6 More Fantasy Stories Page 12

  Just as she was walking by the witness box, running her hand over its smooth wood rail, the silence was broken. Alice looked up, surprised by the sound of the doors opening.

  "Well," shouted a familiar voice. "Let's get on with the trial, shallwe?" As Alice watched, the Queen of Hearts entered the courtroom, an angry look on her ugly face. "I'm already late for a beheading, and it's got me all cross."

  The Queen was a stubby, menacing character with an unbelievable temper. At the slightest sign of irritation, she would command that someone be beheaded; though no one ever actually had their heads chopped off, (at least as far as Alice knew) everyone played along and made her threats seem quite serious indeed. During Alice's last trip to Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts had not been one of her favorite acquaintances.

  "Where's the culprit?" screeched the Queen, stalking down the aisle in front of the jury box. "Off with her head, off with her head, I say."

  Alice shook, frightened once more; she was scared of the Queen, and certain that everything was about to erupt into madness again. She stood by the witness box, watching the Queen of Hearts storm toward the front of the courtroom. Alice did not know whether she should hide or run away; she certainly did not plan to stay around for the trial.

  Before Alice could do anything, she was spotted by one of the guards accompanying the Queen. The guard was shaped exactly like a playing card, the Three of Hearts in this case, flat and rectangular with a head at the top, arms at the sides, and feet at the bottom corners. The other guards, ten altogether, looked exactly the same, only they had different numbers and suits on their card-faces. They looked just as Alice remembered them from her last trip; behind the Queen, they marched in perfect precision, stern, vigilant looks on all their faces.

  "There she is!" shouted the Three of Hearts, pointing right at Alice. "The murderess!"

  The Queen spun to face Alice and scowled furiously. "You beast!" she snarled. "You are a menace to society! I'm afraid that head will have to come off, dear, and it will stay off for some time to come! Justice will prevail!" After shaking her scepter threateningly at Alice, the Queen turned and stomped toward the judge's bench. "Bring in the jury, confound it! Bring in the first witness, and all the exhibits! Let's get this legality over with!"

  As the Queen sat at the judge's bench and put on a large powdered wig that she found there, the guards rushed to obey her orders. Several of them rushed out of the courtroom, through the double doors at the rear; they returned carrying all sorts of strange objects, vases and paintings and sculpture. Alice thought that she saw the Mona Lisa, and two guards were carrying what looked like the Venus de Milo. Another pair of guards was lugging a big skeleton into the room; Alice thought that it was one of those dinosaur skeletons that she had seen in museums back home.

  The guards brought everything in and hauled it to the front of the court. They set it all down before the judge's bench, then stood in formation and saluted the Queen.

  "The exhibits, yer honor," they said, in unison.

  Exhibits, indeed, though Alice. They were nothing but museum exhibits!

  "Assemble the jury!" roared the Queen, waving her scepter.

  The guards rushed out again; when they returned, each was carrying a load of what Alice thought were arms and legs. When the guards set them down on the floor, she saw that there were not only arms and legs, but heads and torsos and other body parts as well. Busily, the guards hustled about, bringing in the various parts and sorting them out; then, they started to put them together.

  The arms were connected to the sides of the torsos, and the legs to the bottom. As soon as the different appendages were attached, they stuck to the torsos and began to move about. Then, the heads were stuck on top; some were picked up and placed there by the newly attached arms themselves. When the heads were on, they also moved about, nodding and shaking from side to side, eyes blinking and mouths opening and closing. Some began to talk, and a low murmur grew in the courtroom.

  Once all the bodies had been stuck together, the guards marched into formation and saluted the Queen. "The jury's assembled, yer honor!" they shouted together.

  Alice recognized most of the jurors; in fact, many were the same people she had just left killing each other at the tea party. They were all miraculously intact, even those whom Alice had seen seriously wounded, and were behaving as if nothing had happened. Tweedledee and Tweedledum were there, smiling and completely healed; the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, the Duchess and the White Rabbit were all there, healthy and whole. Even the Dormouse looked good as new, with his head back on his shoulders.

  The other jurors were friends whom Alice had met on previous journeys to Wonderland, but whom she had not yet seen during this one. There was the White Knight, and the Dodo, and Bill the Lizard; also, the Red Queen and White Queen had been assembled. They all milled about together, apparently making sure that all their body parts were in the right places. Then, they took their seats in the jury box and stopped murmuring.

  The Queen of Hearts, looking vaguely annoyed, thumped her scepter on the podium before her. "All right," she shouted. "Let's get this trial underway! We are here to try Alice what's-'er-name for the murder of what's-his-name."

  "Humpty Dumpty," prompted the Three of Hearts.

  "Off with his head!" bellowed the Queen, shaking her own head in rage. "How dare you interrupt me in the middle of court? Get him out of here! Off with his head!"

  Two of the other guards took the Three of Hearts by the arms and led him out of the courtroom. The Queen seemed satisfied, and continued to address the jury.

  "Now then, we are here to try Alice for the murder of what's-his-name. What is your verdict?"

  "Guilty!" roared the jury, like a Greek chorus.

  "Off with her head!" yelled the Queen, swinging her scepter wildly in the air.

  "Wait!" shouted Alice, running up to the judge's bench. "You can't do that! I am supposed to have a fair trial, the chance to prove my innocence!"

  "And you will, murderess," said the Queen. "But first, you must be sentenced. That way, you already know what the outcome will be, and you won't have to suffer through all that dreadful suspense. It's much faster, you know, and lets us get on with beheading you or whatever. You certainly don't know much about the law, I can see!"

  "But...," pleaded Alice, her skin once more clammy with fear.

  "Silence!" thundered the Queen of Hearts. "Bring in the first witness!"

  Two guards entered the room, escorting the Gryphon to the witness box. Alice started to tremble, the memory of his attack still vivid in her mind.

  The Gryphon sat down in the witness box, folding his wings behind him. "Hello, murderess," he said, leering at Alice.

  "Tell us what you saw," said the Queen. "Describe the crime."

  "Well, the murderess killed Humpty Dumpty. She hit him." At this, some of the jurors caught their breath and a shocked murmur ose from the jury box. "Yes, it's true. She told us so herself. I think she enjoyed it, too. You know, she was sort of boasting about it to us."

  "Anything else?" asked the Queen.

  "She has also broken a verbal marriage contract with the Mock Turtle and I. She is a liar and a murderess, and what's worse, I don't even like her one bit. She should die for her crimes."

  "Thank you," said the Queen. "You may step down. Bring the next witness."

  "Wait!" cried Alice as the Gryphon left the witness box. "This isn't right at all! I didn't do anything, at least not on purpose!"

  "Ha!" sneered the Queen. "That's what they all say! Next witness!"

  This time, the Mock Turtle was led into the courtroom, and took his seat in the witness box. He was crying profusely, as always, and was wiping his nose with a handkerchief.

  "Oh, that's her," the Mock Turtle sobbed as he sat down. "She spilled him in cold blood...cold yolk, rather. She hit him and smashed him, and when she was done, she..she ate him!"

  Again, the jury gasped. Even the Queen of Hearts seemed a little start
led. Everyone looked at Alice with disgusted, horrified stares.

  "Oh, Lord," said the March Hare. "She ate an egg."

  "She murdered him, and then she ate him," said the Duchess. "She is a monster, a cannibal!"

  "Off with her head!" screamed the Queen, scowling hideously. "Bring in the next witness, quickly! Let's kill her as soon as possible!"

  The jury began to chant, repeating "Off with her head" over and over again. The Mock Turtle left the witness box and two guards left to fetch the next witness.

  Alice shook and her head swirled and pounded once again. She wanted to run, to get away any way that she could; she knew that she was going to die, that her beloved Wonderland was finally going to kill her.

  As she watched, the guards returned with the new witness. Alice gasped when she saw him, and very nearly fell over in shock. Her throat felt dry and her hands were frigid and sweaty. Her heart raced in her chest.

  It was Humpty Dumpty.

  "Take the stand!" snapped the Queen. "Tell us what you know!"

  As the jury continued to chant, Humpty Dumpty walked to the witness box. He was completely healed, as if nothing had happened, and his big eggshell body was not even cracked. As he approached the box, his big eyes were on Alice, staring coldly at her.

  "That's her," he said bitterly, pointing at Alice. "She killed me."

  The chanting jury grew louder and louder. "What is going on?" screamed Alice. "How can he be alive? He...he fell off the fence...and shattered!"

  "Ha!" shouted the Queen. "You admit you killed him, then! Off with her head!"

  "Off with her head!" said Humpty Dumpty.

  "Off with her head!" chanted the jury.

  "No, no! Stop it! Please stop it!" Alice ran to the judge's bench and shouted up at the Queen of Hearts. "I'm innocent! I didn't mean to do anything! Please stop! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

  "Too late!" shrieked the Queen, whacking Alice on the skull with her scepter. "Next witness!"

  Alice whirled, tears streaming down her face. Through the big doors at the end of the courtroom, two guards entered; between them was a small girl. She had long blonde hair and wore a blue dress.

  "Oh my God," whispered Alice. "Oh my dear God!"

  Alice recognized the little girl. It was herself, much younger, as she had been when she had first visited Wonderland.

  "Take the stand!" said the Queen of Hearts, again whacking Alice with her scepter.

  The girl walked slowly across the courtroom. She was lovely and graceful and seemed to almost glide across the floor. Alice thought that she was the most beautiful child that she had ever seen.

  The girl strode past Alice, not even looking at her, and sat in the witness box. She seemed serene and happy, and a faint smile hovered on her lips.

  "Tell us what you know!" shouted the Queen.

  For a moment, the girl was silent. The whole courtroom was silent, except for the chanting of the jury. Then, her lips moved.

  "Off with her head," she whispered, softly. The sound of her voice was unreal to Alice, like a dream. The words were even more unreal, and made the voice horrible. "Off with her head, off with her head." The girl's voice grew louder and louder and joined the chorus of the jury. "Off with her head, off with her head!"

  Alice clamped her hands over her ears, but it only seemed to get worse. "Oh, stop it...please stop...," she whimpered.

  "No more witnesses!" bellowed the Queen. "The trial is over! Kill her!"

  Immediately, a guard stepped forward, carrying an axe. He wore a black hood, and on the face of his card-body was the Ace of Spades. He pushed Alice to the floor, and she fell heavily on her hands and knees.

  "No!!" she screamed, trying to get to her feet, too weak and exhausted to fight any more. "NOOOOO!!!"

  She twisted her head around and looked up. The executioner had his axe in the air, high above his head. The blade sparkled in the bright courtroom light.

  "Off with her head!" chanted the jury.

  "Off with her head!" howled the Queen of Hearts.

  "Off with her head!" said Young Alice, smiling down as if she were watching a circus.

  "No, no, no!!!" screamed Alice, struggling to get to her feet. The executioner kicked her back down and thrust his foot in her back to keep her there. She flailed and shouted, her heart pounding, slapping about helplessly like a fish on a deck.

  The axe swung downward.

  Then, there was silence and darkness.

  No one spoke, nothing moved. Alice felt dizzy and faint, and thought that she was dead. She imagined her sould was leaving her body, and she wondered where it would end up.

  In a way, she felt relieved. Finally, she had escaped the nightmare, the madness that her Wonderland had become. She had escaped Tom and Queenie, too; she had escaped everythig at once. There would be no more pain, no desperation.

  She was free at last.

  Then, she heard a voice. It was the voice of Young Alice.

  "Open your eyes," she said. "You aren't dead."

  Alice opened her eyes, and knew it was true. Around her, she saw the courtroom. Everyone was still there, the jurors, the guards and the Queen, but no one else said a word. They just sat there and watched her.

  "What...what happened?" said Alice, weakly, getting to her feet. "Why...why am I still alive?"

  "You do not belong here anymore," said Young Alice, ignoring her questions. "You do not belong here. Do you understand?"

  "No," said Alice. "I don't. What happened here? What happened to Wonderland? It used to be so lovely, so happy."

  "You cannot stay here," said Young Alice. "You must leave." She pointed across the courtroom, and Alice saw the mirror standing there. "Go home."

  "I-I don't want to go back there!"

  "You must." Young Alice remained quiet, impassive. Like magnets, her sky-blue eyes fixed unwaveringly on her future self.

  "I hate it back there!" Alice waved at the mirror, as if pushing it away from a distance. "There's nothing for me there, no joy, no love! You don't know what it's like..not yet, anyhow!"

  "Still, you must go back. There is nothing here for you, either."

  "Yes, there is! There was, anyway! Oh, why are you all doing this to me? Why are you all torturing me like this?" Alice walked toward the jury box, lifting her eyes to the silent jurors. "I love this place! I love you all! This is where I belong!" A single tear descended her cheek, and her face took on a pleading, desperate look. "Oh, why are you doing this?"

  "You don't belong here anymore," said the White Rabbit. "Can't you tell yet?"

  "This is all a trick!" said Alice. "It's all a grand joke! Anything can happen in Wonderland, I know..."

  "It is no joke," wept the Mock Turtle. "I assure you."

  "Yes," said the White Knight. "And if you stay here, it will all begin again. The nightmare will continue..."

  "No!" shouted Alice. "It won't! It's all a game, a Wonderland contest of some sort! It's over, I know, and everything can go back to the way it was! The way it was when I first came..."

  "No, it won't," said Tweedledum. "It won't go back, and neither will you. You must leave."

  "You can't stay here," said Tweedledee.

  "But why?! WHY?!?" Alice broke into tears and buried her face in her hands. It was all so wrong, so very, very wrong...

  As her body shook with sobs, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the Mad Hatter, leaning down from the jury box.

  "Look, Alice," he said. "It really is time for you to go. We really are telling the truth, you know. It's for your own good."

  "No, it's not! You can't send me back there!"

  "Yes, we can." The Hatter looked very grim; his face was firm and serious, yet somehow gentle. "Look, you don't belong in Wonderland anymore. Believe me, dear. We're only trying to help you...because we care."

  Alice looked at the Hatter for a moment, and stopped sobbing. "I...I thought you had all gone insane."

  "In a way, we always were. After all, I'm a
Mad Hatter, you know." The Hatter chuckled and patted Alice's shoulder. "You really can't stay, though. This is a place for summer days and rainy afternoons, for tea parties and tag. No matter why you do, you can't stay here."

  "Buy why?" said Alice. "Why must I leave? Why can't it be like before?"

  "It can never be like it was before," said Young Alice. "At least not for you. You are different, now, and do not belong here." She pointed at the mirror again, her small face bland and emotionless. "There can be no escape into Wonderland, not anymore. Do you understand?"

  Alice was silent. She stood and looked at the mirror, her face red from crying.

  "You do not belong here. Go home."

  "Yes," said the Queen. "Go home. You will find your Wonderland there, if you look hard enough. If you dare."

  Alice smiled weakly. "I dare."

  "I double-dare you!" shouted the Mad Hatter, from the jury box.

  "I triple-dare you!" shouted Tweedledee.

  "You have to leave now," said Young Alice. "Goodbye."

  "Yes, goodbye. Goodbye, everybody." Alice turned and waved at them all, at the Hatter and the Hare, at the Queen and the Duchess, at the White Rabbit and the Dormouse. She even waved to the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, and the executioner. "I will miss you so much."

  "Goodbye!" they all shouted, together.

  Then, Alice walked across the courtroom toward the mirror. It was already swirling and misty, and she thought that she could glimpse her attic on the other side.

  She got down on her hands and knees and crawled through. She glanced over her shoulder once, as the mist started closing around her; the last thing that she saw before she was through was Young Alice, watching her from the witness box.

  *****

  Epilogue

  In seconds, Alice was in her attic, crawling back out of the mirror onto a pile of packing crates. The place was the same as it had always been, dark and musty and chilly, and Alice was a little glad. In a way, it was good to be home.

  Alice made her way down the pile of crates, then turned and looked at the mirror. She could hardly believe it had happened, now; it all seemed the same as before. She felt good, though; in fact, she felt better.