“W hy will the plane explode?”
The Pillar doesn’t answer me, tightening the straps of his parachute and putting on his goggles. “Do I look good?”
Even if I was planning to keep cool, I can’t. Kneeling down, I pick up the parachute and try to put it on. I have never worn one before.
“Excellent.” He is already strapped into his, looking ready. The White Rabbit song in the background is driving me crazy.
I am not sure I am doing this right. I keep strapping whatever I find around me. Is this supposed to be like this, or is it supposed to be upside down?
“Here.” He throws my umbrella toward me. I hardly catch it as I am still strapping my parachute. “You’ll need this fantabulous weapon of yours down there.”
“Where are we going?” The words sputter out of my lips. I’m almost done with strapping. Who in their right mind ties themselves up in a parachute, not knowing how to land it?
“You,” the Pillar addresses his chauffeur flying the plane. “You’re good with dying for the cause, right?”
The back of my head hurts when I hear this. The chauffeur is going to stay in the plane when it explodes?
“The men down below have to think we have no one to pick us up, you understand?” the Pillar tells his chauffeur.
True, I understand nothing, but I’ve finally managed to put my parachute on.
“Ten seconds.” The Pillar raises his voice as the plane’s rear door opens, a swirl of wind kickboxing against my body. “So here is the thing,” he shouts. “Lewis Carroll’s plague is like nothing I’ve ever seen. I had a few science labs check it. They didn’t find anything wrong with the hookahs. My guess is that it’s a hallucinogenic. Some substance that drives you mad when you smell it.”
I am not sure if I can hear the rest. It’s not that the air plastering my face but that my heart is racing when I see how far below the earth is.
“Five seconds,” the Pillar continues. “The only ones I know who have the power to create this are ex-Wondelranders who live among us. Those Wonderlanders are the lowest scum of the world. They’d kill you only to take a selfie of your blood on their faces and send it to your mom, so they could laugh at the horrified expression on her face. Understand?”
“Shouldn’t we jump already?” I shout, hardly interested in what he says.
“Trust me, jumping is the least of your worries. Those men below could eat us for dessert. So you have to think about it. If you can’t do it, you can simply stay here and explode with my chauffeur.”
“Fabulous choices.” I am so ready to jump, although I don’t know how. What the heck is wrong with me? “If you keep babbling, I’m jumping before you.”
The Pillar smiles. “Wait, don’t jump without this.” He hands over a pair of cool black goggles. “Here is a tip.” He struggles, shouting against the wind. “Always look cool on your way down the rabbit hole. Never do it Elvis style.”
“You mean because he was found dead with his head in the toilet?”
“Nah.” The Pillar adjusts his goggles. “Because he died with his ass out at the world.”