Wonky Wonderland (A Paranormal Cozy Mystery) (Museum of Magical Artefacts Book 3) by A.A. Albright

Author:A.A. Albright [Albright, A.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Pigs Shall Fly

For a moment we ran, but it soon became clear that the White Rabbit Guards had no interest in us. The men turned in the other direction, crying out, ‘Here, puss-puss! We’ve got some nice treats for you. Won’t you come out and say hello?’

So, with the Cheshire Cat’s words ringing in my ears, we slowed our steps once more, and headed to the March Hare’s garden.

I turned to Hugo, about to say something about the cat, but the words fizzled out at the tip of my tongue, and all I could focus on was the scene before me.

A long table, situated in the shade of a tree, was laid out for tea. Unlike in the book, there were four at the party instead of three.

The first was the Hatter, who looked like I’d imagined: he wore a large top hat which sat askew, and a suit that had seen better days. The second, the March Hare, was also as I’d imagined – basically, a giant hare who walked upright. He wore a rather fetching velvet waistcoat and some corduroy slacks.

And then there was Dora, who I’d been longing to see. The Hare and the Hatter were pulling her from her cup, trying to cram her into the teapot. They seemed to think it was great fun altogether, saying, ‘Tell us the story, Dora – you know the one we want!’ while she yawned and complained.

The fourth at the party, the one I didn’t expect, was a woman who stood a few feet from the table: a tall woman with crimson-red hair and a ruby crown upon her head. I knew, without a doubt, that this was Ciara, the Queen of Minds. The woman from my dreams. She looked directly at me and smiled, revealing sharp, dangerous fangs.

The March Hare hopped excitedly up and down and said, ‘She’s here, she’s here – are we going to change places?’ As he spoke, he hopped to the next seat along, taking Dora and the teapot with him.

‘No, no, no,’ said the Queen, stomping to the table, yanking Dora from the teapot and shoving her back in a cup – the very cup she’d been in every time she came to visit me. ‘Not yet – they’ve only just gotten here. First, I want to take Annie to play croquet and have her do one or two errands for me. Then we’ll have our tea party.’

Dora spun her head and, in her lovely, sleepy voice, said, ‘Annie is here?’ Her little eyes met my gaze and she added, ‘Oh no, oh no, oh no. You shouldn’t have come, my witch. This is exactly what she wanted!’

‘Shush up now!’ bellowed Queen Ciara. ‘Or I’ll be into your head, Dora, and you don’t like it when I do that, do you?’

Dora quivered, and as I rushed forward to grab her, the ground shook beneath my feet, and my eyes grew drowsy.

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