Wonderland (Intergalactic Fairy Tales Book 1) by Robert McKay Read Free Book Online Page A

me like property,” sniffed Rabbit, sounding wounded.
    “But, I don’t understand. You are property,” said Alice. “It clearly even says so on the signs around this very spot.”
    “Just because the queen says I’m her property and treats me as such, doesn’t mean that I am. I am a person, just the same as you, and I will not tolerate children who think they can give me a name and then claim they own me. At least the red queen can provide me with a proper shelter to keep me out of the wet even if she does threaten to have me beheaded from time to time. Could you provide me with such a thing?”
    “Well, I hadn’t thought—”
    “Of course not,” chided Rabbit. “You hadn’t taken the time to think about how I might feel about being stolen and made to serve your purposes instead of my own. How typical.”
    “I—I’m sorry,” stammered Alice. Her head turned down to the floor and her cheeks burned with shame. “I just got carried away. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I think you’re a very lovely person. You deserve much more than to have to serve a mean old woman who threatens to cut off your head.”
    “You don’t think that I know that? If it weren’t for the tracking device I would have struck out on my own a long time ago.”
    “I could try to help you get rid of that,” said Alice cautiously. “It’s the least I could do for treating you like property.”
    “Hmmm,” said Rabbit, as if he were thinking very hard. Alice could tell that he was being coy because he wasn’t sure if he wanted to forgive her. “Very well. I doubt you’ll be able to help, but I’m willing to let you try.”
    “Halt!” came a shout from just down the row of ships. One of those strange looking card men was charging toward her, his axe waving menacingly. “Halt in the name of the queen!”
    “Run,” hissed The White Rabbit.
    Alice bolted down the row of ships, turning as soon as she was out of sight of the guard. She turned left a couple of times, hoping she could circle back to The White Rabbit. She was certain he’d forgiven her and would help her out of this mess if only she could get back to him. Her heart was hammering in her ears and her breath was coming in ragged gasps.
    There was no way to escape the fenced in area. She only had two options: hide, or get on a ship and fly out. A shout came from just off to her right, so Alice turned left again. How could they be tracking her so well? She hadn’t seen a guard since the first one charged at her. Then, over her puffs of breath, she realized she could hear the loud clacking of her hard soled shoes hitting the concrete floor. They were as good as a homing beacon. Alice skidded to a stop, but overbalanced herself and tumbled forward. The floor rushed up to greet her, but the impact never came.
    Strong arms lifted her to her feet, none too gently. Alice shook her blonde hair out of her face and found herself staring at a chest decorated to look like a five of hearts. “By the authority of the queen of hearts, you are under arrest and will be jailed until her majesty reviews the charges against you and passes sentence.”
    Alice reached for the sword at her waist. “Not if I have anything to say about it,” retorted Alice, drawing her sword. Before the guard could react, she slashed out and whacked him in the shin. The blunted blade didn’t draw any blood, but it was plenty heavy enough to cause pain.
    Alice crowed in triumph and ran the other direction, the guard shouting obscenities behind her. Adrenaline surged through her veins, giving her an extra burst of speed. Maybe she would actually get away and find her way back to The White Rabbit and off of this mad planet.
    Maybe not.
    At top speed Alice plowed into another card guard that jumped out in front of her. They went down in a tangle of limbs, mostly Alice’s. His were too short to really get tangled. They weren’t, however, too short to grab hold of her and shake her sword loose from her