’d probably be more focused if you went with them.
IF YOU GO WITH THE HATTER, GO HERE.
IF YOU GO WITH THE TWEEDLES, GO HERE.
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YOU AND the twins creep along the bizarre, vegetation-covered corridor. You know you’re in the Red Queen’s castle, but it’s as if you’re tramping through a jungle! You have to keep quieting the Tweedles. They have a comment and counter-comment about everything!
“We’re being sneaky,” you remind them, “so hush!”
“Hush and rush,” Tweedledum tells his brother, grabbing his arm so that they move faster.
“Contrariwise, hush and shush!” Tweedledee protests.
“Please!” you whisper hoarsely. “We don’t want anyone to know we’re here!”
You continue along the mossy hall, the vines and leaves shuddering and slithering around you. You hear a steady drip, drip, drip as the humidity makes the castle a sopping steam room.
Tweedledum flicks open an umbrella. Tweedledee quickly joins him under it.
Where did he find that? you wonder. “Do you think it’s going to rain?” you ask.
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The twins gaze up at the inside of the umbrella. “Not under here,” Tweedledee says.
“Nor over there,” Tweedledum chimes in, pointing to a spot next to them.
Suddenly, Tweedledum leaps forward, sending the umbrella flying. He grips your wrist.
“Do you see that?” he chokes out.
“That, being over there?” his brother adds, pointing toward a tangled collection of roots dead ahead.
You gesture for the Tweedles to move behind you. They do, clutching one another. You hold your breath as you cautiously move toward the roots. You can see something white poking up. Is it a bone? A human bone? You suppress a shudder.
You tentatively touch it with your foot. It rolls a bit, making little clicking sounds. You giggle with relief. “It’s a rattle,” you call back to the Tweedles.
You bend to pick it up, shaking off the dirt and leaves. “Not a rattlesnake,” you add, not wanting the twins to be frightened. “Only a child’s toy rattle, quite old and broken.” You turn and hold it out to them.
“I knew it was!” Tweedledum cries, stamping in a circle. He glares at his brother.
Tweedledee stomps back. “Contrariwise, you didn’t. No-how!”
You gently lay your hand on Tweedledee’s arm. “There, there. No need to be so angry about an old rattle.”
“But it isn’t old!” Tweedledee explodes.
“Is so,” Tweedledum counters.
“It isn’t.” Tweedledee snaps the umbrella closed—with himself inside it and only his head sticking out.
“We don’t have time to fight about this now,” you tell them. “We’re here to—”
Before you can finish the sentence and remind them of your mission, a huge wind whips up. The area grows so dark you can barely see the twins.
“Is it a storm?” you gasp, trying to keep your hair from blowing across your eyes. “Inside the castle?”
A loud caw startles you and you fall backward, knocking over the Tweedles. A gigantic crow swoops down and steals the rattle.
As you and the Tweedles try to untangle, there’s another huge whoosh of wind as the crow returns. Only this time, what it steals is you!
It carries you in its beak to its nest built in one of the castle’s tallest turrets. It drops you in with three squawking baby crows, then circles above you.
“They each get a worm for supper,” the crow instructs you.
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YOU AND the Hatter creep deeper into the castle and climb the winding root stairway. You pass an open doorway and peek inside. Nothing but a large obsidian grandfather clock. “She has one, too!” you say, remembering the clock in Mirana’s castle. “That’s how she visits Time!”
You try another vegetation-covered door, and this one creaks open. Bottles of mysterious potions fill shelves on one wall. Easels covered with diagrams of the Chronosphere stand scattered throughout. On one table is a little flea circus and on another is an ant farm in an elaborate gold frame. A large rumpled bed stands in the corner, with hanging candles above it. Leaves are strewn across the dirt floor.
“These are Iracebeth’s private chambers,” you surmise, stepping inside.
Hatter looks around anxiously. “Father! Mother! Anyone?”
No response. You gaze around the room.
“They’re not here,” Hatter says. He sits down at one of the little tables, devastated. “I was certain they were here! I could feel it.”
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“And don’t let them stay up too late. It will make them cranky tomorrow.”
“But—”
“Be sure they take turns with the rattle,” the crow adds. “I won’t be back too late.” The crow gives each baby a peck on the head. “Be good,” the bird tells them, then flies away.
Unbelievable. You set off to become a hero and wound up a babysitter! For birds!
You really didn’t think this was how your day was going to…
END.
BABY CROWS AREN’T VERY INTERESTING COMPANY. HEAD BACK TO THE BEGINNING TO FIND SOME OF YOUR MUCH MUCHIER FRIENDS.
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You put a comforting hand on the Hatter’s shoulder. Suddenly, he stands and picks up the ant farm. He holds it out to show you, smiling through his tears.
Your jaw drops. Inside the gilded frame, an outline of a hat is sketched in the sand!
You peer into the ant farm. It’s not filled with ants—it’s filled with tiny people! And from the Hatter’s expression, you guess that you have found his family!
Boom! A massive gate falls over a window. Boom! Boom! Boom! Gates fall over all the windows. “We’ve got to get out of here!” you cry. The Hatter tucks the ant farm under his arm and you both spin around.
You gasp.
Iracebeth is blocking the doorway—your only means of escape.
She steps forward, smiling acidly. Four giant vegetable footmen hover behind her.
“Hello, Alice!” Her lips curl up in a nasty sneer.
She really hates me, you realize, growing cold. She has never forgiven you for defeating her Jabberwocky. When you did, the crown was returned to Mirana. And when Mirana’s queenship was restored, she banished Iracebeth to this castle in the Outlands.
Iracebeth snaps her fingers. Two footmen step forward and seize you. She strolls over and slips her hand into your pocket. She yanks out the Chronosphere.
“Thank you ever so much!” she says. “You have delivered to me the most powerful device in the entire Universe.” She smiles smugly, then adds, “You’ve also delivered the person whom I hold truly responsible for all my suffering.”
More vegetable footmen arrive, dragging all your friends with them. Your heart sinks. Your friends have been captured and are the Red Queen’s prisoners.
“Now we shall see justice!” Iracebeth declares. She strides out, the guards forcing the others to follow.
You rush after her, but just as you reach the door, another massive gate falls in front of it. You struggle to squeeze through the bars, but you’re too big. “Oh, Hatter,” you cry, “what have I done? We have to stop her! We have to get out of here!”
“I have an idea!” Hatter exclaims.
A few minutes later the tiny Hightopps have been released from their ant farm prison and Zanik Hightopp sits inside a paper airplane—made from the little blue hat the Hatter gave his father all those years ago.
“I hope this works,” you say, crossing your fingers for luck.
The Hatter throws the airplane through the bars on a window. Zanik pilots the little craft, screaming as he goes.
You hear thudding footfalls on the stairs. Then ripping, tearing, and snarling as something attacks the gate at the door. Terror sends tremors through you as you wonder, Is this how it’s going to end?
“Hold on,” you murmur. You recognize that snout, that spotted fur, those enormous jaws….“The Bandersnatch!” you shout with glee.
“My plan worked!” the Hatter says, sounding a bit surprised.
With a furious snarl, the Bandersnatch rips apart the gate and uses its massive jaws to fling the broken pieces down the stairs. You’re free!
The Hatter raises his hand and the Bandersnatch lowers his head. Zanik Hightopp leaps from the Bandersnatch’s back onto the Hatter’s palm.
“Now to grow you back…” the Hatter says.
You scan the room. “There!” you cry, pointing to a tea tray on a table. The Hatter lifts the dome from the covered plate and finds a tiny Upelkuchen cake. EAT ME is written in frosting across the top.
You and the Hatter break the cake into pieces and hand them around to the Hightopp family. They all return to their normal sizes—but not exactly dressed. You remember this problem from when you kept growing and shrinking. You quickly avert your eyes as they gather sheets, robes, and blankets to wrap themselves in.
Zanik and the Hatter reach out to hug each other, but something strange occurs: everything moves in slow motion for a moment, then returns to normal.
“What just happened?” you ask, puzzled.
The Hatter frowns. “I think it was a ripple in time.”
That doesn’t sound good.
Patches of rust appear in the cracks in the walls and floor.
You realize with horror what’s going on. “Time!” you say. “He’s slowing down. He’s going to stop! It’s why he wanted the Chronosphere so badly.”
“Hang on!” the Hatter says, aghast. “If Time ends, we’ll all end.”
“This is my fault,” you say. “I stole the Chronosphere from Time. And the Red Queen stole it from me!” You grow cold as you turn to the Hatter in dismay. “We have to get it back and return it to its rightful place!”
You and the Hatter sneak along a corridor in the castle. “Where is everybody?” you whisper.
The Hatter peeks around a corner. “Look!” He points through an archway to a formal garden. Iracebeth stands in front of a queen’s throne and wields a judge’s gavel. Time slumps in the king’s throne beside her, clutching his heart.
“Time doesn’t look very good,” you say as you and the Hatter sneak behind some topiaries. “I can barely hear him ticking.”
Mirana stands in front of the thrones, bound. McTwisp stands next to her, peering through spectacles at a sheaf of papers. The rest of your friends are being guarded by giant vegetable footmen.
“What’s going on?” you whisper.
Iracebeth points her gavel at her sister, the White Queen. “Mirana of Marmoreal,” she bellows, “you are accused of treason! I hereby sentence you to…”
You gasp. “It’s a trial!”
“What are the charges against me?” Mirana asks.
“You have lied!” Iracebeth screams in her sister’s face. “You have stolen. You are not the rightful queen of Underland.”
“Objection!” McTwisp calls out. “Where’s your proof?”
Iracebeth spins in a fury, lifting the Chronosphere. “I don’t need proof! I’ve got better! I shall have a confession!”
She glares at Mirana, who shrinks back. She’s nervous, you realize. As if maybe there really is something to confess. Something she did in the past.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Before you can ask the Hatter if he knows of anything Mirana may have done, Iracebeth throws the Chronosphere to the ground. It opens to full size, ready for travel.
You burst from your hiding place and run into the garden. “Wait! Stop! Wait!”
Everyone gapes at you. You know what Iracebeth is trying to do, and you have to stop it. “You cannot change the past,” you tell her. “Believe me, I have tried.”
Iracebeth just rolls her eyes, then grabs Mirana and yanks her into the Chronosphere. It takes off, flying into the sky and disappearing.
Hatter runs up to join you. You grip his arms. “We’ve got to stop her!” you cry.
Vegetable footmen approach you and Hatter, and they sure don’t look as if they’re about to offer you tea. Never have an asparagus man and a cabbage-headed servant looked so menacing.
Suddenly, an enormous roar stops everyone in their tracks. The Bandersnatch, carrying the Hightopp family, gleefully bounds up to you and the Hatter.
Using the distraction, you race over to Time. You and the Hatter quickly untie him while the Hightopps lay out pieces of the partially reassembled time machine.
Rust is spreading over Time’s body. “Please,” you beg as you shake him, tr
ying to rouse him. “Please wake up.” He stirs and gives a little moan.
“You’ve got to take us back,” you say as his eyes flicker open. “The Red Queen! She’s going to change the past!”
“I’m too weak,” Time moans.
“No, you’re not,” you say. “You’re Time. The infinite.”
“The immortal!” the Hatter adds. He points at his family, who are trying to put together the pieces of the machine. “Besides, you’re the only person who can rebuild that thing!”
Time’s eyes flick to where Hatter is pointing. They widen at the sight of the machinery the Hightopps have laid out. “The Tempus Fugit!” he says. He turns back to you and the Hatter and grins.
You have a feeling he’s on your side now.
As you fly across the Ocean of Time, you see that all the past days are now flecked with patches of rust. You give Time a quick glance. He looks dismayed. That’s not very encouraging.
“There they are!” the Hatter cries. “The Big Head and Mirana! Hurry!”
You spot the two queens in the Chronosphere up ahead. Time has nearly caught up to it when it suddenly veers downward, disappearing into an image you recognize. The snowy night that changed Underland forever. Fell Day.
“Why would Big Head come here?” Hatter wonders.
“Something happened when they were young girls,” you say. “And she’s going to try to stop it. To change the past.”
“That’s not the worst danger,” Time says, sounding weak. “If their past selves see their present selves, well…let’s just say that better not happen.”
Your brain reels as you try to figure out how to prevent that. Distracted, you land the Tempus Fugit suddenly and roughly. You leap out of the vehicle and see that Iracebeth and Mirana are heading straight toward the room they shared as little girls! And then something strange happens. They stop and actually embrace! Does this mean they’ve declared a truce? A grin spreads across your face. That would be wonderful! Not just for the queens but for all of Underland.
Through the Looking Glass Page 5