Alice In Chains (15 page)

‘I couldn’t get a straight answer out of her about it. Of course she was pretty off her head about the flower thing. I suppose that’s what’s caused the trouble.’

‘If something has gone wrong and she really doesn’t belong here, then she must feel she’s in a nightmare,’ Alice said.

‘I’ll do all I can to help her, but I’m not going to be ashamed of what I am,’ Suzanne stated. ‘I know where I belong.’

They hid in a convenient spinney on the outskirts of Gyre while Suzanne went on alone. A single girling was less likely to attract attention than three together, and she was most familiar with Boardland ways. While she was gone Alice took the opportunity to talk to Juliet.

‘I know all this must seem very strange to you,’ Alice said. ‘But I’m sure you’ll get used to it.’

‘How can I? This place is mad and people do filthy things to each other.’

‘Well, it was shaped by the original Wonderland stories,’ Alice said carefully, ‘so it’s normal to be a bit mad. And I think it changed into Underland as more permissive ideas have filtered through, but the link is
still
there. In fact some of the girls who came here were reading the Alice book just before they made the journey. Was that what you were doing?’

Juliet gave her a startled look that turned into an angry grimace. ‘No I wasn’t! I was with my family. We lived in a lovely house and I had everything I wanted. That’s where I belong. Now please stop asking me stupid questions!’ And she sat against a tree with her back to Alice.

Suzanne returned within an hour.

‘It is Gyre and the station’s there all right,’ she reported. ‘Trains to Brillig leave every other day. The trouble is full fare tickets cost three and six each, and even shipping a girling at livestock rates is a florin.’

‘Is that a lot of money?’ Juliet asked.

‘It doesn’t matter, because even if we had it you’d still need a local to arrange everything,’ Suzanne said. ‘It means we’d have to have somebody to ship us off, and who could we trust to do that? I’m afraid you can’t get far here without a master.’

Juliet looked disgusted at this last remark. ‘You keep on about “masters”. If this one of yours is so wonderful why can’t you just phone him and tell him where you are?’

‘Because there are no telephones in Underland.’

‘Well, what about a sending a letter?’

‘We’ve still got to raise the price of a stamp and a letter from somewhere. Then it would take a few days and my master might not be there to receive it immediately because he’s travelling.’ A new thought seemed to strike her. ‘He might still be looking for me along the border … or else he thinks I’m dead.’

‘Then we’d better walk to this Brillig place.’

‘It’s four squares away and there’s some dangerous country in between,’ Suzanne said. ‘The train’s safest. Even then it’s a full day’s trip because it makes a detour
round
the Slithy Woods. I’ve heard that’s the worst square.’

Alice had become thoughtful. ‘Maybe we can take the train.’

‘You mean sneak onboard?’ Suzanne said. ‘It’ll be risky.’

‘No, I mean get on quite openly.’

‘And how do we afford it?’

‘We earn the money.’

‘But we need to have a master to work for, and once he has us why should he let us go, or pay us anything?’ Suzanne pointed out.

Alice grinned. ‘No, we just need to seem like we’ve got a master. What’s Gyre like otherwise?’

‘Well, pretty busy. As I said, the edge squares are being opened up now the railways are spreading. Why?’

‘I’ve got an idea how we can pay our way and maybe even get some clothes for Juliet.’ Alice made a wry face. ‘It means having a bit more to do with flowers, I’m afraid. How much do you think we can sell posies and buttonholes for?’

‘Flowers, Mistress? Lovely fresh picked today.’ ‘What about a buttonhole, Master? Let me pop it in for you … very smart!’ ‘You want that one I’ve got down there? What, with my scent on it? Want to pick it yourself? Naughty, sir …’

Pretty naked girlings with buttercup and daisy chains around their heads and necks, and larger blooms apparently sprouting amid their pubic hair and the clefts of their buttocks were obviously a novelty in Gyre. Small posies sold for a penny, buttonholes tuppence, larger posies for thruppence, bunches for sixpence. After consulting with Suzanne, Alice suggested they concentrated on selling to animals, as they appreciated the attentions of girlings even more than the local humans did.

Obviously they had been sent out to make money for their master, but nobody wondered who or where he was amid the bustle of the growing town. Nevertheless, all the time they were on the streets Alice looked out anxiously for any sign of a policeman marching up to tell them they were trading without a licence or something, but nothing of the kind occurred. Nor did they see any rival flower sellers. Presumably human women or slaves gathered flowers at times, but the commercial florist trade did not appear to have come to Gyre yet and they did brisk business.

That afternoon they sold out. With some of the money they bought a little food and a large blanket, then retreated to the spinney outside the town where they arranged branches into a rough shelter. A hollow between tree roots provided a cache for their precious earnings. As they huddled together under it gazing up at the blue twilight, Alice said tiredly, ‘Up early tomorrow to pick them while they’re fresh.’

‘Do we have to sleep out here?’ Juliet asked. ‘We’ve got some money now. Can’t we stay in a hotel or something?’

‘It’s going to take us at least a week to earn what we need living cheaply,’ Alice explained. ‘If we blow it on luxuries it’ll take a year.’

‘But we only need one set of second-hand clothes and three tickets, and two of those are cheap ones, you said.’

‘For the livestock pen in the goods van,’ Suzanne murmured.

‘But we’ll also need to buy proper collars, leashes and cuffs for us,’ Alice pointed out.

‘You really need to wear all that?’ Juliet wondered.

‘Yes, otherwise they won’t let us onboard. It still comes to less than buying three tickets and two more sets of clothes. Why are you complaining? You’ll be travelling in comfort.’

‘Won’t you mind being locked up like animals?’ Juliet asked tentatively.

‘You really didn’t listen to much of anything in the garden, did you?’ Suzanne said. ‘We like being treated that way, most of the time, anyway. I mean it makes a big difference who’s got the key to your collar, but usually it’s a turn-on.’

‘I wouldn’t do this sort of thing back home,’ Alice added, ‘but it’s natural here. It’s part of everyday life.’

‘So, you’re both masochists, or submissives, or what?’ Juliet asked, sounding slightly embarrassed.

‘Probably a bit of both,’ Alice said. ‘Those are Overworld terms. In Underland being a girling includes all of that and also being a slave, a pleasure toy, a working animal …’

‘Ughh! How can you do that? It means you don’t have any choice, any freedom.’

‘I’m free if I’m honestly being who I am,’ Alice replied.

‘But you wanted to get away from Ruddle’s garden.’

‘Because I didn’t want to be a flowergirl for the rest of my life. Also he was too obsessive for my taste and I had enough of that with the Queen of Hearts. If he’d told me about the flower thing and I trusted him, and had time, I might have tried it for a while. Or if he just wanted some S&M he could have kept me around for a day or two and had a bit of fun. A girling expects to get treated like that.’

‘You really like pain?’

‘As part of being dominated or foreplay, it can be fantastically exciting. Sex is much more intense here.’

‘I saw you come a few times in the garden when Ruddle was stimulating fruiting,’ Suzanne said to Juliet. ‘And what about when the insects took your nectar? Don’t pretend that didn’t feel good.’

‘But I couldn’t help myself!’ Juliet exclaimed defensively.

‘Exactly. You were just following your instincts. Well it’s the same for us, for all the girlings down here as far as I know. I just want to be with my master and please him. If it doesn’t hurt anybody else, who are you to judge?’

‘But how can you like being the slave of an animal better than your old life?’

Suzanne twisted round to face Juliet. ‘Shall I tell you about my old life? I left home for a boy I thought was going to be my partner for the rest of my life. But inside a year he’d left me without friends, self-respect or money. I got so low I took an overdose. As I was slipping away I thought I saw a dodo wearing a waistcoat and carrying this big old watch come into my room. He said if I really wanted to give up responsibility for my life then he knew a place where at least I’d be some use to other people. All I had to do was follow him through this door. I knew I must be hallucinating, but I got up and followed him because I had nothing to lose.

‘Of course it wasn’t an ordinary door and it led here right into a girling trader’s house. They flushed the drugs out of me, broke me in and trained me. And gradually I realised I valued myself more as a girling than I had back home being free. I was giving pleasure, I was useful, I felt alive! Martes bought me when I went to auction and I’ve never been happier.

‘Maybe I did die of that overdose or I’m in hospital in a coma and this is all a dream, but I don’t want to go back and find out. Life is right for me here and that’s all I care about. So don’t you dare tell me what I should or should not like, understand?’

And Suzanne turned away from Juliet and cuddled up to Alice, resting her head on her breast. Juliet said nothing else for the rest of the night.

As she drifted off to sleep, Alice wondered how many Underland agents there were roaming her world looking
for
suitable girling material. And who made those dimension-twisting watches they used?

The next day’s trading went even better. They had customers from the day before who came back not just for flowers but for the banter that went with it. Even Juliet, who had been nervous about being naked before so many people, seemed to draw repeat attention. Her shy manner had its own appeal, apparently.

That night, tired but well satisfied, they huddled down in their makeshift shelter once again. Alice felt Suzanne’s warm body next to hers and smiled. Then, with lithe grace, Suzanne slid on top of Alice so that their breasts flattened into plump pancakes against each other and kissed her invitingly on the lips. For a second Alice hesitated, then realised there was absolutely no reason why she should not respond and kissed her back with equal passion. Suzanne giggled and slipped her hand between them to where their pubic mounds pressed together.

‘Does having feathers make it feel different?’ she asked softly.

‘I don’t know. Why don’t we find out?’ Alice suggested.

‘What are you doing?’ exclaimed Juliet.

Alice sighed in exasperation as Suzanne sagged limply over her. ‘What do you think we’re doing?’

‘You’re lesbians as well?’

‘No, we’re girlings,’ Suzanne said impatiently. ‘I like Alice and I think she likes me, so we’re going to have some fun together. Either keep quiet or join in, but don’t criticise.’

Juliet rolled over until her back was turned to them.

‘Right, where were we?’ Suzanne asked.

Alice guided her hand. ‘You were about here,’ she said.

As Alice lost herself in the uncomplicated, friendly freedom of girling sex, she hoped Juliet would come to
terms
with realities of life in Underland soon for all their sakes.

Afterwards, lying under the blanket with Suzanne asleep in her arms, Alice thought of Valerie, the lover she had met during her girling training. Valerie had found her perfect master in the shape of Atheling, the Nave of Hearts and apparently the only sane member of his family. Would she ever be as lucky? If she sorted out her current problems, should she try to find out how they were?

She fell asleep trying to plan the journey.

The next day Alice had an unusual customer.

They sold flowers to a few women, but mostly they attracted men and animals. But then a dumpy lady in a white skirt and jacket came up to her. She had a chubby, unlined face with small sharp pale eyes, and was carrying a rolled umbrella and a hatbox that dangled from its string handle.

‘And what have you to offer today, girl?’ she asked, fixing Alice with an amused stare.

‘Pansy posies, bluebells and primroses, Mistress.’

‘And how much is that?’ the woman asked, pointing to where a bright pink orchid grew impudently from Alice’s pudenda.

‘Thruppence, Mistress,’ Alice said quickly.

The woman dropped the coin into Alice’s basket and before Alice could pre-empt her, plucked the bloom from its moist cleft.

‘What novel pubic growth you have,’ she observed. She raised the orchid to her nose, passing the stem under her nostrils. ‘And what a pretty scent as well. It says so much about you.’

And with that she walked briskly away.

That night in their hideaway, as Suzanne kissed Alice and ran her fingers through her hair, she drew back
slightly
and said, ‘I think your feathers are longer than they were yesterday.’

Alice examined herself and frowned. ‘You’re right, they are.’

‘But why are they growing again so suddenly?’

‘Maybe it’s a delayed reaction to Ruddle’s plant food mix,’ Alice speculated. ‘It took a few days after the whole rejection thing for them to recover. I hoped I’d get this quest finished before they got too bad. If feathers start sticking out of my head people are going to notice.’

Juliet, who had been silent up to now, said, ‘I don’t know if they have hair gels here, but if you can get some cream or Vaseline, you could slick your hair back, so the feathers won’t show as much.’

‘It might help,’ Alice agreed. ‘Thanks. I don’t want anything to get in the way now we’re doing so well. The sooner we’re on that train the closer I am to a cure.’

‘Are you sure the Red Queen will keep her promise?’ Juliet asked.

‘I think a promise counts for a lot here, but I don’t see what choice I have,’ Alice replied. ‘I came to the wrong part of Underland, but it took me a few days to realise it. The first story is full of magic mushrooms and potions, so what happened to me fitted in. But now I can’t think of any mention of that sort of thing in the Looking Glass adventure. I was so desperate to get here I didn’t think the rest through.’