《爱丽丝梦游仙境-2》第7章

Wilkins clanked along the hallway in front of Alice, leading her through the maze of passageways. Alice stewed behind him, her mind churning. She was not ready to give up on her mission yet.

A shrill voice sang out from somewhere ahead, breaking into Alice's thoughts. "Oh, tick-tock!"

Grinding to an abrupt halt, Wilkins turned to Alice, his face ashen and his eyes blinking rapidly. "Miss, would you mind seeing yourself out?" he asked, a quaver in his voice.

Before Alice had even finished nodding, the little foreman had disappeared into a side corridor. That was her chance! Alice spun and raced back into the castle, then hid behind a pillar when she heard footsteps approaching. They stopped just yards from her.

Peering around the edge of the column, she spotted Time fidgeting in front of a mirror. He was nervously patting his hair, trying to smooth it down. Then he cupped his hand in front of his mouth and exhaled into it, sniffing to check his breath.

Alice slipped quietly after him as he stalked into a room labeled UNDERLANDIANS LIVING.

The bright chamber was unlike anything Alice had ever seen. Countless pocket watches hung from chains, their combined ticking filling the space like the buzzing of bees.

Walking among them, Time turned his face upward. "Who's stopped?" he asked. "Who has ticked their last tock? Tocked their last tick?"

He closed his eyes, his head cocked at an angle, as he listened carefully to the millions of pocket watches in his care.

"Ah," he said, opening his eyes. "Brilliam Hinkle!"

Time held out his hand and a chain dropped from above, depositing a watch into his palm.

"Yes, Brilliam Hinkle," Time confirmed as he glanced at the name engraved on the stopped watch. "Time's up." He snapped the watch closed without ceremony.

With a sympathetic frown, Alice imagined a man miles away, his heart abruptly giving out. How could Time be so cavalier about it? Had he been as heartless when he claimed the Hightopps? Her eyes narrowed as anger simmered inside her.

Oblivious to her glare, Time passed into a room labeled UNDERLANDIANS DECEASED. Unlike the last room, this one was deadly quiet.

Time moved along an orderly row of pocket watches, reading out names from their backs as he went. "Higgens, Highbottom"—Time paused as he came to a gap in the watches, then shrugged and continued on—"Highview, Himmelby ... ah, Hinkle."

With more gentleness than Alice had seen in him before, Time carefully hung the stopped watch in his hand on an empty chain in the row. He ran his fingers around its face and said softly, "I hope you used your time well. Good night."

Alice thawed slightly. Maybe he wasn't as cruel as she'd thought. Then the clicking of heels in the stone hall behind her made Alice spin in alarm. Shrinking back behind a column, she glanced at the floor, where a shadow loomed, coming ever closer. It was an odd shadow, though.

A bolt of fear shot through her as she realized the head was abnormally large. Only the Red Queen had a dome that misshapen! What was she doing there? Surely that wasn't who Time had been primping for, was it?

Once the footsteps had passed, Alice peeked around the pillar, her eyes widening in surprise at what she saw. Iracebeth's oversized head had, if anything, grown since Alice had last seen her. The Red Queen paraded down the hall as if she owned the place, Wilkins and a group of Seconds scuttling to keep up with her.

Turning a corner, the group left Alice alone once again. She frowned, her mind spinning. Where the Red Queen went, trouble was sure to follow. Alice raced for the Chamber of the Grand Clock. If she was going to steal time, it was now or never.

Time hurried into his sitting room and rifledthrough a drawer. An insistent knock sounded at the door and Time jolted upright. She was there!

"Coming, my love!" Time called, rushing to let his visitor in.

The Red Queen sauntered into the room, lifting one hand toward Time without even glancing at him. With a deep bow, he planted a servile kiss on her delicate skin.

"Oh, my radiant and beautiful dial-face, bulbous of head and soft of heart," he said lovingly. "You are my only beacon!"

Iracebeth smiled at him indulgently; it was so nice to be adored. Thanks to her horrible sister, she no longer had a court full of nobles to compliment her. But Time helped soothe that wound. As she watched, he shuffled across the room to pick up a small music box and carried it back to her.

"Here," he said as he held it out gingerly. "A gift—nay, a tribute!"

Iracebeth's face lit up and her fingers twitched in excitement as she reached for it. "How sweet! Dear old tick-tock," she said.

As she turned the crank, a soft melody emerged, but the music box held a grim scene. Crouching with his head upon a block, a small mechanical king looked up at her as an executioner loomed over him. The executioner's ax swung down, neatly severing the king's head, which plopped into a basket in front of the block. When the song came to an end, the ax and head both inched back to their starting places.

Clutching the music box to her chest, Iracebeth exclaimed, "I'll treasure it forever!" But only a second later, she tossed it to the side. Time winced as it thunked against the floor.

With a melodramatic sigh, the Red Queent wirled away, rolling her eyes skyward.

"Something troubling you, my dear?" Time asked.

Iracebeth cast him an appraising look, then sidled up to him, leaning in close to run her finger along his arm. "You know what I desire," she whispered. "With my big brain and your little Chronosphere, we could together rule the past, the present, and the future!"

At her words, Time's shoulders drooped. "But my dear, dear Iracebeth," he said. "I've told you time and again that's out of the question. You ask the impossible! You cannot change the past."

Iracebeth pulled away in disgust, the porcelain skin of her face turning a vibrant red. She would get her hands on that Chronosphere, no matter what it took. Then nobody—not her sister or any of Mirana's cronies—could stand in her way. She could finally right all the wrongs of the past and make sure the future went the way she wanted.

All of time would belong to her.

Alice found the Chamber of the Grand Clock abandoned. From the balcony, she gazed down at the clock, plotting her course. At the center of it all, the silver light pulsed.

"The Chronosphere," Alice whispered, equal parts awe and determination in her voice.

She set off down the stairs and picked her way along a beam to her first challenge: a series of moving pendulums. She paused, and her eyes followed the closest one back and forth, back and forth as she judged the distance.

With a tremendous leap, she grasped hold of the pendulum. Wrapping her arms around the slippery metal, she let it carry her toward the next, then pushed off with her feet and spun in midair to catch the second pendulum. After a few more, she stopped to catch her breath.

The Chronosphere twinkled ahead, closer but still so far away. The sphere was spinning so fast its metal bands were a blur.

Creak. The door to the chamber opened and Time's Seconds filed into the room.

Alice froze, hoping they hadn't spotted her.

The Seconds whistled shrilly in alarm.

No such luck. In a clearly practiced maneuver, they clumped together, piling on top of one another in groups of sixty to form larger, more menacing figures.

"Seconds into Minutes," Alice observed before stepping off the last pendulum to the edge of a spinning wheel. There was no time to waste: with every passing second, the Minutes were adding up. And the Minutes moved smoothly through the clock, scaling the gears in acrobatic leaps.

The Minutes were right behind her. A few hasty Minutes got ahead of themselves, the spinning cogs flinging them into the air. Alice stayed focused on her task, looking ahead at an enormous revolvingtube that led to the Chronosphere.

She gathered her muscles and launched herself into the tube.

Whump! Alice's feet slid out from under her. Like an out-of-control carousel, the tube whirled her around and around. As she tumbled upside down and then right side up again, she could see the Minutes converging on her—some from behind, some from ahead.

Trying to gain some traction, Alice spread her arms and legs wide, then somersaulted ahead of the tube's rotation and landed on her feet. She began running right away, keeping pace with the tube.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Minutes landed on the outer edge of the tube above her.

Alice picked up speed, but the Minutes ran just as fast as she did, only in the opposite direction. They were at an impasse. She could not get away; nor could they get any closer.

"This is absurd," Alice muttered. She dug her feet in and stopped. Her abrupt shift in momentum threw the tube off. The Minutes flew into the air, shrieking in surprise.

Wiping her hands together, Alice calmly stepped out of the tube. She was close to her goal: she could see the Chronosphere glimmering ahead. But her heart sank as she saw the final obstacle.

Wham! A massive hammer slammed down in front of her, followed by several more. Somehow, she'd have to get through the pounding maze in one piece if she wanted to save her friend.

威尔金斯在爱丽丝前面哐哐当当地沿着走廊行走，带她穿过迷宫般的通道。爱丽丝紧随其后，心烦意乱。她不打算就这样放弃自己的使命。

一阵尖锐的声音从前方某个地方传来，打断了爱丽丝的思路。“噢，嘀嗒嘀嗒！”

威尔金斯突然止住脚步，转身看着爱丽丝。他脸色苍白，眼睛快速眨巴着。“小姐，你不介意自己出去吧？”他带着颤抖的声音问道。

爱丽丝还没来得及点头，这位小个子工头就消失在了旁边的走廊里。机会来了！爱丽丝转身快速跑回城堡。这时，一阵脚步声传来，她赶忙躲到一根柱子后面。脚步声在离她不远的地方停了下来。

爱丽丝从柱子边缘偷偷看去，发现“时间”正在镜子前焦躁地动来动去。他紧张地拍打着自己的头发，试着把它们弄平整。接着他双手成杯状举到嘴前，对着手呵了一口气，用鼻子嗅了嗅，看自己是否有口气。

“时间”趾高气扬地走进一间挂着“地下国生者”门牌的房间。爱丽丝悄悄地跟着他溜了进去。

这间屋子格外明亮，和爱丽丝以前见过的都不一样。锁链上挂着不计其数的怀表，它们发出的嘀嗒声夹杂在一起，充斥着整个房间，就像蜜蜂的嗡嗡声一样。

“时间”在这些怀表中穿梭，突然抬起头。“谁停了？”他问道，“谁已经嘀完最后一嗒？嗒完最后一嘀？”

他双眼紧闭，歪着头，仔细地聆听着自己看管的这上百万块怀表发出的嘀嗒声。

“啊，”他睁开眼睛说道，“是布瑞廉·辛克尔！”

“时间”伸出手，一根链子从上面掉下来，一只表落到他手中。

“对，是布瑞廉·辛克尔，”“时间”瞥了一眼刻在表上的名字，证实了自己的想法。“走到头了。”砰的一声，他随意地将表合上。

爱丽丝同情地皱起了眉头，她能想象出，千里之外某个人的心脏突然停止了跳动。“时间”怎么能这么无情？他也是这般无情地宣判了高帽子家族的死亡吗？她眯起眼睛，心中燃起一股怒火。

“时间”并未察觉到爱丽丝愤怒的目光，他走进了一个挂着“地下国逝者”门牌的房间。不同于上一个房间，这个房间如同死一般沉寂。

“时间”沿着一排摆放有序的怀表往前走，边走边读出怀表后壳上的名字。“希金斯，海博特姆”——走到怀表的空隙间时，他停了一下，然后耸耸肩继续念道——“海威尔, 海米尔，然后……啊，辛克尔。”

爱丽丝从未见过“时间”这么温柔。他小心地将手里停止的怀表挂在那排链子中的一根空链子上，然后用手抚摸着表盘，轻轻地说：“但愿你没有虚度此生。晚安。”

爱丽丝有点心软了，或许他并不像自己想得那样残忍。这时她身后的石头大厅里又传来叭嗒的脚步声，爱丽丝惊慌地转过身，躲回到柱子后面。她看到地板上有一个影子在向她逼近，越来越近。但这个影子煞是奇怪。

当爱丽丝意识到这个影子的脑袋大得出奇时，一阵恐惧席卷了全身。只有红皇后才有这样一个畸形的大脑袋！她在这儿做什么？“时间”如此精心打扮，难道是在等她？不会吧？

一等脚步声走过，爱丽丝便绕过石柱偷偷观察起来。眼前的一幕让她惊讶地瞪大了双眼。伊拉贝斯硕大的脑袋，似乎比爱丽丝上次见到时还大了不少。红皇后大步从大厅走过，好像自己就是这儿的主人一样，威尔金斯和一群秒针碎步小跑着，跟在她的屁股后面。

这群人转了个弯，又将爱丽丝一个人甩在了身后。她紧皱着眉头，感到心烦意乱。红皇后走到哪里，哪里就有麻烦。爱丽丝向大钟房冲去。如果要想争取时间，她必须当机立断。

“时间”匆匆前往客厅，在抽屉里搜寻了一阵。此时响起一阵急迫的敲门声，“时间”震惊地直立了起来。她来了！

“我来了，宝贝儿！”“时间”一边喊着，一边冲过去给来人开门。

红皇后悠闲地踱进房间，朝“时间”伸出一只手，看也不看他一眼。“时间”深深地鞠了一躬，谄媚地在红皇后娇嫩的手背上留下了一个吻。

“哦，你那明艳照人的面庞，圆球状的脑袋，还有柔软的心灵，”他深情地说道，“你是我唯一的明灯！”

伊拉贝斯对他纵情一笑：被爱慕的感觉真好。都怪她那讨厌的妹妹，再也没有满庭的朝臣来恭维她。但是“时间”抚慰了她的创伤。她看到他慢慢地走向房间那头，拿出一个小音乐盒，然后送到她身边。

“送给你，”他小心翼翼地把音乐盒递给她，“一份礼物——不，一点敬意！”

伊拉贝斯面露喜色。去拿礼物时，她的手指兴奋地直打哆嗦。“真是贴心！亲爱的老嘀嗒。”她说道。

她转动曲柄，随之响起一阵柔和的旋律，但是音乐盒中出现的却是非常残忍的一幕。一个小型机械国王跪伏着，脑后竖着一块木板，抬头望着红皇后。这时，一个刽子手向他逼近。刽子手的斧头落下，干净利落地砍掉了国王的脑袋。脑袋扑通一声掉进了木板前面的篮子里。曲子放完时，斧子和脑袋又都移动到最初的位置。

伊拉贝斯将音乐盒紧紧抱在胸前，兴奋地说：“我会永远珍藏它！”但是刚过一秒钟，她就把它扔在了一旁。音乐盒重重地落到地上，“时间”畏缩了一下。

红皇后夸张地叹了口气，转过身去，眼珠翻得老高。

“有什么事让你心烦吗，亲爱的？”“时间”问道。

伊拉贝斯打量着他，慢慢地朝他走来，靠在他身边，亲密地抚摸他的胳膊。“你知道我想要什么，”她低声耳语道，“有了我的大脑和你的小时空传送仪，我们可以一起统治过去、现在还有未来！”

听到这些话，“时间”的肩膀耷拉下来。“但是亲爱的，亲爱的伊拉贝斯，”他说道，“我已经跟你说过无数次了，这是不可能的。你这是虚妄之谈！你无法改变过去。”

伊拉贝斯厌恶地走开了，她瓷白的面庞涨得通红。无论付出什么代价，她都一定要得到时空传送仪。到那时候，任何人——不管是莫安娜还是她的哪个同党——都阻止不了她。她终将更正过去所有的错误，并确保未来朝她想要的方向发展。

所有的时间都将属于她。

爱丽丝发现大钟房已经空无一人。她从阳台上往下看着大钟，计划着下一步的行动。大钟的中央，闪烁着一团银光。

“时空传送仪，”爱丽丝小声说道，语气中充满了敬畏和决心。

她动身下楼，一路沿着横梁下行，遇到的第一个挑战就是众多移动的钟摆。她停下来，目光随着最近的一个钟摆来来回回，以此来判断距离。

她纵身一跃，抓住了钟摆。她用手臂死死地抱住光滑的金属，乘着钟摆向下一个移动，然后用脚一蹬，转到半空中抓住第二个钟摆。几次之后，她停下来喘了口气。

时空传送仪在前面闪着光，离她越来越近，但仍然有很长距离。球体旋转得非常快，根本看不清金属球箍。

嘎吱。房间的门打开了，“时间”的秒针们鱼贯而入。

爱丽丝惊呆了，希望他们没有发现自己。

秒针们慌乱地发出尖锐的哨音。

没那么好运。很明显，他们训练有素，不断地聚集成群，一个接一个往上搭，以六十个为单位，形成更大更可怕的形状。

“秒针汇成分针。”爱丽丝观察着，她即将离开最后一个钟摆，前往旋转的轮子边缘。没有时间可以浪费了：每过去一个秒针，分针都会叠加。分针们平稳地从大钟内穿过，杂耍般地攀爬到齿轮上。

分针们在她身后穷追不舍。一些心急的分针由于跑得太快，被旋转的齿轮甩到了空中。爱丽丝专注于自己的任务，盯着前面那条不停旋转的通向时空传送仪的巨型管道。

她集聚全身的力量，跳进了管道。

喔哦！爱丽丝脚底滑了一下。管道像失控的旋转木马一样，一圈又一圈地带着她旋转。她先是上下颠倒，然后又倒转回来，这时她看到分针们向她聚集过来，有些从背后，有些从前方。

爱丽丝尽力张开四肢，想要获得一些牵引力，接着在旋转的管道前翻了一个跟斗，以双脚着地。为了赶上转动的管道，她立刻跑了起来。

铛！铛！铛！分针们在爱丽丝上方，到达了管道的外缘。

爱丽丝加快了速度，但分针们和她跑得一样快，只是往相反的方向而已。他们陷入了僵局。她无法逃脱；他们也不能靠近。

“真可笑，”爱丽丝喃喃自语道。她突然双腿一蹬停了下来。突如其来的冲力将管道甩了出去。分针们飞散到空中，尖声惊叫着。

爱丽丝擦了擦手，镇定地从管道中走出来。她离目标很近了：她能看到时空传送仪在前方闪闪发亮。但看到最后一个障碍时，她的心沉了一下。

砰！一个巨大的锤子猛地落在她面前，接着更多锤子纷纷落下来。要是想救朋友的话，她自己无论如何先得完好无损地穿过这个锤子阵。