“Because he wanted to find a way back to Wonderland,” the Pillar explains. “Jittery is one of the most sentimental people/hares. He wasn’t in tune with living in this modern world. He didn’t like it. He thought it was utterly harsh, insane, and rubbish. Unlike others, he looked for you all the time.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you, Alice. He believed you can take him back to Wonderland.”
“But you need Six Impossible Keys to go back.” I am not even going to discuss the fact characters like the Cheshire did their best to escape Wonderland. So why go back?
“Of course you need the keys to go back.” The Pillar drags from his bagpipe some more. “Jittery, however, claimed he found a magical way back. Some kind of a cosmic spell.”
“By replicating Wonderland in real life?” I am just guessing.
The Pillar nods. “It’s some kind of bizarre wishful thinking, if you ask me. I never paid attention to the idea. I believe the March Hare was just nostalgic, unable to live in the mad world we live in now. Replicating Wonderland helped him cope with his own insanity. The March Hare had always been a child in a grown man/rabbit’s body.”
“So the Garden of Cosmic Speculation is actually a replica of Wonderland?” I think this is insane, but also incredibly fascinating. It means we have some kind of clue of how Wonderland looked like.
“Not exactly,” the Pillar says, debunking my speculations. “But it works fine as a map. Meaning the distance and location of places is very similar to Wonderland, although he changed the names of locations to sound modern and scientific.”
“That’s why you didn’t know what Snail Mound is.”
The Pillar nods.
“So why does this Hatter hide the rabbit in the garden?” I ask.
“I told you. He’s playing games.”
“What kind of game requires I collect a glove, a fan, and a housemaid dress, and then visit a replica of Wonderland?”
“It doesn't make sense to me,” the Pillar says. “But I wouldn’t worry about that now, as I’m sure it will all be explained in the end.”
“Then what should I worry about?” Again, I am not sure if I can trust the Pillar with everything he tells me.
“There is something else you don’t know about the garden.”
“Which is?”
“The Garden of Cosmic Speculation isn’t open to the public. It’s a private garden.”
“Really? This beauty isn’t available for all people to visit?”
“See?” The Pillar breathes out spiral smoke. “Like I told you, Professor Jittery built it to find his way back. There was no point in keeping it open to the public. It’s more of a doorway to Wonderland.”
“So how are we getting inside?” I ask, but then I realize why Inspector Dormouse is meeting with Scotland Yard right now—probably to get permission to enter it.
“Whatever you’re thinking right now, you’re right.” The Pillar smiles, as if reading my thoughts. “However, the garden opens only one day each year for the public, but it’s not anytime soon.”
“So why haven’t we just asked Professor Jittery for permission to enter?” I say. “Why hasn’t he told me about this?”
“Now you’re asking the right questions,” the Pillar says. “The garden has been confiscated and sold to an elite organization. Why do you think Professor Jittery went mad? And why do you think he is locked in the Hole, which no one knows about?”
“So that’s it?” I am starting to understand why Professor Jittery thinks someone is spying in his head. This garden is somehow important in this Wonderland War. Although I don’t know how.
“Aren’t you going to ask me about the name of this organization?”
“I don’t need to,” I reply. “It’s Black Chess. The organization Professor Jittery warned me about. The same organization the Muffin Man tried to oppose last week.” I stare directly at the Pillar. “Except no one knows who they really are.”
The car stops, and we arrive at the magnificent Garden of Cosmic Speculation.
Chapter 36
Outside the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, Dumfries, Scotland
Time remaining: 13 hours, 44 minutes
Two men in red cloaks, part of the Reds clan who had once chased the Pillar and Alice in the Vatican, stood atop a green hill overlooking the Garden of Cosmic Speculation. They wore red robes but stood far enough away that no one saw them at the moment. Underneath the robes, their faces weren’t visible.
But their voices were audible enough.
One of them, the taller one with a golden number nine sewn to the fabric of the robe, held binoculars. He was watching Alice leave the limousine and meet with Inspector Dormouse.
“Can you see them?” the shorter one, Number 7, asked.
Number 9 nodded. “Inspector Dormouse must have got permission to enter the garden.”
“And the girl?”
“She is with the police force,” Number 9 said. “It’s not the Scottish police, though.”
“Must be Inspector Dormouse’s team,” Number 7 said. “The Department of Insanity.”
“Poor Inspector Sherlock. He thinks he is doing a real job. Should we make the phone call now?”