Alice and the Looking Glass (Clockwork Wonderland Book 1)

In Which Jack and Chester Ponder Alice

"She's asleep again."

Chester lounged back in his chair, flipping a silver spoon between his fingers. "She sleeps more than I do!"

With a thump, Jack collapsed into the chair opposite and rubbed his temples. "Maybe the sisters went overboard with the 'refreshments.'"

They both pondered this in silence for a moment. Maria wove between the cramped tables of her cafe to their corner booth and set down Jack's favorite drink - black coffee with a half shot of creme liquor - before bustling off again without a word. Jack often held informal meetings here and she respected his privacy. As he always did, Jack caught her hand before she moved away and gave it a firm squeeze of thanks.

"What are we going to do with her, Jack?" Chester poked the spoon in Jack's direction. The question sounded simple, but the implications were vast. Alice would help them solve an old, dangerous problem, but no one really knew how she was going to solve it. The bigger question was "at what cost," either to herself or the human inhabitants of Wonderland?

"I don't know yet. For now, we'll show her around town, make sure she's comfortable, and see how they react."

A pause. Then, "are you so sure Thornweep knows she's here?"

"They must. Our machines felt it, after all. I'll watch them and you'll prepare her. That's the plan."

Pinning his friend with a scathing look, Chester grunted "and how, pray tell, am I supposed 'prepare' her? The only one who understands this operation is that insane doctor and he's working off the ramblings of a hundred year old dead man."

Jack's eyes dulled. He'd fielded similar questions from other colleague a dozen times before this. Not everyone supported bringing Alice here; they felt the risk too high in return for minimal gain, an idea he felt was naive and shortsighted. "Her arrival created a ripple, so further travel around the city may cause more. Take her to Mordland or Kirkheim, for all I care. We can't very well her back and forth between here and her world, so we'll have to try something else to illicit a response."

"Something else?" The lithe man quirked one delicate eyebrow.

"You'll figure something out, while I confer with the doctor and the leadership. They'll know what to do in the long term."

This seemed to satisfy Chester a bit, who dropped his spoon into the coffee mug with a clang. Maria shot him a dirty look from across the room and he winked at her. "I'll give her the tour then, when she wakes up? Just send word to the office when she's well enough to go out."

"I knew you liked her!"

Chester huffed and sprung to his feet, stalking out. After a snort, Jack gazed out the window onto the busy street, twitching his legs up and down. Planning.