‘I know her,’ said the guard. ‘She’s travelling with those two.’ He jerked a thumb at Alice and Suzanne, who were looking on helpless silence, knowing there was nothing they could say or do that would save Juliet now.
The conductor frowned at them for a moment. ‘Well, at least they’re wearing collars and you can see they’re girlings,’ he said. ‘We’ll report them all when we get to Gimble.’ He looked back at Juliet, who cringed away from his angry face. ‘But she’s not going any further looking like that and pretending she’s one of us.’
He literally tore the dress off Juliet, who yelped and tried to cover herself in a futile attempt to preserve her temporary return to modesty. The guard laughed at her evident embarrassment, caught hold of her wrists and pulled her arms up high so she could not conceal anything.
‘That’s better,’ said the conductor, looking Juliet up and down appreciatively. ‘A clothed girling’s not natural.’
‘Shall we put her in the cage?’
‘Maybe later. First we should teach her a lesson. Got any rope?’
‘There’s some baggage cord over there.’
They tied Juliet’s wrists over one of the exposed iron frames that supported the van’s curved roof, so that she had to stand almost on tiptoe. Alice swallowed at the sight of her taut young body. She looked beautiful, frightened and vulnerable, dressed only in her girlish white socks and sandals, which for the moment they had left on her.
The two railway officials also appeared to be assessing Juliet. The conductor pinched her left nipple and pulled it and her full breast out into a stretched cone, making her whimper.
‘Are you sorry for what you’ve done, girl?’ he asked sternly.
Alice thought Juliet would protest and beg for mercy, but instead she said tremulously: ‘Y … yes, Master.’
‘You know you’ve got to be punished?’
‘Yes, Master.’
The conductor unbuckled his belt and slipped it loose, then doubled the end around his fist.
The smack of leather against flesh echoed round the van, rising above the regular clickety-clack of the wheels on the tracks. Juliet’s shrill cry sounded eerily like a finely modulated train whistle. She twisted wildly under her bound hands, her fingers clawing, her face contorted, tears running down her cheeks, but there was no escape. In numbed silence, Alice and Suzanne watched the conductor methodically apply his improvised strap to her breasts, belly, back, thighs and buttocks, until her torso was shaded in crimson and pink. After a dozen blows Juliet went limp, her head dropped forward so that her chin rested on her chest, her tears dripping onto her trembling scarlet breasts, her softly rounded stomach palpitating, her knees bowed outwards by her boneless collapse.
The conductor pulled her head up by a fistful of her hair and said, ‘Now that’s what you get for boarding my train out of your proper place, girl!’
He let her head drop again, slipped his belt back on and left the van. The guard had watched Juliet’s punishment in appreciative silence and with a growing bulge in his trousers. Now he stepped forward and lifted Juliet’s head again.
‘We’re not quite done with you yet, girl,’ he told her with a smile.
He found two more lengths of baggage cord, tied them round her ankles, then pulled them up and outwards. Juliet gasped as the tormented flesh of her bottom and thighs was stretched to its limits. He tied the cords to the iron frame well to each side of her wrists, leaving Juliet hanging doubled over and splayed wide open in midair, her knees almost level with her shoulders, inner thighs taut, her dark pubic triangle split through where her soft pink inner lips gaped wide in enforced invitation. Even the dark little pit of her anus was on display.
The guard grinned at the sight and unbuttoned his flies. Juliet watched him with curious, misty-eyed resignation.
His prong of hard flesh bobbed free and erect, its slot-eye seeking its haven. He cupped his large hands under the tight curves of her buttocks to raise her slightly, then slid himself slowly into her, savouring the spreading of Juliet’s lovemouth by his cockhead, the filling of her sheath, the widening of her eyes. He began pumping in and out of her, setting her body swinging from the iron beam like a bell.
Alice gulped, hypnotised, her masochistic side aroused and fascinated by Juliet’s ravishment even as she ached for her friend’s suffering. It had been her idea – she should be there now, not Juliet. God, she was perverse! She wanted to be there. But like Suzanne, she could only watch helplessly.
The guard was grunting though gritted teeth, his thrusts setting Juliet’s heavy breasts jigging. Her eyelids were fluttering and she was making little throaty gasping noises. Suddenly she tensed, for a moment seeming to ride the impaling shaft, using her bonds to lift herself and bear down upon it. Then she convulsed wildly, yelling aloud and throwing her head back.
‘Good girl!’ Suzanne said under her breath. ‘You enjoy yourself!’
Slowly Juliet subsided, oblivious to the pistoning cock which still reamed her insides, shivering and twitching and going limp. The guard spent himself in her with desperate urgency, his breath sounding harsh. After a moment he withdrew his glistening shaft and rebuttoned himself. Brushing down his jacket he grinned at Alice and Suzanne.
‘Maybe I’ll have you two before we reach Brillig,’ he warned them. Then he left through the other door back to his van.
Juliet dangled from the roof frame, her head lolling on her slowly heaving chest, sweat glistening between her breasts. The guard’s sperm and her lubrication began to drip from her flushed and pouting labia to the scuffed wooden boards beneath.
‘Julie, love, are you all right?’ Suzanne called out anxiously.
Flushed, confused, her eyes glazed and dreamy, she raised her head. She blinked and focused on them, slowly returning to reality. Then she gave a little sob.
‘Did he hurt you?’ Alice asked fearfully.
‘No … it’s not that. I didn’t do anything wrong … pretending to be a girl, I mean. She knew who I was all along.’
‘Who?’
‘The one who told on me to the conductor. A woman in white.’
‘In white … Oh shit!’ Alice swore.
‘Do you know who she is?’ Suzanne asked.
‘Yes, it’s the –’
Just then he door opened and a large man came in. He had flaxen hair and wore a frock coat that strained across his massive shoulders. He looked about the interior of the van with suspicious eyes, then stood aside. The dumpy woman orchid fancier came in, still carrying her umbrella and hatbox. She smiled serenely at Alice and Suzanne and raised an amused eyebrow at Juliet’s suspended body.
The big man turned a crate on its side and she seated herself primly upon it. Before they could speak she raised a warning hand.
‘If all you are going to do is protest at my actions, then spare your breath. It must be a disappointment after all your strenuous efforts at raising the funds for your tickets I know, but I really could not allow you to proceed further. That would conflict with my plans.’
‘I was going to ask,’ said Alice trying to keep her voice level, ‘if you keep your crown in that hatbox?’
The woman hesitated, then the smile returned to her lips. ‘You are more perceptive than I thought, Alice Brown. Yes, I am Lilian Argentia Canescence Pearl Alabastrine, and I do keep my crown in the box.’
‘The White Queen,’ Alice said.
‘I am also known by that name,’ she acknowledged. ‘When I realised I could only travel about the Boardland by acting the part of a native, by feeling as they do towards the barriers, I found I could remove my crown. Nonetheless I like to have it close by. Such things are more nearly parts of us than you can imagine. To remove it is almost a denial of what we are, but in war one must make sacrifices.’
‘I suppose your spy insects put you onto me.’
‘Yes. Magenta was not as successful in eliminating them as she supposed. I knew the route you would take so moved to intercept you.’
> ‘And your bugs also told you where the Crown of Auria is?’
‘Naturally. After all these years it will finally be over. I suppose I should thank Magenta for that piece of intelligence.’
Alice looked at Suzanne and Juliet. ‘Don’t hurt them. I’m the one you want to keep out of the way. They’re only with me by chance.’
‘A noble gesture, but unfortunately I cannot agree to it. Firstly they might tell others who I am, which could impede my progress as the natives still harbour some resentment for my kind. Secondly, I have need of one of your companions. Ideally I would take you, Alice, and utilise your remarkable ability to pass between worlds to breach the final barrier. Magenta was really quite astute in recognising your potential. Who would have imagined common girlings could be so useful? But she has bound you to her and I really could not trust any control I may exert over you.
‘I have spent the last few days in Gyre observing you three, while I waited for Albinous here to join me. Consequently I have decided to take this one, Juliet, I believe she is called.’
Still dangling helplessly from the roof frame, Juliet twisted her head round to stare at the woman who was so calmly appropriating her.
‘She may not quite have your power but she is the most malleable,’ the White Queen continued. ‘I also sense she has only recently arrived in Underland, and so still does not fully belong here. With suitable encouragement I think she can be shaped into the best key to unlock the final barrier.’
Juliet was shaking her head and tugging at her bonds, but the White Queen only smiled at her briefly before returning her gaze to Alice. ‘I have spoken to the conductor and a certain sum of money has changed hands. Consequently the railway is pleased for me to take all three of you off their hands, and relieve them of your embarrassing presence. This way by the end of the journey, Juliet will be my girling and you two will be gone, so there will be no awkward report to make.’
‘And where will we be?’ Suzanne demanded.
‘You will shortly be leaving the train. We are passing through a rather desolate spot. Assuming you survive your disembarkation, by the time you reach any significant settlement it will not matter what you do or say because I will have what I desire. Albinous, open the side door and throw these two out.’
‘No, you can’t!’ Juliet screamed, wriggling and tugging at her bonds, ‘they might be killed!’
The Queen rose, stepped up in front of Juliet’s twisting splayed body and jabbed upwards with the tip of her umbrella. With uncanny accuracy the ferrule sunk into the dancing bull’s-eye of Juliet’s exposed anus, causing her to freeze with a sudden yip of surprise as the shaft of the cold metal spike penetrated her. There came a crackle and tiny blue sparks danced about the stretched ring of muscle. Juliet’s eyes and mouth widened into “O’s” of horror and her body shivered and twitched as the electric fire coursed through her. A thin high-pitched shriek of pain issued like a siren call from her gaping mouth.
The Queen withdrew the umbrella tip and Juliet sagged, trembling feebly and dizzy from shock.
‘If you are to serve me, you should know that I do not permit slaves to speak out of turn,’ the Queen said. ‘Do you understand?’
Crushed, Juliet could only nod dumbly.
‘Good. Continue, Albinous.’
Albinous unlatched the loading door and slid it backwards, letting in a rush of air and whiff of engine smoke. Trees and bushes flashed past. He unbolted the cage, unclipped Alice and Suzanne’s leashes and hauled them out. They kicked and struggled, but with their hands still bound behind them they could do nothing to prevent themselves being dragged to the doorway.
Alice gritted her teeth. Whatever happened next, there was one question she had to ask. And at this one moment she might be rewarded by a straight answer. ‘Why is this Crown of Auria so important?’ she shouted at the Queen. ‘The Red Queen just said it was powerful. How? Is it a weapon of some kind? Is it really worth all this?’
An odd light came into the Queen’s eyes. ‘It changes things, that is all. My kind has great powers, but we cannot alter the way we were made. Why should I live in envy of the beauty of lesser beings? I don’t care about the war any more; I simply want to be as perfect as Magenta. Is that such an unreasonable desire?’ Her last words bore a hint of defensiveness.
‘It depends how many people you hurt to make it come true,’ Alice retorted.
But the Queen had turned away, waving her hand dismissively. They had a last glimpse of Juliet’s frightened face, then Albinous gave them a shove and they tumbled from the train.
Seven
ALICE AND SUZANNE crashed through a thin screen of bushes, narrowly missing a large oak on the way, and landed on a steep grassy embankment. Down this they tumbled helplessly, hands still bound behind their backs, yelling and gasping with every roll and bump, over and over. Their descent ended amid the rushes and duckweed of a shallow pond into which they plunged. Here they flopped and wriggled about like stranded fish as they gasped for the breath that had been knocked out by their fall and then denied them by the pond water. Finally, bedraggled and smeared with mud and weed, they struggled to the bank and collapsed into limp and trembling heaps. The puffing of the train faded away into the distance and silence returned to the boggy hollow, broken only by the girls’ ragged breathing.
When Alice finally steadied her heaving chest long enough to speak, she panted, ‘Are you hurt?’
Beside her Suzanne rolled onto her side and spat out some pondweed. ‘I don’t think anything’s broken. You OK?’
‘Just a few scratches and bruises, I think. I’m so sorry …’
‘What for?’
‘I got you into this. And Juliet. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to her.’
‘You haven’t got anything to be sorry about,’ Suzanne said firmly. ‘You didn’t plan to bump into the White Queen.’
‘But we’ve got to try to get Juliet back.’
‘Of course we will, but not because you feel guilty about a bit of bad luck.’
Alice smiled into her friend’s mud-streaked face. ‘Thanks,’ she said simply, and kissed her.
‘Ouch!’ Suzanne exclaimed. ‘Mind the lip, I think its split.’
‘I’ll take a look at it, but first we’d better get these cuffs off. Good thing I only bought the cheap ones.’
They wriggled around until they were back to back and began working on the securing buckles. Soon Alice got one wrist free and the rest was easy.
When she was loose Suzanne gratefully unclipped her trailing leash and made to throw it and her cuffs away, but Alice said, ‘Let’s keep them. You never know if they might come in handy, and I don’t want to have to sell ten more baskets of flowers to buy another set.’
Leaving their waist straps on, they tied the cuffs to them with their leashes, so they hung over their hips. Then they circled round the pond to find some undisturbed water and washed themselves off. Cool dock leaves were found and pressed to the worst of their scrapes and bruises.
As they performed this minor first aid, Suzanne asked, ‘What’ll we do now?’
‘We head for Brillig as fast as we can,’ Alice said determinedly. ‘That’s where the White Queen’s going. It’s next door to the crown square.’
‘Yeah, but it’ll take days to get there following the railway line. By then she might have got this Crown and gone off who knows where, taking Juliet with her.’
Alice had been looking round as Suzanne was speaking. The hollow they had landed in was bounded on one side by the railway embankment and on the other by a thicker line of trees. Rising beyond them was the softly shimmering curtain of an edge barrier.
‘What’s on the other side of that?’ she asked, pointing at the barrier. ‘I never know which way I’m looking without a sun to help me.’
‘It must be the Slithy Woods square,’ Suzanne said. ‘The railway curves round to avoid it, remember. They must have thrown us off when we were already heading west.’
‘Yes, but it’s supposed to be dangerous.’
‘Who says so? Just because it’s not right for a railway line doesn’t mean we can’t walk through it.’
‘But what about those odd animals that live there?’
‘Well, according to the book, toves were sort of half-lizards-half-badgers with corkscrew snouts who nested under sundials and lived on cheese. Raths were green pigs and borogoves birds with big beaks and long legs, a bit like storks.’
‘You really read up on this place, didn’t you?’ Suzanne said, impressed.
‘I was trying to fix the feel of it in my mind. I’m not sure how much it helps, because things have changed so much down here. But they don’t sound so bad, do they?’
‘No, I guess they don’t. OK, we’ll give it a go. It might save us a day or so. At least we won’t be so far behind.’
Alice was frowning. ‘Wait a minute, let me get something straight. The train’s going to go through three other populated squares, and stop at Gimble, to get round the Slithy Woods, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘But if no people live in these Slithy Woods, or not much goes on in it, maybe it’s only a small square when you’re inside, like Ruddle’s garden. If we cross it quickly we might even get to Wabe before the train!’
Suzanne blinked for a moment, then a smile spread across her face. ‘You could be right. I sometimes forget how crazy this place is. But if we manage it, how do we get back onboard again?’
‘I don’t know yet. We’ll think of something. But are you on?’
‘Of course!’
They set off for the trees at a brisk walk.
The brook running along the line of the barrier cut through the belt of lush greenery in a die-straight line. No details of what lay on the other side were visible through its distortion, but Alice got the impression it was dimmer than on this side.
She looked at Suzanne, who nodded. They took a step back and then leaped across.
They landed on a clearing littered with dry sticks and dead leaves. About them was a darker forest of tall straight trees filled with shadows. Ahead the ground rose in a gentle slope. All was still and silent, with no sign of any exotic wildlife.
Alice In Chains Page 13
