“Of course, long live the Queen,” the Pillar says. “Although she’s too short to live that long,” he says under his breath.
I wonder about the Inklings in the future. Who is leading them in the future? And why am I in a compound, living a luxurious life away from them? Part of a plan?
“Do you know where I can find him, sweeties?” the Pillar says.
“He is in section six,” the shorter one says.
“And where is that?”
“The one known as the Door to Wonderland in Christ Church. But you must have heard of it.”
“Of course I have.” The Pillar fluff-talks them for a few seconds and then rolls my bed ahead.
“You really know where this Door to Wonderland is?” I say, tilting my head back to look at him.
“I do. It’s a door near the library that Lewis Carroll used to stare at for hours while writing the book,” the Pillar says. “It’s said that the dean of the university at the time locked it because it was a real door to Wonderland. And…”
“And what?”
“It’s supposed to be your favorite place for playing as a child.”
“Me?”
“Yes,” the Pillar says. “In fact, it makes sense for this Mock Turtle to wait for you there. If you really keep the keys with him, then the name of the place is like a secret code between you and him. Your favorite childhood place. Makes sense.”
“Do you think me living in the compound is a camouflage, a trick to hide my true identity in the future, and the Mock Turtle being the leader of the revolution is only to delude the Queen?”
“We’re about to know in a second.” The Pillar stops.
I get out of bed and stare at the door he is pointing at. It leads to a garden. A vast one that is the same design as the one in my house at the compound. It looks like another part of Wonderland.
“I’m very curious about this Mock Turtle now,” I say. “Who could it be?”
“The last person that would ever cross your mind,” the Pillar says, pointing at him standing in the middle of the garden.
Chapter 26
THE PRESENT: MARGARET KENT’S OFFICE
The phone rang, and Margaret picked it up. “Who is it?”
“The Cheshire.”
“What do you want?” she said. “Aren’t you supposed to guard the Inklings until Alice awakes?”
“Something came up.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m getting signals from Jack’s mind.”
“Signals?”
“I can read his mind.”
“You don’t say.”
“I’m seeing memories.”
“I bet they’re all playing cards and None Fu games.”
“No.” The Cheshire hesitated. Margaret sensed he wasn’t quite himself. Something was happening to him. “They’re mostly about Alice.”
Margaret shrugged. She stood up, locked her door, and went back to her desk. “Anything useful?”
“A lot of lovey-dovey memories,” he said. “I’m still digging.”
“Anything about her being the Real Alice?” she asked eagerly. “Come on, there must a lead in her past to prove it’s her.”
“You sound too eager to know.”
“Yes, Cheshire, I want to know.” She gritted her teeth. “You know what it means if it’s hers.”
“Not really sure,” he lamented. “I’m not that involved in this Wonderland War.”
“You don’t understand,” Margaret said. “All of the Real Alice’s secrets lay in the few years after the circus. That’s where it all happened. You have to rummage through that wreckage in Jack’s mind. Harder.”
The Cheshire kept to himself for a while. Margaret couldn’t dismiss the possibility that the infamous cat was warming up to Jack and Alice, even if just a little.
“Cheshire,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” He was surely lying. “There is this memory about why Jack came back after she killed him.”
“And?”
“I can’t put my finger on it,” the Cheshire said. “But he came back to tell her something so important to him.”
“Tell her who she really is, maybe?” Margaret leaned back in her chair, a smile curving her lips. “That’s fantastic.”
“It’s driving me crazy.”
“You are crazy.”
“You think so?”
“‘We’re all mad here.’ Your words, not mine.”
“Yeah. I forgot.”
“It’s okay. Just understand that things are starting to get really exciting.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to. Just figure out why Jack came back, and if she is the Real Alice.” Margaret hung up then closed her eyes.
The few past weeks she had resisted the idea that the Pillar had found the Real Alice. It was a scary thought to Wonderlanders. But there hadn’t been enough evidence to support it.
Since Margaret needed all she could bargain with to get her thing back from the Queen, it’d be great if she came across proof that the girl in the asylum was the Real Alice. That would be perfect timing.
Chapter 27
THE FUTURE: THE DOOR TO WONDERLAND, OXFORD ASYLUM FOR THE CRIMINALLY SANE