Stiltskin (Andrew Buckley) (10 page)

“Robert, this is Jack,” said Lily. “He’s an Agent, like me.”

“I’m sorry about before,” said Jack, “you can imagine how it looked, you standing there with the knife and the dead rabbits everywhere.”

“Uh, yeah, I can see how that would be a bad first impression.” Robert could tell that Jack was hiding something. There had been some sort of recollection in his eyes in that moment when he had entered the Exchange and seen Robert holding the knife. Robert’s thoughts were interrupted by the White Rabbit.

“Clearly the events that have transpired here today and the tragedy that has occurred within these walls have not happened without reason. I assume that you, Lily, and you, Jack, have come to explain just what is going on. What I don’t understand was why the Dwarf attacked me and killed my staff and why there is an Othasider sitting here in my living room. An event that I can assure you has not happened in a very long time. So, let’s start at the beginning shall we?”

million thoughts buzzed around in Robert’s head and not one of them made sense. “Look, I know that something serious is going on and I’m all for going with the flow but I would like to know what’s going on here. I have so many questions and it seems that things just continue to get more and more confusing. I’d honestly be happy understanding maybe a quarter of what’s happened today.”

Lily, Jack, and the White Rabbit stared at Robert as if they’d momentarily forgotten he’d been in the room. Ten minutes of chatting had taken Robert from slightly confused to very confused. He had so readily accepted the fact that there was a completely new world hiding behind the reality that everyone else knew but now he was feeling more and more like a tourist being dragged around by people he didn’t know. And to what end? In a way, he was honoured to be here in the living room of a giant White Rabbit, but why had he been dragged along in the first place? The Dwarf that had randomly appeared in his bathtub had obviously known who he was.

“My dear boy,” began the Rabbit, “I would have thought that you had been brought here armed with at least some information.”

“No, not in the slightest, I just followed her here,” said Robert tilting his head toward Lily, who had a slightly bemused smile on her face. “I mean, you’re… well, you’re fairy tale characters, aren’t you?”

The temperature in the room dropped a couple of degrees. Two humans and a three-hundred-pound rabbit stared at Robert. Jack’s hands tightened around his teacup until his knuckles turned white. No one breathed.

“Do I look like a fairy tale character to you?” growled Jack.

“Jack…” began Lily.

“Look, I’m sorry,” said Robert, “But―”

The Rabbit coughed the kind of cough meant to gain the attention of everyone in the room. “Obviously, I assumed incorrectly that you at least had some idea what was going on around you rather than just following our pretty Lily here wherever she led you. It’s a widely shared opinion that the term fairy tales when applied to Thisiders is somewhat derogatory. But your perception is not entirely mistaken.”

Casting a cautious glance at Jack, who had relaxed only ever so slightly, Robert said, “So you are the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland?”

“You make it sound as if the book produced the characters. What I can tell you is that you’re looking at it backwards, as only an Othasider could. Yes, we inspired many of the stories that you know as fairy tales but the vital piece of the puzzle that you’re missing is the
how
. Of course, it’s all to do with the doors. Many Othasiders used to fall through the doors into Thiside but thanks to improved and stronger magic, we have all but abolished the problem. Long ago, it was a common occurrence. Most Othasiders fell through doors by accident and were quickly delivered back by members of the Agency. In fact, as I recall, the Agency spent much of its time chasing down Othasiders, performing forget-me-not spells and dropping them back off in Othaside.”

“Then how did your likenesses,” said Robert carefully casting a quick glance toward Jack, “end up on the pages of some of our greatest literature in… Othaside?”

The Rabbit sipped his tea. “Probably the story I can best relate to is the Alice in Wonderland that you mentioned. In 1852, a young man named Charles Dodgson fell through a door in North Wales and ended up not two miles from where you’re sitting. He is probably the most well-travelled Othasider ever to come here, as he made it all the way to the Northern Territories before the Agency caught up to him. The forget-me-not spell was performed, and he was dropped back into Othaside. The spell works extremely effectively when an individual is conscious. However, it was discovered that when the individual is asleep, the spell has no effect and their experiences in Thiside often creep to the surface. It was further discovered that if the individual suffered any kind of sickness that affected the mind, then the influence of the spell would waver. As was the case with Charles Dodgson, who you probably know better by his pen name: Lewis Carroll. Charles suffered from a combination of epilepsy and micropsia, which caused cracks in the spell and caused recollections to float to the surface of his conscious. Believing them to be the result of a vivid dream, he wrote the story of Alice and her adventures in Wonderland. Some of the fairy tales in your reality date back hundreds and hundreds of years. And as you’re probably now realizing, the fairy tales, although they may have similarities, are not entirely accurate.”

“This is amazing. Those stories, those fairy tales are a basis for life lessons in Othaside. They’re taught to children, parents read them at bedtime, movies are made about them.”

“It’s all real,” assured Lily. “The folks who wrote all those stories, or at least the original writers of the original fairy tales and stories, had probably been here.”

“So you are the White Rabbit. Who is the Dwarf? He can’t be one of the seven Dwarves?” ventured Robert.

“Don’t be preposterous; those Dwarves are miners, not killers. They’re good working folk and I have the utmost respect for them,” said the Rabbit. “The Dwarf who appeared in your bathtub is Rumpelstiltskin. And the fact that he appeared in your bathtub is very interesting indeed.”

There was a crash as the door swung open and a bright blue ball of light hurtled into the room. The ball hovered and the light dimmed to reveal Veszico.

“I see your Agency Fairies are still ignorant of all manners,” complained the Rabbit.

Lily held out a hand, and Veszico landed softly into her palm. The Fairy threw a dirty look at Robert before looking at Lily and speaking. To Robert, the sound of her voice was nothing more than the ringing of a tiny bell but he could tell from her body language that the Fairy was distressed. She pointed back toward the Exchange several times.

“Do you understand her?” asked Robert.

Veszico looked at Robert with her dark eyes and shouted in her tiny ringing voice.

“Yes, we all can,” said Lily. “She says don’t interrupt her.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, uh… miss.”

Lily turned her attention back to the Fairy, standing with her arms folded across her chest. Her wings twitched impatiently. “I understand your kinship with the rabbits and I know you’re upset…”

Veszico shook a fist and pointed back to the door.

“Yes, it was Rumpelstiltskin who slaughtered the rabbits but that doesn’t mean you should…”

Veszico leapt into the air and began to glow red, then white, then burst into flames. Many people kept their emotions hidden, others wore their emotions openly. Fairies preferred a much more dramatic display; when angry, they simply burst into flames.

“Veszico!” shouted Jack but it was too late. The Fairy took off out the door. “Damn it, Lily, you could have grabbed her first!” Jack jumped to his feet. “Take the Othasider and go visit the Historian.”

“Jack, you know I can’t.”

“You can and will; we’ll need to know what the Dwarf is planning. He hasn’t been out of the Tower long but it seems he already has an agenda. Find out what it was he was trying to do before we put him away. I’m going to go after Veszico and hope I can find her before she finds Rumpelstiltskin. Thank you for your hospitality, White Rabbit; next time we meet I hope it’s under better circumstances.”

With that, Jack left the room.

Robert turned back to the Rabbit.

“You said before that the Dwarf, Rumpelstiltskin, showing up in my bathtub was very interesting. Why is that interesting?”

“I wish we had time to stay and chat,” said Lily, “but we need to get moving. It’d be an advantage to get as far North as we can before sunset.”

“I’m sorry to see you leave so quickly but I suppose I have my own work to do here. A word of advice for you, Lily, my dear. Don’t underestimate the Dwarf. If Jack is right, and he already has an agenda, he’s probably several steps ahead of you in this dance and you’ve yet to even learn the tune. And moreso, your unlikely partner here probably can’t even hear the music yet. What I can tell you is that the Dwarf came for my blood and he took it straight from the source.” The Rabbit placed a paw over his bloodstained fur where the wound had been. “This means he intends to travel to Othaside again soon. It was nice to meet you, Robert Darkly. While I fear your life will never be the same again, maybe that’s just the way it’s supposed to be. My thoughts go with you both.”

Lily and Robert stood as the Rabbit hefted himself from his recliner.

“Actually, there is something else we need from you. Robert doesn’t have a passport, and if he’s to come with me on this chase he’ll need one.”