“Please!” She sounded desperate, and she felt that way too, she realized. The driver seemed to have slowed and that made her hurry even faster in spite of the stitch in her side. She was closing the distance. “Please just tell me where we are!” He stopped and turned, the white outline of his hand pushing open a door. She was only ten feet from him now and the light coming from the room he’d opened was inviting. Panting, she made it another five feet, calling out, “Please! Where is Mr.

Knight? Where are we?”

“Why, don’t you know?” The driver flashed a distracted smile as she neared, pushing the door fully open and waving her through. “This is Wonderland.” She stepped through the doorway and found herself in an oddly shaped room.

The floors were black and white parquet and the ceilings sloped upward to a point in the middle. They were draped with fabric, red and white, like a circus tent. There appeared to be no doors or windows, and when the driver stepped into the room, the door behind them disappeared into the obsidian wall.

Alice stood, stunned to silence, perplexed, watching the driver cross the room.

He pushed against the wall and another door appeared.

“Wait!” she called, rushing after him, determined not to be left behind again. “Can you take me to Mr. Knight?”

He stopped, turning only briefly, a distracted look of pity crossing his face. “You should take heed of the instructions on the table. Don’t worry, Miss. I’m sure he’ll join you shortly.”

“What table-?” She turned to look at the room and he was gone, the door disappearing as if it had never been there. Alice growled in frustration, pushing at the wall in the same spot, but it didn’t give. She dropped her shoes and put her phone back into her purse, leaving that on the floor as well and went all around the room, finding it had eight sides, like an octagon, pushing and pushing, looking for a way out.