him, he and his daughter were
dead.
CHAPTER 36
W HEREAS OTHERS would have stood gazing down upon the valley in silent awe at the gigantic, multicolored mushrooms and remarked that even the quality of the valley’s light seemed more vibrant than it did anywhere else, Redd started the final descent into the caterpillars’ habitat without pause or murmur. Vollrath, The Cat, Siren, and Alistaire tramped after her—Siren and Alistaire muting their amazement at a vista unlike any they had ever seen, The Cat stewing in worry because the valley had fully recovered from the devastation his mistress had ordered in her first months as Wonderland’s queen. It wasn’t supposed to have recovered and Redd might punish him. But Her Imperial Viciousness had other concerns as she stepped along the valley’s spongy floor, searching for the caterpillar-oracles in her imagination. The mushrooms were serving as a sort of cloaking network, deflecting her imaginative sight every which way so that all she saw were mulch and stalks and mushroom tops.
“We’ll have to draw them out,” she said, conjuring a vendor’s cart filled with fresh, aromatic tarty tarts in a variety of flavors.
Vollrath, The Cat, Siren, and Alistaire fanned the delicious scents out in all directions, and in less time than it would have taken a hungry Wonderland child to eat a single tarty tart— “There!” Vollrath exclaimed, pointing to a blue smoke cloud that formed a beckoning hand. They followed the hand to a nearby clearing, where the members of the caterpillar counsel sat with their bodies coiled beneath them as they puffed on the same antique hookah. Each of the caterpillars occupied a mushroom as distinct in color as himself: blue, orange, red, yellow, purple, and green. “Mmm, tarty tarts to munch,” Blue said.
Vollrath, The Cat, Siren, and Alistaire began handing out the treats. “I get the vanilla ones with gobbygrape filling!” called the yellow caterpillar. “I want vanilla!” whined the orange caterpillar. “Anything with choco-nibblies is mine!” the purple caterpillar cried. “I get the choco-nibbly ones!” complained the red caterpillar. “Ahem hum, I’ll trade two caramel tarties for one of the sugar-dusted winglefruit-filled,” Blue offered. “No way!” rebuffed the green caterpillar. It was one of the most difficult things Redd ever had to do: stand polite and respectful while the larvae bickered like brats and stuffed their wrinkled faces, dropping crumbs and jellied filling onto their mushrooms. When they were no longer shoving three tarts into their mouths at once but nibbling one at a time, she said, “Wise, ancient caterpillars, my tutor, Vollrath, has informed me that for many years I’ve been remiss in not passing through my Looking Glass Maze.” The red and yellow caterpillars were mouthing Redd’s words as she spoke them, and the orange caterpillar motioned with his numerous right legs for Her Imperial Viciousness to get on with it.
CHAPTER 36
W HEREAS OTHERS would have stood gazing down upon the valley in silent awe at the gigantic, multicolored mushrooms and remarked that even the quality of the valley’s light seemed more vibrant than it did anywhere else, Redd started the final descent into the caterpillars’ habitat without pause or murmur. Vollrath, The Cat, Siren, and Alistaire tramped after her—Siren and Alistaire muting their amazement at a vista unlike any they had ever seen, The Cat stewing in worry because the valley had fully recovered from the devastation his mistress had ordered in her first months as Wonderland’s queen. It wasn’t supposed to have recovered and Redd might punish him. But Her Imperial Viciousness had other concerns as she stepped along the valley’s spongy floor, searching for the caterpillar-oracles in her imagination. The mushrooms were serving as a sort of cloaking network, deflecting her imaginative sight every which way so that all she saw were mulch and stalks and mushroom tops.
“We’ll have to draw them out,” she said, conjuring a vendor’s cart filled with fresh, aromatic tarty tarts in a variety of flavors.
Vollrath, The Cat, Siren, and Alistaire fanned the delicious scents out in all directions, and in less time than it would have taken a hungry Wonderland child to eat a single tarty tart— “There!” Vollrath exclaimed, pointing to a blue smoke cloud that formed a beckoning hand. They followed the hand to a nearby clearing, where the members of the caterpillar counsel sat with their bodies coiled beneath them as they puffed on the same antique hookah. Each of the caterpillars occupied a mushroom as distinct in color as himself: blue, orange, red, yellow, purple, and green. “Mmm, tarty tarts to munch,” Blue said.
Vollrath, The Cat, Siren, and Alistaire began handing out the treats. “I get the vanilla ones with gobbygrape filling!” called the yellow caterpillar. “I want vanilla!” whined the orange caterpillar. “Anything with choco-nibblies is mine!” the purple caterpillar cried. “I get the choco-nibbly ones!” complained the red caterpillar. “Ahem hum, I’ll trade two caramel tarties for one of the sugar-dusted winglefruit-filled,” Blue offered. “No way!” rebuffed the green caterpillar. It was one of the most difficult things Redd ever had to do: stand polite and respectful while the larvae bickered like brats and stuffed their wrinkled faces, dropping crumbs and jellied filling onto their mushrooms. When they were no longer shoving three tarts into their mouths at once but nibbling one at a time, she said, “Wise, ancient caterpillars, my tutor, Vollrath, has informed me that for many years I’ve been remiss in not passing through my Looking Glass Maze.” The red and yellow caterpillars were mouthing Redd’s words as she spoke them, and the orange caterpillar motioned with his numerous right legs for Her Imperial Viciousness to get on with it.