J ack has his backpack on one shoulder, and his curly hair falling down his forehead again. And, of course, that attractive smirk.
"What are you doing here?" I snap.
Jack closes his eyes and puckers up his lips as if we're about to kiss. "You owe me a kiss."
"What? You're out of your mind." I can't even imagine this guy is for real. "How did you even get in here?"
"I'm a dangerous man." He opens his eyes and shapes his fingers into a gun. He starts to shoot like a cowboy. "Wanna go out on a date?"
"Ugh," I sigh. He is certainly a distraction. Where did he come from?
"Doesn't have to be a date, then," he says. "I could drive you around Oxford in a limousine, and be your chauffeur for one night."
I shake my head. I wonder how the Pillar knows Jack. "Do you even own a limousine?"
"No, but I will steal one for you, buttercup." He pulls me closer by my waist so fast that I can't even shake myself free. "My name is Jack Diamonds, by the way," he whispers softly in my ear, "I'm a thief of hearts. Pun intended, of course."
"Let go of me," I say as I pull away.
"Wow, you're good at squeezing yourself away from a man's arms." He looks admiringly at his empty embrace.
"You haven't seen me with a straitjacket." The words spill out of my mouth spontaneously. It takes me a second to realize that I can't let him know I sleep in the asylum at night.
"Straitjacket?" He raises an eyebrow, "I didn't know you're into bondage and stuff."
"Get rid of him," the Pillar says. "I told you he is a distraction."
I stare at the watch and gaze back at Jack.
"Why are you always on the phone?" He tilts his head and flashes his boyish dimples. Too boyish for a twenty-year-old. "Are talking to that old man who just walked out? You're not dating him, are you?"
"Shut up." I have one minute left, and I look back at those brass firedogs. "What about the firedogs? I have no time." I squeeze my headset, talking to the Pillar. I'll have to work, even if Jack is still behind me.
The Pillar abandons me.
"You don't need a date, buttercup. You need a tour guide." Jack spreads his arms and bows his head, as in "I'm at your service." "The firedogs are Lewis Carroll's inspiration for the long neck chapter when she eats that cake and gets taller."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she keeps getting taller and shorter and taller and…"
"I know the book." I wave my hand in the air. "This is how the Cheshire was fooling us from the beginning." I click my fingers together, pretending Jack isn't here. "When he wrote 'eat me' on the Cheshire Cheese, he was referring to the girl's hiding place," I tell myself, interpreting the last piece of the puzzle. Suddenly, I shriek. "It's the fireplace! He's locked the girl behind the fireplace!"
Thirty seconds left.
"There is a girl behind the fireplace?" Jack looks puzzled as I run around, looking for anything to help me bring down the brick wall blocking the fireplace.
"A big hammer will do, Alice." The Pillar has decided to talk to me again. "Faster. Go get help from outside! They'll know how to break it."
And just before I run to the door, I hear the bricks falling in a series of thuds. I turn around and see Jack bringing down the brick walls with the firedogs. He has strong arms, and he is determined as heck. He also looks like he has a thing for vandalism.
"The heck with national treasures!" he pants, as the bricks fall down.
I pass the firedogs and squeeze myself into the tight place behind them. Then I get on all fours and use the phone's light to peek into the darkness of the fireplace. I smell ashes, but can't see anything. Then I hear a girl moaning. I don't hesitate and crawl into the dark.
It doesn't take me long before I can see the shadow of a girl inside. She's lying on the floor with her hands and knees tied.