"Alice Liddell."

The familiar voice woke Alice from her sleep. She sat up straight and found herself in the same room in which she had fallen asleep. Except it was different. It looked exactly the same, but for some reason it felt empty and still. No one else was there. No Ace, no Tart. Even the cuckoo clock had ceased its ticking. It was as if the entire room had frozen in time.

"Alice Liddell."

With a start, Alice looked about the room. "Hello?"

No response. Hanging over the side of the bed, she peeked underneath. Nothing, not even the dust bunnies that had been nibbling on the bed post earlier that night.

"Alice Liddell."

Pulling herself upright, Alice now found herself surrounded by three pale, silver-haired little girls. Their black eyes were empty and far too large for their faces. And the dresses they wore were filthy, as though the girls had been rolling around in filth. Or from the sweet smell that now penetrated the room, perhaps treacle.

"Not you again," Alice sighed.

"Believe me, we are just as happy to see you," said Tillie as she gave a gap-toothed grin.

"What do you want from me? If it's about the Queen's heart, I no longer have it."

"We are not here for our stolen property," Tillie said.

"Although we are still quite displeased about that," Elsie added.

"We are here with a gift," said Lacie.

"A gift? For me?" Alice said.

Tillie dug her hand into a pocket on her dirty dress and pulled out a pocket watch. She held it out to Alice, who took it hesitantly. Careful to keep one eye on the girls, she examined the trinket in her hand. It appeared to be nothing more than a watch, albeit a somewhat macabre one. Rather than a solid lid, the tarnished brass had been fashioned into what looked like a rib cage, allowing her to catch a glimpse of the watch face inside. She popped it open, reeling back just in case something sprung out at her. But no, it was an ordinary watch. It ticked steadily clockwise, not a second out of place.

"All right," Alice said as she closed the lid, "so what's the catch?"

"No catch," Tillie said.

"No catch."

"None at all," Lacie said.

"You're serious?"

"She's much dafter than the former Queen," Elsie said to Lacie.

"I'm just a little confused since your gifts are more like trades. Not to mention you don't seem to like me very much, so I don't know why you would think to give me anything other than a bad case of tea poisoning."

"The gift is not from us," Tillie said. "We were hired to deliver it."

"You're couriers now?"

"Only when the payment is tempting."

"And what sort of payment would tempt you?"

The three girls smiled, more at each other than at Alice.

"We are not at liberty to say," Elsie said.

"Anyhow, I believe we are about to be interrupted," Tillie said. "Be careful with your new watch. Time is a terrible thing to waste."

"What? And what do you mean interru—"

~

"Alice, wake up."

Alice's eyes shot open as she gasped. She sat up quickly, nearly knocking Ace off of the bed. Looking about the room, she tried to find some sort of sign that the Sisters had been there. But there was nothing. Not a tiny footprint, not a drop of ink, not a smudge of treacle.

As Alice shifted, she felt something solid hit her thigh. She looked down to find the rib cage pocket watch. Picking it up, she gazed at it in wonder.

"Alice, we have to leave."

Breaking from her daze, Alice looked up to see Ace hurriedly throwing their things into her smol. "What are you talking about? What happened?" she asked as she tucked the watch into her chemise.

Ace tossed Alice her skirt and top. "I went downstairs to grab us some breakfast only to find a woman with a bird on her head hollering at the poor receptionist and demanding that he bring her the little blonde who rigged her card game last night."

"Oh, pins and bobbins, how did she find me here?"

Alice stood up on the bed to pull on her skirt and top while Ace threw his long, leather jacket over his civilian clothes and opened one of the pockets for Tart to scurry into. "I thought you said you didn't cause that big of a stir."

Bouncing back onto the bed, Alice caught her boots as Ace tossed them to her. "I may have deployed a smoke bomb. But I did not rig the game. She's just a sore loser."

Once her boots were laced enough to keep them on her feet, Ace grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. "Well, you certainly made an impression."

Pulling her hand away, Alice held the door closed as Ace tried to open it. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Out of the inn?"

Alice laughed and patted Ace on the cheek. "You're adorable, Captain."

She tugged him over to the window and threw it open. Without a second thought about decorum, she lifted her leg and climbed onto the sill.

"Seriously?" Ace said as he looked down at the ground two stories below.

"I'm not facing that avian-headed loon again. Here."

Digging her hand into her smol, Alice pulled out a large, frilly parasol. It was quite pretty, and if she weren't in such a rush to escape, she would have enjoyed posing with it in front of the mirror.

"You really think a parasol is going to keep us from breaking our necks?" Ace asked.

"Apparently my smol does. Come on, Captain, live a little."

"Living is precisely what I'm trying to do."

"Don't you trust me?"

After a moment's pause, Ace took a deep breath and climbed out onto the window sill. With one last glance at the ground, he wrapped his arms around Alice's waist, squeezing her tight.

"Don't let go," Alice said as she opened the parasol.

"Not a chance."

Giving a silent prayer that the beautiful accessory would not fail them, Alice leapt from the sill. For a short moment, she thought that they were going to plummet to their deaths—or at the very least break a number of bones. But then the wind swept them up, breaking their fall and floating them gently to the ground.

As soon as their toes touched the dewy grass, they began to run. Alice folded up the parasol and tucked it back into her smol without missing a beat.

"See? Nothing to it," she said. "In fact, it was quite fun."

"More like terrifying."

"Exhilarating!"

"You are an adrenaline addict."