People clap all around me. I have a feeling this circus is famous. Either they have heard of it before, or have actually seen this show already.
“From America to Brazil, China to Europe, Africa to the North Pole,” the ringmaster brags. “From all over the world, and now here for you in Britain. This is the show you all heard about.” He waves his hand behind an ear, expecting the crowd to shout the name.
“The Maddest Show on Earth!” the crowd screams.
The ringmaster smiles, and calls two of his assistants to stand side by side next to him. A bald man and big woman, heavy on her feet. That’s all I can see thus far.
“Are you ready?” he shouts.
The crowd’s response is overwhelming.
Ready for what, I wonder.
All around him, men are putting a huge steel cage together while a few cute dancers entertain the crowd.
My heart is racing. What is the cage for? A lion?
“I suppose you all have your cotton candy with you.” The ringmaster smirks. “Because you will need it.”
All around me, people pull out bags of cotton candy in all colors.
I don’t know why but I’m starting to have a bad feeling about this. Fabiola was right. I don’t think I’m going to like what I will see, although I have no idea what to expect.
Why can’t I see any of the Wonderlanders?
“We’re close to starting the show,” the ringmaster says. The man and woman next to him look familiar. I squint, hoping I can recognize them. “But like every city and town we stop by, let me tell you about the show you’re about to see. Let me tell you about the Invisible Plague.”
Invisible Plague? I wonder what that could be.
As he finishes the sentence, I recognize the two people on his left and right. I can’t believe my eyes. I think I’m going to faint. It’s Waltraud and Ogier, my evil wardens at the Radcliffe Asylum.
Chapter 55
Meeting Hall, Buckingham Palace, London
“Before I resume the video, I have to remind you of what the circus was about,” the Queen said, and Dr. Tom was listening eagerly. “What I want to remind you of is about something they used to call the Invisible Plague.”
A few squeals escape the crowd. Tom too. He had heard about the Invisible Plague before, but thought it was only a myth. He stared back at the invitation card in his hand and read the list of the guests again, breathing heavily. This couldn’t be.
“Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, when I lived in Wonderland, things were crazy,” the Queen explained. “Crazy, but beautiful in a nonsensical way. The power of imagination Lewis Carroll had gifted us with had no boundaries. Animals and flowers talked. Endless parties where we threw teacups at each other—and loved it. And more. At some point, most of us could materialize their own thoughts into reality.”
The crowd sighed.
“But then the hallucinations began, and things got weirder when that Alice girl entered our world, criticizing our mad ways of living. But who was she to understand the beauty of bonkers and borgroves of Wonderland?” the Queen said. “Let’s not go into what damage she caused, and let’s focus on the rabbit hole she created, the one that broke the realms between Wonderland and the silly human world.”
Tom fidgeted in his seat. Didn’t she say she was going to explain what the Invisible Plague was? He was curious.
“Humans began coming into our world, one by one,” the Queen said. “And thus, we crossed over to their world, too. Suddenly, we found ourselves in a world we didn’t belong to. A world of humans in the 19th century in London. Unlike the madly colorful Wonderland, their world was a place of war, poverty, and Victorian darkness.”
The Queen stopped and ate a few of her favorite peanuts.
“Of course, humans’ greatest weakness had always been their fear. In particular, the fear of others. They feared anything that was different from them so much that they had the audacity to kill it, exterminate it right away, and call it their enemy. To them, Wonderlanders were the maddest of the mad. At this time in history, insanity had not been medically explained yet, nor was it socially acceptable. Humans were as ignorant as those whom, of this world, call autistic children retarded. Humans were the worst creature the universe created.”
Tom’s perception of the Queen had been that of a total lunatic who longed for nothing but the obedience of others—like the flamingo in the asylum. Not that his perception of her had changed drastically now, but she wasn’t as shallow as he’d thought. She actually had a story to tell. One that was going to blow his mind. He listened tentatively.