“Which is?” I grimace.
“Thou shalt not trust anyone,” he says. “It’s a harsh truth, unbelievable, but with all the madness surrounding us, it’s crucial. You shouldn’t have fallen for you sister’s play.” He smiles, as if I should accept this as a fully fleshed reply.
We stare at each other. It’s a long moment. I don’t grasp the meaning of it. All I am grasping moment after moment is that I am getting lonelier among the crowd. Was that why Alice met so many animals in her book? Because she couldn’t trust grownups? Because she was lonely?
“How long before the Hatter sends you the next clue?” The Pillar breaks the tension, finishing my cake and drinking my tea.
“About ten minutes,” I say. “He said the countdown will start ticking again at twelve o’clock. Ends twenty-four hours later.”
“Huh. I’m really curious what he has in mind for you.” He tongues his cheeks. “On the outside, this all seems like a time-ticking hunt to stop a bomb. But with all those clues he gave you, there’s so much more about this case.”
I stare at the housemaid dress, the gloves, and the fan I collected, contemplating the Pillar’s words. “It’s almost as if I’m in a computer game collecting items for some great reveal.”
“That’s quite right.” He says it as if it didn’t cross his mind. “The next clue should confirm your theory.”
The Hatter’s phone beeps on the table. The Pillar and I share an uncomfortable moment. Then I pick it up and read the message:
I relocated the rabbit with the bomb behind the Snail Mound in Wonderland. You’ll find it there.
Chapter 25
The Pillar snatches the phone and reads it. He looks perplexed.
“Are you saying you don’t know where this Snail Mound is?” I say.
“I don’t,” the Pillar says. He isn’t comfortable with the fact either. “But you’re missing the fact that whatever that Snail Mound is, it’s supposed to be in Wonderland. How are you supposed to get to Wonderland?”
“Through the Tom Tower, maybe?” I suggest. “The Einstein Blackboard, traveling back in time?”
“These aren’t doorways to Wonderland,” the Pillar explains. “These are only temporarily glimpses into it. You can’t use them to stay prolonged periods in Wonderland. To find something specific, you need to learn how to really go to Wonderland. Which, in the meantime, is impossible.”
“You never told me about that. Why is it impossible?”
“The only way to go to Wonderland is to find six keys, leading to six doors, leading to Wonderland.” The Pillar pouts, as if he didn’t want to bring this up now. All I can think about is that key Lewis gave me is one of those keys. “Six Impossible Keys. Lewis used to call them Six Impossible Things. But that’s way too soon to talk about. This message doesn’t make sense. It’s another game without much clues.”
“Okay,” I say. “I will message him and ask him to clarify.” I begin typing my message to him.
Once I begin, the phone beeps:
No need to reply to my messages. I was just sipping my tea.
The message sends shivers to my spine. I raise my head and look up at the surrounding buildings. How is it possible the Hatter sees me?
I stand up and keep looking at the roofs of the buildings. I am looking for a man with a top hat and goggles, like the children described. But I can’t see such a man.
I feel like a rocket about to launch, spitting out fire. “What do you want from me?” I scream at the sky, spreading my hands sideways.
“What’s wrong, Alice?” the Pillar says.
The walking pedestrians avoid my path, thinking I am insane.
“Show yourself if you dare!” I raise my voice higher, crane my neck higher.
“Beware of what you wish for,” the Pillar says sarcastically. “I requested he’d show himself while I was in Phuket, Thailand. Next day a tsunami hit us.”
I dismiss the Pillar’s annoyance. “How the heck am I supposed to get to the Wonderland?” As I scream, I can feel a slight trembling in my body. It seems to me I am not only mad at this Hatter, but I am still shocked by my previous incident with my sisters.
“You know how to get Wonderland?” a kid who was watching the Pillar earlier asks me.
“She’s insane, kiddo.” The Pillar pats him. “Here, pull my finger.”
The kid does.
The Pillar farts.
The kid runs away.
All of this happens in the back of my scene while I am panting in anger and frustration.
A phone beeps again. This times it’s my personal phone. I pick it up. It’s the Hatter’s anonymous number. There is no need for him to use his phone again. We’re playing with open cards now. He is trying to drive me crazy, and I am trying to see how deep into the rabbit hole I can go.
I read the message:
Find the March Hare. He knows how to get there. And yeah, Wonderland is real—if you’re insane enough to get there.
Chapter 26
Queen's Chamber, Buckingham Palace, London