ALICE WONDER’S HOUSE, 7 FOLLY BRIDGE, OXFORD
TIME REMAINING: 1 HOUR, 44 MINUTES
W hen Edith opens the door for me, she looks like she has seen a ghost, again. I guess she didn’t expect my return, not in a million years. But I had to. My device is flashing red in my hand. The rabbit with the bomb is somewhere in my childhood house.
“You got some nerve.” Edith groans. She has two spots swelling on her head, from when she fell after I hit her. They’re red and make her look like a devil.
I push her aside and let myself in, following the lead from my device. “I need to get in. There is something inside that I am looking for.”
Waving her fan, Lorina descends the stairs and looks at me with wide eyes. “Are you serious?” She tilts her head between me and Edith. “Are you freakin’ serious?”
“She thinks the rabbit is in here.” Edith closes the door behind me and laughs.
“See? Now I know you two are hiding something,” I say. “I never told you about that. How do you know about the rabbit? The police never spread the word about it to keep the people from going crazy.”
“You’re really nuts,” Lorina says. “I mean, I’m going to call the asylum to come and get you now.”
“Listen,” I say. “All I need is the rabbit, and I promise you will never see me again. Not that I would want to see any of you again after what happened here the last time.”
As the two sisters mock me, I stare at my device. It says I am standing in the right spot. The rabbit should be right under my feet, but there is nothing there. “Where are you hiding it?” I ask them. “How come you’re involved in all of this? I am really losing my mind.”
“You lost that a long time ago.” Lorina chuckles. “How about another round of None Fu?”
“I’m not joking,” I say. “Time is running out, and there is a rabbit with a bomb in this house.”
“Not in this house, dear mad sister.” Edith turns the TV on. “The rabbit is all over the city.”
I stare at the TV and see someone has leaked the news of a loose rabbit with a bomb inside. People all over London are going bonkers looking for it. Streets blocked, others shut down, in a frantic search for the rabbit. Other people catch all the rabbits they can and lock them in a cage on the back of a huge truck, preparing to drive out of the city before the deadline.
The whole city of London has gone mad.