Tobias ForrestNaylor In Wonderland

- Chapter Two -

Trouble in Wonderland

The soup spoon fell from Jac's hand with a tremendous clatter that shook the dust from the table.

'I'm where?' She exclaimed.

'In Wonderland, Miss Jac,' Amelia reiterated. Jac had heard of Wonderland; every child had.

'I thought Wonderland was just a story.' Timothy fixed Jac with his twinkling grey eyes and sighed.

'To you it was but just a story yet now you see that it is all real.' Jac blinked, staring back at Timothy open-mouthed.

'Tomorrow, I will show you around,' Amelia told her.

'But you said it wasn't safe-' Jac began but she fell silent at the warm smile on Amelia's face.

'Oh it isn't safe,' Amelia warned. 'Not during the night at least. But you'll be travelling with the warmth of the sun on our backs.'

'Yeah, but you're both…well mice,' Jac didn't know how else to put it. 'Surely you'll be in danger if you go out in the day?' At this, Amelia and Timothy both erupted into raucous echoing laughter. Jac felt the tips of her ears turning red and she stared down at her half-drunk soup, determined not to let her hosts see her embarrassment.

Timothy clapped a paw on Jac's shoulder and the warmth of his fur seemed to comfort Jac for a little while.

'My dear Miss Jac,' Timothy whispered. 'My wife shall be quite safe in the day.' Jac picked up her spoon and gulped down a mouthful of soup. It had gone cold but for once Jac did not mind; she had never tasted soup so good in all of her life. She cleared her throat.

'You don't need to call me miss,' she said in a quiet voice. 'Just Jac is okay.'

'Very well Just Jac,' Amelia said. Jac laughed - she couldn't help it.

'No, I mean just call me Jac.' It took a couple of seconds for Amelia to understand but when she did - she joined Jac in her laughter.

'Jac it is!' Amelia slurped the remainder of her soup; she grimaced and Jac caught a whiff of a strange sweet-smelling aroma. 'I do apologise,' she said to Jac. 'My bowels aren't quite what they used to be.'

'That's just her excuse,' Timothy whispered in Jac's ear. 'She's always been terrible for it. Since the day I met her in fact!' Jac giggled.

'How long have you known each other?' Amelia and Timothy exchanged thoughtful glances but neither spoke. 'I don't mean to be rude,' Jac mumbled. 'I'm just curious.'

'No, no!' Amelia boomed. 'Curiosity is the essence of life!' She looked up at the cuckoo clock on the mantel. 'Timothy and I have known each other since we were tiny pups, oh that must have been…' Her voice trailed away into silence.

'Three score and ten,' Timothy finished. 'Seventy years,' he explained at the blank look on Jac's face.

'You're seventy years old?' Jac couldn't believe it. She had never heard of mice living so long - even if they were mice from Wonderland.

'And looking good on it, wouldn't you say?' Amelia chipped in.

'Years in Wonderland are not the same as your home,' Timothy explained. 'We have only twelve hours in our day and a hundred days in our year.' Jac nodded, pretending to understand although she was more lost than she had ever been.

'There was one thing,' Jac started. 'Something I've been wondering about.' She wasn't sure how best to say it but she knew she had to ask.

'Go on?' Amelia pressed.

'Who is the Queen of Hearts?'

In an instant, the atmosphere in the room seemed to darken. Timothy shivered and Jac saw that his claws were bared. She backed away from him, afraid that he might attack if provoked. She turned to stare at Amelia.

'She is evil,' Amelia hissed. 'The most evil thing Wonderland has seen in many a year.'

'But I still don't understand who she is?'

'It is enough that you don't know,' Amelia told her, keeping her voice low as though she were afraid of being overheard. 'And it is enough that I have told you.'

'So is she the Queen of Wonderland?"

'No,' Timothy barked. It was a surprise to hear how firm his tone was. 'She merely yearns to be.'

'I think now would be the time for bed,' Amelia said before Jac could ask another question. 'Your room is up the stairs on the left - Timothy will show you.' Timothy ushered Jac from her seat and she followed him willingly out of the dining room, leaving Amelia to draw the lime-green curtains. She flinched. Something had been watching her from the window. One of the Queen's hideous spies, no doubt. She stared out of the window briefly but the creature did not return. Shaking the terror out of her heart, Amelia closed the curtains again and the room was bathed in darkness. She lit a candle to guide her way upstairs.

Outside the mice's den, dark and fearful creatures were gathering. They met around a glowing stone circle and bared and gnashed their frightful teeth. There was a spider monkey with a scarred face and claws that looked as if they had never been sharper. He grimaced; his scarlet eyes surveying the carnage around him. Two lizards were fighting over a young rabbit carcass - their teeth dripped crimson with the blood of its flesh.

A flash of light soared overhead and the creatures all raised their heads to look. When they had returned to the stone circle, a woman was standing in the centre. She had flowing silver hair that clashed with her yellow cat-like eyes and she was clad in a cloak of fine silk that was embroidered with tiny hearts such as those you might find on a playing card. By her side she carried a long emerald whip.

The creatures bowed their heads before the Queen of Hearts.

'Get up!' The Queen of Hearts spat. 'Or I'll execute the whole lot of you. One by one.' There was a mad rush as every creature shot on to their hind legs. 'Better,' The Queen of Hearts cackled. 'You!' She hissed at the spider monkey. 'What news do you have for your Queen?'

For a moment it seemed as if the spider monkey's cocksure attitude had deserted him and he backed away slowly. But the Queen of Hearts had spotted him and his legs stuck fast in the mud.

'I…I…' He spluttered. 'I mean…'

'Don't be afraid,' the Queen of Hearts whispered and her voice was sickly and sweet. 'I shall not harm you.'

'There is no news, your grace,' the spider monkey said. The Queen of Hearts face flashed with fury.

'Are you quite sure?' She was eye to eye with the spider monkey now and she could feel him trembling.

'That is to say,' he mumbled. 'That is to say I have not heard anything myself. There may be others who have heard…differently.' The Queen of Hearts turned away from him and he relaxed.

'Is he right?' Nobody answered. The Queen of Hearts took a deep breath: 'I asked - IS HE RIGHT?!' The force of her yell shook the trees around them and one of the lizards almost fell from the tip of the stone he was perched on.

'No, your grace,' someone said from the farthest reach of the circle.

'Oh,' said the Queen of Hearts. 'You have heard something, minion?' The minion stepped out of the shadows and like the Queen, he too wore a cloak patterned with hearts although it was somewhat less fine than hers.

'I have, your grace,' the minion said. 'Another child has come to Wonderland.' There were gasps among the creatures but the Queen of Hearts anguished yell was louder than all.

'Another child,' she whispered. 'Another human child?' The minion nodded. 'Where is it?' Nobody answered. 'WHERE IS THE CHILD?!'

'The mice took her,' said the minion. 'Amelia and Timothy.' The Queen of Hearts clapped her hands together with glee.

'Then you'll just have to take her back, won't you?' The minion bowed his head.

'I will do what I must.' He turned and strode away from the circle, his cloak flowing behind him in the night air. The rest of the creatures cowered away from the Queen of Hearts but the fear of lower beings was not her concern. She had bigger matters to consider and plans to be calculated.

The sun rose high and sharp over Wonderland's rolling hills and dense forests. As promised, Amelia had woken Jac early and the pair were strolling through the apple orchard that Amelia explained was the back garden of the White Rabbit.

'Won't he mind?' Jac asked, taking care not to step on any of the apples that lay scattered around the grass.

'Oh no,' Amelia told her. 'In fact, he's expecting us.'

They traipsed through the orchard and before long, Jac could see a huge mound of earth rising up out of the ground. There was a small round yellow door and waving at them from a wooden bench was a sparkling white rabbit. He wore a velvet waistcoat and as they drew closer, Jac saw that it had silver buttons that reflected the gleam of the sun.

'Allow me to introduce myself,' the White Rabbit said, leaping of the bench with a single bound and holding a paw to Jac. Jac shook the paw gingerly. 'I am the White Rabbit.'

'Jac,' Jac murmured.

'Yes, I very much know who you are.' the White Rabbit smacked his lips together and hopped over to where Amelia lay. The mouse was sunning herself on her back and she giggled as the warmth tickled her.

'Excuse me,' Amelia said as the White Rabbit's shadow blocked out the sun over her.

'Come, come,' he said. 'I have prepared a breakfast of toast and honey.' Jac's stomach rumbled; she hadn't eaten yet and although it was still early, she was beginning to feel extremely peckish.

'Why are you called the White Rabbit?' Jac asked as he led them through into his kitchen.

'Why? It is my name!'

'But don't you have a proper name like Amelia?'

'I don't think Amelia would be quite proper for a silly old thing like me!' Amelia sniggered behind them but Jac bit her tongue to stop herself from retorting. 'Oh I wouldn't worry,' the White Rabbit grinned. 'I know exactly what you're thinking.' Jac's ears glowed red.

'I'm sorry,' she mumbled. The White Rabbit handed her a toast laden with golden honey.

'There's no need,' he told her. 'Please, eat.' Jac bit into the toast and like the soup Timothy had made, she felt a sudden warmth descend over her.

'Thank you,' she said as she took another bite.

'There's a sofa through there,' the White Rabbit said and pointed at a round door at the back of the kitchen. 'You can rest on there.'

'I'm okay,' Jac lied.

'No, you're tired from the journey - I can see.' Jac nodded and with the plate and toast in hand, she walked into the living room and lay across the sofa.

There were no birds in the skies over the Keep of Hearts. They had all been poached and those that survived knew better than to come near it again. The Keep itself was made from dark grey bricks with faint heart-shaped patterns inscribed upon them. A singular tower rose high in the centre of the Keep and from its highest balcony one could survey every corner of Wonderland. But the Queen of Hearts eye was always on one particular corner.

The White Queen's Castle was immense and beautiful to behold but it was not beauty that the Queen of Hearts craved. She desired to sit upon the throne of Wonderland - a throne she felt that was rightly hers and yet it had fallen to her cousin. Her cousin's rule had been the bitterest of pills to swallow in a lifetime of defeat and misery. The Queen of Hearts scowled as she saw the White Castle bathed in a multitude of coloured light. When she ruled, the Queen of Hearts told herself, there would be no more daily light shows. No more whiteness.

Her gaze fell upon the tallest turret of the castle and she could make out the silhouette of her cousin looking out over her Queendom. It took the Queen of Hearts a few seconds to realise that her cousin was looking straight at her.

'Your stare seems most penetrating this morning, dear cousin,' the White Queen said as she appeared in a flash behind the Queen of Hearts.

'What do you want?' The Queen of Hearts was not in the mood for idle chatter with her cousin - oh how dearly she longed to wipe that ghastly smile from her foul face.

'You know that's not how you address your Queen.' The White Queen wore robes of luxurious cream silk and her golden hair was adorned with a silver crown encrusted with a single white jewel.

The Queen of Hearts spat at the hem of her cousin's robes.

'You are no Queen of mine.' The White Queen shook her head and her golden hair flowed from side to side.

'My dear, must we always quarrel so?' She stood beside the Queen of Hearts now and looked out at Wonderland.

'As long as you sit upon the throne, we will quarrel.' The White Queen's smile faded for a split second but soon she was grinning broadly again.

'You forget, I think dear cousin, that it was by my will that you were allowed to stay here.' The Queen of Hearts clenched her teeth.

'I never forget,' she hissed. 'And one day you shall not be so smug when you speak to me.' The White Queen laughed.

'And what is it you intend to do?' She could see her cousin's chest rising and falling in time with her fury.

'I will take my rightful place as Queen of Wonderland and I will rule.' A silence descended between them until the White Queen said at last:

'Then I pray that that day may yet be far away.' She clicked her fingers and before the Queen of Hearts could say anything, the White Queen had vanished, leaving the Queen of Hearts to seethe and writhe in her own anger.

Jac woke up in a cold sweat. Her skin had stuck to the sofa and the china plate lay covered in crumbs on the floor. As she came to her senses, she could hear hushed voices whispering from the kitchen. She recognised Amelia's and the White Rabbit's but there was a third voice that was entirely new to her.

'The Queendom is under constant threat,' the voice said. It sounded deep and gravelly - like an old general of some kind. 'People are taken nightly.'

'I know the situation is grim,' the White Rabbit replied and Jac was surprised at how forlorn he sounded. 'But they don't know about the girl.'

'The White Rabbit is right,' Jac heard Amelia whisper. 'We have the girl.' Jac frowned - she felt sure that, by the girl, they were almost certainly referring to her and she didn't like how she was being made out as a possession.

'But that's impossible!' The third voice exclaimed. 'Even if Alice had come back to Wonderland she would be old - too old to help us.'

'It is not Alice we speak of,' said Amelia. 'But a new girl.' There was a pause and Jac heard something grunt.

'Very well,' said the third voice. 'Who is this girl?'

'She's through here,' said the White Rabbit. 'Let me show you.' Realising that the door was about to swing open, Jac darted back to the sofa and pretended to be asleep.

The door creaked and Jac opened her eyes, feigning a long yawn for good measure.

'And who might you be?' Jac found herself staring into the wrinkled face of the Mad Hatter and knew she had imagined him wrongly from the sound of his voice.

'I…I'm Jac,' Jac squeaked.

'I am Hatter,' said the Mad Hatter extending his hand to Jac. He wore a red top hat on top of his frail grey hair. 'Though some may call me Mad.' He wheezed and Jac was startled to see how frail he appeared to be.

'Pleased to meet you Mr. Hatter,' Jac mumbled.

'No just Hatter will do fine,' the Mad Hatter laughed. 'I have little time for formalities.' As he stared into her eyes, Jac felt she couldn't keep quiet about what she had overheard and she took a deep breath. 'There's something you want to tell us?' The Mad Hatter asked.

'I didn't mean to but I couldn't help overhearing you earlier…' Jac fell silent as all eyes turned on her. 'I'm sorry,' she muttered.

'No need! No need!' The White Rabbit assured her. 'Better you hear than someone less,' he looked around as though checking to see that nobody was listening, 'desirable,' he finished in a low whisper.

'Who is threatening the Queendom?' Amelia made a cross motion on her underbelly.

'The Queen of Hearts,' the Mad Hatter whispered. 'She seeks to usurp her cousin, the White Queen.' Amelia and the White Rabbit shuddered but Jac's expression was one of deep bewilderment.

'How can there be a Queen of Hearts if the White Queen is the Queen?' The Mad Hatter took hold of her hand and began to run his fingers across the lines on her palm. Jac didn't flinch or move her hand away - the touch of his fingers was soft and warm.

'The White Queen is the rightful ruler of Wonderland and she has ruled for many, many moons,' the Mad Hatter explained. 'The Queen of Hearts is her cousin and she is filled with such a hatred that you have never faced.' He moved his hand away from Jac's.

'But I still don't understand?'

'The Queen of Hearts desires the throne above all else. And she will not rest until she gets it.' The Mad Hatter paused and glanced over at Amelia as though he was looking for her approval to continue. 'There is more than the Queen to fear.' He was looking directly at Jac and she was enchanted by the shadowy gleam in his eyes.

'What could be worse than her?' The room seemed to darken for a moment but perhaps it was just her imagination.

'I did not say worse,' the Mad Hatter told her. 'There is nothing worse than the Queen of Hearts but do not think that she is alone in her scheming.'

'Who could possibly want to help her?'

'Wonderland has become plagued by her minions - dreadful creatures clad in the cloaks of her name and each bearing the sigil of hearts. The symbol of her darkness!' At this a strange cool wind seemed to blow through the room and Jac quivered.

'It is time we were getting back,' Amelia instructed. 'Timothy will be wondering where we've got to.' Jac nodded and followed the others back into the kitchen.

As they approached the front door, Jac paused and looked back at the Mad Hatter.

'Who was Alice?' The Mad Hatter smiled broadly at her and tipped his hat.

'She was wonderful.' But Jac could get him to say no more and with a final nod, she bade him goodbye and followed Amelia out of the house.

They walked back in silence. Amelia scurried along the forest floor at a slow pace so that Jac would not fall behind. Everything around them seemed far too quiet and there was no longer any chirps of birds or squeaks of squirrels that Jac had heard in the morning. Wonderland lay still and Jac thought the sooner she was safely back in Amelia and Timothy's den the better.

Evidently Amelia felt the same for she suddenly quickened her pace and Jac found it a struggle to keep up. Amelia took a shortcut through the forest and before long Jac saw the den shining in the darkness.

The night had descended fast - faster than Jac had anticipated.

Amelia knocked on the door but there was no answer.

'Silly old fool must have fallen asleep,' she whispered to Jac. 'Not to worry.' Amelia reached into her pocket and drew out a small silver key. She unlocked the door and pushed it open.

The chaos that greeted them was almost too terrible to behold. Everything had been trashed. The wallpaper was torn and smeared with red paint and all of Amelia's books had been ripped to shreds. Jac saw that the mouse was fighting back tears as she strode into the dining room.

Amelia let out a ferocious howl that chilled Jac. Timothy's soup pot lay in pieces on the floor and Jac caught sight of his wedding ring lying among the wreckage.

'Timothy!' Amelia's voice echoed through the den but there was no answer. 'TIMOTHY!' Again her cries were met with silence.

Jac walked over to the mantel - something had fluttered out of the corner of her eye and as she examined the cuckoo clock, she noticed a scrap of paper underneath, blowing in the breeze that blew from the smashed window. She scooped it up and read aloud:

'We have your husband.' Amelia leapt up and snatched the note out of Jac's hands.

'Give us the girl or he will be executed.' Jac's heart was pounding in her chest. 'The clock is ticking. You have four days.'

Jac tried to remain calm but she could not stop herself from shaking. Amelia scrunched up the note in her paw and threw it to the floor.

'I'll hand myself over,' Jac said. She couldn't help feeling as though it was her fault Timothy had been taken.

'Don't be ridiculous,' Amelia snapped. 'I can't give you up. You're more important to our cause than my dear Timothy.'

'But he's your husband,' Jac protested.

'And that is why I will save him,' Amelia murmured and every syllable of her voice shook with anger. 'I will not abandon him.'

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