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Chapter 4: Down the Rabbit Hole

People of all ages and statures gathered into the center of town to witness a great spectacle. A young man—a roaming magician—had left posters all over the town, claiming that his hat could open a portal into another universe. For the right price, he claimed that he could take a person on a short trip to another world. The posters had named a precise time and place to meet, and sure enough, people had come.

"This is a bunch of bollocks!" an old man grumbled.

"Do you think there's a world made of candy?" one child asked another with excitement on his face.

"They say he's mad," a woman gossiped, "And that—his poor wife lives in fear of 'em."

"I know!" another woman replied, " And, to make matters worse they have a baby!"

The people went silent as a man wearing an eccentric, orange-colored coat walked out into the center of the crowd. All eyes fixed on to the top hat that was on his head as they wondered: Is that it? Why—it's just an ordinary hat!

The young man took his hat off then, revealing a clean-cut hairstyle that complimented his fresh face, making his alleged "madness" seem only the stuff of rumors.

"Good people of Wedgemore!" he greeted with a bow, "My name is Jefferson and I am here to abolish your doubts. I hold in my hand," he paused to raise the top hat high above his head, "A device that will transport me to another world!"

Jefferson's eyes kept seeking out a certain face in the crowd that gave him the courage to stand before these people. A young blonde woman, holding a small child on her hip smiled reassuringly at him each time he looked her way. Her name was Alice and she watched him with the same wide-eyed, curiosity that had drawn him to her in Wonderland. The young magician smiled at his wife and daughter, and then continued his speecheven as the towns people scoffed and shouted-out hateful remarks.

"Today—before your very eyes—a portal will open up and I will disappear inside of it, leaving this world momentarily!"

Jefferson walked before the crowd that encircled him then, instructing them to move back.

"I'll need more space," he said, "And be sure to stay back when the portal opens—you wouldn't want to fall inside!"

He winked at Alice before walking to the center of the circle and bending towards the ground.

"Here we go!" he shouted-out a warning as he dropped the hat onto the ground with a spin.

The hat spun faster and faster, causing the towns people to all gasp in wonder. When a whirlwind kicked-up and started pulling at their clothes—some of them screamed. The hat lifted into the air as it spun impossibly fast, opening a large hole into the ground that caused some of the towns women to faint. The young blonde woman shared a smile with her magician-husband just before he gave a dramatic exit-bow and then jumped inside of the hole. Screams echoed after him, and then, the wind died down and the portal closed. The blonde woman—with her child on her hip—ran towards the hat and picked it up from the ground.

"Where'd he go?" a man from the crowd yelled-out.

"How long will he be gone?" another asked.

Moments later, a door to a nearby shop—a door that had been the closest door to where the portal had been—opened-up and Jefferson walked out of it. The onlookers gasped as they saw him, and he stepped before the crowd with arms raised, showing them that he was unharmed. There was applause and then a great commotion of questions erupted from the crowd: Why did you come back through a door? Did you go to another world? What did you see?

"That is all for now," he said as he waved his hat to them before wrapping an arm around his wife and child, steering them away, "For a few pounds you can buy yourself a journey of your own into the hat! If you have the right price—come see me!"

"A few pounds?" someone complained.

It was a lofty price for the common man. Yet, it kept his customers few, but loyal. Someone, in every town he had visited, always came knocking on his door with a bag filled of coins. It was only a matter of time.

.


.

A large, cottage-shaped wagon sat at the edge of the town away from the hustle and bustle of the marketplace. Inside it, Jefferson rocked his baby daughter in his arms as he sent her off to dreamland. This home—this traveling wagon—was very much like the one he had lived in as a child. Of course, his earnings from performing his hat tricks paid for a much grander and spacious dwelling than the one that had belonged to his father.

"I believe she's asleep now," a voice whispered in his ear as hands slid around his waist.

Jefferson's eyes closed shut at the feel of his wife's touch and he smiled, satisfied, as she laid her head against his back.

"I like watching our daughter sleep," he admitted, "It's the only time she goes off to a world that I can't follow her to."

Alice unwrapped her arms from around him so she could take away the baby.

"That's not so," she disagreed as she laid their daughter into her bassinet and lightly ran a finger-tip across her forehead, "You're in there with her. Grace dreams of you, Jefferson. How could she not?"

Alice turned to find him standing right before her in that "too-close" way of his. He gazed down into her eyes as he often would, and the intensity at which he could look at her always managed to make her temperature rise. This time was no different.

"And what about you?" he asked in a low, hushed voice as his face inched ever closer to hers, "What do you dream of? Of chasing rabbits? Of tea that makes you crazy? Of cakes that make you grow?"

Alice flashed him a wry smile and shook her head.

"No, nothing like that," her voice was almost laughter, "Besides, dreams are secrets that—if spoken—might never come true."

Jefferson smirked and his hands went to her waist.

"Curiouser and curiouser," he whispered her own phrase against her ear, "Tell me your secret dream, Alice."

Alice took-in a deep breath as Jefferson pulled away from her ear to meet her heavy lidded gaze. She glanced from his eyes to his lips and she could practically feel the familiar brush of them against her own.

"I dream of you," she confessed, "I always dre—"

His lips, soft and full, pressed against hers, silencing her. Her heart was a fast flutter as his hands molded to the contour of her back, pulling her tightly against him and she hummed at the contact. She couldn't imagine ever getting enough of him. After years, a glance could set her on fire and a kiss—a kiss could make her melt to a useless puddle on the floor. Jefferson's lips brushed across hers, once more, before he pulled away. Alice's hands were quick to pull him back. He smiled against her mouth, amused by her initiative, and a rare laugh escaped him.

"Shhh," Alice hushed him with a finger, "You'll wake Grace."

The couple turned to watch as their daughter's little fist rubbed at her eye, but she did not wake. They both gave a sigh of relief, but then, there was a knock at the door! Jefferson's eyebrows lowered as he looked through the doorway of his daughter's tiny room to see the front door. It was odd. It was odd that someone would come to him after nightfall.

"Stay here," he told Alice as he closed the door behind himself and walked towards the knocking visitor.

A sudden foreboding came over him as he reached for the door knob, but he ignored it.

"Yes?" he asked as he pulled the door open.

Too shadowed figures—distinctly feminine—stood outside his door.

"Won't you invite us in, Jefferson?"

He felt a sense of panic as he recognized the voice, but couldn't place it.

"Who are you?"

One of the women stepped into the light that was shinning from inside of his home. The light caressed her face, illuminating her familiar beauty while highlighting the fine wrinkles that had come with the years. Jefferson's face fell as he recognized her and he immediately felt bitterness towards her.

"What do you want?" his voice was low and testy.

The woman shook her head in disappointment, and then moved forward.

"Come now," she said as she squeezed passed him and into his home, "Don't tell me that time has made you a discourteous man."

A young woman followed in behind her, and her name—which was the only name he knew of these two women—he remembered. Regina. She examined his face with carefully disguised interest as she passed through the door way, noticing that he had grown-up handsomely. For Jefferson, it was just an awkward glance between two people who had once seen each other as children.

"You were such a sweet and respectful child when I met you 10 years ago. What has happened?"

Jefferson's jaw clenched as he turned to his uninvited guests, and he didn't close the front door in hopes that they would be leaving.

"A stranger gave a 9 year-old boy a powerful tool that he didn't know how to use. A LOT has happened."

Hearing the irritation in her husband's voice, Alice walked into the room, carrying a very awake Grace in her arms.

"Oh!" the woman sounded surprised but then smiled at Alice, "You must be the misses. My name is Cora and this is my daughter, Regina. We're old friends of Jefferson's."

Cora. Jefferson thought her name. Now, he had a name for the woman he didn't trust. She took a step towards him then, while his hand still held on to the door knob.

"I've come to ask a favor—"

"No." he turned her down before she could finish.

Cora's expression quickly became a scowl—a dark vengeful thing, and Jefferson got a true glimpse of the woman he was dealing with.

"Why not?" she snapped as she glanced around the finely decorated room, "I see you've profited well from using the hat. I believe I am partially responsible for your success!"

Jefferson scoffed at that.

"You're responsible all right. You're responsible for the loss of my mother, and my father!"

Cora's scowl deepened, showing her age.

"Well, if the hat's power has been such a burden—give it back!"

The woman held her hand out to take the hat from him, and Jefferson gulped. He couldn't imagine parting with it. It had been a part of who he was for so long. He still, in the back of his mind, had hopes of finding an undiscovered door to another world—a world he hoped to find his parents in. Jefferson gave a firm shake of his head and Cora fumed. Apparently, it was one too many rejections for Cora to take.

"If you wont do as I ask by will—you WILL by force!" and her wicked finger pointed at Alice and Grace and a green stream of smoke encircled Alice's arms like woven binds, pinning mother and child together.

"Jefferson!" Alice shouted as baby Grace cried-out.

Jefferson looked desperately between Cora and Regina.

"Please," he begged, "Let them go. I'll do whatever you want!"

"Too late for that," Cora spat, "Your insolence has shown that you can't be trusted! Take the hat and go outside! We will follow you."

Jefferson stared across the room into Alice's frightened brown eyes as Cora took hold of the binds that surrounded his family.

"Go!" she ordered him as they moved—Cora leading Alice to walk ahead of her.

Regina followed behind, looking disapprovingly on the entire situation. Her eyes met Jefferson's desperate ones for just a moment before she quickly looked away. He was helpless, he realized. There was no way around this. Jefferson reached for his hat then, and jumped down from the wagon. Once on the ground, he turned to help down his bound wife and child. In that brief moment, Alice searched his eyes, telling him a million things, but most importantly, asking: What's going to happen to us? In his own thoughts, Jefferson wondered the same thing. He walked towards a clearing in the woods then, and stopped to address the wicked woman.

"What do you want me to do?"

Cora smiled as she came to a stop beside him, placing herself between him and his bound up family.

"To start with," she began, "I want you to open-up the portal—for all of us."

Jefferson's eyes glanced worriedly at Alice.

"If I do—you have to let me hold my wife and child to ensure they don't get hurt on the way down."

The black-cloaked woman curled up her lip as she glared at him.

"This isn't a bargain, Jefferson. You've lost that opportunity. But I promise that no harm will come to them on the way through the portal."

His eyes darted between Alice and Cora. He didn't trust this woman anymore than he trusted a spider in his shoe. But what could he do about it? Jefferson spared one last lingering glance at his wife and daughter before he stepped forward to give the hat a spin on the ground. The wind from the hat as it spun caused the surrounding trees to sway.

"After you."

Cora shook her head at his offer as she took a firm grip on the binds that were wrapped around Alice and Grace, while Regina, who was standing on the end, placed a protective arm around his bound family.

"Together," Cora said as she offered him her hand.

Jefferson merely blinked at her, and then, with a sigh of surrender, he took her hand.

"Hold on to them," he said as he glared into her eyes with a warning.

They jumped then—all falling down into the portal at once. They fell through a black abyss until light could be seen at the bottom, and then, their descent began to slow. As if they were suspended by the air, their bodies floated down safely into a well-lit room. The room had many doors. Once his feet touched the floor, Jefferson couldn't let go of the woman's hand fast enough. He took a step towards his family then—but only one step. With a halt of Cora's hand, Jefferson was unable to move.

"You can see to your family once you have done as I ask!"

Jefferson glared at her.

"What are you asking?"

Cora released him and he stumbled forward a step. The wicked woman's entire countenance changed then, and a joyful smile spread across her face.

"Regina was proposed to—just today! She will be getting married soon," Cora gave a wistful sigh, "My daughter is going to be a queen!"

Jefferson noticed how Regina's eyes were fixed onto the floor while sadness was fixed on her face. It was clear that she wasn't happy about the engagement. Jefferson didn't care.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"I need you to get something—a sort of "good luck" token for my daughters upcoming nuptials. Tell me—behind which of these doors lies The Emerald City?" Cora asked as she walked around the room, passing by several of the unique entrances.

Jefferson nearly groaned.

"Oz?" he questioned, "You want me to go to Oz? And all of this," he gestured around the room with his hands, "Has been about an engagement present? An engagement your daughter, clearly, doesn't even care about?"

With an enraged shout, Cora spun on him as she thrust her arm forward, sending Jefferson backwards through the air. His back banged against one of the doors and Alice shrieked-out her concern.

"Jefferson, please!" she begged, "Just do as she asks so that we can go home!"

Cora gave Alice a dark, insidious look that Jefferson missed as he, too, looked at his wife. He nodded at her in acceptance.

"I'm sorry, Alice," he apologized before he stood to his feet and looked at Cora, "What is it that you want?"

A perpetual scowl was on the woman's face even as she spoke.

"In the fields near The Emerald City, there is said to be a few patches of clover, and among these patches can be found a six-leaved clover—a powerful tool! I want you to bring one back to me."

Jefferson tried to hide his annoyance that his family was bound-up all for a plant! He turned his back on Cora then, and walked towards a doorway that was covered be an elaborate, green curtain. He stopped in front of it and glanced over his shoulder at Cora.

"When I come back with what you've requested, I want you to let them go."

She heaved-out a breath as she looked at him through narrowed eyes for a moment, and then, with a forced smile, she bowed at the waist.

"You have my word."

Jefferson nodded before he turned his eyes on Alice, noticing the uncomfortable way their baby daughter was strapped to her chest from the binds. Yet, amazingly, Grace was sleeping through all of it. Alice smiled reassuringly at Jefferson, and then, with one last shared glance, he parted the curtain with his hand and stepped into the land of Oz.

A yellow brick road laid at his feet, stretching on for miles through rolling green hills. Far off in the distance he could see the majestic Emerald City—built of green marble. Jefferson stared at it for only a moment before he scanned the edge of the brick road for signs of clover. He walked through the fields searching the ground and he jogged towards the city as his eyes skimmed-over the terrain. It felt like hours had passed and still he hadn't found a single clover patch. Jefferson began to wonder if it was a trick, fearing that Cora had sent him on an errant mission. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind that his boot nearly crushed the desired six-leaved plant. He took a step back and knelt to the ground. Within the small cluster of clover, were two stems that each had six leafs. He took both of them in hopes that Cora wouldn't have any need to call on him again. The run back down the yellow brick road to the curtained entrance felt considerably shorter, but left him extremely tired. He worried about how much time had passed between Oz and the room of doors—it could have been minutes or it could have been days. Jefferson reached the curtain and walked through it head first.

"How wonderfully quick you are, Jefferson!" Cora bragged as she went to him to retrieve her prize, "Even from a child—I knew that you would be useful."

Jefferson ignored that as he handed the clovers to her.

"I've brought what you wanted. Now—"

"Yes, yes!" she waved him off without looking his way as she gently admired the two clovers.

A moment later, the binds evaporated from around his family and Jefferson ran towards Alice. He threw his arms around her, embracing her and their child all at once.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I'm so sorry. I always promised you that I would never let my work put you or Grace and danger. Forgive me."

Alice held Grace with one arm while she placed her hand on Jefferson's cheek.

"Of course I forgive you," she said as she gazed into his eyes, "I love you."

Her hand reached around to the back of his neck then and she pulled him down for a kiss. Jefferson kissed her back—it was a desperate, but relieved kiss that lasted for just a moment. Jefferson pulled away then, and kissed the top of his daughter's head.

"I love you both," he said as he took Grace from his wife's tired arms.

"Jefferson," Cora called to him and he reluctantly turned to see her, "While you were away I had time to examine these doors."

He watched with suspicion as the woman walked across the room to a door that was made of steel and held together by several bolts.

"I found this door to be particularly interesting."

Jefferson raised an eyebrow at her door of choice. There was nothing interesting about it; nothing being the key word.

"Why?" he asked, "It just leads into a black hole—an empty universe."

Cora smiled.

"Precisely."

Without touching it, the door flew open and Alice's legs were pulled from underneath her by some invisible force. Jefferson lunged forward to grab her, but he couldn't move—it was as if an invisible wall was blocking him. Alice screamed-out for him as she was slowly pulled towards the open door, and Grace cried in her father's arms as Jefferson struggled to break-free of the hold that Cora had on him.

"DON'T!" he begged, "Cora, please! I will do anything!"

"I know you will," she spat, "The next time I call on you—you will spare me your insolence and do as I ask! This little family of yours is too much of a distraction!"

"JEFFERSON!"

Alice slide across the floor until her foot braced against the doorjamb and she was crying, helpless.

"PLEASE!" Jefferson pleaded as he looked between Cora and Regina, "Please, don't do this! Take them away. Both of them—to some other place I can't find, make them forget who I am, make them hate me, even! But, don't do this!"

Cora gave him a sympathetic smile that wasn't sympathetic at all, while Regina's chest was heaving in fear of her cruel mother. Cora slowly raised her hand then—a symbolic action that made the situation all the more real—she was really going to do it, she was really going to let Alice fall into nothingness.

"Mother, don't!" Regina shouted just as Alice's foot slid past the doorjamb and she passed over the sill, disappearing.

"ALLIIICCCE!" Jefferson yelled as he fought against the invisible barrier, nearly dropping Grace from his arms in his frenzy, "Alice."

He could hear her screams grow fainter and fainter until he couldn't hear her at all and he felt his heart plummet inside of him. The barrier that had stopped him broke then, and he fell to his knees, clutching the screaming Grace to his chest as he leaned forward, sobbing. Images of her—his wife, his love—falling into darkness, was all he could see behind his shut eyes. So, he opened them. Anger fueled him and he looked up at Cora with pure, unadulterated hate.

"How could you think that I would ever help YOU after what you've just done?"

Cora's lip curled into a sneer as she glared at him.

"Because," she said, "I will take the baby, too."

Jefferson's arms wrapped tighter around the child as he looked at her with wild eyes—the eyes of a desperate man who had lost everything and had nothing else to lose.

"You might as well kill me then, because I'll have no reason to live!"

"Sure you will," she disagreed, "I didn't say I would kill the child. On the contrary, I would keep her as leverage!"

Her hand raised again and Jefferson felt Grace being pulled from his arms.

"NO!" Regina screamed as she plowed into her mother, gripping the woman's wrists to detour the direction of her power.

Jefferson stared in surprise and felt something like relief as he watched the two women struggle. Yet, more than anything, he felt numb and suddenly everything felt surreal.

"RUN!" she ordered and he forced himself to stand to his feet, "I can't hold her off for long!"

"REGINA, I WILL—"

"You'll what? Strike my face so that I might wear a bruise on my wedding day? Jefferson, run!"

Jefferson ran with his daughter in his arms. He ran towards the simple black door that always led him back to his world and it opened-up into his traveling wagon. He ran outside towards the top hat that was laying on the ground and he picked it up. He ran and ran until he didn't know where they were or how far they had gotten. He ran away from his home and the life he and Alice had made together. He ran because Grace was all that he left in the world and he'd be damned if he'd let anyone take her away. His heart and his mind and his soul couldn't handle anymore losses.