our
blood, anyway?”
Jack shrugged easily, his
shoulder briefly revealing and then obscuring the room again. “Just an old
tradition. Nothing important. But it does mean something to her. She’s
determined to see us married.”
“You don’t have to do
what she tells you to do,” I said. “You’re almost grown up.”
“The rules are the rules,”
said Jack. “I have to follow the rules. What I do with the rules, now:
that’s a different matter entirely. We’ve got a better chance if we join
forces. You promise that you won’t disappear, promise that you’ll come back to
marry me when it’s time, and I’ll make another distraction so you can get out
before Mother Dearest comes back.”
“You said we could run,”
I said. “I remember. That first time, when she mixed our blood, you said that
we had a lot of time for running.”
“I was wrong,” said Jack,
with something of a grimness in his voice. “There’s no future in running.
Literally. Mother Dearest’s Mirror Hall was quite... clear ...on that.”
“What if I want to marry
someone else?”
Black-flecked eyes came
to bear on my face. “Who do you want to marry?”
“I don’t know, I’m only
twelve!”
“Well, then! Promise!”
“No,” I said. “You’re not
very nice and if I break my promise later on that means I’m not very
nice.”
“I’ve never been very
nice and I’m not likely to begin now,” said Jack. “It’s best if you give up on
that. I am very good at staying alive, however, and that should count for
something.”
“I’m not going to
promise,” I said in dislike.
“Well, I’m not going to
get you out,” said Jack, shrugging elegantly. “You’ll have to find your own way
out.”
“I will then!” I
hissed, pulling the door sharply shut. I heard the slight thump and Jack’s
exclamation as he was pulled off balance, and smiled. Serve him right.
Sir Blanc, who was
watching me with some anxiety, said: “Dear child, I am very much afraid that
I’ve led you into a very sticky situation.”
“Can we put your wits
back in?”
“I regret to say that we
cannot. It requires someone in possession of a competent hand with a needle:
perhaps a dressmaker.”
“What, sew them
back in?”
“It is the only way,”
said Sir Blanc simply. “A method tried and true for shadows, wits, and
reputations.”
“What about a hatter?
Could a hatter do it?”
“Forsooth, were it The Hatter, certainly.”
“All right,” I said,
thinking very quickly. It wouldn’t be long before the Queen joined the party,
and Sir Blanc and I couldn’t still be here when she arrived. “So we just have
to get out of here first.”
“Indeed,” sighed Sir
Blanc. He sat himself down desolately on the Queen’s coffee table, gazed
soulfully around the room, and gave every sign of breaking into a sad song at
any moment.
“I have an idea,” I said
quickly. I had found myself in front of the tiny ice-vent again. “But you’ll
have to be very quiet. It’s trying to wriggle away and I need to grab it while
I can.”
Sir Blanc looked mildly
hopeful. That was good. The more cheerful he was, the less likely he was to
burst into doleful ditties. And I really did have an idea—or at least, part of
one—that was doing its best to wriggle away between the cracks of my mind.
Wriggle? No, ripple . That was what my mind was catching on. I had watched
the Hatter and his ripply hat somehow change things in Underland, and I had
changed things myself. Somewhere at the back of my mind was the idea that if I
could See Things Differently today, too, perhaps I could use the ripples to
change things again.
“I need water,” I said to
Sir Blanc.
“I myself am a little
parched,” he said. “Unhappily, I see no water here.”
“What about that?” I
asked, pointing the crystal carafe of Drink Me .
Sir Blanc’s brow creased.
“I caution against indulging in that libation dear child. Dear me, no! It
declares: ‘drink me’. I have not
blood, anyway?”
Jack shrugged easily, his
shoulder briefly revealing and then obscuring the room again. “Just an old
tradition. Nothing important. But it does mean something to her. She’s
determined to see us married.”
“You don’t have to do
what she tells you to do,” I said. “You’re almost grown up.”
“The rules are the rules,”
said Jack. “I have to follow the rules. What I do with the rules, now:
that’s a different matter entirely. We’ve got a better chance if we join
forces. You promise that you won’t disappear, promise that you’ll come back to
marry me when it’s time, and I’ll make another distraction so you can get out
before Mother Dearest comes back.”
“You said we could run,”
I said. “I remember. That first time, when she mixed our blood, you said that
we had a lot of time for running.”
“I was wrong,” said Jack,
with something of a grimness in his voice. “There’s no future in running.
Literally. Mother Dearest’s Mirror Hall was quite... clear ...on that.”
“What if I want to marry
someone else?”
Black-flecked eyes came
to bear on my face. “Who do you want to marry?”
“I don’t know, I’m only
twelve!”
“Well, then! Promise!”
“No,” I said. “You’re not
very nice and if I break my promise later on that means I’m not very
nice.”
“I’ve never been very
nice and I’m not likely to begin now,” said Jack. “It’s best if you give up on
that. I am very good at staying alive, however, and that should count for
something.”
“I’m not going to
promise,” I said in dislike.
“Well, I’m not going to
get you out,” said Jack, shrugging elegantly. “You’ll have to find your own way
out.”
“I will then!” I
hissed, pulling the door sharply shut. I heard the slight thump and Jack’s
exclamation as he was pulled off balance, and smiled. Serve him right.
Sir Blanc, who was
watching me with some anxiety, said: “Dear child, I am very much afraid that
I’ve led you into a very sticky situation.”
“Can we put your wits
back in?”
“I regret to say that we
cannot. It requires someone in possession of a competent hand with a needle:
perhaps a dressmaker.”
“What, sew them
back in?”
“It is the only way,”
said Sir Blanc simply. “A method tried and true for shadows, wits, and
reputations.”
“What about a hatter?
Could a hatter do it?”
“Forsooth, were it The Hatter, certainly.”
“All right,” I said,
thinking very quickly. It wouldn’t be long before the Queen joined the party,
and Sir Blanc and I couldn’t still be here when she arrived. “So we just have
to get out of here first.”
“Indeed,” sighed Sir
Blanc. He sat himself down desolately on the Queen’s coffee table, gazed
soulfully around the room, and gave every sign of breaking into a sad song at
any moment.
“I have an idea,” I said
quickly. I had found myself in front of the tiny ice-vent again. “But you’ll
have to be very quiet. It’s trying to wriggle away and I need to grab it while
I can.”
Sir Blanc looked mildly
hopeful. That was good. The more cheerful he was, the less likely he was to
burst into doleful ditties. And I really did have an idea—or at least, part of
one—that was doing its best to wriggle away between the cracks of my mind.
Wriggle? No, ripple . That was what my mind was catching on. I had watched
the Hatter and his ripply hat somehow change things in Underland, and I had
changed things myself. Somewhere at the back of my mind was the idea that if I
could See Things Differently today, too, perhaps I could use the ripples to
change things again.
“I need water,” I said to
Sir Blanc.
“I myself am a little
parched,” he said. “Unhappily, I see no water here.”
“What about that?” I
asked, pointing the crystal carafe of Drink Me .
Sir Blanc’s brow creased.
“I caution against indulging in that libation dear child. Dear me, no! It
declares: ‘drink me’. I have not
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