《爱丽丝梦游仙境-2》第9章

"Wait! Come back!" Time shouted uselessly. He sank to his knees, head in his hands. 

Fuming silently beside him, the Red Queen glared at the spot where Alice had been. 

Time finally glanced up at her, then mumbled that he had to check on the Grand Clock and staggered away. 

Inside the main chamber, Time studied the clock. The pendulums were still swinging, gears still turning. But he could feel a difference in their movement. 

Iracebeth stalked in after him, her face a fiery red. "Alice?" She shrieked. "The Alice? The very reason I have been banished from my kingdom? She was here and you didn't think to tell me?" 

Time cringed away from the Red Queen. "I—I ... didn't realize," he stammered. 

"Idiot! Imbecile! You let Alice steal the Chronosphere!" She bellowed. 

"I told her she couldn't have it," he said desperately. "She doesn't know what she's done." 

Letting out a squeal of anger, Iracebeth spun on her heel and stomped out of the chamber. She would have to come up with a new way to wreak vengeance on her sister and reclaim her rightful throne. 

Normally, Time had all the time in the world. But for once he didn't have time to worry about his beloved. He felt a twinge in his chest. Time pulled open his vest and examined his heart clock; a small patch of rust had formed on the second hand. 

Time paled. "It's happening already," he gasped. "Without the Chronosphere, the Grand Clock will unwind! Time myself will stop!" 

He blinked rapidly, then shook his head. He could not let that happen. 

"Wilkins," he called. "Get in here! We've got a Tempus Fugit to build." 

Prompt as ever, the small foreman bustled up, carrying the spare clock parts and wood they would need to put together a basic time machine. 

In just one second—moving at warp speed as only Time could—they had fit together metal gears, wooden bars, and a narrow platform. 

The wood groaned in protest as Time's weight hit the platform. As Time pumped a lever, the air began to waver around him. 

"Now then, Wilkins!" Time barked. "You know how time works: goes forwards, not backwards, that sort of thing. Preferably in increments of one minute at a time." 

"Yes, sir," Wilkins said. "I think I have the hang of it, after infinity." 

"You must keep the Grand Clock ticking at all costs," Time continued. "Wish me luck, Wilkins. Now, where did that girl say she was heading?" 

Time tugged on a pulley and the Tempus Fugit popped out of sight. 

A ribbon of silvery light flowed around Alice and the Chronosphere, carrying them away from Time's castle. 

Far below them, an ocean of moments swayed gently. 

With a light touch, she guided a lever forward, and the Chronosphere began to fly over the ocean. 

Satisfied she'd found the right direction, Alice moved onward. Next she saw the White Queen and her friends clustered sadly around the table outside Marmoreal Castle. A much smaller Alice dropped into their midst. 

The Chronosphere whirled along, taking Alice away from the scene and backward in time. As the images blurred beneath her, faces and events zipping by, Alice began to worry. How was she going to find the right day? Then, on the horizon, she saw a flash of red and heard the nightmarish call of the Jabberwocky. 

"Horunvendush Day," Alice whispered. It had to be. Tugging on a series of levers, Alice sent the Chronosphere diving toward the fateful day. When it hit the ground, Alice was tossed across the frame and out through the spinning rings. 

Pfft. Alice spat out a mouthful of grass and raised her head. The Chronosphere, back to its regular, palm-sized form, rested a few feet away. She quickly swiped it from the ground, tucked it back in her pocket, and sat up to look around. 

The remains of the Horunvendush field lay before her, smoke curling up from the blackened fairground. A stinging, sulfuric odor hung over everything. Ten yards away, Alice spotted a tall top hat, the fibers of its brim burning with embers. It was a bad sign. The Jabberwocky had clearly already made its attack. 

Standing, she scanned the area for signs of life. Farther off, a figure with stooped shoulders was doing the same, his buoyant hair unmistakable. 

"Hatter?" Alice called. 

But the younger Hatter did not hear. He ran away, tears in his eyes, deaf to Alice's cries. 

Dusting herself off, Alice walked to the center of the Horunvendush fairgrounds. They were completely abandoned, booths smoldering, the maypole cracked in half, and picnic tables flecked with ashes. 

Despair stabbed through Alice. There was no way the Hightopps could have survived. 

"Too late," she said, her fingers clenching her skirt tightly. "I was too late!" 

Then Alice was focused on a wink of blue she'd just noticed amid the devastation. 

She picked her way to an old oak tree stump, and peered inside a round hollow. Nestled within was the small blue hat, its paper miraculouslyunburned and a bright pink feather on its side fluttering cheerfully up at Alice. 

"The blue hat!" Alice cried. filled with renewed hope, she reached for it. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice warned. 

Spinning, Alice saw Absolem, back in caterpillar form, lounging in a nearby tree. 

"Absolem! You're the old you," she said. 

"I'm always the old me," the Caterpillar replied haughtily. He gestured at the hat. "Wasn't this all explained to you before?" 

Alice stood up and crossed to his tree. "I'll come back to Horunvendush Day once more and try again," she said. 

Absolem sighed crossly and glared at her. "You can only visit each day once," he recited. "The consequences of seeing yourself would be catastrophic." 

Her eyebrows furrowed, Alice pulled the Chronosphere from her pocket and studied it. "I could just go back to yesterday or the day before that and tell them not to come here at all." 

"I fear, Alice, that you are failing to grasp the principles to which I am so assiduously alluding," Absolem said, his nose crinkling upward. 

Before he could explain—if he would have chosen to at all, that is—an almighty sound ruptured the air. Alice's head snapped up and she saw a jagged tear appear in the sky. A wooden contraption flew through, Time at the helm. 

Letting out a shout of outrage when he saw her, Time piloted his machine toward Alice. 

"Give me what is mine!" he bellowed. "You have no conception of that in which you dabble!" 

"Oh, dear," Absolem said flatly. "You seem to have upset somebody. You should probably go now." 

Absolem was right: if she wanted another chance at saving the Hightopps, she had to get away from Time. She flung the Chronosphere to the ground and leapt inside as soon as it expanded. With just a few tugs, she drove the Chronosphere up, up, up, and away. 

“等等！回来！”“时间”大声叫嚷着，但已经无济于事。他双手抱头，跪倒在地上。 

红皇后站在“时间”身边，一言不发，气得直冒烟，怒视着爱丽丝离去的地方。 

终于，“时间”抬头瞥了红皇后一眼，然后就嘟囔着要去检查大钟，踉踉跄跄地离开了。 

大钟房内，“时间”正研究着大钟。钟摆依旧在摇，齿轮依旧在转。但他还是察觉出这些运转已经不一样了。 

伊拉贝斯跟着“时间”走进了大钟房，她的脸气得通红。“爱丽丝？”她尖声问道，“就是那个爱丽丝？那个害我被驱逐出王国的爱丽丝？你竟然不告诉我她在这儿？” 

“时间”后退了几步。“我——我……没注意。”他支支吾吾地说道。 

“傻瓜！蠢货！你让爱丽丝偷走了时空传送仪！”她怒吼道。 

“我跟她说了不许动，”他绝望地说道，“但她根本就不知道自己做了什么。” 

伊拉贝斯发出一声尖利的怒吼，突然转身，冲出了大厅。她只能重新谋划对她妹妹的复仇，夺回属于自己的皇后宝座。 

“时间”平常都是从容不迫的，但这一次他可顾不上他的美人了。他感到胸口一阵剧痛，便拉开马甲检查自己的心钟，秒针上已经有了一小撮铁锈。 

“时间”的脸变得煞白。“已经开始了，”他倒吸一口冷气说道，“没了时空传送仪，大钟的发条就会松动！时间——也就是我自己——就会停止！” 

他快速地眨眨眼睛，接着摇了摇头。他绝不能让这一切发生。 

“威尔金斯，”他呼唤道，“快进来！我们得造一台时光机。” 

这位小个子工头还是像往常一般敏捷，他匆匆忙忙地进入房间，带来了建造简易时光机所需的东西——一些钟表零部件和木材。 

只花了一秒钟，俩人就把金属齿轮、木条和一块狭窄的平板组装起来，也只有“时间”有这样的神速。 

“时间”站上平板，压得脚下的木头发出一阵抵触的嘎吱声。他抽动着一根控制杆，身旁的空气开始震颤起来。 

“看好了，威尔金斯！”“时间”吼道，“你知道时间是怎么走的：只会向前，不会向后，永远如此。最好是一次走一分钟。” 

“好的，先生，”威尔金斯说道，“经历了漫长的岁月，我想我对此一清二楚。” 

“你要不惜一切代价让大钟一直走着，”“时间”继续说道，“祝我好运吧，威尔金斯。对了，那个女孩说她要去哪儿来着？” 

“时间”拉动了一只滑轮，时光机嘭的一声飞离了视线。 

一道银色的光带在爱丽丝和时空传送仪周围飞舞着，带他们离开了“时间”的城堡。 

无数的时刻在他们下方，远远地轻轻摇摆着。 

她轻轻地将一根控制杆往前一拨，时空传送仪便开始飞跃时间之海。 

爱丽丝确信自己找到了正确的方向，便向前飞去。没过多久她就看见了白皇后和她的朋友们，他们正伤心地围坐在大理石宫外的桌子边。一个缩小版的爱丽丝掉进了他们中间。 

时空传送仪一路飞旋，带着爱丽丝离开了这个场景，继续在时光里回溯。当下方的画面渐渐变得模糊起来，曾经的脸庞和事件不断擦肩而过，爱丽丝不由得担心起来。她该如何找到那一天呢？这时，她在地平线处看到一道红光，听到炸脖龙梦魇似的号叫。 

“厄朗温达石日，”爱丽丝低声说道。一定错不了。爱丽丝用力拉住好几根控制杆，时空传送仪载着她向这决定命运的一天俯冲而去。落地时，爱丽丝被甩出支架，飞出了仍在旋转的圆环。 

啐。爱丽丝吐掉满嘴的草，抬头看见时空传送仪停在几英尺外，已经恢复到正常的手掌大小。爱丽丝赶紧一把从地上将它拿起来，收回口袋，然后坐起身环顾四周。 

爱丽丝面前是厄朗温达石日的战场，硝烟从烧焦的集市上空袅袅升起，四周弥漫着刺鼻的硫黄味。爱丽丝在十码外发现了一顶高礼帽，帽檐上仍留有燃烧的余烬。这是个不祥之兆。很显然，炸脖龙已经发起了进攻。 

爱丽丝伫立在原地，环顾四周，寻找生命的迹象。远处，一个身影低垂着肩膀，也在做着同样的事情，他那蓬松的头发太好辨认了。 

“是疯帽子吗？”爱丽丝问道。 

但是小疯帽子并没有听见。他的眼里噙着泪花跑开了，丝毫不理会爱丽丝的呼喊。 

爱丽丝拍去身上的尘土，走向厄朗温达石集市的中央。这里已经完全成了废墟，货摊燃烧着余烬，五月柱断成了两截，野餐桌上灰迹斑斑。 

失望像一把利刃刺穿了爱丽丝。高帽子家族是不可能幸存下来的。 

“太晚了，”爱丽丝说道，手指紧紧抓着裙子，“我来得太晚了！” 

接着，爱丽丝盯着她刚刚在废墟中发现的一道蓝光。 

她小心翼翼地走向一棵古老的橡树桩，朝一个树洞里望去。洞里放置着一顶小蓝帽，这顶纸帽子竟然奇迹般地没有烧着，帽檐的一边还有一根亮粉色的羽毛朝着爱丽丝欢快地飘摇。 

“是蓝帽子！”爱丽丝叫出了声。她又燃起了希望，伸手去够蓝帽子。 

“如果我是你，就绝不会这样做。”一个声音警告说。 

爱丽丝转过身，看见了阿布索伦，它已经退回到大毛虫的形态，正躺在旁边的树上。 

“阿布索伦！你还是老样子。”爱丽丝说道。 

“我一直都是老样子，”大毛虫骄傲地回答。他指了指帽子问道：“之前不都和你解释过这顶帽子吗？” 

爱丽丝站起身，走到他所在的树边。“我要再次回到厄朗温达石日，再试一次。”爱丽丝说道。 

阿布索伦生气地叹了口气，怒视着爱丽丝。“每一天你只能回去一次，”他说道，“遇见过去的你，后果将不堪设想。” 

爱丽丝皱着眉头，从口袋里掏出时空传送仪研究起来。“我只要回到昨天或前天，告诉他们千万不要到这儿来，就可以了。” 

“爱丽丝，恐怕你没有听懂我极力想让你明白的那个原则。”阿布索伦说着，向上皱起了鼻子。 

阿布索伦还没来得及讲明白——前提是他得愿意这么做——一声巨响刺破了空气。爱丽丝猛地抬头望去，只见天空中出现了一道锯齿状的裂缝。“时间”驾驶着一个奇怪的木结构装置飞了出来。 

“时间”看见爱丽丝，发出了一声怒吼，驾着时光机朝爱丽丝飞来。 

“把我的东西还给我！”他咆哮着说道，“你根本驾驭不了那机器！” 

“哦，亲爱的，”阿布索伦平静地说道，“你好像惹恼了某人，你现在该走了。” 

阿布索伦是对的：如果爱丽丝想再一次获得拯救高帽子家族的机会，她就必须远离“时间”。爱丽丝将时空传送仪抛到地面上，一等它膨胀起来，就跳了进去。她稍稍拉动几根控制杆，就驾着时空传送仪向上飞去，向上，再向上，然后就飞走了。