Текст книги "Circus "

Автор книги: Cameron Jace

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

Chapter 46

Beyond the door, the Garden of Cosmic Speculation

Time remaining: 11 hours, 30 minutes

Once I knock, the doorknob turns and the door opens, and a gust of wind plows against my chest. It smells of mushrooms.

With a numb tongue and misleading vision, I realize I am not underground anymore. Instead, I’m looking at the colorful world of Wonderland.

It seems hard to grasp its vastness at first—harder to believe this is really happening.

But I step forward into a green road with yellow bananas for trees, bending on both sides. The banana trees have their sides peeled. A few birds twitter on top on the edges.

The sky is the color of marmalade, which is gross at first sight, but within the context of all the green and yellow, orange shines through. It all looks like a child’s drawing.

There isn’t enough time to take in the surroundings. I prefer to figure out how I’m supposed to find the circus—which isn’t showing on my Wonderland map.

I walk ahead, looking for someone to meet, but the place seems abandoned.

Where did everyone in Wonderland go?

A banana tree bends too close, as if spying on me.

“What do you want?” I want to say, but nothing comes out. My tongue feels like cotton.

I am not even sure the banana—or the tree—is as large as I think.

When I stare at my feet, they are bigger than the hole I fell through earlier. They flap loudly, as if I’m a seal.

My toe is also scaring me. It’s really awful and big. Red, as if bruised. It’s one big tomato.

I look away.

Where is everyone?

I take another look at my phone. I see a few locations on the map. The Queen of Hearts’ palace, the Muffin Man’s house, and big chessboard land.

I also spot Lewis Carroll’s studio, which looks like it’s on the edge of Wonderland. It makes sense now that I saw him enter Wonderland from a door in Oxford University when I met him through the Tom Tower a couple of weeks ago.

But if Oxford University is tangent to Wonderland, how am I in Scotland right now? Or am I?

It’s mind-boggling. Messed up. Dizzying.

I decide to accept things the way they are, just like the Pillar said.

I hate how the Pillar is always right. Trying to apply logic, or even a fragment of logic, in the insane world I am in is useless.

So I go with the flow.

I have a circus to find.

Strange enough, the map doesn’t show a circus in Wonderland, and I don’t remember a circus in Lewis Carroll’s book.

I have no idea where to find this circus, or why it’s so important—the March Hare warned me of it, and the Hatter desires it. The Pillar doesn’t know much about it.

“Psst,” I hear a female voice call me. “You can’t keep walking like that in here.”

I stop in my tracks, but don’t see anyone around me.

All but a tiger lily bending over toward me, a little too large, of course.

I shake my head, longing for an explanation, as I can’t talk.

“You look like you’re from another world, walking in those jeans and boots,” Tiger Lily says, and suddenly I realize it’s my Tiger Lily. “You should put on the maid’s dress.”

How does she know about the maid’s dress in my bag?

“Hurry!” it insists, as it always does in the real world.

I take a moment to think about it. Whenever she talks to me, I am usually in my hallucinating mode. So what does that mean now? Or is it part of my induced Alice Syndrome?

Tiger Lily grins. I think she knows what I am thinking about. “Ah.” She twists her petals. “You think you’re mad because I’m talking to you.”

I nod.

“I don’t blame you, because frankly: how come a flower talks?” She snickers. “But the thing is, who will you be talking to if I don’t talk to you? In other words, would you prefer loneliness over madness?”

Well, that’s the Tiger Lily I know. I wonder why I am so attached to it. Whatever happened in the past between me and her?

But if I am going to comply with her logic, I need her to do something for me first. I point at my dangling tongue.

“Are you bargaining now?” She takes a minute to think it over. “I like it when you don’t give up easily. Why not.” She spits blueberries at my tongue.

They break open and tickle me, then sting, but finally I am able to speak again. “How do I get to the circus?” I ask immediately.

“Ah, the circus,” she says. “You don’t want to go there, Alice. You don’t want to go there.”

Chapter 47

Wonderland

Time remaining: 10 hours, 38 minutes

“Don’t give me advice,” I retort. “I know what I am doing. I need to find the circus for this Hatter so he’ll show me where to find the rabbit. I think I have around ten hours left before a bomb goes off.”

“Boom!” Tiger Lilly snickers again. I hate her when she goes nuts like that. “Well, first you need to put on the dress, like I told you.”

Since I don’t want to look like an intruder in this world, I put it on. It’s a bit too small for me, but I force myself to fit. “Should I wear the gloves and the fan too?”

“Nah,” she says. “Their time hasn’t come yet.”

“So you know what all of this is about,” I say.

“I do.” She nods. “So do you.”

“What do you mean? I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Oh, you do. You just don’t remember it yet.”

“Then why don’t you remind me?” I sigh.

“What’s the fun in that, Alice?” she says. “One is never told the truth. One has to find it out.”

“Whatever that means.” I tighten the laces of the dress and take off my shoes.

“But I can tell you that the glove and fan in your pockets are useless. All you need is the dress.”

“They can’t be. I found them, according to the Hatter’s clues.”

“Not those,” she says. “You got the wrong ones. The real ones are with the wonders.”

“Wonders?” I blink. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a puzzle you have to solve, but way later, not now,” she says. “Now, let me tell you about what you’re looking for in here.”

“The circus,” I say. “Where is everyone, by the way?”

“Everyone is in the circus.”

“Okay?” I tilt my head. “So it wouldn’t be hard to find it, right?”

“It’s tricky, Alice,” she says. “Very tricky. I mean, doesn’t it strike you as strange that every single Wonderlander is in the circus right now?”

I look around and shrug. It’s extremely unsettling that Wonderland is vacant like this. She is right.

“That’s why you should think twice about the circus.”

“I told I’m not going to rethink it,” I say. “Tell me how to get to the circus.”

“I’m sorry, Alice,” it says. “I want to protect you from the circus, so I will not lead you to it.”

“You know what? I’ll find it myself.” I turn around and walk ahead.

Something inside me isn't right. I know it.

Since I put on the dress I’ve felt changed. I also feel a bit stubborn and childish in the way I am acting.

It’s that haze that surrounds my mind. Those distant memories that seem to crawl toward me, so slowly.

I wonder if I am suppressing certain memories and don’t really want to remember. Why, Alice? What happened to you in the past?

When I turn back to look at Tiger Lily, she is sleeping, as if she hadn’t been talking to me.

I decide I’ll message the Hatter back:

I can’t find the circus. You must have a clue how I should find it.

He responds:

I wouldn’t have needed your help if I did.

I write:

What’s so important in the circus?

He responds:

You will know when you get there. It concerns you as it concerns me. You have less than 10 hours, and the circus might be closing soon. I need you to find it while it’s full of people, or otherwise it will mean nothing to me. I’d hurry if I were you.

Chapter 48

Wonderland

Time remaining: 9 hours, 54 minutes

It occurs to me to call the Pillar, but I get no signal to the real world. However this works in Wonderland, I have no idea. I realize I’m as confused as the March Hare when he told me about the doorways.

And, of course, it occurs to me that I’m just in my own escapist La La land of my mind, evading that ultimate truth: that I had a bus accident and that I’m nothing but a crippled girl inside an asylum, killing time by making up stories.

In truth, there’s not much sense in anything I am doing—or have done since I met the Pillar.

In truth, I could be just insane, and anyone who is listening to my rambling is only a victim of my bothered mind.

In truth, I could just accept all the madness around me, and laugh at it, like a morning cartoon on a TV screen—you get a few laughs, eat your cereal, and just totally forget about it.

I can just admit my madness and be fine with it. Lie back as the world spins like a cuckoo around my head.

But what always bothers me about my madness is that I know about it. I question it. I try to analyze it. Aren’t mad people supposed to not know about themselves being mad?

My thoughts are interrupted by something all of a sudden. Something that connects the dots somehow. At least it moves things forward, just like our everyday lives when we don’t have an idea of what’s going on but hang on to the little clues we have for today.

What I see in front of me is the Snail Mound, the one the Hatter wanted me to find, and the March Hare warned me of.

Chapter 49

Meeting Hall, Buckingham Palace, London

Squeezed in a chair, among the big crowd in the hall, was Dr. Tom Truckle.

He had managed to fool the guards, pretending he was the person whom the invitation was originally for. It wasn’t hard. He wore his best tuxedo and rented an expensive Bentley, and made Ogier pretend he was his private chauffeur.

Once he arrived at the palace, he pompously flashed his invitation and trotted inside.

He was led through dimly lit corridors, one after the other, until he reached a secret meeting hall somewhere inside the palace.

Then he was shown his seat without anyone realizing what an impostor he was.

In the dimmed hall, he couldn’t see the many important men and women from all over the world who sat beside him. Was he really sitting among those people?

The stage itself was bright, awaiting the Queen’s arrival. Dr. Tom Truckle waited with anticipation to know what the heck this Event was about.

Chapter 50

Wonderland

Time remaining: 9 hours, 44 minutes

Stunned, I try to think it over. So the Hatter thought the Snail Mound was in the Garden of Cosmic Speculation in the real world, but it’s actually in Wonderland?

It seems plausible to me, since the Hatter seems ignorant of how to get to the circus.

Let’s rethink this, Alice. You’re here, mainly to catch a rabbit before it explodes, but to do that you have to play the Hatter’s game by finding the circus. That’s all you know about this. STOP analyzing and go find the circus.

I run barefoot toward the Snail Mound. It’s a spiral mountain, like inverted cones with green roads upward until you reach its tip. It reminds me of a picture I once saw of Babylon, but I’m not sure if the two images are related.

I climb and climb in wide circles, wondering what I’ll find at the top. Now it reminds me of Jack and the Beanstalk.

The spiral Snail Mound is huge. I am starting to pant, and I’m starting to feel weaker, but I keep going. It’s surprising that the spiral movement wears off the induced Alice Syndrome. I am starting to see things in their normal size again.

In the end, when I reach the tip, I realize it’s much smaller than I thought it was. A thought occurs to me suddenly: is it possible that Alice in the book never shrank, that she only was sick with Alice Syndrome, a scientifically known medical condition that may be caused by migraines?

Migraines? The kind Lewis Carroll suffered from? Is it possible that Lewis was ill? That his migraines drove him crazy? That he was just mad, like all of us?

I wash the nutty thoughts away, and focus on my climb.

It’s really comforting seeing things as normal as they should be—not that many things about Wonderland are normal.

But it’s beautiful from up here on the Snail Mound. It’s like staring at a rainbow from the seventh sky, not from earth. Every curve in Wonderland is enchanting. I can easily spot the Queen’s castle from here, and the Muffin Man’s house, which I visited before.

The highest point on the Snail Mound is empty, except for my Tiger Lily bouncing to the sunlight on top.

“How did you get here?” I ask.

“I am always here.” She snickers.

“No, you’re not. You were down there a few minutes ago.”

“Down there, up here, what does it matter?” She laughs. “As long as I have changed my mind to tell you about the circus.”

I try to calm down and not lose it. “Why did you change your mind?”

“Frankly, because you found the Snail Mound.”

“What does that mean?”

“The Snail Mound is only visible to three persons. That’s why the Hatter wanted you to find it for him.”

“Oh.” It makes a little more sense now. It doesn’t explain the bomb in the rabbit and the dress, gloves, and fan, though. “Are you saying he is watching me now, that I am leading him to a place he shouldn’t have access to?”

“It could be,” she says. “I’m not the Hatter, you know.”

Thinking about it, I still have no choice. I have to keep my deal with the Hatter so he’ll tell me where the rabbit is. “You said only three persons can find the Snail Mound?”

“Lewis Carroll, the March Hare, and... guess what?” She winks.

“The Real Alice?” I am hoping.

“You’re right about that.”

“So it’s me.” I sigh. “Finally.”

“Well, it’s still a bit tricky,” she says. “You see, you’re the Real Alice in an unreal world.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean since you’ve fallen into the rabbit hole, you’ve been transported to this place, which, frankly—I’m not sure what it is. It could be a mimicking version of Wonderland, or anything else.”

“I am not even registering anything you say.” I hold my head tight to stop it from exploding. “Can you just tell me where the circus is?”

“It’s right here in front of you,” she says. “You came all the way up here to find something all the way down there.” She points at Wonderland below.

I follow her gaze, and there it is in the distance: the circus’s tent.

Chapter 51

Meeting Hall, Buckingham Palace, London

Dr. Tom Truckle watched the Queen take the stage.

People stood up and clapped enthusiastically as she embarked on a stepper to reach the podium. The smug smile on her face was prominent as she asked them to “shut up” and “sit down.”

“Thank you for accepting my invitation for the most important event in the history of mankind,” she began. “I have chosen you for reasons only the likes of us can understand. Each one of you has a past I sympathize with and understand clearly.”

Dr. Tom thought he knew what she meant as he glanced at the list of members on the back of his card. But he needed to wait to confirm his suspicions.

“But before I lay out my plan, I’d like you to watch something.” She signaled to Margaret Kent, and a screen came down behind her. “What you’re going to see now will stir a few bad memories, but it’s a must.”

Dr. Tom watched the screen flicker, curious about what he was going to watch.

Chapter 52

The Maze, Wonderland

Time remaining: 9 hours, 23 minutes

It’s quite a maze to get to the circus.

I tried to memorize it while I was atop the Snail Mound, but now I’m not sure I won’t get lost down here.

It’s a hedge maze, curving left and right, but I’m determined to finish it and get to the circus in the center—that’s how it appeared to be from atop the spiral mound.

I notice that as I walk, the sky starts to turn blue again, and I seem to hear voices in the distance. The circus?

Hedge after hedge, curve after curve, I am going crazy. Whenever I think I am close to the sound, the maze ends.

I have to start all over again.

In my mind, I focus on the direction of the sound. Is it coming from my left side? Right side? Does it sound a bit muffled here because the maze is blocked? Does it flow better there?

The sounds are of a cheering crowd. Everyone seems happy about something. I am getting curiouser and curiouser.

More steps in, I stop in my tracks again.

Someone stands in front of me. Someone I didn’t expect to see in here.

“Fabiola?”

“Nice to see you again, Alice.” She is wrapped in white from head to toe. Her dress flutters to a light breeze and her smile is ever so enchanting.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” I say.

“I am not really who I am in this world, if that makes any sense.”

“No. It doesn’t make any sense.” I chuckle feebly. “But what does?”

“I understand.” She nods. “You’re in the Bridge of Time between past and present, real and unreal. It’s an aftermath of the March Hare trying to open portals to Wonderland with his gardens.”

“So this isn’t Wonderland?”

“It is... and it isn’t.”

“Here we go again,” I mumble.

“It’s like a memory where some things are true and some are lies.” Fabiola is trying her best to make sense of it. “I have no idea how I am here, just like you. But I know why I am here.”

“Why are you here, then, Fabiola?”

“To warn you. Whoever led you here with this maid’s dress and asked you to seek the circus wishes you harm.”

“What kind of harm?”

“The worst of all—emotional harm.”

“Why does he want to harm me, whoever it is who’s playing games?”

“It’s the only way for you to remember—at least a few things.”

“How I killed my friends in the bus?”

“No. That should come later,” Fabiola says. “You’re about to remember what really happened in the last days of Wonderland. Why the war is coming; a truth that I’ve tried to conceal for so long, even from myself.”

“I thought Lewis Carroll locked the Wonderland Monsters in here, so they wouldn’t bring chaos into the world,” I say. “I saw him do it when I was in the Tom Tower. Isn’t that Wonderland’s biggest secret?”

“Not at all.” Fabiola shakes her head. “Ever wondered why he locked them up?”

“I assumed they are evil.” I try to think of a better word. “That they want to hurt people in the real world.”

“That could be part of it, but it’s not the real truth.” Fabiola’s eyes are watery. “You see, there is a reason why the Wonderland Monsters, led by the Queen of Hearts, are incredibly powerful.”

“I had expected them to be led by the Cheshire,” I say. “I mean, he seemed the most evil, with his power.”

“The Cheshire is merely a hint to the dangers Wonderlanders could bring upon the real world. There is a reason why the Wonderland Wars could be the end of the world. A much grander reason,” Fabiola says. “Ever wondered why the Cheshire hates humans so much?”

“Because humans killed his ancestors in an eye-rolling story I have never heard anything like before.”

“That’s hardly scratching the surface,” Fabiola says. “Something happened to the Wonderland Monsters that made them this way—not that they weren’t obnoxious in Wonderland, but the twist of evil in their personalities happened later.”

“Why don’t you spell it out for me, Fabiola? Why all the puzzles?”

“Because memories are mostly visual. You have to see them to remember—of course, that’s if you’re the Real Alice. I’m not going to go over this again.”

“Apparently, this Hatter thinks I am her.”

“We all hope you’re her,” Fabiola says. “I know I didn’t believe it first, but trust me, I want to believe you’re her. But I don’t want to waste your time, as you have to go to circus and see what happened in the last days of Wonderland. I just wanted you to take notice of the door in the hedge to your right.”

I turn my head and there it is. A wooden door I hadn’t seen before.

“It’s okay that you haven’t seen it,” she says. “Sometimes, when we’re fixated on reaching the end, we miss the important things along the way.”

“You want me to open it?”

“Not now,” Fabiola says. “I’d prefer you open it on your way back. Its impact should be more to the point then.”

I let out a long sigh. I’m tired. I am really tired. My mind is about to fry. If I just get one normal thought to hang on, I think I’ll feel much better.

“I know it’s hard.” She steps over and touches my cheek. Her hands are warm. I feel at home. “And it’s your choice to walk the distance or not. I mean, you could have just given up on a rabbit with a bomb threatening the children in London. A sane person would have done that.”

“You mean only the insane walk the distance?”

“It’s an unusual way to put it.” She laughs. “But it’s true. Insanity isn’t always a curse. For those who know how to use it, it’s a bliss. Now, I have to go, Alice.”

She pulls her hand away and I feel lost. I feel without a family. Lonely, as usual.

I can hear the crowd in the distance cheering. Again, they sound so happy. I wonder how this could be bad at all.

“One more thing,” Fabiola says. “Once you reach the end of maze, you won’t be in Wonderland anymore. The Bridge of Time will take you to the 19th century.”

“In the real world?”

“Yes.” She nods. “The circus, Alice, was in the real world. It was the first moment in history when Wonderland and the real world collided.”