Being in England is kind of weird. But good weird. Mira's never actually been out of the country before, but when Dad had an alumnus thing at Oxford he offered to bring her with him, and she said yes.
It's both more and less different from the States than she was imagining.
Below them, the darkness opens out into Mira's first view of Wonderland.
It looks, from above, like a giant chessboard, with alternating darker and lighter squares of forests and fields separated by roads, rivers and hedges. In the centre rises what must be the Queen's palace, a shining spire of black and white marble surrounded by a labyrinth.
Their course looks to be landing them just outside the labyrinth, near one of its gates.
The White Rabbit nods.
"Impressive, isn't it - whoops!"
A gust of wind catches her parasol and attempts to sweep her up and away from Mira, but she manages to grab onto Mira's hair.
"Sorry! Oh my gosh I'm so sorry did that hurt - "
They are still quite a long way above the ground, and could easily be blown apart if they were not connected.
"Um - maybe if you - hold on to my basket?"
As soon as it's clear she has a good grip, the White Rabbit lets go of her hair.
They are now level with the top of the palace, and drifting downwards at a pace that will have them on the ground in a minute or so. The White Rabbit pulls out her pocket-watch to check the time.
"Oh no, I'm ever so late!" Putting the watch away, she fumbles with her parasol and manages to close it, speeding up their descent a little.
"I have to report to Her Majesty," she explains.
"I wish I could stop and help you find somewhere to stay, first, but I really can't spare the time - "
She frowns, wiggling her nose as she thinks. "You...could come with me, I suppose..."
She thinks about it, and is still thinking as they land lightly on the grass.
"I'll be in trouble anyway, if anyone finds out you followed me here," she says, thinking aloud as much as talking to Mira.
"But if I bring you straight to the Queen, it won't look like I was trying to hide it. So, I might be in less trouble?"
"Okay."
The White Rabbit straightens her apron, tucks her parasol away in her basket, and holds out a paw for her bonnet.
"Um, it's this way." She gestures with one ear in the direction of the nearest labyrinth entrance.
She fusses with the bonnet as they walk, finally getting it placed and re-tied just as they approach the gate.
It does not appear to be guarded, but the sections of hedge sticking out on either side are cut into the shape of two large horse's heads, much bigger than life size. The White Rabbit pulls out a card from her pocket and - shows it - to one of the horse heads.
"This is, um, Mira," she says to it. "I'm, er, taking her to see the Queen?"
The head nods, leaves rustling and branches creaking.
This seems to set off a chain reaction in the labyrinth, with creaks and rustles spreading out through the hedges and growing fainter into the distance.
"Huh, really? I'm used to it."
She puts the card back in her pocket and hops forward between the two horses, preparing to enter the labyrinth.
"Um, you should probably stick fairly close to me? Otherwise you might get lost. And that would be bad."
They set off through the labyrinth.
It's fairly dark, and a little claustrophobic; the hedges are much higher than Mira's head, and there's probably only just room for three people to walk side by side. The path twists and turns, with the palace sometimes appearing on the left, sometimes on the right.
"So, um," she says after a while.
"Do you have any questions? About what's going to happen when we get there, or anything?"
"Uh..."
She stops for a second, then remembers she's late and starts walking again.
"I...what? Sorry, I - don't understand the question?"
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