Take the Yellow Brick Road [Ways to Wonderland Book 1] [OLD VERSION]

The Reply

It had been over a week since Carter had sent the letter to Mr. Dodgson. Carter and his grandfather had completely dropped the subject. On the Tuesday morning the pair sat in front of the fire discussing the movie they were just watching. For a home built in the thirties, the place was far more advanced than Carters own. His grandfather had made tonnes of additions to the house since the nineties. Carter was still discovering hidden rooms behind bookshelves, or paintings that turned out to be screen-savers for a TV like the one above the mantle piece in the drawing room.

Suddenly, Ms. Carson burst into the room startling Otto and sending him jumping off Carters lap. Both heads turned to the maid.
"The Internet is being installed today instead of next week." She panted. She staggered over and fell into a third chair near the pair.
"What time?" John asked. Ms. Carson calmed her breathing.
"10am sharp." She said. John looked at his watch and looked back up at Carter.
"Go get changed out of your pyjamas, he'll be here in ten minutes." John walked over to the maid. Carter nodded and jogged from the room.

Carter walked the first layer of stairs to the second floor. The stairs went up another floor, which must have had Ms. Carson's room as well as the stairs leading to the library room. He hadn't been there since he sent the letter. Carter entered his room. He was immediately struck with the scent of freshly cut grass. This was due to the incense to bottles Ms. Carson insisted he keep in there. He had grown quite fond of it. He walked over to the ornate set of draws he had left his clothes in. He got changed and went back down stairs. Otto greeted him at the final step.

Just as he stepped onto the floor the doorbell rang. He walked over and opened it. The silhouettes of two men stood in the doorway. One took a three letters from a satchel, handed them to Carter, nodded and walked away. The other looked from the postman, to Carter, then to Ms. Carson who had appeared behind him.
"I'm just gonna go... Yeah." Carter slipped behind the maid and back to the drawing room. He flicked through the letters. A bill for his grandfather, a letter from his great aunt Wendy, and the final letter was addressed to him.

He absentmindedly passed the bill and the letter to his grandfather, sat down in his own chair and looked at the letter. Scarlet ink shone up at him.

Carter Darling,
14, Bayswater Rd, Kensington,
London

He opened the letter and sat the envelope on the table in front of him. Carter began to read.

Dear carter,
My name is Katherine Liddel (Great granddaughter of the Alice mentioned in your letter). I regret to inform you that Mr. Dodgson died in 1898. The research you are referring to was a project conducted by my grandfather (Using Dodgson's name) and your great uncle Michael. This project concerned the idea that the tales of your great uncles Peter Pan and Mr Dodgson's (AKA Lewis Carrol) Alice in Wonderland were real and the same. Just as your stories were based on the experiences of your great uncle, Dodgson's stories were based on the adventures of my great grandmother Alice. I would be glad to help you conduct this research, as (pardon my pun) the rabbit hole goes quite deep.

Yours truly,
Katherine Liddel

Carter read the letter over again. This person was suggesting that Neverland and Wonderland were real. Not only real but the same.
It almost made sense. No. No it didn't. They weren't real. Or were they?
A voice startled him.
"A letter from a friend?" John said, looking over at him. Carter started to speak, but his grandfather spoke again. "Or a reply from Mr Dodgson?" He asked.
Carter shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, uh yeah. He's just some guy Uncle Michael was writing to about some theory."

John looked puzzled. Carter couldn't blame him. He put the letter in back in the envelope.
"They said they thought that Wonderland and Neverland were real and in the same place." He said. "Pretty crazy, right?" He looked over at his grandfather. John sat there in silence, avoiding his grandsons eyes. Carter scrunched up the paper and tossed it into the fire. The with a loud crack, the flames turned a deep shade of green. Otto crawled into the pocket of Carters hoodie.

Carter pulled his cat out of his pocket and held Otto under one arm. He stood up and walked towards the fire. "Carter!"hissed his grandfather. He looked back. John was hiding behind the door frame.
"Don't go over there. Magic isn't to be messed with!" Carter looked from his grandfather to the fire. Otto jumped from his arms and stalked towards the green flames. The cat stopped just in front of the fire, sat down and looked up at Carter. Carter slowly made his way over to the mantle, knelt down and picked up his cat.

Just as he picked up Otto, the cat lurched forward, sending Carter head first into the flames. His ears were filled with the sound of the crackling fire. The flames felt cold, as if he had fallen into an ice bath. Carter heard his grandfather yelling, though he couldn't make out the words. He blacked out.
John fell to his knees in the centre of his drawing room, staring mortified at the cold empty hearth. The last remaining green flame flickered out of life...