Chapter 19
“Alice, what were its teeth like, dear?” Queen Rosemarie asked, sipping tea beneath a woven palm shade.
Her thick black hair was twisted over her shoulder with gold threading woven through a braid to hold it in place.
She was exquisitely beautiful. Alice pondered for a moment, trying to reconstruct the terrible jaw in her mind.
She had suffered a restless night following the unsettling encounter with Evoldo in the greenhouse and Blinkem’s inexplicable absence, and the morning had found her roused prematurely by one of Rosemarie’s maids, bearing news of the queen’s summons.
Still, little had she anticipated that she would be asked to recount the harrowing encounter with the mysterious sea creature from the beach. Could that have been only yesterday?
“I would say they were much like a rose thorn, but quite long, about the length of my pinky,” she said, holding up her pinky to a young man named Tinkerton who, with his loose curls and scruffy face, was irrefutably handsome albeit unkempt.
He sat cross-legged in the grass before her and the queen, illustrating the sea creature in a bound leather book with loose scraps of paper and a curious writing device that looked something like a syringe.
“Did they sit on top of one another, or were they like fingers when you clasp your hands together?” He set his book and odd pencil down and made a jaw with his fingers, pressing the tips together.
“Like this?” Then he pushed his fingers between one another.
“Or this?” He smiled to demonstrate with his teeth.
Alice felt the urge to laugh. Was she blushing?
“The latter. And forgive me, why is it you wish to draw it?” She hoped her tone was not condescending of his capability or age, but her agitation over Blinkem’s whereabouts and the growing discomfort of being in the same home as Evoldo wasn’t easy to overcome.
“To take a record, recreate the creature in a drawing, and submit it for filing in the Ev Sea Survey Records.” He said this without offense, but with pride.
Alice nearly had to stop herself from snickering, for in that moment she thought of Dr. Lewis, and how it would take much more than an ice bath to rid her mind of the teeth of that creature.
Then she thought of Miss Molloy. What would she think of all this?
Was she worried about Alice? Did she even know she was gone?
“Tinkerton is a gem, Alice of Wonderland,” Rosemarie said. “He is truly one of the most competent artists this side of the river, and if you would believe, an equally brilliant inventor. There is no man more skilled than Tinkerton. Not in Ev, nor in all of Oz.”
Tinkerton rolled his eyes and put on a show of humility, but the grin gave him away—it was all true.
“Speaking of, would it be an inconvenience if I were to make the trip to the Emerald City on your next sail to the mainland?” he asked.
Though the question seemed mischievous, the idea of a city of emerald piqued Alice’s interest. Such a thing couldn’t possibly exist, she thought, until she remembered all she had encountered in just her first day in Oz.
“Why would you even need to ask?” Rosemarie responded. “You’re always welcome to join me on the sail. In fact, Alice and her companion wish to travel to the mainland today.”
Alice felt a knot forming in her stomach. What if Wendy were somewhere here? What if Alice would be traveling away from her? But perhaps more concerning, she didn’t even know where Blinkem intended for them to travel—or why! She really had to speak with him—
“Excellent news!” Tinkerton exclaimed as he shut his notebook and stood. “I’ll prepare the travel crate,” he said and immediately started off.
“Just a moment, Tinkerton!” Queen Rosemarie called after him, and he returned with the sneakiest little smirk.
“You sly fox, how large is this contraption that I’ll be hauling across the country?
I intend to fill the boat and will need room for several potted bushes,” she scolded, though her own smirk indicated that she was willing to change her plans for Tinkerton.
Tinkerton was grinning mischievously. “It’s no bigger than a stout munchkin! It won’t take up more room than that!” With a nod, he was off, leaving the queen laughing as she settled back into her lounge.
“My nephew is as delightful as he is tricky, though it’s always for the greater good,” she said, picking up her teacup once more.
“What is it he wishes to deliver?” Alice inquired, hardly able to focus, and having no idea what the size of a stout munchkin would be.
“Another invention, no doubt. Tinkerton is a brilliant mind, always up to something. Without shame, he will use my position to get his gadgets, or sometimes enormous contraptions, in front of wealthy or politically revered persons.” Rosemarie’s fondness for the young man radiated from her.
Across the lawn, coming from the gate that led to the seashore, King Evoldo, still dressed in last night’s attire, though markedly dirtier, crossed the sun-drenched garden toward the manor.
As he approached, Alice’s heart quickened in fear.
She leaned her head back against her lawn chair and wondered if she should pretend to be sleeping.
She quickly decided that would be ridiculous and simply looked down at her clasped hands.
“Your Majesty,” he crooned, standing before Rosemarie and Alice. Alice raised her eyes to see the filthy boots he wore against the marble patio stone. He smiled as if waiting for admiration, his hands perched at his hips.
“Did you sleep below the earth last night, husband?” Queen Rosemarie asked, pursing her lips.
“Sleep was not necessary, for we have found a new untapped well,” he boasted, as if expecting applause.
“More emerald. You have proven me wrong. Your talent for finding gemstone should be studied.” The king nodded. “Well done to you and the brave men or women who endured the shoveling last night,” she continued, though the sentiment was deeply mocking.
“Have you greeted the Princess?” Evoldo asked, his eyes glancing over Alice briefly, before his attention was drawn to a guard swiftly crossing the lawn to him. The King nodded to the guard, who nodded and turned back around. A sort of unspoken code, Alice observed.
“How could I? She will not rise until midday.” Rosemarie’s tone was sharp.
Evoldo smirked. “Will you be leaving today?”
“So eager to be rid of me?” she asked, and he grinned falsely as she shaded her eyes from the sun.
As they looked at each other for a moment, tension hung in the silence, and Alice wished she could excuse herself.
Before she could, the king leaned into his wife and, with his filthy beard and face, kissed her neck. She swatted at him, feigning laughter.
“Your scent is offensive! Go wash now, so you may bid farewell to me and my guests this afternoon.”
“I must bid you all farewell now, I am afraid. I have pressing matters of state, and since I do, I think Languidere should join you for the sail,” he added, excusing himself with a stolen glance and a wide grin directed at Alice.
She did not return the acknowledgement, instead looking off to the greenhouse with a subtle, almost undistinguishable, shake of her head.
Rosemarie settled back and sat quietly, gazing at Alice.
“I know how he is,” the queen said after a moment.
“Your Majesty?” Alice asked, a pit forming in her stomach.
“Please, just Rosemarie, if it is just us friends. He is insatiable, my husband, and I apologize to you for that. In the greenhouse, many others would not have handled things in the same way you did,” Rosemarie said, causing Alice’s mind to race.
How did the queen know what had happened? Had he told her?
“I would know. I was once younger and did not have a compass that led me so faithfully toward what was right. Though one thinks a man would mature as a woman does. That is far from the way of it.” Rosemarie sipped her tea and leaned her head back against the silk pillow tied to the wooden frame of her lounge as she exhaled.
Alice knew not what to say, and fortunately the queen seemed to shake off whatever melancholy thoughts had possessed her and said, “The trip to the port is not terribly long, but it certainly passes more quickly with reading. Have Bernard show you to the library and pick out something that suits. I have a wonderful collection of rare witchcraft and alchemy books.” With that, she closed her eyes.
What a strange topic of reading to offer, but perhaps it was offered on account that it was apparently a group of witches that had chased Alice from London—as impossible, again, as that was to believe.
Though she knew she should go directly to the library, as a polite guest—as Wendy— would have done, Alice searched the grounds for Blinkem, whom she had not seen since the previous night.
With the guards assuring her that they had not seen him either, the panic of being alone quickened her breath and steps, her agitation with him overcome by this new fear.
Finally, near large, twisted trees on the western side, she discovered a pile of pale yellow clothing.
Blinkem had been there, and for some reason, had stripped completely nude again!
Was this some sort of ailment of the mind?
A compulsion? She shook her head to rid the thought—far too many psychoanalyst appointments.
If Blinkem was wandering about nude, someone was bound to find him.
Alice sighed and decided to return to the cottage and find a book for the journey as the queen had told her to do.
She knelt to fold the pile of clothes he had left behind, just in case he returned to this spot.
“You had better not leave me alone here,” she scolded in a whisper, folding his jacket neatly.
As she turned it over, something caught her eye—a glint of gold.
She reached into the long grass and retrieved a timepiece, its chain tangled in the weeds.
“A gold pocket watch,” she murmured, holding the watch up to inspect it.
The cover was etched with a distinct pattern, one she could not forget.
She traced the wreath of clovers with her finger.
“Impossible,” she gasped. But there was no mistaking it—this was the same watch that had dangled from the white rabbit who had led her to Wonderland.
Could the rabbit have been guiding her to this very moment?
To the watch’s owner? Blinkem couldn’t have been more than a boy then, surely.
Her mind spun with questions, more questions!
But amidst the confusion, a sense of vindication took root.
If this was indeed the watch—and she had no doubt it was—then Wonderland had been real.
Was Wonderland somewhere here in Oz? It couldn’t have been a dream!
Alice balled the chain into her palm, clutching the watch tightly with both hands. She would keep it safe, just in case Blinkem didn’t return. Or, at the very least, she would keep it until she had answers.