I glanced at Malcolm, who was smiling, not afraid of Bill and the others.
“You so sure about that? That I have nowhere to go?” Malcolm asked.
Kenny examined Malcolm, as if trying to figure out what he was planning. Then a giant smile appeared on his face.
“You, Malcolm, brilliant! You are brilliant!”
Bill started for his rapier, but it was too late. Malcolm wrapped one of his arms around me and grabbed Kenny by his jacket with his other hand. Slamming his back into the wall behind us, the paper ripped and down we went towards the ocean.
I screamed, of course, because what else do you do when you are falling to your death? You scream bloody murder. Malcolm kept a firm grasp around me and onto Kenny’s coat. Of course, Kenny laughed the entire time we fell. Malcolm simply closed his eyes, remaining calm as we were falling straight into the roaring ocean about to die. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, Chase appeared, grabbing Malcolm, and away we went to another part of Wonderland.
CHAPTER 22
I took a couple moments to catch my breath. The air no longer tasted of salt, but of wet moss and pine. We were in a forest now. Peering around I saw the massive pines and oak that shrouded the light from the sky. It almost appeared to be twilight out due to the tree coverage, but I had no idea what time it was. A light fog covered the ground all around us, which always did creep me out. I hated not being able to see the ground, you never knew what you were going to step on, or what was going to grab you. Especially like that episode of Stargate Atlantis. I shuddered at the thought. There was a reason I didn’t watch scary movies. First off, I lived by a forest. Second, I wanted to be able to sleep at night.
Kenny started clapping his hands. “Oh, that was fun! Can we do that again?”
Malcolm glared at him as he stood up and wiped off the leaves that clung to his clothes. He didn’t land as softly as we did, which I had a feeling Chase may have done on purpose. “No.”
“You can never have any fun, can you?” Kenny added.
“Not when you’re around.”
Kenny smiled. “You don’t mean that.”
Chase stayed seated on the ground, cross-legged, staring at Kenny. “What’s he doing here?”
Malcolm finished straightening his tie. “He was locked up with Alice. I told him he could tag along if he wanted. Didn’t actually think he would, but I figured if we ran into any trouble I could just throw him at the enemy and save Alice.”
Kenny laughed. “Such a joker, I love you Malcolm.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
“Well.” Chase leaned his chin on his knuckle. “This changes things.”
“But we are all about change, now aren’t we?” Kenny spun around, his arms wide open. “That’s the beauty of Wonderl—” He stopped, face frowning. “Wait, I know this place.”
Malcolm looked at him but didn’t say a word. I tried to figure out what was happening, but I also didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t like I could recognize places in Wonderland, except maybe the kingdoms from the stories.
“We are at the entrance to the Dark Forest,” Kenny whispered.
My heart felt as if it had skipped a beat. There was no way we would be going into the Dark Forest, was there? I mean, after everything everyone said, it sounded like it would be the worst place to go. It had to be a joke, right?
Chase stood up. “Brilliant, Einstein, you figured it out.”
Kenny turned to him. “What’s an Einstein?”
He put his hand on Kenny’s shoulder. “It’s an Earth thing, don’t worry about it.”
The sound of twigs and leaves crunching under running footsteps made us each turn to see what was coming. My heart raced in fear that Bill had followed us. Coming into view, Davis and Melvin appeared, looking beat.
Davis leaned on his knees, panting. “You landed a little off from where we planned. We could see you, though, so we came over.”
“Oh, I made you have to run. Sorry pipsqueak,” Chase smiled.
“That’s not funny!” Davis rebutted.
“It doesn’t matter now, we are here,” Melvin stopped the cat and mouse from arguing. “And now we have to start moving.”
“What’s your plan, Malcolm?” Kenny questioned.
Davis looked at him in surprise. “Where did he come from?”
“Answer me, Malcolm, what’s your plan?” Kenny repeated. His seriousness was frightening me, especially since it didn’t seem like he was the same person.
“We are going through the Dark Forest. You can join us, if you want. Otherwise…” Malcolm pointed. “The exit is that way.”
Turning, Malcolm began walking in the direction opposite to where he pointed. I glanced back at Kenny, who just stared at him, then followed along with the rest of the boys.
“That’s suicide and you know it!” Kenny called out.
Malcolm didn’t even turn to look at him. “At least here I have the advantage, out there Bill can get her, Morpheus can get her. In here we can hide for a while and regroup without anyone bothering us.”
“Other than the Jabberwocky and everything else that is crawling through these woods!”
Malcolm was starting to get frustrated, I could see it in his eyes. He didn’t like it when others questioned his authority. “Then come and help us fight them. You and I know these woods better than anyone else in Wonderland.”
“What would Howard say about all of this?” Kenny yelled after him.
“Howard’s dead.”
The words hit me like a wall. Although I saw it happen, although I knew it had happened, I had hoped
