“You think this is the time you’d have known the whereabouts of the keys?” Mrs. Tock asks skeptically.
“I can’t think of a better day,” I explain. “It’s supposed to be the last time I remembered who I really was. Right after the accident, I was caught and sent to the asylum. I couldn’t remember what happened. So the day before the bus, I must have had an accurate memory of where I hid the keys.”
“What do you think, Mrs. Tock?” Mr. Tick says.
“It’s her life, Mr. Tick. She wouldn’t risk it for nothing.”
***
As the couple prepare for my time travel, Fabiola asks to have a word with me outside.
“I’m going to make it brief,” she says. “I just want to tell you that it’s okay if you’re not the Real Alice. You’ve done brave things so far. It doesn’t really matter what your name is. It matters who you are.”
Fabiola seems too emotional. I think she is worried she will never see me again. She is worried that the Pillar picked up a mad girl from an asylum, fooled her into being a hero, and got great results. Except that this poor girl is now about to die.
I know that because I am thinking all kinds of thoughts. I hug Fabiola and tell her the one thing I believe is true: “Don’t worry, Fabiola. I don’t know if I’ll make it back. But I know I’m the Real Alice.”
It puzzles me that suddenly Fabiola looks like she doesn’t believe I’m the Real Alice.
Chapter 46
THE PRESENT: BUCKINGHAM PALACE, LONDON
The Queen of Hearts was enjoying her new rocking chair, made of bamboo and specially delivered to her from the African deserts by one of her mad alliances on the continent. A mad ruler who killed his people for disrespecting the religion he made up. The Queen loved this kind of madness.
But the rocking chair also reminded her of time. Rocking back and forth in a steady beat was like the ticks and tocks of a clock.
“How is my flamingo doing?” she asked her guards.
“Very well,” one of the guards answered. “Dr. Tom Truckle is taking the bait.”
“I knew my plan would work,” she said. “How about Alice?”
“The Duchess just called in,” the guard answered. “She said the plan is going well. Alice went to the future, was about to die, and now she’s being forced to go back in time to find the key and, if possible, her Wonder.”
“Alice has no Wonder in the past,” the Queen said. “She has no idea what she is getting herself into. Once she finds the keys, she will find no solace but the address they’ve given her. Mrs. Tock’s address. That’s when she will be forced to give her the keys, which Mrs. Tock will deliver to Margaret.”
“Indeed, My Queen,” the guard said. “If you don’t mind, the Duchess wanted me to remind you about her thing. The thing you promised to give back.”
“Understood.” The Queen left her chair, walking toward her phone. “I will take care of this later. Now you’re dismissed. Move or I’ll chop off some heads.”
She waited until she was all alone in her chamber, and then dialed a forty-two-digit number on her phone.
A few breaths later, someone picked up.
“Yes?” the hollow voice said on the other side.
“All is good,” the Queen said. “Alice is on her way to the past.”
“And?”
“This is going to be epic,” the Queen said. “It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for. The most important moment in Wonderlanders’ lives since the Circus.”
“Only if she is the Real Alice,” the voice said.
“Only if she is,” the Queen said. “And it’s so exciting.”
Chapter 47
BACK IN TIME
A long darkness veils over my soul before I can even open my eyes. In my heart, I already know I’m back in time. It’s as if I can smell it. I wonder why a gut feeling doesn’t want me to open my eyes.
I’m lying on my back, on a thin mattress, probably directly on the floor. The place around me stinks. The rotten smell is familiar. Something about this past is terribly wrong.
Where am I?
I imagined myself waking up in a bed in my foster family’s house, still living a normal life, waiting for a phone call from Jack, maybe.
But this isn’t it. I need to open my eyes now.
But before I do, there is a knock on my door.
“Open za door!”
This can’t be. It’s Waltraud Wagner.
“Time to visit yor doctor.”
What? When?
My eyes fling open. I’m back in my cell in Radcliffe Asylum. The same cell I’ve been in for two years. The Tiger Lily in the pot bends over in the corner, the walls are stained with green grease, and the steel door shakes to Waltraud’s rapping.
I hear the rattling of keys. She is about to open the door.
“Waltraud?” I sit up.
The vicious warden stands before me, rapping her baton on her fatty hands. She tilts her head and grimaces at me. It’s as if she is surprised to see me, too.
“What am I doing here?”
“You’re on vacation, honey.” She cracks a laugh.
“A vacation?”
“From your mind.” She loops the baton next to her ears then laughs some more. “Soon enough you’ll learn the rules. I advise you to make up your mind now.”
“Make up my mind about what?”
“Do you want to be electrified in the Mush Room, or would you prefer the Lullaby pill?”
I am speechless. Something is wrong. Not just with the timing. All of this doesn’t add up.
“And before you attempt an escape,” Waltraud says, “always know you’re underground. It’s really hard to escape.”
“Waltraud!” I say. “What’s going on?”
“This is the second time you’ve called me by my name.” Waltraud stands back. “How do you know my name?”
“What do you mean how? You’ve been torturing me in the Mush Room for the past two years.”
“Oh, Lord.” She cups a hand on her mouth. “You’re like they said. A loon multiplied by infinity.” She lowers her head and taps her baton on my shoulder. “I’ve never seen you before, little girl. This is your first day in the asylum.”
Chapter 48
THE PAST: RADCLIFFE ASYLUM, OXFORD
Waltraud pulls me by my hair. She drags me outside into the hallway I’ve seen a thousand times before.
Same old story. Same old torture. And same old madness.
Only it’s a different time. This is what Mrs. Tock warned me of. I’ve returned to a day after the accident.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask her, unable to figure out what to do next. I’m in a vicious loop. In the past, but at a time when my memories are no different from the present. I can’t possibly know where the keys are. Nor do I know why I killed everyone on the bus.
Back to square one. Welcome to hell all over again. My first day in the asylum. Am I going to relive the two worst years of my life?
“The doctor needs to see you,” Waltraud says. “He has to access the fresh loons and advise the proper treatment.”
“Dr. Tom Truckle, you mean?”
Now she pulls me harder, a little distressed. “Who are you, girl? You know too much about this asylum. You’ve been here before?”
“Yes.”
“I never saw you. When?”
“I come from the future.”
Waltraud glares at me then bursts out laughing. “Hilarious. I’m going to have so much fun with you.”