The Outlands themselves stretched for hundreds of miles. Jagged mountains pierced the skyline here and there, but nothing moved against the fields of rolling grass in between. 

At last Iracebeth's castle came into view. It was shaped like a giant heart and seemed woven entirely¹ out of red vines. 

"My family is there," Hatter said. "I know it." 

Alice nodded; she could sense it, too. Somewhere within those walls, the Hightopps were being held prisoner. 

They pulled up to the castle's entrance, which was unguarded. Alice looked around the main hall suspiciously. The walls—made of spongy plant matter—bulged slightly, and pillars of twisting vine sheld up the ceiling of the tall central chamber². 

The White Rabbit rubbed his paws over his nose and glanced around nervously³. "Is this where we—" 

"Split up!" Mallymkun called out excitedly. 

Alice paused next to an open doorway⁴, hearing something tick inside. Poking⁵ her head in, she saw a large black grandfather clock wrapped in red vines. 

"She has one, too," Alice said with a jolt⁶. "That's how she visits Time!" 

But Hatter wasn't there to hear. He had continued on, and now his figure disappeared around a turn. Not wanting to be separated, Alice hurried to catch up. 

At the top of the stairs was a solid wooden door covered in carvings⁷ of hearts. 

Lowering his shoulder, Hatter shoved the door open. 

"Father! Mother! Anyone ... ?" he called as he bounded inside, Alice on his heels. 

Hatter finished searching the room and turned to Alice in despair. "They're not here," he said. His knees buckling⁸, he plopped down to the dirt floor. "I was certain they were here. I could feel it." 

Kneeling next to him, Alice patted his shoulder gently. They would keep looking. The Hightopps had to be there somewhere. 

Hatter sighed and looked up; then his eyes grew wide. 

On a table sat an ant farm. The tunnels within were suddenly forming a shape—which looked to be the outline of a top hat. 

Hatter leapt to his feet, picked up the ant farm, and brought his face right up to the glass. Tears pricked⁹ his eyes, but he smiled broadly. 

Inside, several tiny people with bright red hair waved up at him, banging their hands against the glass. 

"Father! Mother! Everyone!" Hatter cried happily. "It's you! Teeny tiny yous." 

He leaned down and kissed the glass, just as— 

Clang! A heavy grate of vines slammed down over the nearest window, interrupting the happy moment. Then: Clang! Clang! Clang! Grates fell to block off all the remaining windows. 

Alice and Hatter spun¹⁰ to face the door. 

There stood the smirking¹¹ Red Queen. Behind her, four vegetable soldiers formed a tight guard. 

"Hello, Alice," Iracebeth said acidly. 

Two of the guards moved forward and grabbed Alice, patting her down. 

"Thank you ever so much," Iracebeth continued in a sickly sweet tone. "You have delivered to me the most powerful device in the entire Universe." 

The guards wrestled¹² the Chronosphere away from Alice and handed it to Iracebeth. 

"Along with the person whom I hold truly responsible." Iracebeth turned as more of her guards arrived in the hallway, escorting the White Queen and the other prisoners. 

Iracebeth chuckled¹³, clearly enjoying herself. 

As he clutched the ant farm to his chest, Hatter eyed the Red Queen. "I recall now why I don't like her," he said. 

"Now we shall see justice!" Iracebeth shouted. She followed her guards as they shoved their prisoners back down the stairwell—all except for Alice and Hatter. 

Although Alice sprang after them, another grate crashed into the floor, blocking the doorway. She grabbed the bars, seeing Iracebeth cast her one last smug look before disappearing around a bend. 

Hatter turned back to the ant farm, where his father stood at the top of the sand. 

"Tarrant?" Zanik called in a small voice through the glass. "Is that really you? I'd stopped believing so long ago it feels impossible." 

Smiling, Hatter replied, "It's not impossible, merely unpossible." 

Hatter looked at Alice, then at his family. Then he pulled out the blue paper hat he'd brought along for luck, his eyes alight with a crazy idea. 

 

在蛮荒之地，方圆数百英里，嶙峋的群山散布，分割着天际线，在绵延起伏的草地间，找不到任何活物。 

伊拉贝斯的城堡终于映入了眼帘。它的外形看上去像一颗巨大的心脏，似乎完全由红葡萄藤编织而成。 

“我的家人就在那里面。”疯帽子说道，“我确定。” 

爱丽丝点了点头，她也能感觉得到。在那些围墙后面的某个地方，高帽子家族都被当作囚犯关押着。 

他们在城堡入口处停了下来，门口没有守卫。爱丽丝怀疑地看着主城堡的周围。由海绵状植物做成的墙体轻微隆起，弯弯曲曲的藤蔓拧成的柱子支撑着高高的中央天花板。 

白兔子用爪子蹭了蹭鼻子，紧张地向四周看了看。“这里就是我们——” 

“分头行动的地方！”睡鼠兴奋地喊着。 

爱丽丝在一扇敞开的大门前停了下来，听见里面有嘀嗒的声音。她探入脑袋一看，发现里面有一座很大的黑色老爷钟被困在红葡萄藤里。 

“她也有一个。”爱丽丝震惊地说。“原来她是这样和‘时间’见面的呀！” 

不过疯帽子不在她身边，没听见这些。他继续向前走去，一个转角之后就不见了人影。爱丽丝不想就此分开，于是快步跟了上去。 

在楼梯顶端，有一扇结实的木门，上面雕满了心形。 

疯帽子沉下肩膀，推开了房门。 

“父亲！母亲！有人吗……？”他一走进房间就喊起来，爱丽丝跟在他的后面。 

疯帽子搜遍了房间，绝望地看向爱丽丝说：“他们不在这儿。”他双膝弯曲，扑通一声跪在满是灰尘的地板上。“我刚才很确定他们就在这儿，我能感觉到。” 

爱丽丝跪在他旁边，轻轻拍着他的肩膀。他们会继续寻找的。高帽子家族肯定在这里的某处。 

疯帽子叹了口气，抬起了头。然后，他瞪大了眼睛。 

在一张桌子上摆着一个蚂蚁农场。沙堆里的通道突然构成了一个形状——看起来像是一顶礼帽的轮廓。 

疯帽子一跃而起，端起蚂蚁农场，脸都要贴到玻璃上了。泪水刺痛了他的双眼，不过他还是大笑起来。 

玻璃中，几个长着亮红头发的小人朝他挥手，用手敲打着玻璃。 

“父亲！母亲！大家都在！”疯帽子高兴地喊着，“是你们！小小的你们。” 

他弯下身，亲吻着玻璃，就像—— 

哐啷！近处的一扇窗户被沉重的藤蔓栅栏封闭了，打断了这个幸福的瞬间。接着，哐啷！哐啷！哐啷！剩下的几扇窗户都被栅栏给堵上了。 

爱丽丝和疯帽子转身看向大门。 

红皇后站在门口得意地笑着，在她身后，还有四名蔬菜士兵严密把守着。 

“你好啊，爱丽丝。”伊拉贝斯刻薄地说。 

两名警卫上前抓住了爱丽丝，将她按了下去。 

“实在是太感谢你了。”伊拉贝斯继续用甜得发腻的语调说，“你为我带来了全宇宙最强大的装置。” 

警卫从爱丽丝身上搜走时空传送仪，递给了伊拉贝斯。 

“还有一个人，我要向她问罪。”伊拉贝斯转过身，走廊上又出现了几名警卫，押着白皇后和其他几位囚犯。 

伊拉贝斯咯咯地笑着，显然在享受这一切。 

疯帽子把蚂蚁农场抱到胸前，看着红皇后说：“现在，我想起我为什么不喜欢她了。” 

“现在是见证正义的时刻！”伊拉贝斯喊道。她跟着警卫们将囚犯们押回楼梯井——除了爱丽丝和疯帽子。 

虽然爱丽丝一个箭步想要跟上他们，但是另一扇栅栏落了下来，挡住了大门。她抓着栏杆，看到伊拉贝斯最后向她投来一个得意的眼神，然后就消失在了转角。 

疯帽子转身继续看着蚂蚁农场，他的父亲正站在沙堆的顶端。 

“塔兰特？”桑尼克透过玻璃小声地问，“真的是你吗？很久之前我就不敢相信你还活着，这怎么可能？” 

疯帽子微笑着回答说：“这不是‘完全不可能’，只是‘非常不可能’。” 

疯帽子看了看爱丽丝，又看了看他的家人。然后，他掏出那顶一直随身携带的蓝帽子，那顶他希望能带来好运的帽子。他眼前一亮，一个疯狂的想法诞生了。 

点击收听单词发音