Alice In Chains (17 page)

‘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.’

‘So, as the crow flies, that’s the direction we want to go.’

‘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.

‘OK,’ Alice said, her voice unconsciously lowering, ‘I suppose we just keep going straight ahead.’

‘I’m right behind you,’ Suzanne said with unnecessary emphasis.

They set off along a hollowed path between the exposed tree roots. The bare earth was well worn, as though by the passage of many feet. The tall trees closed around them. As they went they began to notice burrows in the sides of the path and exposed banks of earth. Their numbers increased as they progressed. Alice, who was leading, suddenly felt the ground giving way under her foot and had to skip aside as a section of the path gave way, dropping into a small dark tunnel beneath.

‘You can see why they wouldn’t want to put the railway through here,’ she said with feeling. ‘The place is like a Swiss cheese.’ She picked up a long stick and prodded the ground before continuing.

They made their way carefully up the low hill. Suzanne tapped Alice’s shoulder and pointed to the interlaced branches above them. Several large nests were clearly visible, though they appeared to be empty.

‘Maybe they’ve all died out or left or something?’ Alice wondered.

‘I don’t know,’ Suzanne said. ‘I’ve got the feeling we’re being watched. Let’s get out of here as soon as we can. This place is seriously creepy!’

The trees began to thin and they found themselves on the edge of a clearing at the top of the small hill. In the middle of this grassy lawn was a curious structure which Alice took to be a sort of monument. There was a paved circle ringed about with a dozen oddly arranged pairs of stone blocks. At the centre of the circle was an upright column capped by a flat stone disc. As they got closer Alice saw there was a small triangular upright piece of metal set in the centre of the disc. Suddenly she laughed. ‘Well, there’s a sundial.’

‘I suppose a sundial in a land without a sun makes a kind of mad sense,’ Suzanne said. ‘But what are these other things for?’

They examined the ring of paired stone blocks. The inner block was a knee-high upright rectangular slab with a shallow convex top with two scallops cut out of its inner face. Below the scallops were some faded dark stains. At the bottom of each side, bolted to the stone was a hinged metal half-cuff, hanging open. The end of the second stone slab butted up against the lower outside face of the upright. It was like a low pedestal, narrower than the upright. On either side of its other end was another pair of open cuffs.

For a moment the arrangement baffled Alice, then she realised how it could be utilised. ‘OK, I think I can see what these are for. Maybe we’d better keep going.’

‘I think you’re right.’ Suzanne turned, then grabbed Alice’s arm. ‘Too late. We’ve got company.’

Alice looked round. As they had been inspecting the stones a circle of perhaps two dozen animals had silently formed around them.

There were the toves – slim, striped badger heads and front paws merging into reptilian hindquarters and long tails. Some rested on all fours while others stood upright, holding their paws neatly tucked in. Their improbable tapering corkscrewed snouts undulated sinuously as they regarded Alice and Suzanne with their sharp little eyes. Beside them were raths, who were indeed green pigs with large ears and mobile snouts like small elephant trunks, though she could not tell at that moment if they were feeling particularly mome or not. Finally there were the borogoves; shaggy balls of feathers balanced on stalk-like legs with long hooked beaks giving them an air of constipated self-importance.

It was disconcerting to be the focus of so much silent interest. Alice licked her lips and said, in case they could understand, ‘Hello. Didn’t mean to disturb you. We’re just passing through. Um, nice sundial … we’ll be going, then.’

But as they started to move off the silent crowd closed about them. Alice saw a knowing depth in their eyes. They might not talk, but they could think. Alice and Suzanne were edged back until they stood beside two of the paired stone blocks.

‘You know what they want!’ Suzanne said nervously.

‘What most animals down here seem to want, I guess.’

‘Can you think of any way out?’

‘We could probably outrun them.’

‘But we’d have to get past them first. Have you seen the claws on those badger things? And those beaks look pretty sharp.’