Some rats die in the worst ways, he thought again. Had any of those ugly humans ever thought how it’d feel being killed under a giant shoe? And what happened when the first hit didn’t kill the rat. Were they going to finish their kill with another hit?
Not that the Cheshire liked rats. As a cat, he sometimes ate them, although he thought they tasted awful. What did you expect from something that lived in sewers?
But he’d stand up for a rat against any human on any given day.
Still scurrying away, his phone rang in his teeth. He shuddered to the vibration and decided enough was enough.
He possessed a Mushroomer and stooped over to pick up the phone from the rat he’d once possessed.
“Yes?”
“It’s Margaret.”
“I’m still looking for Tweedledee and Tweedledum,” he said, seeing that none of the other Mushroomers paid attention to him. Now that was the beauty of living among insane folks. They wouldn’t give attention to such a sentence like the one he’d just uttered.
“I don’t think that’s necessary now. Plans have changed.”
“I’ve almost lost one of my nine lives in my quest, and you tell me plans have changed?”
“The Queen is about to make things worse with one of her stupid plans again.”
“What? She decided to cut off the headless horseman’s head?”
“Worse. We’re on our way to the UN headquarters in Geneva. We’re meeting with the presidents of the world.”
“Got an appetite for some sightseeing while the world is going down?”
“The presidents of the world are supposedly discussing how to deal with the plague.”
“I bet that’s a camouflage for something else.”
“They’re actually planning how to get the elite people of the world to escape if the world really ends tomorrow,” Margaret said. “They will even have part of the fake conference broadcasted on TV, but that’s not the issue.”
“I think I know what the issue is. The Queen is about to turn this conference upside down somehow.”
“Yes. She wouldn’t tell me how, but what worries me is that she and Carolus became friends all of a sudden.”
“That’s wonderfully weird in a very sinister way.”
“I think he told her a secret about the plague that we don’t know of, and they made a deal of some kind. I don’t know what it is.”
“Frankly, I don’t care. I’d be happy to see everyone in the world die, and I have nine lives. I wouldn’t mind living in this world, although it means I’d end up possessing rats and cockroaches.”
“I think you better come to Geneva, Cheshire. I have to go now.”
The Cheshire hung up, not really caring about what the Queen had in mind. He’d come here to find the Tweedles, which he thought was a fun pursuit. If it wasn’t Edith and Lorina, then he suspected it’d be Dr. Tom Truckles children. The Twins. Todd and Tania.
And he was about to find out. Only one thing stopped him now. He realized that as a Mushroomer, he was locked behind bars now. How he wished he hadn’t let that rat go.
Chapter 80
St Peter’s, The Vatican
“Get in, children,” Fabiola urges them.
I make sure the March Hare and chauffeur get in safe as well. The world outside in the piazza has gone bonkers. The basilica is the last resort for the uninfected at the moment. The early morning twilight slants through its dome, reminding me I have less than twenty-four hours to kill Carolus.
“Where is the Pillar?” Fabiola asks.
“He jumped out of the plane,” I say. “I have no idea why.”
“Good.” She took the March Hare in her arms. “Missed you, buddy. Really missed you.”
“I love you, White Queen. It’s been so long. I want to go back to Wonderland.”
“Someday, March. Someday.”
Watching the old March playing child and mother with Fabiola is a bit strange. I like the March. I can feel the purity of his heart when I talk to him, but how is he supposed to be an asset to the Inklings?
The children gather around Fabiola as well.
Fabiola is like a universal language. Every color, ethnicity, and gender throw themselves in her arms. She is like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. It’s either the fear of the dark or the freedom of light in arms.
I sit next to a few uninfected in the church, watching Fabiola organize everything. She makes sure all entrances are perfectly locked, that there is food for everyone, and that no one has gotten infected somehow while inside.
“You did a great job, Alice,” she tells me. “I’m repeatedly impressed by your insistence to make the world better.”
“Thank you,” I say. “It was a bit of a darker ride in Columbia, however.”
“I know.” She holds my hands. “The Executioner?”
“How come there are such bad people in the world?”
“I don’t specialize in analyzing bad people. I prefer to look for the good in people and help them bring it out. It’s a better way to look at the world.”
“Not with the Pillar, I guess.”