Wonder

Chapter 27

THE FUTURE: THE DOOR TO WONDERLAND, OXFORD ASYLUM FOR THE CRIMINALLY SANE

Like the Pillar said, the Mock Turtle isn’t who I expected him to be. All the scenarios I imagined were out of context. Surprises keep on coming.

“Is that really him?” I ask the Pillar, pointing at the so-called Mock Turtle.

“Dr. Tom Truckle himself.” The Pillar is as confused as I am.

“He is the revolution leader?” I scratch my head, as if I am in a big cartoon show called life. “And how come he is the Mock Turtle?”

“He likes mock turtle soup a lot,” the Pillar remarks. “We should’ve noticed.”

I think about it for a moment. The puzzle starts to unfold in my mind. “And there is something else that should have given him away.”

“What’s that?” the Pillar asks.

“Tom Truckle is an anagram for Mock Turtle.”

The Pillar’s eyes glimmer. “Clever. But the question is: did he know he was the Mock Turtle back then when we were in the asylum?”

“And why did I leave the secret to the keys’ whereabouts with this old, a

“Let’s see.” We walk toward Truckle. “Honestly, he doesn’t look as tense as in the past. Little too old for leading a revolution, though.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Tom Truckle says, leaning against a tree in the garden. From what it looks like, this isn’t just a garden. It’s a prison, walled with enormous trees and stinging bushes. There is nowhere to escape. “My wardens will arrive soon. They’ll know who you are.”

“Do you know who I am?” the Pillar says.

“Why should I care?” Tom says. “I was talking to Alice.”

I realize Tom doesn’t know I’m from the past, so I need to play along while I get answers at the same time. “It’s okay, Tom,” I tell him. “Where are the keys?”

Tom fidgets, pulls out a few pills, swallows them dry. He looks at me. “I can’t talk here,” he whispers. “You have to get me out of here. How did you even get in?” He grabs me by the shoulders. “And why have you left the compound?”

“Hey,” the Pillar says. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s start with getting you out of here. But first, we need to make sure the keys aren’t here in the asylum.”

“Who are you?” Tom says.

“It doesn’t matter,” I tell him. “Stick with me. Are the keys inside the asylum?”

“No,” Tom says.

“Then my friend is right. Let’s get you out of here first.”

“Tell me how, and I’m all yours,” Tom says. He cranes his head over my shoulder, his mouth agape. “Oh, no.”

“What’s wrong?” I say.

The Pillar taps me on the shoulder, looking in the same direction behind me. There is a TV hung above the door. It shows the Great Republic of Wonderland news. I’ve been declared a fugitive. Public enemy number one. The Queen has ordered my head chopped off for breaking the treaty and leaving the compound.

“The deal was that strict?” I ask the Pillar.

“Like I said, rich people stay in their compound for immunity, but they’re not allowed to ever leave it.”

“Why would I agree to such terms?”

The Pillar shrugs. I turn to Tom, and he gives me a look that worries me. He knows something I don’t know. “Show me out first,” he demands.

Two wardens arrive at the door, one of them whistling a warning. Suddenly the place is head over heels.

“Alice,” the Pillar says. “I have a great idea how to get out of here.”

“Please tell me.”

The Pillar raises an eyebrow and says, “Run!”

Chapter 28

When the Pillar says run, you realize you’re in great danger. This is what Tom Truckle does. Even the Pillar himself disappears in the flash of an eye, probably behind the bushes, because this place is actually a small prison of trees and vicious flowers.

There is nowhere out of here, except climbing over the high walls in the back or through the door we came from.

I find myself stranded, but unafraid of the Reds by the door. It’s not like I haven’t confronted them before. It’s just never happened with my back against the wall.

“What are you doing?” Tom Truckle says from behind the bushes. “They’ll kill you. You’re wanted since you broke the treaty and left the compound.”

What am I doing? Heck, I have no idea. Something inside urges me to fight back. I suppose this is a more experienced version of myself in the future, even with the few pounds I’ve put on.

One of the Reds steps forward and talks to me from the hollow darkness of his mask. “We don’t have to do this, Mrs. Wonder. If you comply and let me send you back to the compound, everything will be fine.”

I am about to scratch my head. Just like that, bring me back to the compound? Didn’t the Queen declare me a fugitive? Is that a trick?

He extends a hand. “Please, will you come with me?”

“And my friends?”

“You have no friends in here, Mrs. Wonder,” the Red says. “You’re only a bit confused. Have you taken your medication today?”

Again? Tiger, my son, asked me if I had taken my pills this morning. What is that all about?

I resort to silence, readying my fist for a fight.

“Mrs. Wonder, please don’t,” the Red says.

“I’m not leaving without my friends. Either you let us go, or else.”

“I can’t let you go. Queen’s orders. But I can spare you from having your head chopped off and send you back to the compound.” Why do I have a feeling he also fears me?

“No, I will not comply,” I say.

The Reds behind him gather and begin to approach me. First the nines, then the eights, the sevens, and so on. There’s about thirty of them in this small garden in Christ Church. I wonder why the Pillar lets me fight alone. I know he can choke them with his hookah.

The first two Reds run toward me. I find myself curving my body and slightly maneuvering to one side. The two slash the air with their swords, but one hurts the other.

Well, that was neat. Where did I learn that?

“Reds!” the leader roars, and four others approach, grunting behind their cloaks. It’s time for a real fight.

Chapter 29

This time, and I still don’t know how I am doing this, I run to the nearest tree, and with speed I find myself walk perpendicularly on its surface for a second. Then I somersault back in the air. Just as if I am professional parkour ru

Wow. That feels good.

Instead of landing back on the ground, I land on their heads. Amazingly, I tap on each Red’s head quickly, breaking them, but never falling to the ground. Then finally, when they’re nothing but empty cloaks crumbled on the grass, I land on my feet. Like a ballerina.

“Huh.” I rub imaginary dust from my clothes. “Not bad for a thirty-three-year-old mum.”

“You think you can outsmart all of us?” the leader says. “With that silly None Fu of yours?”

Oh, so that’s it. None Fu in the future. Pretty dope.

“Reds!”

Now it’s ten of them. They’re carrying swords. I don’t carry one because I am swift, agile, and can almost walk on air.

I raise my hands in the air, as if I were the Karate Kid. Tension fills the air. They can’t predict my next move. I give in to my i

I am so having fun.

Too stubborn to use the sword, I throw it up in the air and, like a mad ballerina, kick the Reds left and right while binding their cloaks into one another. I’m basically like a hurricane in a cartoon movie, swirling through them, and there is nothing they can do about it.