Oh Alice!

Chapter 9

"Mom, wake up!" Roselynn shook Leslie's shoulders. She was slumped forward in the chair, still bound at the wrists. She must have exhausted herself, crying all night. Rose had sat outside the door, listening and hurting, all night. Being head of Palace security, it wasn't hard for her convinced the lowly guards that this was a high priority task, one that should be handled by Rose and no one else. They were idiots, but loyal to only the Queen.

Mumbles were the only answer from Leslie, she must be more exhausted than Rose thought. Sighing in frustration, she lifted the unconscious woman onto her shoulder. Guess we have to do this one handed, she thought slowly creeping out of the small cell. 3 left turns, 4 right turns, and out a window till they were safe. Rose had all the guard routes and corridors memorized, she could do this in her sleep.

Rose set off down the hall, painted black hardwood floors polished to a shine with a blood red carpet runner. Paintings of the Red Queen and vases of red roses decorated every hallway of the castle, even the prisoner section. The walls were painted a light cream color, the only other color the Queen would allow in the castle's decor. The whole castle felt like a maze, and some were easily lost if they didn't have an escort. It was almost 1 in the morning, all in the castle but a few guards were sound asleep. Usually there were parties, but the Queen was away from the castle, at a banquet in her honor.

She passed the last cell, slowing to nearly a crawl as she passed the only other occupied cell on this floor. It was against the exterior wall of the castle, directly next to the window she needed to escape out of. The rhythmic muffled pounding of a sewing machine was the only hint to who occupied the cell. Rose cringed and froze then the machine stopped.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. Naughty, naughty. General Pinkie why are you sneaking around the castle during guard change?" The cool, sly voice was coming from one of the most charismatic people Rose had ever had the pleasure of meeting.

"Matthew Hather. I thought the Queen had you killed a month ago." Rose snapped, adjusting Leslie on her shoulder. She was heavier that she looked.

"No, my dear! I'm much too useful to her! I'm making her clothes now!" A masculine hand appeared in between the bars, waving a bit of red shimmering fabric in the air.

"Really? She can stand you long enough to do fittings?" A low groan from her shoulder told her it was time to go. She took another slow step forward, waiting for Matthew to answer.

"I have a mannequin in here that is her exact measurements. It was the last Royal Designers. She was an idiot. Besides, the guards won't let me get that close to her." The hand retreated into the cell again, but the curiosity dripping from his voice was unmistakable. "Say dearie, where are you taking that woman anyways?"

"Oh, she pissed me off during interrogation. So instead of dealing with her more I'm going to just throw her out the window." The sarcasm so thick in her voice she had hoped that would shut him up. "Now be quiet before I come in there." He was always so nosy.

"Take me with you then. You can't keep me quiet when you escape with her." She sighed. He had a point.

Before she could think more, angry yells and loud footsteps echoed through the hallway. Rose's blood ran cold. She wasted too much time talking to Matthew. She made a quick, and probably terrible decision. She unlocked his door and angrily pointed to the window. He threw a pack over his shoulder and climbed out the window and down a long rope that descended into the trees 300 feet below. After a quick adjustment and trying a rope to Leslie, she began to climb down, closing the window as she went.

She was almost to the bottom, about 50 feet left when the window flung open. 2 guards appeared and shouted something, but Rose was too far down to hear. A flash of silver at the window told her that they were going to cut the rope. She took a chance, closed her eyes and let go, dropping the rest of the way to the forest floor, where waiting arms caught her and Leslie.