Chapter Ten
A Calamity!
Most of the journey back was uneventful; as smooth as a baby hippopotamus’s skin. In fact it was so quiet, Alice, along with the Cat and the Mouse, fell fast asleep.
“Easy does it, Rudolf,” Father Christmas whispered, struggling with the reins, when they were caught in some unexpected turbulence. “Easy, easy.” The rough weather, however, soon passed and the old man looked across the seat, to see if Alice was still asleep. She was.
All of a sudden, the sleigh, lurching and heaving violently, in yet another patch of turbulence, caught the old man by surprise, and he struggled desperately to maintain control. And this time he spoke louder, “Easy, easy,” he ordered, trying to calm his reindeer that were struggling to find traction in the unstable air.
Waking up, Alice asked, “What’s happening?”
“Just a bit of turbulence,” Father Christmas replied reassuringly. “It’s nothing for you to be worrying yourself about.”
“I thought you said the air up here was always still?”
Forcing a smile, he replied, “It usually is...” The sleigh jolted violently again, forcing Alice to grab hold of the handrail to steady herself. Forcing another smile, Father Christmas said, “There’s nothing like a bit of excitement to get the blood going, is there?” Alice said nothing; she just held on tightly to the rail, as another jolt battered the sleigh, sending the panicky reindeer all over the place. “Here, take this,” said Father Christmas, offering Alice one of his gloves. Alice had no idea why he had offered it, but she accepted the glove nevertheless. “Put it on,” he ordered, emphasising the importance by agitating his own, gloved hand. Removing one of her own gloves, Alice inserted her small hand into the large, leathery one. And when she had done this she was shocked, for it immediately began changing, shrinking until it fitted her – like a glove. Staring up at him, she saw a hint of rainbow colours glistening within his long beard, and she again understood – it was magic!
The sleigh shuddered again – even more violently than before. Grabbing the rail with her newly gloved hand, Alice held on with a renewed determination.
“Meow,” said the Cat from behind, having finally awoken.
Turning round, Alice asked was it all right. “I am,” he said, “if you call air sickness an acceptable condition.” Then it said, “How did I get up here, anyway?” On hearing this, the old man gave Alice a disapproving look.
Changing the subject, Alice said, “Your cushion is tucked tightly in, Cat, so hold on tightly with your long nails and everything will be just fine.” Eying her suspiciously, the Cat clawed hold of the said cushion.
Another jolt struck the sleigh, it shuddered violently again and began falling through the air at a frightening speed.
Struggling to regain control, Father Christmas shouted, “Hold on, Alice! Hold on with your gloved hand!”
Although they were falling fast, with the help of the magical glove, Alice was able to hold on surprisingly easy.
“That’s it, Alice. I’ll have us out of this bedlam, in a jiff…” the old man promised, trying desperately to regain control of the sleigh.
Calling on the reindeer for one last, huge effort, he said, “Come on Rudolf, come on Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blixen – come on, you can do it, you can ALL do it! RARR, RARR, RARR!”
As if in response, in contempt of the old man’s brave words, the sleigh tossed and tumbled about with renewed ferocity. He struggled, Father Christmas struggled so hard to keep control, but the sleigh continued its downward descent ever faster.
All of a sudden their falling, their tumbling to earth stopped, and the sleigh returned to its original height and course as if nothing had happened.
“Is it over?” Alice whispered, hardly daring to believe that it was.
“It appears so,” said Father Christmas, scratching his head in bewilderment with what had just happened. “Come on, we’ll have you back at my workshop before even I can say Jack Rob – what was his name, again?”
“Robinson,” Alice laughed. “And in that case,” she continued, “I won’t need this.” She removed the magical glove from her hand, offering it to him.
Raising an eyebrow, he said, “You can keep it until we return...”
“No, I am quite all right, thank you,” she replied. “The turbulence is over, you said so yourself. Here, take it!” The old man begrudgingly accepted his glove. Alice relaxed in her seat, trusting the old man’s words, forgetting all about the recent turbulence, and letting go of the handrail…
WHOOSH.
“What was that?” asked Alice, her eyes unable to follow the fast-moving object.
WHOOSH. It sped past them again.
“What is that, Father Christmas?” she asked, in her confusion.
The old man’s eyes easily followed the object, but he remained peculiarly silent,
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, it came at them again.
Beginning to feel scared, Alice asked, and louder this time, “Father Christmas, can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can hear you, Alice,” he replied slowly, methodically.
“Then please tell me what that is!”
WHOOSH. It passed them by, and closer this time, but still too fast for Alice to see what it was.
“Father Christmas?”
“It is someone...”
“Someone?” Alice asked, quite in surprise. “Someone – who?”
Choosing his words carefully, the old man said, “I don’t know quite how to tell you this, Alice.... But we – you – have a visitor…”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Who could possibly be looking for me, all the way out here?” she asked.
“Hmm,” Father Christmas mumbled, wishing this particular chalice be taken from him.
“WHO?” Alice asked again.
“Life and Death,” he whispered.
Alice said nothing; after hearing those words she was far too frightened to speak. Dipping a hand into her apron pocket, she felt the paper, the note that she had found earlier, from L+D, and she understood.
WHOOSH. The thing – Life and Death – swooped past them again. It was slower this time, and with each new pass Alice saw the frightening figure that bit clearer. “I can see him,” she whispered, her eyes following the bony figure, with fear. “Can we get away?” she asked, her eyes betraying her emotions.
“I’m afraid that isn’t possible,” Father Christmas replied. “Alice…” he said.
“Yes, what is it?” she asked, not daring to take her eyes off the fast moving object.
“This is a part of your learning – your purging – you must go with him…”
“But, I don’t want to go…” she protested.
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, sweeping in with a vengeance, Life and Death suddenly tipped the sleigh over. Screaming with fright, Alice fell out from the sleigh. She was gone.
With his long claws digging deep into his cushion, the Cat held on for dear life.
High above, the old man did nothing to save Alice, he simply watched, waiting for Life and Death to react. And he did, in less than a millisecond the whooshing, bony figure had swooped down and saved Alice before she smashed into the ground.
Landing them both safely, the bony figure – Life and Death – said nothing. All that he did was point the way forward.
“I might have known you would do that,” said Alice, having surprisingly found her confidence, again. “And if I am to be following your instructions,” she said, “you must first tell me if the White Rabbit – and Father Christmas are all right.” With a bony outstretched arm, he pointed to a northbound trail of light in the brightening eastern sky. “Is that Father Christmas?” she asked. And if it is, then what about the Rabbit?”
Alice in Wonderland on Top of the World Page 10