Alice

6. Jack

6. Jack

The next day, I decided to explore the castle. I wandered around the corridors, saying "hello" to the servants as I walked by. When I came across Martha, I asked her if there was any interesting place I could go.

"Well, there's nowhere really special.... You're allowed to go pretty much anywhere..... Except the North Tower. It's at the end of the west wing, and it's the tallest tower in the castle. It's too bad, because I'm sure the view up there is spectacular. You probably can see all of Wonderland from up there," she said, somewhat wistfully.

"Why can't I go there?" I asked.

"It's forbidden. No one knows why. It's another one of Her Majesty's rules."

Now, I heard Martha say that the North Tower was forbidden. But I was way too curious. I wanted to see the view, and maybe then I'd see why it was forbidden.

So, that's where I headed. I followed Martha's directions until I came to a spiral staircase. I kept climbing up and up and up. At last, I reached the top, where a door stood. Please don't be locked, I prayed. It wasn't, and I walked right through.

The room wasn't very large, but it was just the right size so that it wasn't stuffy. Curved around the back of the wall were three tall windows, covered by velvet curtains. The furniture in the room was a couch and two armchairs placed around a coffee table. An empty fireplace stood in front of the furniture.

The windows drew me towards them. I had to see the view. I reached for the curtains and drew them apart.

I jumped a mile high. For there, sitting on the window seat, was the Jack of Hearts. He had been reading, but when I pulled apart the curtains, he jumped, too.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here."

"I shouldn't be in here," he mumbled. He scrambled up and started for the door.

"Wait! You don't have to go." He turned around. "I'm Alice."

He looked at me, and I looked back at him. This was the first time I really saw his face. His hair swept down and almost touched his clear blue eyes. He had pale skin, but his cheeks were flushed, maybe from me startling him? His lips were a little redder than they should have been, but it looked good that way. He had a slender build, and he was a little taller than my five foot six inches.

After we stared at each other for several moments, he said, "Jack. My name's Jack."

I smiled. "Nice to meet you. So... Do you come up here a lot?"

"When I can. The view's great, and the lighting is really good for reading," he said.

"What are you reading?" I asked.

"It's, uh, by a guy named Shakespeare...." He handed me the book.

I read the title on the side. "Oh, you're reading Hamlet? I love this one! I didn't know you guys have the same books we do in my world."

He blushed. "Actually, we don't. I have a friend who likes to make trips up Above, and he brings me books sometimes."

"That's awesome."

"Yeah, but... It's not exactly legal. If the Queen were to find out..." He looked into my eyes. I think he knew that I'd been in the throne room the same time he'd been yesterday, and he knew what I was thinking. She would do something terrible to him if she found out that Jack was smuggling books, nephew or not.

"Don't worry," I assured him. "It'll be our little secret."

He gave me a small smile. "Thank you, Alice."