THE FUTURE: OXFORD
“W here are we going?” I ask the Pillar.
“To meet someone who’ll help us with sneaking into the asylum.” The Pillar honks for the fun of it.
“Someone? Who? Are they going to lend us doctor uniforms?”
“That wouldn’t work with the Reds at this time. They can smell the likes of me and you a mile away.”
“Then who?”
“Someone who’s practically our enemy.”
“Why would we use an enemy to help us?”
“Because he has a gift like nobody else.”
“Stop the puzzles, Pillar. Who?”
“The Cheshire.”
I say nothing for a moment. I know how much the Pillar and the Cheshire hate each other. I also have no idea how the Cheshire might help.
“He’s lost his mind in the future. Really lost his mind. He is homeless now. Like most cats in this life.”
I glance back at the dog we saved. He’s sleeping serenely after a big meal. “Homeless? The Cheshire?”
“I know it doesn’t make sense. He should be Black Chess’s favorite monster, after all he did for them to win the war.”
“Then what happened to him?”
The Pillar stops the truck near an abandoned building. “He’s fallen in love.”
“The Cheshire?” I laugh. “No way.”
“Yes way,” the Pillar says. “You didn’t ask with who.”
“I don’t think I want to know. First, I need the fact that he fell in love to sink in,” I say. “I mean how? He doesn’t even have a real face. Who’d love someone with no face?”
“I didn’t say he was loved back.”
“Wow. That’s even more surprising. Are you saying the evil Cheshire is a hapless romantic now?”
“Indeed.” He jumps out of the truck, pulling his cane along.
I follow him down. Apparently, we’re entering that abandoned building. “So who’s the unlucky girl? Or is it a cat?”
“No, it’s a girl,” the Pillar says slowly. “And it’s someone you know very well.”
“Waltraud Wagner, my warden, would be a candidate.”
“No, Alice. The Cheshire is in love with you.”