The Chessmaster didn’t answer him. He ordered his men to force Ralph to drink, and he did.
As Ralph weakened to his knees, uselessly untying his cravat, the Chessmaster looked back at the camera. “Now people of Switzerland will face a terrible fate. If you don’t want your country to face the same fate, find Alice and The Pillar for me.”
The Chessmaster laughed, staring at the monitor on the left, showing everyone in Switzerland falling asleep.
Chapter 45
Somewhere in Tibet
The Dude’s balloon is a piece of art, which The Pillar figured out right away. True, it is red, but its hood is white, the color of snow, so when we fly it no one would be able to track us with satellites from above.
“You know how to operate this thing?” I ask The Pillar. We are already flying midair.
“I think so,” he says. “Saw it used in that movie, 80 Days Around the World.”
“That’s all?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get there.”
“And where is that exactly?” I fold my arms.
“Kalmykia,” He says, wiping blood off his cheeks.
“Kalmykia? Never heard of it.”
“The Republic of Kalmykia, a federal subject of Russia,” The Pillar explains. “It is the only region in Europe where Buddhism is practiced by the majority of the population.”
“It’s in Russia?”
“Yes, and borderline China. Very close from where we are. Got a nail shiner? I think I messed up my beautiful nails.”
I roll my eyes, secretly admiring his sense of humor while soaking in blood. “What’s in Kalmykia?”
“The next clue.”
“The clue to the third chess piece you mean? How do you know that? I haven’t opened the Rook chess piece yet,” I say while attempting to pull it out of my pockets, only to realize The Pillar is holding it in his hands. “You took it?”
“Just before we escaped the monks.”
“Why?”
“Needed to know what’s inside.”
“Did you open it?”
“Of course.”
“And it said to go to Kalmykia?”
“No, it said to get the next piece from the giant down the hole.” The Pillar furrows his brows, funnily.
I need a moment to grasp the fact that The Pillar is always a step or two ahead. “Are you telling me that’s why you pushed us into the hole?”
He nods agreeably. “Or I could have simply run toward our plane and escaped. The monks hadn’t destroyed it yet at that point.”
“You knew there was a giant in the hole? I can’t believe it.”
“Was worth it,” he says. “Because after I killed him, I found this in his cave.” He shows me the third missing piece. I can’t make out what it is with him gripping onto it.
“And that third piece say we’ve got to go Kalmykia?”
He nods, a wide, broad, and magnificently childish smile on his face. “A new adventure, baby.” It’s like he’s not been hit to death a while ago. It’s like he isn’t in pain or dripping blood or having his cloths torn up. It’s like we’re not inside a ridiculous balloon in the middle of nowhere, racing against time to save the world. The Pillar is just happy we’re going to Kalmykia.
“What’s in Kalmykia, Pillar?”
“A most beautiful city, like you’ve never seen before,” he raises his clenched hand in the air. “But first, guess what the piece in my hand is, Alice.”
“Stop being childish. I’m not guessing. Just tell me.”
“Come on, Alice. It’s not like we don’t have time to kill until we get there?” he points at the vast nowhere we’re flying above. “You know how many people have embarked balloons and never found their way back down? Guess the piece in my hand.”
I have to give it to him. He is full of life. He just doesn’t care about our human worries. He just lives every moment as if it’s his last. I wonder if that’s because he thinks I am going to kill him soon, or if that’s just the irritable Pillar.
“Okay,” I say, finding myself giving into his joyful spirit, and forgetting about all the blood on his hands. “It’s a Bishop.”
“Wrong.” He winks. “Guess one more time.”
Chapter 46
Buckingham Palace, London
The Queen of Hearts hadn’t put down the phone, still listening to Mr. Jay reading the Chessmaster’s story to her. She hadn’t heard a story that scary before. Who wanted to collide with Death face to face, she couldn’t understand?
But the real question was: “What does Death want with us Wonderlanders, Mr. Jay?”
“That’s what’s puzzling me.” He said.
“It surely has something to do with Alice,” the Queen said. “He mentioned he wanted her to burn in hell.”
“Alice never mentioned Death when she used to work for Black Chess.”
“She was a wild one, Mr. Jay. She must have done something bad to him.”
“To Death?” Mr. Jay sounded skeptical.
“What else could it be?” the Queen said. “Or why would he bother with killing the masses to get that Carroll’s Knight?”
“I’d have to agree with you on this. Did you ever hear about those chess pieces Carroll carved out of his own bones?”
“Never before.”