Secrets of the looking g.., p.29
Secrets of the Looking Glass, page 29
She pointed to the traveling bag. “Will you and Haigha be returning to Hatter and March Hare?”
“Soon,” Hatta said, a troubled look on his face. “I have a few errands to run in Hither and Yon first. Hither isn’t much to look at, but Yon has Scotch eggs to die for and a delightful curio shop.” He paused for a moment. “Speaking of curios, you don’t know what happened to the vorpal sword, do you?”
“I threw it in the Nix,” Celia said.
The troubled look returned, darker than ever, but he quickly shook it away. “Probably for the best.”
Tyrus frowned. “How are we getting home?”
“By mirror, of course,” Hatta said. He took the mirror down from the wall and set it on the floor. He pressed down on the pink-shaded glass with the heel of his boot, and a diagonal crack shot across the middle. “This will serve to get you home and make sure no one goes back to the Isle of Illusions.”
“Smart,” Celia said, but she couldn’t help thinking about how breaking a mirror brought seven years of bad luck.
“I almost forgot,” Hatta said, opening the traveling bag. “I have a going-home present for each of you.”
“I hope it’s a book catapult,” Tyrus said. “The book club would love that.”
Celia rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure even Hatta’s bag couldn’t hold one of those. Plus, there’s probably a rule against bringing medieval weapons to school.”
“This is better than a catapult,” Hatta said, taking a gift from his bag.
“A new backpack!” Tyrus cried. “It looks just like my old one, only newer.”
Hatta beamed. “I made it myself. Even a vat of spider goo won’t get through those seams.”
Tyrus unzipped the top. “You filled it with books too.” He rifled through a few of them, bouncing on his toes. “These are all my old books that got ruined. And some new ones! Poems of Woe and Wasabi by H. Dumpty. That’s Logic; No, It’s Not by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.”
“There’s one more book,” Hatta said, reaching back into his traveling bag. “For both of you.”
He handed Celia a book that looked very old.
Tyrus’s mouth dropped open. “That’s a first edition of Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.”
Celia opened the cover. “It’s signed by the author.” She read the inscription out loud, her mouth going dry.
To Celia and Tyrus.
May your days always be filled with wonder.
Love,
Uncle Charles
“How did you get this?” Celia asked.
Hatta only shrugged. “I found it in the library.”
Celia’s hands shook. “How would I ever explain this to my mom if she saw it?”
“Maybe you can keep it in Tyrus’s backpack for now,” Hatta suggested.
“I don’t think it will fit,” Tyrus said. “It’s pretty full.”
But when Celia set the book gently on top of the others, it slid perfectly into place.
“Did I forget to mention it’s a bottomless backpack?” Hatta asked.
Tears filled Tyrus’s eyes. He lunged forward and hugged Hatta so hard his hat almost fell off.
“And for Celia,” Hatta said, reaching back into the bag. “A gift that is quite tasteful, if I do say so myself. And I do.”
He handed Celia a familiar sack. “Your hat-making bag?” she asked, peeking inside to see that it was empty.
Hatta nodded. “It always seemed to contain just the thing I needed.”
Celia smiled and shook her head. “I guess I don’t need anything then.” But when she reached inside, her fingers closed around something warm and soft and she pulled out a fresh chocolate brownie.
“One always needs chocolate,” Hatta said, hugging her goodbye.
Celia tried not to cry, but her throat was tight as she kissed him on the cheek and whispered, “I know that you don’t want to tell me where you’re going, but whatever you do, be careful.”
“As careful as I can,” Hatta whispered back.
Not understanding how she could feel like she had both nothing to say and a million things to say, Celia looked down at the cracked mirror. “How does it work?” she asked Hatta.
“It’s made of Pink Kingdom glass,” Hatta said. “Just think of where you want to go and take a step.”
“Could we ever come back?” she asked. “The Jabberwock said there used to be lots of mirrors here.”
Hatta shrugged. “Mirrors are mercurial creatures. One can never tell what they’ll do.”
“Thank you,” Tyrus said, hugging Hatta. “You should come visit our world sometime. You’d be the most popular person at school.”
“It would be my honor,” Hatta said.
Celia pictured the mirror maze where she and Tyrus had first confronted the Bandersnatch. She and Tyrus held hands, and Celia placed her foot onto the mirrored surface. The moment her foot touched the glass, she and Tyrus swirled into its surface and fell.
• • •
It didn’t matter how many times I experienced the turning-inside-out-while-falling sensation, it was still a shock to be in one time and place and a second later to find myself in another. Like the world’s fastest elevator ride.
We were surrounded by bits of broken glass, and I turned to Tyrus. “Are you okay?”
He nodded and pointed to the diaries a few feet away.
Concerned voices called out from the maze entrance.
“What happened?”
“Is anyone inside?”
“Someone said they saw a couple of kids—”
Tyrus ran across the room and grabbed the diaries. “We better get out of here.”
Together, we ran for the exit. We kept our heads down, trying to blend into the crowds milling around the main part of the museum. Several museum employees ran by, barely glancing at us, but a janitor with a broom and dustpan turned in our direction before hurrying into the maze. I glanced back, thinking he’d looked familiar, but he was already gone.
“Where to?” Tyrus asked.
I checked the hexagon-shaped clock over the museum entrance. “If we catch a bus to school, we still might be able to get to the library in time for . . .”
Chapter 44
Book Club
Book club was wrapping up, and everyone seemed to have liked Tyrus’s pick of Inkheart.
A boy I’d seen in one of the school plays bumped Tyrus’s knuckles with his own. “Good call. I saw the movie, but this seems way better.”
“The books are always better than the movies,” said a girl with red hair and braces. “I mean, how are you supposed to tell a whole book’s worth of story in, like, two hours?”
“Lord of the Rings did a pretty good job.”
“That was three movies.”
“And three books.”
Ruffling the pages of my book, I waited until the rest of the kids wandered out until it was only Tyrus and me.
“What did you think?” Tyrus asked.
“I liked it,” I said. “Thanks for inviting me.”
Tyrus nodded. “It was good, but I don’t know that any book could be as exciting as you swinging the vorpal sword on the wall of the White Castle. You were all, like, pew pew pew, and the Bandersnatch was all, ‘Can’t hit me. Take that,’ and you were all, ‘Nice try, Bandersnatch. You’re mine now.’”
“Celia?” Mom asked, walking into the room. “Where have you been? I came home early to see if you wanted to get some dinner together, and you weren’t there.”
She glanced down at the book in my hands, her eyes going wide. “Is that—?”
“Inkheart,” I said, enjoying her shock. “We’re reading it for book club.”
If she was surprised that I was holding not just a book, but one of her favorites, the fact that I was part of a book club left her stunned.
She glanced at my head. “Is that part of the club?”
I reached up to touch the crown on my head. It was so comfortable, I’d nearly forgotten I was still wearing it. The other kids liked it so much, they’d decided to make crowns a book club tradition.
Tyrus chuckled, adjusting his own golden crown. “They’re kind of a reward for learning new things.”
Mom smiled. “I like it.” She looked at Tyrus. “Would you like to join us for a cheeseburger?”
“As long as it’ll let me eat it without moving,” he said, and we both burst into gales of laughter that left Mom shaking her head.
As we followed her out to the parking lot, Tyrus opened his bottomless backpack and put his copy of Inkheart inside. We both glanced down at the diaries stashed inside the pack.
“Sure you don’t want to read them?” I asked. “I mean, it’s not like he wrote any other books after Through the Looking-Glass.”
“Actually . . .” Tyrus said, pushing his glasses up on his face.
I probably should have been scared, but instead I found myself smiling. “Never say . . .”
Acknowledgments
Every book is the product of hundreds of hours put in by dozens of people. The author gets credit, but without the help of editors, illustrators, typesetters, marketers, salespeople, and beta readers, and the encouragement and support of family and friends, this book would still be an idea in my head. This past two years, that is even more the case. With all the changes Covid has wrought, it would have been easy to let the first book in this series die a lonely, sad death. But so many others fought the good fight and never gave up on my stories.
Thanks to Heidi Gordon and Chris Schoebinger, who took an idea I’ve had for years and turned it into a series I’ve loved creating; and my editor, Lisa Mangum, who not only believed, but helped me find the messages and direction in my head and get them onto paper.
Thanks to my agent, Michael Bourret, who tells it like it is, but never stops believing in others; Kevin Keele, whose beautiful artwork brings my ideas to life; Richard Erickson, Sheryl Dickert Smith, and Rachael Ward, who make the words and art mesh so wonderfully.
Thanks to Troy Butcher and Callie Hansen. You are marketing geniuses. This book would never have seen the light of day if it wasn’t for your support. I owe you so much for believing in me and my stories. Thanks to Ilise, a fount of book sales wisdom, who knows all.
Thanks to Hatter Gottler, beta reader and Lewis Carroll enthusiast extraordinaire, who read an early version of this story and gave me great feedback.
And, as always, thanks to the best family an author could ask for. My kids—Erica and Nick Thurman, Scott and Natalie Savage, Jacob and Maura Savage, and Nick Savage. My grandkids—Graysen, Lizzy, Jack, Asher, Cameron, Declan, Michael, Joey, and Aurora. To my dad, Dick Savage, who reads everything I write and shares it with my mom, Vicki Savage, who is no longer here in person but always believes in me.
To my sisters Deanne and Kathy, my brothers Craig and Mark, and my many nieces, nephews, cousins, and in-laws who only smirk a little when I tell them my latest crazy ideas.
And most of all, my wife, editor, scheduler, brain, traveling companion, and best friend, Jennifer. I would be a useless puddle of pudding if it wasn’t for you.
Author’s Note
Some readers have asked why I chose to write The Lost Wonderland Diaries in both first and third person. Although it’s an unusual writing choice and can feel a little bit jarring to the reader, I felt like it was absolutely necessary because I needed the reader to get inside Celia’s head so they could experience firsthand the doubts and fears of neurodiverse children. I don’t think that would have been as effective in third person. Once we reached Wonderland, first person was too limiting to show the amazing world Charles Dodgson created. Mr. Dodgson wasn’t afraid to make unusual choices in his writing. I’m no Charles Dodgson, but I felt it was the right decision. I’ve decided to stick to that throughout the series.
If it works for you, great! If not, just remember the words of Cheshire Cat, “We’re all a little mad here.”
Along that same line, in Through the Looking-Glass, Mr. Dodgson ended one of his chapters with the title of the next one while introducing the Tweedles. I thought that was super fun and decided to adopt it in this book. If you’re wondering what the last line of the last chapter is, check the title of chapter one.
Discussion Questions
1. The Bandersnatch uses chess clues and the diaries to lure Celia and Tyrus to the mirror maze because she knows how important those things are to them. What might the Bandersnatch use to lure you into a trap?
2. Celia and Tyrus lose their logic and imagination, which they think are their most important attributes. Later they learn that they can improve other talents by using them more. What would you lose if your mirror image was stolen? What talents could you build up?
3. The armies of the Red and White Queens fight using words. Later, Celia and Tyrus use words to save the Bandersnatch and the Jabberwock. Have you ever been hurt or helped by words? How can you use words to help others that are being hurt?
4. In the Red Castle, Hatta tells Celia and Tyrus that you need to understand what you are fighting for before you can decide what you are fighting against. What do you think he means? What is something you think is worth fighting for?
5. Lia, Ty, and Celia are lured into the swamp because they keep seeing a sword that looks better than the last one. Only Tyrus realizes they are being tricked by greed. In our world, what kinds of things might trick people into making bad decisions?
6. On the Isles of Illusion, Tyrus tells Lia and Ty that they needed to get what they want to realize it isn’t what they thought it would be. Have you ever worked hard for something only to discover it wasn’t what you hoped it would be? How did that make you feel? What did you do about it?
7. Tyrus tells the Jabberwock and the Bandersnatch that just because they made mistakes, that doesn’t make them a monster. Do you agree or disagree? Have you ever done something that made you feel like a monster? How did you learn from that?
About the Author
J . SCOTT SAVAGE is the author of both the Mysteries of Cove and the Farworld middle grade fantasy series and the Case File 13 middle grade monster series.
He has published 20 books, visited more than 3,000 schools, and taught dozens of writing classes. He has four children, nine grandchildren, and lives with his wife, Jennifer, in a windy valley of the Rocky Mountains.
Visit the author at jscottsavage.com and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jscottsavage.
Contents
Never
A Most Enlightening Position
Powerful Combisaries
The Strangest Dream
Gone
Reflections
The Looking-Glass World
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee
The White Castle
Failebration
Hatter
The Library
A Diary Page
The Train
To Battle!
Rooks
The Red Queen
Lia and Ty
Charles Dodgson’s Message
The Vorpal Sword
The Poets
Poetry
Black Sheep
Confidence
Hope
The Nix
Root Beer
Stowaways
Spider’s Den
Escape
The Isles of Illusion
Tumtum Trees
Awakening
The Jabberwock
Jubjubs
The Choice
The Looking-Glass War
Mirror Image
Final Battle
The Bandersnatch
Traitor
Fear
The Pink Kingdom
Book Club
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
Discussion Questions
About the Author
Landmarks
Cover
Table of Contents
J. Scott Savage, Secrets of the Looking Glass
