Red Queen gave me an encouraging smile, then turned her radiant face to the citizens around her, touching hands and accepting flowers.
I shifted under all the curious stares. The people were as lost about what to think of me as I was of them. The Munchkins were all dressed in Old Dutch-like clothes, colorful skirts and pants with white shirts that matched the decor around them. The random tall people mingled in the crowd were dressed with a Renaissance flare, indicating they were from a different town.
But there was something strange about the crowd. The munchkins might be short, but there were no young people around us. I glanced up at the setting sun, just hovering above the tree lines. I was no expert on children, but it seemed a little too early for bed, right?
“Where are all the children?” I asked Red Queen.
Red Queen frowned at me. “No one’s told you yet? There are no children. I was the last person born in Oz.”
“What?” My wide eyes roamed the cluster of people squeezed between the red brick buildings. “How is that possible?”
Her brows pulled together. “It’s common for the birth rate in Oz to slow when a new Queen Candidate is chosen, until the Candidate can build a connection with Oz. But babies stopped being born altogether about five years after White Wizard was chosen. Since the Alice Games started, birth, aging, and death do not happen here in Oz. Everyone has stayed the same age they were that day.” Her features relaxed, and she moved over to someone beckoning to her, Lional and Hareson following in her wake.
I was more bothered about the idea than she was. She must be too used to it to care anymore. How many years had this cycle continued? If she was the last one born, then Oz must have already been sick at that point. Was that about the time when White Wizard started to change? I shouldn’t be so surprised, I guess. Now some things I’d seen in the Jewel Castle ruins made sense. According to the scenes I saw in the maze, he used to be a likable person, but I could only conclude his personality changed when he became a Queen Candidate.
But Oz had brought in the Alices then, presumably to fix things. So why hadn’t their choices been finalized? Why was Oz still going in a big circle? I only had one more night and a morning left to figure it out.
A flash of orange out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I turned my head to the right. Was that a person with bright orange hair sliding behind the red brick corner? Ace? My heart flipped with a sudden shot of adrenaline at the thought of seeing him again.
I glanced at my escorts. All three of them were in discussions with people. No one would notice if I slipped away and said goodbye to Ace. I had to be fast; the sky was starting to turn yellow.
Casually, I shifted over to the narrow alley. When I was sure no one was watching, I slid around the corner. The alley was empty. I flushed with embarrassment. I’d expected him to be there, waiting for me. Maybe I was being presumptuous. It’s wasn’t like Ace has done anything expected since I met him.
A flash of color caught my eye, then ducked around the end of the alley.
“Ah, wait!” I called. “Ace!” I hurried after him. I rounded the corner at a run and staggered to a halt, barely stopping short of running into someone.
A tall man grinned down at me. Not a nice grin, either. It was more like he flashed his teeth at me. He was scruffy and unkempt. The orange that I’d mistaken as hair was an orange bandana around his black hair and, now that I was closer, easily the wrong shade.
Something else was wrong with him. His feet didn’t fully touch the ground, just like the bandits that had attacked us earlier.
I stepped back, bells ringing in my head and my gut twisting in knots.
“If you were smart, you wouldn’t go looking for him, you know.” He laughed, making my stomach sink farther. “But then again, if you were smart, you wouldn’t leave the safety of Red Queen.” He grabbed me.
I fought back, clawing, kicking, and biting. He yowled and cuffed the side of my head with his fist. I staggered backwards against the wall, seeing stars. By the time my vision cleared, my hands were bound, and he’d stuffed a gag into my mouth.
“Lord Hatter wants to talk to you, Alice,” the man snarled in my face. “He hates to be kept waiting.” He grabbed my bound wrists and hauled me to my feet.
Shock vibrated through my mind. No matter how much I tried, my screams never made it past the gag. How stupid. I should have screamed right away. The real stupidity was leaving Red Queen’s side to chase after a possibility to begin with.
The sun was almost set, the air around us a dark shade of red. In minutes, Red Queen would be gone, and I doubted Hareson and Lional would find me in time. Desperate, I called out for someone who might actually care, but Ace’s name never made it out of the gag, either.
“Quiet, girly,” the man ordered. He started to drag me through the back streets toward the farm fields and the forest on the other side.
I wasn’t going along without a fight. In minutes, I’d be a cat. If this man was an animal bigger than me, I was in trouble. Well, more trouble. No matter how hard I wrenched at the coarse ropes around my wrists or kicked at him, nothing worked. He was so much stronger than me. I was like a doll. The only person hurting was me, as the ropes burned into my wrists.
“Stop it, girly.” Irritated, he shook me until my brain rattled. “You stupid Alice.”
Stupid for trying to save myself? It was obvious this man and the Hatter meant no good. It wasn’t like they were kindly inviting me to have a tea party with them. This was a mafia.
By now it was harder to see in the street. As we passed by the last alley, I could see lamps around the square being lit. Suddenly there was a loud commotion behind us. Maybe Red Queen had finally noticed I was gone.
The man swore. He grabbed me and slung me over his shoulder.
I struggled harder than ever.
A second later, an unpleasant but familiar sensation hit my stomach. It hurt more because of the man’s shoulder in my gut. I groaned with pain even though I was looking forward to changing. As a cat, I could slip out of the ropes and get away.
The man tossed me to the ground.
I yelped when my head hit the ground. Don’t pass out, I prayed. The ropes started to slide off my thinning wrists. My body shrank more, and brown cat fur sprang from my every pore. It was like being forced into a tight rubber suit, and more painful than an ulcer, but maybe I could escape now. As a cat, I struggled to my feet. My front paws were shaking and my back legs could barely support my weight. My head was still spinning but I had to move.
I barely took a step when something grabbed the scruff of my neck. A hand? How was there a hand? Wiggling and clawing uselessly, I was wrenched into the air, a yowl escaping me. Helpless, I was swung around until I was nose to nose with the creature holding me. A new fear twisted my gut.
A baboon. He turned into a baboon! People think monkeys in general are nice since they assume they are closely related to humans. What people don’t know is that primates, baboons in particular, are responsible for hundreds of human maulings every year.
The skin of his rainbow muzzle pulled back in a horrible grin. “Stupid girly.” His other hand came up, revealing a cloth sack. Before I could protest, he stuffed me in it.
Chapter Fifteen
I was bounced and tossed around in that suffocating bag for what felt like hours. The only saving grace was a small hole at the bottom of the seam. It wasn’t large enough to get my paw through and didn’t have loose strings I could pull at, but it provided fresh air.
Forever later, the bag I was in swung through the air and I landed on something flat and hard. When it didn’t move, I assumed it was the ground. I curled into a ball, ears flat against my skull as muffled but obviously loud animal sounds penetrated the bag’s material. The knot at the top of the bag started to jerk around, and the material loosened.
All the hair on my body stood up as the excited animal sounds coming from outside the bag got louder.
A baboon hand s
hoved its way through the opening and grabbed me.
I clawed and bit at him but was powerless as he dragged me out.
“Stop that,” the baboon snapped, and shook me.
When my eyes stopped rattling, I got a good look around the very noisy room. We were in a tall, gothic-style building. The marble might have been white once but now it was gray and stained, turning the potentially beautiful architecture dreary and threatening. Abused tables and benches were scattered around the cracked floor and pressed against the beaten walls and pillars. Even the beams overhead were marred with claw marks and feces.
A large group of predatory animals circled around me, mostly baboons and hyenas. They were unlike the host of animals I’d first encountered in the Ruby Castle. This group seemed to revel in their animal shape, showing their savagery by snapping and shoving at each other, barking and chattering in hot-blooded excitement. They stared at me, vicious intent seeping from their wild eyes. They were all tarnished and dilapidated. The dirty ground vibrated under their feet, as if Oz didn’t want them to soil it.
I instantly wanted to be back in the bag.
“My, my. Boon, you’ve done well.” A delightfully delirious, high-pitched male voice spoke up.
The animals shifted to reveal a raised platform at the top of the room. A battered, purple velvet throne was perched on top. Seated there was a hyena with a bulbous stomach and a top hat tied to his head with thin, black strings. Around the brim of the hat was a dingy, gold crown.
To the side of the throne a large copper bird cage was suspended a foot off the ground by a thick chain. The baboon walked over, opened the door and tossed me in roughly. He flicked a switch and locked it.
My claws squeaked against the copper bottom to steady myself as the cage shifted. I growled at the primate, then glared at the psycho on the throne. Apparently no one told him the hyena population was a matriarchy.
His upper lip pulled back in a toothy smile. “Welcome, Alice, to my Domain. I am Hatter.”
I didn’t bother to correct him since I didn’t want him to call me by name anyway. “I gathered that already.” My voice was flat, the best I could do in my bluff that I wasn’t as scared as I actually was. “Why did you kidnap me and bring me here?”
He giggled. “Simple. I want something from you.”
My tail swished, the copper bars messing with my fur. Who would have thought that a few hairs out of sync would be so annoying? Instinct demanded that I lick the offending fur back into place, but there was no way I was going to lick cat fur. “Why do you want something from me?” As if I would give him anything.
Air puffed out of his nose. “Because only an Alice, or someone possessing an Artifact from the other world, can go into the Emerald Castle.” He gloated with excitement.
I paused, processing this new information. Ace had something from my world. He’d insisted on it the first time I met him. And I’d innocently given it to him—the Cheshire Cat.
Hatter’s words crashed through my thoughts. “And now I can—” He paused and peered at me closely before jumping off the throne and running over.
He loomed over me with narrow eyes, and his lip pulled back as he sniffed desperately. This close, the crazy glint in his dark eyes was all the more apparent. He pushed at the cage, sliding me around in it, as he tried to get a better smell. “Where is it?” he yelled, his voice a clipped bark.
I flinched from the loud sound in my sensitive ears. “What? Where is what?”
“The Artifact! Where is it? Do you know how much effort I had to go through?” He threw his head back and howled into the crowd. “Shirley!”
Movement in the crowd drew my attention from the crazy carnivore.
A sheep, the only one in the building of predators, waltzed to the front of the crowd. She was tall and skinny, her legs looking almost too long for her body. Her white hair was dirty in places, and her steps were bold but uneven. Every other step she took, her foot didn’t touch the ground, as if she wasn’t entirely rejected from Oz yet. She stopped, her body posed in a way that she must have thought was appealing.
Hatter glared down at her. “You dropped that necklace, right?” Hatter demanded. “You said you dropped the necklace.” He stamped his foot like a child throwing a tantrum.
Dropped the necklace? I’d found it half hidden under my skirt after I was changed. My mind quickly played over that event again. The maids who’d dressed me in Ruby Castle all had sheep ears? Was this sheep one of those maids? Why was she here?
Just then her name clicked to me. Shirley. Wasn’t that the name of the maid who’d found me right after the water lilies? She said she was helping look for me. Had she actually been looking for the necklace? But by the time she got there, Ace had already gone.
Shirley the sheep nodded eagerly to Hatter. “Yes, my Lord. I made sure she got it. I watched her pick it up.” She was trying to act strong, but her voice wobbled.
At the sign of weakness, the hyenas in the crowd turned their heads to her, ears erect with interest. The hunters’ eyes narrowed and their nostrils flared.
Pity swelled in me as I watched the maid. She looked like some of the kids I’ve seen in school. Someone trying so hard to fit into a crowd that would just as soon eat you as call you a friend. I’d lost friends that way and never understood why someone would do that to themselves. Walk into such danger just because they wanted to change or feel accepted—even though it would never happen. It wasn’t logical.
Hatter stared at her for a full minute before his disposition calmed. “Come here.” He beckoned her.
She hurried to him, her moves dainty and poised to show off. She tip-toed up the stairs, knees jerking high in the process.
“You may touch the hat.” Hatter tilted his head toward her.
A shiver went through her body. Her nose rose up and carefully adjusted the hat until it was dead center on his head. She shivered again, elated.
My tail twitched as I shook my head. This was crazy. “Why couldn’t Shirley have just brought it to you?” I asked Hatter. “It would have been easier and spared us both the hassle.”
Hatter looked at me like he’d actually forgotten I was there. “They would have known she had it, of course. It never would have made it out of Ruby Castle. And she would have been punished. And Shirley is just too precious for that.” He leaned forward and almost touched her cheek with his nose.
She looked ready to swoon.
Animals in the crowd shifted and made noises of annoyance and jealousy. They were mostly female, I was willing to bet.
I couldn’t figure out his appeal. Didn’t the shmuck know she was being played? I guess the promise of power was too seductive.
But Hatter’s words made me think. Ace said any Role Player could tell where I was because I smelled different. And Hareson and Lional had been able to find me on the other side of the Domain boundary while I was in the maze. It must apply to my things, too. If Shirley had it, they would have been able to smell it on her and take it away. My smell must have masked the necklace so they couldn’t tell it was still on me. It wasn’t a bad plan. No one noticed I still had it except for one person.
I frowned. Ace had insisted that I give him something of mine. He knew it was there. Why did he want it so badly? He must know it could get him into the Emerald Castle. My mind drifted back to the conversation I overheard of Red Queen and Hareson. They said he wanted to get Blood out. What was Blood? Whatever it was, given the name, I can’t see how it could be good in the hands of the Cheshire Cat.
It felt like my heart was in a blender and being pulsed to nothing. Was that the reason why he saved me the first night? The necklace disappeared with all my clothes when I became a cat and he needed to wait till I was human to get it? Was that why he’d been so kind to me? And after he got the Artifact, it was because I was nothing but a plaything?
I shouldn’t be so hurt. I already knew from when Red Queen warned me. But I had thought that he was different with me, that maybe he
even thought of me as different. I had thought he was someone I could trust. That everyone was wrong about him. I guess I’m as much a fool as Shirley is.
“You’re handling this calmly.” Hatter walked over and nosed the cage so it would swing.
My paws splayed out, claws protracting and scratching against the metal cage in an attempt to stay steady. What was it with these people and swinging my cage? It wasn’t bad enough I was in here, now they wanted to make me seasick too?
I shook my head, the pain in my heart strong enough to lessen the fear of my situation. “Why do you want to get in the Emerald Castle so badly?”
His ears perked. “Why? Why? Look at me.” He posed, apparently ignorant to the fact that hyenas and top hats didn’t mix well. “I am Hatter. The savior of Oz.” He turned to the animals below. “The savior of Oz!” he shouted slowly and tossed his head up.
Cheers, growls, and shrieks exploded from the animals, causing me to flinch from the sudden ringing in my ears.
I stared at him, shocked at this new level of madness. How on earth could he believe something like that? Didn’t he know anything about Oz? Even I knew that it reflected the feelings of the ruler, even in the Domains. That Oz was beautiful when Red Queen was in charge and a winter for White Wizard. Even the Cheshire Forest reflected Ace’s vibrant, wild, and seemingly random attitude.
But this Domain was horrible. So dirty and distorted that even Oz didn’t like it, as was apparent from the fact that the people here couldn’t even touch the ground.
Couldn’t Hatter see this?
I shook my head. When the cheering quieted, I asked, “I thought the only two Queen Candidates were Red Queen and White Wizard?” Although Shirley had said that there were other options. She was obviously wrong.
“Why should that little girl and that icicle be the only Queen Candidates?” Hatter sneered. “They’ve played long enough. I have just as much right as they do. It’s time they bowed to me. And they will after I save Oz from their petty squabble.”
Alice Games Page 15
