"W hat?" I put the magazine back. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You're always asking, Alice. I thought I'd feed your curiosity first."
"The whole statue was stolen?"
"It wasn't a statue, but a grinning cat carved in the wall," the Pillar says. "It turned out this carving was removable. It's practically a mask, disguised as a carving in the wall. That Richard Westmacott was a genius."
"So, what does this mean?"
"It means the Cheshire stole it," the Pillar says. "And it means your theory is right. Somehow, the Cheshire was after the one grinning cat carving in those churches that was secretly a mask. My bet is he didn't know which one it was. Knowing how Carroll implanted secrets in everything, I bet it took the Cheshire some time to steal the right mask without messing things up."
"What do you mean?"
"Carroll was meticulous. I would not be surprised if stealing the wrong mask would have resulted in the destruction of all the other masks by some Carrollian magic."
"So the Cheshire has the power Lewis Carroll deprived him of now?" I am disturbed by even thinking about it.
The Pillar nods. He looks more annoyed with the Cheshire getting the power than concerned with humanity's fate. "The cat is out of the bag. The White Queen said it wouldn't be good if he got that power."
"Adam told me the same thing in my dreams," I mumble. "He said it would be the end of the world."
"Adam, your boyfriend?" the Pillar says. I notice he's always focusing when I mention Adam.
"I dreamt about him last night. He mentioned the same thing the White Queen said," I explain. "That the power the Cheshire is acquiring is scarier than death itself. He also said the Cheshire needs Constance to complete the ritual."
"So, that's it." The Pillar clicks his fingers. "The Cheshire needs them both, the mask and Constance, to perform the ritual to get his power back."
"We could be too late."
"No, we're not," the Pillar says. "Think about it. Why did Adam show up in your dream just one day before the Kattenstoet festival? A festival about cats. Something in the festival completes the circle of the ritual. A mask, a girl, and a crazy event about people throwing cats out their windows. That's all it takes. It's a mad world out there.