The next day, Alison dragged herself down to the kitchen for breakfast with dark smudges of fatigue under her eyes. Aunt Caroline studied her as she slid a plate full of scrambled eggs in front of her niece.
"Didn't sleep well, huh, kiddo?" She ran a hand lovingly over Alison's long, blonde hair, still tangled from sleep.
Alison sighed and stabbed at her eggs. "I guess not." She didn't look up from her plate. When Mrs. Kim had visited yesterday, everything had seemed brighter, less impossible. But now her loneliness and the enormity of recent events seemed more insurmountable than ever.
"Well, I have an idea that will make you feel better," Caroline announced. She took a seat across from Alison and cradled a cup of coffee in her hands. "Why don't we go see the new exhibit at the Met? Going to the art gallery always cheers you up."
"I don't know..." Alison slumped in her chair.
"And after that, why don't you give Heather a call? She's been trying to reach you for days and I'm sure it would help you to have someone to talk to. Someone your own age, I mean."
Alison hung her head so her hair covered her face. "My phone was destroyed when..."
When the car crashed. She didn't need to say it out loud. Aunt Caroline knew what she meant. But even if her phone hadn't been destroyed, Alison still wouldn't have wanted to talk to Heather or anyone else from before.
That was how she thought of her life now, she realized. Before the accident and afterward. She didn't want to deal with the inevitable awkward pauses, the stupid gossip from kids at school, or the condolences that wouldn't change anything.
But Aunt Caroline was determined to cheer Alison up, whether she wanted to be cheered or not.
"I got you something," Caroline said with a big smile. She jumped up and opened a cupboard door to reveal a small gift bag. "I hid this in here because I knew it was the last you'd ever look."
Alison smiled weakly at her aunt's teasing. Before her parents had died, it had been a running family joke that Alison was completely hopeless in the kitchen.
"Don't you want to know what it is?" Caroline's smile slipped a little at Alison's lack of enthusiasm, so Alison made the effort to sit up straighter and smile.
"Of course I do." She faked a yawn. "I'm just tired, I guess." She reached for the bag. "What is it?"
Caroline relaxed and handed over the gift bag. "The young man at the store said it was the latest model." Alison pulled aside tissue paper to reveal a brand-new smart phone. "Do you like it?"
Alison opened the box and ran her fingers over the phone's brushed metal exterior. She forced herself to smile up at her aunt. "It's awesome. Thank you." She got up and put her arms around Caroline in a hug.
"I'm so glad you like it." Caroline grinned. "I know being cut off from social media is like losing an arm for a teenager. The guy at the store said you can use the phone for your art. I don't remember how, exactly—he lost me when he started talking about different apps—but it sounded good at the time."
For the first time in days, Alison felt a spark of interest in something other than Wonderland, and she realized she did miss the feel of charcoal in her hand and the smell of wet paint on a canvas. Though she'd been closest to her father, drawing and painting was something she'd always shared with her mother. It would be good to create again, to feel that connection.
And maybe getting in touch with Heather would be a good thing, too. Maybe it wouldn't be as awkward as she'd been imagining. Alison had never kept secrets from her best friend before, and though her words became a jumbled mess whenever she tried to talk about Wonderland to an outsider, maybe she could find some way to hint at what was happening.
The knot that was always present in the pit of Alison's stomach loosened a bit and she felt lighter than she had in days, like a weight that had been pressing her into the floor had lifted.
"You know what? I think I would like to go to the Met." She smiled at Aunt Caroline.
Relieved tears sprang to Caroline's eyes. "It's so good to see you smile." She swiped at the tears. "Now, why don't you go plug in your new phone and get dressed so we can get going? We're burning daylight!"
Alison rolled her eyes at the old-fashioned expression, but she was thrilled to hear it. Her father and her aunt had both always been bursting with quaint sayings and odd turns of phrase. She realized with a jolt that this was the first memory of her father that had made her want to smile instead of cry. She ran upstairs to charge her new phone, then dressed quickly in jeans and a soft, cozy sweater. As she sat down on the edge of her bed to slip her feet into her brown riding boots, the sound of a wind chime filled the room.
Alison sat upright and looked around with wide eyes. The sound seemed to follow her as she turned her head. But where was it coming from?
Then she figured it out. The chimes seemed to be coming from her earrings. She frowned. But that didn't make any sense—they'd never made a sound before. Unless...
Was it possible that she was only hearing the crystals' chiming now because she knew she was a Keeper? That maybe the Heart was reaching out to her? Maybe it wanted her to return to Wonderland for some reason. As it's Keeper, what if the Heart was trying to tell her it was in danger from whoever had taken it?
Alison pulled a pillow from her bed onto the floor and settled onto it as Mrs. Kim had shown her the day before. She slowed her breathing and closed her eyes, trying to empty her mind until her only thought was an image of a glowing, red gem shaped like a heart. Her pulse pounded in her ears. Was she really seeing the Heart? Every sense told her that she was back in Wonderland. The sounds of the forest filled her ears, she smelled trees and grass that had no place in her bedroom, and a soft breeze tickled her cheek.
She opened her eyes cautiously and blinked against the bright sunlight, then squealed in delight. I did it!
She'd gone back to Wonderland on purpose, all by herself, without Mrs. Kim to guide her.
The sound of the wind chimes came again, and Alison got to her feet. It wouldn't do to forget why she was here. She felt sure the Heart needed her; that it was trying to tell her something. She looked around for some sign of what she was supposed to do next, but there wasn't another creature in sight. No rabbit, no Cheshire Cat, no Queen's Guards, and no caterpillar. How was she supposed to know what to do?
Focus, she reminded herself. She closed her eyes and listened as hard as she could, turning in a circle. There! The chimes had grown louder as she changed directions. Her eyes flew open and she ran through the forest, changing direction as the chimes grew softer or louder. Every few minutes, she stopped to listen again and re-orient herself.
She followed the tinkling sound until she reached the edge of the forest. A meadow stretched out before her, the grass waist-high in places and dotted with flowers. In the distance, a figure approached. Alison crouched down to hide in the grass and lifted a hand to shade her eyes from the bright sun. There was no glint of sunlight on armor to indicate that whoever walked her way was one of the knights who'd chased her through the forest, but she couldn't be too careful. She glanced down at the healing scratches on her arms and legs. She knew now that what happened in Wonderland didn't necessarily stay in Wonderland.
As the figure drew closer, the wavering image solidified. Alison's heartbeat sped up. It was Maddox! She remembered the sadness in Mrs. Kim's eyes when the old woman spoke of her grandson and Alison hesitated, unsure if she should reveal herself. There was no doubt Mrs. Kim believed the best of Maddox, but could Alison trust him? After all, her father's note—his last communication with her—had warned her that people weren't who they seemed.
She squinted, thinking hard. Then again, Maddox had saved her from the Red Queen's knights in the forest. That had to count for something, didn't it? Alison's muscles vibrated with tension as she resisted the urge to run away. But before she could make up her mind about what to do, the decision was made for her.
"It's safe to come out from wherever you're hiding." Maddox's voice rang out clearly across the meadow.
Alison gasped. He was closer than she'd realized.
"I know you're here somewhere. The stones told me." He raised an arm above his head and turned in a slow circle so she could see the bracelet that sparkled on his arm. "I saw you wearing the Keepers' gems last time you were here. They resonate with the Guardian's bracelet." He grinned. "That's me, in case you hadn't guessed."
Alison held her breath. He was only feet away, close enough to pinpoint her location if she shifted her weight and rustled the grass that hid her from sight.
"I know the Rabbit probably told you not to trust me," Maddox went on, "but I promise I only want to talk. If the Heart of Wonderland is going to be found, we need to work together."
Alison took a deep breath, made up her mind, and pushed to her feet. "What do you know about the Heart?" she asked.
Maddox let out a yelp and she surprised herself by laughing.
After a moment, Maddox laughed too. "I know you almost gave me a heart attack. Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"You mentioned the Heart?" She ignored his question and waited to see what he would say next.
Maddox nodded. "I've seen you talking to the Rabbit, but you shouldn't believe everything it tells you." His eyes darkened and he scowled. "Trust me, the little hairball isn't as selfless as it wants you to think."
Alison raised her eyebrows. "What did the Rabbit ever do to you? Every time I've been in Wonderland, it's only tried to help me." She frowned. "Unlike that cat that seems to follow you around."
"Yeah, well, I don't fully trust the cat, either." Maddox shrugged. "But it's the lesser of two evils and it has something I want."
"What's that?"
"It told me it had information about my mother. She disappeared last year and the cat claimed she was in Wonderland, that I could use the Heart's magic to find her and bring her back. But...well, something went wrong." A distant look came into his eyes. "I think about my mom every day, but for now, I'd settle for a way home."
"You can't leave Wonderland." It wasn't a question. She might not be ready to tell him so yet, but Alison had seen Maddox's body lying still and lifeless in a hospital bed back in the real world. In their world.
"My grandmother was training me to be Wonderland's Guardian before I ended up stuck here, but I've tried everything she taught me and I can't get out. Meditation, chanting, trying to control my dreams. Nothing works. And no one I've met here seems to have an answer, either."
"What kind of training does it take to be a Guardian? Is it very different from a Keeper's training?"
"My grandmother told me there used to be magic in our world centuries ago," Maddox said, "but it was dangerous and unstable, so a sorceress trapped the magic in a number of gemstones and built fairy tale worlds around them to keep them safe. The Heart of Wonderland is one of those stones. The sorceress's descendants became the Keepers and the Guardians come from a knight who vowed to help the sorceress keep the magic safe from anyone who might set it free."
"How could the magic be freed from the Heart?" Alison asked. "And what happens if it is let back into the world?"
Maddox shrugged again. "I'm not sure, that's Keeper territory. But my grandmother told me that if the Heart was ever destroyed and the magic returns to our world, Wonderland wouldn't exist anymore."
Alison looked around at the strange landscape. "Would that really be so bad? I mean, is this place even real? And think about how amazing it would be to have real magic in our world!"
She didn't voice the rest of the thoughts that were running through her mind, but her chest felt tight. If there had been magic in the real world, maybe her parents could have been saved.
Maddox crossed his arms. "I think people cause enough damage in our world without having magic at their disposal. It's like the...what do you call it? The ripple effect. One thing changes and before you know it, everything is different. Besides, think of how you would feel if you lived in Wonderland. Just because it's not the real world to us, doesn't mean it's not real to the people who live here."
"So far I haven't met anyone else," Alison said, "only talking animals like the rabbit. Where are all these people who are supposed to live here? And how did they get here?"
"There's a village not far from here, but it's not very big. Not compared to New York, anyway." Maddox frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure how they got here, but I think maybe they're trapped here like me. Except they've given up on ever leaving."
Alison watched the wind ruffle Maddox's hair and shivered. "What do you plan to do with the Heart once you find it?"
"I'm not sure, but we can't let it fall into the wrong hands."
"How do we know whose hands are the right ones? You say I shouldn't trust the rabbit, but what makes you so sure you can trust the cat, either? All it's done so far is withhold information from you. Maybe it doesn't even know anything about your mother."
"You might be right. But we're never going to get any answers if we don't work together. Your earrings and my bracelet share a frequency with the Heart, but neither of us will be able to find it on our own. They have to be used together to locate it."
"Let's say I do agree to help you find the Heart," Alison said. "How do I know I can trust you? I mean, you've been stuck here for months and you said you'd give anything to go home. If you really can use the Heart's magic to leave Wonderland, what will you do if it comes down to me or you?" She felt bad for Maddox, but there was no way she was trading places with him.
"I wouldn't do that." Maddox's voice was firm. He looked Alison in the eye. "I swear."
Alison studied him carefully, then nodded slowly. "OK. I believe you. But is finding the Heart really going to be as easy as putting our jewellery together and listening for it?"
Maddox laughed sharply. "I wish. I can't find the Heart on my own, but when I came to Wonderland, at least I had a sense of what direction to look in. But lately..." He shook his head. "I think the Heart is damaged. The sound my bracelet picks up on is different now, like a broken instrument, and I can't tell where it's coming from. I think it's the Heart's way of letting us know it's in trouble."
"So what do we do?" Alison put her hands on her hips. How could she tell Mrs. Kim she'd found Maddox and get the woman's hopes up when he made it all sound so hopeless?
Maddox's grin surprised her. "We ask for directions. There's one person in Wonderland who always knows what's going on. The problem is getting a straight answer out of him."
"Do you mean..." Alison didn't know whether to groan in dismay or dance with excitement.
Maddox nodded, confirming her suspicions. "We need to see the Mad Hatter."