Crossing the lush landscape full of hedges shaped after Wonderland characters, the Executioner informs me he had the March Hare design it for him. “I had to put my business on halt for two months and inject him with a hallucinogen so he wouldn’t know who I was,” he explained. “The March with his naive child-like attitude wouldn’t have designed it if he knew who I was.”
“And who are you, really?” I pretend I have given in to his reality.
“I’m the Executioner, like in the Alice books. I used to work for the Queen to chop off heads, but now I’ve gone solo, and trust me, she fears me more that anything else.”
“So you’re just another Wonderland Monster.”
The Executioner laughs again, entering the vast entrance of his castle. The architecture looks like something from a thousand and one nights.
“That’s not an answer,” I say.
“It’s not meant to be,” he replies without looking at me, then sits himself on his throne in the middle of a sky-lit hall.
“What a fabulous job you did to the castle.” The Pillar, cigar in mouth, admires the place. “I feel like I’m in Taj Mahal.”
“I’m humbled,” the Executioner says. “Senor Pillardo himself compliments me.”
“What happened to the horses?” the Pillar asks.
“Sorry, senior. They all died after you left. I tried to be nice to them, but they kept kicking my men, looking for you. I had to shoot them all,” the Executioner says, pouring himself a pink drink. “We built a casino where your horses used to live. Very profitable, but nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
The Pillar grins. “How does no one go there anymore if it’s too crowded?”
I sense it’s not a question, but some kind of an inside joke.
“It’s Wonderland logic,” the Executioner explains to me. “It’s like saying: it ain’t over until it’s over.” He hands the Pillar a drink.
“Ah, I remember those.” The Pillar sips his drink. “I remember when we used to say: always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t go to yours.”
The Executioner is amused. “I loved that phrase. Because if you went to their funeral, they were dead already.” He turns to me with a smile. “I bet your friend here hasn’t seen the Wonderland days.”
“Be careful.” The Pillar winks. “She thinks she is Alice. The Real one.”
This throws the Executioner off. “Oh, my.” He chuckles. “That’s a new one.” He turns to me again. “Alice is dead, darling. True, we can’t remember what she looked like, but she’s dead.”
Just when I am about to ask why he’s so sure, a horde of young and skinny children are brought into the castle, wearing tattered clothes, dirt sticking to their sunburned skin.
“What now?” The Executioner pouts at the man who brought them in.
“I thought you’d like to see that we cut their fingers like you asked us.” the man says.
My eyes flip, staring at the children’s bandaged hands. They cut their fingers? What the hell?
“Two knuckles from each kid,” the man says. “Just like you always demand. Should I send them to the field now?”
My anger chokes me up. I turn and stare at the Pillar. He signals for me to stay cool and hush it down. I will explain later, he mouths.
But damn it, I won’t stay cool. Who is this horrible Executioner? I was right when I thought of ridding the world of him.
Chapter 22
Buckingham Palace, London
“I want you to find this Lewis Carroll and bring him to me,” the Queen roared at Margaret. “Now!”
“How am I supposed to do that, My Queen? You know what kind of a monster he is.”
“Just figure it out!” The Queen padded the chamber left and right, hands behind her back. “It’s too soon for an apocalypse. I want a mad world. Not a dead world. Besides, why is he here? What does he want with the end of the world?”
“I have no idea, but what you’re asking me isn’t something I can do,” Margaret says. “Normally I’d use the Cheshire’s help with something like that, but he made it clear he isn’t on our side. He just wants to bring chaos into the human world for his own giggles and grins. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in this with Lewis Carroll.”
“Then the Pillar is our only chance,” the Queen says. “Where is he?”
“Haven’t seen him since the last time when I visited this Alice girl to convince her she should be one of us,” Margaret said. “I met him briefly afterward, trying to get the key from him, but he said he’d like to keep it until we find the next one. Sort of a guarantee, so nothing bad happens to him until we both fulfill our sides of the deal.”
“I know how to get the key from the Pillar later, that’s hardly my problem,” the Queen said. “Don’t mention it to him now. Just find him, and ask for his help. He has his own out-of-this-world methods. He should be able to stop this Wonderland Monster.”
“I will look for him right away, My Queen.” Margaret was checking her phone. “Wait, I just received information: he took Alice and flew all the way to Columbia?”
The Queen stopped. “Columbia?” She tilted her head. “You’re thinking what I am thinking?”