Death of the Mad Hatter (25 page)

C
HAPTER
F
ORTY-
F
IVE

(
Ryley: Present Time in Wonderland)

The
Waiting Room
, as Alice Mae affectionately called it, was a round, black and white checkered chamber. It occupied a different space and time than both Wonderland and my realm. The ceiling was above my head, but not centered—more off to the side, over my ear. The effect was dizzying. In the center of the room was a glass table with a beautiful, glass mermaid holding it.

Something squirmed in my hand. The white rabbit, no longer a stuffed toy, wiggled in my grip. I dropped it. The creature hopped over to Alice Mae
and tugged on the edge of her dress. She was leaning against the chamber wall where vines had taken over. Dirt clumped on her clothes, but she still looked polished in an odd way. Maybe it was just my eyes.

“
You look worse,” she said. “You were flailing your arms like you were drowning.”

She was right. I looked like I just got done rolling around in the mud.
“Anyone who sees me will know I’m not from around here.”

“
Then we shall stay hidden,” Alice Mae said, dubiously.

The rabbit tugged harder on Alice Mae
’s dress. “M.H. wouldn’t stand for what you are planning to do.”

“
And what of the queen, Mr. Ruth? She certainly wouldn’t stand for
me
if I didn’t play nice,” Alice Mae said, dismissively.

“
What about the prophecy?” Mr. Ruth said, clutching the hem of her dress even tighter. “The Reign of Terror must end!”

“
And end it shall, one way or another,” Alice Mae said. “But I’m no longer listening to old men who tell stories about the future. Look where it got M.H.”

“
You need to stop punishing yourself for the things you cannot control, Al!” Mr. Ruth said. “It’s not your fault he—”

Alice Mae grabbed the rabbit and covered his mouth.
“Listen to me, old friend. I refuse to let another person die because of my actions.”

The rabbit thumped his feet on Alice Mae
’s hand until she loosened them. “What do you think the queen will do to the Heir?”

I hadn
’t bothered to follow half of what they were saying. I was too busy staring at the real-life animal that had been a stuffed toy seconds before. “Have I lost it, or is that rabbit talking?”

Alice Mae looked
startled, like she’d forgotten I was standing in the
Waiting Room
with her. Like always, she quickly recovered and wore a pleasing smile. “Creatures of this realm are not as dumb as the animals of the Otherworld, Ryley. They can talk, just like you and I.”

She set the rabbit down. Mr. Ruth scurried to the twisted vines in the far corner of the chamber. He pulled
several back, revealing a ceramic frog—
my dad’s gift to my mom!
Mr. Ruth thumped the frog on his head.

“
Spit it up!” Mr. Ruth said. “Robby’s son is here.”

The ceramic that held the frog together shattered, revealing a very alive frog that still wore a suit with my
dad’s initials sewn on it. The ceramic frog burped up a tiny, skeleton key and caught it with his hand. He looked like he’d been awakened from a coma. The moment he saw me, the frog no longer appeared lethargic. He looked at Mr. Ruth, then Alice Mae, and then back to me.

“The boy with the girl’s name shall be known as Robby’s son no longer,” the frog said. “
He is the spitting image of M.H!”

“The Mad Hatter?”
Mr. Ruth said, looking at me with wide eyes.

“He does have the M.H’s flamboyant characteristics,” Alice Mae said, softly. All the blood drained from her face.

“Why the grim face?” I said, clearly missing an important piece of information.

“My stomach must just be upset from the fall,” Alice Mae said, dismissively
.
“Ryley, I’d like to formally introduce you to Theodore, the Toad.”

“
I’m a
frog
, not a toad!” Theodore said, spitting out the “T” word like it was a four-letter curse. “Just because my name starts with a ‘T’ doesn’t mean I’m a toad!”

“
My dad gave you to my mom,” I said, dumbly.

“
It’s like having a conversation with a child,” Theodore said and shook his head. “I was to watch over you and your mother, you foolish boy. Did you think that the Great Robert Edgar would leave you and Lauren unprotected?”

“
He left a toad to protect us?”

“
Frog
, not toad,” Theodore spat. “And what are you saying? That I’m not good enough to keep away your enemies? I’ve been a loyal servant to your father for years, and all you see is a worthless frog. Figures.”

“
He didn’t mean to offend,” Alice Mae said. She walked over to me and clung to my arm, like we were a couple. “He’s just not used to animals smart enough to talk. Remember, I used to be the same way.”

Theodore
looked at Alice Mae like she was a poop fly. “Like I said, I have been Robby’s loyal servant for years. I don’t trust you, Al. I never have, especially after you led Zola Maude to him.”

Mr. Ruth nudged
Theodore. “Watch your words. Al swears up and down that she didn’t know her aunt was following her.”

“
You’re just a naive rumperbabbit. Al is a liar. Everyone knows this,” Theodore said and then glared at Alice Mae. “Like I said, I’ve sworn to protect the Heir as best I can. I don’t trust you or your intentions. I’ve heard rumors of your diabolical plan and won’t allow you into Wonderland until you promise that this is not another trick. I’ll only permit the Mad Hatter to enter Wonderland if it’s by his own accord.”

Alice Mae placed her hand over her heart.
“I hate Hearts.”

“
You didn’t answer my question, Al,” Theodore said, hopping up to her like she was a bug he was going to crush. “I asked you if you were planning more tricks.”

“
I did not tell her of Ryley’s arrival,” Alice Mae said.

“
I’ll be watching you, Al,” Theodore said, handing me a bronzed key.

Theodore
and Mr. Ruth hopped to a mouse door that had been covered with the vines. I followed their lead and unlocked the door. Mr. Ruth hopped through. I inspected the door that was much too small for me to squeeze through. Just when I was about to ask Theodore what I should do, his green skin and clothing hardened. He was once again ceramic.

“
And how are the humans supposed to enter Wonderland?” I asked.

“
I already spelled it out for you,” she said, glancing at the mangled cupcake and the bottle in my hand.

The
frosted words
Eat Me
were no longer legible. I forgot about the little bottle in my hand. The room seemed to grow when I took a swig of the beverage. It tasted like a sugary toenail. Soon I became as small as the door. Clothes twisted around me, forming as I reshaped. Alice Mae took a drink as well and in a manner of seconds she was no bigger than a mouse. Her dress shrank too, fitting to her new miniature size.

She pulled out a pink ribbon from her basket.
“You blindfolded me on our first date. I’d like to return the favor. Wonderland takes some time getting used to.”

“
Am I going to regret this?” I asked as she tied the ribbon around my eyes.

“
Probably.”

“
Theodore doesn’t like you,” I said, stalling to leave the
Waiting Room.
I needed a minute to talk to Alice Mae, alone.

“
Most creatures in Wonderland don’t like me anymore.”

“
Do they blame you because my dad lost his mind?”

She laughed a pitiful laugh that made my heart ache.
“No, they blame me for what happened to M.H.”

“
Which is?”

“
A story for another time,” she said, and gave me a gentle nudge to the door.

S
ince I really wanted to see Wonderland, I decided not to press the issue, but I knew something was wrong—very wrong about this whole ordeal. I still couldn’t slow my heart from beating so rapidly whenever I was around Alice Mae… even though I was certain she was ordered to bring me to Wonderland to meet with the queen. Since our end goal was the same, I played along. I just wished that Alice Mae would have trusted me enough to tell me the truth. I wished that she could just see how much I cared for her.

I walked through the door, expecting to step out onto the ground. There wasn
’t any ground under my foot, only what felt like a ladder. I felt around. Bark. We’d come out of a tree. I licked the frosting on my fingers. Just as I shrank, I grew quickly (still blindfolded, mind you).

I
felt the sun on my skin. The air smelled fresh, like it was early spring instead of nearly winter. She led me to a secluded place and instructed me to sit. It felt like I was walking in a swamp. Water squished under my feet, but my shoes didn’t get wet. It was the oddest sensation. Birds sang. I imagined that the creatures were some kind of cockatoo and penguin hybrid, but I said nothing. She handed me a cup. I sniffed it. It smelled like hot tea, but when I took a sip it was ice cold.

“
Don’t worry,” Alice Mae said. “We’re alone, for now. Few creatures come out at night.”

At night?
“Nice try, but I can feel the sun warming my skin.”

“
Oh, is that so?”

“
I might be extremely disorientated, but I’m still aware of my surroundings.”

“
Then take off your blindfold, Mad Hatter,” Mr. Ruth said.

“
Enough of you, Mr. Ruth, into the basket you will go,” she said. I could hear her pick up the rabbit and place it inside of the basket. She closed off the lid. “We need a little more privacy anyway.”

“Mr. Ruth falls deaf inside a wicker basket?” I asked.

“
He gets sleepy in dark, cozy places,” she said, and giggled as if I had asked an asinine question.

When
I removed the blindfold, I refused to believe that my eyes were working properly. I was on the inside of a cave that had thousands of punch holes, letting the stars shine through. The moon was a hundred times closer than I ever recalled seeing it.

I
touched my forearm with my finger. It was hot to the touch.

“Moon burn is a real problem in this world,” Alice Mae said.

She was shaded by the umbrella. Shadows cast their darkness on her eyes. She patted a patch of blue and green grass beside her. A blue caterpillar crawled like a slinky across her boot. It shined like a glow worm, expelling a vibrant blue hue that lit the contents that Alice Mae had set out on the quilted blanket.

“
How is this possible?” I asked, walking under the protection of the umbrella.

“
I told you. The laws of this realm, this world, don’t work the same way that they do in yours,” she said, tossing out a quilted blanket that she’d pulled from the basket.

She lifted the basket lid and pulled out containers. Some of the
containers’ dimensions were bigger than the basket itself. Each one contained a different course of a meal—five total.

Trying not to think too hard about this impossible place,
I scooted closer to Alice Mae. It seemed all so surreal. She picked up a strawberry, took a bite, and then offered it to me. It was the best strawberry I’d ever had. She tossed the end over her shoulder. It fell to the ground. I watched in disbelief as the green vine wiggled up from the squishy dirt—a strawberry vine.

I
picked up a caramel covered apple, took a bite, and then threw it as far as I could. It bounced off the rocky surface a few hundred yards away. I waited, staring at the place where it landed. Alice Mae reached for my hand and rolled her thumb over mine as we stared at the apple. A small tree trunk grew from the fruit. A golden liquid drizzled from the bark, like caramel.

I
eyed the ham sandwiches. “If I threw that, would a pig sprout from the ground?”

She grabbed one of them.
“I wonder if it would fly.”

I
grabbed her wrist and redirected the ham sandwich to my mouth. I took a bite and then shook my head. “We might starve if you do such a thing.”

“
That would be a shame,” she said, and grinned wickedly.

“
Can I ask you something without you getting angry at me and the curiousness of my question?” I asked.

“
Tread carefully with your words, Ryley. They are more powerful than you think.”

“
Every molecule in my body screams that you are dangerous and that I shouldn’t trust you, but every time I look at you, I forget all logic and hope that you can’t hear my heart beating out of my chest. I fall into your eyes and swear that I catch a glimpse of your soul. You sound like an angel when you speak. You consume my thoughts. I forget to eat because I day dream about your kiss,” I said and brushed her hair out of her face. “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told a girl before. I’ve fallen hard—and not just down a rabbit hole.”