The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor Page B

felt anything but deserving, for he was wrestling with an unfamiliar emotion: inadequacy. He had failed to keep his promise to Queen Genevieve.

CHAPTER 18
    A LYSS DIDN‘T get along with the other children living at the foundling hospital—children who had seen their share of heartache and sorrow, as she had, but who were no less eager to lose themselves in games like jacks, hopscotch, and hide-and-seek. All so silly and immature.
    Thoughts of Redd, about what might have become of Dodge, clouded Alyss‘ head. She couldn‘t for the life of her muster up any enthusiasm for games.
    The wardens of Charing Cross took a special interest in her and this only served to further alienate her from the rest of the orphans. Anyone could see that she was going to grow into a beautiful woman. It was thought that her beauty might gain her entry into ranks of society rarely attained by orphans, which could bode well for Charing Cross, leading to donations from wealthy families on the hunt for unearthly beauties of their own. Whenever Alyss mentioned Wonderland, she was shushed more harshly than she would have been if the wardens hadn‘t taken an interest in her.
    ―That‘s all in your head, little miss, and no one will want a daughter who talks rubbish all the time. Unless you want to live here forever, you‘ll clear your mind of that ridiculous, fantastical stuff.‖
    Dr. Williford, the doctor on the staff at Charing Cross, listened patiently to Alyss‘ ridiculous, fantastical stuff.
    ―I‘m sure you‘ve had to face things that no young girl should ever have to face,‖ he said. ―But you cannot hide in fantasy, Alice. Accept what has happened to you and know that you are not alone in misfortune. Try to focus on the sights and sounds around you, because they are reality.
    There is still a chance for you to lead a normal, fruitful life.‖
    She stopped confiding in Dr. Williford and spent her days staring out a window at a dirty, leaf-strewn courtyard, which was where one of the wardens found her on an afternoon that would (yet again) change everything.
    ―Alice, I‘d like you to say hello to the Reverend and Mrs. Liddell.‖
    Alyss turned from the greasy window to look at the couple—the woman with the hard eyes and uneasy smile, the doughy man in overcoat and gloves. All strangers were the same to her: strange, far removed, unable to reach her.
    ―She is pretty,‖ Mrs. Liddell said, ―but a haircut and a thorough scrubbing are in order, I think.‖
    ―Quite,‖ said the reverend.
    The Liddells lived in Oxford, where the reverend was dean of Christ Church College. Nothing happened, it seemed, that didn‘t bring with it an element of misfortune. No sooner had Alyss left Charing Cross than she found herself in circumstances hardly more pleasing.
    ―Not another word!‖ Mrs. Liddell scolded when Alyss described the Inventors‘ Parade to her new siblings.
    ―Animals can‘t talk because they‘re dumb beasts,‖ she rebuked when Alyss claimed otherwise.
    ―Flowers can‘t sing because they don‘t have larynxes,‖ she insisted when Alyss told of flowers with beautiful voices. ―Keep talking nonsense and I‘ll wash your mouth out with soap.‖
    ―I‘m a princess and I‘m waiting for Hatter to come and rescue me,‖ Alyss said. ―You‘ll see.‖
    ―Alice, if you want to amount to anything in society,‖ Mrs. Liddell warned, ―or at the very least show appreciation for what we‘ve done by welcoming you into our home, you‘ll stop embarrassing this family and live with your head firmly in this world and do as others do.‖
    As punishment, Mrs. Liddell would send Alyss to her room, where she had to stay for days, sometimes a whole week, at a time; meals would be brought to her. That suited her perfectly well. It meant she wouldn‘t have to see them. Wrong! Though she couldn‘t go out, her new sisters weren‘t forbidden from visiting, and the second afternoon of one of her confinements Edith and Lorina marched